Lumber offers purpose-built workforce management solution, powered by the largest regulatory dataset for the construction industry and a proprietary LLM 

SARATOGA, Calif., Sept. 12, 2023 — Lumber, creator of the comprehensive workforce management platform for construction, today announced the launch of its SaaS product and the completion of a $5.5M seed round of funding. With its fully integrated, purpose-built solutions, Lumber is designed to meet the growing compliance and workforce needs of an essential industry. 

“Small to medium-sized construction firms face a formidable challenge as they confront labor constraints and a complex regulatory environment testing the limits of their operational capacity and profitability,” said Lumber Founder and CEO Shreesha Ramdas.

“Lumber’s LLM-powered platform and AI chatbot will help management teams at SMB construction firms to deploy a game-changing workforce experience.” 

Today, the construction industry faces significant technological limitations while struggling to meet complex regulatory and labor requirements, making modernization and growth difficult. Construction is also a heavily regulated sector, with disparate new regulations emerging continuously at the federal, state and local level. 

Labor shortages and scheduling issues require contractors to utilize a diverse workforce from different unions and states and with different types of engagements – greatly complicating rules for payroll, compliance and overall management. Current workforce management approaches range from archaic (paper or excel spreadsheets) to overly broad (general SaaS solutions that offer limited features or must be combined with other software).

“Construction technology has lagged behind other industries, resulting in inefficiencies and waste in project execution. Many construction firms are primarily focused on staying afloat and meeting customer needs. The Lumber platform is making unified workforce management vision a reality by integrating disparate data elements from various systems and project stages,” said Gerardo Rivera, Co-owner of Level 5 Drywall. 

With an LLM trained on the large sets of regulatory and compliance data for the construction industry, Lumber is designed to offer a simplified user experience for the back offices of small to medium construction firms.

“In today’s fast-paced and labor-constrained construction industry, payroll solutions for specialty contractors and the types of trade partners we use need to go beyond basic payment processing and adopt next-generation automation to stay compliant with regulations, boost efficiency, and enhance the employee experience,” said Atul Khanzode, management executive at DPR Construction, the largest construction firm in California. “I believe that Lumber is bringing much-needed automation to the construction industry with a modern, purpose-built payroll and time-tracking solution that is powered by a construction-specific LLM with an initial focus on industry regulations.”

Added Pankaj Tibrewal, General Partner, Carbide Ventures. “The Lumber team brings together an exceptional blend of technological prowess and product expertise required to revolutionize workplace productivity in traditional industries.”

The funding round was led by Carbide Ventures, with participation from Escape Velocity, 8VC, Sure Ventures, Converge VC, and Firsthand Alliance, as well as notable individual investors, such as Atul Khanzode (management executive at DPR Construction), Eric Brown (former CEO Dynamic Signal and current Growth Partner at Sumeru Equity), John Case (CEO Accumatica), and Thiago Da Costa (Co-Founder and CEO of Toric and Lagoa).

The Lumber platform is now available to general contractors, subcontractors, and specialty contractors who want to leverage its integrated time tracking and payroll application. To sign up please visit Lumber.

About Lumber

Lumber provides a fully integrated, end-to-end SaaS workforce management platform for SMB construction contractors, powered by a purpose-built LLM. Lumber seamlessly unifies Payroll, Time Tracking, Compliance, Accounts Payable, and Onboarding Workflows providing productivity solutions that save time and cost. Lumber enables Financial Leaders, Payroll Managers & Back Office Administrators to ensure compliance, manage labor costs, streamline the payroll process and make informed financial decisions. 

Follow us on Linkedin, Facebook, Instagram.

SOURCE Lumber

The investment will be used to expand the company’s team and footprint in North America, extend AI/ML capabilities, and further solidify SQream’s position as a dominant player in the big data & analytics markets

TEL AVIV, Israel, Sept. 12, 2023 — SQream, the data & analytics accelerator company built for big data and AI/ML workloads, announced today the successful completion of a $45 million Series C financing round. The round was led by World Trade Ventures, with participation from new and current investors, including Schusterman Investments, George Kaiser Foundation (Atento), Icon Continuity Fund, Blumberg Capital, and Freddy & Helen Holdings. The latest round will be utilized to further expand the company’s presence in North America, extend its strategic partnerships and propel advancements in AI/ML enterprise capabilities and big data analytics.

