Innovation

Blueberry Protocol: Decentralized Prime Brokerage Terminal Company Secures $2.5 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 4, 2024

Blueberry Protocol, a decentralized prime brokerage terminal, announced $2.5 million in strategic funding led by WSC and Varys Capital. The other participants in this investment round include SNZ Capital, White Star Capital, Alchemix DAO, Aquanow, members of Dewhales, members of DCD, GateCap Ventures, Nayt Trading, and MonkeVentures.

Stacklet: $14.5 Million Raised To Transform Cloud Governance And Optimization

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 4, 2024

Stacklet, a leader in cloud governance and optimization as code, announced it has raised $14.5 million in Series B funding. This round, led by SineWave VC and with participation from Strait Capital, Uncorrelated Ventures, Capital One Ventures, Foundation Capital, and Relentless Ventures, brings Stacklet's total funding to $36.5 million.

Tendo: Helping Healthcare Organizations Streamline Patient Experiences In Over A $30 Billion Market

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 4, 2024

Tendo is a company that is on a mission to become a trusted connection between patients, clinicians, and caregivers by creating software that provides seamless, intelligent, and user-friendly experiences throughout the care journey. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Tendo CEO Dan Goldsmith to learn more about the company.

Empowered Together: Offering Tech-Enabled Support For Families Affected By Disability In A $500+ Billion Market

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 4, 2024

Empowered Together is a company that has been pioneering tech-enabled support for families affected by disability. The company’s marketplace enables disability self-advocates and their families to discover, review, and recommend accessible businesses. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Empowered Together’s Founder and CEO Sarah Spear to learn more about the company.

Grey Wolf Therapeutics: $50 Million Raised To Advance Antigen Modulation Technology

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 3, 2024

Grey Wolf Therapeutics (a clinical-stage biotechnology company leveraging first-of-its-kind antigen modulation therapies to address the source of immune dysfunction in oncology and autoimmunity) announced the closing of an oversubscribed $50 million Series B financing expansion, bringing the total amount of Series B funds raised to $99 million.

Averlon Closes $10 Million To Help Enterprises Prevent Cloud Security Threats

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 3, 2024

Cyber intrusion insurance premiums are doubling year over year, and AI-driven cyberattacks are costing U.S. companies a lot of money. Averlon, a pioneering cloud security company, emerged from stealth mode with an $8 million seed funding round aimed at transforming how organizations stay ahead of emerging threats.

Bootloader Studio Secures $5 Million To Create Technology That Responses To Human Emotions

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 3, 2024

Bootloader Studio, a pioneering experience at the intersection of affective AI and spatial computing, emerged from stealth with the vision, funding, and clear path to develop emotionally-driven AI that can read and respond to human emotion. Bootloader Studio also revealed that it has raised $5 million in seed funding led by Antler Elevate. And the Bootloader Studio team brings together expertise in entertainment (film, video games) and AI to create a wholly new virtual and interactive experience.

AuditBoard To Be Acquired By Hg For $3+ Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 3, 2024

AuditBoard, a leading connected risk platform transforming audit, risk, compliance, and ESG management, has reached an agreement to be acquired in a deal valued at over $3 billion by Hg, an experienced and leading global investor in compliance, risk, and accounting software over the last 20 years.

Finout: FinOps-For-Enterprise Company Raises $26 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 3, 2024

Finout, a FinOps-for-enterprise company, announced a $26.3 million Series B funding round led by Red Dot Capital with the participation of Maor Investments and existing investors Team8, Pitango, and Jibe Ventures.

Twipes: How This Company Is Bringing A Clean Change To A Dirty Industry

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 3, 2024

Twipes is a company that is bringing clean change to a dirty industry. The company created the world's first truly flushable and biodegradable wet wipes. These wipes disperse in water within 3 hours and biodegrade in landfill within just 7 days. And they are plastic-free, alcohol-free, and paraben-free - dermatologist-tested to be as safe on skin as they are for the planet. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Twipes COO Ellenor McIntosh to learn more about the company.

Radar Therapeutics: $13.4 Million Closed To Develop Smart Programmable Medicines

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 3, 2024

Radar Therapeutics, a biotech company developing smart programmable medicines, announced the completion of an oversubscribed $13.4 million in seed financing led by NfX Bio. Major investors Eli Lilly and Company, Biovision Ventures, and KdT Ventures also joined the round, with participation from PearVC, BEVC and other investors. The financing will support advancement of Radar’s internal programs, team expansion and partnering.

Waste Management To Buy Stericycle For $7.2 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 3, 2024

Waste Management and Stericycle announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which WM will acquire all outstanding shares of Stericycle for $62 per share in cash, representing a total enterprise value of approximately $7.2 billion when including approximately $1.4 billion of Stericycle’s net debt.

CipherStash: How This Company Helps Alleviate The Leading Cause Of Data Breaches

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 3, 2024

CipherStash is a company that lets you apply access control directly to your data with encryption-in-use that works everywhere, from SQL to Spreadsheet. Pulse 2.0 interviewed CipherStash CEO and founder Dan Draper to learn more about the company.

Valar Labs: Computational Cancer Therapy AI Company Raises $22 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 3, 2024

Valar Labs, the developer of computational histology AI (CHAI) tests for predicting response to cancer therapies, announced $22 million in Series A funding.

StrokeDx: Stroke Technology Company Raises $5 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 3, 2024

Stroke technology company StrokeDx has secured $5 million in Series Seed Prime funding to develop and commercialize advanced technologies for safe cerebrovascular monitoring.

