Learn more about the startup taking on the exploding “team retreats” niche in the $500B corporate travel market

NEW YORK, July 18, 2023 — Offsite, the marketplace and tech-enabled services provider saving time, money, and stress for remote and hybrid companies planning team retreats, today announced it has raised $3 million to help create more connected workforces through in-person experiences.

Since launching in 2021, Offsite has planned hundreds of team retreats in over 15 countries for clients ranging from hospitals to hedge funds, focused primarily on supporting startups such as LinkSquares, Airbyte, Metabase, 15Five, mParticle, Flex, and Rattle, as well as communities like Hampton, YPO, and LifeLabs Learning, and venture capital firms such as Greylock.

Offsites and team retreats are an exploding niche in a corporate travel market expected to surpass $500 billion by 2030. Demand for venues that can host all-hands meetings, department-level meetings, executive team retreats, sales kickoffs, and other types of “offsites” continues to rise. Offsite is uniquely positioned to serve a wide range of organizers who plan company events with their mix of end-to-end service and software.

Leading investors to-date include Forum Ventures and Automattic, with significant contributions from Right Side Capital, Integral, Splash Capital, and Genius Ventures. Over 60 angel investors have also participated including co-founders and CEOs from Remote, Vendr, Convene, 15Five, Gainsight, and ChartMogul, as well as domain experts like top executives from Airbnb, HubSpot, and Pendo.

Jared Kleinert, Offsite’s Founder and CEO, was one of the first ten employees at 15Five, one of the leading employee engagement and retention platforms. Kleinert later became an award-winning author, TED speaker, and organizer of quarterly summits for New York Times bestselling authors, VC-backed startup founders, and other successful small business owners. As a result of these various experiences Kleinert found himself attending, speaking at, and facilitating offsites around the world over a decade leading up to the pandemic.

Kleinert shared, “During the pandemic, I was betting the decades-long shift to more decentralized workforces would accelerate, meaning the number of offsites planned by remote and hybrid teams in particular would grow exponentially (and the importance of those offsites would increase dramatically as a result). To-date, no one has developed a true ‘one stop shop’ experience to solve the logistical challenges of planning offsites or team retreats. After a couple years, we’ve developed a growing community of clients, partners, team members, and investors who believe in our vision for what a successful marketplace and platform could become in this space – which is both humbling and exciting!” 

Offsite currently offers two main ways to plan your team retreat. Event organizers can:

• Search a curated, Airbnb-style marketplace with hundreds of offsite venues around the world or
• Purchase end-to-end retreat planning services for an affordable, per-person flat fee.

Offsite’s marketplace has pre-negotiated discounts with properties on room blocks, meeting spaces, food and beverage, and more. Through the marketplace, event organizers can consolidate weeks of venue searching into a few clicks, and save 20% or more on some of the biggest budget line items for any offsite.

Offsite’s end-to-end planning services include everything from flight-booking to venue selection, negotiating, and contracting, agenda creation, budget management, procuring travel visas, making restaurant reservations, and managing vendors such as activity providers, photographers, videographers, outside speakers and facilitators, ground transportation providers, event production staff, and more!

While the debate rages on about remote versus in-office work, it is undeniable that most companies are increasingly distributed, with ongoing needs for employees to intentionally connect for strategic planning, teambuilding, creative brainstorming, problem-solving, engaging customers, and more.

Mike Cardamone, CEO & Managing Partner at Forum Ventures, who is also joining Offsite’s Board of Directors, added, “We think hybrid and more flexible work is here to stay for many industries, which will cause a decrease in spend for office space and an increase in the need for offsites, retreats and in person get togethers for teams to collaborate. As those dollars shift, we believe Offsite is well positioned to build a very big business providing world class experiences for these companies.”

To learn more and begin planning your next team retreat, visit www.offsite.com

Contact: 
[email protected]com 

SOURCE Offsite Experiences Inc.

CDC estimates 12.1 million people in the United States will have Atrial Fibrillation by 2030

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, July 18, 2023 — CathVision, a medical technology company developing innovative electrophysiology solutions designed to support clinical decision making in the EP lab, today announced its most recent financing round of $9 million from investors.

The financing will help advance commercial operations driving adoption of the ECGenius™ System, the company’s innovative EP recording technology, and support the continued development of artificial intelligence-powered analytic modules to provide electrophysiologists with unprecedented levels of automated analysis during cardiac ablation procedures.¹ This includes expansion of the company’s sales team and U.S. presence, and further development of the CARDIALYTICS™ suite of artificial intelligence-powered analytics. This newest round of funding brings the total raised to date by CathVision to nearly $30 million.²

“Despite challenging times in the financial markets, CathVision remains a confident investment for stakeholders because we are achieving critical milestones that validate the need for our technology, revenue generation through successful commercialization, and our commitment to ongoing R&D,” said Mads Matthiesen, CEO, CathVision. “This investment round will support the acceleration of commercial adoption through 2024 as we position CathVision to significantly impact how, throughout the United States, we help physicians treat cardiac arrhythmias more effectively.”

