CALGARY, Alberta, July 14, 2023 — After an extensive four-month search, AVAC Group’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce the appointment of Martin Vetter as Chief Executive Officer. This appointment is an important milestone in AVAC’s continued growth as a venture capital company.
Martin Vetter
Martin joined AVAC in 2008 after 20 years of new product commercialization experience at high-growth tech companies. During his 14 years with AVAC, Martin led many successful investments across AVAC’s technology and AgTech portfolio, gaining an extensive understanding of all aspects of venture capital. He currently serves as a director or observer on the boards of seven companies.
Since 2019, Martin has led AVAC’s Carrot Ventures initiative. Carrot is a venture studio dedicated to forming new Canadian AgTech companies. In 2021, AVAC and Farm Credit Canada invested as limited partners in Carrot Ventures Fund I, L.P., a $15M AgTech fund managed by AVAC.
Martin earned a B.Eng from Memorial University of Newfoundland and an MBA from the University of Calgary. He recently completed the Private Capital Governance Program offered by the CVCA in partnership with the ICD.
About AVAC Group
AVAC is a Canadian venture capital company which applies its knowledge, network, and capital to advance the commercialization of technology to achieve a sustainable world.
Carrot Ventures is AVAC’s primary mechanism for achieving this goal. Carrot forms and funds new companies across the entire AgTech value chain. AVAC is also an active limited partner in select Canadian and U.S. venture capital funds.
LOS ANGELES, July 14, 2023 — Today, Readout AI is announcing it has raised its pre-seed funding. The round, led by Meridian Street Capital, with participation from Mucker Capital, Necessary Ventures, and angel investor Ryan Fukushima (COO of Tempus and CEO of Pathos), will enable the company to accelerate its product development, deepen its AI sophistication, and expand its team.
Founded by experts in both AI and pharmaceutical services, the team believes that AI will turbocharge the biostatistical and medical writing tasks associated with clinical trials.
“We are beyond excited to have secured this funding from such impactful and supportive investors,” said Matthew Michelson, PhD, CEO of Readout AI. “This investment validates our vision and the potential impact our technology can have in clinical trials.”
Readout AI’s platform automatically analyzes data with the appropriate statistics and then describes the results in formats ranging from table descriptions to abstracts to posters. The goal is to alleviate the bottlenecks associated with clinical data analysis and reporting by turning trial data into accessible, human-readable insights, in seconds.
“One application that’s often overlooked is technology to improve trial progression and performance – most people just focus on the start, patient recruiting, and at the end, final results. But Readout’s AI can also help analyze and report on progression, which is a novel improvement,” says Michael Shleifer, PhD, co-founder of Readout AI.
“Readout AI continues our thesis that AI can shift the healthcare landscape in fundamental ways,” said Scott Law, General Partner of lead investor Meridian Street Capital. “Using AI to enhance the productivity of biostatistics and medical writing will change the speed at which crucial insights come from trial data.”
For more information on Readout AI and it’s technology, please visit http://readout.ai.
The AI-powered code cartography solution brings a new approach to code visualization and organization
RALEIGH, N.C., July 14, 2023 — Devnaut, a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform that creates, visualizes and organizes codebase maps through AI, today announced its public launch out of High Alpha Innovation‘s venture-building program with pre-seed investment from Capital One Ventures.
As codebases continue to grow in size and complexity, developers, engineers, and technology leaders are increasingly facing the difficult and time-consuming challenges of navigating unfamiliar, frequently-changing code. Sixty-two percent of those surveyed identify unclear ownership boundaries as their primary challenge at work, and nearly three out of four wish they spent less time tracking down colleagues to resolve application issues, according to a study published by Sentry in partnership with SlashData.
Devnaut is addressing this challenge and revolutionizing the way developers interact with complex codebases through its proprietary, intuitive, AI-powered code cartographer. The code exploration and collaboration tool fosters increased productivity, team collaboration and significant reductions in forensic work by helping developers, managers, and executives obtain real-time visibility. Using the C4 model, Devnaut’s novel approach is enabling organizations to visualize and automatically organize code.
“The industry has been building low-level code tools geared toward serving single pain points for developers for decades, but no one has solved for the macro-level perspective. By visualizing complex codebases, Devnaut is eliminating the burden of time-consuming manual forensic work and empowering developers to focus on what matters most: building great software,” said Devnaut Co-Founder and CEO, Jeff White. “Devnaut’s mission is to make code accessible and collaborative, and our code cartographer is the first step towards achieving that vision.”
