Startups

Espresa: Personal Benefits Platform Company Secures $23 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 10, 2023

Espresa - a personal benefits platform designed for global enterprises - recently announced the completion of its Series A funding round, led by Clear Ventures and totaling $23 million. And all existing investors participated, including Crosslink Capital, New Era Capital Partners, Moneta Venture Capital, Ridge Ventures, and Westwave Capital.

Engine Biosciences: $27 Million Secured To Advance Development Of Precision Oncology Medicines

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 10, 2023

Engine Biosciences - a company leveraging machine learning and high-throughput biology to discover and develop precision oncology medicines - recently announced the completion of a $27 million Series A extension. The funding round was led by Polaris Partners, with participation from both new and existing investors, bringing the total funds raised since inception to $86 million. Additional participating investors include existing investors ClavystBio (a life sciences venture investor set up by Temasek), Invus, and EDBI (Singapore-based global investor), and new investors Coronet Ventures (a Singapore-based investment entity of Cedars Sinai Intellectual Property Company) and SEEDS Capital (investment arm of Enterprise Singapore). In connection with the funding, Wen Qi Ho, Ph.D., Therapeutics Lead at ClavystBio, joined Engine’s Board of Directors.

ESG Flo: AI-Powered Data Infrastructure Platform Company Closes $5.25 Million In Seed Funding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 10, 2023

ESG Flo - an AI-powered data infrastructure platform - recently announced that it has secured $5.25 million in seed capital. This funding round was co-led by Rho Ignition and Tola Capital with participation from Bain & Company and Contour Venture Partners.

Upfort: Cyber Security And Insurance Company Raises $8 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 10, 2023

Upfort - a cutting-edge cyber security and insurance platform - recently announced it has raised $8 million in a Series A funding round led by SYN Ventures, with additional participation from Eniac Ventures, Fika Ventures, Altai Ventures, Chaos Ventures, Aquila Capital Partners, Gaingels and Cyber Mentor Fund.

Layr: Insurance Tech Company Secures $10 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 9, 2023

Layr - a leading insurance tech company - recently announced that it closed a $10 million round of financing led by Cota Capital. The K Fund, HSCM Ventures, Sandbox Industries, and Flyover Capital also participated in the round.

Stockpress: $1.8 Million Secured To Change How Distributed Teams Approach File Management

By Annie Baker ● Nov 8, 2023

Stockpress - a platform changing how distributed teams approach file management - recently announced it has raised $1.8 million in seed funding, bringing its total to $2.5 million. The funding round was led by Argon Ventures, with participation from York IE, Two Lanterns VC, The The Fund XX/Everywhere Ventures, and follow-on investment from Stage 2 Capital and deftly.vc

CAST AI: $35 Million Raised And New Platform Capabilities Launched

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 8, 2023

CAST AI - a leading Kubernetes cost optimization platform - recently announced that it has closed a $35 million Series B round from Vintage Investment Partners and existing investors Creandum and Uncorrelated Ventures. The new funding round follows a $20 million investment round led by Creandum in March, bringing the company’s total funding to $73 million and underscoring its strong growth and increasing demand for its platform.

Aleph Alpha: Generative AI Company Raises Over $500 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 8, 2023

Aleph Alpha, a Heidelberg-based leader in the field of explainable and trustworthy AI - recently announced the successful signing of its Series B financing round. The company raised $500 million from a consortium of a total of seven new investors as well as existing investors from previous rounds.

NEXT Insurance: $265 Million Raised And Strategic Partnership With Allstate Revealed

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 8, 2023

NEXT Insurance - a leading technology-first small business insurer - recently announced its strategic partnership with Allstate that will combine the companies’ expertise in small business insurance to develop and offer innovative and unique new products to a large underserved market, and a commitment to deepening its reinsurance relationship with Allianz. These partnerships come with a $265 million strategic investment from Allstate and Allianz X.

Enable: Rebate Management Company Raises $120 Million Funding At $1.12 Billion Valuation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 8, 2023

Enable - a rebate management platform company - recently announced that it has raised $120 million in Series D funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from all previous lead investors Menlo Ventures, Norwest Venture Partners, Insight Partners, and Sierra Ventures. This raise values the company at $1.12 billion, bringing the total amount raised since 2020 to $276 million.