The ECGenius System includes a proprietary hardware amplifier capable of acquiring high-fidelity, low-noise cardiac electrograms. The technology represents a crucial progression in the quality of cardiac signal acquisition, the accuracy of electrogram interpretation, and the advancement of therapy support to help electrophysiologists improve the overall diagnosis and treatment of complex atrial arrhythmias, including atrial fibrillation (AF), which increases the risk of stroke and heart failure. The ECGenius System received FDA 510(k) clearance in May 2022 and is currently available.

CathVision has achieved several key milestones since the announcement of its last funding round in August 2022, including:

• The initiation of a clinical study with NYU Health Langone evaluating the Signal Complexity™ algorithm³
• An expanded number of hospitals utilizing the ECGenius System
• The completion of three clinical studies that met their primary endpoints
• A strengthened intellectual property (IP) portfolio
• Expanded industry recognition with seven scientific abstracts featuring CathVision technology presented at the 2023 Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) conference

The ECGenius System is commercially available in the United States. For more information about the ECGenius System, please visit www.cathvision.com/ep-recording-enhanced or email [email protected].

About CathVision
CathVision is a medical technology company that develops electrophysiology solutions centered around an innovative EP recording system and AI algorithm platform – the ECGenius System. Committed to empowering physicians to make more informed clinical decisions in the EP lab, CathVision is redefining the necessity of exceptional cardiac electrical signals to diagnose, characterize, and treat the most common heart rhythm disorders. CathVision was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Denmark with a U.S. office in Minnesota.

Follow CathVision on: LinkedIn and Twitter

¹ ECGenius System is cleared for sale in the US. Not approved for sale in the rest of the world.
² CARDIALYTICS is not cleared for sales.
³ Signal Complexity is not cleared for sales.

SOURCE CathVision

WASHINGTON, July 18, 2023 — VentureCount Services, LLC and partnered entities (including RTA Group, California Business Solutions, Govcon Accountants and AdminAssist) (“VentureCount”), supported by Everlane Equity Partners (“Everlane”), today announced a strategic partnership with Tarsus CFO Services, LLC (“Tarsus” collectively with VentureCount, the “Company”). The Company provides full-spectrum finance, accounting, back-office, and Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) services to clients nationwide.

Kansas City, Missouri-based Tarsus provides emerging and lower middle market companies with flexible CFO, mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”), corporate development, and Controller services on fractional and interim bases. Tarsus was established in 2002 by co-founders Paul Bertrand and Paul Burns, who will continue to lead the business. Additional information can be found at https://tarsuscfo.com/.

“The addition of Tarsus cements our CFO service line for utilization throughout the U.S. and, in combination with our existing offerings, allows us to provide top to bottom coverage from the CFO level down to daily bookkeeping with numerous industries of expertise,” said Alex Diaz-Asper, Co-Founder and Partner of VentureCount. Mr. Burns emphasized Tarsus’ commitment to staying close to its regional market, while adding that “partnering with the existing VentureCount platform allows us to expand nationally, bring our C-level financial expertise to new markets, and bolster our ability to provide comprehensive financial services as we continue to scale.” Mr. Bertrand added, “we are thrilled to be joining VentureCount’s growing platform and look forward to the opportunity this represents for our professionals, clients, and the Tarsus brand.”

“We see Tarsus as the CFO cornerstone of the VentureCount platform and are pleased to welcome talented and experienced partners who have successfully built their business from the ground up and share our vision of bringing together well-positioned outsourced finance, accounting and other back-office support firms to create a leading provider in the industry,” said Evan Horton, Managing Partner at Everlane. Harry Banks, Operating Partner at Everlane noted, “not only does Tarsus give the platform a new presence in the Midwest market, but represents a move upstream to larger clients, especially those with private equity or other external financial backing. The VentureCount platform now has depth of expertise from basic bookkeeping and accounting at early-stage growth companies to CFO and strategic M&A guidance in the middle market, allowing us to grow with our clients.”

About VentureCount:
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., VentureCount provides outsourced finance, accounting and other back-office support services to clients nationwide, including bookkeeping, payroll, and financial forecasting and analysis, as well as strategic Chief Financial Officer services. With teams in Washington, D.C., Sacramento/San Diego, CA, Midvale, UT and Bangalore, India, VentureCount offers high-caliber talent and around-the-clock customer service capabilities.

About Everlane:
Everlane is a Boston-based private capital provider focused on equity investments in high-quality companies that are well-positioned for future growth. Everlane uses its fully committed capital base and experience investing in small capitalization and middle market companies to accelerate value creation alongside management teams that have meaningful go-forward financial participation in their businesses. Everlane is flexible in its approach, structuring both majority and minority partnerships across primarily services industries such as business, consumer, financial, healthcare, industrial, and IT services.

