Venture Capital

Cleanlab: $5 Million Received To Automate Data Curation For LLMs

By Noah Long ● Aug 3, 2023

Cleanlab - an automated solution for boosting the accuracy of enterprise artificial intelligence (AI), LLM, and analytics solutions - recently announced its $5 million seed investment round led by Bain Capital Ventures. This flagship product, Cleanlab Studio, is the only enterprise solution for evaluating and correcting errors in large structured data (e.g., tabular data and spreadsheets) and extensive unstructured data (e.g., visual data, LLM generated data, conversational data, etc).

GlobalComix: Digital Comics Platform Closes $6.5 Million

By Annie Baker ● Aug 3, 2023

GlobalComix - a leading digital comics platform - recently announced its $6.5 million Series A fundraising round led by Point72 Ventures, with participation from Endeavor and others. And the global comic book market is continuing to grow, with an estimated 500 million readers, over 1 million creators, and an annual spend on comic books around $25 billion. Famous athletes wear comic book merchandise, top-grossing movies are often adaptations, and anime is one of the streaming platform’s most successful genres—all underscoring the cultural renaissance and relevance of comics today.

EpiBiologics: Protein Degradation Platform Company Closes Over $70 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 3, 2023

EpiBiologics - a biotechnology company advancing a next-generation antibody-based protein degradation platform and pipeline for membrane and extracellular drug targets - recently announced the company brought the total series A round to $73 million with the addition of $23 million from new investors Digitalis Ventures, Taiho Ventures, and existing investor Codon Capital. And in March, EpiBiologics launched its $50 million series A financing with participation from Mubadala Capital, Polaris Partners, Vivo Capital, and GV.

UpLift: Behavioral Health Company Secures $10.7 Million

By Noah Long ● Aug 3, 2023

UpLift - a behavioral health company - recently announced it had raised $10.7 million in Series A financing. The funding round was led by new investor Ballast Point Ventures, a late-stage venture capital, and growth equity fund with participation from Kapor Capital and Front Porch Ventures. The existing investors, including B Capital, also participated in the round. The latest raise takes UpLift’s total funding to over $22 million.

ProShop ERP: $32 Million Closed To Build Solutions For Precision Manufacturing Companies

By Noah Long ● Aug 3, 2023

ProShop ERP - a leading software solution for precision manufacturing companies - recently announced an investment from Mainsail Partners. Mainsail invests in fast-growing, founder-led, vertical enterprise resource planning (ERP) software companies. And the company intends to utilize the capital to expedite product development and to continue to build upon the market-leading services and support provided to its customers.

Karat Financial: $70 Million Raised To Advance Platform For Creators

By Annie Baker ● Aug 3, 2023

Karat Financial - a leading financial services platform for creators - recently announced the launch of a new business card in partnership with Visa, a world leader in digital payments. And the card is designed specifically with creators in mind and helps them establish personal credit history, improving access to capital when and where they need it.

Smile Doctors: Orthodontic Support Organization Raises Over $550 Million

By Noah Long ● Aug 3, 2023

Smile Doctors, the largest and fastest-growing orthodontic support organization in the U.S., announced the successful completion of a capital raise of over $550 million. The funding round, funded by doctors and several large domestic and international healthcare investors, will support the network in continuing its industry-leading affiliation growth, enhance its strategic investments in technology, and expand its support staff capabilities. This funding round comes as the company has just completed a strong quarter and added several new partnerships.

Aeroseal: $67 Million Received To Advance Carbon Dioxide Removal Technology

By Annie Baker ● Aug 3, 2023

Aeroseal - a climate-tech startup with a system to reduce energy leaks to almost zero in some buildings - has received a $67 million Series B funding round led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Climate Investment. Through support from several top U.S. home builders and a network of specialized HVAC dealers in the U.S. and Canada, Aeroseal has sealed 260,000 buildings (residential and commercial) since its inception. Company CEO Amit Gupta said that with the new funding, Aeroseal hopes to secure many buildings annually within three years.

Unstructured: LLM Data Preprocessing Solutions Company Raises $25 Million

By Dan Anderson ● Aug 3, 2023

Unstructured recently announced the closing of its Seed and Series A funding rounds, raising $25 million. The Series A funding round was led by Madrona with participation from the seed lead, Bain Capital Ventures, and joined by M12 Ventures, Mango Capital, MongoDB Ventures, and Shield Capital. And notable angel investors Harrison Chase of LangChain, Bob van Luijt of Weaviate, and Josh Lefkowitz of Flashpoint also participated. As part of the financing, Madrona Managing Director Karan Mehandru and Bain Capital Ventures Partner Enrique Salem joined the board of directors.

Verse: Clean Energy Procurement and Management Software Provider Secures $5.75 Million

By Annie Baker ● Aug 3, 2023

Verse - a company founded to help organizations everywhere unlock the benefits of clean power - recently announced it has closed a $5.75 million seed funding round. Led by Coatue with participation from Twine Ventures, MCJ Collective, firstminute capital, Collaborative Fund, Future Positive, and Incite.org, and others, the investment will enable Verse to help organizations procure, manage, and report on carbon-free energy assets faster and more cost-effectively than they can today.

