Innovation

Lorien Finance: $2.25 Million (Pre-Series A) Raised To Advance Global Education Financing

By Amit Chowdhry ● Mar 9, 2025

Lorien Finance, a financial technology company bridging global capital markets with students from emerging economies, announced it has secured $2.25 million in Pre-Series A funding, setting the stage for a transformative shift in education financing worldwide. This funding round was led by FlatIronX, a New York-based early-stage VC firm investing in fintech solutions with ties to India. And additional investors include Seedstars International Ventures (SIV)—backed by IFC, Visa Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, and Symbiotics—as well as Ahimsa Capital, Bhavesh Gupta (Ex-Paytm President & COO), Ashneer Grover (ex-BharatPe MD), Play Holdings, and Silver Ridge Accelerator.

Bluebird Kids Health: $31.5 Million Raised For Delivering Value-Based Pediatric Primary Care

By Amit Chowdhry ● Mar 9, 2025

Bluebird Kids Health, a new healthcare services company designed to deliver value-based pediatric primary care, announced the closing of a $31.5 million capital raise co-led by F Prime and .406 Ventures, with participation from AIF and founding partner Juxtapose.

SimCare AI: $2 Million (Seed) Raised For Scaling Clinical Training

By Amit Chowdhry ● Mar 9, 2025

SimCare AI has announced $2 million in seed funding to rethink clinical training from first principles: using AI patients to bypass regulatory constraints and certify clinical skills with far fewer patient interactions. The funding round was led by Y Combinator and Drive Capital, with participation from Harper Court Ventures Fund, Singularity Capital, Triple S Ventures, Goodwater Capital, Asymmetry Ventures, Sand Hill North, and Transpose Platform.

Tenneco: Strategic Investment Raised From Apollo And American Industrial Partners

By Amit Chowdhry ● Mar 9, 2025

Tenneco announced a strategic investment from Apollo Fund X into the company’s Clean Air and Powertrain businesses – which is essential for unlocking growth opportunities and strengthening the company’s long-term position as a leading global automotive supplier. And American Industrial Partners will invest along with Apollo Fund X.

Needle: $2.2 Million (Seed) Raised For AI-Based Agent Development Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Mar 9, 2025

Needle, an AI-based search and agent development platform, announced it has raised $2.2 million seed funding in a round led by 468 Capital and Presight Capital . This funding will expand Needle’s engineering team, strengthen its core technology, and accelerate its go-to-market initiatives.

TECHCOOP: $70 Million (Series A) Raised For Transforming Vietnam’s Agriculture Industry

By Amit Chowdhry ● Mar 9, 2025

TECHCOOP, which is Vietnam’s integrated agritech platform, announced it has closed a $70 million Series A funding round, comprising equity and debt funding. This funding round was co-led by Southeast Asia-focused venture capital firms TNB Aura and AVV, with new equity investors Capria Ventures, AppWorks, FMO (Dutch entrepreneurial development bank) and BlueOrchard (an impact investment manager under Schroders Group) joining. And debt financing was supported by major Vietnamese banks and international debt funds.

Vayu: Revenue Management Software Company Raises $7 Million (Seed)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Mar 9, 2025

Vayu, a company transforming billing and revenue management for B2B tech companies, announced it has raised $7 million in a seed funding round co-led by Flint Capital and The Garage. Previous investors Fresh.Fund, Secret Chord Ventures, and angel investors, including former Melio and Softbank executives, also participated.