Innovation

Butler University, gener8tor, And TechPoint Unveil Education And Workforce Innovation Accelerator

By Annie Baker ● Oct 25, 2023

Five startup companies will receive $100,000 each thanks to a new accelerator program focused on transforming education and workforce learning, especially with advanced technology. And this funding will be provided through a new partnership between Butler University, gener8tor (a global venture firm that operates accelerator programs), and TechPoint.

Feinstein Institutes Granted $6.1 Million For Funding Bipolar Disorder Patient And Research Hub

By Noah Long ● Oct 24, 2023

The researchers at The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research received a $6.1 million grant from Breakthrough Discoveries for Thriving with Bipolar Disorders Foundation (BD2) to serve as a hub of six other sites across the country. And each site will evaluate patients and collectively offer the best treatment and clinical trial options using cutting-edge biotechnology, big data analytics and an unprecedented data ecosystem to address bipolar disorder in an innovative, equitable, and rigorous way.

Aquarian Acquires Minority Stake In Obra Capital

By Noah Long ● Oct 23, 2023

Obra Capital (a specialized alternative asset management firm) recently announced that Aquarian Holdings will join as a strategic partner and has acquired a minority equity ownership stake, replacing Reverence Capital - who has been an investor since 2019. RedBird Capital is going to maintain its current ownership stake. The financial terms were not disclosed.

Honda, GM, And Cruise Planning To Launch Driverless Ride Service In Japan

By Dan Anderson ● Oct 19, 2023

Honda Motor announced it is planning to set up a joint venture with General Motors and Cruise to start a driverless ride service in Japan in early 2026. The three companies are planning to launch the joint venture in the first half of 2024, assuming regulatory approval.

Netflix Increases Prices As Subscriber Count Rises

By Noah Long ● Oct 19, 2023

Netflix announced it is increasing the prices for some customers while also reporting an increase in its subscriber base.

CIONIC: Neurotech Company Raises $12 Million In Round Led By L Catterton

By Noah Long ● Oct 19, 2023

CIONIC - a pioneering neurotech company that created the FDA-cleared Cionic Neural Sleeve - recently announced an additional $12 million extension of its Series A financing, bringing the Series A total to $25 million. This funding round was led by L Catterton, a leading consumer-focused investment firm and joined by new investor THVC, and all major investors. Plus, CIONIC has also partnered with Enable Ventures - the first impact venture fund dedicated to closing the disability wealth gap while achieving competitive, market-rate returns.

Buoyant Reveals Linkerd Enterprise, The First-Ever Commercial Distribution Of The Open-Source Service Mesh

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 17, 2023

Buoyant - the creator of Linkerd - has announced Linkerd Enterprise, the first commercial distribution of Linkerd designed to meet the unique demands of today's enterprise adopters. Linkerd Enterprise extends the popular open-source Linkerd project with more enterprise-only capabilities, including zero trust and FIPS 140-2 compliance, which is a powerful new cost-aware load balancer, lifecycle automation, etc.

Indiana University To Invest $111 Million In Advancing Microelectronics Sector

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 16, 2023

Indiana University (IU) recently announced it will invest at least $111 million over the next few years to advance its national leadership in microelectronics and nanotechnology. IU's investment will boost the growth of the microelectronics industry in Indiana and across the U.S. and accelerate innovative solutions to significant national security challenges through enhanced collaboration with the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division.

Ares Management And Vinci Partners Reveal Strategic Partnership

By Noah Long ● Oct 16, 2023

Ares Management Corporation and Vinci Partners Investments Ltd. recently announced that they have agreed to form a strategic partnership to accelerate the growth of Vinci's platform in Latin America and collaborate on distribution, product development, and other business opportunities. In connection with forming the strategic partnership, an affiliate of Ares will concurrently make a US$100 million investment in new convertible preferred shares to be issued by Vinci, subject to customary closing conditions.

T. Rowe Price And Oak Hill Advisor Launch OCREDIT Fund

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 13, 2023

T. Rowe Price and Oak Hill Advisors (OHA) recently announced the launch of their joint investment offering, the T. Rowe Price OHA Select Private Credit Fund (OCREDIT). OCREDIT offers an OHA-managed private credit investment solution for income-oriented individual investors with the convenience of a non-traded and perpetual-life business development company (BDC) structure.

How TeachMe.To And Swimply Are Making Pickleball Courts More Accessible

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 13, 2023

TeachMe.To (the nation's premier marketplace for finding and booking in-person sports and skills instruction) and Swimply (a marketplace that connects owners of underutilized spaces — swimming pools, pickleball and tennis courts, and basketball courts, with people looking to escape locally) recently announced that they have teamed up to make it easier for pickleball players, coaches and enthusiasts to find a place to play, and the expert instruction to get going or to sharpen skills.

Betterworks Launches New Generative AI Capabilities To Help Managers Work Efficiently

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 12, 2023

Betterworks has recently taken a significant step in its mission to rethink performance management and help companies cultivate more productive employees and teams. The company recently announced the next generation of its Intelligent Performance Management solution featuring three new generative AI capabilities that make creating clear goals, giving impactful employee feedback, and having meaningful and productive performance conversations easier.

Blackdot: Automated Tattooing Platform Company Launches Out Of Stealth

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 12, 2023

Blackdot - a company introducing A New Way to Tattoo - announced its official launch out of stealth and unveiled its patented automated tattooing platform, opening up bookings for the first Blackdot tattoos at its flagship studio in Austin, Texas.

Insilico Medicine And University Of Cambridge: New Way To Discover Targets For Alzheimer’s And Other Diseases

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 12, 2023

Insilico Medicine, a clinical-stage generative artificial intelligence (AI)-driven drug discovery company, and the University of Cambridge jointly published a paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), presenting an approach to identify therapeutic targets for human diseases associated with protein phase separation (PPS). This represents a significant research milestone in their collaboration, launched in September 2021.

