Innovation

Barn2Door Secures Growth Funding From Decathlon Capital Partners

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Barn2Door, a rapidly growing software company focused on helping farmers sell directly to the market, announced it has landed a significant investment from Decathlon Capital Partners. The details of the revenue-based funding transaction were not disclosed.

SmartHR: HR Management Platform Company Raises $140 Million In Series E

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Leading global investment firm KKR and Teachers’ Venture Growth (TVG), which is the late-stage venture and growth investment arm of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, announced the signing of definitive agreements under which KKR (on behalf of funds managed by it) and TVG will jointly lead a $140 million (JPY 21.4 billion) Series E fundraise of SmartHR, a leading cloud-native human resources management platform in Japan, with participation from existing shareholders.

Lee Equity Partners: Oversubscribed Fund IV Closed At $1.3 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Lee Equity Partners, a middle-market private equity firm, announced the final closing of Lee Equity Partners Fund IV, L.P. Fund IV was oversubscribed and, including the General Partner commitment, achieved its hard cap with total capital commitments of about $1.3 billion, which was well above the $1 billion target.

X-Bow: Solid Rocket Motor Producer Company Raises Over $70 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

X-Bow Systems, a leading non-traditional producer of advanced manufactured solid rocket motors (SRMs) and hypersonics technologies, today announced the completion of the initial close of its Series B financing, raising over $70 million. The funding round was led by National Security technology-focused growth equity firm Razor's Edge, with additional participation from Lockheed Martin Ventures, Boeing Ventures, Crosslink Capital, and Balerion Space Ventures.

QX Global Group: Over £100 Million Growth Investment Raised From Long Ridge Equity Partners

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

QX Global Group, a leading business process management (BPM) service provider, announced that it has secured a growth investment of £100+ million from Long Ridge Equity Partners. QX specializes in business & digital transformation, BPM, and consulting services within the accounting, recruitment, real estate, manufacturing, public sector, higher education, healthcare, consumer packaged goods, retail, and utilities and energy sectors.

Bridge Bank: $47 Million Term Loan Closed For Supporting Divergent Technologies

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Bridge Bank announced that its Technology Banking Group announced it has closed a $47 million term loan with Divergent Technologies to support the company’s continued growth. Divergent utilizes a data-driven approach for designing and building vehicle structures with the Divergent Adaptive Production System (DAPS) - which is the world’s first end-to-end software-hardware production system for industrial digital manufacturing for automotive, aerospace, and defense applications.

Coder Secures $35 Million For Modernizing Enterprise Development Environments

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Coder, a development platform keeping developers in flow, announced it has secured $35 million in funding to broaden its open source footprint, evolve cloud development environments (CDEs), and expand globally. Georgian led the round and they were joined by existing investors Uncork Capital, Notable Capital, and Redpoint Ventures. This funding brings Coder's total Series B funding to $65 million. And Russell Moore (investor at Georgian) will join Coder's Board of Directors.

Natcap Raises $10 Million To Embed Nature-Related Risks Into Business Strategies

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Natural Capital Research Limited (Natcap) announced it has secured $10 million in an oversubscribed Series A funding round to scale its pioneering nature tech product. And Natcap had secured new funding from André Hoffmann, Norinchukin Capital, Yeo Ventures, and Pelican Ag. And the round also includes investment from former CEO of Refinitiv David Craig, and follow-on investments from Oxford Science Enterprises, funds advised by MW&L Capital Partners, and Alea Iacta Est, all of which participated in the company’s £2.5 million seed round last year.

Purdue University And Heartland BioWorks To Share $51 Million Funding For Supporting Workforce Development

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Purdue University (as a member of Heartland BioWorks) will be sharing $51 million in federal funding to support workforce development and business startup efforts in the state’s burgeoning biotechnology ecosystem. Awarded by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, this funding will catalyze Indiana’s biotechnology innovation and manufacturing efforts, which are a pillar of Purdue’s One Health Innovation District.

