Venture Capital

Maximum Fidelity Surgical Secures $2.25 Million In Seed Funding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 9, 2024

Maximum Fidelity Surgical Simulations (MaxFi), a company that provides lifelike cadavers to create highly realistic surgical simulations for medical education, research and product development, and military training, announced today that it has completed its $2.25 million seed funding round. The round was led by St. Louis Arch Angels, BioGenerator Ventures, and Missouri Technology Corporation (MTC).

HydroX AI: Trust, Risk, And Security Management Company Raises $4 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 9, 2024

HydroX AI, an AI-based company with the industry's first comprehensive all-in-one large language model (LLM) safety and security platform, announced the closing a $4 million angel round from Vitalbridge Capital, Atom Capital, and AI expert Qi Lu.

J2 Ventures: $150 Million Raised For Argonne Fund

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2024

J2 Ventures, a deep tech venture capital fund focused on new technologies that are critical for the private sector and national security interests of the U.S. and its allies, announced it has raised $150 million for its new Argonne Fund. This oversubscribed fund, majority veteran-owned and led, is more than double its last fund size with support from some of the largest financial institutions in the world, including JP Morgan, MetLife, and the New Mexico State Investment Council.

Foray Bioscience: $3 Million Closed To Help Restore Ecosystems Through Biomanufacturing

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2024

Foray Bioscience, a company sowing the seeds for plantless plant products, announced it has raised $3 million in seed funding led by ReGen Ventures. And additional investors include The Engine Ventures, Susquehanna Sustainable Investments, Understorey Ventures, Superorganism, and others.

Formic: Robots-As-A-Service Automation Company Closes $27.4 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2024

Formic, a Robots-as-a-Service (RaaS) automation company, announced it has raised another $27.4 million in Series A financing led by Blackhorn Ventures with participation from Mitsubishi HC Capital America, NEC and Translink Orchestrating Future Fund, Alumni Ventures, FJ Labs, Lux Capital, Initialized Capital and Lorimer Ventures. This new funding round brings the total Series A round to more than $52 million since January 2022.

LiveEO: Satellite Data Company Raises €25 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2024

LiveEO – a company that uses high-resolution satellite data and AI to transform raw satellite data into automated actionable insights to help companies manage their climate risks and resilience – announced it has raised €25 million in a Series B funding round led by NordicNinja and DeepTech & Climate Fonds (DTCF). This funding round will accelerate the development of LiveEO's solutions, while expanding its team and capabilities.

Upword: Knowledge Management Company Raises $3 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2024

Knowledge management solutions provider Upword announced the launch of its AI-powered research companion tool and the completion of a $3 million pre-seed funding round.

COMPREDICT: AI-Based Software-Defined Vehicle Company Raises $15 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2024

COMPREDICT, an AI-based company for software-defined vehicles, announced a $15 million Series B funding round led by Woven Capital (Toyota's growth fund), with continued support from existing investor Shift4Good.

Allora Labs: Self-Improving Decentralized AI Network Company Raises Total Of $35 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2024

Allora Labs (previously known as Upshot), the contributors to the Allora Network, recently closed a strategic funding round, bringing the total company funding to $35 million. Allora Labs’ investors include Polychain, Framework Ventures, CoinFund, Blockchain Capital, Archetype, Slow Ventures, Mechanism Capital, Delphi Digital, and others.

Columna Capital: Fund III Closed At €290 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2024

Columna Capital announced it has successfully closed Columna Capital Fund III. This marks the third and largest fund capital raise since Columna Capital’s maiden fund launched in 2016.

D2 Solutions: Growth Funding Raised From Decathlon Capital Partners

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2024

D2 Solutions (a company whose software solutions and consulting expertise help healthcare providers provide better experiences across the prescription journey) announced it acquired a seven-figure growth funding package from Decathlon Capital Partners to support its growth initiatives. The details of the revenue-based financing were not disclosed.