SOURCE Everlane Equity Partners I, LP

ROUND LED BY 10T HOLDINGS, WITH PARTICIPATION FROM RIPPLE
FOLLOWS FUTUREVERSE’S ROLL-UP OF 11 WEB3 COMPANIES TO CREATE OPEN METAVERSE

LOS ANGELES, July 18, 2023 — Futureverse, a leading AI and metaverse technology and content company, today announced the close of its $54 million Series A funding round. The round was led by 10T Holdings, LLC (“10T”) and included participation from Ripple.

Futureverse was founded to empower developers and users to create and engage with interoperable content and applications previously unavailable within the metaverse. The company’s technology platform includes a robust suite of proprietary AI content generation tools designed to enhance the music, objects, characters and animations that make up the metaverse. By rolling up 11 metaverse infrastructure and content companies into one collaborative ecosystem, Futureverse delivers the essential components for constructing any metaverse application, while forming one of the world’s largest metaverse communities powered by digital collectibles. Futureverse has also become a leader in an entirely new frontier of AI gaming. In the past year, Futureverse has launched AI-powered consumer game “AI League” in cooperation with FIFA on iOS and Android and has partnered with ABG, IP Rights holders of the Muhammad Ali Enterprises, to release the first AI-powered boxing game, “Muhammad Ali – The Next Legends.“ 

Futureverse will use the proceeds from the funding round to continue developing the company’s comprehensive technology, including its Futureverse Platform featuring “Powered By Futureverse” tools and products and The Root Network, a blockchain and suite of protocols with ready-made runtimes for building next-generation metaverse apps, games and experiences. Futureverse’s previously announced partnership with Ripple has The Root Network integrated with XRPL and supports the use of XRP as a GAS token as well as the XLS-20 NFT standard.

Metaverse pioneer Aaron McDonald, tech and entertainment investor/operator Shara Senderoff and seasoned technology and information security expert Marco Brondani co-founded Futureverse along with business operator Dan Gillespie.

“The metaverse has the potential to transform the way humans engage and collaborate with one another and improve our experiences across a number of different spheres, including gaming, payments, asset management, and more. In order to reach this potential, the metaverse requires open, scalable, and interoperable infrastructure,” said Aaron McDonald and Shara Senderoff, Co-Founders of Futureverse. “Futureverse combines next-level technological infrastructure and AI-driven content to create the open metaverse we all envision. With the help of our tremendous partners 10T and Ripple, we are excited to take the metaverse from an abstract idea to a tangible, accessible, and interactive destination.”

Futureverse’s Series A funding round continues the company’s recent momentum. In April, the company announced a strategic partnership with blue-chip NFT collection Cool Cats, integrating Cool Cats’ iconic brand with Futureverse’s cutting-edge technology and bringing Cool Cats NFT holders into the Futureverse ecosystem.

In the last year, Futureverse has formed global strategic partnerships with renowned organizations including FIFA, Authentic Brands Group (ABG), Mastercard, Wimbledon, Death Row Records, Wētā Workshop, Snoop Dogg, Timbaland, Keanu Reeves and Alexandra Grant. 

“Futureverse has developed an immersive and vertically-integrated metaverse platform that acts as an AI technology provider, metaverse infrastructure builder, layer 1 architect, creative studio, and digital community all-in-one,” said Dan Tapiero, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of 10T. “We look forward to supporting Aaron and his experienced team as they continue to achieve significant real-world commercial traction and scale Futureverse’s capabilities and offerings.”

“We are excited to continue to support the Futureverse vision and celebrate the Root Network’s integration with the XRP Ledger. While we’re at the earliest stages of what a project like this — and really the larger concept of the metaverse — can achieve, we at Ripple are thrilled to contribute to the foundational infrastructure layer and provide real utility to the end users of the open metaverse,” said Monica Long, President of Ripple.

Developers and users interested in joining the Futureverse community can learn more by visiting www.futureverse.com.

About Futureverse:
Futureverse is a leader in revolutionary AI and metaverse technologies that enable open, scalable, and interoperable apps, games and experiences. Futureverse maintains one of the largest digital collectible communities in the world and has amassed an expansive cultural footprint within the metaverse space and beyond through strategic partnerships with the world’s leading IP and brands. For more information, visit futureverse.com.

download hi-res assets here

PRESS CONTACT:
Chelsey Northern
Cory Councill (The Untold)
[email protected]com

SOURCE Futureverse

High school entrepreneurs share $20,000 in seed funding for two winning startups

CHICAGO, July 18, 2023 — Uncharted Learning, a national nonprofit working to foster entrepreneurship amongst students across the country, congratulates two winning teams, Notifeye from Westlake High School in Austin, Texas, and Sticks & Stones, from Brewster High School in Putnam County, New York, as well as the other three finalist teams that competed in the 2023 INCubatoredu National Student Pitch Competition.