Orby AI: $30 Million Raised To Develop AI Solutions For Enterprises

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Orby AI, a company developing generative AI solutions for the enterprise, announced the closing of its $30 million series A round of financing. The Series A round was co-led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Wing VC, and WndrCo, with additional participation from Pear VC.

Augustine Therapeutics: €17 Million Raised For Developing Neurodegenerative And Cardiometabolic Disease Treatments

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Augustine Therapeutics, a pioneering biotech company focused on novel treatments for neurodegenerative and cardiometabolic diseases, announced that it has raised €17 million in the first closing of its Series A round. This funding round was led by Asabys Partners, with participation from Eli Lilly and Company, and the US-based Charcot-Marie-Tooth Research Foundation. The current investors AdBio partners, V-Bio Ventures, PMV, VIB and Gemma Frisius Fund also joined the round.

Holoclara: $16 Million Secured To Develop Worm-Derived Therapies For Allergies And Autoimmune Disorders

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Holoclara, a biotechnology company that is pioneering the development of worm-derived therapies for allergies and autoimmune disorders, today announced the completion of an oversubscribed $16 million Series A funding led by BOLD Capital Partners. And Horizons Ventures, Tarrasque, Endurance28, Freeflow Ventures, and a syndicate of leading angel investors also participated in the round.

Daytona: Open Source Development Environment Company Closes $5 Million In Seed Funding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Daytona, an open-source development environment manager, announced that it had raised $5 million in seed funding to drive its goal of democratizing development for developers globally. The funding round was led by Upfront Ventures with participation from existing investor 500 EE.

Payabli: Payments Infrastructure Company Secures $20 Million In Series A

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Payments infrastructure solution company Payabli announced it had raised $20 million in Series A funding round. This funding round was led by QED Investors with participation from existing investors TTV Capital, Fika Ventures and Bling Capital based on the company’s greater than three times revenue growth.

Norm Ai: Regulatory Compliance Company Closes $27 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Norm Ai announced it has raised a fresh round of capital from some of the world's most respected financial institutions, collectively representing more than $5.75 trillion in assets. And the company has secured a $27 million Series A led by Coatue, with participation from Bain Capital Ventures, Blackstone Innovations Investments, New York Life Ventures, Citi Ventures, TIAA Ventures, and Jefferson River Capital (the family office of Tony James, the former President and COO of Blackstone). In the past 11 months, Norm has raised more than $38 million from leading firms.

INVI MindHealth: Mental Health Technology Company Founded By Former Navy Seal Secures $1.5 Million In Seed Funding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Mental health technology company INVI MindHealth announced the successful closing of a $1.5 million Series Seed funding round. The proceeds from this funding round will be utilized to enhance the current INVI Mindhealth application, driving innovation to improve user experience and the integration of content from experts on a range of mental health topics and solutions.

Zuub: Dental Revenue Cycle Automation Company Secures $9 Million In Series A

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Zuub, a leading innovator in dental Revenue Cycle Automation, announced that it had secured $9 million in Series A funding led by Vertical Venture Partners with participation from existing investors Bonfire Ventures and MTech Capital. This investment will further Zuub's mission to recapture billions of dollars in lost revenue in the dental industry by applying artificial intelligence and advanced automation technologies.

Akina Connect: An Interview With Founder And CEO Leigh Higginbotham Butler

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Akina Connect is a national membership network focused on connecting and empowering Black women by providing access to the tools and resources needed to elevate them in their careers, communities, and family lives. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Akina Connect founder and CEO Leigh Higginbotham Butler to learn more about the company.

Form Health: Obesity Care Company Raises $38 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Form Health, a leading provider of science-based obesity care in the US, announced it has raised a $38 million Series B with Sound Ventures serving as the lead investor. M13, SignalFire, and Next View Ventures also participated in the round.

iVerify: Advanced Mobile EDR Solutions Company Closes $12 Million In Series A

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

iVerify, a leader in advanced mobile EDR solutions, announced the closing of $12 million in Series A funding led by Shine Capital with participation from Exponential Founders Capital, Mischief Ventures, Box Group, Parameter Ventures, Talons Ventures, and Trail of Bits.

