Startups

Indapta Therapeutics: $22.5 Million Raised For Advancing Clinical Trials Of Cancer And Autoimmune Treatments

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 20, 2024

Indapta Therapeutics - a privately-held clinical-stage biotechnology company developing next-generation cell therapies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases - announced it has closed a $22.5 million round of new financing to accelerate the clinical development of its differentiated allogeneic Natural Killer (NK) cell therapy. And current investors RA Capital Management, LP, Leaps by Bayer (the impact investment arm of Bayer AG), Vertex Ventures HC, Pontifax, and the Myeloma Investment Fund, the venture philanthropy subsidiary of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, completed the round.

Salt AI: AI Workflow Orchestration Company Raises $3 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 19, 2024

Salt AI - a pioneer in AI workflow orchestration - announced it has raised $3 million in seed funding and appointed technology veteran Aber Whitcomb as Chief Executive Officer. Whitcomb (former co-founder and CTO of MySpace and Jam City) brings decades of experience scaling breakthrough technologies across social media, mobile gaming, and blockchain.

ŌURA: Smart Ring Company Raises $200 Million (Series D) At $5.2 Billion Valuation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 19, 2024

ŌURA, the company behind the leading smart ring, Oura Ring, announced today that it has completed a $200 million Series D funding round. Fidelity Management & Research Company and Dexcom, the global leader in glucose biosensing, participated in the round, which raised the company’s valuation to $5.2 billion.

Simulation Theory: $2 Million (Pre-Seed) Raised For Combating Cloud Waste

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 19, 2024

Simulation Theory, a company focused on reducing waste by optimizing compute resources, has successfully raised $2 million in pre-seed funding. The funding round was led by Larry Russ, managing partner at Russ, August & Kabat, with individual investors including Ryan Peterson (former CEO of Finger Food Advanced Technology Group), and Robert Wallace of Strategic Alternatives.

SandboxAQ: AI And Quantum Solutions Company Raises Over $300 Million At $5.3 Billion Valuation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 19, 2024

SandboxAQ announced a funding round of over $300 million from Fred Alger Management, LLC, T. Rowe Price Associates, Mumtalakat, Parkway Venture Capital, Breyer Capital, Rizvi Traverse, S32, US Innovative Technology Fund, Ava Investments, Eric Schmidt, Marc Benioff, David Siegel, Yann LeCun, IQT, and other prominent investors. This funding round valued the company at $5.3 billion on a pre-money basis.

Plume: Integrated Modular Layer-1 Blockchain Company Raises $20 Million (Series A)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 19, 2024

Plume, which is the first fully integrated modular Layer-1 blockchain focused on Real World Asset Finance (RWAfi), announced the closing of a $20 million Series A funding round from Brevan Howard Digital, Haun Ventures, Galaxy Ventures, Lightspeed Faction, Superscrypt, Hashkey, Laser Digital (Nomura Group), A Capital, 280 Capital, SV Angel, Reciprocal Ventures, and others, showcasing strong industry conviction from crypto-native and traditional finance investors in Plume's vision of an on-chain RWAfi ecosystem.

Parafin: Embedded Finance Infrastructure Company Raises $100 Million (Series C) At $750 Million Valuation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 19, 2024

Parafin, a company that builds embedded finance infrastructure, has announced the close of its $100 million Series C financing at a $750 million valuation. Notable Capital led the funding, with significant participation from Redpoint Ventures. Existing investors Ribbit Capital, Thrive Capital, and GIC participated in the round.

Acre Homes: Tech-Focused Real Estate Company Raises Over $10 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 19, 2024

Acre Homes - a tech-enabled real estate company - announced the closing of a seed round led by Anthemis, bringing the total venture capital raised to over $10 million. The funding included notable participation from Sovereign's Capital, Home Technology Ventures, Studio VC, Front Porch Ventures, Unpopular Ventures, Duke Capital Partners, and former CEO of Invitation Homes Fred Tuomi. This funding will support the company's efforts to accelerate growth in existing markets, including the newly launched Atlanta.

Telle Tire & Auto Centers Raises Growth Investment From Next Horizon

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 19, 2024

Next Horizon Capital announced an investment in Telle Tire & Auto Centers, a well-established, fast-growing tire retailer and automotive service company with a strong presence in the Midwestern United States. The financial terms of the investment were undisclosed.

Slip Robotics: Truck-Loading Robots-As-A-Service Company Raises $28 Million (Series B)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 19, 2024

Slip Robotics, a next-generation provider of automated truck-loading robots as a service, announced it has raised a $28 million Series B financing led by DCVC. The funding reflects Slip’s rapid growth with industry-leading customers, including John Deere, GE Appliances, Valeo, and Nissan, using SlipBots to load and unload any truck in just five minutes.