White, a serial entrepreneur and experienced senior executive, leads Devnaut alongside veteran tech and engineering leader Bob Donald, Co-founder and CTO. Together, they bring over 55 years of experience building, leading, and growing SaaS technology startups. White, a five-time founder, previously founded Driven CRM, Pensmore Software and Agility Payments, and has held executive positions at Rocket Matter and ClearSpend. Donald, a current Boston University Graduate Lecturer focused on artificial intelligence, brings a wealth of experience leading technology and engineering functions at SaaS organizations such as Zebra Technologies, SAS, and Monster.
“There’s a unique opportunity for innovation at the documentation layer, making granular, fragmented information systematically accessible. This facilitates developer onboarding and allows tenured engineers to use their time more productively,” said Phil Kim, partner at Capital One Ventures. “To build, innovate and meet evolving requirements, engineers need context on how their technical systems are set up and Devnaut is addressing that intricate challenge.”
“At High Alpha Innovation, we are proud to co-create world-changing startups with top global corporations,” said Elliott Parker, CEO of High Alpha Innovation. “Devnaut is addressing an industry-wide challenge that has the extraordinary potential to dramatically reshape the way technology teams and organizations operate.”
About Devnaut Devnaut is the world’s first AI code cartographer redefining how technology teams interact with complex codebases. Through AI-powered visualization and organization, Devnaut minimizes the time spent on code forensics, enabling a seamless software development, navigation and collaboration experience for developers, engineers and technology leaders. Learn more about Devnaut at www.devnaut.io.
About High Alpha Innovation High Alpha Innovation is an Indianapolis-based venture studio that partners with corporations and universities to build advantaged startups. Its dedicated team of company builders, strategists, and designers apply a proven venture studio playbook — pioneered by High Alpha — to help the world’s leading organizations innovate through systematic startup creation. Learn about High Alpha Innovation at highalphainno.com.
The application leverages open-source communication protocols to give users more digital agency
NASHVILLE, July 14, 2023 — Today, Primal, a technology company leveraging open-source communication protocols to give users back agency online, announced the launch of its flagship application following a $1M seed round led by Ten31 with participation from Hivemind, and others. Built on the Nostr protocol, Primal is a social media application designed for complete freedom of expression without the risk of de-platforming.
The launch of Primal comes at a pivotal moment when new players are entering the space to challenge legacy social media platforms, and more venture capital funds are being directed toward the development of open-source ecosystems like Nostr.
Beyond its flagship application, Primal builds scaling infrastructure and discovery services for Nostr. Primal is the first Nostr company to open source its entire product stack including its caching and discovery service, Primal Server, as well as, its web, iOS, and Android apps. Its powerful discovery features including search, trending content, and analytics, make primal.net the go-to destination for people who wish to explore Nostr. With this seed round, Primal will focus on accelerating the development of an immersive user experience in a burgeoning Nostr ecosystem.
“We are building Primal to offer an alternative to closed social media platforms”, said Miljan Braticevic, CEO of Primal. “With Nostr, we now have an open publishing protocol with a monetary network attached to it in the form of zaps – bitcoin lightning micropayments. This combination will change everything. We are proud to partner with investors like Ten31 and Hivemind, who are already able to see this future and are willing to fund startups like Primal to build it.”
“Nostr is a robust, decentralized, and open communication protocol that will revolutionize the way we communicate online”, said Matt Odell, managing partner at Ten31. “Now more than ever, users value privacy and freedom of expression, and we are proud to support Primal’s mission of making this protocol accessible to billions of people around the world.”
With Primal, users can pay each other bitcoin “zaps” through the app by clicking the lightning bolt button on posts they appreciate. Primal also uses this information for its discovery feature. Posts that receive more bitcoin are featured in their trending lists.
Primal is currently fully available on the Web. Primal for iOS is currently available in beta via TestFlight, with a release for Android planned in the future. To learn more about Primal, visit www.primal.net. To learn more about Nostr, visit https://nostr.com/.
About Primal Primal is a Canadian social media company focusing on building on open protocols like Nostr and Bitcoin.
About Ten31 Ten31 is the leading platform investing in companies building infrastructure and technology in the Bitcoin ecosystem. With a footprint in Nashville and Austin, Ten31 seeks to support the ecosystem’s most promising founders and companies, leveraging its deep understanding of Bitcoin, extensive experience, and broad reach to create value for its partners. Since the fund’s inception, Ten31 has directed more than $100 million in equity to companies building on Bitcoin and the Lightning Network. For more information, visit www.ten31.vc
LOS ANGELES, July 14, 2023 — LunarCrush, the trailblazing crypto and media analytics platform, announced a successful $5 million Series A fundraising round, boosting the company’s valuation to an impressive $30 million.