Deskpro: $25 Million Closed To Develop Flexible Help Desk Software

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2024

Deskpro announced the closing of a $25 million Series A funding round led by Elsewhere Partners to meet the demand for its comprehensive suite of proven help desk solutions. And Deskpro will use the growth funding to strengthen its customer experience team, expand its AI-powered help desk solutions and penetrate more key markets, with a focus on expansion in the US. Deskpro also announced the appointment of software industry leader Brad Murdoch as CEO and established a new global headquarters in Austin, Texas.

opus1.io: Strategic Investment Raised From Five Elms Capital

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2024

opus1.io, an end-to-end practice management platform for lesson and class-based performing arts businesses, announced a strategic investment from Five Elms Capital, a leading software investment firm. This funding will support further investment in opus1.io's platform, which helps performing arts professionals operate and grow their businesses more efficiently.

k-ID: Instant Sign-On Solution Company Raises $45 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 7, 2024

k-ID, a cross-platform and instant sign-on solution for kids and teens built as an all-in-one answer for solving the complex issue of privacy and online safety worldwide, announced a $45 million Series A funding round. This latest of three funding rounds in less than nine months comes due to unprecedented traction from major publishers.

Rackhouse Venture Capital: $45 Million Second Fund Closed To Invest In Early-Stage AI

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 7, 2024

Rackhouse Venture Capital (Rackhouse Ventures), a San Francisco-based early-stage AI-focused venture capital firm, announced the final closing of Rackhouse Ventures Fund II, with $45 million in closed capital and commitments. Fund II will facilitate the firm’s commitment to partnering with companies and founders that have achieved product-market fit in overlooked niches and features a clear and obsessive customer focus.

Greentown Labs And Prithvi Ventures Partner On Climate Impact Fund

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 6, 2024

Greentown Labs, the largest climatetech incubator in North America, and early-stage climatetech investment fund Prithvi Ventures announced a first-of-its-kind partnership in the spirit of accelerating climate impact and filling a capital gap among climate startup support organizations.

Function: Health Assessment Company Raises $53 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 6, 2024

Function is a first-of-its-kind platform transforming how people manage their lifelong health starting with providing the deepest possible understanding of their body and what they should do to improve their health. Function also revealed the closing of its Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) Bio + Health with support from the a16z Cultural Leadership Fund, bringing its total funds to $53 million. And additional investors include Wisdom.vc, Draft Ventures, K5, G9 Ventures, 53 Stations, Matt Damon (Actor), Ari Emanuel (CEO of Endeavor), Kevin Hart (Comedian and actor), Joel Embiid's (NBA's 2023 MVP) Embiid Ventures, Jay Shetty (award-winning podcast host), Blake Griffin (former NBA), Zac Efron (Actor), Jimmy Rollins (former MLB), Colin Kaepernick (former NFL), Dr. Casey Means, Pedro Pascal (Actor), Ara Katz (Co-founder of Seed), Harvey Spevak (Equinox's Chairman), Harpreet Singh Rai (Former CEO of Oura), Jeff Dean, and others.

Exsilio Therapeutics: $82 Million Closed To Develop Genomic Medicines For Broad Range Of Diseases

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 6, 2024

Exsilio Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing genomic medicines for a broad range of diseases, announced its emergence from stealth with $82 million in Series A financing. This funding round was co-led by Novartis Venture Fund and Delos Capital, with participation from OrbiMed, Insight Partners, J.P. Morgan Life Sciences Private Capital, CRISPR Therapeutics, Innovation Endeavors, Invus, Arc Ventures, and Deep Insight. Exsilio was seed funded by OrbiMed.

Sift: Hardware Sensor Observability Platform Secures $17.5 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 6, 2024

Sift, the first unified observability platform for hardware sensor data, announced it had raised $17.5 million in Series A funding led by GV (Google Ventures). This funding round brings Sift's total funding to $25 million.

CereTax: Sales Tax Solution Company Secures $9 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 6, 2024

Next-generation sales tax solution CereTax announced a $9 million financing led by S3 Ventures, with participation from Wild Basin Investments and Leaders Fund.

Endogenex: $88 Million Raised To Improve Outcomes In Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 6, 2024

Endogenex, a clinical-stage medical device company dedicated to improving outcomes in individuals with type 2 diabetes, announced it closed an oversubscribed Series C financing totaling $88 million.