SugarCRM Launches Generative AI For Midmarket CRM And Advancing Sales, Marketing, And Customer Service

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 12, 2023

SugarCRM - a provider of the award-winning AI-driven CRM platform - recently announced it is harnessing the power of generative AI to bring newfound out-of-the-box value and productivity gains to its thousands of midmarket customers worldwide, advancing the customer relationship management platform for sales representatives, marketers, and customer service professionals.

RK Electric Receives Investment From Huron Capital

By Annie Baker ● Oct 11, 2023

Leading middle-market private equity firm Huron Capital recently announced the launch of its latest facility services ExecFactor platform formed to execute a buy-and-build in the mission-critical, highly technical electrical services space.

Centro: Inventory Platform Company Secures $2 Million

By Noah Long ● Oct 11, 2023

Centro - an automated inventory control center for growing e-commerce brands - recently announced $2 million in pre-seed funding led by Ripple Ventures and 2048VC, with participation from Valia Ventures and Comma Capital.

Paytient Launches Platform To Expand Suite Of Health Plan Affordability Solutions

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 11, 2023

Paytient recently announced the launch of their Paytient Health platform to expand their suite of health plan affordability solutions for employers and their employees to save money on care and pharmaceuticals.

Rantizo: Spray Drone Services Company Secures Over $6 Million

By Annie Baker ● Oct 11, 2023

Rantizo - a leading operator network for spray drone services - recently announced an expansion of its oversubscribed Series A funding round. The funding round - led by Leaps by Bayer, with Fulcrum Global Capital and Innova Memphis - will enable the new executive team to lean into a new growth strategy for Rantizo.

TRG Screen Receives Strategic Growth Investment From Vista Equity Partners

By Noah Long ● Oct 11, 2023

TRG Screen - a leading provider of enterprise subscription spend and usage management software - recently announced a strategic growth investment from Vista Equity Partners, a leading global investment firm focused exclusively on enterprise software, data, and technology-enabled businesses. TRG Screen is going to use the capital to accelerate product innovation, talent, and go-to-market functions to meet the growing demand for transparency, compliance, and control of market data and information consumption.

Akura Medical: $35 Million Raised To Address The Challenges Of Venous Thromboembolism

By Dan Anderson ● Oct 11, 2023

Akura Medical - a Shifamed portfolio company focused on a differentiated approach to effectively address the major challenges of venous thromboembolism (VTE) - recently announced the closing of its $35 million Series B financing. The funding round will be used to apply for FDA 510(k) clearance for the Akura Mechanical Thrombectomy Platform, support clinical trials for additional indications, and scale manufacturing capabilities.

Laudio Ramps Up Marketing And Sales With New Leadership Team

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 10, 2023

Laudio - an innovator in frontline leader solutions that drive efficiency and engagement for health systems - recently announced the appointment of Emma Smith as Chief Marketing Officer. And the company also hired Michael Vipond as Executive Vice President of Sales.

Federal Reserve: FedNow Service Now Has Over 100 Participating Organizations

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 10, 2023

The Federal Reserve recently announced that the FedNow Service has experienced strong growth following its launch in July 2023, with 108 institutions now sending and receiving on the network.

CTERA Launches Fusion To Provide Unified File And Object Data Access

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 10, 2023

CTERA - a leader in distributed cloud file services - recently announced CTERA Fusion, a new capability built into the CTERA Enterprise File Services Platform - providing unified file and object data access. CTERA is the first to introduce a global file system to the marketplace with simultaneous SMB, NFS, and S3 access to the same data set.

Why Tenable Is Buying Ermetic

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 10, 2023

Tenable Holdings - an Exposure Management company, recently announced it has closed its acquisition of Ermetic, an innovative cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP) company and a leading provider of cloud infrastructure entitlement management (CIEM). The deal combines two cybersecurity innovators and marks an essential milestone in Tenable’s mission to shift organizations to proactive security.

AskFora: $1.5 Million Raised And Teams Offering Now Available

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 9, 2023

AskFora recently announced AskFora Teams, a new SaaS offering that helps organizations save time and money on recruiting, optimize employee development, and tackle workforce planning. The company also raised $1.5 million.

Mirakl And Havas Partnering To Accelerate E-Commerce And Retail Media

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 9, 2023

Mirakl (a pioneering and leading SaaS solution to empower businesses in their digital transformation through platform innovation) and Havas (one of the world's largest global communications networks) recently announced a unique global partnership to accelerate e-commerce and retail media growth.

Lumi: Seed Funding Raised To Transform The Disposable Packaging Industry

By Annie Baker ● Oct 9, 2023

Lumi - an innovative newcomer in the food and beverage packaging sector with a mission to combat the global surge in single-use plastics - recently announced that it successfully closed its seed round of funding.

Midi Health: Women’s Midlife Healthcare Company Closes $25 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 9, 2023

Midi Health - an emerging digital leader in women's midlife healthcare - recently announced the closing of a $25 million Series A funding round led by GV (Google Ventures). And investors Frederique Dame and Cathy Friedman from GV were joined by current investors Felicis, Semper Virens, Icon, 25M, and Operator Collective, bringing the company's total funding raised to $40 million.

Cyara Reveals Expansion In Leadership Team

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 5, 2023

Cyara - a leading AI-led Customer Experience (CX) Transformation Platform provider - recently announced the appointment of Jeff Romano as Chief Customer Officer (CCO) and the promotion of Cyara’s Executive Vice President of Product, Max Lipovetsky, to Chief Product Officer.