“Through the National Pitch event, we are able to witness the brilliance and originality of student entrepreneurs from all corners of the country,” said Margarita Geleske, Chief Evangelist at Uncharted Learning, “This event highlights the immense value of entrepreneurship education, empowering students to develop and present creative solutions to real-world problems. As these students venture into the world beyond high school, their ability to innovate and create meaningful impact will positively benefit us all.”

Five high school teams from Illinois, Florida, New York, and Texas competed for $20,000 in seed funding at the competition, presenting their startups to a panel of investors and industry leaders. The judging panel included Maria Flynn, founder and CEO of Ambiologix, Bruno Rodrigues, a member of the strategic growth team at Google, Neal Sales-Griffin, managing director of Techstars Chicago, Michael Miles, co-founder of Uncharted Learning, and Josh James, co-founder of Allergenius, INCubatoredu alum, and past National Pitch winner. The teams, all participants in the INCubatoredu entrepreneurship program, were selected from a pool of high school student team submissions from across the United States.

Notifeye from Westlake High School in Austin, Texas, will receive $15,000 to continue the development of their dashboard camera alert system, which combats the climbing death rates and accidents related to distracted and drowsy driving by monitoring driving behavior to anticipate and alert drivers of signs of distractedness and drowsiness on the road before a crash happens.

The Sticks & Stones team from Brewster High School in Putnam County, New York also received $5,000 in funding for their solution for an all-natural, environmentally friendly, and effective genital deodorant for physically active men. 

Rounding out the competition of finalists in this year’s National Pitch Competition were SafeSip, of Mundelein High School in Illinois, DotekiBrush, of Barrington High School in Illinois, and Faer for Everyone, of Lorenzo Walker Technical High School in Florida.

Uncharted Leaning’s National Pitch Competition was launched as a continuation of the INCubatoredu high school course and the culminating event at the 8th annual Uncharted Learning Summit.

“Having the opportunity to pitch for real funding is an experience of a lifetime for my students. The skills they learn in this class are relevant no matter what they do after high school,” said Jeff Nixon, Westlake teacher who taught team Notifeye, “We’re incredibly proud of these students. They worked hard, persevered, and are ready to take their business to the next level.”

Congratulations to the participating team members and their INCubatoredu teachers and mentors (listed below):

Notifeye
Westlake High School
Eanes Independent School District, Austin, TX
Teachers: Lindsey Stokes & Jeff Nixon
Mentor: Julie Jumonville, Founding Partner, Geyser Group

Sticks & Stones
Brewster High School
Brewster Central School District, Brewster, NY
Teacher: Ed Schmidt
Mentors: Dawn Ruggiero, Director of Marketing, Fincadia Tax Services; Dr. Lori Wagner, Clinical Psychologist, Mind Body Soul – Psychology and Consulting Group, LLC

SafeSip
Mundelein High School
District 120, Mundelein, IL
Teacher:  Michelle Sherwin-Petrucci
Mentor: Mario Feijoo, Founder & Executive Director, Future Entrepreneurs USA

DotekiBrush
Barrington High School
District 220, Barrington, IL
Teacher: Hagop Soulakian
Mentor: Eric Hochstein, Founder, Highstone Associates, Inc.

Faer for Everyone
Lorenzo Walker Technical High School 
Collier County Public Schools, Naples, FL
Teachers: Ted Coine
Mentor: Mathew Dunham, Director of Innovation, Linstol

About Uncharted Learning
Uncharted Learning, a non-profit organization, aims to empower students with real-world skills, setting them on a path towards lifelong success. Through its programs, Uncharted Learning provides authentic and challenging entrepreneurial experiences to students in 350 schools across the United States, Australia, Spain, and Switzerland. By assisting students in identifying their interests, enhancing their abilities, and shaping their own destinies, the organization enables them to thrive. Uncharted Learning’s INCubatoredu program, operating since 2013, equips students with the necessary tools to excel in an ever-evolving global economy.

SOURCE Uncharted Learning

Investment Accelerates Adoption of Technology in Design and Construction, Bringing Digital Transformation to the Homebuilding Process

DURHAM, N.C. , July 18, 2023 — Higharc, the intelligent homebuilding platform for design, sales, and construction, today announced a strategic investment to accelerate the adoption of its generative design technology and help transform the homebuilding process. The investment was made by Standard Investments, the investment arm of global industrial company Standard Industries; Home Depot Ventures™, the venture capital fund managed by the world’s largest home improvement retailer; and Carl Bass, former president and CEO of Autodesk, Inc., who joins Higharc as an advisor.

The investment coincides with a critical moment for the U.S. housing market. The Wall Street Journal reports that the country’s housing needs outpace available stock by as many as 7.3 million units, driving up consumer prices and putting immense pressure on builders to meet demand.

Residential homebuilders face an uphill battle to scale, weighed down by shifting regulatory standards, legacy software systems, and redundant manual processes that result in lower efficiency and higher costs.