The industry is witnessing firsthand that legacy data infrastructure cannot keep up with the demand of current analytics projects. Companies are often forced to limit the amount of data that can be analyzed in specific projects, risk that complex analysis cannot be completed in time to drive business decisions, or suffer with reporting latency that threatens user adoption of completed projects. Until now, the only option was to make disproportional investments in hardware and compute resources to get necessary insights. The addition of Graphic Processing Units (GPUs) into analytics processes is revolutionizing corporate analytics programs and driving incredible demand for SQream’s solution, which significantly accelerates time to value and reduces costs for terabyte-to-petabyte-scale data workloads in AI/ML applications and beyond.

SQream’s benchmarks consistently return improvements in expanding data capacity while reducing ingestion times by 90%, preparation times by 90%, footprint by 90%, and costs by 80%, all while using familiar SQL processes combined with the power of data parallelism.

“As Generative AI shines a light on the importance of leveraging AI and ML within enterprises, as well as the value of GPUs as part of the analytics process, we have seen interest in our technology skyrocket,” said Ami Gal, CEO of SQream. “Companies are very focused on driving analytics maturity right now, and this recent funding round is another step in our mission to better equip our customers with cutting-edge data analytics and processing solutions that empower them to derive meaningful insights from their vast datasets and drive growth in ways previously thought impossible. We are grateful for the trust from World Trade Ventures and for the ongoing support from our investors, especially in a tight funding climate.”

By utilizing the massive and parallel processing capabilities of GPUs, SQream’s solution allows companies to process extremely large and complex datasets faster, more cost-efficiently, with a smaller carbon footprint, using less hardware and consuming less energy than conventional big data solutions that rely strictly on CPUs. SQream’s patented GPU technology complements almost any data architecture to augment compute power and analytics velocity, breaking through barriers that have hindered analytics success to date while minimizing cost.

“SQream is enabling enterprises to become data-driven and deliver insights at the point of impact where they are needed most, and in their ability to push technological boundaries in the ever-growing analytics and AI/ML spaces,” said Abraham Schwartz, partner at World Trade Ventures. “We are thrilled to contribute to SQream’s ascent towards reshaping the big data and AI landscape, and look forward to seeing the significant impact they will make in the market, especially in North America, to meet this increasing demand.”

SQream’s customers include enterprises across a range of industries- including semiconductors, manufacturing, telecomms, financial services, and healthcare – who have already seen the ability of GPU computing to dramatically accelerate their data analytics and AI/ML data pipelining processes.

This news follows on the heels of recent company announcements including joining the Samsung Cloud Platform Ecosystem and the appointment of Deborah Leff, former Global Head of Business Analytics Sales at IBM, as Chief Revenue Officer as part of a strategic initiative to expand the company’s presence in the US. To learn more, visit https://sqream.com/.

About SQream

SQream is a data analytics company that helps organizations break through barriers to ask the biggest, most important questions from their data. Our GPU-based technology empowers businesses to overcome dataset limits and query complexity to analyze exponentially more data and get substantially faster insights at dramatic cost-savings. By leveraging SQream’s advanced analytics capabilities for AI/ML, enterprises can stay ahead of their competitors while reducing hardware usage. If you want to take your data initiatives to the next level and unlock new insights and opportunities with SQream.

SQream is trusted by leading enterprises including Samsung, LiveAction, Sinch, Orange, AIS, LG and more. To learn more, visit sqream.com or follow us on Twitter @sqreamtech.

SQream Media Contact:

Justine Rosin
Headline Media
[email protected] 
IL: +972 54 885 9141
US: +1 917 724 2176

Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2068670/4221224/SQream_Logo.jpg

SOURCE SQream

BUCHAREST, Romania, Sept. 12, 2023 — DRUID, a global leader in conversational AI technology, announced today its successful $30 million Series B led by TQ Ventures, with participation from new investors Smedvig Capital, Endeavor, and Verve Ventures, and existing investors GapMinder, Hoxton Ventures and Karma Ventures. 

