Archives

PowerToFly is a company that is helping diverse professionals advance their careers and helping companies become places where they can thrive. Pulse 2.0 interviewed PowerToFly CEO and co-founder Milena Berry to learn more.

Mark43 is a company that builds the world’s most powerful cloud-native public safety computer-aided dispatch (CAD), records management system (RMS), analytics, and property and evidence platform. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Mark43 co-founder and Head of External Affairs Matt Polega.

Smart is a global savings and investments technology provider. And the company’s mission is to transform retirement, savings, and financial well-being across all generations worldwide. Smart partners with financial institutions, including broker-dealers, RIAs, retirement providers, insurers, asset managers, banks, and financial advisers, to deliver digital, customized, and cost-efficient retirement savings and income solutions. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Smart’s US CEO Jodan Ledford to learn more.

Arrive (formerly @dronedek) is a mailbox-as-a-service (MaaS) pioneer that provides secure, seamless delivery and pickup infrastructure for the last mile. The company’s solutions are designed to work with autonomous delivery networks (ADNs) comprised of drones and robots, and it can be used by businesses of all sizes. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Arrive CEO Dan O’Toole to learn more.

Techstars is an accelerator firm that has invested in over 3,700 early-stage startups. As one of the largest pre-seed investors in the world, the firm’s portfolio is as diversified as their 8,600 founders are unique - ranging from HealthTech and FinTech to Web3 and CleanTech, from Miami and Silicon Valley to Lagos and London. The firm supports many of the world’s best entrepreneurs with access to capital, mentoring, hiring talent, finding customers, setting up infrastructure, etc. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Techstars Managing Director Sarah Bain - who is overseeing the national accelerator programs in the Minneapolis area, which include selecting, mentoring, incubating, and assisting with funding for over 24 startups in the Techstars ecosystem. And this also includes the Minnesota Twins accelerator program, which amplifies sports technology startups, and the Farm to Fork Accelerator aimed at food technology.

Lumber – a company that built a comprehensive workforce management platform for construction – recently announced the launch of its SaaS product and the completion of a $5.5 million seed round of funding. With its fully integrated, purpose-built solutions, Lumber is designed to meet the growing compliance and workforce needs of an essential industry.

Cyera is a security company that gives businesses context and control over their most valuable asset: data. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Cyera CEO and co-founder Yotam Segev.

Momnt - a leading fintech company specializing in real-time lending and payment solutions for businesses – recently announced the closing of its latest capital raise, totaling $15 million. TruStage Ventures led the funding round with participation from Saluda Grade Ventures, existing investors, and a new investment from a fund within Rockefeller Asset Management.

Treasury4 - an enterprise software platform offering modern tools for treasury and finance practitioners – recently announced that it has raised $20 million in Series A funding led by WestCap, with participation from Cowles Company, Fortson VC, Voyager Capital, Kick-Start Seed Fund, and W.T.B. Financial Corporation. Other investors include Jim DuBois, former CIO of Microsoft, and Chris Growney, co-founder of Clearwater Analytics.

Optera - a leader in ESG and carbon management software – recently announced $12 million in Series A funding led by Next Frontier Capital with participation from Blackhorn Ventures, Mucker Capital, Overture, Engage, Massive, SaaS Ventures, Valo Ventures, AngelList, and Stout Street Capital. And Optera delivers carbon management software that enables companies to reduce the climate impacts of their operations, supply chains, and products.

Renibus Therapeutics - a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on the prevention and treatment of cardio-renal and metabolic diseases – recently announced the close of an extension to its Series B financing round, bringing the total amount raised to $72 million. And Renibus' investors are comprised of existing and new investors, including leaders in the cardiac surgery community.

Mighty Buildings - a leader in 3D printing construction technology known for its prefabricated, environmentally friendly, and climate-resilient homes – recently announced that it has raised $52 million in funding. This latest funding round demonstrates strong investor confidence in Mighty Buildings' innovative offsite 3D printing construction technology.

BV Investment Partners (BV) - a private equity firm focused on the tech-enabled business services, software, and IT services sectors - recently announced that it has completed fund raising for BV Investment Partners Fund XI at its hard cap of $1.75 billion, exceeding the target of $1.5 billion.

Firstcard - a fintech startup building better banking for college students - recently announced that it has raised $4.7 million in Seed funding from VCs and Angels such as AngelList Early Stage Quant Fund. And this comes a year after the company’s $3 million pre-seed fundraising, bringing the total funding to date to $7.7 million.

SkinnyDipped - a brand synonymous with delicious, better-for-you and anxiety-free snacks – recently announced it has raised $12 million in a Series A round that closed in August 2023. Led by the Miami-based entrepreneur David Grutman, the multi-pact partnership is set to propel the brand (founded by the mother-daughter duo of Breezy and Val Griffith) into a new era of expansion, innovation, and success.

Boston Metal - a global metals technology solutions company – recently announced the closing of its Series C fundraising, bringing the series total to $262 million. The new investors include Aramco Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of Aramco; global investment manager M&G Investments; natural resource investment firm Goehring & Rozencwajg; and investment management firm Baillie Gifford. And existing investor Breakthrough Energy Ventures also joined the round, and several others made additional investments in the Series C, including Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, BHP Ventures and Prelude Ventures.