“More and more, there are constraints in home building with respect to supply chain and labor issues,” said Ted Brock, president of Buffington Homes. “We are thrilled to work with Higharc because of the incredible flexibility their platform provides to us in building homes and easily handling changes with our teams in the field. This removes a ton of frustration and confusion for everyone involved, creates less errors on the job site, and provides a better homebuyer experience.”

Builders perform hundreds of manual processes and paper-based tasks to design and build homes. Higharc’s intelligent data model simplifies home design data and construction documents using automation, creating a more efficient and cost-effective approach to building homes at scale.

“Revit and BIM transformed the architecture industry, and I see Higharc’s generative design platform having a similar transformative effect on homes,” said Carl Bass. “I am thrilled to join the journey with Higharc, a pioneer in its field, as they lead the charge in reshaping the construction landscape and redefining how homes and communities come to life.”

Higharc’s platform automatically produces everything needed to design, sell, and build homes at a fraction of the cost compared to traditional software. This also enables buyers to configure their new home using online 3D models and also dramatically speeds up the builder’s ability to get these homes to market.

“Higharc isn’t just a tool we’re adding to our business. It can change the way we do business by solving a lot of the traditional problems in homebuilding. As a result we’ll be more efficient as an organization,” said Rob Krohn, VP of Marketing at Epcon Communities.

“Standard believes in the power of digital technology to transform the physical world and that is exactly what Higharc is doing for homebuilding,” said Ben Sampson, Managing Director of Standard Investments. “We are proud to support the Higharc team as they continue to bring their platform to homebuilders across the country.”

This investment boosts Higharc’s total capital raised to over $40 million, positioning the company to further its mission to improve the quality and affordability of homes and communities everywhere.

“We are thrilled to have Home Depot Ventures, Standard Investments, and Carl Bass join Higharc to bring innovation to the homebuilding industry,” said Marc Minor, CEO of Higharc. “Transformational change in critical industries like homebuilding depends on robust partnerships. The decision of these industry leaders to support Higharc as we expand our platform speaks to the caliber of our team and the impact Higharc has made for builders across the country.”

To learn more about Higharc, please visit: higharc.com

About Higharc
Founded in 2018, Higharc is the first Intelligent Homebuilding platform changing how new homes are designed, sold and built, working with many of the Top 100 builders across the U.S. to build new homes and communities. Higharc has raised over $40 million in capital since inception and is backed by Spark Capital, Lux Capital, Home Depot Ventures™, GAF, Adobe CPO Scott Belsky, former Autodesk CEO Carl Bass, Javelin Venture Partners, Pillar VC, Simpson Strong-Tie, Ferguson and Starwood Capital, plus founders of PlanGrid, Built Technologies, Desktop Metal, Carbon3D, and Digits. Other investors include MetaProp, Tectonic Capital, Montage Ventures, and Vertex Ventures. For more information, visit higharc.com.

About Standard Investments
Standard Investments is a fundamentally driven investment platform focused on the intersection of industry and technology. Standard Investments deploys capital flexibly and creatively across the public and private markets, spanning the life cycle of a company, and leverages its deep industrial knowledge and operational experience to create value. To learn more, visit standardinvestments.com.

About Carl Bass 
Carl Bass is a former President and Chief Executive Officer of Autodesk, Inc. He is co-founder of Flying Moose, Ithaca Software and buzzsaw. Presently, Mr. Bass is Chairman for Velo3D, Inc., Chairman of Ouster, Inc. and Executive Chairman at Zoox, Inc. In the past Carl Bass occupied the position of Director at Autodesk, Inc. and President & Chief Executive Officer of Buzzsaw.com, Inc. (a subsidiary of Autodesk, Inc.) and Advisor at Impact Venture, Inc. He serves on the Board of Trustees of the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Art Center College of Design and California College of the Arts. He serves on the Advisory Boards of Cornell Computing and Information Science, UC Berkeley School of Information and UC Berkeley College of Engineering. Mr. Bass holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from Cornell University.

Press Inquiries:
Arcely Reyes
JMG Public Relations
[email protected]
516-993-3294

SOURCE Higharc

• Tractable raises $65M Series E round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, with participation from existing investors Insight Partners and Georgian
• Tractable’s AI automates the insurance claims and damage assessment process, enabling real-time condition assessment and accurate repair estimates based on images captured via smartphone
• Working with leading P&C insurers, automotive and property companies, this investment will accelerate Tractable’s expansion across the auto and property ecosystems to apply AI to cars and homes that need to be repaired, protected, recycled or sold

NEW YORK, July 18, 2023 — Tractable, a leader in artificial intelligence (AI) using computer vision to assess the condition of cars and homes, today announces a $65M Series E investment led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Existing investors Insight Partners and Georgian participated in the round. As part of the transaction, Nahoko Hoshino, Investment Director for SoftBank Investment Advisers will join the Tractable board.

