Innovation

TPG To Buy Collision Repair Multi-Site Operator Classic Collision

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 5, 2024

Global alternative asset management firm TPG has agreed to acquire Classic Collision, a leading national collision repair multi-site operator. TPG Capital (the U.S. and European private equity platform of TPG) will buy the business from New Mountain Capital. Classic Collision’s management team will remain invested in the company. The terms of the transaction were undisclosed.

Hello Alice: Fintech Platform Closes Series C Funding Round

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 4, 2024

Hello Alice - a fintech platform connecting 1.5 million small businesses to capital, connections, and opportunities - announced the closing of a Series C funding round with QED Investors, Mastercard, and others. This funding round brought the company’s valuation to $130 million. Additional investors in this round of funding included Backstage Capital, Guy Fieri, Golden Seeds, Harbert Growth Partners Fund, How Women Invest I, LP, Lovell Limited Partnership, Tyler "Ninja" and Jessica Blevins, and Tamera Mowry and Adam Housley.

Pigment: Business Planning Platform Raises $145 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 4, 2024

Pigment, a business planning platform, announced a $145 million Series D funding round led by ICONIQ Growth. Sandberg Bernthal Venture Partners and several other existing investors, including IVP, Meritech, Greenoaks, and Felix Capital, also participated in the round.

Eirene: Online Funeral Services Provider Secures $4 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 4, 2024

Eirene, Canada's first and only online funeral services provider, announced it had launched operations in the U.S. after raising $4.1 million in seed funding. Relay Ventures led the funding round, with participation from Export Development Canada and Saint Elizabeth Healthcare. This funding round will drive Eirene's expansion into the US, build its brand, and grow the team.

Diagonal Therapeutics: $128 Million Raised To Discover/Develop Agonist Antibodies

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 4, 2024

Diagonal Therapeutics - a company pioneering a new approach to discover and develop agonist antibodies - has launched with $128 million in financing. BVF Partners and Atlas Venture co-led the Series A funding round, with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners, RA Capital Management, Frazier Life Sciences, Viking Global Investors, Velosity Capital, and Checkpoint Capital. The company was co-founded by CEO Alex Lugovskoy, Ph.D., and Atlas and was previously seeded by Atlas, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Velosity Capital.

Manifold: AI-Powered Clinical Research Platform Company Closes $15 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 4, 2024

Manifold, an AI-powered clinical research platform, announced a $15 million Series A. TQ Ventures led this funding round. It also included new investors Calibrate Ventures and SK Ventures, notable founders and CEOs, including healthcare leader Dr. Sachin H. Jain, and existing investors, including TTCER Partners. Additional investors and advisors include Dr. Gaurav Singal (former Chief Data Officer, Foundation Medicine), Eric Just (former SVP and General Manager, Health Catalyst), Amar Kendale (former Chief Product Officer), Livongo/Teladoc, Andrew Bialecki (CEO & Co-Founder, Klaviyo), Brad Porter (CEO & Founder, Collaborative Robotics and former VP Robotics, Amazon), Steve Fredette (President & Co-Founder, Toast), Jon Karlen (Chairman & Founder, Acadian Software), and Pravin Soni (former CTO & Co-Founder, Elevation Pharma).

Brightwood Capital Advisors: Middle Market CLO Closed At $707 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 4, 2024

Private credit firm Brightwood Capital Advisors announced that it had closed Brightwood Capital MM CLO 2024-2, a $707 million collateralized loan obligation (CLO). This CLO represents the second largest new issue middle-market CLO this year, bringing the firm’s year-to-date issuance to $862 million, and it makes Brightwood one of the top three largest middle-market issuers year-to-date (representing over 10% of the total middle-market issuance). This also marks Brightwood’s seventh CLO since 2019, bringing the firm’s total CLO issuance to over $3.5 billion.

OceanSound Partners: $1.15 Billion Single-Asset Continuation Fund Transaction Closed

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 4, 2024

OceanSound Partners—a PE firm that invests in technology-enabled services companies working with government and highly regulated enterprise end markets—announced the closing of a $1.15 billion single-asset continuation fund transaction in connection with the sale of its portfolio company, SMX Group, from OceanSound Partners Fund, LP.

