Venture Capital

SmartSKN: $7 Million Deal Signed With LillyCover Korea

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 2, 2024

AI-based beauty solutions leader SmartSKN partnered with LillyCover, a pioneer in Korean skincare technology. This $7 million deal grants SmartSKN exclusive rights to introduce AI-driven skincare robots to the U.S. market, combining the best of K-beauty with cutting-edge AI skincare personalization.

Numa: $32 Million (Series B) Raised To Transform Auto Dealerships

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 2, 2024

Numa, an AI-based platform transforming auto dealerships, announced a $32 million Series B funding round. Touring Capital, a growth stage firm focused on AI-powered software, and Mitsui & Co., a global conglomerate generating $1.2 billion in annual profit from automotive and mobility, led the round. Existing investors Costanoa Ventures, Threshold, and Gradient Ventures also participated.

Zenlytic: Business Intelligence Platform Company Raises $9 Million (Series A)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Self-serve business intelligence (BI) platform Zenlytic announced the successful closing of a $9 million Series A funding round. M13 led this funding round with participation from new and existing investors, including Bain Capital Ventures, Primary Ventures, Company Ventures, Correlation Ventures, 14 Peaks, and several strategic angel investors.

Bluebricks: $4.5 Million (Seed) Raised To Transform Cloud Infrastructure Management

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Bluebricks, a cloud management platform based in Tel Aviv, announced a $4.5 million seed round, which will accelerate its technology and product development efforts. Flint Capital and Glilot Capital Partners led the funding round, which included investors such as Yochay Ettun, CEO of cnvrg.io (acquired by Intel), and Raz Shaked, Head of DevOps at Wiz.

Mozilla Reveals Funding For 14 AI Projects As Part Of Builders Accelerator Program

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Mozilla has announced funding for 14 AI projects as part of its Builders Accelerator program. This program launched in June and supports independent AI and machine learning engineers by offering up to $100,000 in funding, mentorship, and visibility to foster innovation in local AI where models run directly on personal devices rather than relying on cloud services.

Frate: Toronto-Based Retail Returns Automation Company Raises C$3.6 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Frate, a Toronto-based startup transforming the retail returns process, announced it has raised C$3.6 million in an oversubscribed seed funding round led by Matchstick Ventures. This round saw participation from 2048 Ventures (NYC), Whitecap Venture Partners (Toronto), Closed Loop Venture Partners (NYC), and Better Ventures (San Francisco). With this latest funding round, Frate’s total funding is C$5.7 million.

LiveFlow: Intelligent Finance And Accounting Company Raises $13.5 Million (Series A)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

LiveFlow—an intelligent finance and accounting automation platform used by thousands of accounting firms and finance departments across the US—announced it has raised $13.5 million in Series A funding. The funding round, led by Valar Ventures, will support the launch of LiveFlow Next, a new line of reporting and analysis products.

Apono: Cloud Access Governance Company Raises $15.5 Million (Series A)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Apono, a leader in privileged access for the cloud, announced the successful completion of its Series A funding round, raising $15.5 million. This funding round was led by New Era Capital Partners, with participation from Mindset Ventures, Redseed Ventures, Silvertech Ventures, initial seed investors, etc.

HungryPanda: Asian Food Delivery Platform Company Raises $55 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

HungryPanda, a leading overseas Asian food delivery platform, announced the successful completion of a $55 million refinancing and fundraising. The funding round was led by Mars Growth Capital, a JV between Liquidity Group and MUFG, with continued support from HungryPanda's existing investors, including Perwyn, Kinnevik, 83North, and Felix. This new funding will enable HungryPanda to solidify its leadership in the Asian food delivery market and explore new opportunities to serve a broader range of minority ethnic communities, especially in North America.

KWILL Merchant Advisors Raises Funding For Low Profile’s Publishing Division

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

KWILL Merchant Advisors announced the successful completion of its funding round as lead investor and advisor for Low Profile's new artist-first publishing platform. And this strategic investment will enable Low Profile, a female-led music consulting and sync agency, to launch its innovative publishing platform, recruit top industry talent, and enhance its existing services.