SaaSGrid - a data and analysis platform for SaaS metrics - recently announced a $3.3 million seed round led by Craft Ventures. And SaaSGrid is the first dashboarding tool built specifically for SaaS companies: users connect their data sources and get perfect, real-time charts displaying the metrics every SaaS business should be tracking.

Skai is a company that empowers leading brands and agencies around the world to manage enterprise-level, omnichannel digital campaigns across all walled garden media. Backed by nearly two decades of innovation, the company supports marketers with insights they can use, data they can trust, and the impact they can measure on the media that matters. The company’s marketing platform includes solutions for retail media, paid search, paid social, and app marketing. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Skai CEO Yoav Izhar-Prato to learn more.

Pitango HealthTech - which is Pitango VC's dedicated healthcare fund - recently announced the first closing of its second dedicated healthcare fund Pitango HealthTech II. And Pitango HealthTech II, a $175 million fund, will be dedicated to investing in entrepreneurs utilizing data science, AI, medical devices, and novel biology at the forefront of healthcare transformation. The $9 trillion global healthcare market is undergoing dramatic shifts, and Israeli entrepreneurs are building companies that are spearheading this transition.

Common Trust - an employee ownership buyout platform that enables small business owners to access liquidity by exiting their employees - recently announced $2.6 million in seed funding. Crossbeam Venture Partners led the funding round with participation from Schmidt Futures and additional funding from leading investors in the space. And the company equips selling owners and management to design a customized employee ownership trust, access aligned capital to finance the buyout, and implement a successful transition.

Pentathlon Ventures - an early-stage B2B SaaS-focused venture capital firm - recently announced it launched a second fund with a target of $55 million. This fund aims to invest in 25 B2B SaaS start-ups, supporting breakthrough solutions across enterprise digital transformation, e-commerce enablement, fintech, vertical SaaS, applied AI, sustainable tech, and health.

Enfabrica Corporation - a fast-growing startup building converged networking and memory fabric silicon and software tailored to the performance and scalability demands of AI and accelerated computing workloads - recently announced its successful close of a $125 million Series B financing round. The oversubscribed round - which increases Enfabrica’s valuation more than 5X - was led by Atreides Management, with support from existing investor Sutter Hill Ventures, and includes new investors NVIDIA, IAG Capital Partners, Liberty Global Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, Infinitum Partners and Alumni Ventures.

GlobalFoundries (GF) recently announced the official opening of its US$4 billion (S$5 billion) expansion fabrication plant (fab) in Singapore. The 23,000 sqm fab will create 1,000 high-value jobs in Singapore, 95% of which will include equipment technicians, process technicians, and engineers. The official opening ceremony was graced by Lawrence Wong, Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, along with  Ahmed Yahia Al Idrissi, Chairman of the GF Board of Directors, additional GF Board members, and GF executives, including President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Thomas Caulfield, Chief Manufacturing Officer Kay Chai (KC) Ang, and Senior Vice President and General Manager of GlobalFoundries Singapore Tan Yew Kong, among others.

Noetik - an AI drug discovery company utilizing machine learning and proprietary human data to develop precision therapeutics in immuno-oncology - recently announced that it closed an oversubscribed $14M seed financing round led by DCVC, with participation from Zetta Venture Partners, 11.2 Capital, Catalio Capital Management, Epic Ventures, Intermountain Ventures, North South Ventures, Chau Khuong and CJNV BioVentures, Enveda Founder and CEO, Viswa Colluru and Hummingbird Nomads Fund, and Recursion CEO & CFO, Chris Gibson and Michael Secora.

GHGSat - a global leader in greenhouse gas emissions intelligence - recently announced that it has completed its Series C1 funding round for a total of US $44 million in equity and debt. The company has raised over US $126 million since its inception in 2011.

BlueWave - a leading solar developer, owner, and operator in the Northeast U.S. - recently announced a major financing milestone that will enable the B Corp to achieve long-term ownership and management of its growing portfolio. The $91 million financing includes a debt raise of $64 million with KeyBank and a tax equity raise of $27 million with U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance for the construction and long-term financing of five projects in Massachusetts featuring innovative dual-use solar development attributes, also known as agrivoltaics, that are strategically implemented to benefit all parties impacted by the projects, including landowners, farmers, and surrounding community members. KeyBanc Capital Markets served as the coordinating lead arranger for the debt financing.

Intel Corporation recently announced that it agreed to sell a 10% stake in the IMS Nanofabrication business (IMS) to TSMC. TSMC’s investment values IMS at approximately $4.3 billion, consistent with the valuation of the recent stake sale to Bain Capital Special Situations. Intel will retain majority ownership of IMS, which will continue to operate as a standalone subsidiary under the leadership of CEO Dr. Elmar Platzgummer. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Certa - an all-in-one third-party management platform - recently announced it has raised a 2x oversubscribed Series B led by Fin Capital and Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, with participation from Tru Arrow Partners. And existing investors Point72 Ventures, BDMI (part of Bertelsmann's corporate venture arm Bertelsmann Investments), the family office of Bernard Arnault’s Aglae Ventures, The Chainsmokers-backed Mantis VC, and GOAT Capital also participated in the round. This funding round brings the total institutional investment in Certa to $50 million.

Esusu is a company that reports rental data to the credit bureaus to help renters build creditand to help owners maximize property performance. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Esusu co-founder Samir Goel to learn more.

Clio is a leader in cloud-based legal technology, offering software for lawyers ranging from practice management to payments to client intake. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Clio’s VP of Corporate Development, Shubham Datta, to learn more.