Innovation

Made By Dyslexia And Richard Branson Launch University Of Dyslexic Thinking

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Sir Richard Branson and global charity Made By Dyslexia announced that they have joined forces to launch a free online university called ‘DyslexicU,’ which teaches the world how dyslexics think.

Apono: Cloud Access Governance Company Raises $15.5 Million (Series A)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Apono, a leader in privileged access for the cloud, announced the successful completion of its Series A funding round, raising $15.5 million. This funding round was led by New Era Capital Partners, with participation from Mindset Ventures, Redseed Ventures, Silvertech Ventures, initial seed investors, etc.

HungryPanda: Asian Food Delivery Platform Company Raises $55 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

HungryPanda, a leading overseas Asian food delivery platform, announced the successful completion of a $55 million refinancing and fundraising. The funding round was led by Mars Growth Capital, a JV between Liquidity Group and MUFG, with continued support from HungryPanda's existing investors, including Perwyn, Kinnevik, 83North, and Felix. This new funding will enable HungryPanda to solidify its leadership in the Asian food delivery market and explore new opportunities to serve a broader range of minority ethnic communities, especially in North America.

KWILL Merchant Advisors Raises Funding For Low Profile’s Publishing Division

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

KWILL Merchant Advisors announced the successful completion of its funding round as lead investor and advisor for Low Profile's new artist-first publishing platform. And this strategic investment will enable Low Profile, a female-led music consulting and sync agency, to launch its innovative publishing platform, recruit top industry talent, and enhance its existing services.

Neeve: Smart Building Platform-As-A-Service Company Secures $15 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Neeve - a cloud platform-as-a-service provider for smart buildings and spaces - announced it secured $15 million in financing led by Cantor Fitzgerald and RXR. This funding will drive Neeve's global expansion, supporting the digital transformation of the commercial real estate sector, accelerating sustainability initiatives, and enhancing cybersecurity measures.

Qodo: GenAI-Based Code Integrity Platform Closes $40 Million (Series A)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Generative AI code integrity platform Qodo (formerly CodiumAI) announced $40 million in Series A funding, bringing the company's total funding to $50M. The oversubscribed round was led by Susa Ventures and Square Peg, with participation from Firestreak Ventures, ICON Continuity Fund, and Seed investors TLV Partners and Vine Ventures. Just 18 months since exiting stealth, Qodo's solutions have already been used by over 1M developers, and its enterprise platform has been adopted by industry leaders, including multiple Fortune 100 companies.

Airship: $4 Million (Pre-Seed) Raised To Make Home Services Easier

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Airship, a company that offers software tools and financial products to help home services owner-operators grow their businesses, came out of stealth with the announcement of a $4 million pre-seed round.

Cartherics: Over A$15 Million Secured To Develop Immune Cell Therapies For Treating Cancer

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Cartherics, a biotechnology company developing immune cell therapies for treating cancer and other diseases, announced that it has raised well over its target AU$15 million in an oversubscribed financing round.

Loti AI: Likeness Protection Technology Company Raises $7 Million (Seed)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Loti AI, a leader in likeness protection technology, announced it has secured an additional investment from Khosla Ventures for its seed funding. This new funding brings the total capital raised to $6.65 million. FUSE and Bling Capital led the seed funding round, with participation from K5 Tokyo Black, Ensemble, and AlphaEdison.

Wispr: Voice Dictation Company Secures $12 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Wispr, a company building a more natural way to interact with technology, announced a new $12 million investment to help fuel the launch of Wispr Flow, a voice-first productivity tool. Built for Apple Macs, Wispr Flow allows users to speak naturally and see their words come to life: clear, concise, and up to 3 times faster than typing. This investment was led by Matt Kraning (CTO / Cortex at Palo Alto Networks) with participation from existing investors NEA and 8VC, along with Tim Junio (CEO of Expanse) and Alumni Ventures. Wispr’s total funding to date is $26 million.