Neeve: Smart Building Platform-As-A-Service Company Secures $15 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Neeve - a cloud platform-as-a-service provider for smart buildings and spaces - announced it secured $15 million in financing led by Cantor Fitzgerald and RXR. This funding will drive Neeve's global expansion, supporting the digital transformation of the commercial real estate sector, accelerating sustainability initiatives, and enhancing cybersecurity measures.

Qodo: GenAI-Based Code Integrity Platform Closes $40 Million (Series A)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Generative AI code integrity platform Qodo (formerly CodiumAI) announced $40 million in Series A funding, bringing the company's total funding to $50M. The oversubscribed round was led by Susa Ventures and Square Peg, with participation from Firestreak Ventures, ICON Continuity Fund, and Seed investors TLV Partners and Vine Ventures. Just 18 months since exiting stealth, Qodo's solutions have already been used by over 1M developers, and its enterprise platform has been adopted by industry leaders, including multiple Fortune 100 companies.

Airship: $4 Million (Pre-Seed) Raised To Make Home Services Easier

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Airship, a company that offers software tools and financial products to help home services owner-operators grow their businesses, came out of stealth with the announcement of a $4 million pre-seed round.

Cartherics: Over A$15 Million Secured To Develop Immune Cell Therapies For Treating Cancer

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Cartherics, a biotechnology company developing immune cell therapies for treating cancer and other diseases, announced that it has raised well over its target AU$15 million in an oversubscribed financing round.

Loti AI: Likeness Protection Technology Company Raises $7 Million (Seed)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Loti AI, a leader in likeness protection technology, announced it has secured an additional investment from Khosla Ventures for its seed funding. This new funding brings the total capital raised to $6.65 million. FUSE and Bling Capital led the seed funding round, with participation from K5 Tokyo Black, Ensemble, and AlphaEdison.

Wispr: Voice Dictation Company Secures $12 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Wispr, a company building a more natural way to interact with technology, announced a new $12 million investment to help fuel the launch of Wispr Flow, a voice-first productivity tool. Built for Apple Macs, Wispr Flow allows users to speak naturally and see their words come to life: clear, concise, and up to 3 times faster than typing. This investment was led by Matt Kraning (CTO / Cortex at Palo Alto Networks) with participation from existing investors NEA and 8VC, along with Tim Junio (CEO of Expanse) and Alumni Ventures. Wispr’s total funding to date is $26 million.

Kennedy Wilson: Student Housing Construction Loan Portfolio Grows To $850 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Leading global real estate investment company and active national student housing lender Kennedy Wilson recently closed senior construction loans totaling $184 million to develop three student housing projects at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of North Texas, and University of California, Berkeley. These recent deals (completed through Kennedy Wilson’s debt investment platform) expand the student housing loan portfolio to $850 million to develop approximately 8,800 beds, with an additional $1 billion of new student housing loans totaling 8,200 beds currently being evaluated.

Aktis Oncology: $175 Million (Series B) Secured To Develop Targeted Alpha Radiopharmaceuticals For Treating Tumors

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Aktis Oncology, a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the discovery and development of novel targeted alpha radiopharmaceuticals to treat a broad range of solid tumors, announced the successful closing of an oversubscribed and upsized $175 million Series B financing. The funding was led by RA Capital Management and co-led by RTW Investments and Janus Henderson Investors.

Creative Planning: Strategic Investment Raised From TPG Capital

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Leading independent wealth management firm Creative Planning announced that TPG (a leading global alternative asset management firm) has made a substantial minority investment in the Company. TPG is investing in the business through TPG Capital, which is its U.S. and European private equity platform. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Morgan Stanley: 1GT Climate Private Equity Fund Closed At $750 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Morgan Stanley Investment Management (MSIM) announced a final close of the 1GT climate private equity fund (1GT) at $750 million of equity capital commitments. 1GT targets growth-oriented investments in companies in North America and Europe, aiming to collectively avoid or remove one gigaton of carbon dioxide-equivalent (CO2e) emissions from the Earth’s atmosphere from the investment date through 2050.

