Startups

Penn State University: Student Startups Win Funding Prizes For Inc.U Competition

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 11, 2025

Penn State University revealed in a news release that Joy Tac (a student startup from Penn State Harrisburg) won first place and $15,000 in the 2025 Invent Penn State Inc.U Competition. And as a kickoff to Penn State Startup Week powered by PNC, six student teams from four Penn State campuses pitched their startups to a panel of judges, competing for $30,000 in total funding prizes.

Olaris: Strategic Investment Raised From Labcorp

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 11, 2025

Olaris, a precision medicine company leveraging metabolomics and machine learning to discover and develop its myOLARIS diagnostics products, announced an investment from Labcorp, a leader of innovative and comprehensive laboratory services, as part of its Series-B1 financing. Labcorp joins existing investors Robert Carpenter, Innospark Ventures, North Point Partners, Alumni Ventures, and new investor US Boston Growth Capital.

SecondWave Systems: $7 Million (Series A) Raised For Advancing Ultrasound-Based Anti-Inflammatory Therapy Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2025

SecondWave Systems, a clinical-stage medical device company developing a novel ultrasound-based treatment for inflammatory disorders, announced that it has closed a $7 million Series A financing round. The funding was led by Treo Ventures, a major healthcare strategic investor, with participation from Scientific Health Development and the University of Minnesota's Discovery Capital and SSBCI funds.

incident.io: $62 Million (Series B) Raised To Help Engineering Teams Fix Issues Faster

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2025

incident.io, an end-to-end incident management platform used by engineering teams at companies like Netflix, Linear, Ramp, and Etsy, announced it has raised $62 million in Series B funding. This funding round was led by Insight Partners and with continued support from Index Ventures and Point Nine Capital. And this round brings the total funding to over $96 million.

groundcover: $35 Million (Series B) Raised For eBPF-Driven Observability Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2025

groundcover, an eBPF-driven observability platform for modern architectures, announced that it raised $35 Million in Series B funding led by Zeev Ventures with follow-up participation from Angular Ventures, Heavybit, and Jibe Ventures. This round brings the company's total funding to $60 million.

illumicell AI: $2 Million (Pre-Seed) Closed For Male Fertility Diagnostics Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2025

illumicell AI, which was founded by Harvard-trained physician Michel Bielecki, former McKinsey consultant Jeyla Sadikova, and rocket engineer Loup Cordey, announced it has raised $2 million in pre-seed funding to accelerate development of the first portable lab scanner and real-time AI platform for fluid-based diagnostics, capable of analyzing cells and biomarkers within minutes. Investors include several top-tier healthcare operators, clinicians, and early-stage funds such as KOFA Healthcare, Harvard Phoenix Venture Fund, and MedTechSyndicates.

Thoughtful Automation: Growth Investment Raised From New Mountain Capital

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2025

Thoughtful Automation, a leading AI-based revenue cycle automation company, announced a strategic investment from New Mountain Capital, an investment firm with over $55 billion in assets under management. This funding will support Thoughtful.ai’s next growth phase and further advance automation and AI adoption to address the complex challenges facing healthcare providers.

AppWork: $13 Million (Series A) Raised For Streamlining Maintenance Operations For Property Management

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2025

AppWork, a rapidly growing software platform purpose-built to streamline maintenance operations for multifamily property management teams, announced it has secured a $13 million Series A investment led by Resolve Growth Partners, a growth equity firm focused on investing in and scaling leading vertical SaaS companies.

Symphonic Capital: $13.5 Million Debut Fund Launched

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2025

Symphonic Capital, an early-stage VC firm investing in the next generation of institutions serving overlooked and underserved communities, announced it has officially closed its $13.5 million debut fund. This inaugural fund will be led by Sydney Thomas and focus on early-stage investments in founders closing access gaps across healthcare and financial services.

Caris Life Sciences: $168 Million Raised For Precision Medicine Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2025

Caris Life Sciences - a next-generation AI TechBio company and precision medicine pioneer - announced that the company has closed a growth capital funding round of $168 million. With this round of funding, Caris has raised $1.86 billion in capital since 2018.

