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Simply Homes - an automated Single Family Rental (SFR) sourcing and underwriting platform developed to help solve the affordable housing crisis by mobilizing stagnant housing stock for use in the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program - recently announced $22 million in funding for operations and real estate acquisitions. The funding was led by Gutter Capital and Watchung Capital, with participation from Village Global, Ambush Capital, RavenOne Ventures, Neil Parikh, Gabe Flateman, Luke Sherwin, and others.

Opal Security - a next-generation identity security and access management company - recently announced its $22 million Series B funding, led by Battery Ventures, with participation from existing investors Greylock and Box Group. This funding round brings Opal Security’s total funding to $32 million.

MaintainX - a leading maintenance and frontline work execution platform - recently announced $50 million in Series C funding led by Bain Capital Ventures (BCV) with participation from existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Amity Ventures, August Capital, and Ridge Ventures. Other strategic new investors include Jeff Immelt, the former CEO of GE; Jeff Lawson the CEO of Twilio; Steve Pagliuca, a Senior Advisor to Bain Capital; Rob Bernshteyn, the CEO of Coupa Software; Chris Comparato, the Chairman and CEO of Toast; and Allison Pickens the former COO of Gainsight.

Ladder - an app for strength training for people who are serious about fitness - recently announced that it has closed a $12 million Series A round led by Tapestry VC and LivWell Ventures.

Kyron Learning - a startup focused on providing learners equitable access to great instructors - recently announced that it will use its recent Series A funding to make its AI-based learning platform available to all learning solution providers. This platform utilizes interactive video (powered by AI) in its lessons to turn what has traditionally been a one-way monologue into a vibrant two-way conversation, just like a live tutoring session.

Instock - an innovator in customer fulfillment robotics - recently announced that it raised $3.2M in new funding, led by Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund – these new investments bring Instock’s Seed financing to a total of $6.2 million. This seed funding round was co-led by OneWay Ventures and Lux Capital, and funding participation also includes Commerce VC, u.ventures, Cybernetix Ventures and other investors active in the robotics and eCommerce ecosystem.

Genera - a sustainable molded fiber and biomaterials company - recently announced it has broken ground on the nearly $350 million expansion of its Sustainable Biomaterials Campus, enabling increased manufacturing, production, and distribution operations. This expansion adds over 150,000 square feet to Genera’s existing facility and will house more than 60 robotic thermoforming machines, a fleet of autonomously guided vehicles, and automated packaging lines.

ON (formerly GameOn Technology) recently announced a new round of funding and an updated mission to help enterprises and leading brands productize generative AI chat. And the company's established leadership position in the AI chat ecosystem (combined with the growing marketplace for generative AI) prompted a strategic $25 million funding round, bringing the total funding raised to $80 million.

Fantuan - an Asian food delivery and life service platform - recently announced it has closed a $40 million Series C funding round. This funding round was co-led by GrubMarket, a renowned U.S. fresh grocery e-commerce platform, and Celtic House Asia Partners. And VisionPlus Capital, JSD Capital, and other backers from North America and China also participated in this round. With this funding round, it makes Fantuan the only ethnic food delivery platform to secure substantial funding in the post-pandemic era.

Unnatural Products (UNP) - a biotech company pairing AI with chemistry to drive the next generation of molecularly targeted therapeutics - announced today it raised a $32 million Series A funding, led by Merck Global Health Innovation Fund (MGHIF) and TechBio-focused ARTIS Ventures.

Bluebird Network - a communications infrastructure provider and operator of more than 11,000 miles of fiber and two data centers - recently announced that it has received $285 million of five-year Senior Secured Credit Facilities. The proceeds from the Credit Facilities were used to refinance Bluebird's existing indebtedness and will fund ongoing capital expenditures including network upgrades, expansion into new markets, and an awarded Middle Mile grant build. TD Securities acted as Lead Left Arranger on the financing and is the Administrative Agent for the Credit Facilities.

Guardz - a cybersecurity company securing and insuring small businesses - recently announced that it has raised an $18 million Series A round led by Glilot+ (the early growth fund of Glilot Capital Partners). And Guardz's existing investors Hanaco Ventures, iAngels, and GKFF Ventures participated in the oversubscribed round and were joined by new investors ClearSky. This investment comes less than a year after Guardz launched with $10M in seed funding, bringing its total funding to date to $28 million.

Inductive Bio - a technology company developing a machine learning (ML) platform designed to accelerate the compound optimization process dramatically - recently emerged from stealth with $4.3 million in funding. The seed round was co-led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) Bio + Health and Lux Capital, with participation from Character, Bessemer Venture Partners, Alleycorp, and others.

Myrias Optics - a company built on research developed by the Watkins Group at the University of Massachusetts Amherst - recently announced that it has secured a $3 million seed investment led by Asia Optical Inc. Myrias, an emerging developer of all-inorganic printed meta-optics, will use the funding to meet growing customer demand and interest in the company's structure, materials and process technology platform. This funding round also includes UMass Amherst, Tenon Ventures, and HOSS Investment participation.