Coalesce.io: Data Transformation Company Raises $50 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 4, 2024

Data transformation company Coalesce.io has closed $50 million in Series B funding to drive growth. Industry Ventures and Emergence Capital led the funding round with participation from 11.2 Capital, Bob Muglia, DNX Ventures, GreatPoint Ventures, Hyperlink Ventures, Next Legacy Partners, Snowflake Ventures, and Telstra Ventures. Including this round, the company brought the company’s total funding to $81 million.

Netgain: Accounting Software Solutions Company Closes $35 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 4, 2024

Netgain, a leading software provider for finance and accounting teams, announced a $35 million minority investment led by Summit Partners. The funding round will drive product development and team expansion while supporting Netgain’s commitment to helping accountants free up time by automating routine tasks.

Advent International Taking Nuvei Private In $6.3 Billion Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 4, 2024

Nuvei announced that it has entered into a definitive arrangement agreement to be taken private by private equity firm Advent International, with the support of each of the company's holders of multiple voting shares, including Philip Fayer, certain investment funds managed by Novacap Management, and CDPQ. This all-cash transaction values Nuvei at an enterprise value of approximately US$6.3 billion. The company will remain based in Montreal.

Velox: Digital Decoration Solutions Company Raises $38 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 4, 2024

Velox, a developer, manufacturer, and seller of industrial direct-to-shape digital decoration solutions for rigid packaging containers, announced it has secured a $38 million funding round. Fortissimo Capital led the funding round. And existing investors JAL Ventures, O.R.T. Technologies, Ilan Holdings, Evonik, Waypoint Investors, and Migdal Insurance & Finance joined the funding round.

Raymond James Adds $243 Million Financial Advisor

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 4, 2024

Raymond James Financial Institutions Division (FID) senior vice president and national director Stephen Kruchten announced that the firm has recently welcomed financial advisor Joseph Martinez to Pinnacle Asset Management (located at Pinnacle Financial Partners, a current FID-affiliated branch).

Chase Launches New Digital Media Business

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 4, 2024

Chase announced it has launched a digital media business called Chase Media Solutions. This service will allow brands to connect with the financial institution’s 80 million customers.

Emerald Bay Risk Solutions Launches With Funding From Bain

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 3, 2024

Collaborative underwriting carrier Emerald Bay Risk Solutions announced its formal launch with a significant strategic investment from Bain Capital Insurance, the insurance investing unit of Bain Capital.

Blue Yonder To Buy One Network Enterprises For About $839 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 3, 2024

Blue Yonder - a leader in digital supply chain transformations - announced the signing of an agreement to acquire One Network Enterprises for about $839 million, subject to adjustments. One Network is known for its autonomous and resilience services and is a leading global provider of intelligent control towers. Upon the deal's completion, Blue Yonder will be well-positioned to serve customers’ needs across planning, execution, and commerce.

InStride Health: Specialty Pediatric Anxiety And OCD Treatment Company Raises $30 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 3, 2024

InStride Health, an outpatient provider of specialty pediatric anxiety and OCD treatment, announced it closed an oversubscribed $30 million Series B funding round. General Catalyst led the funding round and was joined by previous investors .406 Ventures, Valtruis, Mass General Brigham Ventures, and Hopelab Foundation.

One Equity Partners Buying Marine Energy Company Acteon Group

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 3, 2024

Orchard Robotics: $3.8 Million Raised To Enable Precision Crop Management With AI And Robots

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 3, 2024

Orchard Robotics, a company enabling precision crop management with robots and AI, has raised $3.8 million in a seed round led by General Catalyst and a pre-seed led by Contrary. Humba Ventures, Soma Capital, Correlation Ventures, VU Venture Partners, Ben Taft’s Genius Ventures, angel investors Howard Lerman, Joshua Browder, Rory, Kieran O’Reilly, and many others also joined the round.

Cyvl: AI-Powered Mapping Technology Company Raises $6 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 3, 2024

Cyvl.ai, a leader in enterprise AI solutions for transportation infrastructure, announced $6 million of new investments after two years of rapid growth. Companyon Ventures led the funding round, including Argon Ventures, AeroX Ventures, and Alumni Ventures. Cyvl.ai also received support from its existing investors, MassVentures, Launch Capital, RiverPark Ventures,Launchpad Venture Group, and Hub Angels.