NexGen Cloud: $45 Million (Series A) Closed At $354 Million Valuation To Expand Sovereign AI Infrastructure In Europe

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2025

NexGen Cloud, a UK leader in AI infrastructure, announced it has closed its Series A round, raising $45 million at a valuation of $354 million. Backed by high-net-worth individuals and family trusts, this funding will drive global expansion and enhance sovereign AI capabilities in Europe.

Glimpse: $10 Million (Series A) Raised To Automate Deduction Management For CPG Brands

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2025

Glimpse, the first AI-based end-to-end deduction management service for CPG brands, announced it has closed an oversubscribed $10 million series A funding round. The funding round was led by 8VC and participated in by existing investors YCombinator, Origin Ventures, and Informed Ventures and new investor Allison Pickens, the former COO of Gainsight.

Gallatin: $15 Million (Seed) Funding Secured For Transforming Defense Logistics

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2025

Gallatin AI, a defense technology company transforming military logistics through artificial intelligence, today emerged from stealth with $15 million in seed funding. Incubated within 8VC's Build program, which has launched defense unicorns Epirus and Saronic, Gallatin utilizes years of dedicated research in defense and commercial logistics innovation. The funding round was led by 8VC, joined by Silent Ventures, Moonshots Capital, Timeless Partners, and Banter Capital.

Zero Industrial: $10 Million (Series A) Closed For Advancing Development Of Thermal Energy Storage

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2025

Zero Industrial - a leading development company decarbonizing industrial heat by utilizing thermal energy storage (TES) systems - announced that it closed $10 million in funding led by Evok Innovations with participation from Rusheen Capital Management.

Metopio: Growth Investment Raised For Data-Driven Solutions For Community Health

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2025

Metopio announced it has secured a multi-million-dollar investment led by Plymouth Growth, which promises to transform how organizations uncover, understand, and act on critical community insights. This strategic funding marks a significant milestone in broadening access to data, empowering healthcare and public health professionals to make faster, more informed decisions that directly impact community well-being.

Turbine: Over $121 Million Raised For Liquidity Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2025

Turbine, a liquidity platform driven by data science that provides credit facilities to venture investors, announced it has raised $13 million in Series A funding, co-led by Alpha Edison and TTV Capital and joined by Fin Capital, B Capital, and Sozo Ventures. This funding and the company’s previously unannounced $8.75 million in seed funding bring Turbine's total funding raised to $121.75 million.

Adaptis: Sustainability Platform Company Raises $4 Million (Seed)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2025

Blumind: C$20 Million (Series A) Closed For Advancing Analog AI

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2025

Blumind, a developer of ultra-low-power analog AI chips for edge computing, announced the closing of a C$20 million Series A funding round. Cycle Capital and BDC Capital co-led the funding, with existing investors including Fusion Fund, Two Small Fish Ventures, and Real Ventures joining the round. The company is keeping the round open to engage in active discussions with strategic investors.

Rain: $75 Million (Series B) Closed For EWA And Financial Wellness App

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2025

Rain, an employer-integrated earned wage access (EWA) and financial wellness app, announced it has raised $75 million in Series B equity funding. Prosus led the round, which also included Nextalia Ventures, Spark Growth Ventures, and existing investors, including QED, Invus Opportunities, and others.

BRINC: $75 Million Raised For Emergency Response Drones

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2025

BRINC, which is a manufacturer of emergency response drones, announced that it has raised $75 million in new funding. This funding will be used to accelerate the development and production of BRINC's lifesaving drone technology.

HoneyHive: AI Agent Observability And Evaluation Company Closes $7.4 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2025

HoneyHive, an AI agent observability and evaluation platform, announced its general availability launch along with $7.4 million in total funding, including a $5.5 million seed round led by global software investor Insight Partners and a previously unannounced $1.9 million pre-seed round led by Zero Prime Ventures.