LunarCrush’s additional capital will supercharge its mission to transform the way individuals consume social media.
LunarCrush’s additional capital will supercharge its mission to transform the way individuals consume social media.
LunarCrush’s additional capital will supercharge its mission to transform the way individuals consume social media. Built upon invaluable experience derived from the crypto and financial sectors, their pioneering tool allows users to curate their social media feeds. This innovative solution offers users the means to navigate the vast sea of social media content and identify trends resonating with their unique interests in real time.
“Our work in the crypto and financial sectors, where noise levels are notoriously high, underscored the need for custom algorithms that allow users to delve deeper into their preferred content and discover trending topics in real time,” shared LunarCrush CEO Joe Vezzani.
Rather than merely following individuals, LunarCrush is catalyzing a seismic shift towards a topic-centric social media landscape. This transformative approach enables users to curate a more enriched, personalized experience, following their interests as they unfold in real time across various social media platforms.
Aly Madhavji, Managing Partner at Blockchain Founders Fund, an early investor in LunarCrush, expressed his enthusiasm about the company’s evolution: “We believe in the LunarCrush team, vision, expertise and foresight. The company has seen tremendous growth a clear indicator of their strong capability to deliver a premier product and fill the need for social sentiment analysis and data analytics in the crypto and finance space. We’re excited about the future and how LunarCrush will play a role to further user empowerment.”
In a realm where people want to leave their echo chambers and understand trending topics holistically, LunarCrush’s solution is game-changing. LunarCrush invites all to experience this ground-breaking tool and heralding a new era of social media, where personalized, real-time content is not just a possibility, but a reality.
About LunarCrush
LunarCrush’s mission is to foster mindful media and create transparency for the world’s social media discourse. Our platform, first proven in the cryptocurrency and financial industries, now provides a novel solution for the information-saturated social media landscape, offering a tailored approach to media consumption beyond the control of traditional algorithms.
DENVER, July 14, 2023 — Bayswater Exploration & Production (Bayswater) is pleased to announce the unanimous approval of its Onyx Oil and Gas Development Plan (OGDP) by the newly-renamed Colorado Energy & Carbon Management Commission (formerly known as the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission or COGCC). The approved Onyx Development is planned for 12 new horizontal wells located in unincorporated Weld County, Colo., northwest of the Town of Eaton. The new Onyx horizontal development will utilize surface equipment currently located nearby on Bayswater’s existing Leffler 26-A Pad Oil and Gas Location. This is Bayswater’s fourth OGDP application approved by the Commission since Colorado’s new regulatory framework was implemented, and the first approval this year. These four approved Bayswater permits encompass a total of 91 planned horizontal wells in the Denver Julesberg (DJ) Basin.
Similar to previous applications and hearings, the Commission was complimentary of Bayswater’s detailed and thoughtful application, particularly in relation to the Alternate Location Analysis (ALA) conducted and presented by Bayswater. Further, Commissioner John Messner commended Bayswater for the additional commitments made by Bayswater to improve the OGDP development moving forward, saying: “I really appreciate that this operator is choosing to state that they aren’t just going to hang their hat on the initial proposal and what they could commit to today, but are going to continue to look at not only the accessibility of Tier 4 diesel engines for drilling but other technologies, other innovation, other opportunities to reduce emissions.”
The Commission unanimously approved the Onyx OGDP application with several additional commitments made by Bayswater during the hearing, including but not limited to the utilization of Group 3 drilling fluid, the employment of Tier 4 frac engines, and pausing the use of specific equipment on high ozone days.
“With this fourth OGDP approval, I am proud that Bayswater continues to demonstrate that we can responsibly develop oil and natural gas under the new Colorado rules,” said Steve Struna, Bayswater President and CEO. “As always, we greatly appreciate the time and thoughtful consideration put into each permit application by the ECMC. The Onyx OGDP approval is the first application we have been able to work through the permitting process in 2023, marking 10 months since our last approval in September 2022. We remain hopeful that the new permitting process can be further streamlined to allow shorter and more predictable permitting cycle times, which will allow us and other operators to continue to develop and produce Colorado energy.”
Bayswater expects to commence drilling operations as early as October 2023.