Anatomy: $19 Million (Series A) Raised To Automate Financial Operations For Healthcare Organizations

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 19, 2024

Anatomy Financial - a developer of the AI-based lockbox to convert paper mail from healthcare practices of all sizes to an email-like experience for simplified billing workflows - announced $19 million in Series A funding led by Canapi Ventures. And Neil Underwood from Canapi and Nicole Quinn from Lightspeed Venture Partners will join the Anatomy board, supporting Anatomy’s efforts to bring a digital back office and AI-based financial operations to healthcare providers across the US.

Starboard: AI-Based Logistics Solution Company Raises $5.5 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 19, 2024

Starboard - an emerging leader in AI-based logistics solutions - announced it raised $5.5 million in funding led by Eclipse, with participation from previous backers Garuda Ventures and Everywhere Ventures.

LAAM: Pakistan-Based Fashion Marketplace Company Raises $5.5 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 18, 2024

Fashion marketplace LAAM announced it has raised a $5.5 million funding round to make South Asian fashion global. Disrupt.com and Zayn VC led this seed funding round, with participation from Graph Ventures, Mentors Fund, and tech leaders from Oracle, Microsoft, Google, and Salesforce.

Symmio: Decentralized Derivatives Protocol Company Raises $3.1 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 18, 2024

Symmio - a decentralized derivatives protocol with over $8 billion in trading volume - announced it raised $3.1 million in funding, including $2.1 million in new investments from top-tier investors, including Spartan Group, Orbs, MCLB, and Blockchain Founders Fund, as well as previous investments by @AgentChud (Messi), MS2 Capital, Gametheorizing (Selini Capital), GMoney & Prime Ventures.

Alessa Therapeutics: Drug Delivery Technology Company Raises $15 Million (Seed)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 18, 2024

Alessa Therapeutics - a clinical-stage drug development company pioneering an innovative and proprietary localized drug delivery technology for the early interception of cancer and other diseases - announced the closing of a $15 million seed funding round led by Mission BioCapital joined by Johnson & Johnson (through its corporate venture capital organization, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. (JJDC)., and a representative of JJDC will join the Board of Directors at Alessa Therapeutics.

Cartesia: $22 Million Secured For Building Real-Time AI Models

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 18, 2024

Cartesia, a company whose state-space models (SSMs) are transforming the next wave of innovation in generative AI, announced $22 million in new funding led by Index Ventures, bringing the total capital raised to $27 million. Also joining in this round are venture funds like A* Capital, Conviction, General Catalyst, Lightspeed, and SV Angel, along with 90 prominent angel investors, including the founders of Abridge, Airtable, Captions, Cognition, Cohere, Databricks, Datadog, Hugging Face, Hubspot, Infinitus, Llamaindex, Mercury, Mistral, Okta, Perplexity, Pika, Pinterest, Postman, Ramp, RunwayML, Snorkel, Sonos, Together AI, Tripedot Studios, Typeface, Vercel, Weaviate, Weights and Biases, and Zapier.

Mynt: Sweden-Based Fintech Company Raises €22 Million (Series B) At About €175 Million Valuation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 18, 2024

Mynt - a leading provider of corporate credit cards and spend management solutions - announced a €22 million funding round at a significantly increased valuation of about €175 million, led by Vor Capital, with participation from existing investors CNI, Incore, and others. The Series B round brings Mynt’s total funding to over €50 million.

Marcy Venture Partners Merges With Investment Arm Of Pendulum Holdings

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 18, 2024

Marcy Venture Partners, a venture capital firm founded by rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z, merged with Black-owned Pendulum Opportunities (the investment arm of Pendulum Holdings). The combined company will be called MarcyPen Capital Partners, with a reported $900 million AUM.

Terradot: Carbon Removal Company Raises $58.2 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 18, 2024

Telna: Funding Raised From Gemspring Capital

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 18, 2024

Gemspring Capital Management, a middle-market private equity firm, announced that an affiliate has invested strategically in Telna. As a leader in eSIM connectivity solutions, Telna makes it easier for mobile devices to seamlessly transition between carrier networks, eliminating the need for physical SIM cards and enhancing global connectivity.

Precision Neuroscience: $102 Million (Series C) Raised For Advancing AI-Based Brain Implant

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 18, 2024

Brain–computer interface (BCI) company Precision Neuroscience announced the closing of a $102 million Series C funding round led by General Equity Holdings, with participation from firms including B Capital; Duquesne Family Office, the investment firm of Stanley F. Druckenmiller; and Steadview Capital. And with $155 million in total capital raised, Precision is now one of the best-funded companies in the BCI industry.

