Archives

Lasso Security: LLM Cybersecurity Company Secures $6 Million

By Noah Long ● Dec 2, 2023

Lasso Security - innovators in Large Language Models (LLMs) cybersecurity - announced a $6 million seed round led by Entrée Capital with the participation of Samsung Next.

53 Stations: $190 Million Fund I Launched To Invest In Early-Stage Companies

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 2, 2023

53 Stations - a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage companies across a range of industries - recently announced its flagship $190 million Fund I. Supported by The Pritzker Organization (TPO), 53 Stations offers over 60 years of company-building expertise, the flexibility of a single LP, and the agility to meet the evolving needs of today’s entrepreneurs.

Pioneer: $2.9 Million Closed To Help Climate Tech Companies Pursue Government Incentives

By Annie Baker ● Dec 2, 2023

Pioneer - an AI-powered service for climate tech companies pursuing government incentives - recently announced the closing of $2.9 million in seed funding led by Blue Bear Capital. And participating investors include Collaborative Fund, Soma Capital, Cool Climate Collective, and Kayan Ventures. The funds will be used to accelerate the company's growth.

Gratia Health: Seed Funding Raised To Help Healthcare Employers Create Sustainable Workforces

By Annie Baker ● Dec 2, 2023

Gratia Health - a 25m Health portfolio company - recently emerged from stealth with seed funding led by JumpStart Capital and a major contract with strategic partner ScionHealth to implement its incentive compensation platform across ScionHealth’s 70+ specialty hospitals.

TruaID: This Digital Identity Verification Product Helps People Keep Personal Information More Secured

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 2, 2023

Digital identity and screening company Trua recently announced it has launched a new product called TruaID, which will give consumers a greater sense of security with their private information while providing businesses with a more efficient means of screening customers and prospective employees. TruaID eliminates the need for users to repeatedly provide businesses, government agencies or potential employers with their private personal information such as Social Security number, driver’s license, birth certificate, or other documents.

Glencoco: $3 Million Secured To Connect Companies With Biz Dev Consultants

By Dan Anderson ● Dec 2, 2023

Glencoco - a marketplace that connects companies with business development consultants to generate qualified opportunities - recently announced its coming out of stealth along with $3 million in funding led by Felicis and Crossbeam.

Kognitos: AI-Based Business Automation Company Raises $20 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 2, 2023

Kognitos - a company developing generative AI for business automation - recently announced the closing of a $20 million Series A funding round led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from existing investors Clear Ventures, Engineering Capital, and Wipro Ventures.

Amini: $4 Million Raised To Focus On Africa’s Environmental Data Gap

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 2, 2023

Amini - a Nairobi-based climate tech startup focused on solving Africa’s environmental data gap through AI and satellite technology - recently announced that it has raised $4 million in a seed funding round. The funding round was led by Salesforce Ventures (Salesforce's global investment arm) and Female Founders Fund, a seed-stage venture fund that invests exclusively in female-founded companies.

G FUEL Receives Investment From Kingswood Capital Management And First Bev

By Noah Long ● Dec 2, 2023

Kingswood Capital Management and First Bev recently announced a significant cash investment in G FUEL, which is a market leader in energy drinks, targeting the 3+ billion global gamer community. The precise terms of the 8-figure deal were not immediately released, but the deal offers significant growth equity for the company.

Menlo Security Names New CMO And CFO

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 2, 2023

Browser security leader company Menlo Security recently announced the appointments of industry luminaries Pejman Roshan and Naresh Bansal as Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Financial Officer, respectively.

Failup Ventures: €50 Million Fund Closed To Invest In Early-Stage Startups

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 2, 2023

Failup Ventures - a new globally operating early-stage venture capital fund - recently announced the first closing of €30 million of its new early-stage fund of €50 million. Founded by three previous Finnish entrepreneurs – Jesse Heikkilä, Topias Soininen, and Oscar Andersin – Failup Ventures backs early-stage startups with strong, mission-driven teams. Failup’s typical initial investments range from €200K to €1 million, with the capability to follow up on additional rounds.