Bayswater is a private oil and natural gas exploration and development company employing multiple Best Management Practices focused on emission reductions and committed to responsible energy development and the belief that the development of oil and natural gas resources and the stewardship of a pristine, sustainable environment are not mutually exclusive. To learn more, visit https://bayswater.us/.
Media contacts: Steve Struna | President & CEO | 303.893.2503 Mark Truax | Communications | 720.724.0298 | [email protected]
The CITGO – MDA partnership shares another victory
LEMONT, Ill., July 13, 2023 — CITGO Lemont Refinery held its 27th annual Driving for a Cure Golf Outing with the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) at Cog Hill Golf and Country Club on June 27. This year’s outing was another success, with $696,000 raised to support MDA’s mission of empowering the people they serve to live longer, more independent lives.
The Driving for a Cure Golf Outing had 85 companies in attendance with a total of 296 golfers out on three courses at Cog Hill. Since its inception, the annual Driving for a Cure Golf Outing alone has raised more than $8.3 million for MDA. “We’re extremely excited to see the dedication and generosity of CITGO employees, marketers, retailers, vendors and contractors,” said Jim Cristman, Vice President and General Manager at CITGO Lemont Refinery. “The partnership we have with MDA is near and dear to many, and we couldn’t be more proud to support.”
Funds raised through the CITGO – MDA partnership events contribute to important medical breakthroughs. Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the approval of the first-ever genetic treatment for boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The approval of ELEVIDYS signifies a major leap forward in MDA’s collective efforts to combat Duchenne muscular dystrophy and provides hope to countless boys and their families who have faced unimaginable challenges.
In this groundbreaking achievement, MDA has been able to fund critical research, facilitate innovative clinical trials, and gather the necessary resources to accelerate the development of this revolutionary treatment. “We are incredibly grateful for the ongoing support that CITGO, its employees, vendors, marketers and retailers have demonstrated for the mission of the Muscular Dystrophy Association for the past 37 years,” said Jeremy Kraut-Ordover, Chief Development Officer, MDA. “CITGO has set the standard in strengthening our community by fueling our efforts to empower families living with neuromuscular diseases.”
CITGO – MDA events have a proven successful track record year after year, and the partnership is persisting in its efforts. Just with this year’s CITGO – MDA Shamrock Bowl and Driving for a Cure events combined, nearly $830,000 has been raised. All funds raised will continue to be used to accelerate research, advance care, and advocate for the neuromuscular community.
About CITGO
CITGO Petroleum Corporation is a recognized leader in the refining industry and operates under the well-known CITGO brand. CITGO owns and operates three refineries located in Lake Charles, La.; Lemont, Ill.; and Corpus Christi, Texas, and wholly and/or jointly owns 38 active terminals, six pipelines and three lubricants blending and packaging plants. With approximately 3,300 employees and a combined crude capacity of approximately 807,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) (make note of new combined capacity), CITGO ranks as the fifth-largest and is one of the most complex independent refiners in the United States. CITGO transports and markets transportation fuels, lubricants,
petrochemicals and other industrial products, and supplies a network of approximately 4,200 locally owned and independently operated branded retail outlets, all located east of the Rocky Mountains. CITGO Petroleum Corporation is owned by CITGO Holding, Inc.
About MDA
Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) is the #1 voluntary health organization in the United States for people living with muscular dystrophy, ALS, and related neuromuscular diseases. For over 70 years, MDA has led the way in accelerating research, advancing care, and advocating for the support of our families. MDA’s mission is to empower the people we serve to live longer, more independent lives.
The round bolsters Peaxy’s battery analytics product offering and market reach in stationary energy storage, electric vehicles, and defense.
SAN JOSE, Calif., July 13, 2023 — Peaxy, Inc. (www.peaxy.net), a leading cloud software company providing battery lifecycle analytics and digital twins, today announces it has raised $12 million in a Series B2 funding round. The investment will accelerate product development and expand the market reach of Peaxy Lifecycle Intelligence (PLI), the company’s flagship cloud-based predictive analytics platform that improves profitability by unifying battery lifecycle data.
The $12M Series B2 round bolsters Peaxy’s battery analytics product offering and market reach in stationary energy storage, electric vehicles, and defense.
Peaxy Lifecycle Intelligence empowers businesses to unlock the true potential of their battery data ecosystems with a single solution for edge data capture and battery analytics. By consolidating data from all stages of the battery lifecycle, including research and development, manufacturing processes, integration, operations and end of life, PLI provides invaluable insights to enhance safety, reduce CAPEX and OPEX costs, optimize performance, and extend battery life. Peaxy’s innovative approach ensures seamless collaboration and streamlined operations across the entire battery value chain.
