New “Discovering Our Universe” Exhibition Anticipated To Open 2026

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12, 2023 — The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum has received over $11 million from the U.S. National Science Foundation to support the creation of the new “National Science Foundation Discovering Our Universe” exhibition. The exhibition will illuminate how the development of new and more precise tools transformed humankind’s understanding of the origin, content and fate of the universe. It is anticipated to open in 2026 and is part of the museum’s ongoing transformation of its galleries at its flagship building in Washington, D.C.

“We are very appreciative of the National Science Foundation’s generous support of the transformed ‘Discovering Our Universe’ exhibition,” said Chris Browne, John and Adrienne Mars Director of the museum. “NSF was one of the original supporters of the museum’s prior version of this exhibition, the ‘Explore the Universe’ gallery, which opened in 2001. With NSF’s support, this new exhibition will play a critical role in educating the public about the science of astronomy.”

The exhibition will show the history of astronomy and where the field is headed. It will feature a variety of artifacts that have helped astronomers understand the world people cannot see, including artifacts from the Event Horizon Telescope that created the first direct photo of a black hole, the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Observatory that detected the first gravitational wave from colliding black holes and the DTM Spectrograph that Vera Rubin used to yield evidence for the existence of dark matter. The gallery will also be a dynamic space for learning and will be built with the infrastructure for museum experts and educators to broadcast into classrooms around the world.

“The U.S. National Science Foundation is proud to help inspire the next generation of explorers to find their STEM spark in the ‘National Science Foundation Discovering Our Universe’ exhibition at the National Air and Space Museum,” said Sethuraman Panchanathan, the foundation’s director. “NSF looks forward to helping bring the magic and mystery of our galaxy to individuals of all ages, abilities and backgrounds and empower them to interact with wonders of our world and beyond.”

Expanding the accessibility of exhibitions is a priority of the National Air and Space Museum, and the National Science Foundation’s support will directly benefit those efforts. An audio navigation system will be created that will tie accessible exhibition elements together, give a gallery overview, spotlight artifacts, give interactive instructions and expand descriptions of tactiles within the gallery for visitors who are blind, have low vision or have brain-based disabilities. Since the “National Science Foundation Discovering Our Universe” exhibition will not open until 2026, the museum will pilot the audio experience in the “Kenneth C. Griffin Exploring the Planets Gallery.”

More information about how the museum is transforming all of its exhibitions and revitalizing the building is available.

The National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., is located at Sixth Street and Independence Avenue S.W. and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission is free, but timed entry passes are required to visit the museum’s location in Washington. The museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is located in Chantilly, Virginia, near Washington Dulles International Airport, and is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Admission is free for the Udvar-Hazy Center, but there is a $15 fee for parking. 

SOURCE Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum

• Raises $7M in Seed funding, led by Zetta Venture Partners, Crane Venture Capital and Essence Venture Capital; investors say Gable.ai is akin to ‘GitHub for data.’
• Co-founders (former Convoy data leads) establish ‘data contracts’ as an emerging data primitive and build Slack community of 8K+ engaged data practitioners.
• To experience the future of data collaboration join the waitlist at Gable.ai.

SEATTLE, Sept. 12, 2023 — Gable.ai announced today it’s developing the first data collaboration platform to allow software and data developers to iteratively build and manage high-quality data assets. Gable has secured $7M in Seed funding led by Zetta Venture Partners, Crane Venture Capital and Essence Venture Capital. The event also saw participation from angel investors with deep data experience including The New Normal Fund and the founders of dbt Labs, Monte Carlo, Hex, Kaggle, Hightouch, and Great Expectations.

Today when data is shared it’s dumped from production into analytics databases without constraints or context. Although software developers meticulously consider how systems interact with each other for maintainability and scalability, this level of deliberation rarely extends to the data generated by their systems. Yet, this data is intricately linked to Business Intelligence (BI) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications. Unfortunately, data modeling is often an afterthought in today’s market, resulting in crucial data being inadequately structured and causing breaking changes. The division between software and data developers, separated by ELT/ETL infrastructure, also contributes to this issue.