FLORA Ventures: $80 Million Fund Launches To Invest In Sustainable AgriFood Companies

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 3, 2023

FLORA Ventures recently announced the launch of its $80 million fund and its first closing with commitments of $50 million, making it the largest Israeli-based AgriFood VC. And according to IVC data, it is the most largest Israeli new VC fund to have completed a first closing during 2023 across all tech investment verticals. The firm invests in early-stage start-ups from two of the leading AgriFood ecosystems, Israel and Europe, that are building a healthier, more sustainable, and resilient AgriFood system; and supports those ventures in scaling globally.

KayoThera: Early-Stage Therapeutics Company Secures $5.2 Million In Grant And Expanded Series A Funding

By Annie Baker ● Aug 3, 2023

KayoThera - an early-stage therapeutics company developing first-in-class, oral, small molecule inhibitors of the retinoid pathway - recently announced the strengthening of its financial resources through multiple grant awards and expansion of its previously announced Series A financing. And the expanded financing was led by Accelerator Life Science Partners (ALSP), who also provided Series A funding for KayoThera. With the additional $5.2 million in new equity investments, non-dilutive grant funding, and initial seed funding from the New Jersey Health Foundation, KayoThera’s total financial support to date is $14 million.

RISC Zero: Virtual Machine Technology Company Raises $40 Million

By Dan Anderson ● Aug 3, 2023

RISC Zero - a developer of leading general purpose zero-knowledge (ZK) virtual machine technology - recently announced it has raised a $40 million Series A. The funding round was led by Blockchain Capital and joined by seed round lead Bain Capital Crypto, with participation from other notable investors, including Galaxy Digital, IOSG, RockawayX, Maven 11, Fenbushi Capital, Delphi Digital, Aglaé Ventures, IOBC, Tribute Labs' Zero Dao, Figment Capital, and Alchemy Ventures.

Hightouch: Data Activation Company Closes $38 Million In Funding

By Annie Baker ● Aug 3, 2023

Hightouch - a leading Data Activation company - recently announced $38 million in additional funding to launch and grow its Customer 360 offering. This funding round was led by Bain Capital Ventures and it was used to create a new Customer 360 Toolkit that enables data analysts to build unified customer profiles on top of their raw customer data without months of engineering effort.

Renibus Therapeutics: $47 Million Secured To Treat Cardio-Renal Diseases

By Annie Baker ● Aug 3, 2023

Renibus Therapeutics - a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on the prevention and treatment of cardio-renal diseases - recently announced raising $47 million from the initial closings of a Series B financing. The proceeds from the financing will be used to advance RBT-1 through a pivotal Phase 3 trial for its lead indication of reducing the risk of post-operative complications following cardiothoracic surgery.

Cognaize: Intelligent Document Processing Company Raises $18 Million

By Dan Anderson ● Aug 3, 2023

Cognaize - an intelligent document processing (IDP) company powered by its proprietary hybrid intelligence technology - recently announced today that it has closed $18 million in Series A funding to accelerate research and product development, marketing, and sales capacity to meet the explosive global demand for the company’s AI solutions, which currently are focused on meeting the specific challenges of the global financial industry. The funding round was led by Argonautic Ventures, with participation from Metaplanet, and several other investors.

Verismo Therapeutics: Penn Spinout Company Raises $17 Million Funding Round

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 3, 2023

Verismo Therapeutics - a clinical-stage CAR T company, Penn spinout, and pioneer of the novel KIR-CAR platform technology - recently announced it has raised $17 million in a second pre-Series A financing round. The funding round will support the continued advancement of the clinical trial for SynKIR-110, a first-in-class KIR-CAR T cell immunotherapy candidate for solid tumors, and pre-clinical development of SynKIR™-310, a KIR-CAR T cell immunotherapy therapeutic for blood cancers.

Connectbase: $16 Million Debt Facility From Silicon Valley Bank Secured

By Annie Baker ● Aug 3, 2023

Connectbase - The Industry Cloud for Connectivity - recently secured a $16 million debt facility from Silicon Valley Bank (a division of First Citizens Bank) to be used for growth and market expansion.

Leap: Energy Market Access Platform Company Lands $12 Million In Funding

By Noah Long ● Aug 3, 2023

Leap - a leading platform for energy market access - recently announced that it has secured a new capital raise totaling $12 million in equity financing. Standard Investments led the funding round with participation by DNV Ventures and Sustainable Future Ventures and existing Leap investors, including Union Square Ventures, Congruent Ventures and National Grid Partners.