The funding will be used to continue accelerating DRUID’s international expansion, particularly its footprint in the US market, which already accounts for 60% of DRUID’s current revenue.

DRUID’s platform gives enterprises the tools to build and design conversational business applications (CBA) to provide the most natural employee-customer experience. Early customers appreciate that the DRUID suite can be applied in any existing technology environment without replacing prior investments in ERP, CRM, RPA or other digital tools. Moreover, DRUID’s recent integration with ChatGPT, via Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI Service, makes generative AI enterprise-ready and secure.

“Amid the fanfare around conversational and Generative AI, DRUID stood out to us as a category leader. We were pleased to discover through our research how much current customers value the platform and how large a problem DRUID is solving for prospective customers. We are honored to lead this round and partner with Liviu and the DRUID team,” said Schuster Tanger, co-managing partner at TQ Ventures.

Furthermore, DRUID’S CBA enhances Conversational AI’s technological abilities with the power to understand business context and trigger intelligent actions, thus providing a user-friendly conversational layer that brings customers closer to their users and allows for use across multiple channels to streamline the successful completion of business tasks.

Several industry leaders have already implemented DRUID’s technology with exceptional results. Kmart, Liberty Global, Texas Children’s Hospital, White Castle, NHS, Auchan, Georgia Southern University, Société Générale, Erste Group, BNP Paribas, Axa, and more have integrated DRUID’s Conversational Business Applications platform, experiencing significant improvements in both customer engagement and employee efficiency.

These organizations have reported enhanced customer satisfaction, reduced wait times, and increased issue resolution rates. Freeing employees from repetitive tasks allows them to focus on more strategic and meaningful responsibilities, resulting in heightened employee efficiency and satisfaction as well as overall team morale.

“DRUID capitalizes on recent advancements in generative AI, which seamlessly integrate into our conversational business applications platform. We believe our platform will, for large international enterprises, ignite a new era of productivity and tangible business outcomes. Bolstered by our latest investment round and against the backdrop of this technological revolution, we are well positioned and excited to work hard to offer technology solutions that empower our customers to unlock maximum value,” said Liviu Dragan, CEO of DRUID.

The new financing round comes on the heels of DRUID’s continued growth and development. In 2022, DRUID increased its annual recurring revenue by 2.5 times compared to 2021 and is predicting a further growth of 3 times this year.

“The international validation of the revolutionary platform built by DRUID convinced us for our third investment in the company, the first being at the end of 2020. Ever since then we have seen the potential of the team led by Liviu Dragan to create a technology that will transform the field of conversational artificial intelligence solutions for complex industries. DRUID demonstrated to enterprise clients that the platform met the highest technological security standards, thus confirming the platform’s versatility and flexibility. Having been with DRUID since its first steps globally, we are happy to now see the company’s important list of international clients and the increasingly ambitious plans of the team members to build an AI hub that can quickly incorporate the latest artificial intelligence technologies such as Generative AI,” said Dan Mihăescu, Founding Partner, GapMinder.

Founded in Romania, DRUID has recently grown its global team by 60% and onboarded a few key ex-UiPath executives in strategic roles: notably, (a) Kedar Dani, ex-Global VP to design, to assist with go-to-market strategy; (b) Vargha Moayed, ex-Chief Strategy Officer, to provide strategic advice to the CEO; and (c) Mihai Faur, CIO of UiPath, to become an independent board member.

About DRUID

DRUID (www.druidai.com) is an end-to-end platform for building, deploying, and scaling AI-driven Conversational Business Applications, designed to deliver next-level employee productivity and the total customer experience in the most intuitive way. Acting as a front layer to all digital operations, DRUID unifies and enhances the existing technology landscape while mitigating app fatigue (learning and adapting to new systems). In addition, DRUID intelligent virtual assistants enable fast, personalized, omnichannel, and hyper-automated interactions while speaking each organization’s language via open integrations with any existing enterprise systems and RPA technologies. Starting with 2018, DRUID actively builds on its vision to provide each employee with an intelligent virtual assistant, establishing an extensive 160+ partner network and servicing 200+ clients worldwide.

