Innovation

UBS Private Wealth Management: William Wright And Matthew Hoffman Joining Firm In NYC Office

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2024

UBS Private Wealth Management announced that Private Wealth Advisors William Wright and Matthew Hoffman will join the firm in its New York City office, along with Senior Wealth Strategy Associate Audrey Kaus.

Stonebranch: Minority Investment From EMH Partners

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2024

Stonebranch, a leading provider of service orchestration and automation solutions, announced a significant minority investment from EMH Partners, a leading growth investment firm that partners with technology businesses and entrepreneurs. As part of the deal, funds advised by EMH Partners obtain a significant minority stake while Elvaston continues to have majority ownership. The funds will support growth, platform enhancements, and geographic expansion.

Buyers Edge Platform: $425 Million Preferred Equity Investment

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2024

Buyers Edge Platform, a leader in digital procurement solutions for the foodservice industry, announced a $425 million preferred equity investment from a consortium led by General Atlantic Credit’s (GA Credit) Atlantic Park Fund, and funds managed by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Tactical Value.

Grow Therapy: Mental Health Technology Company Raises $88 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2024

Grow Therapy, a provider-centric mental health technology company improving access to high-quality mental healthcare, announced the closing of its $88 million Series C investment round led by Sequoia Capital, with support from Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives and PLUS Capital along with artists and athletes from their collective, including Anna Kendrick, Lily Collins, Dak Prescott, Joe Burrow, Jrue Holiday, and Lauren Holiday. Existing investors Transformation Capital, SignalFire, and TCV also joined the round.

Unisys Names Brett Barton As VP And Global AI Practice Leader

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2024

Unisys announced Brett Barton as its vice president and global AI practice leader. He will report to Unisys Senior Vice President and CTO Dwayne Allen.

Leash Biosciences: $9.3 Million Raised To Solve Medicinal Chemistry

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 9, 2024

Leash Biosciences, an AI/ML-native biotechnology company utilizing machine learning to solve medicinal chemistry, announced the completion of a $9.3 million seed financing round to advance its goal of transforming medicinal chemistry through modern computational methods and massive biological data collection. The oversubscribed round was led by Springtide Ventures with participation from MetaPlanet, Top Harvest Capital, Mitsui Global Investment, MFV Partners, Recursion CEO and co-founder Chris Gibson, and Recursion co-founder Blake Borgeson.

Procurement Sciences AI: $10 Million Raised To Transform Government Contracting Business Development Processes

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 9, 2024

Procurement Sciences AI (PSci.AI), a next-generation bidding intelligence platform for government contractors, today announced that it has raised $10 million in Series A funding. The funding round was led by global, technology-focused investment firm Battery Ventures, with follow-on investment from Tower Research Capital and new funding from K Street Capital and Blu Ventures. Brandon Gleklen from Battery Ventures and Jared Young from Tower Research will join the Procurement Sciences board of directors.

Luminance: Legal LLM Company Raises $40 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 9, 2024

Luminance, a leader in legal-grade AI, announced that it has raised $40 million in a Series B funding round. March Capital led the round, which included participation from National Grid Partners and other existing investors, including Slaughter and May.

SingleInterface: Hyperlocal Marketing-To-Commerce Company Raises $30 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 9, 2024

SingleInterface, a leader in the ‘hyperlocal marketing-to-commerce’ software sector, announced a $30 million financing in its first-ever external fundraising round. Asia Partners, a Singapore-based growth equity investment firm focused on investments in high-growth technology and technology-enabled companies, led the round. And PayPal Ventures, the venture arm of PayPal, also participated.

Lockchain: Blockchain Risk Management Platform Closes $4.6 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 9, 2024

Lockchain.ai, an AI-powered Blockchain Risk Management platform, announced its official launch from stealth to bring automated risk management solutions to traders, investors, and fund managers in the blockchain ecosystem. The company also announced it raised $4.6 million through a seed round led by Lerer Hippeau. The funding round included Arrington Capital, Valhalla Ventures, ARCA, RSE/Vayner, Sonic Boom Ventures, Alex Weiss of Clear Sky Capital, and Artico Search. White Star Capital joined in a subsequent funding cycle.