Stonebriar: C$130 Million Term Loan Closed

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 6, 2024

Stonebriar Commercial Finance announced the closing of a seven-year CAD$130 million term loan for a leading provider of specialty industrial and environmental services to oil and gas, chemical, and manufacturing end markets. This loan, part of a leveraged buyout, is secured by all fixed assets of the company. This is the second deal closed with the company’s sponsor in the last 12 months, totaling CAD$186 million.Stonebriar Commercial Finance announced the closing of a seven-year CAD$130 million term loan for a leading provider of specialty industrial and environmental services to oil and gas, chemical, and manufacturing end markets. This loan, part of a leveraged buyout, is secured by all fixed assets of the company. This is the second deal closed with the company’s sponsor in the last 12 months, totaling CAD$186 million.

U.S. International DFC Finalizes $50 Million For TIG’s Latin American Reforestation Strategy

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 5, 2024

The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) announced a $50 million commitment to help mobilize $1 billion for the BTG Pactual Timberland Investment Group’s (TIG) Latin American reforestation strategy. This announcement was made in Oslo, Norway, on the margins of the Tropical Forest Forum, at a signing ceremony attended by White House Senior Advisor John Podesta, DFC Chief Climate Officer Jake Levine, and TIG Chief Sustainability Officer Mark Wishnie.

TwoStep Therapeutics: $6.5 Million Secured To Advance Applicable Targeting Platform for Solid Tumors

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 5, 2024

TwoStep Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing new targeted therapeutics for solid tumors, announced its official launch following a successful $6.5 million seed round led by NFX, with participation from other investors including 2048 Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, Cooley’s affiliated fund GC&H Investments, and the family office of the founder of Arcadia Investment Partners.

Stellantis Invests $55 Million In Archer Aviation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 5, 2024

Stellantis and Archer Aviation, a leader in electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, announced Archer had received an additional $55 million investment from Stellantis under the companies’ strategic funding agreement following its transition flight test milestone last month.

Route: Package Tracking Platform Company Raises $40 Million At $1.4 Billion Valuation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 5, 2024

Route, a leading post-purchase package tracking and protection solution, announced a $40 million Series C funding round at a valuation of $1.4 billion. The funding round was led by Hanaco VC with participation from JAWS Ventures, Madrona Ventures, and Granger.

BoldHue Raises Nearly $3.4 Million In Oversubscribed Seed Round

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 5, 2024

BoldHue, a female-founded technology company transforming the beauty-tech industry with its personalized foundation device, announced it has successfully closed an oversubscribed seed round, raising nearly $5.2 million in funding to date.

Prodia: Distributed GPU Cloud Company Raises $15 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 5, 2024

Prodia, a leading distributed network of GPUs for AI inference solutions, today announced it raised a $15 million seed round led by Dragonfly Capital to build more scalable, affordable AI solutions powered by Web3. Investment firms HashKey, Web3.com, Index Ventures, Symbolic Capital, OKX Ventures, EV3, Artichoke, TRGC, Folius, Tangent Capital, Southern Equity, Balaji Srinivasan, Sandeep Nailwal (founder of Polygon), Matthew Roszak, Jeremy Voss (Director of Gen AI at Meta), Amit Vasudev (founder of Clearbit), Thomas France founder of Ledger, Leon Marshall (CEO of Galaxy Europe), Nicolas Pinto, Kenzi Wang, Jermaine Brown, and more

Douglas Elliman Raises $50 Million From Kennedy Lewis

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 5, 2024

Douglas Elliman announced the closing of a $50 million growth investment from Kennedy Lewis Investment Management, a leading credit-focused alternative asset management firm. This investment enhances Douglas Elliman’s balance sheet to drive its strategic growth and expansion.

Co-Created: An Interview With Ron J. Williams About This Sophisticated Venture Studio And Why Good Growth Should Always Be The Goal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 5, 2024

Co-Created is a venture development studio that partners with organizations to identify, explore, build, and launch innovative new businesses. Since 2010, Co-Created has partnered with over 70 companies to help bring more than 100 concepts to market. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Co-Created Partner Ron J. Williams to learn more.