Aktis Oncology: $175 Million (Series B) Secured To Develop Targeted Alpha Radiopharmaceuticals For Treating Tumors

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Aktis Oncology, a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the discovery and development of novel targeted alpha radiopharmaceuticals to treat a broad range of solid tumors, announced the successful closing of an oversubscribed and upsized $175 million Series B financing. The funding was led by RA Capital Management and co-led by RTW Investments and Janus Henderson Investors.

Republic Capital Group: Minority Investment Raised From Merchant Investment Management

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Republic Capital Group - a leader in providing investment banking services to the wealth and asset management industry and their clients - announced a minority non-control investment from Merchant Investment Management. This reflects Republic's industry leadership and commitment to be the most comprehensive investment banking solution to wealth and asset management firms and their clients.

TG0: £2 Million Raised From Netmind For Advancing AI-Based Human-Machine Interfaces

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

NetMind, an AI-based solutions company focused on advancing the field of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), announced its £2 million investment in TG0, a London-based developer of AI-powered human-machine interfaces. This funding was finalized in Q4 of 2023 (closing the round), but the two companies are announcing it in line with their strategic partnership. TG0 will be seeking a new round of investment later this year.

Forma Capital Partners Collaborating With Sweater Ventures For The Cashmere Fund

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Forma Capital, an early-stage venture investor that supports portfolio companies through influential partnerships, announced that its affiliate, Forma Cashmere, has been approved as the sub-adviser for the Sweater Cashmere Fund, which will be known as The Cashmere Fund. Until now, Sweater Industries has solely advised the fund, which invests in early-stage growth companies through an evergreen interval fund structure.

Darkbright Raises $6 Million For Building Next-Gen Midcore Titles

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Darkbright Studios announced it has closed an oversubscribed $6 million seed round led by BITKRAFT Ventures to build the next generation of accessible and engaging midcore titles starting with Smolbound, a refreshing new take on the life sim RPG genre. Additional investors in the round included Play Ventures, Anthos Capital, King River Capital, Rockaway X, Zentry, Caballeros Capital, Gam3Girl Ventures, and Offchain Labs.

Frontier Bio Reveals Achievement In Lab-Grown Lung Tissue

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Frontier Bio announced a groundbreaking achievement in lab-grown lung tissue. By combining 3D bioprinting with stem cells' ability to self-assemble, mimicking natural organ development, the company has created complex microscale lung tissue. This innovation paves the way for advancements in treating respiratory diseases and organ transplantation.

University Of Minnesota: 25 Startups Launched In 2024, Surpassing Previous Record

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 30, 2024

The University of Minnesota has launched 25 startup companies in fiscal 2024, surpassing its previous record for the fourth year in a row. This announcement coincided with the launch of a new initiative to scale up the University’s commercialization work called Discover, Advance, Impact.

Ontinue: Redefining MDR with AI-Powered Automation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 30, 2024

Ontinue is a leading provider of AI-powered managed extended detection and response (MXDR) services. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Ontinue’s VP of Security Operations, Craig Jones to learn more about the company.

Visier: Interview With Chief Innovation Officer Adam Binnie About The Workforce AI Edge Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 30, 2024

Visier gives organizations a Workforce AI Edge: a set of AI-powered capabilities that help leaders understand the relationship between people and work, elevate the productivity of their employees, and win by adapting to change faster. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Visier chief innovation officer Adam Binnie to learn more about the company.

Culmination Bio: Interview With CEO Lincoln Nadauld About The Precision Medicine Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 30, 2024

Culmination Bio is a company changing the world by discovering better health. It provides unparalleled value to healthcare organizations by unlocking biological data and enriching it with clinical, claims, and genomic data. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Culmination Bio CEO Lincoln Nadauld to learn more about the company.

The Celestia Foundation Raises $100 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 30, 2024

The Celestia Foundation announced it has raised $100 million in support led by Bain Capital Crypto, with participation from Syncracy Capital, 1kx, Robot Ventures, Placeholder, etc. And this brings the project’s total amount raised to $155 million.

AT&T Selling Stake In DIRECTV To TPG For $7.6 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 30, 2024

AT&T announced that it will be selling its 70% stake in DIRECTV to private equity firm to TPG for $7.6 billion. AT&T bought DIRECTV in 2015 and signed a joint venture agreement with TPG a few years ago. TPG paid about $1.8 billion in cash for a 30% stake in DIRECTV when the valuation of the satellite TV company was around $16 billion.