Aligned Marketplace: $8 Million Raised To Help Americans Find High-Quality Primary Care Relationships

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 9, 2024

Aligned Marketplace, a membership to a national network of value-based advanced primary care for employers, announced it raised $8 million in a seed funding round led by A* Capital and Maverick Ventures, with participation from Box Group, EPIC Ventures, Liquid2 Ventures, SV Angel, and other angel operators.

Lumana: Video Security Platform Company Raises $24 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 9, 2024

Lumana has emerged from stealth with a next-generation video security platform that utilizes AI and distributed hybrid cloud architecture. With $24 million in seed funding from Norwest and S Capital and a talented leadership team experienced in computer vision and machine learning, Lumana transforms any security camera into an AI-powered device that can identify complex events and potential risks as they occur.

Seaport Therapeutics: $100 Million Raised To Advance Development Of Novel Neuropsychiatric Medicines

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 9, 2024

Seaport Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that is charting a proven path in neuropsychiatry, announced the closing of a $100 million oversubscribed Series A financing round. The funding round was co-led by ARCH Venture Partners and Sofinnova Investments, as well as Third Rock Ventures and Seaport founder PureTech Health. Seaport appointed Daphne Zohar as Founder, CEO and a member of the Board of Directors, and Steven M. Paul, M.D., as founder and Chair of the Board of Directors.

rater8: Healthcare Reputation Management Company Raises Strategic Funding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 9, 2024

rater8, a leader in healthcare reputation management and patient feedback solutions, announced the close of a Series A funding round led by Elsewhere Partners. rater8 will use the growth financing to expand its market reach to medical practices and hospitals of all types and sizes. It will continue to build out its team, deepen industry partnerships, and enhance its SaaS solutions to meet the changing needs of patients and the modern healthcare community.

Varda: Space Manufacturing And Hypersonic Earth Re-Entry Logistics Company Raises $90 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 9, 2024

Varda Space Industries - the world's first in-space manufacturing and hypersonic Earth re-entry logistics company - announced the completion of a $90 million Series B funding round, led by Caffeinated Capital, with participation from Lux Capital, General Catalyst, Founders Fund, and Khosla Ventures. And Varda has raised $145 million to date.

Fluid Topics: €15 Million Raised From Kennet Partners

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 9, 2024

Fluid Topics, a leading Content Delivery Platform for product information, announced the completion of its Series B funding round. Kennet Partners has invested €15 million in the company to reinforce Fluid Topics’ premier position on the market by scaling operations across the US and utilizing the potential of AI in customer support applications. Existing investors include Ventech, the pioneering pan-European early-stage VC, and Credit Mutuel Innovation.

DataStax Buying Langflow Creator Logspace

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 9, 2024

GenAI data company DataStax announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire AI startup Logspace, the creators of Langflow, an open-source visual framework for building retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) applications.

Flip: Social Commerce Company Raises $144 Million At $1.05 Billion Valuation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 9, 2024

Flip, a rapidly growing social commerce platform, announced the company will soon be relaunching its marketing platform for brands utilizing AppLovin’s AXON technology. And Flip announced it is raising $144 million in a Series C funding round, including a $50 million investment by AppLovin. This funding round was led by Streamlined Ventures with participation from previous investors Mubadala Capital and WestCap, and AppLovin as a new investor, bringing the company’s pre-money valuation to $1.05 billion.

Blackstone Taking AIR Communities Private In $10 Billion Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

Blackstone and Apartment Income REIT announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Blackstone Real Estate Partners X will buy all outstanding common shares of AIR Communities for $39.12 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at about $10 billion, including the assumption of debt.