Today’s investment represents the latest milestone in Tractable’s growth journey. The company recently brought on Venkat Sathyamurthy as Chief Product Officer (formerly head of platform at Adobe), Mohan Mahadevan as Chief Science Officer (formerly computer vision lead at Amazon) and Andrew Shimek as President to oversee global operations and sales. Tractable will use the new funds to accelerate its research and development capabilities, creating new features that power the end-user experience to provide instant, comprehensive and integrated vehicle assessments.

Despite significant growth forecasted for the global insurance market, which is anticipated to generate $4.3 trillion in premiums by 2040¹, the insurance claims process remains largely manual, time-consuming and costly for both insurers and policyholders. To mitigate these challenges so claims are settled with higher accuracy and greater efficiency, Tractable is digitizing the full claims journey through visual AI assessment.

Trained on millions of data points, Tractable’s AI reviews user-submitted photos of cars and homes captured via smartphone and recommends decisions based on damage severity. Any time a driver needs the condition of their vehicle appraised, Tractable’s AI provides a frictionless process that’s up to 10x faster. The company also uses its AI solutions in the auto collision sector to accelerate repairs and salvage vehicle parts for reuse and resale.

Last year, Tractable expanded the application of its technology to assess the condition of homes to accelerate recovery after property damage occurs.

Since its Series D funding round in July 2021, Tractable has continued to grow its product offerings and secure global industry-leading customers, working with top P&C insurers, including American Family Insurance and Aviva, as well as leading automotive companies in recycling, repair and retail. The company now processes more than $7 billion in annualized auto and home repairs and acquisitions, more than doubling the volume of claims processed by Tractable compared to one year ago.

Alex Dalyac, CEO and co-founder of Tractable, said: “Tractable’s AI has helped millions recover faster from accidents and natural disasters. In SoftBank we have a partner who understands the full application set of our technology at a granular level, combined deep networks within the insurtech, automotive and property sectors. I’m excited by what we can achieve in redefining trust and transparency to support people in managing the life cycles of their cars and homes.”

Nahoko Hoshino, Investment Director, for SoftBank Investment Advisers, said: “We are excited to work with Alex, Razvan and team, who have been the forerunners of applying AI computer vision to bring efficiency into the insurance claims management process via applying AI computer vision. As strong believers in AI technology, we see huge potential for the technology to scale globally, embedding AI adoption into other verticals through exploring new use cases. Tractable already has strong traction in auto, whereas property is the exciting new opportunity that is ripe for disruption.”

About Tractable

Tractable is an Applied AI company that uses the speed and accuracy of artificial intelligence to visually assess cars and homes. Our solutions aim to help people work faster and smarter, while reducing friction and waste – better for businesses and the planet. 

Trained on millions of data points, Tractable’s AI-powered solutions process more than $7 billion in vehicle repairs and purchases annually, and connect everyone involved in insurance, repairs, and sales of cars and properties.

Founded in 2014, Tractable is the AI tool of choice for over 20 world-leading insurance and automotive companies, including over 10 of the Fortune Global 500. Backed by SoftBank, Insight Partners and other top-tier investors, our world-class research and engineering team is based in London, with offices across North America, Asia and Europe.

To learn more about Tractable and schedule an AI demo, visit tractable.ai
You can also follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About Insight Partners

Insight Partners is a global software investor partnering with high-growth technology, software, and Internet startup and ScaleUp companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. As of December 31, 2022, the firm has over $75B in regulatory assets under management. Insight Partners has invested in more than 750 companies worldwide and has seen over 55 portfolio companies achieve an IPO. Headquartered in New York City, Insight has offices in London, Tel Aviv, and Palo Alto. Insight’s mission is to find, fund, and work successfully with visionary executives, providing them with right-sized, right-time practical, hands-on software expertise along their growth journey, from their first investment to IPO. For more information on Insight and all its investments, visit insightpartners.com or follow us on Twitter @insightpartners.

About Georgian

Georgian invests in high-growth B2B software companies that are harnessing the power of data in a trustworthy way and aim to use AI to drive value. Our technology platform seeks to identify and accelerate leading growth-stage software companies. We believe that a digital approach can provide a better experience of growth capital to software company CEOs and institutional investors. Based in Toronto, Georgian’s team brings together investors with machine learning professionals, software entrepreneurs and experienced operators. Founded in 2008, Georgian has US$6.3B AUM, as of December 31, 2022, and has made 67 investments with 26 exits across 8 funds. Visit www.georgian.io

¹ https://www.swissre.com/institute/research/sigma-research/sigma-2021-04/sigma4-in-5-charts.html

SOURCE Tractable

Funding will accelerate the analytical and clinical validation of ALZpathDx, a proprietary assay for quantifying phosphorylated tau 217 (pTau217), a highly accurate diagnostic biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease.

CARLSBAD, Calif., July 18, 2023 — ALZpath, a leading developer of innovative diagnostic solutions for Alzheimer’s disease, is proud to announce that they have received funding from the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF)’s Diagnostics Accelerator to accelerate the clinical availability of ALZpathDx as a laboratory developed test (LDT). ALZpathDx is a novel, proprietary assay for blood-based measurement of phosphorylated tau at threonine 217 (pTau217), a highly accurate, diagnostic biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease. The assay is performed on the Quanterix Simoa HD-X immunoassay analyzer.