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2207457/DRUID_Group_picture.jpg

SOURCE DRUID

SITE Technologies will accelerate its mission to empower the real estate industry with real-time data collection and AI property condition analysis

CHICAGO, Sept. 12, 2023 — SITE Technologies, the leading innovator in asset management and data analytics technology utilizing artificial intelligence and advanced imagery capturing technologies, is excited to announce the successful completion of its Series A funding round, securing $10 million in investment. The round was led by Prologis Ventures, the investment arm for Prologis, the global leader in logistics real estate, along with technology investors DivcoWest Ventures and Protagonist.

“Managing multiple properties can be complex, and our proprietary technology enables our clients to make decisions faster, increasing ROI while optimizing performance and productivity,” said Dan Duffy, CEO of SITE Technologies. “The way property inspections are completed has been transformed, combining our state-of-the-art data capture technology with powerful data analytics, and AI, providing invaluable insights into property conditions, infrastructure, budgets, and operations.”

SITE Technologies was formed with the vision to revolutionize the real estate industry through advanced data collection and AI analysis. The SITE’s proprietary intelligence platform uses the power of AI and drones, satellites, manned aircraft and other methods to gather precise and real-time property data, significantly improving the efficiency and accuracy of a facility’s condition analysis. This round of funding will allow the company to accelerate enhancements of the AI intelligence platform and expand globally.

“We are really excited about how Site Technologies’ platform can enhance long-term value and performance for real estate properties,” said Will O’Donnell, Managing Director, Prologis Ventures. “It’s truly a game changer in the industry. Its ability to leverage AI and other capture technologies to quickly and accurately analyze critical property characteristics allows property owners to identify potential issues as well as optimize bid management processes more efficiently.”

SITE Technologies has already established itself as a trusted partner for various industries, including commercial, industrial, and retail real estate, construction, and infrastructure management. The company’s innovative approach enables clients to access critical data remotely, eliminating the need for expensive, time-consuming, and sometimes hazardous “boots on the ground’ inspections. Prologis is now expanding using SITE in all of its locations across the Americas and expanding into Europe.

About SITE Technologies:
SITE Technologies is an innovative asset management and data analytics company whose team of experts develop best-in-class technology solutions by utilizing imagery to offer our clients’ proactive, predictive, actionable data designed to extend the lifespan of their properties and save time and money. Headquartered in Chicago, SITE Technologies serves a diverse range of industries, including retail and industrial real estate, construction, infrastructure management, and more.

For media inquiries or further information, please contact:
SITE Technologies
(847) 312-4764
625 West Adams Street, 19th Floor, Chicago, IL 60661
[email protected]
www.sitetechnologies.io

SOURCE SITE Technologies

DALLAS, Sept. 12, 2023 — NexPoint, a multibillion-dollar alternative investment platform, announces it has made an initial investment in NexPoint Life Sciences II DST, a Delaware statutory trust (DST), through a fund advised by its affiliate. The investment represents 6% of the total equity available. NexPoint plans to increase the investment size, ultimately targeting 10%-12% of the total equity available. The investment aligns NexPoint’s and DST investors’ interests and underscores the firm’s commitment to the life sciences sector. The DST acquired the two properties earlier this year. The properties, located in Philadelphia, PA, are occupied by a subsidiary of Adare Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) focused on oral dosage forms for the pharmaceutical industry.