Windfall Bio: Methane-To-Value Solutions Company Raises $28 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

Windfall Bio, a leader in methane-to-value solutions, announced its $28 million Series A funding round led by Prelude Ventures with participation from Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Global Brain (through its Norinchukin Innovation Fund L.P.), Incite Ventures, and Positive Ventures. Existing investors, including B37 Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Mayfield, and UNTITLED (a fund backed by the Tetra Laval family), also joined the round.

AXA IM To Buy W Capital Partners

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) announced that it has agreed to buy W Capital Management, a US-based private equity firm specializing in GP-led and direct secondary investments. WCP will remain within AXA IM Prime, AXA IM’s fully integrated investment solutions provider across private markets like private equity, private debt, infrastructure, and hedge funds.

ION Clean Energy: $45 Million Raised In Round Led By Chevron

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

ION Clean Energy (ION) announced it has raised $45 million from Chevron New Energies (CNE), a division of Chevron U.S.A., who is leading the round, and Carbon Direct Capital. ION is a Boulder-based company that offers post-combustion point-source capture technology through its third-generation ICE-31 liquid amine system.

Sanctuary Wealth Adds To Leadership Team

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

Sanctuary Wealth has appointed former Wells Fargo and UBS executive Michael Goldfader as its new West Coast Regional Managing Director. Goldfader brings 33 years of experience as a financial advisor and senior field leader to his role and joins a deep bench of wirehouse executives who have brought their skills and strategic relationships to Sanctuary.

Maniv: $140 Million Third Fund Closed

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

Maniv, a global venture capital firm based in Tel Aviv and NYC, announced the closing of its third fund, a $140 million vehicle to invest in Seed and Series A stage startups. This brings the firm’s assets under management to nearly $320 million.

Biolinq: $58 Million Raised To Build Precision Multi-Analyte Biosensors To Improve Metabolic Health

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

Biolinq, a healthcare technology company pioneering precision multi-analyte biosensors to improve metabolic health, announced the completion of $58 million in financing led by Alpha Wave Ventures, with participation from Niterra’s corporate venture capital fund jointly operated with Pegasus Tech Ventures and existing investors RiverVest Venture Partners, AXA IM Alts, Global Health Investment, Aphelion Capital, Senvest Management, Features Capital and Taisho Pharmaceutical.

SK Capital Partners: Closes Fund VI At $2.95 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

SK Capital Partners, LP announced the final closing of SK Capital Partners VI at $2.95 billion. This fund is the latest vintage of the SK Capital's Flagship private investment strategy.

Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners: $600 Million Solar+Storage Continuation Fund Closed

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, a specialist global investment manager focused exclusively on the infrastructure needed for the energy transition, announced the successful closing of Quinbrook Valley of Fire Fund with $600 million in capital commitments from leading US and European institutional investors. This Fund is a continuation of the large-scale solar+storage strategy of Quinbrook’s Low Carbon Power Fund (LCPF).

SiMa.ai: Embedded Edge Machine Learning System-On-Chip Company Raises $70 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

SiMa.ai, the software-centric and embedded edge machine learning system-on-chip company, announced it raised an additional $70 million of funding led by Maverick Capital, with participation from Point72 and Jericho, and existing investors Amplify Partners, Dell Technologies Capital, Lip-Bu Tan, and others.

Ivo: GenAI Legal Contracting Solution Raises $4.8 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

Ivo (formerly Latch), a generative AI (GenAI) powered contract review solution, announced $4.8 million in funding to enable legal teams to improve efficiency and accuracy and drive consistent negotiating positions. This funding round was led by Uncork Capital and Fika Ventures, with additional funding from previous investors Daniel Gross, GD1, and Phase One Ventures. This brings the company’s total funding to $6.2 million.

Lirvana Labs: Yeti Confetti Kids App Company Closes $5.3 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 8, 2024

Lirvana Labs, the creator of the Yeti Confetti Kids app, which provides an AI-powered personalized learning companion for preschool to elementary grade children, announced it had raised $5.3 million in early-stage financing led by Kapor Capital III, Transcend Capital Partners II, and Chingona Ventures.