Innovation

Amulet Capital: Fund III Closed At $1.2 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2024

Amulet Capital Partners, LP (a middle-market private equity investment firm focused on the healthcare sector) announced the closing of Amulet Capital Fund III with about $1.2 billion in capital commitments.

StoneTree Investment Partners: Inaugural Fund Closed At $155 Million Hard Cap

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2024

StoneTree Investment Partners - a lower middle market private equity firm specializing in buy-outs of industrial and manufacturing businesses in the United States and Canada - announced the first-and-final closing of its debut fund, StoneTree Investment Partners Fund I, LP, with total capital commitments of $155 million.

Zenity Raises Strategic Investment Led By Microsoft’s M12

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2024

Zenity - a leader in securing enterprise copilots and low-code development - announced a strategic investment led by Microsoft's venture fund M12.

Pinetree Therapeutics: $17 Million (Series A) Raised To Advance Protein Degradation Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2024

Pinetree Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing next-generation targeted protein degraders (TPD) to combat drug resistance in oncology and beyond, announced the completion of a Series A funding round, raising $17 million from new and existing investors. This funding was co-led by STIC Investments and DSC Investment. New investors include Atinum Investment, Quantum FA, and S&S Investment, joining existing investors DSC Investment, Schmidt, and SGI Partners.

Credo AI: AI-Based Governance Company Closes $21 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2024

Credo AI, a global leader in AI governance software, today announced that it has raised $21 million in new capital from CrimsoNox Capital, Mozilla Ventures, and FPV Ventures with participation from existing investors Sands Capital, Decibel VC, Booz Allen Hamilton, and AI Fund. This funding round brings the total to $41.3 million.

Haus: Decision Science Platform Company Raises $20 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2024

Haus has announced $20 million in additional financing led by 01 Advisors (an investor group helmed by former Facebook CRO David Fischer) former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, and former Twitter COO Adam Bain). Rahul Mehta, co-founder and managing partner at DST Global, and Gokul Rajaram, along with existing investor Insight Partners, participated in the funding. Baseline Ventures, Haystack Ventures, Octave, and Mantis Venture Capital also joined in the round.

Aviato: Data And Analytics Platform Company Raises Funding From CerraCap

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2024

CerraCap Ventures has invested in Aviato, a data and analytics platform for private markets. Aviato is prepared to provide users with comprehensive insights, enabling the transformation of unstructured data for funds.

Knox Lane: Oversubscribed Second Fund at Closed At $1 Billion Hard Cap

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2024

Growth-oriented investment firm Knox Lane announced the final closing of its second institutional fund KLC Fund II (KLC II), with $1 billion in total commitments, surpassing its target of $850 million and meeting its hard cap. The oversubscribed fund received significant support from existing and new investors and saw a 46% increase in fund size over Knox Lane's first fund, which was $610 million. With the closing of KLC II, Knox Lane now manages approximately $3 billion.

Walnut: $4.6 Million Raised To Advance Insurance Distribution with Embedded Technology

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2024

Walnut, an innovative company focused on the insurance distribution industry, announced the successful close of its latest funding round at $4.6 million. This funding round was led by NAventures (National Bank of Canada’s corporate venture capital arm) with participation from TELUS Global Ventures, Diagram Ventures, Portage, and Highline Beta.

AmorSui: $3.5 Million (Seed) Raised To Advance Sustainable Medical Supplies

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2024

AmorSui, a modern personal protective equipment (PPE) brand focused on protecting people and the planet, announced that it has raised $3.5 million in seed funding. AmorSui's goal is to make PPE more sustainable, inclusive, and affordable over time. The investors in this round include Gold House Ventures, The MBA Fund, and The Rev Up Fund.

Clutch Security: $8.5 Million (Seed) Raised To Advance Universal Non-Human Identity Security Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2024

Clutch Security announced it emerged from stealth and unveiled its groundbreaking Universal Non-Human Identity (NHI) Security Platform. The company also revealed a $8.5 million Seed funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Merlin Ventures and notable angel investors. Clutch’s mission is to deliver end-to-end NHI security and proactively bridge NHI security gaps across the entire organizational landscape without affecting business velocity.