Software developers typically lack visibility into how data is consumed, leaving data producers in the dark. This opacity leads to missing critical data, a lack of semantic context and frequent breakdowns of revenue-driving data pipelines. The result is a cycle of mistrust, duplication of effort, and a slowdown in innovation. Not surprisingly, IBM estimates poor data quality costs the US $3.1T annually.

To combat this issue, Gable.ai has designed a data collaboration platform that will bridge the gap between software developers and data teams. By reimagining the data-sharing process from the ground up Gable.ai uses ‘data contracts,’ an API-based agreement between the software developers who own upstream data sources and data developers/analysts that consume data, to meet the growing needs of BI and AI in the modern enterprise. These agreements are defined, enforced, and discovered through Gable.ai. Best of all, the data collaboration platform provides context and constraints for data sharing, which enables developers to consider data quality from the outset.

“Gable’s vision is to alleviate real market pain by pioneering a data collaboration platform,” said Chad Sanderson, CEO & Co-Founder of Gable.ai. “Our mission is to foster collaboration between the individuals responsible for building software and those managing the data. By eliminating the traditional barriers between these teams, it aims to create a more efficient and effective data-sharing ecosystem that unlocks the full potential of data-driven technologies.”

How Gable.ai Works
Gable.ai provides software and data developers with a platform to prevent breaking changes to critical data workflows within their existing data infrastructure. The platform features:

1. Data asset recognition by simply connecting your data source.
2. Data contract creation to set meaningful constraints and establish data asset owners.
3. Data contract enforcement via CI/CD checks within GitHub.

Building alongside Sanderson are his co-founders, Adrian Kreuziger and Daniel Dicker. The three founders met while leading the data department at Convoy. Together, they engineered the complete suite of Convoys’ data products and successfully tested their collaborative platform approach through the use of data contracts.

“Gable.ai’s launch marks a significant step towards reshaping the data landscape,” said Apoorva Pandhi, Managing Director at Zetta Venture Partners. “The team’s vision which is akin to ‘GitHub for data’ is a refreshing approach to the status quo, and they have already been able to pressure test at scale. We’re thrilled to back Gable.ai, a team with a proven track record and a dedicated community rallying behind them.”

Data contracts are an entirely new category Gable.ai has been able to establish as a real emerging data primitive. In the last few months, Sanderson has built and scaled the “Data Quality Camp,” a Slack community of 8,000+ engaged data practitioners around these new concepts. The community’s debates and discussions have played an integral role in designing Gable.ai’s platform to solve real market pain points.

Join the waiting list now on Gable.ai and be among the first to experience the future of data collaboration.

About Gable.ai
Gable.ai’s mission is to transform how data is managed by fostering collaboration and innovation in the data industry. Gable.ai is currently developing the first data collaboration platform to allow software and data developers to iteratively build and manage high-quality data assets. Gable.ai’s CEO & co-founder, Chad Sanderson, is a data industry thought leader and creator of “Data Quality Camp,” the fastest-growing data community on the internet with 8,000+ engaged data practitioners. He also writes the Data Products newsletter with 11,000+ subscribers. To learn more visit Gable.ai.

SOURCE Gable.ai

NEW YORK, Sept. 12, 2023 — Less than 18 months from launch, Usage.AI, a leader in identifying cloud savings, has raised $9 million in a round led by Amity Ventures and existing investors TenVC, JAM Fund and Backend Capital. Usage.AI’s previous round was led by prominent private investors (including Justin Mateen, who is ranked #1 on Insider’s Top 100 Seed Investor List) and quickly became the world’s easiest and fastest way for companies to save money on their cloud spend.

Kaveh Khorram, founder and CEO of Usage.AI, said: “I am grateful that so many customers, from 100 at the beginning of the year, to 300+ global enterprises now including the likes of Deel, Zumba, EVGo, FabFitFun, Secureframe, and Motive, have trusted in Usage.AI to help them save on cloud costs and accelerate the growth of their businesses. We will use this capital to stay aggressive on the product roadmap and ship features and products that our customers want. Our vision is to consolidate many fragmented cloud savings and management tools into one end-to-end AI-driven platform”.

