Innovation

Deep Sky: $40 Million Grant Signed From Breakthrough Energy Catalyst

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2024

Deep Sky, a Quebec-based carbon removal project developer, announced that it has received a $40 million grant commitment from Breakthrough Energy Catalyst. The funds, which is subject to the satisfaction of funding conditions, will be allocated to the construction of Deep Sky Alpha (formerly Deep Sky Labs) and its associated research and testing of direct air capture (DAC) technologies.

ICEYE: Synthetic Aperture Radar Satellite Operations Company Secures $65 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2024

ICEYE, the global leader in synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite operations for high-fidelity Earth Observation, persistent monitoring, and natural catastrophe solutions, announced that it had closed a $65 million extension of the company's earlier growth funding round of $93 million (announced in April 2024).

SiteOne Therapeutics: $100 Million (Series C) Raised For Advancing Selective Ion Channel Modulators For Pain Management

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2024

SiteOne Therapeutics - a biopharmaceutical company developing selective ion channel modulators for treating pain, cough, and other conditions - announced a $100 million Series C financing. Led by Novo Holdings, with participation from OrbiMed, Wellington Management, Mission BioCapital, BSQUARED Capital, and existing investors, this funding will support the advancement of SiteOne's portfolio of selective, small molecule ion channel modulators for the treatment of sensory hyperexcitability disorders through human clinical proof of concept.

Benchstrength: $62 Million Closed For Early-Stage Venture Capital Fund

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2024

Benchstrength, a venture capital firm whose goal is to invest in high-potential early-stage technology companies, announced the closing of its first fund. The fund’s investors include the Ford Foundation, GCM Grosvenor, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Churchill Asset Management, Fairview Capital, Bank of America, Citi Impact Fund, General Catalyst, Village Global, The Kapor Foundation, The Equity Alliance, and First Close Partners.

Finexio Signs $10 Million Venture Loan Facility With Horizon Technology

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2024

Horizon Technology, an affiliate of Monroe Capital and a leading specialty finance company that offers capital in the form of secured loans to venture capital-backed companies in the technology, life science, healthcare information and services, and sustainability industries, announced it has provided a $10 million venture loan facility to OneNetwork, Inc. dba Finexio, of which $5 million has been initially funded.

Affirm Signs $4 Billion Partnership With Sixth Street

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2024

Payment network company Affirm Holdings and global investment firm Sixth Street announced that they have entered into a long-term capital partnership whereby Sixth Street, through its Asset Based Finance platform, will invest up to $4 billion by purchasing Affirm loans in a unique AssetCo structure under a three year, forward flow agreement.

Akamis Bio: $60 Million Raised For Developing Solid Tumor Treatments

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2024

Akamis Bio - a clinical-stage oncology company using a proprietary Tumor-Specific Immuno-Gene (T-SIGn) therapy platform to deliver novel immunotherapeutic proteins, biomolecules, and transgene combinations to treat solid tumors - announced $60 million in funding connected to the closing of a Series A Prime funding round and entry into a strategic partnership for the development of its lead clinical candidate, NG-350A.

Exabits: Compute-Base Layer Company Raises $15 Million (Seed)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2024

Exabits, a compute-base layer platform transforming high-end GPU (graphic processing units) clusters into accessible investment assets, announced it closed $15 million in a seed funding round. This funding round was led by Hack VC and several other investors, following a previous round led by Portal Ventures.

CleanCapital Secures $145 Million And Acquires 22.7 MW Portfolio From KSI

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2024

CleanCapital - a leading independent power producer focused on distributed clean energy - announced that it has acquired a portfolio of 40 assets totaling 22.7 megawatts (MW) from Kendall Sustainable Infrastructure (KSI), which is one of the first established institutional owners of community solar projects.

Twill: Talent Platform Company Raises $1.4 Million (Pre-Seed)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2024

Twill - a next-generation talent platform that connects companies with vetted tech professionals through peer recommendations - announced it has raised $1.4 million in pre-seed funding led by Bloomberg Beta. And additional investors include Vitalize VC, Correlation Ventures, Purpose Built Ventures, and executives from Netflix, Meta, and Snap.