Within life sciences, NexPoint sees CDMOs—and the manufacturing facilities they operate—as a key area of growth. NexPoint sees a significant demand in the United States for facilities that meet the standards of current good manufacturing practices (cGMP). America’s existing cGMP infrastructure cannot support the development and production needs of the life sciences industry, which is rapidly evolving with the commercialization of novel and emerging products and therapies. Other factors adding to demand for cGMP manufacturing facilities are bipartisan governmental initiatives to re-shore manufacturing and supply chains back to the United States, as well as the sector growth in healthcare that is driving commercial-scale pharmaceutical manufacturing activity. NexPoint’s co-investment in the Life Sciences II DST is driven by these industry trends, along with the predictable cash flow offered by the properties’ triple-net tenant, Adare Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

“Real estate plays a critical role in this rapidly evolving industry and can help accelerate innovation for life sciences companies at all stages of development,” said Matt McGraner, NexPoint Real Estate Advisors’ Chief Investment Officer. “As we continue to grow our life sciences platform, our investment in NexPoint Life Sciences II DST allows us to dedicate capital alongside our investor base and increase our exposure to cGMP facilities, which we believe have some of the strongest tailwinds within life sciences real estate.”

NexPoint expects to pursue additional opportunities in the cGMP space and plans to continue to invest alongside investors in future life sciences offerings.

About NexPoint

NexPoint is a multibillion-dollar alternative investment firm comprised of a group of investment advisers and sponsors, a broker-dealer, and a suite of related investment vehicles. NexPoint provides differentiated access to alternatives through a range of investment solutions, including public and private real estate investment trusts, tax-advantaged real estate vehicles, merger arbitrage and event driven strategies, other private real estate investments, closed-end funds, interval funds, and a business development company. NexPoint is based in Dallas, Texas and is part of a network of affiliates with expertise across the asset management and financial services spaces. For more information visit nexpoint.com.

Important Disclosures

Only “accredited investors” (as that term is defined in Rule 501 promulgated under the Securities Act of 1933) who meet certain minimum requirements may invest. Investing in NexPoint Life Sciences II DST interests involves a high degree of risk. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Before investing, please review the applicable offering materials, including NexPoint Life Sciences II DST’s Confidential Private Placement Memorandum as amended or supplemented from time to time, including the “risk factors” described therein.

Contacts

Media Relations
Mike Geller, Prosek Partners for NexPoint
[email protected] 

Investor Relations
Kristen Thomas, NexPoint
[email protected]

SOURCE NexPoint

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Sept. 12, 2023 — Plug and Play, the world’s largest global innovation platform, is excited to announce its partnership with Visa, a global leader in digital payments, to launch an Inclusive Fintech Accelerator. The program aims to foster diversity and inclusivity in the fintech sector by supporting and empowering diverse founders. The application process for the accelerator is currently open and will close on September 29, 2023. To apply to the accelerator, please visit the Plug and Play DRIVE website here.

Plug and Play has a commitment to promoting innovation and cultivating a diverse ecosystem through its recently launched DRIVE initiative. DRIVE (Diversity, Respect, Inclusion, Visibility, and Equity) is designed to develop, assist, and provide better access to funding for diverse founders, and educate our broader ecosystem on the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion and how it fuels innovation. The success of this initiative will be achieved through a community-centric approach bringing together all stakeholders needed to build a thriving ecosystem for diverse founders and communities nationwide. This framework allows innovation to work as a great equalizer.

Through this partnership with Visa, the Inclusive Fintech Accelerator aims to provide an inclusive platform that addresses the unique challenges faced by diverse founders in the tech industry. The Inclusive Fintech Accelerator will offer selected founders access to strategic guidance to help grow their business, Visa products/APIs/insights, preferential review for Visa Fast Track, mentorship, customized support from industry experts, networking opportunities from Plug and Play’s ecosystem, and customized programming. Participants will be able to collaborate closely with Visa executives, tapping into their deep knowledge of the payments and financial technology sectors.

“We are thrilled to partner with Visa to launch this internal Inclusive Fintech Accelerator,” said Saeed Amidi, Founder and CEO of Plug and Play. “By combining our resources, expertise, and global networks, we can create an environment that fosters the growth and success of diverse founders in the tech industry. We believe diversity drives innovation, and this accelerator is a significant step towards creating a more inclusive ecosystem worldwide.”

