Innovation

AMP Robotics Closes $99 Million To Build Systems That Can Sort Recyclable Materials

By Dan Anderson ● May 26, 2023

AMP Robotics - a pioneer in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and infrastructure for the waste and recycling industry - announced it has received financing from Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund. This latest funding round brings AMP’s Series C round, led by Congruent Ventures and Wellington Management to a total of over $99 million.

Laguna Health: Contextual Care Management Platform Company Secures $15 Million

By Noah Long ● May 23, 2023

Laguna Health - an AI-powered contextual care management platform - announced the initial close of its Series A fundraise: a $15 million round co-led by SemperVirens and HC9 Ventures.

NBCUniversal Global Ad Head Linda Yaccarino To Become Twitter CEO

By Annie Baker ● May 12, 2023

NBCUniversal’s global advertising head Linda Yaccarino has resigned from the media giant to join the social media platform company Twitter as its next chief executive. This hiring was confirmed by Twitter’s owner Elon Musk, who is also known as the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla as well.

Olyns: Recycling Technology Company Secures $4 Million

By Annie Baker ● May 9, 2023

Olyns - a leader in innovative recycling technologies - announced its Series A financing of $4 million led by Vanedge Capital. This funding round will accelerate Olyns' development of AI-driven technology and expand its dual recycling and media network.

Carnegie Mellon University Leading NSF AI Institute For Societal Decision Making With $20 Million Commitment

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 9, 2023

The advancement of artificial intelligence and its integration into crisis response can impact society and help save lives. But to actually be effective, artificial intelligence researchers, social scientists, decision-makers, and the public must understand and trust these tools. Led by Carnegie Mellon University, the AI Institute for Societal Decision Making (AI-SDM) is going to improve the response to societal challenges such as disaster management and public health by developing human-centric AI tools to assist with critical decisions. The institute is also going to develop interdisciplinary training to bolster effective and rapid responses in uncertain and dynamic situations. The AI-SDM is 1 of 7 AI institutes awarded today by the National Science Foundation. And a 5-year $20 million commitment from the NSF will support the institute.

Fusion Risk Management Receives Strategic Growth Investment from Great Hill Partners

By Annie Baker ● May 1, 2023

Fusion Risk Management - a leading provider of cloud-based operational resilience, business continuity, and risk management software and services - announced a strategic growth investment from Great Hill Partners.

Super.com: $85 Million Secured To Help Everyday Americans Save Money And Access Credit

By Dan Anderson ● May 1, 2023

Savings super app company Super.com announced a Series C funding round, which closed at $85 million led by Inovia Capital, significantly increasing the valuation of the company since its March 2021 Series B raise.

Stack Identity: Identity And Access Management Company Secures $4 Million

By Noah Long ● May 1, 2023

Stack Identity - a startup that is automating identity and access management (IAM) governance to identify and eliminate cloud data threat vectors - announced its emergence from stealth mode. And the company also revealed the closing of a $4 million seed funding round co-led by WestWave Capital and Benhamou Global Ventures.

FiVerity: Anti-Fraud Collaboration Company Closes $4 Million

By Annie Baker ● Apr 29, 2023

FiVerity - the creators of the Anti-Fraud Collaboration platform - announced a $4 million seed financing round led by Mendon Venture Partners - which is a venture capital investment and strategic advisory firm focused on the intersection of financial technology companies and traditional banks.

Rogers Signs Deal With SpaceX For Satellite-To-Phone Coverage In Canada

By Noah Long ● Apr 27, 2023

Rogers Communications and SpaceX announced the companies have agreed to bring satellite-to-phone coverage nationwide to ensure Canadians stay connected in areas beyond the limits of traditional wireless networks.

Why Bosch Is Buying TSI Semiconductors For $1.5 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 27, 2023

Bosch - which has plans to expand its semiconductor business with silicon carbide chips - announced plans to acquire assets of the U.S. chipmaker TSI Semiconductors, based in Roseville, California. With a workforce of 250, the company is a foundry for application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

Alorica: $725 Million Refinancing Announced

By Annie Baker ● Apr 25, 2023

Alorica announced it closed a refinancing led by Cerberus Business Finance, LLC, and its affiliates. Through a directly negotiated transaction, Alorica received a $725 million senior secured term loan along with an upsized $300 million ABL facility provided by a syndicate of banks.

Bed Bath & Beyond Files For Bankruptcy: What This Means For Customers

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 24, 2023

Bed Bath & Beyond announced this past week that it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after the company failed several attempts to raise enough funding to stay afloat.

lockr: Digital Identity Company Raises $2.5 Million

By Dan Anderson ● Apr 24, 2023

lockr – the first consumer-focused platform for digital identity, consent, and data – announced it has raised $2.5 million in pre-seed funding.