Apromore: AI-Based Process Mining And Digital Solutions Company Closes $15 Million (Series B-1)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2024

Apromore, a leading provider of AI-driven process mining and digital solutions, announced it has closed an additional $15 million in funding as an extension to its Series B, led by existing investors with participation by Tin Alley Ventures, a joint venture between Tanarra Capital and the University of Melbourne and other investors. This funding brings the total amount of the Series B round to $25.3 million USD / $38.7 million AUD.

CloudPay: Payroll Solutions Company Secures $120 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2024

CloudPay, a leading independent provider of global payroll and payment solutions, announced the closing of a $120 million funding round led by Blue Owl Capital with the participation of existing shareholders Rho Capital Partners, The Olayan Group and Hollyport Capital. This funding strengthens CloudPay's capital base and provides flexibility for future growth opportunities.

Levitate: Relationship-Based Management Company Raises $15 Million (Series D)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 11, 2024

Levitate - a SaaS 'Happiness Platform' for relationship-based businesses - announced the successful completion of its Series D funding round at $15 million. This funding round was led by Harbert Growth Partners, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures and Bull City Venture Partners. And this funding round brings Levitate's total raised capital to $55 million.

IntelePeer: AI-Based Communications Automation Company Raises $140 Million (Strategic Growth)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 9, 2024

IntelePeer (a leading AI-powered Communications Automation provider) announced the completion of $140 million in new growth funding and debt financing. This strategic growth investment was co-led by Savant Growth and VantagePoint Capital Partners with support from Savant limited partners including Coller Capital, Hollyport Capital, Manulife Investment Management and Achmea. Vector Capital (through its newly formed direct credit strategy Vector Velocity) led the debt financing.

Language I/O: $5 Million Raised In Round Led By Gutbrain Ventures

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 9, 2024

Language I/O - a leader in AI-powered and multilingual customer support technology - announced a $5 million funding round led by Gutbrain Ventures. This funding included participation from several new venture firms inspired by Language I/O’s unique platform.

Feeling Great: Mental Health App Company Raises $8 Million (Seed)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 9, 2024

Dr. David D. Burns, a world-renowned psychiatrist and best-selling author of many self-help books like Ten Days to Self-Esteem, Feeling Good, and Feeling Great, announced a new tool in the fight against depression and anxiety - which is the Feeling Great app. This has the same name as its literary predecessor. The company, which includes co-founders Matt Pierce and Jeremy Karmel, also revealed $8 million in seed funding co-led by Learn Capital and TitleTownTech, with additional participation from Lux Ventures, WaveMaker Three-Sixty Health, Pacific Health Ventures, and Treble Capital.

Cents: $40 Million (Series B) Raised To Power The Way Garment Care SMBs Grow

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 9, 2024

Cents, the largest leading all-in-one business management platform powering the way garment care SMBs grow, manage, and understand their businesses, announced the closing of its $40 million Series B funding round.

Anduril: Defense Manufacturing Company Raises $1.5 Billion (Series F) At $14 Billion Valuation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 8, 2024

Anduril Industries announced it has secured $1.5 billion of funding for its Series F round to hyperscale defense manufacturing. This funding round will enable Anduril to increase hiring, enhance processes, upgrade tooling, increase resiliency in its supply chain, and expand infrastructure. The funding round - which was co-led by Founders Fund and Sands Capital - values the company at $14 billion and includes new investors Fidelity Management & Research Company, Counterpoint Global, and Baillie Gifford, and significant commitments from existing investors including Altimeter and Franklin Venture Partners.

AtData: Interview With CEO Tom Burke About This Fast-Growing Email Address Intelligence Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 8, 2024

AtData is a technology-driven provider of email address solutions for first-party data. Pulse 2.0 interviewed AtData CEO Tom Burke to learn more about the company.

Packfleet: Powering Sustainable Deliveries With An In-House Routing Platform In A £6 Billion Market

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 8, 2024

Packfleet is a London-based carbon-neutral courier that is transforming the world of e-commerce delivery. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Packfleet founder and CEO Tristan Thomas to learn more about the company.