AbbVie To Buy ImmunoGen For $10.1 Billion: Details

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 1, 2023

AbbVie and ImmunoGen recently announced a definitive agreement under which AbbVie will acquire ImmunoGen, and its flagship cancer therapy ELAHERE (mirvetuximab soravtansine-gynx) - a first-in-class antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) approved for platinum-resistant ovarian cancer (PROC). This acquisition accelerates AbbVie's commercial and clinical presence in the solid tumor space. Plus, ImmunoGen's follow-on pipeline of promising next-generation ADCs further complements AbbVie's ADC platform and existing programs.

Senpex: How This Last Mile Delivery As A Service Company Is Transforming Over A $130 Billion Market

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 1, 2023

Senpex Technology is an AI-driven logistics platform streamlining last-mile deliveries for various industries (e-commerce, B2B distribution Centers, Retail, Food, etc.), offering optimized routing and timely delivery services for businesses. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Senpex Technology Co-Founder Anar Mammadov to learn more about the company.

Valid8: Verified Financial Intelligence Leader Raises $8.5 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 1, 2023

Valid8 Financial - a leader in Verified Financial Intelligence - recently announced $8.5 million in Series A funding led by Silverton Partners with participation from Touchdown Ventures, First Trust Capital Partners, CPA.com, and Capital Midwest.

Octave Bioscience: $10 Million Grant Received From The Michael J. Fox Foundation For Parkinson’s Research

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 1, 2023

Octave Bioscience - a leading precision care company that delivers a new standard for managing multiple sclerosis and other neurodegenerative diseases - recently announced that it has been awarded a $10 million grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF).

Montana State Receives $3 Million To Study Microorganisms For Building Designs

By Annie Baker ● Dec 1, 2023

A multi-disciplinary team of Montana State University experts searching for ways to utilize living materials to reduce the building industry’s reliance on cement and concrete was awarded a $3 million Future Research Manufacturing Research grant from the National Science Foundation. Chelsea Heveran, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering in the Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering, is the principal investigator for the four-year project.

Ninety: $35 Million Raised To Help SMBs Succeed In Modern Business Environments

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 1, 2023

Ninety - a leading all-in-one cloud-based platform supporting many of the world's leading Business Operating Systems (BOSs) - recently announced that the company has raised a $35 million Series B round of funding, led by Blue Cloud Ventures with participation from Catalyst Investors and existing investor Insight Partners.

NTx: $47.5 Million Closed To Manufacture RNA And Protein

By Annie Baker ● Dec 1, 2023

Nature's Toolbox (NTx) - a life sciences company building next-generation platforms to manufacture RNA and protein - recently announced that it has raised $47.5M in Series B financing. Led by RA Capital Management, the funding will fuel the advancement of the company’s biomanufacturing platforms NTxscribe and NTxpress.

Alto Neuroscience: $45 Million Raised To Pioneer Precision Psychiatry By Developing Targeted Medicines

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 1, 2023

Alto Neuroscience recently announced an oversubscribed $45 million Series C financing. This funding round was led by InVivium Capital, with participation from additional new investors Franklin Templeton, Point72, Eli Lilly and Company, and Alexandria Venture Investments. And existing investors Alpha Wave Ventures, Lightswitch Capital, partners of Alkeon Capital, WhatIf Ventures, and Windham Venture Partners also participated in the financing.

OCOchem: Carbon Conversion Company Secures $5 Million

By Dan Anderson ● Dec 1, 2023

Carbon conversion startup OCOchem recently announced it has raised $5 million in seed funding from lead investor TO VC. INPEX, the LCY Lee Family Office, and MIH Capital Management also participated in the round. And these investors join Halliburton Labs, Halliburton Company's energy and climate tech accelerator - which has been supporting OCOChem's scaling since 2021.

