Startups

NextPoint Therapeutics Closes $42.5 Million To Develop New Class Of Precision Oncology Therapeutics

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 16, 2024

NextPoint Therapeutics - a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a new class of precision oncology therapeutics targeting the novel HHLA2 pathway - announced the closing of a $42.5 million Extension to its Series B financing round resulting in a total of $122.5 million raised in the Series B financing.

Overworld: Game Studio Company Closes $10 Million In Seed Funding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 16, 2024

Overworld – a game studio company that is building high-quality, cross-platform multiplayer RPGs – announced it has closed a seed round of $10 million, led by Hashed along with The Spartan Group, Sanctor Capital and Galaxy Interactive, with notable participation from Hashkey, Big Brain Holdings and Foresight Ventures, to accelerate development on a multiplayer role-playing experience enhanced with digital collectibles.

Hippo Harvest: Controlled Environment Agriculture Company Raises $21 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 16, 2024

Hippo Harvest - a controlled environment agriculture (CEA) startup developing advanced greenhouse systems that produce sustainably grown produce - announced the closing of its $21 million Series B funding round led by Standard Investments. And Congruent Ventures, Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund, Hawthorne Food Ventures, and Energy Impact Partners also joined the round. This funding round will scale the company's greenhouse operations and expand its product offerings into new categories of leafy greens.

Rasa: Generative Conversational AI Company Raises $30 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 16, 2024

Rasa (a leading generative conversational AI platform) announced the completion of its $30 million Series C funding round, co-led by StepStone Group and PayPal Ventures, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Accel, and Basis Set Ventures.

Latigo Biotherapeutics: $135 Million Raised To Develop Non-Opioid Pain Medicines

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 16, 2024

Latigo Biotherapeutics (a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing best-in-class non-opioid pain medicines that target pain at its source) announced its emergence from stealth with a $135 million Series A financing. Westlake Village BioPartners incubated the company. And Westlake led the Series A financing with 5AM Ventures and Foresite Capital as co-leads with participation from Corner Ventures.

Architect Financial Technologies: $12 Million Funding Raised For Expanding Derivatives Brokerage And Trading Technology

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 16, 2024

Architect Financial Technologies (an emerging leader in derivatives brokerage services and trading technology) announced it has closed a $12 million capital raise. And with the completion of the new round, the company raised $17 million since its inception in January 2023.

Vimly Benefit Solutions Raises Strategic Investment From Rubicon Technology Partners

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 15, 2024

Vimly Benefit Solutions (a leader in the benefits administration space) announced it has secured a strategic majority investment from Rubicon Technology Partners, a private equity firm based in Boulder, Colorado that is focused exclusively on investing in and growing software companies.

Bold: Payment Services Provider Secures $50 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 15, 2024

Bold (a financial technology company enabling access to electronic payments in Colombia) announced that it had raised $50 million in Series C funding led by existing investor General Atlantic, with participation from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. And existing investors InQLab and Amador also participated in the round. With this new funding, Bold plans to bolster its product roadmap and offerings and continue its focus on business expansion while deepening its position as a leading merchant acquirer in Colombia.

Sibli Closes $4.5 Million In Funding To Transform Investment Research Processes With AI

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 15, 2024

Launched by a team of AI and finance experts, Sibli's unique IP, built using cutting-edge generative AI and utilizing large language models (LLMs), enables asset managers to gain an information advantage over their peers, and transforms their investment research processes, and improve performance.

Skylo Technologies: Direct-To-Device Satellite Company Closes $37 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 15, 2024

Skylo Technologies – a leading direct-to-device satellite connectivity service provider - announced that it has secured $37 million in funding co-led by Intel Capital and Innovation Endeavors. The company’s new investors include BMW i Ventures, Next47, Samsung Catalyst Fund and Seraphim Space. And David Johnson of Intel Capital joins the board, bringing a wealth of experience and insight to fortify Skylo's leadership team.