The investment comes at a pivotal time in the advancement of Alzheimer’s disease treatments, with Biogen and Eisai’s Lecanemab (LEQEMBI®) recently receiving traditional FDA approval, ushering in a new era for the next generation of Alzheimer’s treatments. A critical barrier to widespread availability and use of these and other treatments to follow is the difficulty in diagnosing Alzheimer’s patients, particularly in the early stages of disease onset, when such treatments may have the most profound impact.

This investment will enable ALZpath to continue generating clinical evidence and to launch an LDT version of the assay as ALZpathDx, which will be crucial for the timely detection of Alzheimer’s disease. The ALZpath pTau217 assay is currently available for research use only (RUO) through Quanterix, as a kit and for services in the Quanterix Accelerator laboratory.

“The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation has had a transformative impact in advancing the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease,” said ALZpath Chief Scientific Officer and principal investigator, Dr. Andreas Jeromin. “Building on that legacy, and with their support, we can now continue expanding our efforts with the goal of ensuring broad clinical availability of ALZpathDx, which will be critical in facilitating timely and accurate detection, as well as providing scalable access to disease-modifying treatments for people living with Alzheimer’s.”

The ADDF is the only nonprofit dedicated to accelerating the discovery of drugs to prevent, treat and ultimately cure Alzheimer’s, which affects more than fifty million people worldwide. Since 1998, the ADDF has awarded nearly $250 million in funding to over 720 Alzheimer’s drug discovery and development programs, biomarker initiatives, and clinical trials in nineteen countries. 

“We know that tau deposits in the brain (as tangles) more closely correlate with cognitive function than beta-amyloid, meaning tau biomarkers will serve as a vital tool for physicians and researchers alike as Alzheimer’s diagnostics and treatments continue to evolve,” says Howard Fillit, MD, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer at the ADDF. “Non-invasive tau blood tests that are able to accurately quantify the levels of specific types of tau protein in the blood, like ALZpath’s, can impact patient outcomes by aiding in the early diagnosis and intervention for Alzheimer’s disease.”

ALZpath, Inc. will be attending the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference (AAIC) in Amsterdam from July 16^th till July 20^th https://aaic.alz.org/overview.asp, and their presence at the conference will include several ALZpath pTau217 assay-related presentations.

For more information about ALZpath and ALZpathDx, please visit https://alzpath.bio/.

About ALZpath
ALZpath is a leading provider of innovative diagnostic solutions for Alzheimer’s disease. With the novel ALZpath pTau217 Assay, ALZpath is transforming Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis and monitoring, providing accurate and accessible tools for researchers and healthcare professionals worldwide.

About The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF)
Founded in 1998 by Leonard A. and Ronald S. Lauder, the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation is dedicated to rapidly accelerating the discovery of drugs to prevent, treat and cure Alzheimer’s disease. The ADDF is the only public charity solely focused on funding the development of drugs for Alzheimer’s, employing a venture philanthropy model to support research in academia and the biotech industry. The ADDF’s leadership and contributions to the field have played a pivotal role in bringing the first Alzheimer’s PET scan (Amyvid®) and blood test (PrecivityAD®) to market, as well as fueling the current robust and diverse drug pipeline. Through the generosity of its donors, the ADDF has awarded more than $250 million to fund over 720 Alzheimer’s drug discovery programs, biomarker programs and clinical trials in 19 countries. To learn more, please visit: http://www.alzdiscovery.org/.

About the Diagnostics Accelerator
The Diagnostics Accelerator, created in July 2018, is a $100 million global research initiative from partners including ADDF Co-Founder Leonard A. Lauder, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie Scott, the Dolby family, the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, The Association for Frontotemporal Degeneration, among others, to develop novel biomarkers for the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

This research initiative is dedicated to accelerating the development of affordable and accessible biomarkers to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias and advance the clinical development of more targeted treatments. Through translational research awards and access to consulting support from industry experts, this program will challenge, assist and fund the research community in both academia and industry to develop novel peripheral and digital biomarkers.

Contact
Andreas Jeromin, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer
ALZpath, Inc.
[email protected]

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “intend” and similar expressions (as well as other words or expressions referencing future events, conditions, or circumstances) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release are based on ALZpath’s expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release. Each of these forward-looking statements involves risks and uncertainties. Factors that may cause ALZpath’s actual results to differ from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements in this press release are discussed in ALZpath’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the “Risk Factors” sections contained therein. Except as required by law, ALZpath assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in expectations, even as new information becomes available.

SOURCE ALZpath

Leader in internet cybersecurity solutions for global brands and governments announces strategic milestones to accelerate growth.