DUST Identity - a company whose technology enables product authentication by linking physical items to their digital records - recently announced the launch of its mobile solution, which is fueling its growth into new industries.

ContactMonkey - an internal email communications platform - recently announced the completion of a Series A investment of $55 million from Updata Partners, a leading growth equity firm. This funding round comes as employee engagement is more critical to enterprises than ever.

Parse Biosciences - a leading provider of accessible and scalable single-cell sequencing solutions - recently announced it had closed a total of $50 million in financing from a Series C equity raise and the closing of a debt facility. And Soleus Capital led the Series C equity financing - which included participation by new and current investors, including Bioeconomy Capital, Janus Henderson Investors, Marshall Wace, Sahsen Ventures, and Saras Capital. Horizon Technology Finance Corporation provided the debt facility.

Canapi Ventures - a fintech venture capital fund backed by nearly 70 financial institutions and strategic investors across the United States - recently announced a $750 million Fund II raise. This latest funding round brings Canapi's total assets under management to over $1.4 billion.

BioStar Capital - a strategic venture capital firm focused on transformative medical technologies primarily in the fields of cardiovascular disease, orthopedics, and robotics - recently announced it has closed its fifth fund at $130.3 million, more than its three previous funds combined.

MAKA - Africa's leading fashion and beauty e-commerce platform - recently announced that it has raised a $2.65 million pre-seed round. The funding round was co-led by prominent investors 4DX Ventures and Janngo, with additional backing from Palm Drive Capital. This round also includes angel investor Jonathan Shipman (Former EVP and Twitch founding member) and executives from delivery platform Wolt.

ShapesXR is a creation and collaboration platform for XR content and experiences in the metaverse. Pulse 2.0 interviewed ShapesXR founder and CEO Inga Petryaevskaya to learn more about the company. 

Rimini Street (Nasdaq: RMNI) is a Russell 2000 Company that is a global provider of end-to-end enterprise software support, products, and services, the leading third-party support provider for Oracle and SAP software, and a Salesforce and AWS partner. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Rimini Street CEO, President, and Chairman of the board Seth Ravin to learn more about the company. 

ZayZoon is an Earned Wage Access (EWA) provider for small and mid-sized businesses. And it also works as a powerful corporate social responsibility tool and financial wellness program. Pulse 2.0 interviewed ZayZoon co-founder and president Tate Hackert to learn more about the company.

Leapsome is an all-in-one intelligent people enablement platform. CEOs and HR teams at over 1,400 forward-thinking companies (including Spotify, monday.com, and Unity) utilize Leapsome’s intelligent people enablement platform to drive employee development, productivity, and engagement. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Leapsome co-CEO Jenny von Podewils co-CEO to learn more about the company.

Gallery Design Studio is a New York City-based design consultancy that specializes in serving high-growth B2B AI-driven software companies. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Gallery Design Studio founder and CEO Caroline Petersen to learn more about the company. 

Machinery Partner - a company offering novel procurement, financing, and support for builders and contractors needing heavy machinery - recently announced it raised $8 million in Series A financing led by Armory Square Ventures and joined by Pritzker Group, two venture funds with expertise in the industrial tech world. And RiverPark Ventures and Contour Venture Partners also participated in the round alongside numerous B2B marketplace founders. Pacific Western Bank also provided an additional $3 million in venture debt, and the company raised follow-on from previous investors Euclid Ventures, One Way Ventures, and Techstars Ventures.

Odyssey Therapeutics - a biotechnology company pioneering next-generation precision immunomodulators and oncology medicines - recently announced the closing of a $101 million Series C financing round led by Ascenta Capital with participation from new and existing investors, including OrbiMed, SR One, General Catalyst, Foresite Capital, Woodline Partners LP, HBM Healthcare Investments, Colt Ventures, BlackMars Capital GmbH, Creacion Ventures, funds and accounts advised by Fidelity Management & Research Company, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Catalio Capital Management, Walleye Capital, Alexandria Venture Investments, Racing Beach Ventures LLC, The Healthcare Innovation Investment Fund LLC (an investment fund associated with Leerink Partners), Ab Magnitude Ventures, KB Investment, The Global BioAccess Fund, and multiple leading global investors.

Pachama - a technology company on a mission to solve climate change by restoring nature - recently announced it extended its Series B round to include an additional $9 million in new equity capital.

Rohirrim - a cutting-edge technology company specializing in domain-aware generative AI for the enterprise - recently announced the successful completion of its $15 million Series A round of funding less than a year since emerging from stealth and deploying its Rohan platform.

Tome Biosciences - a programmable genomic integration company - recently announced it has launched to usher in a new era of genomic medicines based on programmable genomic integration (PGI). PGI enables the insertion of any DNA sequence of any size into any programmed genomic location. And the company has raised $213 million in Series A and B funding from investors: Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) Bio + Health, ARCH Venture Partners, GV, Longwood Fund, Polaris Partners, Bruker Corporation, FUJIFILM Corporation, Alexandria Venture Investments, and others.