Databricks Announces $10 Billion (Series J) Funding At $62 Billion Valuation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 17, 2024

Data and AI company Databricks announced a Series J funding round today. The company is raising $10 billion of expected non-dilutive financing and has completed $8.6 billion. This funding values Databricks at $62 billion, and Thrive Capital is leading it. Along with Thrive, the funding round is co-led by Andreessen Horowitz, DST Global, GIC, Insight Partners, and WCM Investment Management. Other significant participants include existing investors Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and new investors ICONIQ Growth, MGX, Sands Capital, and Wellington Management.

Engineered Arts Raises $10 Million For Scaling Humanoid Robotics

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 17, 2024

Engineered Arts, a leader in the design and manufacture of humanoid robotics founded in the U.K., announced it has restructured as a U.S. entity to expand its footprint and meet growing U.S. demand. Along with this move, the company closed a $10 million Series A funding round to accelerate product refinement, manufacturing, production, and business systems. Helium-3 Ventures led the Series A funding, with additional participation from AppDirect Chairman and CEO Nicolas Desmarais, Belvoir Investments, and a consortium of investors, such as ThirtySeven Holdings and Figueira Capital. And Matt Bellamy (frontman of the English rock band Muse and a partner in Helium-3 Ventures) will join Engineered Arts’ board as an observer.

Brightly: Climate Tech Company Raises $2.3 Million (Seed)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 17, 2024

Brightly, a climate-tech company transforming food waste into high-integrity carbon credits to fund food rescue organizations, announced it has closed an oversubscribed $2.3 million seed round. The funding round was led by Schreiber Foods, a leading global food company, with additional support from G-Force, Collaborative Fund, Clear Current Capital, and Windsail Capital.

Anghami Raising Up To $55 Million From OSN Group

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 17, 2024

Anghami announced that it secured a significant new round of funding, from OSN Group of up to $55 million with a $12 million initial investment in a convertible note program. This funding represents a significant milestone in Anghami journey to redefine digital entertainment in the MENA region, further solidifying its position as the go-to destination for premium audio and video content.

Chargezoom: AI-Based Billing And Integrated Payments Company Raises $11.5 Million (Series A)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 17, 2024

Chargezoom, a leading platform for AI-based billing and integrated payments, announced it has raised $11.5 million in Series A funding led by Salt Lake City's Kickstart Fund. Chargezoom also welcomes new investors Motley Fool Ventures, Early Light Ventures, Frazier VC, and Adly, along with continued support from SaaS Venture Capital, Stout Street Capital, and Okapi Venture Capital.

Unrivaled: Professional Women’s Basketball League Raises $35 Million (Series A)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 17, 2024

Professional women's basketball league Unrivaled announced the closing of its oversubscribed Series A investment round led by the Berman Family, securing $28 million in funding. This funding round includes investments from 8-time NBA All-Star and NBA Champion Giannis Antetokounmpo and Build Your Legacy Ventures; Co-Owner/CEO of Boston Globe Media and Partner at Fenway Sports Group Linda Henry; Avenue Sports Fund and Marc Lasry; 23-time Gold Medalist, World Champion, and Mental Health Advocate Michael Phelps and Nicole Phelps, President of Michael Phelps Foundation and Mental Health Advocate; 3-time NCAA Champion Head Coach for South Carolina Women's Basketball Dawn Staley; Warner Bros. Discovery; Sophomore Guard at USC JuJu Watkins, and others.

Keepit: SaaS Data Protection Company Raises $50 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 17, 2024

Keepit, an independent cloud-native data protection and backup provider, announced a $50 million funding round, led by existing investor One Peak, and EIFO, the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark. This funding round marks the company’s third equity investment in the past four years, bringing total funds raised to about $90 million.

Fluid Biomed: $27 Million (Series A) Raised For Advancing Lifesaving Products For Patients Suffering From Vascular Disease

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 17, 2024

Fluid Biomed - a clinical-stage medical device company developing lifesaving products for patients suffering from vascular disease - announced it closed an oversubscribed $27 million Series A equity financing. The funding round is co-led by Amplitude Ventures and an undisclosed major strategic partner. New participants in the investment syndicate include IAG Capital Partners and LifeArc Ventures, as well as returning investors, ShangBay Capital and METIS Innovative.

Orbus Software Reveals Strategic Growth Investment From FTV Capital And SilverTree Equity

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 17, 2024

Orbus Software, a global market-leading SaaS enterprise transformation software provider, announced a significant growth equity investment from FTV Capital. FTV is investing alongside co-control partner SilverTree Equity, a London-based software specialist investor that has supported Orbus since its investment in December 2020. The funding will fuel Orbus’s continued expansion into the United States and other high-growth markets, enable further penetration into regulated industries such as financial services, healthcare, government, and others, and enhance the platform’s technology and AI capabilities.