White Oak Commercial Finance: $120 Million Secured Credit Facility Raised

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

White Oak Commercial Finance (an affiliate of White Oak Global Advisors) announced it closed a new $120 million 3-year Senior Secured Credit Facility with Sauder Woodworking, a Midwest-based manufacturer and distributor of ready-to-assemble furniture and custom manufacturing furniture solutions with operations throughout the United States and Canada, acting as sole arranger and book runner.

Salute Raises Majority Investment From New Mountain Capital

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Salute Holdings, a leading provider of integrated asset management services for the data center industry, announced it raised a majority investment from funds managed by New Mountain Capital, a leading growth-oriented alternative investment firm based in New York. Current investor LLR Partners will maintain a significant minority investment in the company.

Republic Capital Group: Minority Investment Raised From Merchant Investment Management

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Republic Capital Group - a leader in providing investment banking services to the wealth and asset management industry and their clients - announced a minority non-control investment from Merchant Investment Management. This reflects Republic's industry leadership and commitment to be the most comprehensive investment banking solution to wealth and asset management firms and their clients.

TG0: £2 Million Raised From Netmind For Advancing AI-Based Human-Machine Interfaces

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

NetMind, an AI-based solutions company focused on advancing the field of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), announced its £2 million investment in TG0, a London-based developer of AI-powered human-machine interfaces. This funding was finalized in Q4 of 2023 (closing the round), but the two companies are announcing it in line with their strategic partnership. TG0 will be seeking a new round of investment later this year.

Forma Capital Partners Collaborating With Sweater Ventures For The Cashmere Fund

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Forma Capital, an early-stage venture investor that supports portfolio companies through influential partnerships, announced that its affiliate, Forma Cashmere, has been approved as the sub-adviser for the Sweater Cashmere Fund, which will be known as The Cashmere Fund. Until now, Sweater Industries has solely advised the fund, which invests in early-stage growth companies through an evergreen interval fund structure.

Darkbright Raises $6 Million For Building Next-Gen Midcore Titles

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 1, 2024

Darkbright Studios announced it has closed an oversubscribed $6 million seed round led by BITKRAFT Ventures to build the next generation of accessible and engaging midcore titles starting with Smolbound, a refreshing new take on the life sim RPG genre. Additional investors in the round included Play Ventures, Anthos Capital, King River Capital, Rockaway X, Zentry, Caballeros Capital, Gam3Girl Ventures, and Offchain Labs.

University Of Minnesota: 25 Startups Launched In 2024, Surpassing Previous Record

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 30, 2024

The University of Minnesota has launched 25 startup companies in fiscal 2024, surpassing its previous record for the fourth year in a row. This announcement coincided with the launch of a new initiative to scale up the University’s commercialization work called Discover, Advance, Impact.

StepStone Group: Secondary Opportunities Fund V Receives $7.4 Billion In Commitments

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 30, 2024

StepStone Group - a global private markets investment firm focused on providing customized investment solutions, advisory, and data services - announced the final closing of StepStone Secondary Opportunities Fund V, L.P. (SSOF V) and related separate accounts with $7.4 billion of capital commitments. With $4.8 billion of aggregate capital commitments, SSOF V more than doubled in size relative to its predecessor fund.

The Celestia Foundation Raises $100 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 30, 2024

The Celestia Foundation announced it has raised $100 million in support led by Bain Capital Crypto, with participation from Syncracy Capital, 1kx, Robot Ventures, Placeholder, etc. And this brings the project’s total amount raised to $155 million.

GolfLync: $3.5 Million Raised To Enhance Golfing Experiences

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 30, 2024

GolfLync, a platform designed to enhance the golfing experience, announced that it has successfully secured $3.5 million in initial funding - which was completed in the second quarter of 2024. This investment marks a major milestone for the company, enabling it to build its app, achieve 150,000 downloads, and lay the groundwork for a robust revenue model set to be implemented over the next 12 months. With this $3.5 million committed, the company is now entering the crowdfunding stage.