Guidde: Video Documentation Platform Company Secures $15.6 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 8, 2023

Guidde - a video documentation platform utilizing generative AI - recently announced a $11.6 million Series A funding round led by Norwest Venture Partners, and they were joined by existing investors Entrée Capital, Honeystone Ventures, Crescendo Ventures, and new investor Tiferes Ventures.

Cowbell: $25 Million Raised And New Customer Base Increased 49% YoY

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 7, 2023

Cowbell - a leading provider of cyber insurance for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) - recently announced significant momentum and new financing on the heels of its top-grossing quarter and amid continued corporate growth. And Cowbell's new financing builds on its $148 million raised to-date.

FusionAuth: Customer Identity Platform Company Secures $65 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 7, 2023

FusionAuth - a customer identity platform built for developers - recently announced the completion of a $65 million growth equity investment from Updata Partners.

Jona: Personalized Health Company Secures $5 Million

By Dan Anderson ● Nov 7, 2023

Jona - a technology company on a mission to reveal the relationship between the microbiome and health - recently launched with $5 million in funding led by Breyer Capital and Meridian Street Capital. Consumers and providers can now purchase and use Jona's at-home microbiome profiling kit - which uses AI to analyze an individual's microbiome and deliver actionable insights that empower individuals to take a more proactive approach to their health in an era of rising chronic illness.

Connectly: Conversational Commerce Company Raises $7.85 Million

By Annie Baker ● Nov 7, 2023

Connectly - a leader in conversational commerce - recently announced its $7.85 million Series A investment led by Volpe Capital, with participation from RX Ventures and Saurabh Gupta, managing partner of DST Global. This funding the total amount the company has raised to $17.25 million.

Neuros Medical Receives $25 Million From Trinity Capital

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 7, 2023

Trinity Capital - a leading provider of diversified financial solutions to growth-stage companies - recently announced the commitment of $25 million in growth capital to Neuros Medical, a bioelectric technology company focused on alleviating chronic post-amputation pain and restoring quality of life.

Brickeye: Construction IoT And Data Analytics Technology Company Closes $10 Million

By Annie Baker ● Nov 7, 2023

Brickeye - a leading construction IoT and data analytics technology company - recently announced the successful first closing of a $10 million investment round. The company also welcomed new investors BDC Capital’s IP-backed Financing Fund and Graphite Ventures, with additional funding from existing investors GreenSky Ventures, Brightspark, EDC, and MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund. Brickeye plans to use the funds to grow its risk mitigation and productivity platform for the construction and insurance industries.

Covera Health: AI-Enabled Diagnostic Technology Company Secures $50 Million

By Noah Long ● Nov 7, 2023

Covera Health - a leading AI-enabled diagnostic technology company focused on radiology performance measurement and impact - recently announced up to $50 million in additional Series C funding led by Insight Partners, of which $25 million is committed today. And the company also finalized the acquisition of CoRead, a leading AI quality assurance company currently used by over 2,000 hospital sites nationwide. CoRead is at the forefront of generative AI focused on performance improvement in radiology, and its capabilities will be integrated into Covera Health's existing best-in-class quality platform.

Terremoto Biosciences: $175 Million Raised To Develop Targeted Small Molecule Medicines

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 6, 2023

Terremoto Biosciences - a biotechnology company developing highly targeted, small molecule medicines - recently announced the closing of a $175 million Series B financing round. This funding round includes new investors EcoR1 Capital, Novo Holdings, Cormorant Capital, and others, as well as participation from existing investors OrbiMed and Third Rock Ventures.

ClinOne: Clinical Trial Platform Company Raises $5 Million

By Annie Baker ● Nov 6, 2023

ClinOne - a leader in adaptive experiences for sites, participants, and their families - recently announced that it closed additional funding in its Series A financing to bring its total funding raised in this round to $5 million. The initial Series A funding round was announced back in April and was led by venture capital firm Boulder Ventures, with participation from existing investors. Boulder Ventures and Highpoint Ventures joined to extend the funding for this round.