Perigon Wealth Management Acquires Prudeo Partners, A Firm With About $425 Million In Total Client Assets

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 15, 2024

Perigon Wealth Management (a rapidly growing independent wealth management firm with offices across the country and approximately $6.9 billion as of January 31, 2024 in client assets) announced the acquisition of Prudeo Partners (a wealth management firm with offices in Reading, Pennsylvania and West Columbia, South Carolina with approximately $425 million in total client assets). The terms of the deal were undisclosed.

cPacket: $67 Million Raised From Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital And Trinity Capital

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 15, 2024

cPacket Networks announced the successful completion of a $67 million transaction, including a primary and secondary equity investment by funds managed by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital and a debt refinancing by Trinity Capital. The involvement of these investors in this difficult market reflects positively on the company’s performance, strategic positioning, and exciting market opportunity.

Sapience Analytics Raises Funding From Kayne Anderson Growth Capital

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 15, 2024

Sapience Analytics (a global leader helping enterprises optimize capacity management with automated workforce analytics) announced a large new growth investment from Kayne Anderson Growth Capital. The demand for workforce data that is automated, unbiased, and accurate is key for companies to operate efficiently and cost-effectively in a post-pandemic world.

Blue Alliance Raises Strategic Investment From Prairie Capital

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 15, 2024

Blue Alliance (a fast-growing, operator-led MSP collective) announced that it had completed a growth recapitalization transaction with Prairie Capital, a proven firm in scaling companies across various industries. And Prairie Capital's investment will enable Blue Alliance to accelerate its growth strategy and offer more MSP owners an alternative to the standard agreement and the opportunity to be part of a strong, supportive community focused on scaling and shared success. Blue Alliance will continue operating independently within the Prairie portfolio.

Artie: $3.3 Million Raised For Solving Database Replication

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 15, 2024

Artie announced it had closed a seed round of $3.3 million to make database replication real-time, reliable, and cost-effective. Exponent Founders Capital led the funding round with participation from General Catalyst, Y Combinator, and angel investors, including Benn Stancil, Lenny Rachitsky, and Arash Ferdowsi.

WIT: Digital Activation Platform Raises Series A Funding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 15, 2024

WIT – a digital activation platform across sports and entertainment - announced that it had closed a round of funding led by McCarthy Capital out of their Emerging Growth strategy. Vaidhy Murti launched WIT in 2021 as a platform for sports teams to create immersive fan experiences to engage with fans digitally.

Parlay: Small Business Loan Readiness Platfor Company Raises $1.3 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 15, 2024

Parlay – a first-of-its-kind small business loan readiness platform - announced the closing of $1.3 million in pre-seed financing led by Fenway Summer. And other firms investing in the round include Hivers and Strivers Capital, Service Provider Capital, Capacity Capital, and Alumni Ventures, together with a follow-on investment from Techstars.

Amazec Photonics: €1.5 Million Raised To Advance Circulatory And Heart Failure Detection Technology

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 15, 2024

Amazec Photonics - a photonics-based medical technology company - announced it has secured a €1.5 million seed round of funding to develop its pioneering minimally invasive diagnosis devices. The funding round was led by PhotonDelta (a cross-border growth accelerator and ecosystem of photonic chip technology organizations) with a number of private investors also contributing. The funding round will be used to develop devices for clinical trials.

Cambridge Mechatronics: Over $40 Million Raised To Enhance Smartphone Imaging Technology

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 14, 2024

Cambridge Mechatronics Limited (CML) – a world leader in the design and control of Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) actuators – announced the closing of a funding round totaling over $40 million to enable rapid expansion of its actuator and controller IC product portfolios.