Hunter Point Capital Closes $3.3 Billion For Inaugural GP Stakes Fund

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 2, 2024

Hunter Point Capital (HPC), an independent investment firm providing capital solutions and strategic support to alternative asset managers, announced the closing of its inaugural GP Stakes fund (HPC Fund I) with $3.3 billion in permanent capital commitments, exceeding its initial $2.5 billion target. And HPC Fund I is the largest-ever debut GP Stakes fund dedicated to private market strategies.

Descartes Buying OCR For About $90 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 2, 2024

Descartes Systems Group, a global leader in uniting logistics-intensive businesses in commerce, announced that it acquired Rockville, Maryland-based OCR Services, a leading provider of global trade compliance solutions and content. The deal for OCR was about $90 million, and it was satisfied with cash on hand.

Aeovian Pharmaceuticals: $50 Million Raised To Develop Selective Therapeutics For Restoring Cellular Metabolic Quality Control

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 2, 2024

Aeovian Pharmaceuticals - a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel and highly selective therapeutics that potently inhibit the mTORC1 pathway - announced that it dosed the first cohort of participants in a Phase 1 clinical trial for its lead development candidate AV078, a first-in-class CNS penetrant selective mTORC1 inhibitor. The company also recently completed a $50 million financing led by Hevolution. Hevolution was joined by existing investors Apollo Health Ventures, Sofinnova Investments, venBio, Evotec, and b2venture.

Terragia: Low-Carbon Biofuel Technology Company Raises $6 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 2, 2024

Terragia Biofuel - a company driving the next generation of biofuels - announced it raised a $6 million seed round led by Engine Ventures and Energy Impact Partners (EIP). The company will use this funding to commercialize its novel biology-based approach to converting cellulosic biomass into ethanol and other products, expand its employee headcount, and initiate partnerships with major biofuel producers.

Hive: Distributed Cloud Computing Company Raises €12 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Mar 31, 2024

SC Ventures (Standard Chartered's ventures arm) is leading a €12 million (USD $13 million) Series A funding round for distributed cloud provider Hive, which aims to increase businesses' and individuals' access to sustainable and high-powered computing resources. OneRagtime, a French venture capital fund that led Hive's Seed round, and a collection of private investors joined the round.

Vizcom: Industrial Product Visualization Company Secures $20 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Mar 31, 2024

Vizcom - a company deploying AI to transform the future of industrial design - announced that it has raised $20 million in Series A funding. This funding round was led by Index Ventures with participation from a renowned roster of angel investors, including Kyle Parrish (VP of Sales at Figma), Steve Mallouf (VP of Sales at Datadog), Daniel Sturman (former CTO of Roblox), and Ayush Sood (Director of Engineering at Figma). With this funding round, Vizcom will continue aggressively investing in technology development and hiring a solid team.

Sprocket Security: Continuous Penetration Testing Company Raises $8 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Mar 31, 2024

Sprocket Security, an offensive security platform with an industry-leading continuous pentesting solution, announced its $8 million Series A financing. Led by Blueprint Equity, with participation from Wisconsin-based Capital Midwest Fund, the funding will accelerate Sprocket's platform development, fuel customer success, and expand sales and marketing initiatives.

Battery Ventures Strategically Invests In Safety Systems Company AdaCore

By Amit Chowdhry ● Mar 31, 2024

Battery Ventures announced a significant investment in AdaCore, a leader in providing software development tools for safety and security-critical systems. This strategic deal will accelerate AdaCore's expansion and position the company as a go-to source for software development tooling.

Solace Capital Partners Invests In Siprocal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Mar 31, 2024

Solace Capital Partners, a leading private equity firm focused on providing creative capital solutions for middle-market companies, announced an investment in Siprocal.

Hildred Capital: Multi-Asset Continuation Fund Closed With Commitments Of Over $750 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Mar 30, 2024

Hildred Capital - a healthcare-focused private equity firm that partners with middle-market companies - announced the closing of a multi-asset continuation fund led by Lexington Partners and a leading group of limited partners. Lexington is one of the world’s largest managers of secondary private equity and co-investment funds.