Fare.Coop Kicks off $26M Series A Funding Round, Eyeing Expansion into Seven Major Cities with its Revolutionary Cooperative Ride-Hailing and Delivery Model

TORONTO, June 26, 2023 — Direct Global’s pioneering efforts in spearheading and financing multi-stakeholder cooperatives are reaching new heights as they announce the start of Fare.Coop/Local Driver Co-op’s Series A funding round. The ambitious goal is to raise $26 million, enabling the expansion of their innovative services to major urban centers like Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, and others. This expansion aims to reach tens of millions of consumers through Fare.Coop’s disruptive federated cooperative model, which is comparable to the transformative impact of VISA on the financial industry in the late 1960s, leading to the largest IPO in American history in 2008.

Fare.Coop has achieved significant milestones, including successful pilot projects in Canada and the enlistment of nearly 40,000 drivers and delivery couriers across the United States and Canada. This growth reflects the increasing demand for a fair and equitable gig economy.

To further enhance their services, Fare.Coop has strategically partnered with #driversunite, an alliance advocating for the rights of independent workers and representing millions of drivers globally. They have also joined forces with the Rideshare Drivers Network from Australia, a co-founder in the International Alliance of App-Based Transport Workers, representing drivers from various countries. These partnerships pave the way for Fare.Coop’s launch in multiple markets.

Fare.Coop sets itself apart by offering not only exceptional service but also equitable pricing. While traditional platforms charge businesses fees ranging from 20% to 35%, Fare.Coop operates with a modest 5% fee structure. This reduction enables restaurants to significantly lower their online prices, benefiting both businesses and consumers.

Moreover, Fare.Coop’s ride-sharing service is priced approximately 20% lower per mile/kilometer compared to competitors, ensuring drivers receive 90% of their earnings. By granting drivers equity, Fare.Coop empowers them to finance and own autonomous vehicles in the future. This commitment to fairness and equality positions Fare.Coop as a formidable contender against conventional gig economy platforms.

With its groundbreaking approach and remarkable achievements, Fare.Coop is now seeking Series A funding. Direct Global, a founding partner of Fare.Coop, is optimistic that investors will recognize the platform’s immense value and untapped potential.

“Boasting an exclusive alliance with #driversunite, which represents millions of drivers, and comprehending that traditional firms spend thousands per driver for acquisition, Fare.Coop already has a fully operational platform with close to 40,000 registered drivers in Canada and the USA and unparalleled customer and vendor ratings. This potent combination presents a compelling case for discerning investors. It’s clear that incumbent players would be reluctant to erode their margins to compete with our low pricing structure, given their high overheads. Moreover, they are unlikely to share equity with their drivers, a step Fare.Coop has already taken to ensure the future for the gig workers. Considering these factors, Fare.Coop emerges as the clear investment of choice,” asserted Ahmed Attia, CEO of Local Driver Co-op.

Direct Global’s endorsement by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Program further solidifies their commitment to fulfilling Sustainable Development Goals #8, #9, and #11, focusing on inclusive economic growth, resilient infrastructure, and sustainable cities.

Press Contact

Danny Golnik
416-836-4455
https://www.directglobal.world/

SOURCE Direct Global

AdvisorCheck has secured a seed round of capital to scale operations and product development to deliver a comprehensive platform providing essential background checks and monitoring of financial advisors

LOS ANGELES, June 26, 2023 — AdvisorCheck, a platform that provides new or seasoned investors an extra level of protection through background data and transparency in the world of finance, has announced its $1.8M seed round of funding.

AdvisorCheck’s Advisor Search is a robust platform that will allow users to locate and search for any financial advisor in the United States. The search records will help distinguish whether or not a financial advisor is a fiduciary (putting clients’ interests ahead of theirs) or if they act more as a traditional broker (suitable investments where they or their firm may benefit). Advisor Search can be used to locate financial advisors by inputting their name, city and/or state, or the firm that they work at. The database will also help distinguish whether a financial advisor is an Investment Advisor Representative, Registered Representative, or both.

The company recently launched AdvisorCheck+, a first-of-its-kind tool that allows investors to perform comparison background checks of advisors they are vetting as well as continuous monitoring of the advisor they select for the life of their relationship.