Kennedy Lewis Investment Management: $4.1 Billion Closed For Third Opportunistic Credit Fund

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 1, 2023

Kennedy Lewis Investment Management - a leading alternative credit manager - recently announced that it has closed on $4.1 billion for Kennedy Lewis Capital Partners Master Fund III LP and its associated parallel and co-investment vehicles.

Kythera Labs: Healthcare Technology And Data Analytics Company Raises $20 Million

By Annie Baker ● Dec 1, 2023

Kythera Labs - a leading healthcare technology and data analytics company for the Healthcare and Life Sciences industries - recently announced $20 million in Series A and debt financing from BIP Ventures and CIBC. The company will use the funding to support the continued growth and scale of Wayfinder, which is its data-transforming technology platform, and accelerate the development and adoption of new and existing offerings. Plus, Kythera also plans to leverage financing to expand partnerships with industry leaders such as Datavant and Databricks.

Alpha Partners: How This Growth Equity Firm Accelerates Private Technology Companies

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 1, 2023

Alpha Partners is a next-generation growth equity firm focused on accelerating private technology companies. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Alpha Partners' managing partner, Steve Brotman, to learn more about the firm.

QuantHealth Launches Katina To Help Pharma Researchers Run Significant Protocols At Scale

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 1, 2023

QuantHealth - an AI-powered clinical trial design startup - recently announced a major product upgrade to its platform to simulate trials at scale and expedite, de-risk and optimize drug development. Katina provides clinical researchers with an AI-guided workflow that simulates hundreds of thousands of potential trial protocol combinations of patient groups, treatment parameters, and different endpoints to maximize the trial success probability while considering additional operational and commercial considerations.

L-Nutra: Nutri-Technology Company Raises $47 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 1, 2023

L-Nutra - a premier nutri-technology company spearheading longevity science nutrition programs - recently announced the closure of a $47 million first tranche investment in its Series D fundraising. This funding round was led by a personal investment from Stephane Bancel, CEO at Moderna, alongside Brentwood Associates, a Los Angeles-based middle market investment firm.

Lightspeed Faction: $285 Million Venture Fund Launched For Blockchain Companies

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 1, 2023

Lightspeed Faction - a leading blockchain-focused venture capital firm - recently announced the launch of its inaugural $285 million venture fund. Faction will primarily invest in early-stage blockchain projects and serve as a long-term capital partner as these projects scale. Along with providing capital, the fund will serve as a seasoned resource to blockchain entrepreneurs on various topics from tokenomics to business scaling.

Revela: Property Management Solution Company Raises $9 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 1, 2023

Revela - a leading property management solution - recently announced that it has raised a $9 million Series A funding round to expand its product suite and meet the evolving needs of the real estate and property management industry. FirstMark Capital led the funding round, with additional participation from Detroit Venture Partners, MetaProp, and Assurant Ventures.

Llama: Access Control And Governance Platform For Smart Contracts Closes $6 Million

By Annie Baker ● Dec 1, 2023

Llama - an access control and governance platform for smart contracts - recently announced it raised a $6 million seed round from Founders Fund and Electric Capital. Other notable investors include Elad Gil (early investor in Stripe, Airbnb, Figma), Sandeep Nailwal (Co-founder of Polygon), Stani Kulechov (Founder of Aave), Will Gaybrick (President of Product at Stripe), Amplify Partners, and FJ Labs.

Dwellsy: Rental Marketplace Company Raises $11.5 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 30, 2023

Dwellsy - a rental marketplace with the most comprehensive data and listings - recently announced the closing of an oversubscribed $11.5 million seed funding round. Ulu Ventures led the round, joined by the University of Chicago, Frontiers Capital, Heroic Ventures, NJP Ventures, Blackhorn Ventures, Gaingels, and the BCG Angels.

Lucent Bio: Agricultural Technology Company Secures Over $3.6 Million

By Noah Long ● Nov 30, 2023

Lucent Bio - an innovative agricultural technology company - recently announced it has raised over $3.6 million, which will be provided by PacifiCan through the Business Scale-up and Productivity program, earmarked to expedite the development of Nutreos (their innovative seed treatment technology).