Zephr: Next-Generation GPS Technology Company Raises $3.5 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 6, 2023

Zephr - a leading developer of next-generation GPS technologies - recently announced a $3.5 million seed round led by Space Capital and First Spark Ventures as it launches a groundbreaking networked GPS solution to dramatically improve GPS accuracy and reliability, creating new economic opportunities for many current and emerging industries. The new funding round will support Zephr’s GTM strategy as the company ramps up for rapid growth over the next year.

Charlie: $23 Million Raised To Help Retirees Make The Most Of Limited Resources

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 6, 2023

Charlie - a new standard for over 62 banking services - recently announced it has raised a $23 million Series A with TTV Capital serving as the lead investor. FPV also participated in the round and other seed investors, including Better Tomorrow Ventures. The funding is a combination of $16 million equity and $7 million debt. This funding round comes six months after the company launched in May 2023. Since launching, the company has acquired customers in all 50 states.

Chkk: Kubernetes Availability Platform Company Secures $5.2 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 6, 2023

Chkk recently emerged from stealth with its Kubernetes Availability Platform - which identifies and prioritizes availability risks before they cause incidents and creates pre-verified upgrade plans to remediate risks and speed up upgrades. And the company also recently announced that it raised $5.2 million in seed funding led by Sequoia Capital. Chkk plans to use the funding to advance its platform and modules and expand its team.

Chainguard: Supply Chain Security Company Closes $61 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 6, 2023

Chainguard - a leader in software supply chain security - recently announced it has completed a $61 million Series B round of funding led by Spark Capital and existing investors Sequoia Capital, Amplify Partners, The Chainsmoker's Mantis VC, and Banana Capital.

Bioluminescence Ventures: Next-Generation Medicine Firm Emerges With $477 Million Fund

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 6, 2023

Bioluminescence Ventures - a biotech venture firm investing in next-generation medicines - recently announced its emergence from stealth with $477 million in assets under management across two funds: Bioluminescence Ventures Fund I, L.P., and Bioluminescence Ventures Fund II, L.P.

Ambient.ai Receives $20 Million Investment From Allegion Ventures

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 6, 2023

Allegion Ventures (the corporate venture fund of Allegion plc) has recently made a $20 million investment in Ambient.ai, the artificial intelligence (AI) powered computer vision intelligence (CVI) company that’s transforming enterprise security operations to prevent security incidents before they happen.

Govly: Public Sector Procurement Market Network Company Closes $9.5 Million

By Annie Baker ● Nov 6, 2023

Govly - a market network for public sector procurement - recently announced today $9.5 million in Series A funding, which brought its total capital raised since 2019 to $13.1 million. And global software investor Insight Partners led the funding round with participation from Y Combinator, FundersClub, and NordicEye. Govly plans to use the funding round to build new products that further its goal of making selling to governments simple and transparent.

Alianza: Cloud Communications Company Raises $61 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Nov 6, 2023

Alianza - a leading cloud communications platform for service providers - recently announced it raised $61 million in new growth equity and debt financing. The latest funding round highlights a 70% increase in valuation for the company since March 2021.

Treads: $4.6 Million Secured To Advance Car Maintenance Accessibility

By Annie Baker ● Nov 6, 2023

Treads - an AI-powered car maintenance subscription - recently announced it has raised a $4.6 million seed funding round led by Mucker Capital with participating investors, including Kickstart Seed Fund, Peak Ventures, Royal Street Ventures, and Convoi Ventures. The funding round will support Treads' expansion into 16 additional cities in the U.S., making Treads available in 34 cities by the end of the year.

Cedar: $3 Million Secured To Advance Building Design Platform

By Noah Long ● Nov 6, 2023

The housing market in the U.S. is short about 6.5 million homes after more than a decade of under-building relative to population and demand growth. To address the issue, Cedar has raised a $3 million seed funding round to take this problem head-on with software that helps real-estate developers and professionals maximize the housing potential of urban infill properties.