SE Ventures Unveils 12- Week Accelerator Program

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2025

SE Ventures, which is a $1+ billion stage-agnostic venture capital firm backed by Schneider Electric, announced the launch of its new Accelerator Program, a 12‑week initiative designed to help pre‑seed startups in climate and industrial technology achieve product‑market fit and accelerate growth.

University Of Calgary Spinout Quantized Technologies (QTi) Raising $4 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2025

University of Calgary alum Jordan Smith and his research-based startup Quantized Technologies Inc. (QTi) are looking to transform global internet communications by building the first commercial quantum repeater, an essential device for enabling the backbone of the future quantum internet. And QTi is currently raising $4 million in investment to advance these efforts, building on its existing success in developing advanced quantum encryption devices.

Sats Terminal: Bitcoin Decentralized Finance Aggregation Protocol Platform Raises $1.7 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2025

Sats Terminal, a Bitcoin decentralized finance (DeFi) aggregation protocol, announced it has raised $1.7 million in pre-seed funding to expand its platform. The funding round was led by Coinbase Ventures and Draper Associates, with additional participation from Draper Dragon, BitcoinFi Accelerator, UTXO Management, Core Chain Ventures, Sats Ventures, Delta Blockchain Fund, Tenzor Capital, and 3Commas Capital. And several high-profile angel investors also joined the round, including Paul Taylor, Franklin Bi, DOMO, Stijn Paumen, and others who support Sats Terminal’s goals.

Anecdotes: $55 Million (Series B) Raised For Transforming AI-Based GRC Solutions

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 10, 2025

Anecdotes, which is a data-driven Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) platform built for enterprise operations, announced the successful second close of its expanded Series B financing round, raising an additional $30 million and bringing the company’s total funding for the round to $55 million. This extended $30 million round was led by DTCP following the initial $25 million round led by Glilot with participation from Vertex and Red Dot. And the additional funding comes on the heels of strong enterprise momentum to fuel global expansion, and brings the total funding to $85 million.

Optilogic: $40 Million (Series B) Raised For Optimization And Decision-Making Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 9, 2025

Optilogic - a supply chain design software innovator - announced it closed its $40 million Series B funding round, led by NewRoad Capital Partners and joined by MK Capital and Moore Strategic Ventures.

Spektion: $5 Million (Seed) Raised For Software Vulnerability Management Solutions

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 9, 2025

Software vulnerability management leader Spektion announced the general availability of its purpose-built solution, Spektion, which enables vulnerability management teams to address software risks based on their runtime behavior proactively. The company also revealed that it is backed by $5 million in seed funding led by LiveOak Ventures. The funding round also included participation from Tau Ventures and Dauntless Ventures.

Starday: $11 Million (Series A) Raised For Expanding Food Innovation And Retail Partnerships

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 9, 2025

Starday, an AI-based food innovation company reinventing category growth, announced it has raised $11 million in Series A funding to accelerate retail expansion and develop first-of-its-kind partnerships with retailers and CPG brands to create bespoke products. The funding round was led by Slow Ventures and Equal Ventures and it includes $8 million in equity and $3 million in a debt credit facility from Silicon Valley Bank, along with investment from large global food and beverage companies. This funding round brings Starday’s total funding to $20 million in equity and debt.

Tracera: $12 Million (Series A) Raised For AI-Based Corporate Sustainability Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 9, 2025

Tracera, an AI-based platform that automates the collection, verification and auditing of sustainability data with finance-grade accuracy and traceability, announced a $12 million Series A round, led by Foundry, with participation from Rho Ignition, Tola Capital, and Contour Venture Partners.

Aurascape: $50 Million Raised For AI-Native Security Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 9, 2025

Aurascape, a provider of AI-native security, announced its launch after one year of stealth operations with $50 million in funding. The lead investors include Mayfield Fund and Menlo Ventures, along with a strategic set of investors such as Celesta Capital and security industry leaders, including former Palo Alto Networks CEO Mark McLaughlin, former Symantec CEO Greg Clark, the Chairman of Walden International Lip-Bu Tan, and former Zscaler Chief Strategy Officer Manoj Apte.