Manuel Terranova, CEO and President of Peaxy, said: “Our customers are finding that managing their battery data is becoming more and more challenging and costly. This funding round expresses confidence in our vision for a unified, AI-driven solution for battery data management and digital twins. With the support of our investors, we’re poised to lead the industry with a mature and proven product offering and the deep domain experience Peaxy brings to its customers.”
ABOUT PEAXY Founded in 2012, Peaxy is a leading cloud software company that specializes in unlocking the maximum value from industrial battery data through AI, machine learning and predictive analytics. Peaxy Lifecycle Intelligence (PLI), the company’s flagship solution, provides cloud-based, at-scale, lifecycle analytics and a unified data vision to streamline battery research and development, manufacturing, integration, and field operations. For more information, please visit www.peaxy.net.
ABOUT UNION SQUARE ADVISORS Union Square Advisors is a leading technology-focused investment bank that offers strategic mergers & acquisitions advice and execution, agented private capital financing, and debt capital markets advisory services.
DUBLIN, 13. Juli 2023 — Icarus Media Digital, ein führendes Venture-Building-Studio, freut sich, einen bedeutenden Meilenstein auf seinem Weg zum Aufbau profitabler Unternehmen in verschiedenen Bereichen bekanntgeben zu können. Mit einem stetigen Engagement für Innovation und Unternehmertum hat Icarus Media Digital einen bemerkenswerten Erfolg bei der Förderung und Entwicklung eines Portfolios florierender Unternehmen erzielt.
Icarus Media Digital – A Venture Building Data Driven Company
Das Studio feiert die beachtenswerten Errungenschaften von durchschnittlich einer Million einzelnen Besuchern pro Monat und 15 Millionen Seitenaufrufen in seinem Unternehmensportfolio in den letzten sechs Monaten.
Icarus Media Digital wurde 2016 von Matthieu Mayran gegründet und betrieben und ist führend bei der Identifizierung und Nutzung lukrativer Chancen in verschiedenen Branchen. Mit einem strategischen Ansatz und einem Team erfahrener Fachleute hat die Firma kontinuierlich ihre Fähigkeit beim Aufbau von nachhaltigen und profitablen Unternehmen unter Beweis gestellt.
Als Venture-Building-Studio unter der Leitung von Jules Decol arbeitet Icarus Media Digital nach dem Prinzip der Förderung von Unternehmertum und der Bereitstellung von notwendigen Ressourcen, Fachwissen und Unterstützung, um Ideen in erfolgreiche Unternehmen zu verwandeln. Durch die enge Zusammenarbeit mit talentierten Einzelpersonen und Start-ups hat Icarus Media Digital das Wachstum und die Expansion von Unternehmen in einer Vielzahl von Sektoren ermöglicht.
Die Feier dieses Meilensteins ist ein Beweis für die Effektivität des Venture-Building-Ansatzes von Icarus Media Digital. Durch eine Kombination aus strategischen Investitionen, Geschäftsentwicklungsinitiativen und Mentoring hat das Studio die Gründung innovativer und profitabler Unternehmen ermöglicht, die positive Auswirkungen auf ihre jeweiligen Branchen hatten.
Icarus Media Digital gratuliert seinem Team von talentierten Mitarbeitern, Partnern und Interessenvertretern, die zur Erreichung dieses Meilensteins beigetragen haben. Ihr Engagement, ihre harte Arbeit und ihr kollaborativer Geist waren entscheidend für den Erfolg der von Icarus Media Digital geförderten Unternehmen.
Auch in Zukunft setzt sich Icarus Media Digital weiterhin dafür ein, das Unternehmertum zu fördern, Innovationen voranzutreiben und ein nachhaltiges Ökosystem zu schaffen, in dem Unternehmen gedeihen können. Mit seiner nachgewiesenen Erfolgsbilanz und seinem Fachwissen im Venture Building ist das Studio gut aufgestellt, um seine Mission fortzusetzen, profitable Unternehmen in verschiedenen Bereichen zu identifizieren und aufzubauen.
Informationen zu Icarus Media Digital:
Icarus Media Digital ist ein 2016 in Dublin gegründetes Venture-Building-Studio. Das Studio widmet sich der Förderung und dem Aufbau profitabler Unternehmen in verschiedenen Branchen. Durch strategische Investitionen, Geschäftsentwicklungsinitiativen und Mentoring hat sich Icarus Media Digital als ein führendes Venture-Building-Studio etabliert.