DeepL: Language AI Company Raises $300 Million At $2 Billion Valuation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 3, 2024

Leading Language AI company DeepL announced $300 million of investment at a $2 billion valuation. Led by Index Ventures, the oversubscribed round attracted strong support from new investors to support DeepL’s long-term vision to transform the way companies communicate around the world. And additional late-stage investors, including ICONIQ Growth, Teachers’ Venture Growth, and others, also participated, along with existing investors IVP, Atomico, and WiL.

Carlyle: JPY 430 Billion Raised For Fifth Japanese Buyout Fund

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 3, 2024

Global investment firm Carlyle announced the final closing of its fifth Japanese buyout fund, Carlyle Japan Partners V (CJP V). At JPY 430 billion (about $2.8 billion), which includes commitments from the General Partner and its affiliates, CJP V hit the hard cap on Limited Partner commitments. This represents the largest fundraise for a buyout strategy focused on the Japanese market.

WitnessAI: Secure AI Enablement Platform Raises $27.5 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 3, 2024

WitnessAI, a creator of an enablement platform for safe AI use, announced a $27.5 million Series A round co-led by GV and Ballistic Ventures. Ballistic Ventures previously incubated the company.

Cover Whale: Insurance Tech Company Raises $27.5 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 3, 2024

Cover Whale Insurance Solutions, a leading insurtech specializing in connected insurance for commercial auto, announced $27.5 million in debt and equity from investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital.

AltruBio: $225 Million Raised To Develop Novel Therapeutics For Treating Immunological Diseases With Unmet Medical Needs

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 3, 2024

AltruBio, a clinical stage biotechnology company dedicated to the development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of immunological diseases with high unmet medical needs, announced an oversubscribed Series B financing of up to $225 million.

Amino Health: Digital Healthcare Navigation Company Raises $10 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 3, 2024

Amino Health, a leading digital healthcare navigation company, announced a $10 million funding round led by Transformation Capital. This funding will be used to accelerate Amino’s AI product roadmap for building personalized patient care journeys. This latest funding round follows Transformation Capital's $30 million investment in May 2023.

Max Retail: $15 Million Secured To Help Brands Sell Excess Inventory

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 3, 2024

Max Retail, a marketplace that makes it easier for independent retailers and brands to sell excess inventory, announced a $15 million Series A round led by Nosara Capital with participation from Rethink Impact. This funding round also includes continued support from LA-based VC M13, The Artemis Fund, and StandUp Ventures.

Volt: SMS Infrastructure Platform Company Raises $3 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 3, 2024

Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Volt, a leading Messaging Operations (Ops) infrastructure platform that enables software companies to integrate with multiple SMS providers and streamline number registration compliance and delivery reporting, announced the closing of its $3 million seed round. Mercury led this funding round, which also included participation from Atento Capital, Uncorrelated Ventures, Stout Street Capital, and Yellow Rocks. The new funding round will enable Volt to further enhance and accelerate its product development and strategically expand its team.

Bolster: Multi-Channel Phishing Protection Company Raises $14 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 2, 2024

Bolster, a multi-channel phishing protection leader, announced a $14 million Series B financing round led by M12 (Microsoft’s venture fund). And existing investors Thomvest Ventures, Crosslink Capital, Liberty Global Ventures, Cheyenne Ventures, Cervin Ventures, and Transform Capital also participated. This brought Bolster’s total funding to over $40 million.

HoundDog.ai: $3.1 Million Raised To Help Organizations Protect Sensitive Data From Exposure

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 2, 2024

HoundDog.ai, a company implementing data security and privacy controls at the code level, announced the completion of a $3.1 million seed funding round led by E14, Mozilla Ventures, ex/ante, and additional angel investors.

Vaxess: $12 Million Raised To Develop Shelf-Stable MIMIX Skin Patch For Vaccines And Therapeutics

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 2, 2024

Vaxess Technologies, a life sciences company developing a shelf-stable MIMIX skin patch for vaccines and therapeutics, announced that it has received $12 million in additional funding. Investors included RA Capital Management, Engine Ventures, GHIC, and Mission Bio Capital. This brings Vaxess’s total equity and non-dilutive funding to more than $90 million.

Maxa: $21 Million Raised To Advance Snowflake Native App For ERP Insights Automation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 1, 2024

Maxa - the #1 Snowflake Native App for business system and ERP insights automation for the Gen AI era - announced that it closed its Series A funding as part of an oversubscribed $21 million transaction. The funding round was led by FRAMEWORK, with BDC Capital’s Industrial Innovation Venture Fund as co-lead. Maxa also welcomed new investors Snowflake Ventures, Amiral Ventures and NAventures, the venture arm of National Bank of Canada, in addition to third-time backers AQC Capital and Graphite Ventures.

Babylon: $70 Million Raised To Build A Bitcoin-Secured Decentralized World

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 1, 2024

Babylon, a project that aims to build a Bitcoin-secured decentralized world, today announced the completion of its $70 million funding round. This funding round - led by Paradigm with significant contributions from Bullish Capital, Polychain Capital, and other investors - signals momentum in the Bitcoin economy.

Palantir Wins $480 Million Army Contract For Maven AI Technology

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 1, 2024

Palantir Technologies announced that the Department of Defense Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) awarded its subsidiary (Palantir USG) a production contract to make licenses of their AI-enabled operating system available across the Department of Defense (DoD). Starting with an initial order of $153 million for supporting certain Combatant Commands and the Joint Staff, more awards could be made up to $480 million over a 5-year period.

Switchboard: Customizable Oracle Network Company Raises $7.5 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 1, 2024

Switchboard, a customizable oracle network that lets users plug into the on-chain economy, announced it has raised $7.5 million in a Series A round led by Tribe Capital and RockawayX, with participation from Solana Foundation, Aptos Labs, Mysten Labs (Sui), Subzero Ventures, Starkware, Arche Capital, Breed VC, Ascensive Assets, BlockBuilders, and others.