Archives

Happy Head: How This Telemedicine Provider Helps Customers With Hair Restoration In A $25 Billion Market

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 23, 2023

Happy Head is a telemedicine provider of dermatologist-prescribed customized hair medicine and treatments. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Happy Head co-founder Dr. Ben Behnam to learn more.

AIM-HI Accelerator Fund Reveals 2023 Women’s Venture Competition Top Winners

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 23, 2023

The AIM-HI Accelerator Fund recently announced that the winners of the 2023 Women’s Venture Competition are March Biosciences and its CEO, Sarah Hein, PhD as the First Prize with Distinction, and Degron Therapeutics and its Co-founder and CEO, Lily Zou, Ph.D., MBA as the Second Prize. The blue-ribbon judge committee members selected them from 71 female-led and early-stage oncology companies across 15 countries.

Stash: Investing App Company Secures $40 Million

By Annie Baker ● Oct 23, 2023

Stash recently revealed a record-breaking year and the company also announced that renowned CFO and advisor Amy Butte as the company’s first-ever independent audit chair. And Stash also announced the infusion of $40 million led by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Investment Management, with a mix of strategic and existing investors, including Goodwater Capital and Union Square Ventures. With new leaders and a new round of financing, Stash enters its next growth phase with a focus on profitability.

Morty: $2.2 Million Raised To Help Find Escape Rooms And Haunted Attractions

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 23, 2023

Morty - a company that helps people discover the best escape rooms and haunted attractions - recently announced that it has raised over $2.2 million. Morty co-founder and CEO Andy Bauch told Pulse 2.0 that the company is creating the ultimate social copilot for you and your friends by helping you find unique interactive experiences.

Chevron Buying Hess In A $53 Billion Deal: Details

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 23, 2023

Chevron Corporation announced today it has entered into a definitive agreement with Hess Corporation to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Hess in an all-stock transaction valued at $53 billion (or $171 per share based on Chevron’s closing price on October 20, 2023). And under the terms of the agreement, Hess shareholders will receive 1.0250 shares of Chevron for each Hess share. The transaction's total enterprise value, including debt, is $60 billion.

KindWorks.AI: $1.5 Million Oversubscribed Pre-Seed Round Raised

By Noah Long ● Oct 22, 2023

KindWorks.AI has announced that it has closed an oversubscribed pre-seed round of over $1.5 million. And KindWorks’ platform encourages and enables the practice of Kindness to increase connectivity, well-being, and results. This platform is built with AI and behavioral science to bring personal Kindness exercises to individuals.

ABS Capital: First Continuation Fund Closed

By Annie Baker ● Oct 22, 2023

ABS Capital - a leading growth equity firm with more than three decades of experience scaling software and tech-enabled B2B businesses - announced the completion of a GP-led secondary transaction based around two of its portfolio companies: LabConnect and Viventium Software.

PickNik Robotics: $2 Million Raised To Bring Robot Arms Out Of Factories

By Annie Baker ● Oct 21, 2023

PickNik Robotics - The Unstructured Robotics Company - announced a major milestone in its goal to bring robot arms out of factories and into our everyday lives. This company has just raised $2 million in a pre-seed investment round led by Stellar Ventures and Cypress Growth Capital - positioning itself as the dominant force in redefining the robotics industry.

Scope3: $20 Million Raised To Decarbonize Media And Advertising

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 21, 2023

Scope3 - a collaborative sustainability platform decarbonizing media and advertising - recently announced a $20 million Series B funding round led by GV. The additional investors in this round include Room40 Ventures and Venrock.

Zolve: $100 Million Warehouse Debt Facility To Help Immigrants Gain Access To Financial Services

By Annie Baker ● Oct 21, 2023

Zolve - a cross-border neobank helping immigrants worldwide gain access to financial services - recently announced that it has secured a warehouse debt facility of up to $100 million from Community Investment Management (CIM).

Prevounce Health: Remote Care Management Company Extends Series A To $7 Million

By Dan Anderson ● Oct 21, 2023

Prevounce Health - a leading provider of remote care management software, devices, and services - recently announced the closing of $2.5 million in new Series A funding led by Cloud Hill Partners and Michael Hammond, former co-founder of Hammond Hanlon Camp LLC and H2C Securities, with participation from additional returning investors. The company has now raised $7 million in total Series A funding and will use the latest funding round to advance its product and service offerings and scale its team to meet growing market demand.