Mark Cuban Foundation And Northeastern University Partner To Bring AI Bootcamp To Miami Teens

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 30, 2024

The Mark Cuban Foundation, which is in partnership with Northeastern University, is bringing the only AI camp of its kind, free of charge, to high school students in Miami. With a custom and highly relevant curriculum focused on teaching students about the latest developments in AI and Generative AI, the camp will provide the tools to make these technologies work for them and promises to educate, inspire, and fuel the next generation of AI professionals.

John Paul DeJoria Acquires Waterloo GIn

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 30, 2024

Passionate entrepreneur and philanthropist John Paul DeJoria - a self-made billionaire founder of Patrón Tequila and Paul Mitchell hair care - announced the purchase of Waterloo Gin, the first gin brand distilled in Texas. Developed by Treaty Oak Distilling in Dripping Springs, Texas, near Austin, Waterloo Gin launched in 2009 (named after Austin's original name Waterloo) before the city was rechristened in the 1830s for Texas pioneer Stephen F. Austin.

GolfLync: $3.5 Million Raised To Enhance Golfing Experiences

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 30, 2024

GolfLync, a platform designed to enhance the golfing experience, announced that it has successfully secured $3.5 million in initial funding - which was completed in the second quarter of 2024. This investment marks a major milestone for the company, enabling it to build its app, achieve 150,000 downloads, and lay the groundwork for a robust revenue model set to be implemented over the next 12 months. With this $3.5 million committed, the company is now entering the crowdfunding stage.

Mindpeak: AI-Based Pathological Solutions Secures $15.3 Million (Series A)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 30, 2024

Mindpeak, a leader in AI-powered pathological solutions, announced it has raised $15.3 million in a Series A funding round. This funding round was led by ZEISS Ventures and InnoVentureFund, with participation from AI.FUND, the European Innovation Council Fund, etc. Even though Mindpeak has a cash-flow-positive core business, this new investment will enable the company to further expand the commercialization of its pioneering technologies across several geographies.

SK pharmteco: Global Contract Development Company Raises $260 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 30, 2024

SK pharmteco, a global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), announced a major expansion of its small molecule and peptide production capabilities with a $260 million investment to construct a new state-of-the-art facility in Sejong, South Korea. Scheduled to start operations in late 2026, this new facility will be the fifth plant the company opens in South Korea and will be a cornerstone of SK pharmteco's global manufacturing network.

Sequentia Biotech: Bioinformatics Company Raises €10 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 30, 2024

Sequentia Biotech, a leading bioinformatics company focused on the analysis and application of omics data, announced a €10 million Series A, led by Seventure Partners, a French Venture Capital & Growth investment company with an extensive experience in Life Sciences. The Series A funding round was co-invested by the EIC Fund, the European Commission initiative dedicated to accelerating innovative start-ups across the European Union.

AmpUp: EV Charging Platform Company Raises $15 Million (Series A)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 29, 2024

AmpUp, a leading electric vehicle (EV) charging platform company, announced the closing of its Series A round at $15 million. This funding will fuel AmpUp's aggressive U.S. market expansion and drive continued innovation in energy management solutions for the EV charging sector. Touchdown Ventures led the latest funding round and additional new investors included Autotech Ventures (Autotech), MUUS Climate Partners (MUUS), with participation from Holman, Goodyear, Foothill Ventures, WEX Venture Capital, TechNexus Venture Collaborative, Powerhouse Ventures, and Connecticut Innovations, and others.

University Of Ottawa And Cisco Partnering To Help Students With Cybersecurity Skills

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 29, 2024

Cisco, a leader in networking and security, and the University of Ottawa have announced a partnership to better prepare students for careers in the technology industry. Funded through Cisco’s Country Digital Acceleration (CDA) program, Cisco will integrate industry-recognized Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification into the university’s Computer and Software Engineering curriculum. The CCNA certification validates a broad range of fundamentals for all IT careers - from networking technologies to security to software development - proving that the holder has the skills businesses want and candidates need to meet market demands.