Archives

Hue: User-Generated Video Platform Raises $4.5 Million (Seed)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

Hue, an AI-based SaaS platform that powers the end-to-end infrastructure for authentic user-generated video content that converts on eCommerce, announced that it has closed $4.5 million in seed funding. Fika Ventures and Underscore VC co-led the round, with follow-on participation from pre-seed investors, including Sequoia Scouts, The MBA Fund, Glasswing Ventures, Courtyard Ventures, Phoenix Fund, and Tristan Walker’s Heirloom Fund.

Idealab Arizona: A New Startup Studio That Co-Founds ASU-Affiliated Tech Startups

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

Idealab Arizona (a partner of Idealab Studio, the leading technology incubator) announced launching a startup studio that co-founds Arizona State University-affiliated tech startups to increase commercialized intellectual property, startups, and jobs in Arizona.

Northwestern University Partnering With Material Impact To Advance Research From Lab To Market

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

Northwestern University’s Querrey InQbation Lab (The Q) signed a new partnership with Material Impact, which is a Boston-based venture firm focused on innovations in materials science and deep tech. Launched in 2021 with funding from the State of Illinois and a generous gift from Northwestern Trustee Kimberly Querrey, The Q serves as the University’s hub for research-driven entrepreneurship, offer space and wide-ranging programming and resources to translate Northwestern’s research and development to the public.

Fingercheck: Payroll And HR Company Raises $115 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

Growth equity investment firm Edison Partners announced it led a $115 million growth investment in Fingercheck, which offers an all-in-one workforce management platform for small and medium businesses (SMBs) with ‘deskless’ workforces. StepStone Group and Columbus Capital also joined the round in the investment.

Qpoint: $4 Million (Pre-Seed) Raised To Help Companies Take Control Of External APIs

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

Qpoint announced it closed $4 million in pre-seed funding led by Mango Capital with participation from Preface Ventures, Scribble Ventures and Bloomberg Beta.

Forgepoint Capital: Global Expansion Into Europe, Latin America, And Israel

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

Forgepoint Capital - a leading cybersecurity, AI, and infrastructure software venture capital firm that backs entrepreneurs protecting the digital future - announced its strategic expansion into Europe, Latin America, and Israel. With a track record of investing in successful cybersecurity companies in Europe, including AlienVault (acquired by AT&T), Constella Intelligence, BehavioSec (acquired LexisNexis Risk Solutions), Lynx Technologies, and ReversingLabs, the firm is now establishing a dedicated management company (Forgepoint Capital International), team and European hub in London to invest in transformative companies in select ecosystems around the world.

Picnic: Food Production Automation Company Raises $5 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

Picnic, a leader in food production automation, announced it raised $5 million in a funding round led by Cercano Management. New investor Unlock Venture Partners participated, as did existing investors Thursday Ventures, Flying Fish Ventures, and Creative Ventures.

HealthEx: Patient Preference And Consent Management Company Raises $14 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

HealthEx - a team of healthcare and technology veterans building a global consumer preference and consent platform for healthcare to unlock data access - recently launched and announced $14 million in Seed and Series A funding. The company’s funding round was led by General Catalyst, with participation by Electric Capital.

CrewAI: Multi-Agent Platform Raises $18 Million (Series A)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

Leading multi-agent platform CrewAI announced $18 million in total funding that included an inception round led by boldstart ventures and a Series A led by global software investor Insight Partners. Additional investors include Blitzscaling Ventures, Craft Ventures, Earl Grey Capital, and several top angels in AI, including Andrew Ng (a recognized voice in AI) and Dharmesh Shah (co-founder and CTO of HubSpot).

Apple Acquiring Image Editing Company Pixelmator

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

Apple announced it is buying Lithuania-based Pixelmator, which is a popular image editing app built for Mac and iOS. Through the acquisition, Pixelmator said it would now have the “ability to reach an even wider audience and make an even bigger impact on the lives of creative people around the world.” The deal is subject to regulatory approval.

Cloud Of Goods: Interview With Founder & CEO Punsri Abeywickrema About The Comprehensive Equipment Rental Solution

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

Cloud of Goods is a company that empowers travelers by offering seamless access to essential equipment rentals wherever they are. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Cloud of Goods CEO and founder Punsri Abeywickrema to learn more about the company.

CREW Carbon: $5.3 Million (Seed) Closed To Capture Carbon At Wastewater Facilities

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

CREW Carbon is a company aiming to utilize its enhanced weathering approach within earth's water cycle, focused initially on removing biogenic CO2 produced in wastewater treatment facilities. The company has raised $5.3 million in seed funding in an oversubscribed round led by Counteract and included participation by ReGen Ventures, ANIMO, Connecticut Innovations, Ponderosa Ventures, Newlab, Echo River Capital, and the Carbon Drawdown Initiative.

Blacklane: Chauffeur Services Provider Raises €60 Million (Series G)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

Blacklane, a global chauffeur services provider, announced the closing of its largest financing round to date. The Series G round secures an investment of €60 million ($65 million) and marks a valuation increase of approximately 25% compared to the previous round in September 2023. Most existing investors supported this capital increase, which will strengthen Blacklane's investment strategy and support the company's healthy global growth strategy.

Latii: Property Technology Company Secures $5 Million (Seed)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

Latii - a New York City-based property technology company - announced that it has secured $5 million in seed-round funding. Combined with the $3.3 million raised during a pre-seed round, this funding round brings Latii's total funding to $8.3 million.

YouLend: US Financing Capacity Expanded To $1+ Billion Through Castlelake Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

YouLend, a global embedded financing platform, announced that it has secured a new financing facility with funds managed by Castlelake, a global alternative investment firm specializing in asset-based private credit.