Toptal Acquires No-Code Network Company WeLoveNoCode

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 21, 2023

Toptal - an exclusive network of the top freelance software developers, designers, finance experts, product managers, and project managers worldwide - has acquired the no-code network company WeLoveNoCode (WLNC). In an email sent to Pulse 2.0, WeLoveNoCode founder and Thiel Fellow Nik Shevchenko said that WeLoveNoCode raised $3 million before the acquisition.

Mojo Vision: High-Performance Micro-LED Company Secures $43.5 Million

By Annie Baker ● Oct 20, 2023

Mojo Vision - a high-performance micro-LED company - recently announced a final close of its $43.5 million new Series A investment round to advance its micro-LED display technology across applications and bring it to commercialization. This funding round was led by long-time investors New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Khosla Ventures, and new investor Vanedge Capital, with participation from Shanda Grab Ventures, Dolby Family Ventures, Advantech Capital, Liberty Global Ventures, Drew Perkins, Fusion Fund, Open Field Capital and Knollwood Investment Fund.

Pair Team: Virtual And Community-Based Primary Care Solution Company Raises $9 Million

By Noah Long ● Oct 20, 2023

Pair Team - a virtual and community-based primary care solution connecting Medicaid's highest-risk patients to high-quality care - recently announced it has raised $9 million in Series A funding. The funding round was led by NEXT VENTURES, with participation from PTX Capital, Kapor Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Y Combinator, and several healthcare angel investors including Jay Desai.

MedaSystems: Seed Funding Raised For Modernizing Access To Investigational Medicine

By Noah Long ● Oct 20, 2023

MedaSystems - a developer of the only purpose-built pharma-physician network to provide patients with access to pre-approval medicine - recently announced the completion of a seed funding round. Participants in the round include a mix of strategic angel and health tech venture investors, with prior track records of founding and funding successful SaaS health companies, including Young Sohn, a founder of Veeva Systems, Vlocity, and Nomadic Systems; nina.capital, a specialist healthtech venture capital fund based in Barcelona; and members of the management team.

Spearmint Energy: $92 Million Tax Equity Investment Raised For Battery Energy Storage Project

By Annie Baker ● Oct 20, 2023

Spearmint Energy - a next-generation renewable energy company enabling the clean energy revolution through battery energy - recently announced it has successfully closed a $92 million tax equity investment in its Revolution project provided by Greenprint Capital Management, which is an investment firm focused on financing climate positive solutions and specializing in certificated renewable energy tax credit acquisitions.

Tofu: $5 Million Seed Round Raised To Create Personalized Marketing Campaigns At Scale

By Dan Anderson ● Oct 20, 2023

Tofu - a generative AI platform for creating hyper-personalized omnichannel marketing campaigns at scale - recently announced it has raised $5 million in venture funding. Index Ventures led the funding round with participation from SignalFire, Stage 2 Capital, and Liquid 2 Ventures.

LaPhair Capital Partners: Social Responsibility Flagship Fund Launched With $100 Million Target Size

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 20, 2023

LaPhair Capital Partners - a minority-led influencer-backed and performance-driven venture capital fund - recently announced the launch of their flagship Alpha Fund I, with a target size of $100 million. Alpha Fund I will invest in companies focused on social responsibility in underserved communities within high-growth markets.

Hook: Music Expression Platform Company Secures $3 Million

By Annie Baker ● Oct 20, 2023

Hook - a music expression platform company that utilizes the power of AI to empower anyone to remix and remake their favorite songs - recently announced that it has closed a $3 million Seed investment round led by Steve Cohen's Point72 Ventures and Waverley Capital, co-founded by former Warner Music Group CEO, Edgar Bronfman, Jr. The other participants in the funding round include Mark Gillespie's Three Six Zero and Avex, Japan's leading entertainment brand.

Overstory: Climate Tech Company Secures $14 Million To Mitigate Wildfires

By Noah Long ● Oct 20, 2023

Overstory - a climate tech startup that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to mitigate wildfires, protect biodiversity, and help industries make smarter decisions about natural resources - recently announced that it has raised $14 million in Series A financing.

