Venture Capital

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.

Mindpeak: AI-Based Pathological Solutions Secures $15.3 Million (Series A)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 30, 2024

Mindpeak, a leader in AI-powered pathological solutions, announced it has raised $15.3 million in a Series A funding round. This funding round was led by ZEISS Ventures and InnoVentureFund, with participation from AI.FUND, the European Innovation Council Fund, etc. Even though Mindpeak has a cash-flow-positive core business, this new investment will enable the company to further expand the commercialization of its pioneering technologies across several geographies.

SK pharmteco: Global Contract Development Company Raises $260 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 30, 2024

SK pharmteco, a global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), announced a major expansion of its small molecule and peptide production capabilities with a $260 million investment to construct a new state-of-the-art facility in Sejong, South Korea. Scheduled to start operations in late 2026, this new facility will be the fifth plant the company opens in South Korea and will be a cornerstone of SK pharmteco's global manufacturing network.

Sequentia Biotech: Bioinformatics Company Raises €10 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 30, 2024

Sequentia Biotech, a leading bioinformatics company focused on the analysis and application of omics data, announced a €10 million Series A, led by Seventure Partners, a French Venture Capital & Growth investment company with an extensive experience in Life Sciences. The Series A funding round was co-invested by the EIC Fund, the European Commission initiative dedicated to accelerating innovative start-ups across the European Union.

AmpUp: EV Charging Platform Company Raises $15 Million (Series A)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 29, 2024

AmpUp, a leading electric vehicle (EV) charging platform company, announced the closing of its Series A round at $15 million. This funding will fuel AmpUp's aggressive U.S. market expansion and drive continued innovation in energy management solutions for the EV charging sector. Touchdown Ventures led the latest funding round and additional new investors included Autotech Ventures (Autotech), MUUS Climate Partners (MUUS), with participation from Holman, Goodyear, Foothill Ventures, WEX Venture Capital, TechNexus Venture Collaborative, Powerhouse Ventures, and Connecticut Innovations, and others.

Amazon: 11 Businesses Receive Funding For Addressing Complex Environmental Challenges

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 29, 2024

After winning funding in this year's Amazon Sustainability Accelerator, startups addressing some of the world’s biggest sustainability challenges will trial the technology with Amazon across Europe. Eleven startups have been awarded the opportunity to test their pioneering innovations within Amazon operations with a potential investment of up to £2 million.

HarbourVest Partners Names TJ Halbertsma As Managing Director

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 29, 2024

Global private markets investment specialist HarbourVest Partners announced the appointment of Tjalling (TJ) Halbertsma as managing director and Head of EMEA Investor Relations.

C2N Raising Up To $7.025 Million From The ADDF Diagnostics Accelerator

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 29, 2024

C2N Diagnostics, an international leader with its Precivity blood tests to help diagnose Alzheimer’s disease, aims to create a fully automated, standardized, high-resolution liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) platform to enable the local deployment of the precise innovation at the core of its clinical and research biomarkers in clinical labs around the world. C2N has received an investment of up to $7.025 million from the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation’s (ADDF) Diagnostics Accelerator initiative - which is focused on efforts to develop biomarkers and novel diagnostic technologies that aid in the early detection and diagnosis of Alzheimer’s and clinical trial design.

Heritage Holding: Inaugural Fund Closed With $220 Million In Committed Capital

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 29, 2024

Heritage Holding—a Boston-based private equity firm focused on advancing its successful record of partnering with small business owners and founders—announced the successful closing of its first institutionally backed Fund I, which had a total committed capital of $220 million. The funding was completed in four months and was oversubscribed with commitments from leading institutional investors, high-net-worth individuals, and existing investors.

Pictet: Over $200 Million Raised For Thematic Private Equity Technology Fund II

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 29, 2024

Pictet Alternative Advisors (PAA) announced the final closing of the second vintage of its technology-focused thematic private equity fund at over $200 million.

Miura Partners: Over €800 Million Closed For Fourth Flagship Fund

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 29, 2024

Miura Partners announced it closed over €800 million in 2024 across fourth flagship fund, debut impact fund and healthcare continuation fund. And Miura Fund IV closes at its hard cap of €475 million. Plus, a further €135 million have been raised for Miura Impact Fund, the firm’s first vehicle fully dedicated to Impact, and €200 million for Dent&Co, the continuation fund in the dental healthcare space.

VALD: Growth Equity Investment Raised From FTV Capital

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 29, 2024

VALD - a global health technology company and the system of choice for musculoskeletal (MSK) health professionals - announced a significant growth equity investment from FTV Capital, a sector-focused growth equity firm. This investment will enable VALD to grow its global team into new markets, launch new product offerings and capabilities, and continue to utilize AI to create unique applications for the company’s industry-leading, proprietary dataset of tens of millions of MSK health records.