Prometheum: Digital Asset Securities Company Secures $20 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2024

Prometheum - a leading market infrastructure provider for digital asset securities - announced it raised approximately $20 million this year from a group of high-net-worth investors and institutions. And the funding will support Prometheum’s hiring and development plans in 2025 as it completes the rollout of its vertically integrated blockchain-enabled ecosystem for the trading, clearance, settlement, and custody of digital asset securities through its SEC-registered and FINRA member affiliate subsidiaries, Prometheum Capital and Prometheum ATS.

Gigs: $73 Million (Series B) Raised To Help Companies Launch Mobile Services

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2024

Gigs - an operating system for mobile services - announced that it has raised a $73 million in Series B led by Ribbit Capital. And all existing investors, including Google’s Gradient, YC and Speedinvest, participated in the round.

Nordstrom Being Taken Private In $6.25 Billion Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2024

Nordstrom announced it has signed a definitive agreement under which Erik, Pete, Jamie Nordstrom and other members of the Nordstrom family and El Puerto de Liverpool will acquire all of the outstanding common shares of Nordstrom not already beneficially owned by the Nordstrom Family and Liverpool in an all-cash transaction valued at about $6.25 billion on an enterprise basis. Following the closing of the deal, the Nordstrom Family will have a majority ownership stake in the company.

Xerox To Buy Lexmark In $1.5 Billion Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2024

Xerox has agreed to acquire Kentucky-based Lexmark International from Ninestar Corporation, PAG Asia Capital, and Shanghai Shouda Investment Centre in a deal valued at $1.5 billion, including assumed liabilities. Xerox expects to finance the acquisition with cash and committed debt financing.

Anatomy: AI-Based Healthcare Lockbox Company Raises $19 Million (Series A)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2024

Anatomy Financial, the developer of the AI-based lockbox to convert paper mail from healthcare practices to an email-like experience for simplified billing workflows, announced $19 million in Series A funding led by Canapi Ventures. Neil Underwood from Canapi and Nicole Quinn from Lightspeed Venture Partners will join the Anatomy board, supporting the company’s efforts to bring a digital back office and AI-based financial operations to healthcare providers across the US.

Hostaway: Vacation Rental Software Company Raises $365 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2024

Hostaway - a leading all-in-one vacation rental software and management system - announced it had raised a $365 million strategic growth investment led by General Atlantic, with participation from existing investor PSG Equity. And Hostaway plans to partner with General Atlantic and PSG Equity to propel further its growth strategy, such as international expansion, product development, and AI initiatives.

NeuroKaire: Precision Medicine Biotech Company Secures $10 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2024

NeuroKaire - a pioneering biotechnology company specializing in precision medicine in psychiatry and neurology - announced it had secured $10 million in funding to advance the development of its clinical test, which helps identify drug efficacy for depression patients. GreyBird Ventures led the round. The company's other investors include Meron Capital Jumpspeed Ventures, among others.

Tuesday Capital: Ethan Imboden Named As Partner

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2024

Seed-stage fund firm Tuesday Capital announced it had added Ethan Imboden, a long-time collaborator, as a partner. Imboden joins the team after 10 years at global design & strategy consulting firm frog, where he founded and led the venture practice and investment arm.

Slip Robotics: Truck-Loading Robots-As-A-Service Company Closes $28 Million (Series B)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2024

Slip Robotics, a next-generation provider of automated truck-loading robots-as-a-service, announced it raised a $28 million Series B financing led by DCVC. The funding reflects Slip’s rapid growth with industry-leading customers – including John Deere, GE Appliances, Valeo, and Nissan – using SlipBots to load and unload any truck in just 5 minutes.

Mindgard: $8 Million Raised For Safeguarding AI With Security Solutions

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2024

AI security company Mindgard announced a $8 million funding round. .406 Ventures led the round, which included participation from Atlantic Bridge, Willowtree Investments, and existing investors IQ Capital and Lakestar.

