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Horizon Capital Growth Fund IV (HCGF IV) announced recently that it exceeded a target size, doubling commitments to $254 million and becoming the 1st fund in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) to be awarded 2X Flagship Fund status, 1 of circa 10 funds globally who have achieved this distinction, and 1 of only 2 such funds who are women-founded and women-led. This fund will provide growth capital to back visionary entrepreneurs in Ukraine and Moldova. HCGF IV is being managed by Horizon Capital, a U.S. private-equity firm investing in fast-growing tech and export-oriented companies in Ukraine and the near region, and led by Founding Partner and CEO Lenna Koszarny.

Vera Equity - a venture capital firm supporting early-stage companies through its unique access to talent - announced it has raised a $20 million fund and invested in 20 innovative fintech startups to date. The firm was co-founded by Michael Vaughan, former COO at Venmo; Jonathan Pomeranz, True Search partner and co-head of the Financial Services Practice; and True co-CEOs Joe Riggione and Brad Stadler.

Olyns - a leader in innovative recycling technologies - announced its Series A financing of $4 million led by Vanedge Capital. This funding round will accelerate Olyns' development of AI-driven technology and expand its dual recycling and media network.

Homz is the first national housing company dedicated to building a portfolio of sustainable and wellness-focused communities centered around branded attainable housing in key markets across the U.S.  It recently raised $50 million in pre-seed funding, with the lead investor in the round being Nanban Ventures. To learn more about the company, Pulse 2.0 interviewed Homz managing director Dipika Patel.

Aligned is a company that focuses on accelerating and streamlining B2B buyer-seller collaboration and recently raised $5.8 million in a seed round of funding. To learn more about the company Pulse 2.0 interviewed Aligned founders Gal Aga (CEO); Gal Deitsch (CPO); and Yotam Sela (CTO).

UC Davis Health researchers have received an American Heart Association grant to study chronic stress and cardiovascular disease in underserved communities. And a team of UC Davis Health scientists is establishing a new research center to study the impact of stress from everyday life on heart health in underserved communities.

Firmbase announced it has emerged from stealth and announced $12 million in funding for its Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) platform. This funding round was led by S Capital with participation from Meron Capital and a group of unicorn startup founders and angel investors. 

USC President Carol Folt recently announced a $1 billion-plus initiative for computing research and education across disciplines with a focus on AI, machine learning and data science, augmented and virtual reality, robotics, gaming, and blockchain.

Scale VC - a Missouri-based venture capital fund and studio investing monetary and social capital in early-stage tech founders - announced it is expanding its support with a $5 million Fund II, the largest venture capital fund raised in the city to date.

Convergent Therapeutics - a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of next-generation radiopharmaceuticals for the treatment of cancer - announced the completion of a $90 million Series A financing, led by OrbiMed and RA Capital Management with participation from Invus.

The advancement of artificial intelligence and its integration into crisis response can impact society and help save lives. But to actually be effective, artificial intelligence researchers, social scientists, decision-makers, and the public must understand and trust these tools. Led by Carnegie Mellon University, the AI Institute for Societal Decision Making (AI-SDM) is going to improve the response to societal challenges such as disaster management and public health by developing human-centric AI tools to assist with critical decisions. The institute is also going to develop interdisciplinary training to bolster effective and rapid responses in uncertain and dynamic situations. The AI-SDM is 1 of 7 AI institutes awarded today by the National Science Foundation. And a 5-year $20 million commitment from the NSF will support the institute.

Genemod - a cloud-based workspace collaboration software for biopharma R&D teams - announced it raised $4.5 million in seed funding co-led by defy.vc and LDV Partners, with participation from Dolby Family Ventures and Vulcan/Cercano Ventures.

Pluto Biosciences - a life sciences software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform - announced the closing of a $3.7 million seed round led by Silverton Partners. This funding round will fuel the expansion of Pluto's innovative platform, which gives scientific teams both a unified home for managing their biological data, and an industry-first and interactive canvas for analyzing and visualizing complex biological data sets using no-code computational biology pipelines.

Bullet Point Network is a company that helps investors and portfolio companies make better decisions using their Strategic Scenario Models. To learn more about the company Pulse 2.0 interviewed Bullet Point Network CEO and co-founder Mike Ryan.

Slash - an online banking platform for the hustle economy - announced recently that it emerged from stealth with $19 million in seed and Series A funding. The seed and Series A funding rounds were led by NEA with additional participation from Menlo Ventures, Connect Ventures, Y Combinator, Soma Capital, Global Founders Capital, with participation from angel investors William Hockey, the founder of Plaid, and Justin Mateen, co-founder and former CMO of Tinder.