Patrick Yang, Co-Founder and General Partner at Amity Ventures, said: “Each partner only makes 0 to 2 investments per year and, while there are other cloud savings offerings in the market, Usage.AI’s explosive growth validated that they have a best-in class product that customers of all sizes can trust. Even though they were already profitable, Kaveh wanted more capital to move faster on his vision to become a compound startup, similar to the likes of Rippling or Wiz, that will help companies manage and optimize their entire infrastructure stack. We are excited to be a part of their journey and look forward to helping them define an emerging category.”

Alex Bouaziz, Chief Executive Officer at Deel, said: “At Deel, efficient cloud operations are essential. We selected Usage.AI for its comprehensive coverage, cost-saving capabilities, customer-centric approach, and automation. Now, our engineering team can focus on customer-centric tasks, not just cloud expense management.”

About Usage.AI
Usage.AI’s savings platform includes multiple modules covering a customer’s compute and database services, allowing organizations to consolidate their cloud savings program to a single platform that is built natively for the cloud. 

Usage.AI scans every layer of a customer’s cloud environment to provide complete visibility, and uses its Autopilot software to immediately identify and implement the savings with zero code change, zero downtime, and zero risk. Customers can achieve savings as high as 60% in as little as 5 minutes. Customers can try Usage.AI’s optimization tool with a no obligation read-only savings test, and then only pays a percentage of any realized savings.

For more information about Usage.AI and its cloud savings solution, please visit www.usage.ai or contact [email protected].

SOURCE Usage.AI

CLEVELAND, Sept. 12, 2023 — Organizers of Ohio VC Fest, the state’s highly anticipated venture capital summit, are excited to announce Chris Heivly, serial entrepreneur and co-founder of MapQuest, as the keynote speaker for Ohio VC Fest ’23. The event will occur on October 11-12, 2023, at the Marriott Key Tower in Downtown Cleveland.

Published author and startup consultant, Heivly is the Managing Director of Build The Fort and a Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has more than two decades of experience building startup ecosystems, previously leading organizations including The StartUp Factory, Techstars Innovation and 77 Capital. With deep expertise in entrepreneurship, startup communities and venture capital, Chris Heivly will deliver inspiration and insights as the keynote speaker at Ohio VC Fest ’23.

“Chris has spent his entire career building things – from tech companies like MapQuest to accelerator programs and citywide tech ecosystems,” said Jerry Frantz, President of JumpStart Ventures. “He brings groundbreaking insights from his experiences both in Ohio and across the country. We’re excited to have Chris join Ohio VC Fest’s impressive lineup of thought leaders on the forefront of innovation in fields including healthcare, fintech and corporate venture.”

Expert Speakers and Critical Conversations

Ohio VC Fest will feature a roster of engaging panelists from diverse industries, ready to share their expertise, ideas, and innovative solutions, from healthcare and fintech to software and beyond. Some panelists include: 

• Pete Wheeler, SVP – Healthcare and Insurance Vertical at Key Bank,
• Sue Tyler, Former CFO at Medical Mutual
• Michael Oakes, SVP of Research & Technology Management at Case Western Reserve University
• Kirk Ball, EVP & CIO at Giant Eagle
• Ryan Kean, CIO at Total Quality Logistics
• Charlie Lougheed, Founder of Cleveland-based Axuall

One on One Meetups to Spark Partnerships

At Ohio VC Fest ’23, attendees can engage in exclusive one-on-one meetings curated based on industry focus, capital needs, and other criteria. Startup founders will deliver succinct elevator pitches to potential investment partners. Participants can learn from and connect with strategic partners to foster VC deal flow and efficiently grow their networks.

Ohio VC Fest is a first-of-its-kind event in the state. It aims to provide Ohio-based founders access to capital and client connections and facilitate deal flow for institutional and corporate investors. Organizers will curate one-on-one meetings to cultivate new relationships and structured opportunities to explore potential partnerships and investments. Investors will be matched with pre-screened, capital-seeking entrepreneurs based on their stage, industry, and other key criteria. Organizers will also match investors with other investors and founders with other founders.