ProfoundBio: $112 Million Closed To Develop Novel Antibody-Drug Conjugate Therapeutics for Patients With Cancer

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 14, 2024

ProfoundBio - a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) therapeutics for patients with cancer - announced an oversubscribed $112 million Series B financing supported by a syndicate of top healthcare dedicated and mutual fund institutional investors. The funding round was led by Ally Bridge Group, with substantial contributions from new investors including Nextech Invest, funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Janus Henderson Investors, RA Capital Management, OrbiMed, Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company), Medicxi, Logos Capital, Octagon Capital, Piper Heartland Healthcare Capital and LifeSci Venture Partners, as well as continued support from existing investors Lilly Asia Ventures (LAV) and LYFE Capital.

CDPQ Investing C$125 Million In Levio

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 14, 2024

CDPQ announced an investment of C$125 million to support the acquisition strategy of Levio, which is a leading consulting firm that leverages its expertise to achieve digital transformations, tailoring new technologies to ever-changing business realities.

Camus Energy: Grid Orchestration Company Raises $25 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 14, 2024

Camus Energy – a grid orchestration platform for a 100% electrified future - announced it has surpassed $25 million in Series A funding after closing its $10 million extension. These are the details.

Meter: Internet Infrastructure Company Raises $35 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 14, 2024

Meter – a company that builds internet infrastructure for businesses - announced $35 million in funding that will be used to propel growth and development across the company. And Sam Altman and Lachy Groom led the new funding round. The existing investors include industry leaders like Sequoia, Meraki co-founders John Bicket and Sanjit Biswas, and VMware founder Diane Greene.

Eden Selected To Receive $1.4 Million In ARPA-E Awards

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 14, 2024

Eden (a leader in sustainable natural resource recovery) announced that it has been selected to receive $1.4 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) for two projects titled “Electric-based Mechanical and Thermal Stimulation to Increase Geologic Hydrogen Reaction Rates in the Samail Ophiolite in Oman” and “Engineered Geologic Hydrogen Battery for Long-Term Energy Storage.”

Founderful: $85 Million Closed For Fund II

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 14, 2024

Five years after its launch, venture capital firm Wingman Ventures has rebranded as Founderful and is announcing it has quickly raised $85 million for its new fund, aiming to reach a final close at $120 million in the coming months.

PatientFi: Raises Significant Growth Investment From Questa To Provide Payment Solutions To Medical Practices

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 14, 2024

PatientFi - a company offering medical practices a comprehensive technology suite of payment and subscription solutions to help patients pay for elective procedures - announced the closing of a significant growth equity financing led by new investor Questa Capital (a venture growth equity firm focused on expansion-stage healthcare companies), with participation from the company’s existing investors.

Seal Security: Cybersecurity Company Raises $7.4 Million And Exits Stealth

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 14, 2024

Seal Security announced it has emerged from stealth with a $7.4 million seed funding round led by Vertex Ventures Israel, with participation from Crew Capital, PayPal Alumni Fund, and Cyber Club London.

Private Equity Firm Inyarek Partners Launches To Support Energy Transition

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 14, 2024

Inyarek Partners announced it has launched with a mission to identify and cultivate compelling asset development opportunities in support of the energy transition. Inyarek will look to capitalize opportunities via both direct investment vehicles and traditional commingled funds. Inyarek completed its first investment in partnership with high-quality institutional investors.

Rimere: Climate Solutions Company Secures $10 Million

By Dan Anderson ● Feb 14, 2024

Rimere (a climate solutions company with proprietary plasma technology) announced the closing of a $10 million strategic investment from Clean Energy Fuels. The funding round will accelerate the development and field testing of Rimere’s two independent devices, the Reformer and the Mitigator, that reduce climate change emissions and enable using natural gas to accelerate the transition to a clean hydrogen future.

Marqo: Vector Search Company Raises $12.5 Million

By Annie Baker ● Feb 14, 2024

Vector search company Marqo announced it had closed a $12.5 million Series A funding round led by Lightspeed with participation from Blackbird VC, January Capital, and Chronosphere founder and CTO Rob Skillington.