The company plans on using this capital to further scale its technology development and build features that promote transparency within the personal finance industry.

“Trust, Transparency, and the Transactional nature of the financial services industry are the challenges that AdvisorCheck was built to solve,” says Dan Hattori, COO at AdvisorCheck. “The creation of AC+ allows us to provide additional clarity and create an industry first, the ability to monitor your advisor through the life of your relationship.”

A financial advisor can be a lifetime relationship or even beyond when you consider your spouse, family, and beneficiaries. AdvisorCheck was created to provide details about someone who could have a profound impact on your finances, your future, and your life. Relying on a financial advisor employer’s due diligence is sometimes not enough. AdvisorCheck provides peace of mind by performing an independent background check and continuous monitoring to maintain transparency in the relationship.

With approximately 50,000 visitors per month, AdvisorCheck helps investors find, compare, and monitor their financial advisors throughout the life of their relationship. As consumer advocates, our products are fast and free to consumers while helping to facilitate transparency and accountability in the Financial Services Industry.

About AdvisorCheck
AdvisorCheck is an Englewood Cliffs, NJ company with offices in Los Angeles founded in 2019 by a group of financial industry veterans. AdvisorCheck was built for investors by investors with the goal of helping investors of all asset sizes find, compare, and monitor their trusted advisor through the life of their relationship. AdvisorCheck tools provide unbiased, comprehensive data on advisors and their respective institutions. For more information, please visit: https://www.advisorcheck.com

AdvisorCheck.com is not, and is not affiliated with, investment advisors, brokers, dealers, wealth managers, or other financial professionals. AdvisorCheck.com is for informational purposes only, and a user should not treat any content provided as investment, financial, legal, tax, or other advice, or as any recommendation or solicitation to engage in any transaction with a person listed on AdvisorCheck.com or to engage in any activity related to securities or business, or as approved by any relevant regulatory body. Past performance does not determine future results. All financial transactions, including the selection of a financial professional, carry a risk of loss.

For more information or to request an interview, please contact:
Priscilla Vento | 30 Miles North PR | [email protected]

SOURCE AdvisorCheck

The $6 million infusion will support Carbonwave’s innovative biorefinery upcycling of Sargassum seaweed

WASHINGTON, June 23, 2023 — Pegasus Capital Advisors and the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) have announced an investment of up to $6 million into C-Combinator (d/ba/ Carbonwave), the world’s leading developer of ultra-regenerative advanced biomaterials from seaweed. The investment will support Carbonwave’s groundbreaking “cascading biorefinery” model for upcycling the over-supply of Sargassum seaweed into high-value biomaterials while simultaneously restoring ocean health and sequestering greenhouse gases.

“We are thrilled to receive an investment from the Global Fund for Coral Reefs. Beyond the capital infusion, we look forward to the support of the team and partnership as we grow new product lines and into new geographies,” said Geoff Chapin, Co-founder and CEO of Carbonwave.

By efficiently upcycling Sargassum seaweed, Carbonwave’s biorefinery eliminates toxic and reef-damaging substances polluting the ocean and shorelines in Mexico and the Caribbean, enhancing the resilience of coastal habitats and the health and safety of coastal communities worldwide. Carbonwave’s proprietary technologies create new employment opportunities, foster eco-tourism, and support marine protected areas and coastal habitats.

Dale Galvin, Managing Director of the Global Fund for Coral Reefs, shared his thoughts on the investment: “This collaboration highlights the Global Fund for Coral Reefs commitment to sustainable and impactful investments, and recognizes Carbonwave’s significant potential to address the urgent human and environmental challenges posed by the Sargassum seaweed problem. By partnering with Carbonwave, we are supporting the scaling of innovative, carbon-negative products supplied to high-growth sectors with compelling tailwinds, which will play a key role in the future of the green economy.”

Carbonwave represents a new era of sustainable economic growth, harnessing the potential of ultra-regenerative, plant-based biomaterials sourced from seaweed. By converting Sargassum seaweed, an overly abundant and damaging resource, into biomaterials that can replace petroleum-based products and other harmful industrial inputs, Carbonwave is at the forefront of building a next-generation economy that heals our planet.

About Carbonwave
Carbonwave is the world’s leading developer of ultra-regenerative, plant-based, advanced biomaterials from seaweed. The company transforms sargassum seaweed—a resource long considered waste, which does not need land or other inputs to grow—into biomaterials that can replace petroleum products and other harmful industrial inputs. Carbonwave is part of a new wave of companies that are building the next-generation economies that will heal the planet through materials that are regeneratively sourced from our oceans.

About Pegasus Capital Advisors, L.P.:
Pegasus Capital Advisors is a leading global private markets impact investment manager. As the first U.S. private equity fund manager accredited by the Green Climate Fund, we are dedicated to fostering sustainable and inclusive growth while providing attractive returns for our investors. Founded in 1996 by Craig Cogut, Pegasus has invested over $2 billion across five private equity funds.

About the Global Fund for Coral Reefs
The Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) is the first and only blended finance vehicle dedicated to coastal ecosystems, communities, and coral reefs globally. A coalition that is comprised of both a Grant Fund and an Investment Fund, the GFCR is designed to scale financial solutions and hasten a blue economy transition that bolsters the resilience of coral reefs and the communities that depend on them. GFCR focuses on supporting investments into enterprises that address local drivers of coral reef degradation, unlock conservation funding flows, and increase communities’ adaptive capacities.

SOURCE Pegasus Capital Advisors

AI-enabled platform lets clinicians and hospitals build their own applications that work for any specialty, in any care setting, for every clinician type

NEW YORK, June 23, 2023 — AvoMD, a no-code platform enabling clinicians and hospitals to easily make their own apps for use at the point-of-care, announced it has closed $5 million in seed funding led by early-stage venture fund AlleyCorp. AlleyCorp is joined by Las Olas, Epsilon Health, MedMountain Ventures, notable physician angel investors such as Dr. Kavita Patel, Venture Partner at New Enterprise Associates and Senior Policy Advisor at Stanford University, and existing investors Mirae and Dunamu. Other investors in the company include Columbia University, Mount Sinai Innovation Partners, StartUp Health, and 500 Startups.

AvoMD is an AI-enabled, no-code application builder that lets clinicians and hospitals build their own applications that work for any specialty, in any care setting, for every clinician type, including use cases like interactive clinical guidelines (i.e. sepsis, COVID), medical calculators, billing support, documentation automation, and more. The company has already developed standardized integrations with the largest electronic health record systems in the US, allowing organizations to efficiently deploy the solution. AvoMD also supports AI model integration, which enables doctors to incorporate clinical predictions based on AI at the point of care.

Founded by a team of physicians based in New York City, AvoMD was born in response to first-hand experience of clinical burnout and the difficulty in getting innovative clinical applications developed and deployed. AvoMD revolutionizes how clinical technology is created and used, saving clinicians over 50 percent of their time in decision-making and improving patient outcomes.

“For too long, clinical technology has mostly overwhelmed us or not fit in our workflow, exacerbating burnout. We’re here to change that. AvoMD is a copilot for clinicians, working alongside them and empowering them to provide the highest quality of care,” said Joongheum Park, MD, AvoMD’s Chairman and Head of Product/Engineering. “We are thrilled to have a partner like AlleyCorp to support this vision and the next chapter of growth at AvoMD.”

Working as an attending physician in internal medicine, Dr. Park was overwhelmed by the volume of knowledge required to deliver quality care, and found existing tools like 100+ page PDFs and EHR best practice alerts to be grossly inadequate. A self-taught software developer, Park began writing his own software in order to create user experiences that made sense in the clinical workflow.

When those early apps gained some traction among clinicians, Dr. Park recruited Dr. Yair Saperstein, a physician-technologist who, having led hundreds of providers through COVID as Chief Resident in Brooklyn, had also felt the pain of delivering quality care on the front-lines without adequate tools. The two brought Laurence Coman, the son of two physicians with prior software investing experience, to complete the founding team.

“We’re partnering with AvoMD because they are a team of clinicians who understand the unique issues doctors face, and how the right technology can solve them,” said Brenton Fargnoli, MD, Managing Partner of AlleyCorp Healthcare. “As clinicians ourselves, we acutely understand the challenges of integrating clinical evidence into the workflow, and the subsequent effects on burnout and patient outcomes. Having seen how quickly the AvoMD product is being adopted by other clinicians across a variety of settings, we are particularly excited to support this next phase of growth.”

About AvoMD

AvoMD is a software platform that translates clinical evidence – guidelines, pathways, and algorithms – into the workflow at the point of care, available in the EHR or as a standalone web/mobile application. AvoMD automates the ordering and documentation processes in addition to providing clinical guidelines in real-time, point-of-care optimized formats. Randomized control trials and implementations demonstrate that AvoMD saves clinicians over 50 percent of their time in clinical decision-making at the bedside while improving outcomes and reducing costs. Learn more at avomd.io, or email [email protected].

SOURCE AvoMD

Additional Investment Led by Flyover Capital and The Raptor Group

New Funds to Fuel Further Expansion into Live Event Markets including Music and Performing Arts

NASHVILLE, Tenn., June 23, 2023 — Project Admission, the Live Entertainment Solution Platform that makes buying, selling and distributing tickets simple and intuitive, today announced that seven new major sports teams have signed on with the service since January, including the NFL teams the Tennessee Titans and Washington Commanders, and USL teams New Mexico United, Charleston Battery, Richmond Kickers and Lexington FC bringing its total client base to nearly 50 teams.

The company’s accelerated growth has attracted a new round of investment, including $3.2 million in funding, led by Flyover Capital, with return investor Anthemis. New investors The Raptor Group and Scrum Ventures also joined the round bringing the total raised to $13 million.

With an extensive and flexible platform, Project Admission (PA) works directly with the live event industry to provide unique monetizing features and opportunities around the life of the ticket, adding value and simplifying the commercialization of live events. Tickets managed through Project Admission are easy to use, secure, and enhance the ticketing experience for fans, teams, venues, and ticketing companies alike.

“These partnerships and additional investment are a testament to Project Admission’s novel solution – a technology platform for a multitude of stakeholders that is transforming the entire life cycle of ticking including how and where a ticket is purchased, how its distributed, and how this can ultimately benefit/uplift a fan’s entire experience,” said Stephen Glicken, Project Admission CEO. “The first quarter of 2023 was the seventh consecutive quarter of 20-percent-plus ticket revenue growth for us, with ticket revenue increasing by more than 440 percent annually.  With the new investment, we will expand into new markets and verticals to further accelerate our growth.”

“Project Admission is becoming the go-to platform for teams, venues, and artists looking to expand how and where they engage with fans,” says Tristan Mace, Managing Partner at Flyover Capital. “We’re excited to lead this additional investment syndicate for Project Admission as the company continues to reshape the ticketing industry.”

“Throughout my time in sports and live entertainment, I’ve seen any number of companies come into the space promising to create needed efficiencies and increase revenue,” says Chuck Steedman, Principal at Raptor Sports Capital and former EVP of Strategy & Development at ASM Global. “Project Admission is one of the few that actually has the technology and team to deliver on both those.”

“Ticketing continues to constantly evolve with the ever-changing landscape that is the live event industry and Project Admission is at the forefront,” says Michael Proman, Managing Director of Scrum Sports and Entertainment Fund. “While the technology is cutting edge, the approach is fundamental: make it simple for stakeholders to deliver a better experience for their fans which ultimately drives revenue and retention.”

ABOUT PROJECT ADMISSION 
With an extensive and flexible platform, Project Admission works directly with the live event industry to provide unique monetizing features and opportunities around the life of the ticket, adding value and simplifying the commercialization of live events. Tickets managed through Project Admission are easy to use, secure, and enhance the ticketing experience for fans, teams, venues, and ticketing companies and alike.

SOURCE Project Admission

NORTH CHICAGO, Ill., June 22, 2023 — Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science (RFU) has completed the final buildout of 14,000 square feet of wet lab space for bioscience-industry occupancy in its Innovation and Research Park (IRP).

“I couldn’t be happier to announce that Rosalind Franklin University’s brand-new, world-class wet lab space has been completed, thanks to $2 million in state funding,” Governor JB Pritzker said. “Here in Illinois, we are proud to be a hub for biosciences, technology, and innovation — and one of the many ways we are pushing our rapidly-expanding industry forward is through our Rebuild Illinois Wet Lab Capital Program. Congratulations to the entire RFU team — I can’t wait to see all that they will accomplish.”

The matching funds, awarded in October 2021 by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO), were paired with $2 million from RFU.

“We’re creating an environment where academic and industry scientists can work together to solve complex health challenges,” said RFU President and CEO Dr. Wendy Rheault. “We’re grateful for state resources that encourage investment and drive innovation.”

Demand for wet lab space continues to grow along with investment in life sciences in the Chicago region. According to non-profit Lake County Partners, the buildout activity at RFU confirms that Chicagoland is fast “emerging as the life science industry’s ‘third coast.'” Lake County is home to more than 140 life science companies, supports 33,000 life science jobs — a job market that is growing 10% per year — and generates $85 billion in global sales. 

RFU has recruited the real estate brokerage firm Avison Young to attract life science industry tenants. The buildout encompasses 8,000 square feet — two labs of approximately 4,000 square feet each — on the IRP’s first floor and 6,000 square feet divided into nine individual labs on the second floor. The work includes installation of chemical fume hoods, biosafety cabinets and emergency back-up power.

“Lake County and Chicagoland have long suffered from an acute shortage of wet lab research space,” said RFU Executive Vice President for Research Dr. Ronald Kaplan. “The DCEO has helped bridge the gap so that Illinois life science companies can continue to attract investment.”

About Rosalind Franklin University
RFU encompasses six colleges and 12 research centers. Learn more at rosalindfranklin.edu.

Office of Marketing and Communications
[email protected]edu

SOURCE Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science

Company also appoints Thayer Lavielle, Executive Vice President of Wasserman’s The Collective, to its Board of Directors

BOSTON, June 22, 2023 — SOS, the female-founded company that is redefining wellness on the go through a fast-growing network of smart vending machines, is announcing $7.6 million in funding in two separate strategic partnerships: a $2.6 million investment round supported by Wasserman Ventures and $5 million round led by Urban Us Capital to support machine production and expansion. Through these partnerships, SOS will leverage the investment to expand into sports arenas, entertainment venues and college campuses, while continuing to deliver on its mission of creating a more inclusive and elevated wellness experience for anybody, anywhere – underscored with always-free period care products.

Wasserman Ventures, the recently launched investment arm of Wasserman – a global leader in sports, music, entertainment and culture – will help accelerate SOS’s global amenity network by leveraging Wasserman’s extensive and connected network throughout entertainment venues and facilities, providing an enhanced consumer and fan experience. An increased global footprint will also help provide a direct and valuable channel for wellness brands through media sponsorship opportunities and product discovery in targeted, high-value entertainment locations. The investment round was also supported by various other angel investors.

SOS has also appointed Thayer Lavielle, Executive Vice President of The Collective, Wasserman’s women-focused practice, to its Board of Directors. In the position, Thayer will work with SOS to identify strategic opportunities that further their global footprint and shared mission to raise the visibility of women in business.

“Aligning with Wasserman provides us the opportunity to work alongside a global partner who can help us open doors, shape our consumer narrative and scale our business to provide our wellness service and products to millions of fans and consumers,” said Susanna Twarog, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of SOS. “With this investment and Thayer on our board, we’re primed to grow our network, better serve our brand partners and change the on-the-go wellness game as the world knows it.”

“Given our sports, music and entertainment legacy, expertise and connections, we are well-positioned to make SOS’s forward-thinking technology an integral part of the fan experience of the future,” said Darren Ross, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of Wasserman Ventures. “The industry is long overdue for wellness innovation like this, and we look forward to supporting the SOS team in operationalizing it nationwide.”

“SOS’s mission to elevate the needs of consumers – particularly women – through innovative technology is unique, filling a void in a fan’s experience at a venue while providing surprise and delightment,” said Thayer Lavielle, Executive Vice President, The Collective. “I am thrilled to join the board and work alongside two female founders who have had the vision to create a world where it is easier for anyone and everyone to live well.”

The $5 million raise was led by Urban Us Capital, a leading debt capital and impact investment firm. The round will help SOS accelerate machine production and global expansion.

“We are being met with overwhelming demand from entertainment venues, office spaces and public access locations,” said Robina Verbeek, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of SOS. “Having capital available to expand our operations – currently focused on corporate commercial spaces and transit hubs – into places like schools and universities is of paramount importance. We are grateful to have a firm like Urban Us Capital as part of our growth story.”

Easily recognizable by its curvy shape and sleek interactive touch screen, SOS vending machines offer a range of exceptional just-in-time personal care and wellness products from brands including Rael, Hero Cosmetics and Luxury Brand Partners. Committed to ensuring period care products are always free, SOS and its exclusive period care partner, Rael, have committed to giving away 200,000 tampons and pads at all of its locations within the next year. Completely contactless for consumers, SOS machines also deliver targeted, interactive advertising and educational content when not in use. This digital component is a unique aspect of SOS machines and enables highly targeted brand-building and customer acquisition programs that help brands stand out in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Launched in 2020 by Susanna Twarog and Robina Verbeek, SOS has grown its footprint to include placement of more than 100 vending machines at high-traffic areas including New York City’s iconic Rockefeller Center and top sporting venues such as Fenway Park, FLA Live Arena and TIAA Bank Field, in addition to a variety of public spaces around Boston, including the Prudential Center, South Station and more.

For more information, visit www.worldofsos.com.

SOURCE SOS

LOS ANGELES, June 22, 2023 — Hypar, the world’s first cloud-based design automation platform for buildings, is announcing a $5.5 million Series A round led by Brick & Mortar Ventures with participation from Building Ventures. With support for every phase of project realization, Hypar delivers the world’s building expertise to realize better buildings and help teams make better decisions, faster.

“BIM has been a buzzword in the construction industry for decades now,” says Alice Leung, VP of Platform & Product Strategy at Brick & Mortar Ventures. “There have been challenges in its adoption and Hypar is here to change that – it’s a step change in how we are designing and generating 3D assets.”

Hypar’s founders, Ian Keough and Anthony Hauck, have decades of experience in creating digital building solutions. Ian developed goBIM, the first BIM visualization application for iOS, which was later acquired by Vela Systems. He then invented Dynamo, a widely popular visual programming language for Revit.

After twenty years in architectural and construction practice, Anthony Hauck held positions at Autodesk as the AEC Director of Product Management and Director of Product Strategy for Autodesk’s AEC Generative Design Group, where, with Ian, he led the team that created Generative Design for Revit.

After leaving Autodesk in late 2017, and through conversations with hundreds of design and construction firms, Keough and Hauck recognized a need for access to repeatable, scalable building expertise.

“For centuries, buildings have started on a blank page, as if no one had ever built anything before,” says co-founder Anthony Hauck. “We automate best practices so that projects don’t have to start from scratch.”

Adds co-founder Ian Keough, “For too long, we’ve had fragile automation workflows in AEC strung together with various softwares. Hypar provides the platform to deliver scalable building expertise to support the industry’s transition toward buildings as a product. On Hypar anyone, anywhere, can build collaborative applications leveraging the world’s building expertise.”

Allen Preger, Partner at Building Ventures, notes that, “From the outset, Ian and Anthony’s mission has been clear: to build the industry’s first open-source and cloud-native generative design platform. And now dozens of leading designers, builders, and suppliers use the platform to productize their building configuration and construction offerings. Having recruited an all-star team of engineers and cultivated a global network of computational designers to the growing Hypar community, Hypar is now poised for its next phase of growth.”

Bas Nolta, Global Manager Engineering Services Platform at Aliaxis, adds that, “Aliaxis believes the Hypar platform is the future of collaborative design and engineering, where highly automated processes complement human experiences towards a better and faster design.”

In addition to the main platform, the team has launched a space planning app built on Hypar that reduces time spent on commercial test fits by 90%. “After evaluating many other AEC platforms, we worked with Hypar because we saw it had the most potential to accelerate our workplace planning business,” says Jayanth Gopal, Director at Adrianse. “As the Hypar team helps us develop our custom workplace application, we’re looking to apply Hypar to our healthcare and data center businesses.”

“Quickly visualizing design options is just the beginning,” adds Hauck. “By offering rapid feedback on design performance, our customers will be able to arrive at critical decisions ahead of their competition.”

“With so much to change in the building industry, we’re delighted to continue our partnership with the Building Ventures team, and to welcome Brick & Mortar Ventures on board as investors,” concludes Ian. “Both firms bring critical industry insights that support Hypar’s vision of better buildings, faster.”

The new funding will be used to expand platform features, product lines, and go-to-market teams.

About Hypar

Hypar is the world’s first cloud-based design automation platform that enables building teams to rapidly create building design, construction, and product systems. With support for every phase of project realization, Hypar delivers the world’s building expertise to realize better buildings and help teams make better decisions, faster. Learn more about the product and sign up for a free account at hypar.io.

About Brick & Mortar Ventures

Brick & Mortar Ventures is an early stage venture fund focused on the Built World. Founded by Darren Bechtel, the firm invests in emerging companies developing innovative software and hardware solutions for the industries of architecture, engineering, construction, and facilities management. Notable past investments of the firm and its General Partner include Seed round participation in PlanGrid, BuildingConnected, BuildZoom, and Rhumbix, as well as early-stage investments in FieldWire and Levelset (formerly Zlien). Brick & Mortar Ventures is based in San Francisco, CA.

About Building Ventures

Building Ventures is the venture capital firm dedicated to supporting early-stage startups reshaping the way we design, build, operate, and experience our built environment. Learn more about the team and our portfolio companies at https://buildingventures.com/.

SOURCE Hypar

Prime Movers Lab Leads Funding Round Following Department of Energy Award

AUSTIN, Texas and DARMSTADT, Germany, June 22, 2023 — Focused Energy, a laser-based fusion startup dedicated to developing fusion as a means of generating clean alternative energy, raised an additional $11 million in Series A funding, bringing their total funding to $82 million. The round was led by Prime Movers Lab, and previous investors VCP Capital and Tony Florence joined the round as well.

The funding enables the company to expand its role as a pioneer and innovation driver in laser-based nuclear fusion. The capital will be used for further research and commercialization of nuclear fusion as a safe, climate-neutral and virtually inexhaustible energy source.

In May, the Department of Energy awarded a $3 million Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program grant to Focused Energy. The company was one of only eight to receive funding. Focused Energy’s approach to fusion energy is based on the successful method developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where in December, it produced the first net energy gain from nuclear fusion.

Focused Energy also earned a $50 million German Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation SPRIN-D award for the development of laser fusion infrastructure over the next five years. In addition, the company will receive $3 million from the German state of Hesse.

“Two of the world’s most innovative countries believe in our approach and are backing the work and research of our teams,” said Prof. Markus Roth, co-founder and CSO of Focused Energy. 

“We believe that Focused Energy is the leading inertial fusion company and the continued technical progress and support from the U.S. and German governments proves that this team is the most likely to commercialise laser-based fusion energy with economically competitive power plants,” said Prime Movers Lab Founder and General Partner and Focused Energy Chairman Dakin Sloss. “I spend more time working with the Focused Energy team than any other company because I believe it has the greatest potential to transform billions of lives delivering on the promise of abundant sustainable energy.”

“Although the market environment has fundamentally changed over the past year, we have succeeded in acquiring substantial funding,” says co-founder and CEO Thomas Forner. “We are also very pleased to be creating a splash on both sides of the Atlantic. After all, the world’s increasing energy needs can only be solved globally.”

About Focused Energy

Focused Energy is a German American company spun off from the Technical University of Darmstadt in 2021 that will enable safe, clean, and virtually inexhaustible energy production through laser-based nuclear fusion in just a few years. The young company is based in Darmstadt and in Austin/Texas and employs the best minds from relevant research institutes and universities in Europe and the USA. Focused Energy uses the experience of its founders gained over the past 30 years in fusion research, coupled with the speed of a young German American company and private investment, to bring laser-based fusion to market and satisfy the world’s hunger for energy. To learn more, visit https://focused-energy.world.

Press Contact

Michael Zell
Fink & Fuchs AG
Berliner Strasse 164
D-65205 Wiesbaden
T: +49 611 74 13 1-(0) 57
E: [email protected]

Gavin Mathis
Prime Movers Lab
406-539-7277
[email protected] 

SOURCE Focused Energy