AUSTIN, Texas, April 25, 2023 — NetRise, the company providing visibility into the world’s XIoT security problem, announced today $8M in funding. The round was led by Squadra Ventures, with participation by existing major investors Miramar Digital Ventures, Sorenson Ventures and DNX Ventures.

NetRise has developed a cloud-based SaaS platform that analyzes and continuously monitors the firmware of Extended Internet of Things (XIoT) devices. Leading the market as a software supply chain detection & response platform, NetRise enables device manufacturers and enterprise customers to detect, respond to, and prevent threats throughout their supply chains.This funding will allow NetRise to expand its platform capabilities such as coverage for  Windows systems and containers as well as development of additional machine learning models for advanced analysis.

As threats and vulnerabilities rise across the enterprise, commercial and consumer devices that are connected to the internet and each other are a critical blind spot for security operations and vulnerability management teams. The firmware that powers these devices and allows them to connect to larger systems is critical for integrated functionality but creates a major vulnerability and neglected attack surface.

“Firmware security is not a problem that is relegated to a particular vertical or industry. We have built our platform in such a way that support for automotive, networking equipment, consumer IoT, industrial control systems, and medical device firmware alike are all supported.” said Tom Pace, co-founder and CEO of NetRise. “While working at the Department of Energy, I saw firsthand how little insight we had into the vulnerabilities and risks embedded in technology critical to every aspect of our daily lives. Our vision is that every technology user understands the ingredients in their tools and the potential implications of those components, no matter the source.”

By adding these additional capabilities, NetRise will continue to help both enterprise and device manufacturer customers to understand what’s inside not only their devices, but their entire software supply chain to identify potential risks and vulnerabilities. The NetRise platform enables continuous monitoring and analysis, compliance assessment and recommendations, real-time-risk tracking, and the generation, storage and management of Software Bills of Materials (SBOMs). NetRise reduces the time and cost of firmware and software supply chain security programs, allowing organizations to quickly find and remediate previously undetected issues.

“The NetRise platform delivers unprecedented automation and scale, making continuous monitoring a reality for enterprise XIoT,” said Adam Bixler, Cybersecurity Principal for Squadra Ventures. “We are seeing massive global acceleration in the market as companies around the world are looking to drive visibility into the software supply chain. With SBOM regulation and requirements looming, NetRise could not be more perfectly positioned.”

“Tom and his team are experienced, gritty, driven, and will outwork anyone in the room,” said Guy Filippelli, Managing Partner at Squadra Ventures. “They are world-class and will continue to innovate ahead of the market and bring critical technology to the industry just in time, as the White House and other regulatory agencies pressure manufacturers and software providers to infuse security into devices and disclose critical vulnerabilities.”

About Squadra Ventures
Squadra Ventures is a venture capital firm led by founder-operators that invests in early stage cyber and national security companies. Grounded in the belief that success is a combination of people, product, and planning, the Squadra team provides transformational support to startup leaders in the complex dual-use technology ecosystem. By applying a growth-stage mindset at the seed stage and a commitment to building alongside entrepreneurs, Squadra empowers extraordinary teams to win and leave a lasting positive impact on the world.
https://squadra.vc

About NetRise
Based in Austin, Texas, NetRise was built by defensive cyber experts bred across the private sector, intelligence community and U.S. federal government to solve the firmware security problem. The company is currently partnering with companies across manufacturing, automotive, medical devices, industrial control systems, satellites and many more.
https://www.netrise.io/

Media Contact:
Danielle Ostrovsky
Hi-Touch PR
410-302-9459
[email protected] 

SOURCE NetRise

Funding round led by Aescuvest alongside Omega Healthcare Investors

JERUSALEM, April 25, 2023 — Neteera Technologies Ltd., an Israeli-based startup disrupting the patient monitoring market, today announced the successful closing of a ~$13M Series B funding round. The round was led by Aescuvest, a prominent healthcare investment firm combined with existing and new investors, including Omega Healthcare Investors – a leading US-based Healthcare REIT (NYSE: OHI) with a particular focus on skilled nursing facility and assisted living facility operators across the United States and the United Kingdom, Nanz Family Office, Ankor Holding and Esas Private Equity. In addition, Neteera and Omega entered into a strategic partnership to offer Neteera’s technology to Omega’s healthcare operating partners.

With this latest funding round, Neteera will accelerate sales, production and deployment of its contactless patient monitoring solution and further feature development for its proprietary medical sensing platform. The technology is designed to enable continuous monitoring of patients’ bio markers without the need for contact or patient involvement, streamlining patient monitoring, improving outcomes, and reducing the burden on clinical staff.

“Aescuvest is committed to funding healthcare developments that have a positive impact on society, and we believe that Neteera’s innovative technology has the potential to revolutionize the way we monitor and care for patients,” said Sebastian Gührs, Partner & Head of Investment at Aescuvest.

Omega Healthcare Investors joined the investment round as well and cemented a strategic partnership with Neteera. As part of the relationship, Neteera will become Omega’s strategic partner for contactless patient monitoring and will offer its remote patient monitoring platform to Omega’s network of long-term care and skilled nursing facilities across the US.

“We are excited to partner with Neteera,” said Matthew Gourmand, Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy of Omega Healthcare Investors. “We deployed their technology across a test group of facilities and received positive feedback from the operators, highlighting a reduction in hospitalizations and early recognition of changes in resident clinical needs. We believe this technology has the capacity to help caregivers, as they seek to provide high levels of care and comfort for their residents.”

Founded in 2015, Neteera quickly gained recognition for its unique FDA-cleared contactless remote patient monitoring platform. The platform, capable of continuous and seamless monitoring of patients’ bio markers in real-time, is improving patient care and operator efficiencies all over the globe. Together with the FDA clearance and the latest funding round, the company is poised to further disrupt the healthcare industry and bring its technology to more patients in need.

“We are thrilled to partner with Aescuvest and Omega as we continue to develop and scale our game changing solution,” said Neteera CEO, Isaac Litman. “With this funding and with Omega’s strategic partnership, we will be able to expand our reach and accelerate our mission to improve patient outcomes while reducing the burden on clinical staff.”

About Aescuvest:

Aescuvest is a healthcare investment company that focuses on funding digital healthcare ventures to make a significant impact. As the operator of a dedicated investment platform, the company offers exclusive access to promising healthcare ventures and facilitates direct investments through SPV structures. By providing entrepreneurial investments in a thriving market, Aescuvest enables investors to participate in lucrative healthcare investment opportunities.

About Omega Healthcare Investors:

Omega is a REIT that invests in the long-term healthcare industry, primarily in skilled nursing and assisted living facilities. Its portfolio of assets is operated by a diverse group of healthcare companies, predominantly in a triple-net lease structure. The assets span all regions within the U.S., as well as in the U.K.

About Neteera:

Neteera’s FDA-cleared continuous, contactless, passive vital signs and bio-data monitoring solution provides better patient monitoring both for the crisis ridden healthcare system and home health. Our sensing platform eliminates the need for device manipulation, removal of clothing, and caregiver presence. Neteera’s technology is a based on a safe, maintenance-free, sub-THZ micro-radar on chip sensor solution that protects privacy as it is not based on a camera. We improve care and ultimately reduce healthcare costs by enabling optimal comfort for patients.

Contact:
Sebastian Gührs
Head of Investment
Aescuvest
+491744333221
[email protected]

Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2058115/Aescuvest_Logo.jpg
Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2058116/Omega_Healthcare_Investors_Logo.jpg
Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2058117/Neteera_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Aescuvest

Funds will empower Adcentrx to progress its pipeline of novel antibody-drug conjugates into clinical development

SAN DIEGO and SHANGHAI, April 24, 2023 — Adcentrx Therapeutics (“Adcentrx”), a biotechnology company dedicated to revolutionizing Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC) therapeutics for cancer and other life-threatening diseases, announces the closing of a $38 million Series A+ financing. The round was led by Eight Roads Ventures, with participation from F-Prime Capital, ABio-X, Delta Capital, Trinity Innovation Fund, and other strategic investors. Life Venture Partners and Lighthouse Capital acted as Adcentrx’s financial advisors. Adcentrx intends to use the proceeds from the financing to advance its proprietary ADC therapeutic pipeline into the clinic.

ADCs are a class of therapies that combine the target specificity of antibodies with the potency of conventional chemotherapy drugs. This class has revolutionized the treatment landscape in oncology with the potential to positively impact other serious diseases. Adcentrx differentiates itself by leveraging its team’s industry-leading experience in ADC drug development as well as deep expertise in chemistry and biology. The team has pioneered the development of an ADC technology toolbox addressing key components of protein conjugate design to solve challenges that arose in previous generations of ADCs. Adcentrx implements this optimized approach to fuel the development of a robust pipeline of first-in-class and best-in-class therapies. The company’s lead candidate, ADRX-0706, is anticipated to enter a first-in-human Phase 1 clinical trial in the second half of 2023. Adcentrx is developing additional candidates in parallel with the goal of advancing at least one into the clinic each year.

“We are thrilled to have Eight Roads and our investors supporting our mission to bring innovative treatments to patients,” said Hui Li, Ph.D., Founder and CEO of Adcentrx. “Over the last two years, we have made significant progress advancing our emerging therapeutic pipeline that implements our proprietary and differentiated technology platform. This new round of funding from our investors will enable Adcentrx to quickly advance our safer and more efficacious conjugate therapies for patients in need. This year will be pivotal for Adcentrx, when we transition from the discovery stage into a clinical stage company.”

“ADCs as a therapeutic modality have flourished in recent years with a transformative inflow of active investment and strategic transactions. Adcentrx has demonstrated good potential of developing differentiated ADCs for unmet medical needs” commented Tao Huang, Ph.D., Principal of Eight Roads Ventures. “We are very excited to lead this round of financing to empower Adcentrx to accelerate its work in bringing new hope to patients in need.”

“Through its innovative work in the ADC field, Adcentrx exemplifies the type of company that ABio-X was designed to support as a global platform for developing the next generation healthcare companies. We are pleased to join together with other quality investors in this financing round and look forward to continuing our support of Adcentrx through the platform and board representation,” added Jeff Jonas, President and CEO of ABio-X.

“Adcentrx has made significant progress in building its preclinical pipeline and platform technology since our initial investment,” said Meng Jiang, Head, Venture Capital at CBC Group. “Together with our ABio-X colleagues, we are pleased to reaffirm our commitment to support the company’s continued growth and development.”

“As an innovation company with a global vision, Adcentrx leverages its technology platform to address the challenges of ADC drug development,” commented Lei Hong, Executive Director of Lighthouse Capital. “It is a privilege to participate in this round of financing that attracted investment from renowned funds and industry players, indicating the company’s growing prominence within the industry. We look forward to Adcentrx’s continued progress of advancing its novel ADCs into the clinic.”

For more information about Adcentrx and its innovative ADC technology, please visit https://adcentrx.com.

About Adcentrx Therapeutics
Adcentrx is a biotechnology company focused on accelerating breakthroughs in protein conjugate therapeutic development for cancer and other life-threatening diseases. By combining the targeting precision of biologics and the disease fighting power of small molecule payloads, Adcentrx strives to develop next-generation targeted therapies for improving patient treatment options.

About Eight Roads Ventures
Eight Roads Ventures is a global proprietary investment firm backed by Fidelity, managing over $11 billion of assets across China, India, Europe, Israel, Japan and the U.S. Our 50-year history of investing includes partnerships with over 300 healthcare and technology companies globally. Some of Eight Roads Ventures’ global investments include Alibaba, Beam Therapeutics, Pony.ai, Innovent Biologics, Insilico Medicine, Hibob, Medbanks, Semma Therapeutics and WuXi PharmaTech.

About F-Prime
F-Prime Capital is a global venture capital firm investing in healthcare and technology. For the past 50 years, its independent venture capital group has had the privilege of backing great entrepreneurs building groundbreaking companies.

About ABio-X
ABio-X was founded in 2021 by CBC Group, Asia’s largest healthcare-dedicated asset management firm headquartered in Singapore. ABio-X operates with a mission to incubate next-generation companies that bring transformative medicines and solutions to the global market.

About Delta Capital
Founded in 2010, Delta Capital is a leading early-growth and growth equity investment fund platform in China. Delta’s investment strategy focuses on early growth equity investments in Technology (semiconductor value chain, AI, biotech) and Consumer Services sectors. The firm has a stable and highly experienced team of over fifteen professionals who are experts in their respective fields. With its expertise in early growth equity investment and a focus on high-growth companies, Delta Capital is a prominent player in China’s venture capital market.

About Trinity Innovation Fund
Trinity Innovation Fund (TIF) is dedicated to investing in biomedical innovations. TIF’s limited partners include renowned biopharmaceutical companies and investment institutions. As an investor, TIF helps passionate scientists and entrepreneurs develop ground-breaking scientific research into successful corporate ventures. Partnering with scientists and entrepreneurs, TIF aims to transform innovations into cures for humanity.

About Lighthouse Capital
Lighthouse Capital, the most active new generation boutique investment bank in China. Founded in 2014, the firm is a fast-growing boutique investment bank serving enterprises with a global vision, committed to facilitating industrial upgrading and development through capital services and ecological empowerment. Lighthouse’s services include private equity financing, mergers and acquisitions, asset management, securities underwriting, and industrial development advisory.

Media Contact:
[email protected]

SOURCE Adcentrx Therapeutics

SAVANNAH, Ga., April 24, 2023 — Professional cyclists will descend on the streets of Peachtree Corners on April 26 within the “living laboratory” environment of the city’s Curiosity Lab. The cyclists will participate in a series of races as part of “Speed Week,” a premier week-long event on the USA Cycling professional circuit that draws cyclists from around the world, including Olympic medalists and world and national champions.

The Curiosity Lab Criterium is more than a bike race – it will incorporate technologies designed to improve roadway safety for vulnerable road users (VRUs). Real-world testing of the technologies will take place during the Criterium, and spectators will see the technology working in real time.

Louis Svehla, Communications Director for Curiosity Lab and the city of Peachtree Corners, says the event is a great opportunity for the public to see the type of work that goes on at the lab. “Curiosity Lab is a living laboratory helping design the city of the future,” said Svehla. “This race is a natural extension of what we do.”

Derrick Grissom, General Manager for Clearwave Fiber, said he is thrilled that Clearwave can help bring attention to the event.

“We provide the Fiber that runs throughout Technology Park, which makes the real-world testing possible. Curiosity Lab has been a great partner of Clearwave Fiber for many years and we immediately saw the benefit of the Criterium for the city,” Grissom said. “We knew an event like this would be beneficial to the community, its businesses, and residents.”

Svehla said the work at the Curiosity Lab wouldn’t be possible without community partners like Clearwave Fiber.

“I can’t say enough about how much Clearwave Fiber’s partnership means to the city and the lab. It makes sense that Clearwave is the Elite Sponsor for this event. Local investing is always what they’ve done. We weren’t out to get a bunch of sponsors bunch of sponsors, but to get the right ones. To have Clearwave Fiber support us and the community, more than a banner at the race but the individual excitement all the way down to their employees being part of the event,” Svehla said. “You don’t find partners like that every day. Clearwave Fiber supports the city and the mission, and that type of partnership is the lifeblood of what we’re doing here.”

Grissom says Clearwave Fiber wants to be more than just an Internet provider. “We want to be a crucial thread in the fabric of the communities we serve,” he said. “We believe in truly making an impact and giving back, supporting local events and non-profits, being active in local chambers of commerce and connecting with the communities and our customers.”

The Curiosity Lab Criterium Cycling Race is a six-race series and will begin at 3:30 p.m. with the women’s amateur division and conclude with the men’s professional division beginning at 8:10 p.m. The event will include many family-friendly activities including food trucks and exhibits featuring new cycling and safety technologies. There will also be kids’ races at 5:45 p.m. (in three age categories of 3-4, 5-6, and 7-8) along a 100-yard flat course in front of city hall. For more information, visit www.peachtreecornersga.gov.

About Clearwave Fiber
Clearwave Fiber is an internet service provider that operates a nearly 6,000 route-mile Fiber network serving communities across the Midwest and Southeast regions of the United States. With an emphasis on exceptional customer care and community engagement, the fast-growing company delivers advanced telecommunications solutions, providing fiber to business, enterprise and residential customers in Illinois, Kansas, Florida and Georgia. Committed to deploying 100% fiber internet service to 500,000 homes and businesses across the country by the end of 2026, Clearwave Fiber employs more than 500 and is based in Savannah, Ga. Learn more at ClearwaveFiber.com, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

SOURCE Clearwave Fiber

Company continues its accelerated path towards net energy production via micro-fusion technology

SEATTLE, April 24, 2023 — Avalanche Energy, a fusion energy startup developing modular fusion micro-reactors, today announced that it achieved a record of 200 kilovolts in its micro-fusion reactor and closed a $40M Series A round led by Lowercarbon Capital, with major participation from Founders Fund and Toyota Ventures. Also following on their Seed round investment are Congruent Ventures, Grantham Foundation and Clear Path. New participants also included Autodesk, MCJ Collective and the Climate Capital Syndicate. Avalanche recently operated their second prototype reactor at 200 kilovolts making it the highest known operating voltage of any fusion device since the University of Wisconsin at Madison produced 190 kilovolts in a 2006 experiment. The funding, which follows the company’s 2021 $5 million seed round led by Prime Impact Fund, will be used to continue the company’s accelerated work to test, develop and optimize its high-voltage orbitron prototypes, in addition to miniaturizing components critical to delivering a stand-alone, micro fusion reactor.

Avalanche Energy has been designing, building and testing micro-fusion reactors that are small enough to fit on a desk since 2021. The reactor’s small form factor enables rapid development cycles at relatively low cost – a revolution in the burgeoning nuclear fusion industry that has primarily pursued large fusion reactors that cost millions to billions of dollars and take many years to build and test. Since the company’s work began in June 2021, it has developed and operated two high-voltage reactor prototypes, achieving significant performance steps over the last 18 months. Avalanche’s technology has broad implications for energy independence and national security, opening the door to a wide range of applications, including carbon-free energy generation, advanced space propulsion, microgrids and transportation.

“This is a huge step that validates the rapid technical progress this team has made in just a year and half,” said Robin Langtry, CEO and co-founder of Avalanche Energy. “We are applying a test-fail-fix approach, akin to rocket engine development, to small scale fusion and it’s incredibly exciting to see our hardware ideas go from design to test in a matter of days. This new round of funding will allow us to scale up to run more tests at a faster pace that will ultimately enable us to deliver energy producing micro-fusion reactors.”

The company’s orbitron design is based on specialized electrostatic ion traps operated at hundreds of kilovolts to confine fusion fuel ions in precessing elliptical orbits at extremely high velocities. Each ion has tens of millions of chances at fusing as it crosses the path of another ion’s orbit within the orbitron device. The density of ions is increased by co-confining high-energy electrons orbiting in the same direction. Ions that don’t fuse will eventually deorbit and be removed from the device.

“Fusion has the potential to provide an enormous supply of power to electrify the Earth with no CO₂ or other harmful emissions and it has been an elusive goal in the quest for clean power,” said Lisa Coca, Climate Fund partner at Toyota Ventures. “Avalanche’s innovative micro-fusion reactor has the potential to be stacked for endless power applications, and what excites us most is the fact that the form factor enables an agile approach with rapid design turns. We are proud to support Avalanche’s very capable team on their mission to tap the full potential of nuclear fusion to help decarbonize the planet.” 

Avalanche launched out of stealth a year ago in January 2022 and has advanced quickly over the past year, growing to a team of 25 scientists and engineers and doubling the size of its testing facility in Seattle, WA. In May 2022, the Defense Innovation Unit awarded a prototype contract to Avalanche Energy to demonstrate the next generation of nuclear propulsion and power generation for spacecraft. 

About Avalanche Energy

 Avalanche Energy is a venture-backed, fusion energy start-up based in Seattle, WA. The company designs, tests and builds micro-fusion reactors barely larger than a football. Avalanche’s modular reactor design can be stacked for near-endless power applications and unprecedented energy density to provide clean energy and decarbonize the planet. This unique approach enables rapid iterations of design, build, test, fix cycles for faster development and the rapid scalability that the planet needs. For more information, please visit avalanche.energy.

Business Contact:

Brian Riordan 
Avalanche Energy 
[email protected]

Media Contact:

Chris Allieri 
Mulberry & Astor 
[email protected]

SOURCE Avalanche Energy

MIAMI, April 24, 2023 –The Verleur Group (“TVG”), a leading startup incubator based in South Florida, announced today that it has made a significant equity investment in Lion Order Group, a cannabis lifestyle brand founded by Rohan Marley, the son of legendary musician Bob Marley. The investment and incubation backbone provided by TVG, and its portfolio companies, will enable the Lion Order brand to expand into multiple US and international markets. 

Lion Order cannabis products are currently sold only in Michigan, the company’s first launch state, but its plant adjacent product lines, such as luxury smoking accessories and branded textiles, will be available online at www.Lionorder.com beginning in August.

Lion Order cannabis products feature proprietary genetics developed by Rohan Marley and his team, currently sold in pre-packaged flower, pre-rolls, concentrates, and topicals. Lion Order will also launch vapes before the close of Summer 2023.

“Lion Order is so much more than a brand. Lion Order is a movement, grounded in the love and teachings of Rastafari principles,” said Rohan Marley, Lion Order CEO and founder. “Working with the TVG team has been incredible; these guys understand our message and our vibe. With TVG resources and expertise we will scale the availability of both Lion Order herb products and cannabis adjacent hard and soft goods, such as our upcoming Roots Luxury brand.” 

“TVG is really excited to be a part of the Lion Order movement. We share Rohan’s vision for positive change, social responsibility, and the normalization of cannabis in professional sports” said Jan Verleur, Managing Partner of The Verleur Group. “Rohan Marley has assembled a coalition of professional athletes, activists, musicians, and visionaries that epitomize the Rastafari message of love and inclusiveness. I have never been involved in a commercial project that is more grounded in a set of unwavering social values. Rohan is the real deal. He really walks the talk in everything he does. His vision and authenticity are contagious, and we are beyond excited to help him scale his movement and affect social change.”

TVG’s investment and incubation support of Lion Order has already exceeded $5M, and the group expects to grow that investment to over $10M before the close of 2023. TVG will use its Michigan portfolio of companies, including 305 Farms and 305 Brands, to support Lion Order’s consumer product testing. All new products will be launched in Michigan first, before launching into other U.S. and International markets, by way of select license partnerships. 

Between 2023 and 2025, TVG expects to launch Lion Order branded products in no less than ten strategic markets, outside the state of Michigan; the first three of these markets will be announced in October of 2023. 

ABOUT THE VERLEUR GROUP

The Verleur Group LLC (TVG) is a boutique venture capital firm engaged in the hands-on incubation of startups. The group currently invests in FMCG, Healthcare, and the Legal Cannabis industries. TVG was founded by lifetime entrepreneurs Jan Verleur and Dan Recio, after selling their company, VMR Products LLC, in a nine figure transaction in October of 2018. The Verleur Group is currently managing equity investments in excess of $60MM, across its portfolio of incubated companies.

ABOUT LION ORDER GROUP

LION ORDER is a movement led by Rohan Marley and a collection of professional athletes, activists, musicians and visionaries around the world who seek everlasting change and commitment to the elevation and edification of consciousness via plant medicine. 

Media Contact
Alice Moon
Traiblaze
[email protected]

SOURCE The Verleur Group

Super.com’s valuation increased significantly following launch of SuperCash product

SAN FRANCISCO, April 24, 2023 — Super.com, the savings super app company, today announces its Series C fundraising round, which closed at $85M, led by Inovia Capital, significantly increasing the valuation of the company since its March 2021 Series B raise.

“Super.com’s diversified business model now drives savings across all facets of our customers’ lives, from travel to fintech. It’s great to see market excitement match our own as we rapidly build the first savings super app focused on everyday Americans,” says Super.com CEO Hussein Fazal.

Building SuperCash
In October 2022, Super.com (formerly Snapcommerce) rebranded its suite of products and launched SuperCash, a unique cashback card that provides users the opportunity to build credit without the barriers within the traditional financial industry. Since its launch, the SuperCash product has grown triple digits in customers and transactions every month.

The company’s customer centric approach led to the aforementioned expansion, following the realization that Super.com’s five million customers didn’t just want to save, but rather needed to save. These customers were typically lower income and had lower credit scores: both factors adding difficulty and barriers in their everyday lives.

“We saw that the best rewards and card offers were only available to those with the highest income and highest credit, leaving people who truly needed to save with few options. So we spent the last year building SuperCash from the ground up to provide rich rewards, benefits and spend power to everyone, regardless of their income, credit score or circumstance,” says Super.com co-founder Henry Shi.

Super App Strides
Armed with several products in the suite, Super.com went on to build an all-in-one savings super app for everyday Americans. The Super.com app provides deeper discounts and savings across multiple categories. The company’s model follows in the footsteps of so-called “super apps” widely used internationally, such as WeChat, which has user numbers in the billions¹. To date, Super.com customers have saved over $150 Million in direct savings across the ecosystem.

Super.com continues to expand the ways in which it can help their customers save money. The company will be scaling product and engineering resources to meet demand for multiple features that customers are asking for within the super app.

Investment
“Raising our Series C is proof of investor confidence in our ability to scale the business responsibly. This will allow us to both continue investing in growth while driving improving margins,” says Daniel Weisenfeld, Chief Financial Officer of Super.com.

New investors in this round include Harley Finkelstein, President of Shopify, Deb Liu, CEO of Ancestry.com, Allen Shim, former CFO of Slack, Josh Proctor, CFO of the Golden State Warriors, Chris Best, CEO of SubStack, Neha Narkhede, CTO at Confluent, and Mike Lee, co-founder of MyFitnessPal, Hyphen Capital, EDC, as well as Plaza Ventures. These join existing investors Inovia Capital, Telstra Ventures, Acrew, Lion Capital, Full In Partners, NBA superstar Steph Curry and more.

”We partnered with Hussein [Fazal], Henry [Shi], and the Super team over six years ago, and have consistently been impressed by their performance in the travel sector. We are excited to double down on our investment in the company and continue to support its journey, propelled by the recent launch of SuperCash,” says Chris Arsenault, Partner, Inovia Capital.

About Super.com
Super.com is the all-in-one savings super app for everyday Americans looking to save money, access credit, and experience more of what life has to offer. Super.com is home to the SuperCash card that offers cashback and the opportunity for credit building. The Super.com App also provides deals and savings across categories such as travel and shopping. Super.com is trusted by over 5 million customers worldwide and has helped them save over $150M to date. Super.com is backed by Tier 1 investors including NBA superstar Steph Curry and has raised over $150M USD and surpassed $1B in sales.

For further information, contact:
[email protected]
Press Kit Images

¹ https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/number-of-wechat-users#:~:text=The%20latest%20data%20shows%20that,it%20hit%2050%20million%20users.

SOURCE Super.com

Investment will fuel product development, expansion into new hospitals and health systems.

NEW YORK, April 24, 2023 — Chiefy, the pioneering cloud platform that helps surgical teams seamlessly embed quality and communication best practices, today announced it has raised $4.2 million in seed funding to accelerate and expand product development and customer acquisition. The new investment was led by LionBird, with participation from Nina Capital and Emerge Ventures.

The funding comes as hospitals and health systems continue to struggle with financial and operational issues. The lingering workforce crisis has many organizations seeking new ways to engage and retain clinicians. According to 2022 NSI National Health Care Retention & RN Staffing Report, the average hospital can save $262,300 per year for each percentage point it reduces nurse turnover, with operating room nurses being the most difficult to recruit. Meanwhile, surgeons, anesthesia providers, nurses, surgical technicians, and other perioperative stakeholders are challenged to increase efficiency as they provide patients with the highest quality of care.

“When everyone is forced to do more with less, we must find new ways to employ technologies to help clinicians focus on what’s important,” said Chiefy Co-Founder and CEO Maya Ber Lerner. “Chiefy is built to challenge the idea that if hospitals want high quality, they need to be slower, or clinicians need to suffer. We believe that quality, efficiency, and clinician experience can be a win-win-win. This requires building a culture of trust, and our technology serves as an enabler for building this culture.”

Globally, over 300 million surgeries are performed each year, and more than $50 billion is wasted due to related errors––80 percent of which stem from miscommunication. According to the Joint Commission 2022 report, communication breakdowns continue to be the leading factor contributing to serious medical errors. Multi-disciplinary surgical teams are hard-pressed to convene safety huddles (or team briefs)–short meetings that proactively enable them to focus on patient safety, team alignment, and communication. Instead, many teams rely on emails, text messages, and phones calls about each surgery. Often, by the time the entire team is in the operating room it is too late to address communication errors without causing delays, waste, and frustration. Getting all stakeholders in a room at the same time before each procedure is increasingly challenging––and often impossible. With Chiefy, surgical teams can easily perform digital huddles on a cloud-based collaboration platform––built by clinicians for clinicians––that seamlessly complements the clinical workflow.

“Delivering great patient care requires shared understanding and goal alignment between all members of a patient’s care team, a significant challenge in complex clinical environments,” said LionBird Partner Dr. Robert Lord. “Chiefy is at the forefront of not only putting the information clinical team members need at their fingertips, but facilitating the communication that is essential to quality care delivery and clinician engagement.”

An academic study with NYU Langone Health published in the Journal of Neurosurgery showed a statistically significant 35% reduction in last-minute OR requests, such as change of equipment and trays, change in patient and room preparation, change in anesthesia plan, and more. A later study showed a reduction in length of stay, readmission rates, time to incision, and cases overrun by greater than 30 mins––in addition to improved case time prediction.

“Teamwork and communication are the foundation of patient quality and safety,” said Dr. Peter Pronovost, Chief Clinical Transformation Officer and Chief Quality Officer, University Hospitals Health System. “Using technology and systems thinking to implement proven teamwork interventions like pre-op huddles and checklists at scale is a critical evolution of decades of effort in patient quality and safety. I’m excited to see Chiefy’s work on this global healthcare challenge.”

As a cloud-based SaaS platform, Chiefy represents a low-cost, low-risk opportunity for hospitals and health systems to quickly implement and scale a secure, compliant collaboration platform to engage clinicians and improve care quality. The platform is HIPAA compliant and does not require EMR integration to demonstrate results and return on investment. Unlike local quality improvement projects that take years to implement and are hard to scale, Chiefy can be implemented in as little as two weeks, with no significant upfront investment, and deliver tangible benefits immediately. To learn more about how the platform works and its benefits, visit the Chiefy product resource page and the Pre-Op Huddle
and Surgical Quality Resources page.

About LionBird

LionBird is a venture capital firm investing in pre-scale digital health companies with operations in Tel Aviv and the U.S. Founded in 2012 by veteran entrepreneurs and Fortune 100 executives in the software and healthcare industries, LionBird provides capital and assistance to mission-driven teams realigning the human-technology relationship in healthcare. Since its inception, the firm has invested in more than 30 founding teams across the U.S. and Israel. The firm is currently investing out of its third fund, LionBird III, exclusively focused on early-stage digital health.

About Chiefy

Chiefy helps surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses and other surgical stakeholders seamlessly sustain quality best practices like pre-op huddles, checklists, surgical protocols, debrief and feedback loops. The Chiefy surgical team collaboration SaaS-based platform enables fast and efficient coordination and collaboration from pre-op to post-op, while automating administrative tasks. The result is a dramatic improvement in perioperative quality, efficiency, and patient safety. For more information visit Chiefyteam.com.

Media Contact:

Grant Evans, Amendola Communications (for Chiefy)

215-582-8146

[email protected]

SOURCE Chiefy

30 venture capital firms vote to name top 50 startups that serve small and medium-sized businesses

NEW YORK, April 24, 2023 — GGV Capital, a global venture capital firm, debuted the 2023 SMBTech 50 today in collaboration with Crunchbase. The SMBTech 50 is the first list to recognize the growth and potential of startups that serve small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The list (smbtech50.com) demonstrates both the breadth and depth of this sector and the enthusiasm of venture capital investors for these companies. The SMBTech 50 honorees will celebrate with the opening bell at the Nasdaq MarketSite.

SMBTech 50 honorees have raised a cumulative $22 billion in financing, including some of the largest pre-IPO rounds in the year. Twenty-six companies have each raised more than $100 million, and 64 percent of the honorees raised a new round in the last 12 months. Companies were roughly split between early and growth stages. The HRTech sub-sector had the greatest number of new entrants with Fintech and Vertical SaaS having the most entrants overall, similar to 2022. Eighteen are repeat honorees from 2022.

There are more than 30 million small businesses in the U.S., representing 44% of GDP, about half of U.S. employment, and more than $180 billion in annual technology spending. The U.S. is also seeing a renaissance of small business and entrepreneurship, with more than 10 million new business applications submitted in 2021 and 2022. Over the past decade, public SMBTech companies such as Square, Shopify, Toast, and Intuit have helped millions of small business owners scale their businesses in ways that rival their larger competitors. GGV Capital’s SMBTech 50 list celebrates the private, venture-backed technology companies seeking to make the same impact over the next five to 10 years.

“Public companies in the SMBTech space have grown from just a few billion dollars in market cap to more than $500 billion over the last decade,” said Tiffany Luck, Partner at GGV Capital. “Every year, we put together this list of top private companies, and we are blown away by the level of innovation, growth, and impact they are making on the SMB economy. Congratulations to all the honorees.” 

Methodology

More than 200 SMBTech companies were nominated or identified through research on Crunchbase. GGV Capital convened 30 SMBTech-focused investment firms to nominate and vote on the 50 honorees. Some of the participating firms include Bain Capital Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, Coatue, Felicis Ventures, Footwork, Homebrew, ICONIQ Growth, IVP, NEA, and more. To ensure a representative and inclusive list, investment firms were asked to submit portfolio and non-portfolio companies. For more information about honorees, participating investors, and methodology, visit: smbtech50.com.

The SMBTech 50 honorees will also be recognized on Crunchbase. Anyone with a Crunchbase Pro account can follow the list and track the companies here.

About GGV Capital SMBTech 50

GGV Capital is a long-time investor in SMBTech and its portfolio includes BigCommerce (BIGC), Brightwheel, Drata, Electric.ai, Homebase, Khatabook, Odeko, Slice, Square (SQ), Udaan, Vic.ai, Zendesk (ZEN), and more. In 2019, GGV established the SMBTech Index which tracks public SMBTech companies, and hosts an annual SMB-focused thought leadership event, SMBTech Summit. The firm launched SMBTech 50 in 2022 to recognize the rising stars of the SMBTech sector. More information can be found at smbtech50.com.

About GGV Capital

GGV Capital is a global venture capital firm focused on multi-stage, sector-focused investments. Recognizing that the talent to build great companies can come from anywhere, the firm invests in founders building category-leading companies around the world. Founded in 2000 with roots in Singapore and Silicon Valley, GGV has expanded with additional offices in San Francisco, New York, Shanghai, and Beijing. The firm manages $9.2 billion in investments across the United States, Canada, China, Southeast Asia, India, Latin America, and Israel. Over the past two decades, the firm has backed more than 400 companies, including Affirm, Airbnb, Alibaba, BigCommerce, Boss Zhipin, Bowery Farming, Grab, Full Truck Alliance, HashiCorp, Hello, Keep, Kujiale, NIU, Opendoor Technologies, Peloton, Poshmark, Slack, Square, StockX, Udaan, Wish, XPeng, Zendesk, and more. More information can be found at www.ggvc.com and @ggvcapital.

2023 SMBTech 50 Honorees

1Password

Airbase

Alloy

Apollo

Archive

AutoLeap

Boulevard

Brightwheel*

Calendly

Carta

Coast

Coda

ComplYant

Contra

Deel

Dovetail Software

Drata*

Electric*

EngineEars

GlossGenius

Gusto

Heard

Homebase*

Human Interest

Justworks

Klaviyo

Linear

MaintainX

Maze

Mercury

Merge

Middesk

Miro

Mosaic

MVMNT

Papaya Global

Parafin

Patreon

Portex

Ramp

Rippling

Rupa Health

Secureframe

Select Star

ServiceTitan

Stripe

Topline Pro

UserGems

Vitally

Wrapbook

*denotes GGV Capital portfolio company

SOURCE GGV Capital