“At Visa, we believe that diversity drives innovation and progress. And that by uplifting diverse founders, the communities we live and work in can better thrive,” said Marie Elise Drogo, SVP Head of Global Fintech Partnerships, Visa. “We are excited to partner with Plug and Play to launch the Inclusive Fintech Accelerator to support and uplift diverse founders.”

Founders from diverse groups in North America, including but not limited to women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ+ community, are encouraged to apply. More information about the application process, eligibility criteria, and program details will be available on the Plug and Play website.

The accelerator program will run for a total of eight months and will culminate in Silicon Valley at Plug and Play’s bi-annual summit in June 2024.

About Plug and Play
Plug and Play is the leading innovation platform, connecting startups, corporations, venture capital firms, universities, and government agencies. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we’re present in 50+ locations across five continents. We offer corporate innovation programs and help our corporate partners in every stage of their innovation journey, from education to execution. We also organize startup acceleration programs and have built an in-house VC to drive innovation across multiple industries where we’ve invested in hundreds of successful companies including Dropbox, Guardant Health, Honey, Lending Club, N26, PayPal, and Rappi. For more information, visit https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/

Contact:
Dominique Reese
Head of DE&I
Plug and Play
[email protected] 

SOURCE Plug and Play

MORRISVILLE, N.C., Sept. 12, 2023 — Sparta Biomedical Inc., a privately held medical technology company, revolutionizing osteoarthritis treatment, is pleased to announce the close of a heavily oversubscribed convertible funding round. The company is thrilled to welcome new medtech and angel investors, along with participation from previous backers, reinforcing their unwavering belief in Sparta’s mission.

The secured capital will accelerate Sparta’s preparations for the Investigational Device Exemption study preparations of its breakthrough device, Ormi. “This capital infusion is a strong testament to Sparta’s trajectory since our last financing in 2021,” said Dimitrios Angelis, Co-founder and President of Sparta Biomedical. “This accomplishment underscores the hard work and expertise of clinical and regulatory advisors, and manufacturing and lab partners. We consider ourselves fortunate to have them as partners and look forward to continuing this journey together.”

The funding round’s success can also be ascribed to the effectiveness of Sparta’s product development model. The company achieved numerous milestones with remarkable capital efficiency, requiring only a fraction of the budget typically associated with Class III device development.

Dushyanth Surakanti expanded on this sentiment, highlighting the ingenuity of the company’s CTO, Ben Wiley, and VP and Engineering Head, Demetri Siachames. “Their platform-oriented design approach to product development and manufacturing, has yielded not only the groundbreaking Ormi device at a remarkably low cost of goods but also lays the foundation for rapid and cost-efficient development of multiple devices in the future. This fundraising round further validates this competitive advantage.”

Sparta’s remarkable progress to date and the secured funding align with their strategic objective of making a meaningful difference in the lives of osteoarthritis patients. This milestone brings Sparta one step closer to delivering on its promise of a future where osteoarthritis is no longer a life-limiting condition, but one where patients can lead lives unhindered by pain.

About Sparta Biomedical:

Sparta has developed a first-of-its-kind device, Ormi™, to treat knee osteoarthritis. Ormi was granted Breakthrough Device Designation by the US FDA.

Sparta is committed to improving motion, reducing pain, and increasing the quality of life of patients with osteoarthritis.

The impact of knee osteoarthritis cannot be ignored, with a staggering 651 million people worldwide affected by this debilitating condition. The associated morbidity and cost of this disease are significant, making it crucial to find effective solutions. This is where Ormi comes in – unlike other technologies that focus on cartilage regeneration approaches which can take a long time to grow and not as strong as the original, Ormi is different. It mimics the properties of healthy human cartilage right from day one, providing an innovative and groundbreaking solution to this widespread problem.

For more information, please visit https://www.spartabiomedical.com/ 

Ormi™ is not approved by the FDA and not commercially available. It is in development. Approvals and clearances are subject to testing, results, and the FDA review process.