Metomic is a company that helps you detect and protect sensitive data across your SaaS apps. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Metomic CEO and co-founder Richard Vibert to learn more about the company.

Instruqt – a product-led growth platform company that helps customers bring their products to life through engaging and interactive demos and training – announced it has raised €15 million in a Series A round led by Blossom Capital.

EnviroSpark is a leader in turnkey design, installation, and operation of electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions. And the company is responsible for more than 7,000 charging stations so far. To learn more about the company, Pulse 2.0 interviewed Aaron Luque, founder and CEO of EnviroSpark. 

SuperDuperSecret Co. announced it successfully raised over $1 million in an oversubscribed pre-seed funding round. The investors include Round 13 Digital Asset Fund, Merit Circle, Polygon Ventures, Solana Foundation, LD Capital, Overwolf, Big Brain Holdings, and angel investors such as Sebastien Borget, Gabby Dizon, and Cristian Manea, among several others. The company’s launch title, Royale Chess—a 10-player, battle royale chess game—marks the first of many games across their underlying meta-game platform, focusing on multiplayer, evergreen games.

Viatu - a travel company utilizing API and data-driven technology to simplify the booking process of multi-day sustainable adventures - announced it has raised a $1 million seed round led by Ndoto LLC. The participants in the round include Austrian sustainable travel marketplace ASI Reisen and a number of prominent angels like ex-Uber and founder of Ambo Ventures and Kenyan-based lodge Emboo Camp, Loic Amado. Viatu has raised $1.2 million so far.

Entendre Finance announced it has raised $4 million in seed financing to launch the first fully automated end-to-end accounting and bookkeeping solution for businesses operating in Web3. Led by Basis Set and with participation from Valhalla, Caffeinated, Moonpay, Alumni, MDig, and Alpine, Entendre built a platform that modern finance teams can use to put blockchain financial operations on autopilot.

Morgan Health - the JPMorgan Chase & Co. business unit focused on improving the quality, equity, and affordability of employer-sponsored health care - announced recently a $25 million investment in Kindbody, a leading fertility clinic network, and global family-building benefits provider for employers offering the full spectrum of reproductive care from preconception to postpartum through menopause. Dr. Cheryl Pegus, a Managing Director with Morgan Health Ventures, will be joining Kindbody’s Board of Directors.

Campus.edu - a company transforming higher education by making community college accessible across the country - recently announced it has opened enrollment with $29 million in funding from Discord founder Jason Citron; OpenAI founder Sam Altman; Figma founder Dylan Field; former head of Stripe Issuing Lachy Groom; Bloomberg Beta; Founders Fund; Rethink Education; Reach Capital and Precursor Ventures among other investors.

Apple Tree Partners (ATP) - a leader in life sciences venture capital - announced the launch of Initial Therapeutics, a biotechnology company created to make medicines that block notoriously difficult-to-drug protein targets with a new mode of action: selective termination of protein synthesis (STOPS). Initial was developed by ATP with $75 million in Series A funding.

Tristero - a company working toward developing decentralized dark pool technology to create a fairer trading environment - announced the launch of their company supported by a $4.8M Seed round co-led by General Catalyst and Steel Perlot. And the company will be using the funding to build markets designed to minimize the price impact of trades, an invisible cost to all market participants.

Spera Security is a company that prevents account takeovers, stolen credentials, and phishing attacks. A few weeks ago, Spera raised $10 million. And to learn more about the company, Pulse 2.0 interviewed Spera Security CEO and co-founder Dor Fledel.

Impact Nano L.L.C. - a U.S.-based chemical manufacturing company enabling sustainable computing with advanced materials - announced that it has raised $32 million in total funding in successive rounds from Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Intel Capital, and other investors. In conjunction with the latest funding round, Sean Doyle, managing director of Intel Capital will join the board of directors.

Inbox Health - a leading patient billing communications platform - announced that it has completed a $22.5 million Series B financing round, bringing the total capital raised to over $43 million since inception. The Series B funding round was led by Ten Coves Capital with participation from existing investors including Commerce Ventures, CT Innovations, Vertical Venture Partners, Healthy Ventures, and Fairview Capital.

CAT Labs is a company that is building cybersecurity protocols for crypto projects and retail and institutional investors to prevent hacks and mitigate vulnerabilities. To learn more about the company, Pulse 2.0 interviewed CAT Labs founder and CEO Lilita Infante.

Kinnos - the maker of Highlight, a novel technology that colorizes disinfectants - announced a $15 million financing led by a group of current and former industry leaders. And the company also named healthcare veteran Steve Fanning as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors.