The funding, led by Primetime Partners, SJF Ventures, and CEO^C‘s Aging Innovation Fund, will fuel the digital health company’s continued expansion of its technology platform and engagement services for older adults and caregivers.

NEW YORK, June 22, 2023 — 3 – DUOS, a digital health company focused on empowering older adults to live independently, announced today an additional $10 million in funding led by Primetime Partners, SJF Ventures, and CEO^C‘s Aging Innovation Fund managed by Castellan Group. This investment supports DUOS’ rapid customer growth and, combined with DUOS’ $15 million Series A round in April 2022, brings the company’s total funding raised to date to more than $33 million.

DUOS generates shared value for health plans, providers, and employers by making operations more efficient and increasing utilization of existing benefit structures. DUOS’ platform helps staff reduce the time it takes to find a member’s coverage options, while AI-powered digital experiences capture and prioritize the most important aging needs for a member to increase the average number of needs resolved. Together, DUOS’ products increase engagement with and adoption of Medicare Advantage benefits, leading to improvements in overall member satisfaction, retention, and completion of critical care initiatives like Annual Wellness Visits.

“DUOS operates at the critical juncture of a growing aging population, increased pressures on unpaid caregivers, and a rapidly evolving Medicare Advantage landscape. They have proven metrics demonstrating that effectively engaging older adults and their caregivers and connecting them with underutilized health plan benefits not only improves quality of life for individuals but also drives better outcomes for plans,” said Abby Miller Levy, Managing Partner and co-founder of Primetime Partners. “We’ve watched the DUOS team since their launch and their track record of member engagement and impact is best in class.”

Since its launch in 2020, DUOS has expanded its original human-powered service model for solving aging needs to provide a full suite of technology and engagement products for health plans, providers, and employers. Tapping into over 100,000 different MA plan benefits and more than $30 billion in unclaimed public benefits, the DUOS System of Aging identifies the right plan benefit, community resource or government program, at the right time, thereby driving increased member satisfaction in older adults, reducing stress and burden on caregivers, and addressing critical care gaps for health plans.

“The unique combination of data aggregation, technology and engagement services makes the DUOS approach particularly effective at delivering increased value for health plans, risk-bearing providers, and employer groups grappling with the growing aging crisis in America today.” added Perry Clarkson from SJF Ventures. “Our support comes at a critical growth moment for both DUOS and the broader aging U.S. population with unmet medical and social determinants of health (SDoH) needs.”

More than half of all adults over 65 have at least one unmet aging need. DUOS identifies these needs, prioritizes them in collaboration with the older adult or caregiver, and connects the need with an existing benefit or resource. 95% of the thousands of aging needs identified by DUOS have been solved with closed loop referrals, and DUOS has delivered an 80%+ care gap closure rate on Annual Wellness Visits and in HEDIS gaps with chronically ill, non-compliant MA members.

“Our north star remains, and has always been, to solve the needs of aging adults. The investments in technology and tooling that we’ll make with this additional funding are all in the interest of supercharging those efforts: more needs identified and resolved, more individuals feeling both supported and independent,” said Karl Ulfers, co-founder and CEO of DUOS. “The fact that staying laser focused on our mission also yields meaningful value for our health plan and employer partners makes the work even more compelling.”

Resolving barriers to healthy living for older adults drives satisfaction: DUOS’ rolling 30 day NPS is 82 (compared to a health plan high water mark of 43), and 88% of DUOS members report a willingness to stick with their current health insurance plan because of their access to DUOS (16% of MA enrollees switch plans after 1 year of enrollment).

DUOS is available in all fifty states, depending on health plan coverage.

About DUOS
DUOS is a digital health company focused on helping older adults stay connected and age independently. Founded in 2020, DUOS focuses on older adults’ aging needs and maximizes their well-being by connecting them with untapped health plan benefits and building high trust relationships. The DUOS’ System of Aging technology connects caregivers, health plans and healthcare providers to maximize benefits engagement and ensure holistic, personalized support. Listen to our soundtrack on Spotify, follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, and visit us at getduos.com.

About Primetime Partners
Primetime Partners is an early-stage venture capital fund that invests in companies that can transform the quality of living for older adults through meaningful new products, services and experiences. The firm accelerates business growth through consumer marketing expertise, strategic distribution partners, synergies across portfolio companies and an engaged network of advisors. Also core to the mission, Primetime encourages the talent and expertise of experienced older adults as founders and business builders.

About SJF Ventures
SJF Ventures is a venture capital fund that invests in high-growth companies creating a healthier, smarter, and cleaner future. SJF’s investment sectors include climate and clean energy, education and employment, supply chain and logistics, govtech, and health and wellness. Through its healthcare investing, SJF aims to address underserved populations and extend care outside of the walls of doctors’ offices, into patients’ homes and communities.

About CEO^C‘s Aging Innovation Fund
CEO^C was formed to leverage the strengths and assets of its 15 strategic healthcare members that collectively represent more than 550,000 employees and touch over 80 million lives annually. With its representation across the entire care continuum, CEO^C capitalizes on its sector strength to identify healthcare gaps and connect innovators to capital and customers. CEO^C‘s Aging Innovation Fund is managed by Castellan Group and invests in startups that provide digital healthcare solutions to the aging population.

SOURCE DUOS Living, Inc.

LOS ANGELES, June 22, 2023 — Group 11 announced its #3 spot in the HEC Paris and DowJones Global Venture Capital Performance Ranking. The study, conducted by Professor Oliver Gottschalg, evaluated the performance of 415 PE firms and 766 global funds, determining that Group 11 has consistently delivered exceptional returns, solidifying its position as the third top performing venture capital firm in the industry.

The HEC Paris and DowJones Venture Capital Performance Ranking identifies the firms that have generated the best performance for their investors and cumulatively raised greater than $100M compared against all other venture capital funds raised between 2009 and 2018. The ranking is based on a comprehensive analysis of data on PE fund performance sourced from Preqin and directly from PE Firms, employing a unique methodology devised by Professor Oliver Gottschalg.

Professor Gottschalg stated: “In terms of size and vintage, the analysis shows a notable split at the top of the rankings. This surprising data suggests that these new VC firms deliver the greatest returns, followed by a group of stellar incumbents who have grown in size over the years while still outperforming the average VC.”

The latest study highlights the performance of Group 11, especially in comparison to other firms. This recognition serves as a testament to the strength of the firm’s investment thesis, meticulous portfolio management, value creation, and unwavering commitment to delivering value to its investors.

Group 11’s consistent success in generating strong returns further strengthens its position as both a trusted partner for entrepreneurs seeking capital and strategic guidance and a leading venture capital firm for investors seeking exceptional returns.

About:
Group 11 invests in revolutionary software companies that are redrawing the landscape of the financial services industry. As FinTech continues to gain momentum and to disrupt the traditional industry value chain, Group 11 has positioned itself as a partner of choice to provide capital and guidance to entrepreneurs that are creating the world’s next generation of industry leaders.

Since its inception, the firm has deployed nearly $600 million in some of the most prominent and disruptive financial technology companies, including category-defining companies such as Tipalti, Navan (formerly TripActions), Next Insurance, Sunbit, and Masterschool, to name a few.

To learn more: www.group11.vc

SOURCE Group 11

Funds will support multi-product roadmap to capitalize on growing demand for modern CMMS

LEHI, Utah, June 22, 2023 — Limble, the leading provider of modern computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS), announced today a $58M Series B funding round led by the Growth Equity business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management (Goldman Sachs), bringing the company’s valuation to $450M. The funding will be used to expand Limble’s product portfolio, further develop its powerful and intuitive user interface for asset monitoring and maintenance and accelerate its go-to-market strategy.

The investment from Goldman Sachs comes from its recently launched $5.2B growth equity fund, dedicated to investing in high-growth businesses with strong market positioning and durable business models.

The company also announced John Connolly, senior advisor to the Growth Equity business within Goldman Sachs Asset Management and a five-time CEO, will join Limble’s Board of Directors to advise on the company’s next stage of growth. He will join Lars Letonoff, former CRO of KnowBe4, the world’s largest security awareness training and simulated phishing platform; and Jeremiah Daly, founder and general partner of Elephant. Brendon Hardin from Goldman Sachs’ Growth Equity business will also be joining the board in conjunction with this investment.

“The success of Limble can truly be credited to a deep understanding of the specific challenges that face maintenance and facility managers, and the design of a powerful yet streamlined system to solve those problems,” said Bryan Christiansen, CEO and founder, Limble. “We set out to empower the maintenance professionals – the unsung heroes – who keep the world turning and have delivered on that promise with cost savings in the hundreds of millions from reduced reactive maintenance, increased productivity, reduced downtime, and reduced part spend. With this injection of growth capital from Goldman Sachs, we are poised to add new capabilities and extend the reach of our game-changing CMMS solution to companies worldwide.”

Over the past 12 months, Limble has achieved 130% growth and has increased its headcount by 240%. With its modern, innovative approach to CMMS, its customers have achieved significant cost savings. In 2022 alone, Limble customers saved a total of $134M in downtime costs, $68M in parts spend and $442M in reduced labor costs.

“CMMS is essential to managing maintenance operations, but the market has historically been filled with overly complicated, cumbersome tools,” said Brendon Hardin. “Limble has disrupted this market with an intuitive, user-friendly, and modern CMMS that streamlines even the largest operations, and fast implementation means customers see ROI within weeks. The product has proven its value with thousands of customers worldwide, and we are confident Limble’s market penetration has the potential to grow exponentially in the coming months and years.”

Resources:

• CMMS: To learn more about CMMS and its benefits, read The Essential Guide to CMMS. 
• Why Limble: For more information about Limble’s unique and innovative approach, visit Limble CMMS. 
• Employment Opportunities: To learn more about employment opportunities at Limble, please visit the company’s careers page. 

About Limble:
Limble delivers software designed by maintenance professionals, for maintenance professionals. Founded in 2015, the company created a modern CMMS that empowers maintenance professionals to implement preventive maintenance, easily manage assets, gain control of inventory, streamline workflows, report KPIs, organize work orders and realize millions of dollars in cost savings from reduced downtime, parts spend, labor and improved productivity. Thousands of customers worldwide trust Limble including McDonald’s, Nike, Pepsi, DHL Global Forwarding and more.

About Goldman Sachs Asset Management
Bringing together traditional and alternative investments, Goldman Sachs Asset Management provides clients around the world with a dedicated partnership and focus on long-term performance. As the primary investing area within Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), we deliver investment and advisory services for the world’s leading institutions, financial advisors and individuals, drawing from our deeply connected global network and tailored expert insights, across every region and market—overseeing more than $2.6 trillion in assets under supervision worldwide as of March 31, 2023. Driven by a passion for our clients’ performance, we seek to build long-term relationships based on conviction, sustainable outcomes, and shared success over time. Follow us on LinkedIn. 

Media Contact:
Emily Ashley
Lumina Communications
[email protected]  

SOURCE Limble

CAMBRIDGE, England, June 22, 2023 — Cambridge-based leading cyber security education firm, CW Labs (CyberWarfare Labs) has secured a significant seed funding deal with a UK-based angel investor and appointed Mr. Sumit Siddharth (Sid), a serial cyber entrepreneur, as a new Director to the company.

CW Labs is a specialist in technically advanced cyber security courses, focused specifically on cloud security (AWS, Azure, Google and hybrid cloud environments). The courses cater to offensive (red teaming), defensive (blue teaming) and hybrid (purple teaming) techniques used within the cloud infrastructure’s security.

Initiated as a Cyber War Research and Development Project by Manish Gupta and Yash Bharadwaj, in June 2020, amidst the COVID-19 lockdown, CW Labs has since secured four cyber research grants and garnered numerous accolades from esteemed National and International Cyber Competitions. It has so far supported over 4,500 candidates from at least 80 countries, including professionals from Fortune 500 companies.

With this new investment, CW Labs is now in a solid position to explore new opportunities and invest in cutting-edge security R&D, propelling itself towards accelerated growth. This will mean CW Lab’s vision of providing an advanced platform for Cyber Offensive and Defensive Research along with a comprehensive learning environment to enhance competencies will be enabled further.

As well as new funding, CW Labs will gain the support of Sumit Siddharth (Sid) who is joining as a Director. As the CEO of a leading cyber consultancy and education firm, The SecOps Group, and co-founder/investor in other cyber security companies such as PureID (a passwordless authentication solution) and RedHunt Labs (an Attack Surface Management solution), his unparalleled expertise in the field of IT security will be invaluable to CW Labs and its founders.

Commenting on the appointment, Sid said, “I am delighted to join the CW Labs family as its Director at this opportune time when the demand for cybersecurity knowledge is increasing day by day. This investment will help us take our mission of providing world class cyber security education to more people than ever before.”

Manish Gupta and Yash Bharadwaj, co-founders of CW Labs said, “We are excited about this opportunity to scale our operations across multiple geographies while continuing to offer quality education services. The investment will help us take our vision forward by leaps and bounds, better equipping us to provide our students with the most relevant knowledge about the ever-evolving landscape of cyber threats.”

For more information about CyberWarfare Labs, visit https://cyberwarfare.live.

About CyberWarfare Labs:

CW Labs is a renowned global Ed-tech company specialising in cybersecurity, offering on-demand educational services. We acknowledge that cybersecurity is a continuous endeavour that requires constant adaptation to evolving threats and the specific requirements of our clients. Our primary focus is divided into two key divisions:

Cyber Range Labs:
We are committed to addressing cybersecurity challenges by providing practical, real-time solutions tailored for all. Our platform offers a virtual space where users can actively engage in hands-on training, honing their skills through our plug-and-play practical labs.

Up-Skilling Platform:
We offer a comprehensive range of On-demand courses designed for all level candidates. Whether you prefer offline or online training, our services cater to educational institutes, government agencies, and corporate entities.

SOURCE CyberWarfare Labs

R&D breakthrough for microbiome-associated therapies: Technology brings breakthrough resolution and context to host-microbiome interactions

PRINCETON, N.J., June 22, 2023 — Kanvas Biosciences, the leader in microbiome mapping technology, announced today a $12M Pre-Series A funding round. The investment will be used to further advance the company’s proprietary platform technology, which promises to revolutionize drug development for microbiome-associated diseases. The round was led by DCVC with participation from Lions Capital LLC, Cooke LLC, Uncommon Denominator, and Triple Impact Capital. As part of the investment round, Jason Pontin, partner at DCVC, will join the company’s board of directors.

The interactions between the microbiome and its host are critical to human health. The current gold standard for analyzing these interactions is to extract a sample, blend it, and sequence the genetic material in the sample. This strategy enables broad inferences about the composition of the sample, but little more, as information regarding biospatial localization and cellular function is lost in the process.To overcome this challenge, Kanvas has developed a revolutionary technology platform that enables highly multiplexed spatial profiling of microbial species. The platform not only determines the identity and function of these microbes, but also maps the host’s corresponding local response – all executed within a single, comprehensive assay.

With Kanvas’ proprietary technology, based on research first published in Nature by the company’s founders, researchers can profile both the microbiome and the host cells with sub-cellular resolution to provide critical context and unparalleled insight into complex host-microbe interactions. This platform can be applied to the discovery and development of novel, live biotherapeutic products, the identification of disease-associated microbes for diagnostics, and leveraging the microbiome to improve therapeutic responses.

“Our technology takes the gastrointestinal tract and the microbiome from black box to transparent and measurable terrain,” says Kanvas Biosciences co-founder and CEO Matthew Cheng, MD. “We are thrilled to drive forward the development of life-saving treatments for some of the world’s most common conditions.” While the microbiome has long been associated with inflammatory bowel disease and colon cancer, emerging data indicate its intimate connection to a range of conditions beyond the gastrointestinal tract, including cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, and response to cancer immunotherapy treatments.

The raised capital will be used towards expanding Kanvas’ proprietary single-cell spatial transcriptomics platform and launching biological and R&D discovery platforms. To this end, Kanvas has already established partnerships with leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.

“This breakthrough technology empowers researchers to explore microbial communities in unprecedented ways, with profound implications for the health and biomedical industries. It fundamentally transforms our understanding of the human microbiome, allowing us to consider it as a distinct and druggable organ, opening uncharted territories in medicine,” said Jason Pontin of DCVC.

About Kanvas Biosciences
Kanvas Biosciences is building the world’s first microbiome drug screening and drug discovery platform to accelerate live biotherapeutic product (LBP) development. Leveraging its unparalleled ability to spatially map the microbiome and profile host-gene expression at single-cell resolution, the company is constructing the most comprehensive and robust microbiome data resource for future drug development. Kanvas Biosciences’ technology was initially developed at Cornell University and exclusively licensed. The company’s notable investors include DCVC, Lions Capital LLC, Cooke LLC, Uncommon Denominator, and Triple Impact Capital. The company is headquartered in Monmouth Junction, NJ.

SOURCE Kanvas Biosciences

Investment Will Accelerate the Platform’s Reach, Fueling Company Growth 

EL PASO, Texas, June 22, 2023 — FundMiner, the AI-powered platform that helps fundraising organizations measure and maximize impact, today announced that it has raised $1.725 million in funding. Arizona-based Sonoran Founders Fund led the round, followed by Techstars, Cascade Seed Fund and more. The money will be used to accelerate the company’s growth and expand its reach in the advancement technology space. FundMiner serves an array of businesses and nonprofits, from higher education & K-12 schools, to nonprofits & community foundations, academic medical centers, arts & cultural organizations, religious organizations and beyond.

“Our organization relies on philanthropic support from our donors,” said Jake Logan, vice president for Institutional Advancement at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). “Our ability to spend and manage our donors’ generous gifts is absolutely critical in inspiring their trust in our institution.” Logan shared that the system UTEP used previously made things difficult. “Before FundMiner, we did what most fundraising-driven entities do: relied on disparate systems and combined the data from those systems manually in Excel spreadsheets to handle gift administration. Needless to say, this approach was ineffective and time-consuming. FundMiner’s streamlined solution is a breakthrough in our industry. It gives us access to the critical data, analytics and reports that will help us run a truly successful fundraising operation. FundMiner has had a profound impact on how we deliver for our donors. We’re already seeing it pay off in the form of increased giving from current donors.”

When fundraising organizations aren’t effective with gift administration processes, they experience unhappy donors, a loss of future funding, and underutilization of resources. FundMiner is transforming an outdated industry, in which deans, department chairs, other members of the leadership and those in the advancement office captured information manually, churned out ad hoc reports and dealt with unreliable, inefficient results. Now, this can all change. The AI-powered platform:

• Makes fund data accessible
• Reduces siloed systems
• Tracks fund usage & compliance
• Increases automation and efficiency
• Offers a portal to provide easy impact reporting
• Uses intelligent analytics to help leaders make informed decisions
• Reduces risks related to negative publicity and legal exposure
• Is complementary to products that many users already have in place, like Blackbaud’s Raiser’s Edge, Oracle’s Peoplesoft and Salesforce

Customers and prospects are enthused by the platform’s features to measure and maximize impact, and reduce traditionally siloed activity in their organizations. To learn more, please visit https://fundminer.com/.

About FundMiner
Founded in 2022 by Chelsea Lamego and Alejandro Stevenson-Duran, FundMiner’s software helps large fundraising organizations, like universities and community foundations, automate and simplify management of their philanthropic funding. By bringing together data from previously siloed systems and applying intelligent analytics, FundMiner enables customers to experience more effective capital utilization, increased fundraising revenue and improved donor satisfaction. To learn more, please visit https://fundminer.com/.

SOURCE FundMiner

Lake Nona Sports & Health Tech Fund and Refinery Ventures Co-Led the Round for the FoodHealth Industry Innovator.

Other powerhouse investors include Mudita Venture Partners, Harvest Ridge Capital, BDMI (part of Bertelsmann’s corporate venture arm, Bertelsmann Investments), and Alex Morgan & Servando Carrasco’s Trybe Ventures

DENVER, June 22, 2023 — bitewell, the first ever corporate food health benefits provider, announced the oversubscribed close of their $4M seed round spearheaded by Lake Nona Sports & Health Tech Fund and Refinery Ventures. Participants in the round include Alex Morgan’s Trybe Ventures, Mudita Venture Partners, Harvest Ridge Capital and Bertlesmann’s BDMI, among others. 

“bitewell fits perfectly within our thesis of investing in companies bettering human experiences, and we see their contribution through the lens of nutrition and food accessibility,” said Justin Driscoll, Associate at Lake Nona Sports & Health Tech Fund. “By pushing employers to offer food benefits that provide employees with healthier eating options and give them greater control, transparency, and the capacity to monitor their own health, the company is well-positioned to redefine how the world thinks about health benefits. Sam and Chris possess all the characteristics we look for in founders — operational grit, domain expertise, consumer-obsessed mentality, and are vision-driven. We are excited to see bitewell challenge the status quo in a market ripe for disruption.”

Co-founded by Samantha Citro Alexander and Chris Fanucchi, bitewell plans to dedicate the funds to their creation of  the groundbreaking ‘Food as Health Benefits’ category. More specifically, bitewell will invest the funds to strengthen its leadership team with best-in-class executive hires, nationally scale their sales division, fund research efforts with leading academic institutions, and build out more advanced technology and data infrastructure for the brand.

“This is the start of an accelerated growth path to spread foodhealth benefits across the country. We took our time carefully choosing partners who believe wholeheartedly that the future of health is food, just like we do,” said Samantha Citro Alexander, co-founder and CEO of bitewell. “Looking forward now is both encouraging and empowering, knowing that we have partners who believe in the bitewell mission and will not compromise on our drive to achieve it.”

bitewell’s revolutionary FoodHealth Score, which ranges from 0-10 and uses a simple grey/red/yellow/green color system, is incorporated into its massive food marketplace. This Score helps users navigate food shopping with customized health goals in mind. Similar to a credit score for food, every food purchase is scored, and the aggregate Score of all food purchases helps users understand if their diet is net-accretive or net-dilutive to their health.

“Now is the perfect time for a service like bitewell. Employer-sponsored benefit plans persist because employers know the importance of having healthy employees,” said Tim Schigel, Managing Partner of Refinery Ventures. “Healthy nutrition is the next step for companies looking to improve the lives of their staff.”

For the first time ever, bitewell’s individualized FoodHealth Score enables subscribed employers – and their employees –  to buy food based on healthfulness. bitewell’s marketplace allows users to shop for groceries, restaurant meals, meal kits, and more, applying this health-first lens to more than 85% of the US food supply.

For more information on the platform and product offerings, please visit bitewell.com.

About bitewell

Founded in 2020, bitewell believes in the power of improving health through food. Purpose-built by food lovers, nutrition experts, and technologists to be the smartest place to shop for food, bitewell is a healthy food marketplace that works directly with employers to provide food health benefits, reducing insurance premiums and improving health for users. The platform utilizes food experts to make healthy eating simpler and smarter by applying a customized FoodHealth Score – think credit score, but for food – to the foods users are eating. Recognized by the Denver Business Journal as one of the top start-ups to watch in 2023, the Denver-based company developed a simpler way to personalize food delivery options by implementing a customized nutritional guide, creating an intentional food shopping experience without sacrificing or limiting options.

To find out more about bitewell, please visit www.bitewell.com. Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Facebook to stay in the loop on the latest news and updates.

About Lake Nona Sports & Health Tech Fund 
The Lake Nona Sports & Health Tech Fund invests in seed-stage companies that are bettering human experiences through sports and health technology. Launched as a partnership between leAD Sports & Health Tech Partners and Tavistock Group, the $30m fund supports its portfolio with access to a broad platform of resources, services, an international network of strategic domain and industry experts, world-class infrastructure, and smart capital. For more information, please visit: www.lakenonafund.com

About Refinery Ventures
Established in 2017 by Tim Schigel, Refinery Ventures is an investment firm focused on disruptive, Early Scale companies. Drawing from his extensive experience in founding and serving as CEO of ShareThis, the most recognizable icon on the Internet, to creating the Cintrifuse Syndicate Fund, raising over $120 million, Schigel build Refinery Ventures to bridge the gap between the Seed and Series A. Refinery Ventures is located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Learn more at www.refinery.com.

SOURCE bitewell

BOSTON, June 22, 2023 — Sverica Capital Management LP (“Sverica”), a private equity investment firm, announced today that it has made a strategic growth investment in First Stop Health (“FSH” or the “Company”).

Headquartered in Chicago, IL, FSH is an innovative, high-growth virtual care solution provider that works with mid-size and enterprise employers to help reduce healthcare costs and provide convenient care options for their employees. FSH delivers virtual access to urgent care, primary care, and mental health providers for a per employee per month (“PEPM”) fee with no cost to patients. The Company drives market leading employee engagement and satisfaction because of its intuitive user interface, and robust provider network. Founded by Patrick Spain and Dr. Mark Friedman, FSH works with more than 700 unique employers which they sell to via a nationwide network of employee benefit brokers and consultants. 

“Our search for a capital partner focused on firms that embraced our commitment to the patient experience. We are thrilled to partner with Sverica, who understands how to leverage our strengths to accelerate our growth,” said Teira Gunlock, CEO of FSH. Gunlock will continue to lead the Company, while Gregg Osenkowski, Partner at Sverica, and Doug Patrican, Vice President at Sverica, will join the First Stop Health Board of Directors.

“We are excited to partner with the First Stop Health team and to advance their mission to provide employers and employees with the highest quality virtual health services.  First Stop Health’s market leading user engagement delivers on the promise of virtual care as the digital front door to the healthcare system, resulting in tangible ROI to employers,” said Gregg Osenkowski, Partner at Sverica.

Doug Patrican, Vice President at Sverica, added “First Stop Health’s focus on delivering exceptional patient care permeates the entire organization and we look forward to supporting the FSH team as they continue to execute on their vision and growth plans.”

About First Stop Health

First Stop Health (FSH) provides care that people love with various digital healthcare services. Patients can access virtual care 24/7 via app, website, or phone. FSH helps patients save time and money with safe, convenient, high-quality virtual care solutions – Primary Care, Urgent Care & Mental Health. FSH was named one of Inc. Magazine’s Best Workplaces of 2022 and 2023 and ranked one of the fastest-growing private companies for the past 5 years by Inc. 5000. For more information, please visit www.fshealth.com.

About Sverica Capital Management

Sverica Capital Management is a leading growth oriented private equity firm that has committed capital of $2.0 billion across six funds. The firm acquires, invests in, and actively builds companies that are, or could become, leaders in their industries. Since inception, Sverica has followed a “business builder” approach to investing and takes an active supporting role in its portfolio companies. Sverica devotes significant internal time and resources to help its management teams develop and execute growth strategies and proactively looks for levers to pull to accelerate growth by reinvesting back into those companies. Sverica firmly believes in building businesses collaboratively that can endure for the long term by starting with a strong foundation and bringing the right people and playbook to drive reinvestment and ultimately strong returns for our investors. For more information, please visit https://sverica.com.

Media Inquiries:
Nathalie Allen
Sverica Capital Management
(415) 249-4906
[email protected]

SOURCE Sverica Capital Management

• Supercritical, today responsible for 35% of corporate carbon removal purchases and counts two of the world’s top 20 CDR buyers among its customers
• Carbon removal market today at 0.01% of capacity IPCC says will be needed by 2050; Supercritical is supporting urgent accelerated scaling of CDR technologies
• The funding, the second Supercritical raise to feature a gender-balanced cap table, will be used to fuel new chapter of growth

LONDON, June 22, 2023 — Supercritical, the vetted carbon removal marketplace helping businesses reach net zero, today announces it has raised $13m in Series A funding, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. The round includes funding from RTP Global, Greencode Ventures, MMC Ventures and others. Supercritical aims to accelerate the urgent scaling of carbon removal technologies by aggregating business demand and innovating with new purchase models. It will use the funding to grow its team, expand its product offering, and acquire additional customers.

Corporates want to reduce their carbon emissions, but most businesses will never be able to achieve full net zero purely through decarbonisation efforts and require carbon removal to do so. Unlike traditional emissions avoidance offsets that, until today, were the focus of sustainability programs, Supercritical’s marketplace allows corporations to purchase fully qualified carbon removal credits, as set out in the industry standard Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), that allow them to reach net zero.

However, CDR capacity is nowhere near the level it needs to be. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that to keep global average temperature rises below 1.5C, CDR at scale will be essential. Across the whole of 2022, around 600,000 tonnes of CDR were purchased – less than 0.01% of the 10 gigatonnes the IPCC says will need to be available annually by 2050.

The CDR market is rapidly evolving: at the beginning of 2020, just 237 tonnes of CDR offsets had been sold in total, while earlier this year individual companies made million tonne CDR purchases for the first time. However, growth needs to accelerate even more rapidly in the years ahead to avoid climate calamity.

Supercritical is at the vanguard of efforts to urgently scale the CDR market. It is the only marketplace focusing on high-quality, vetted, durable CDR projects. These include engineered solutions such as biochar, direct air capture (DAC) and enhanced weathering in addition to nature-based solutions such as afforestation. All CDR projects on the marketplace must pass through Supercritical’s vetting process, with only 6% making the cut.

By aggregating demand from corporate buyers, Supercritical is acting as a market maker, helping CDR projects scale. It is also spearheading innovative new purchase agreements to jump-start accelerated CDR capacity growth. In May, Supercritical brokered a long-term offtake agreement for biochar provider Carbo Culture, enabling the pre-purchase of thousands of tonnes of biochar and allowing Carbo Culture to develop C1, a new facility that converts carbon-containing biomass into biochar at a commercial scale for the first time. 

For businesses, Supercritical measures, reduces and, using these CDR methods, removes carbon emissions, helping businesses to reach net zero. Supercritical is already one of the world’s largest carbon removal marketplaces, with 35% of corporate purchases taking place through the platform and two of the world’s top 20 CDR buyers buying through the platform. Supercritical works with some of the most ambitious businesses when it comes to carbon commitments, including leading business banking platform Tide, who working with Supercritical, this year became the first fintech to remove 100% of their emissions; and leading algorithmic trading firm XTX Markets who, in partnership with Supercritical, have become one of the top 10 purchasers of CDR globally. Other notable customers include Veriff, Multiverse and IMC.

Looking forward, Supercritical plans to accelerate hiring, evolve its product offering to continue supporting the CDR market’s scaling, and acquire additional customers. The round will be the second raise conducted by Supercritical with a gender-balanced cap table.

Commenting, Co-founder and CEO Michelle You, said:

“Carbon removal – in parallel with aggressive decarbonization – is required to stay below 1.5C of warming and avoid the worst effects of climate change. We’re proud to work with businesses that are taking a leading role in building sustainability programs that center around both reducing emissions and removing with durable carbon removal, the only type of offset that counts towards net zero. As the only marketplace exclusively focusing on high quality carbon removal, it’s our mission to act as a trusted partner to businesses serious about net zero.

Since our launch two years ago, we’ve been astonished by the rapid growth in demand for our portfolio of durable carbon removal offsets. With this funding, we are excited to enter a new chapter and play a meaningful role as a market maker for promising carbon removal projects, aggregating demand to support them as they scale. 

We have a vanishingly tiny window to start the acceleration curve towards the 10 billion tonne annual CDR capacity required by 2050, and we are proud to play an early market leading role in helping this industry scale.”

Commenting, Paul Murphy, Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners said:

“Supercritical is doing something unique. By focusing exclusively on carbon removal offsets, they are helping businesses invest in the places that will actually deliver climate impact while they work in parallel to decarbonise. By aggregating demand, including through innovative future-proofing models, they are providing the resources that CDR projects need to scale in time. 

Net zero is simply unattainable for the vast majority of corporations without a robust, quality carbon removal platform like Supercritical. We are so pleased to be part of their journey.”

About Supercritical
Supercritical is a vetted carbon removal marketplace that helps businesses achieve net zero. Founded in London, its technology makes it easy for companies to understand their climate impact and purchase high-quality carbon removal offsets to reduce it.
Already, 35% of the world’s carbon removal customers use Supercritical to purchase carbon removal offsets. The company has two customers in the top 20 buyers of carbon removal worldwide, and recently helped Tide become the first fintech in the world to remove 100% of its emissions.
Supercritical is backed by Lightspeed Venture Partners, GreenCode Ventures, MMC Ventures. It has been previously backed by LocalGlobe and angel investors including Peter Reinhardt (Twilio Segment and Charm Industrial), Yancey Strickler (Kickstarter), Alice Bentinck (Entrepreneur First), Gustaf Alströmer (Y Combinator) and Evelyn Bourke (Bupa).
Its founders are repeat technology entrepreneurs who started the company as a way to build a better future for their children. www.gosupercritical.com
Images of the Supercritical co-founders are available to download here.

Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2108174/Supercritical_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Supercritical