SoundHound AI Closes $125 Million Loan Facility

By Noah Long ● Apr 22, 2023

Flourish Achieves $2 Billion Assets Under Custody Milestone

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 21, 2023

Flourish - a company that provides innovative access to financial products that help registered investment advisors (RIAs) secure the financial futures of clients - announced record growth alongside other milestones including enhancements to its product suite and integration partner ecosystem. And the company now boasts over $2 billion in assets under custody (AUC) and over 550 RIA firms on the platform.

BlueMark: Impact Verification And Intelligence Company Secures $10 Million

By Dan Anderson ● Apr 21, 2023

TextUs Hits Over 1 Billion Messages Sent And Received

By Annie Baker ● Apr 20, 2023

TextUs - a leading conversational texting platform that enables organizations to have engaging real-time conversations with prospects, candidates, employees, and customers - announced it has recently surpassed one billion messages sent and received on its platform.

Cellcom Telecommunications Israel To Roll Out Independent 5G Network

By Noah Long ● Apr 19, 2023

Cellcom and Parallel Wireless have announced the launch of their first-of-a-kind pilot, which is going to demonstrate the deployment of autonomous 5G SA core sites in Israel.

E-Bike Subscription Platform Company Whizz Raises $3.4 Million

By Dan Anderson ● Apr 19, 2023

Whizz - an e-bike subscription platform for last-mile delivery drivers - announced that it has raised $3.4 million from Joint Journey, TMT Investments, and a group of angel investors in a seed round of funding. This investment brings the company’s total fundraising to date to $4.5 million.

Indiana University Announces New IU Innovates Entrepreneurship Program

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 19, 2023

Indiana University announced a new initiative, which would create an integrated and university-wide infrastructure to support students and faculty in the creation and growth of startup ventures - which is called IU Innovates.

Helio Secures $3.3 Million To Enable Web3 Payments For The Masses

By Noah Long ● Apr 19, 2023

Helio recently announced it raised $3.3 million in a seed round of funding in order to bring Web3 payments to the masses.

University Of Miami Launches Miami Engineering Autonomous Mobility Initiative

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 19, 2023

The University of Miami College of Engineering announced it has launched the Miami Engineering Autonomous Mobility Initiative (MEAMI), which is a consortium of academic, industry, and government partners aimed at transforming the way we commute and live.

truData To Invest $5 Million In Costa Rica Nearshore Operations

By Noah Long ● Apr 19, 2023

truData Solutions - a cloud engineering firm focused on delivery excellence enabled through a multishore engagement model - announced it will invest $5 million in its nearshore capability in San Jose, Costa Rica this year.

Prairie View A&M University’s National Center For Infrastructure Transformation Receives $2.5 Million Commitment

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 19, 2023

The Texas A&M University System is going to supercharge the development of Prairie View A&M University’s new National Center for Infrastructure Transformation with a $500,000 boost for the next 5 years.

Apple Offers 4.15% High-Yield Savings For Apple Card Users

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 18, 2023

Apple has announced that it is now offering Apple Card holders a 4.15% high-yield savings account through Goldman Sachs.

ComEd: $963 Million Invested In Diversity-Certified Suppliers In 2022

By Annie Baker ● Apr 17, 2023

ComEd - as part of a longstanding effort to advance equity in the communities it serves - announced it spent $963 million, or 43% of its total supply chain spend, with businesses owned by women, people of color, and veterans in 2022.

Apollo Fund Portfolio Companies Achieve $1 Billion In Diverse Spend

By Annie Baker ● Apr 17, 2023

Apollo recently announced the achievement of over $1 billion in diverse spending across its funds’ private equity portfolio as part of the firm’s Supplier Diversity Program.

Ford Investing C$1.8 Billion In Ontario Assembly Complex

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 14, 2023

Ford Motor Company is investing C$1.8 billion ($1.3 billion) in its Oakville Assembly Complex in Ontario to transition it into a high-volume hub of electric vehicle manufacturing in Canada – which is a crucial part of the company’s plan to scale production of electric vehicles and make them more accessible to millions of customers.

Aspect Biosystems And Novo Nordisk Sign $2.6 Billion Bioprinted Tissue Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 14, 2023

Aspect Biosystems recently announced a $2.6 billion collaboration with pharma giant Novo Nordisk to partner on the development of bioprinted tissue therapeutics for diabetes and obesity.