Ayar Labs: Optical Interconnect Company Raises $155 Million (Series D)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 22, 2024

Ayar Labs, a leader in optical interconnect solutions for large-scale AI workloads, announced it has raised $155 million in financing led by Advent Global Opportunities and Light Street Capital to address the AI bottleneck of data movement with its optical I/O technology. This brings the company’s total funding to $370 million and raises its valuation to above $1 billion.

Dentons Reveals Country And Office Managing Partners In Europe And Central Asia

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 22, 2024

Global law firm Dentons announced the appointment of Country and Office Managing Partners across Europe and Central Asia for the three-year term starting January 1, 2025.

Aisti: €29 Million (Series A) Raised To Transform Acoustic Solutions

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 22, 2024

Finnish technology company Aisti - a company that is renowned for its acoustic tiles made of renewable wood fibers - announced it raised a Series A funding round of €29 million. This funding round attracted notable early-stage investors, such as Voima Ventures, Maki.vc, the Valve Ventures consortium, and private investors.

Remodel Health: ICHRA Provider Company Raises Over $100 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 21, 2024

Remodel Health, an Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangement (ICHRA) provider for brokers, announced it had raised over $100 million from Oak HC/FT and Hercules Capital in growth funding. And Remodel offers an end-to-end white-labeled tech platform that supports employers and employees with everything they need for launching and accessing their ICHRA plans, including plan creation and administration, call center support, automated quoting, employee onboarding, HRIS integrations and payments with carriers and access to ancillary products.

Borealis Biosciences: RNA Medicines Company Secures $30 Million (Series A Extension)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 21, 2024

Next-generation RNA medicines company Borealis Biosciences announced the appointment of Christian Hordo as CEO and a $30 million infusion from an extension of the Series A led by Westlake BioPartners. Plus, the company announced the addition of three new board directors, David Allison, Ph.D., Tom Frohlich, and Catherine Thut, Ph.D.

TripSuite: Travel Agency Software Company Raises $5 Million (Seed)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 21, 2024

TripSuite, a leading software platform for travel agencies, announced it has raised $5 million in seed funding. The funding round was led by F-Prime Capital, with participation from Bienville Capital Management and Thayer Ventures.

HERVolution Therapeutics: Dark Genome Biotech Company Raises $11.7 Million (Series A) For Advancing Treatments

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 21, 2024

HERVolution Therapeutics ApS - a dark genome-focused biotechnology company developing immunotherapies for addressing aging-related diseases - announced a $11.7 million Series A financing to advance its lead assets toward clinical evaluation. This funding round was led by the Serum Institute of India (SII) with participation from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund and other investors.

Aiwyn: CPA Technology Partner Company Raises $113 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 21, 2024

Aiwyn - a trusted technology partner for top Certified Public Accounting (CPA) firms - announced the closing of a $113 million funding round. This funding, led by leading global investment firm KKR and Bessemer Venture Partners, validates Aiwyn’s leadership in the accounting technology sector.

Menlo Ventures Reveals Cohort Backed By $100 Million Anthology Fund

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 21, 2024

Menlo Ventures announced the first cohort of 18 companies backed by the $100 million Anthology Fund. Launched in partnership with Anthropic to accelerate AI-first innovation, the fund has received thousands of applications from entrepreneurs since its July announcement.

CareTrust REIT: Unsecured Revolver Doubled To $1.2 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 21, 2024

CareTrust REIT announced that it has renewed and doubled its unsecured revolving credit facility to $1.2 billion. The bank group consisted of Joint Lead Arranger/Administrative Agent KeyBanc Capital Markets, and Joint Lead Arrangers/Syndication Agents: BMO Capital Markets., JPMorgan Chase Bank, Bank of America, Wells Fargo Securities, and Co-Documentation Agents: The Huntington National Bank, Raymond James Bank, M&T Bank, Morgan Stanley Bank, and Royal Bank of Canada.