CastleVax: Mucosal Vaccine Platform Receives $34 Million Award

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 8, 2024

CastleVax, a clinical-stage mucosal vaccine platform company, announced it has received an additional Project NextGen award valued at approximately $34 million to support the continued development of its next-generation mucosal vaccine to protect against symptomatic COVID-19 infection.

Flo: Women’s Health Company Secures $200 Million (Series C)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 8, 2024

Flo Health, the #1 downloaded women's health app worldwide, announced it has raised over $200 million in a Series C investment from General Atlantic, a leading global growth investor. This minority investment has increased Flo's valuation beyond $1 billion, making it the first purely digital consumer women's health app to achieve unicorn status.

Gigpro: Hospitality-Focused On-Demand Labor Marketplace Secures $16 Million (Series A)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 8, 2024

Gigpro - a leading on-demand labor marketplace for the hospitality industry - announced that it has closed a $16 million Series A funding round led by Foundry, with participation from Stage 1 Ventures and existing investors Stage 2 Capital and Detroit Venture Partners. This is a significant step forward in Gigpro's mission to revolutionize the gig economy by connecting businesses with skilled independent professionals efficiently and seamlessly.

Outbrain And Teads Merging In $1 Billion Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 8, 2024

Outbrain, a platform that drives business outcomes through engagement, announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Teads, the global omnichannel video platform.

Ziff Davis Buying CNET For Over $100 Million, Says Report

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 8, 2024

Ziff Davis announced it is buying CNET for over $100 million. CNET was originally founded in 1994 and the company went public two years later. Then CBS bought CNET in 2008 for $1.8 billion in a deal to take the company private. Then in 2020, Paramount Global sold CNET to Red Ventures for $500 million.

Nexio: Bitcoin Scaling Solution Company Closes $2.2 Million (Pre-Seed)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 8, 2024

Nexio, a Bitcoin scaling solution leveraging parallelized rollup technology, announced today that it has raised $2.2 million in pre-seed funding from a diverse roster of prominent industry investors. This funding round was led by Lattice, with participation from HTX Ventures, Artichoke Capital, Morningstar Ventures, Sharding Capital, SNZ Holding, Sats Ventures, Wise3 Ventures, and other notable partners. The funding also involved angel investors, such as Paper Ventures' Danish Chaudhry, ex-BlackRock's Paul Taylor, ex-ParaFi Santiago R Santos, Comfy Capital, Movement Labs' Rushi Manche, Elixir Protocol's Tim Wang, Notifi's Paul Kim, and R89 Capital.

InventWood: $8 Million Raised And Tyler Huggins Named As CEO

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 8, 2024

InventWood, a company transforming undervalued wood into high-performance climate-resilient Superwood building products that are stronger and lighter than steel, announced today $8 million in new funding and the appointment of Tyler Huggins, Ph.D., as its new Chief Executive Officer. Joining existing investor Grantham Foundation are new investors, including Builders Vision, Echelon, and John Rockwell (four-time CEO of successful clean technology companies and partner in multiple private investment firms).

Rhombus: Cloud-Managed Physical Security Company Raises $45 Million (Series C)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 8, 2024

Rhombus, a leader in cloud-managed physical security, announced $45 million in Series C funding led by NightDragon (a cybersecurity, safety, security, and privacy investment firm). Bluestone Equity Partners and existing investors Caden Capital, Cota Capital, Tru Arrow Partners, and Uncorrelated Ventures participated in the round, which brings the total funding raised to over $90 million.

Lineaje: Supply Chain Security Company Secures $20 Million (Series A)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 8, 2024

Lineaje, a leader in continuous software supply chain security management, announced it raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Prosperity7 Ventures, Neotribe, and Hitachi Ventures, along with existing investor Tenable Ventures. This round also included participation from Carahsoft (the world’s largest software distributor serving the U.S. government) along with Wipro Ventures, Secure Octane Investments, J-Ventures and Alumni Ventures. And with additional contributions from executives at Zscaler, CrowdStrike, and Trellix, this investment brings Lineaje’s total funding to $27 million.