Pure Ventures: Early-Stage VC Firm Closes $20 Million Fund II

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 3, 2023

Pure Ventures (formerly Alpha Bridge Ventures) - an early-stage venture capital firm dedicated to empowering founders' personal and professional growth - recently announced the closing of a new $20 million Fund II. This new fund enables the firm to continue executing its core mission around the mental health/wellness of founders while expanding the team by hiring Alicia Zeng as their Director of Ops. And Pure Ventures provides portfolio companies access and subsidies to a wide range of personalized services through Pilea (formerly Atlas), an integrative leadership and wellness coaching platform co-founded by Dr. Kari Sulenes and Pure Ventures.

Torch Dental Completes $28 Million Funding Round To Help Dentists Run Their Practices

By Noah Long ● Aug 3, 2023

Torch Dental - a digital all-in-one dental supply partner for dental practices - recently announced its latest funding round of $28 million, which brings total funding since inception to approximately $40 million. Health Velocity Capital led the Series B funding round with participation from existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, which led previous financing rounds, FJ Labs, Felicis Ventures, Tectonic Ventures, Raga Partners, Town Hall Ventures, and other investors.

Ati Motors: Industrial Robotics Company Secures $10.85 Million In Funding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 3, 2023

Ati Motors - a maker of autonomous industrial robots - recently announced the closing of its Series A funding round of $10.85 million. This investment, alongside the company’s product launch event, will further drive the development and deployment of Ati Motors' robotics technology for automating work in industrial environments and warehouses.

Whop.com: Digital Product Marketplace Closes $17 Million In Funding

By Noah Long ● Aug 3, 2023

Digital product marketplace Whop.com recently announced that it raised a $17 million Series A from Insight Partners, Zinal Growth, Peter Thiel, Justin Mateen, Justin Kan, The Chainsmokers, Cory Levy, Vivek Ranadive, David Blitzer, Josh Richards, Griffin Johnson (Animal Capital), James Harden, Kevin O’Leary, and Josh Browder.

InspectionGo: $5.5 Million Raised To Help Independent Home Inspection Companies Be Successful

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 3, 2023

InspectionGo (iGo) - a leading provider of cutting-edge technology and services that helps independent home inspection companies be successful by unlocking the full value of home inspections for homeowners and real estate investors - recently announced it has closed a $5.5 million Series A funding round.

FedML: Custom AI Development Company Closes $11.5 Million In Funding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 3, 2023

FedML recently announced that it closed $11.5 million in seed funding to expand development and adoption for its distributed MLOps platform, which helps companies efficiently train and serve custom generative AI and large language models using proprietary data while reducing costs through decentralized GPU cloud resources shared by the community.

o9 Solutions: $119 Million In Additional Funding Raised At $3.7 Billion Valuation

By Annie Baker ● Aug 3, 2023

o9 Solutions - a leading enterprise AI software platform provider for transforming planning and decision-making for global enterprises - recently announced that its existing investors, led by General Atlantic’s BeyondNetZero, the inaugural companion fund for the growth equity firm’s climate investing efforts, have invested an additional $116 million in the company. And existing investors KKR and Generation Investment Management also participated in the round. The investment values o9 at $3.7 billion, up from $2.7 billion since the company’s last investment round in January 2022.

Exactera: Corporate Tax Compliance Solutions Company Secures $33 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 3, 2023

Exactera - a leader in technology-driven tax compliance solutions - recently announced its new brand identity and named Walter Scott the company’s new CEO. And Exactera also announced it had raised $33 million in additional funding from investment firms Insight Partners and Savant Growth.

SiPhox Health: Lab-Grade Home Health Testing Company Raises $27 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 3, 2023

SiPhox Health - a leader in building the next generation of lab-grade home health testing with silicon photonics - recently announced it raised $27 million in funding, including a $10 million Seed financing and a $17 million Series A round. Intel Capital led the Series A round with participation from Khosla Ventures, Kortex Ventures, Alumni Ventures, Metaplanet, Shorewind Capital, LongeVC, Overlap Holdings, and Duke Capital Partners. Khosla Ventures and Y Combinator led the Seed funding with participation from Metaplanet, Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative, Rsquared, Vituity, Paul Buchheit, Balaji Srinivasan, Bob Lee, Longevity Tech Fund, and several others.

Preply: Online Language Learning Marketplace Adds $70 Million To Funding Round

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 3, 2023

Ukrainian-founded Preply recently announced it reached a milestone in the company’s funding history today, raising an additional $70 million in equity and debt capital to take its Series C to $120 million. With nearly 500 employees of 60 nationalities across 30 countries worldwide, Preply has become a global e-learning powerhouse that connects 35,000 tutors with the world’s largest live language learning community.

TLV Partners: $250 Million Early-Stage Israeli Startups Fund V Launched And $1 Billion AUM Achieved

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 3, 2023

Israel-based venture capital firm TLV Partners recently announced a milestone of $1 billion in assets under management (AUM) alongside the introduction of its $250 million Fund V. And the fund signifies TLV Partners' ongoing dedication to nurturing early-stage startups founded by outstanding Israeli entrepreneurs, focusing on sectors such as developer tools, AI, cybersecurity, fintech, biotech, and more.