Table22: $11 Million (Series A) Raised To Expand E-Commerce Tools For Merchants

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

Table22, a provider of revenue-expanding e-commerce tools for merchants in America's $1+ trillion food and beverage industry, announced an $11 million Series A funding round to expand its platform and customer network. This funding round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from institutional investors Footwork, Forerunner Ventures, and Alt Capital, and individual participants including founders of and leaders from category-leading companies like Square, BentoBox, and SevenRooms.

L2 Point Management: Nearly $460 Million Raised For Structured Equity Strategy

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

L2 Point Management, a private investment firm that provides innovative capital solutions to growth-stage companies, announced the closing of its inaugural structured equity fund, L2 Point Opportunities I, L.P., at about $312 million, surpassing its $300 million target. The fund’s capital (combined with capital raised by L2 Point for related co-investment vehicles) totals nearly $460 million.

Vensica Medical: Urology Therapeutics Company Raises $11 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

Vensica Medical - a pioneering urology therapeutics company, announced the closing of an $11 million funding round. This funding was led by Israel Biotech Fund (IBF), along with key strategic partners Merz (a global player in neurotoxins) and Laborie (a prominent urology medical device company). This funding round will enable Vensica to continue its mission of providing a minimally invasive, simple, and effective solution for people with overactive bladder (OAB).

Urbint: $35 Million Strategic Growth Equity Raised To Mitigate Threats To Workers

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

Urbint, a leading AI platform for identifying and mitigating threats to workers, critical infrastructure, and communities, announced a $35 million strategic investment round led by S2G Ventures with participation from Energize Capital, Blue Bear Capital, National Grid Partners, Zoma Capital and Climate Investment, positioning Urbint to advance its resiliency and storm response solutions for utilities, as an already devastating hurricane season is not yet over.

LongPath Technologies: $162.4 Million DOE Loan Finalized

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

LongPath Technologies announced the finalization of a $162.4 million loan from the U.S. Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office (LPO). This funding will expedite the deployment of LongPath's nationwide methane emissions monitoring network, which will transform emissions monitoring across major U.S. oil and gas production regions, including California, Colorado, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.

Trivest: Growth Investment Fund III Closes With $730 Million Of Capital Commitments

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

Trivest Partners announced the closing of Trivest Growth Investment Fund III at $730 million of total capital commitments. TGIF III was oversubscribed primarily due to the strong support of Trivest’s current investor base and was largely completed in a single close, less than 60 days from the initial launch.

CredibleMind: Mental Wellbeing Company Raises $7.5 Million (Series A)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

Mental wellbeing company CredibleMind announced it raised $7.5 million in Series A funding, led by Horizon Mutual Holdings - a key partner in advancing access to integrated and personalized mental health support for diverse populations. And with this funding, CredibleMind will continue its mission to dismantle barriers to effective mental health support and empower individuals to flourish through accessible, personalized mental wellbeing solutions.

Andium: Remote-Field Monitoring And Communications Company Raises $21.7 Million (Series B)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

Andium - an expert in Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) remote-field monitoring and communications technologies - announced a $21.7 million Series B funding close led by Aramco Ventures (the corporate venture arm of one of the world's largest integrated energy and chemicals companies). This round includes existing investors such as Climate Investment, Intrepid Financial Partners, and prominent individual investors, including former Citadel CIO Thomas Miglis. Following the company's $15 million Series A in 2021, this funding brings the company's total funding to over $40 million.

Alethea: Over 3X Revenue Tripled This Year

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

Alethea, a technology company focused on disinformation detection and mitigation, announced tremendous business growth in 2024. It tripled its revenue since closing its Series B, led by GV, with participation from Ballistic Ventures less than a year ago.

Neara: AI-Based Predictive Modeling Company Raises $31 Million (Series C)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

Neara, an AI-based predictive modeling software platform for critical infrastructure, announced a $31 million Series C funding round. The funding round was anchored by a consortium led by EQT, with participation from Partners Group (one of the largest firms in the global private markets industry1) and Square Peg Capital (one of the company's earliest investors), with additional support from existing investors Skip Capital and Prosus Ventures.

Greenridge Growth Partners: Fund II Closed At $255 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

Greenridge Growth Partners - a private equity firm that invests in growing bootstrapped software companies - announced it has raised its second fund with $255 million in new capital commitments. And Greenridge Growth Partners II, L.P. was significantly oversubscribed and closed within one year of launch.

AvenCell: Clinical-Stage Cell Therapy Company Raises $112 Million (Series B)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

AvenCell Therapeutics - a leading clinical-stage cell therapy company focused on advancing both autologous and allogeneic switchable CAR-T cell therapies - announced that it has raised $112 million in Series B funding. Global life sciences investor Novo Holdings led the funding.

mPATH Health: $3 Million Raised To Improve Cancer Screening

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

mPATH Health, a digital health company dedicated to improving cancer screening, announced the closing of $3 million in funding. This funding will accelerate the company's mission to enhance cancer prevention and improve health equity. This funding round includes a $2 million Small Business Technology Grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and a $1 million equity investment led by Oncology Ventures, an oncology-focused venture capital firm.

Top Down Ventures: First Closing Of $25 Million Founders Fund I

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

Top Down Ventures, a venture capital firm founded by industry visionary Chris Day, announced the first closing of its $25 million Founders Fund, designed for fueling early-stage SaaS companies within the Managed Service Provider (MSP) sector.

Conflux Technology: Heat Transfer & Additive Manufacturing Company Raises $11 Million (Series B)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 4, 2024

Conflux Technology, a leading heat transfer and additive manufacturing (AM) company, announced a $11 million Series B funding round to further technology development and increase customer support worldwide. Breakthrough Victoria led the round, which was also participated in by AM Ventures and Acorn Capital.