Registrations for Ohio VC Fest ’23 are now open. Secure your spot at the premier venture capital event of the year and join the ranks of investors, startups, and thought leaders shaping Ohio’s innovation ecosystem. For more information about Ohio VC Fest ’23 and to register, visit OhioVCFest.com.

About JumpStart Ventures
JumpStart Ventures is a division of JumpStart Inc. investing in Seed and Series A-stage technology startups throughout Ohio and beyond. With four investment funds under management, the organization provides a capital continuum to startup founders as they move through critical growth phases. Financial returns generated by JumpStart Ventures help strengthen the competitiveness of Ohio’s VC ecosystem, increasing capital access and resource connections for early-stage companies. As one of Ohio’s most active seed-stage investors, the organization’s investment activities have generated 2.5X+ returns-to-date via nationally recognized exits. To learn more, visit JumpStart. VC.

About Ohio VC Fest ’23
Ohio VC Fest ’23 is a groundbreaking event celebrating technology, innovation, and investment in the Ohio region. With a focus on fostering connections, driving economic growth, and showcasing Ohio as a hub for tech startups and venture capital investments, it promises high-impact networking and inspiring insights to propel Ohio’s technology and innovation landscape forward. The agenda includes curated 1:1 meetings, engaging sessions, panel discussions, workshops, pitch showcases and more. JumpStart Ventures is presenting the event in partnership with CincyTech, Rev1 Ventures, Ohio X and supporting sponsors, including Case Western Reserve University, Thompson Hine, KeyBank, JobsOhio, Taft and many more.

SOURCE JumpStart Ventures

More than 10 million Medicare members now have access to Bold’s evidence-based, personalized platform, which has been shown to drive a 46% reduction in falls

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 12, 2023 — Bold, the leading healthy aging platform, today announced $17 million in Series A funding led by Rethink Impact, with participation from Samsung Next and existing investors Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) Bio + Health, Khosla Ventures, GingerBread Capital, and Primetime Partners, bringing its total amount raised to $27 million. The capital will be used to support Bold’s continued expansion with national and regional Medicare plans and provider groups, and accelerate the growth of its clinical exercise offerings to support the diverse physical and mental health needs of older adults.

Bold provides each member with a personalized, evidence-based exercise program in order to prevent falls, reduce musculoskeletal pain and disability, and increase physical activity levels. The company partners with innovative Medicare plans and providers to support underserved members, many of whom suffer from chronic conditions, mobility issues, and pain. Utilizing dynamic adjustments and sophisticated behavioral science, Bold’s platform engages members continuously as they build sustainable habits that provide lasting impact.

“Millions of older adults spend years in poor and declining health brought on by falls, pain, and other chronic conditions, representing a growing disconnect between quality of life and overall longevity,” said Amanda Rees, Co-founder and CEO of Bold. “Bold was designed to increase healthspan for older adults, offering accessible, easy-to-follow programs that improve strength, reduce falls, and promote lifelong well-being.”

Today’s milestone capital raise comes on the heels of a breakthrough year for Bold, with the company’s services now covering more than 10 million lives. Even as Bold has grown significantly, the company has maintained high standards of execution, including:

• Delivering industry-leading outcomes: Bold’s platform has been shown to drive a 46% reduction in falls and a 182% increase in members’ weekly physical activity levels
• Delighting members and improving Star Ratings: Bold boasts a 91% member satisfaction rate, and nearly 8 of 10 members would be more likely to choose a Medicare plan that offers Bold
• Driving tangible impact for its partners: Bold’s highly engaging, outcome-oriented programs offer payer and provider partners a >2:1 clinical ROI in year 1

In peer-reviewed research, Bold’s programs have demonstrated a 46% reduction in falls, which impact more than one in four Americans over the age of 65 each year and result in $50 billion in costs, more than Medicare’s annual spend on cancer. With less than 15 percent of older adults in the U.S. meeting recommended physical activity guidelines, evidence is widespread that Bold’s pioneering, movement-as-medicine approach can provide durable, cost-effective healthspan improvements for older adults. According to the CDC, 4 out of 5 of the most costly chronic conditions among adults 50 years or older can be prevented or managed with physical activity, and Bold will use this funding to accelerate its impact on these costly conditions within its healthy aging platform.