SALT LAKE CITY and LONDON, July 18, 2023 — Netcraft, the global leader in cybercrime detection, disruption, and takedowns announced today that the company has raised over $100M from Spectrum Equity, a leading growth equity firm focused on internet-enabled software and data services companies.

Along with the investment from Spectrum, the company named experienced technology executive Ryan Woodley as its new CEO. Woodley has decades of experience leading growth-oriented technology companies and an established track record of success. He was previously CEO of Progressive Leasing (NYSE: PRG), a leading financial technology company, which grew from approximately $220 million to $2.5 billion in revenue and went public during his tenure. He also served as COO and CFO at DigiCert, the world’s largest high assurance digital security certificate authority, which roughly tripled in size during his tenure and was successfully sold to a private equity firm. Most recently, Ryan has served on the boards of high growth technology companies, PDQ.com and Conservice.

Founded by Mike Prettejohn, Netcraft offers cybercrime detection and disruption services. With an advanced technology platform that enables the company to disrupt and take down cybercrime online in an automated manner, it’s become the world’s largest provider of takedowns which are delivered as a subscription service to financial institutions, governments, and corporations globally. The investment from Spectrum Equity will help accelerate the company’s strategic plans to drive growth and expand globally.

“I’m grateful to my colleagues and our customers who have grown Netcraft from a laptop and a modem to the point where it now serves many of the world’s largest enterprises and governments, without any outside funding. Having decided to accept growth equity, we chose Spectrum because of its success in scaling other cybercrime businesses, particularly Verafin and Ethoca, prior to their respective sales to Nasdaq and Mastercard,” said Prettejohn.

“Mike and his incredible team have built a truly differentiated offering for organizations of all sizes looking to stop cyberattacks,” said Parag Khandelwal, Managing Director of Spectrum Equity. “Its scale is a testament to its effectiveness – Netcraft has blocked more than 173 million malicious attacks and takes down more than 15 million cyberattacks each year. Netcraft takes down roughly one-third of all global phishing attacks on behalf of its customers. We’re honored to partner with this company and work closely with Ryan to help bring its solutions to more organizations worldwide.”

“This significant funding will help us accelerate progress toward our mission of detecting and disrupting cybercrime at scale to create a safer online experience for everyone,” said Ryan Woodley, CEO of Netcraft. “Powered by an exceptionally talented team, Netcraft’s speed, scale, and effectiveness is unmatched in the global fight against cybercrime. I am excited to join this team and work alongside a distinguished group of customers and partners in furthering our innovative approach to protecting the world from cybercrime.”    

Netcraft empowers its customers with advanced cyber defense solutions backed by a proven track record of success enabled by:

• Global threat intelligence: The data Netcraft has gathered continuously over decades uniquely positions the company to power its robust threat detection and response platform. Its automated process enables real-time identification and validation of current threats to customers and the global community. Netcraft’s uniquely valuable intelligence feeds are consumed by most major browsers and leading antivirus software vendors.
• Rapid & Effective Takedowns: Netcraft has cultivated a long-standing reputation with hosting companies, DNS providers, registrars, and ISPs. Leveraging these relationships along with sophisticated threat classification, internet infrastructure knowledge, and a history of past attacks, Netcraft responds to threats and attacks with exceptional speed and effectively shuts down malicious activity.
• Continuous Innovation: Netcraft’s cybercrime detection and takedown platform combines data-driven automation with artificial and human intelligence to address and remove more than 100 attack types. Because cybercrime activity is constantly evolving, the company has a team of experts with the agility and experience to respond to new threats and attack types as they arise.
• Transparency & Visibility: Netcraft delivers detailed evidence for every validated attack and ensures customers are updated in real-time on the progress and status of all active takedowns. Customers can easily access robust reporting through its portal or APIs that integrate seamlessly with internal systems.

About Netcraft 

Netcraft is a global leader in cybercrime detection and disruption, combining cutting-edge technology with decades of experience to protect organizations of all sizes from digital threats and attacks. Its mission is to detect and disrupt cybercrime at scale through constant innovation, extensive automation, and unique insight, delivering a safer online experience for everyone. Headquartered in the UK, Netcraft is the trusted cybersecurity partner for three of the largest companies, twelve of the largest banks, and governments of five of the largest economies in the world. Netcraft’s comprehensive threat feeds, early fraud detection capabilities, and swift automated takedowns are unparalleled in the industry, scaling to perform takedowns for nearly one-third of the world’s phishing sites, blocking more than 170 million malicious sites. For more information, visit www.netcraft.com.

About Spectrum Equity

Spectrum Equity is a leading growth equity firm providing capital and strategic support to innovative companies in the information economy. Since 1994, the firm has partnered with proven entrepreneurs and management teams to build long-term value in market-leading internet-enabled software and data services companies. Representative investments include Ancestry, BATS Global Markets, Definitive Healthcare, Ethoca, OffSec, SurveyMonkey and Verafin. For more information, including a complete list of portfolio investments, visit www.spectrumequity.com.

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

SOURCE Netcraft