Excelestar: This Successful Venture Firm Is Actively Investing In B2B Tech And Medical Devices

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 20, 2023

Excelestar is a venture firm that helps portfolio companies produce growth and sustainable profits from a long-term perspective. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Excelestar Ventures founding partner Tasneem Dohadwala to learn more.

Beluga: Crypto Platform Company Raises $4 Million

By Annie Baker ● Oct 20, 2023

Beluga - a trusted crypto platform that onboards and guides new users through their crypto journey - recently announced a $4 million seed round from some of the most well-known crypto and FinTech investors. Fin Capital led this round with participation from Anagram, UDHC, Dispersion Capital, Aptos Labs, 2 Punks Capital, Borderless Capital, Kyber Capital, 186 Ventures, W11 Capital, Rubik Ventures, etc.

EVPassport Receives $200 Million Commitment From Northleaf

By Annie Baker ● Oct 20, 2023

Northleaf Capital Partners - a leading global private markets investment firm - recently announced it has agreed to acquire a controlling stake in EVPassport, an electric vehicle (EV) charging platform company co-founded by Hooman Shahidi (Chief Executive Officer), and Aaron Fisher (Chief Technology Officer) - which focuses on the deployment of Level 2 and Level 3 EV chargers across North America. The funds managed by Northleaf have committed $200 million to fund EVPassport’s capital requirements and accelerate the build-out of EV charging systems.

Beem: Building An Inclusive Financial Network For Establishing Creditworthiness Linked To Over $10 Trillion In Annual Spending Power

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 20, 2023

Beem (previously known as Line) is a profitable AI-first fintech company that accurately risk ranks over 100 million who form the bottom 80% of the US working population without using FICO. And Beem uses this to facilitate payments, distribution of goods and services, risk-adjusted prices, and relevant inflection points in their financial journey while continuing to capture the $10+ trillion in annual spending power they have. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Beem founder and CEO Akshay Krishnaiah to learn more.

Cognitive Space: $4 Million Closed To Enable Satellite Constellations To Grow And Scale

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 20, 2023

Cognitive Space - the market leader in intelligent space automation - recently announced it has raised $4 million in seed+ funding during the second quarter of 2023. The funding round saw participation from esteemed venture capital firms York IE, Draper Associates, and Dolby Family Ventures - which reinforces Cognitive Space's position as a trailblazer in the intelligent space automation sector.

Fingerprint: Accurate Device Intelligence Platform Company Closes $33 Million In Funding

By Noah Long ● Oct 20, 2023

Fingerprint - an accurate device intelligence platform - recently announced that it raised $33 million in Series C funding led by Nexus Venture Partners with participation from Uncorrelated Ventures.

Hayden AI: Geospatial Analytics Company Raises $53 Million In Series B

By Annie Baker ● Oct 20, 2023

Hayden AI - a leader in artificial intelligence and geospatial analytics - recently announced the successful closing of its $53 million Series B funding round. The oversubscribed funding round was led by the Drawdown Fund, a growth equity firm dedicated to advancing companies and products that are addressing major drivers of climate change.

Ankona Capital: Second Fund Closed At $129 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 20, 2023

Ankona Capital announced the final closing of its second fund with $129 million in total commitments, which is roughly double the size of its inaugural fund. The Ankona team is going to continue to focus its investments on early growth-stage business-to-business (B2B) software companies and to follow its proven strategy of helping companies reach scale and sustainability through smart and capital-efficient growth.

Poppy: This Indoor Air Safety Monitoring Company Is Transforming Over A $6 Billion Market

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 20, 2023

Poppy is an indoor health company that provides instant and accurate air safety monitoring for any indoor space. Commercial properties and corporations use the company's products to keep buildings sustainable and occupants healthy. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Poppy's Co-Chief Executive Officer and co-founder Sam Molyneux to learn more.

General Catalyst And La Famiglia Uniting To Double Down On European Investments

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 20, 2023

Leading VC firm General Catalyst and La Famiglia, one of Europe’s most renowned seed investors based in Berlin, announced they are joining forces. The combined entity will enable La Famiglia to turbocharge and globalize its investment thesis of creating meaningful change by fostering cooperation between young digital disruptors and established industrial market leaders.