“Bold is at the forefront of a new paradigm in preventive health care for older adults that is founded in deep empathy for members and a thorough understanding of cutting-edge health science,” said Jenny Abramson, Founder and Managing Partner of Rethink Impact, who is joining Bold’s Board of Directors. “As the nation’s population continues to age and Medicare costs balloon, we desperately need innovative, evidence-based solutions like Bold that meet people where they are and drive value across the healthcare system, from members to providers to payers.”

About Bold

Bold is the leading healthy aging platform, offering personalized, evidence-based exercise programs for Medicare members that help prevent falls, reduce musculoskeletal pain and disability, and increase physical activity levels. Innovative Medicare Advantage plans and provider groups rely on Bold to deliver engaging, clinically sound exercise programs that members love to use and that achieve significant outcomes. Bold is backed by Andreessen Horowitz, GingerBread Capital, Khosla Ventures, Maveron, Primetime Partners, Samsung Next, and Rethink Impact. To learn more about Bold, please visit agebold.com.

About Rethink Impact

Rethink Impact is the largest US-based impact venture capital firm that invests in female leaders using technology to solve the world’s biggest problems. Rethink Impact believes that the next generation of extraordinary companies (in health, environmental sustainability, education, and economic empowerment) will find success through their relentless pursuit of mission, for the benefit of all communities. For more information visit rethinkimpact.com or @RethinkImpact on X.

SOURCE Bold

Private equity firm secures majority ownership in manufacturer of temporary modular wall containment solutions to continue to fuel innovation and expand into new markets

BRUNSWICK, Maine, Sept. 12, 2023 — STARC Systems, a leader in reusable temporary containment solutions for occupied renovations, announced today that it has been purchased by Illinois-based private equity firm North Branch Capital. The acquisition marks a significant investment to continue fueling STARC’s innovation and market expansion serving contractors and facility managers across multiple industries.

Founded by entrepreneur Tim Hebert and led by president and CEO Chris Vickers, STARC has brought three category-leading temporary construction wall solutions to market and experienced 38% compounded annual growth over the past five years. The company holds an 81 Net Promotor Score reflecting strong customer satisfaction and as a result has built a loyal customer base that includes 58 of the top 75 contractors, such as McCarthy, Turner Construction, Gilbane, and healthcare systems like Johns Hopkins and the Cleveland Clinic. Additionally, one in five of STARC’s customers are in renovation markets beyond healthcare, including O’Hare, LaGuardia, Tesla and Liberty Mutual. With North Branch’s investment and STARC’s versatility in addressing dust mitigation, noise abatement and fire safety during renovations, STARC will accelerate expansion to other sensitive environments such as data centers, airports, life science labs, offices and more. 

“We invest in middle market industrial businesses with strong growth prospects and leadership teams,” said Brian Gleason, Operating Partner at North Branch Capital. “STARC is well-positioned to continue its growth in this emerging category. Since its founding, the organization has developed a keen focus on innovation, providing an excellent value proposition to its customer base, and building a world-class culture.”

As the market leader in temporary modular wall containment solutions, STARC has a long history of disrupting through innovation. Its flagship product, RealWall™, was the first reusable temporary containment system with noise-reducing properties that exceeded ICRA Class IV and V requirements.  LiteBarrier™ is the most durable dust barrier in the lightweight category. And FireblockWall™ is the latest, and the first reusable one-hour fire-rated temporary containment system. Common among the entire line is a thoughtfully designed, versatile modular system that significantly saves project set-up time, reduces dust and noise around a renovation and meets all safety requirements. STARC’s product durability also helps to minimize the carbon footprint of a project while adding economic value to its customers. 