SOURCE Sparta Biomedical Inc

-Proceeds to fund pivotal Phase 3 trial of RBT-1, expected to initiate in Q4 2023-
-Phase 3 trial is designed as a standalone pivotal study to support a New Drug Application (NDA)-

SOUTHLAKE, Texas, Sept. 12, 2023 — Renibus Therapeutics, Inc., (“Renibus”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focusing on the prevention and treatment of cardio-renal and metabolic diseases, today announced the close of an extension to its Series B financing round, bringing the total amount raised to $72 million.   Renibus’ investors are comprised of existing and new investors, including leaders in the cardiac surgery community.

“Closing an upsized round with $72 million in demand is a testament to the experience and track record of the Renibus team and the unique potential of RBT-1 to act as a preconditioning agent, bringing long-overdue innovation to patients undergoing cardiac surgery,” said Frank Stonebanks, Co-CEO of Renibus.  “We remain highly encouraged by our opportunity with RBT-1 and are well positioned to execute our pivotal Phase 3 development plans.  In addition, the FDA’s alignment on our Phase 3 pivotal study and our recent Breakthrough Therapy Designation, give us great confidence to advance RBT-1 towards patients in need with the potential to create a transformative new drug category.”

Proceeds from the Series B financing will be used to advance RBT-1 through a pivotal Phase 3 trial for its lead indication of reducing the risk of post-operative complications following cardiothoracic surgery. RBT-1 (stannic protoporfin/iron sucrose) is a potent inducer of anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and iron scavenging pathways that acts as a preconditioning agent, initially being studied in cardiac surgery patients.  In February 2023, Renibus completed Phase 2 development of RBT-1, and presented the data at the American Association for Thoracic Surgery Meeting during a late-breaking session in May 2023.

Jamie A. Donadio, Chief Financial Officer of Renibus, added, “We are pleased with the tremendous enthusiasm and commitment from our investors in deploying this additional capital.  The funding provides sufficient runway to advance RBT-1 through the planned Phase 3 trial and preparation for an NDA filing.  The upsized round is also expected to enable us to selectively fund additional pipeline programs with the potential for further value creation.”  

About RBT-1

RBT-1 (stannic protoporfin/iron sucrose) is a potent inducer of anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and iron-scavenging pathways that is advancing toward Phase 3 development for its lead indication to reduce post-operative complications following cardiothoracic surgery.

The Phase 2 study of RBT-1 (NCT04564833), which was completed in February 2023, was a randomized, double-blind, multi-center, placebo-controlled trial evaluating the effect of RBT-1 in patients undergoing elective coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) and/or cardiac valve surgery.  Renibus announced positive final results from this study in May 2023, which supports the advancement of RBT-1 into a pivotal Phase 3 study.

In June 2023, RBT-1 was granted Breakthrough Therapy designation status from the U.S. FDA to reduce the risk of complications in patients undergoing cardiothoracic surgery.

In July 2023, Renibus reached agreement with the FDA on the Phase 3 program for RBT-1.

About Renibus

Renibus is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to treating, improving and extending patients’ lives by developing products to prevent disease progression, improve outcomes and protect against organ damage associated with cardiorenal and metabolic diseases.  Renibus’ first-in-class lead program is RBT-1, a drug that will enter a Phase 3 pivotal trial in cardiothoracic surgery in Q4 2023. RBT-3 is a novel, low molecular weight iron nanoparticle that has the potential to rapidly resolve iron deficiency and may reduce the risk of cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity. RBT-9 (stannic protoporfin) is a potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant drug with broad spectrum anti-viral properties. It has been investigated in a 42-patient Phase 2, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in high-risk patients with COVID-19. The data from this trial indicated the RBT-9 has the potential to significantly improve clinical outcomes in life threatening viral infections. Additional pre-clinical work is underway to help inform the clinical development strategy.

For more information, please visit the Company’s website at www.Renibus.com and engage with us on LinkedIn.