OlivePoint: $50 Million Raised From GCM Grosvenor

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Private real estate investor OlivePoint announced that GCM Grosvenor (a global alternative asset management solutions provider with $79 billion of assets under management) has committed $50 million to OlivePoint’s latest investment fund on behalf of various U.S. Pension Plans.

Rebellion Ventures Launches To Invest In The Future Of AI

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Rebellion Ventures has announced its inaugural fund, which is dedicated to partnering with entrepreneurs to build what it coined the era of artificial super capability (ASC) through autonomous operations and AI agents that have the power to transform business models and unleash the greatest productivity boost in human history.

Valpas: Hotel And Rental Bedbug Safety Company Secures €4 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Valpas, a provider of a tech-based solution for bedbug-safe stays in hotels and rentals, announced it has secured €4m in seed funding led by Zenith VC along with Icebreaker VC, Finnish Industry Investment, Canon Marketing Japan MIRAI Fund, Activum SG Ventures, Houghton Street Ventures, Rockaway Ventures and Morrow Ventures.

Swell VC: An Interview With Co-Founder Rusty Ralston About Finding Market-Defining Opportunities In Venture Capital

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Swell VC, built around a core thesis that you win with people, is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in market-defining opportunities. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Swell VC’s co-founder and general partner, Rusty Ralston, to learn more about the firm.

Fytted: An Interview With Co-Founders Greg Auerbach And Olivia Dicopoulos About This AI-Based Styling Recommendation Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Fytted is an app that utilizes AI technology that is transforming the way you shop with precise body measurements and personalized styling recommendations. Over $38 billion was wasted in the processing of apparel returns last year and Fytted is reducing the time and money consumers and retailers spend on processing returns (making the online shopping experience more beneficial for all parties involved). And a portion of all of Fytted proceeds go to Remake, a charity that fights for human rights and climate justice in the clothing industry. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Fytted CEO and co-founder Greg Auerbach and Chief Creative Officer and co-founder Olivia Dicopoulos.

Formation Bio: AI-Native Pharma Company Secures $372 Million In Series D Funding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

AI-native pharma company Formation Bio announced that it has raised $372 million of Series D funding. This funding round was led by a16z, with significant participation from Sanofi. Current investors, including Sequoia, Thrive, Emerson Collective, and Lachy Groom, and new investors like SV Angel Growth and FPV Ventures, also joined the round.

Sensi.AI: Care Intelligence Company Closes $31 Million In Series B

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Care intelligence company Sensi.AI announced the successful raising of $31 million in Series B funding, bringing the company's total funding to over $53 million. And this funding round was co-led by Zeev Ventures and Insight Partners, with continued support from existing investors Entrée Capital, Flint Capital, Jibe Ventures and Secret Chord Ventures.

Crossover Markets: Digital Asset Trading Company Closes $12 Million In Series A

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Crossover Markets, a digital asset technology firm focused on meeting the unique liquidity requirements of institutions, announced that it has raised $12 million in its Series A funding round led by Illuminate Financial and DRW Venture Capital. And Illuminate and DRW VC join a growing list of strategic investors that includes institutions such as Flow Traders, Laser Digital, Two Sigma, Wintermute, and retail brokers like Exness, Gate.io, GMO, Pepperstone, Trademax and Think Markets.

Meadow Partners: $530 Million Raised For Sixth Flagship Fund

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Meadow Partners, an institutional middle-market real estate private equity investor, announced that the firm raised $530 million of new capital commitments for its sixth flagship fund Meadow Real Estate Fund VI LP and dedicated co-investment vehicles.

Micruity: Financial Tech Infrastructure Company Raises $5 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2024

Micruity announced that it closed $5 million in funding to expand support for accumulation annuities and non-guaranteed income products on the Micruity platform.