“STARC has always been committed to solving real problems for contractors and facilities teams operating in environments with high stakes,” said Chris Vickers, president and CEO of STARC Systems. “We’re thrilled to partner with North Branch to continue bringing new and innovative temporary wall solutions to our existing customers and to expand into other end uses like airports, data centers and offices. We found renovation projects in these settings require airtight, quiet and good-looking containment solutions to protect staff, visitors and equipment so they continue to run uninterrupted.”

“We would not have reached this significant milestone without many outside partners. We are grateful for the tremendous support from our early customers, MRRA, MTI and BlueHeron Capital and to be a part of Maine’s supportive manufacturing community, ” added Vickers.

About North Branch Capital
North Branch Capital is a complete partner for growing, lower middle market, industrial businesses. We specifically target investments in businesses with outstanding growth prospects, both organically and through add-on acquisitions. We also seek partnerships with strong leadership teams driving tremendous cultures. With 50 years of collective operating experience, our collaboration with management teams is unique. Our goal is to unlock potential and accelerate growth through investment in people, processes and systems.

About STARC Systems
STARC Systems is a temporary wall containment company and leader in occupied renovation. Its temporary wall systems enable compliance with safety standards and are easy to install, move and reconfigure panels. With high customer satisfaction, leading contractors and healthcare facilities, including McCarthy, Turner Construction, Gilbane, Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, and the Cleveland Clinic, continue to rely on STARC Systems to solve their temporary containment challenges. STARC Systems’ RealWall™ and FireblockWall™ received the 2019 and 2023 Healthcare Design Award. To learn more, go to www.starcsystems.com.

SOURCE STARC Systems

TORONTO, Sept. 12, 2023 – BookSeats has raised a total of $1.4 million CAD in a round led by major sports tech venture capital firm KB Partners, along with other notable investors Phoenix Capital Ventures and Calano Funds. These investors are joining Comcast NBCUniversal, which had previously made a strategic investment in BookSeats through their Comcast NBCUniversal SportsTech program. This significant investment marks a pivotal moment in the company’s journey and paves the way for accelerated growth and innovation in the event travel technology sector.

BookSeats has revolutionized the way fans plan and book their event travel. By creating a dynamic marketplace that brings together leading players in the airline, accommodation, and event ticket industries, BookSeats offers fans unparalleled freedom of choice and exclusive discounted rates across the full travel experience. This innovative platform serves as a one-stop-shop for fans, making the entire travel planning process seamless and enjoyable.

“We are thrilled to partner with Joseph and the BookSeats team. They have been incredibly resourceful in establishing critical relationships and building a new personalized travel experience that brings fans closer to their favorite sports, teams, and musicians, ” said Lance Dietz, a Partner at KB Partners.

The infusion of capital from top-tier investors will enable BookSeats to further enhance its technology and expand its product offerings, with a specific focus on growing their talented team and continued development of BookSeats Experience, a custom fan travel technology for sports teams, leagues and music properties. BookSeats provides partners with a comprehensive solution that enables them to engage their fans, expand their international reach, amplify existing travel partnerships, and gain valuable insights through data analysis.

“This wasn’t just about raising capital for us,” said Founder & CEO Joseph DeMarinis. “By joining forces with these experienced and influential investors, the true value lies in the access to valuable industry expertise, strategic guidance, and a vast network of potential partners, which we feel will allow us to accelerate our path to success. We are extremely grateful for the trust and confidence that our investors have placed in us, and we are excited about the future of BookSeats.”

BookSeats is poised for tremendous growth and is eager to embark on this new chapter of the business. By leveraging the power of technology and strategic collaborations, BookSeats will continue to redefine the event travel landscape and create unparalleled value for fans and partners alike.

SOURCE BookSeats

Leveraging TSG’s ecosystem of channel partner companies to expand Veza’s footprint with channel community

PALO ALTO, Calif., Sept. 12, 2023 — Veza, the identity security company, and The Syndicate Group (TSG), a leading venture firm focused on revenue growth and new customer acquisition, today announced a strategic investment.  The new capital will be used to accelerate the execution and growth of Veza’s channel partnership program as the company leverages TSG’s growing network of leading channel partners and investors. 