Investor and Media Contact:

Amy Conrad
Juniper Point
[email protected]
858-914-1962

Business Development Contact

Frank Stonebanks
Co-CEO, Renibus
[email protected]

SOURCE Renibus Therapeutics

ESG and carbon management leader accelerates growth with Series A fundraise led by Next Frontier Capital

BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 12, 2023 — Optera, a leader in ESG and carbon management software, today announced $12M in Series A funding led by Next Frontier Capital with participation from Blackhorn Ventures, Mucker Capital, Overture, Engage, Massive, SaaS Ventures, Valo Ventures, AngelList, and Stout Street Capital. Optera delivers carbon management software that enables companies to reduce the climate impacts of their operations, supply chains, and products.

This funding comes at a pivotal time in the sustainability sector as the SEC and EU are establishing climate disclosure rules and businesses across the globe are seeking solutions to help decarbonize and derisk their operations and value chains over the coming decade.

“The biggest businesses around the globe are actively transitioning to the low-carbon economy. It is no longer a question of whether this transition will happen but whether it will happen quickly enough. Optera’s platform enables global companies to quantify and manage their biggest sources of emissions with greater accuracy, confidence, and actionability,” said Tim Weiss, co-founder and CEO of Optera. “We are proud to have Next Frontier Capital as a returning investor who, along with new partners, will enable Optera to scale our solution at the rate necessary to support the global transition to the low-carbon future.”

Optera offers an ESG and carbon management platform that enables companies to follow through on bold climate action. The platform currently tracks emissions associated with more than $180 billion in supply chain spend. Optera connects customers to their value chain and provides expert, tailored support informed by decades of experience.

“Optera plays an important role in Zayo’s plan to achieve net zero emissions by 2030,” said Mike Nold, EVP of Corporate Development & Strategy for Zayo, a leading global communications infrastructure provider. “With Optera’s help in emissions data collection and analysis, we completed our scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions reporting for calendar year 2021 and improved our CDP score. With Optera’s leading software solution to streamline such data collection and analysis, Zayo has greater confidence that we’re on the leading edge and making the ESG strides we’ve committed to – backed up by data our stakeholders can trust.”

Through work with partners such as the Responsible Business Alliance, the company is poised to scale its impact across sector-wide networks. Last year, the company grew its team by more than 250% and quadrupled its number of customers. Corporations like Dell and Williams Sonoma trust Optera to propel their meaningful climate action forward.

“Optera is driving innovation and change in ESG, making it easier for corporations to manage their decarbonization journey more effectively – especially across their value chains,” said Kirsten Suddath, general partner at Next Frontier Capital. “By making emissions data actionable, Optera is instilling confidence in its customers that they can report accurately and make progress towards net-zero initiatives. We see tremendous value in Optera’s solutions, which is why we have increased our investment and will continue to be a partner in their future growth.”

Adrian Tuck, former CEO of clean energy technology provider Uplight, will join the board to support Optera’s further growth and development.

“I believe Optera is positioned to be one of the biggest and most impactful startups to come out of Colorado,” said Tuck. “The quality of the Optera team and their technology has positioned them to lead the ESG software market and directly influence how the corporate sector achieves net zero emissions.”

The Series A funding will allow Optera to accelerate its product innovation and grow the sales and marketing teams to reach a global scale. In addition to new board member Tuck, who brings a wealth of experience growing successful software companies, Blackhorn Ventures Managing Partner Melissa Cheong will formally move into a board role, bringing with her extensive cleantech investing experience.

To learn more about Optera, visit opteraclimate.com.

About Optera
Optera is the ESG software for bold climate action. Built on decades of sustainability expertise, Optera helps corporations worldwide reduce their environmental impact by providing credible carbon accounting for Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, actionable insights and forecasts, and tools to collaborate with supply chain and investment partners. Our clients lead many of the world’s most established and ambitious corporate sustainability programs, from Dell and HPE to Grove Collaborative and Williams-Sonoma. Optera also partners with leading NGOs such as BSR, CDP, and the World Economic Forum to advance corporate ESG practices globally. Optera is registered as a Public Benefit Corporation in the State of Delaware.

Media Contact
Sam Perry
BLASTmedia for Optera
317.806.1900 x152
[email protected]

SOURCE Optera