Business initiatives, such as digital transformation and cloud migration, have increased the volume and fragmentation of identities in organizations today. The result is a significant rise in identity-related breaches and an urgent need for next-generation identity security solutions. Veza exists to give CISOs and CIOs the tools they need to secure the access of identities before a breach occurs. Global Fortune 500 brands like Blackstone and Expedia rely on Veza to manage identity risk and understand who has access to data at the most granular level.

“Channel partners were quick to see that traditional identity tools could no longer keep pace with the speed of enterprise access processes,” said Tarun Thakur, Co-Founder and CEO of Veza. “Security-focused partners have been instrumental in helping Veza reach new market segments. As identity security becomes a strategic imperative, we’re excited to double-down and collaborate with these partners.”

Veza’s identity security platform gives security professionals a complete understanding of who can take what action on with data, across all enterprise resources including identity systems, data systems, cloud infrastructure services, SaaS apps, and custom-built apps. The Veza Authorization Graph helps organizations address key use cases of access visibility, access intelligence and monitoring, access reviews, entitlement certifications, access provisioning, and access requests.

With a demonstrated history of investing in disruptive, category-creating companies and helping them  accelerate revenue growth, the partnership with TSG will provide both strategic and tactical go-to-market counsel to expand Veza’s market presence in the channel community. 

“We are excited to partner with Veza to bring the company’s identity security solutions to our extensive ecosystem of channel partners to accelerate growth,” said Chad Cardenas, CEO of TSG. “Veza is particularly well-suited to capitalize on the channel ecosystem due to significant and growing market challenges related to identity security and data security. The company is leading a major transformation in the identity market, from authentication to authorization, and its solutions will directly benefit channel businesses and help CXOs everywhere create a secure environment. We are thrilled to bring Veza into our ecosystem and help the company scale.”

“Many organizations today must adhere to disclosure requirements about their cybersecurity and risk management practices,” said Adam Couch, Managing Partner of Socium Security. “Veza provides a revolutionary capability that helps CISOs, CXOs, and CTOs modernize access governance for the new data and SaaS application landscape, and we’re excited to work with TSG and the company to bring this exciting new technology to market.”

TSG’s ecosystem of strategic investors includes more than 450 leading channel partner companies and over 7,500 members. TSG’s program is designed to accelerate Veza’s go-to-market efforts and capture both mindshare and focus all the way through exit. In addition to the strategic value provided for portfolio companies, TSG channel partner companies and members benefit by staying ahead of emerging tech trends, gaining early access to great resale relationships and sharing in the value-growth upside of the greatest enterprise tech companies through private, pre-IPO investments.

Learn More

About The Syndicate Group

The Syndicate Group (TSG) helps startups scale faster with revenue growth and new customer  acquisition by organizing exclusive investment access for their strategic go-to-market ecosystem. TSG  programmatically aggregates dozens of strategics (VARs, Integrators, Consultancies, CXOs) who arrive on  the cap table as a single investor entity, creating a virtual army of individual contributors in the field who  then have skin in the game and are uniquely positioned to deliver results.

About Veza

Veza is the identity security company. Identity and security teams use Veza to secure identity access across SaaS apps, on-prem apps, data systems, and cloud infrastructure. Veza solves the blind spots of traditional identity tools with its unique ability to ingest and organize permissions metadata in the Veza Authorization Graph. Global enterprises like Blackstone, Wynn Resorts, and Expedia trust Veza to visualize access permissions, monitor permissions activity, automate access reviews, and remediate privilege violations. Founded in 2020, Veza is headquartered in Los Gatos, California, and is funded by Accel, Bain Capital, Ballistic Ventures, GV, Norwest Venture Partners, and True Ventures. Visit us at veza.com and follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

Media Contacts:

Mike Gallo for TSG
[email protected]
(973) 715-8833

Gillian Roberts for Veza
[email protected]
(818) 395-2948

SOURCE The Syndicate Group

SINGAPORE, Sept. 12, 2023 — Mythic Protocol officially closes an oversubscribed $6.5M seed round co-led by Shima Capital’s Yida Gao. Joined by Alpha JWC, a SEA powerhouse VC, in a bid to create a world-first ecosystem of entertainment products that leverages the ideal use case of blockchain technologies, gaming, and creative media: collaboration. Additional contributors to the round include Saison Capital, GDP Ventures, Planetarium Labs, Arcane Group, Presto Labs, MarbleX, EMURGO Ventures, HYPERITHM, and several prominent Angels.

“Shima Capital is thrilled to co-lead Mythic Protocol’s seed round,” said Yida Gao, Founder and Managing General Partner at Shima Capital. “With a founding team that has launched over 250 game titles since 2009 from one of the biggest gaming studios in SEA, we have no doubt that they will carry their track record of success into the next cycle of gaming.

Initiated by gaming veterans Arief Widhiyasa (Agate founder, Forbes Asia 30 under 30) and Igor Tanzil (ex-Agate CMO & CCO, Critical Forge founder) the Mythic Protocol team is rounded out by 130+ team members around the globe, including industry veterans from Caravan Studio, Microsoft, Samsung, Intel and Symantec. The team identified a unique opportunity to build their Collaborative Entertainment ecosystem that utilizes a game-first strategy to acquire, retain, and scale users. Collaboration is the fundamental principle of the project, combined with creativity (where ideas matter) and consequence (where actions matter), delivering a unique experience for investors, creators, and consumers alike.

The funds will be deployed towards the development and launch of the initial core offerings:

–  Gamer Offering: A collaborative action-shooter RPG meets roguelite progression, with cross-play multiplatform (PC, Console & Mobile), named RIFTSTORM.
–  Creator Offering: A collaborative source of truth as creator’s building blocks, cheekily labeled as Decentralized Universal Meta (on Blockchain) – DUMB.
–  Investor Offering: A collaborative set of digital asset classes that evolves based on consequence, thus affects the asset growth & yield – LEGACY.

“The concept of Collaborative Entertainment represents the realization of ideals and potential that technology offers. To that end: I envision a system where every contribution is meaningful, attribution is equitable, and consequence drives evolution,” said CCO Igor Tanzil, later lamenting: “It really is a shame that so much of this potential has been squandered by frenzied financialization in these past years.”

CEO Arief Widhiyasa added: “Almost like clockwork – every 25 years – the game industry experiences a new technological cycle. Beginning with semiconductors giving birth to the game industry, that first cycle focused on solving the base issue of ‘fun’. Driven by the internet and mobile computing, the second cycle was a rush to bring games and gaming to the masses – giving way to the free-to-play and freemium business models.”

Arief continued: “I believe that the next cycle is coming. This cycle will be driven by distributed computing (blockchain) and artificial intelligence (AI); where the next problem to solve is: economy – collective participation in value generation within the ecosystem.”

“We are proud to back the team at Mythic Protocol because they have stayed true to their vision from the very beginning – unfazed by short-term industry trends. Their conviction in their long-term vision is refreshing to see and their uniquely mindful approach to new technologies is as reassuring as it is inspiring,” said Qin En Looi, Partner at Saison Capital.

To learn more about Mythic Protocol visit www.mythicprotocol.com, or follow at @mythicprotocol on Twitter and Instagram.

For media inquiries and additional information, please contact:
Serry Osmena, Mythic Protocol
3233658000
[email protected] 

About Mythic Protocol:
Mythic Protocol is an entertainment company developing games, media, and platforms that will realize the establishment of world-first Collaborative Entertainment. Its first products: Mythic Protocol Riftstorm, Collaborative Assets with Legacy, and the Decentralized Universal Meta (on Blockchain) are being built to attract and cater to the collaborative desires of gamers, investors and creators around the world.

Website links:

Press Kit, core team profiles, and graphics available here: Mythic Protocol Press Kit

SOURCE Mythic Protocol