New capital will help expand operations as they add additional strategic partners

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 20, 2023 — AppBrilliance, the leading platform for real-time Account-to-Account (A2A) payment acceptance, announced today that it has closed a strategic investment from Truist Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Truist Financial (NYSE: TFC).

The investment allows AppBrilliance to further develop it’s IP portfolio and expand its resources to support rapid growth and interest from financial institutions and other strategic partners looking to incorporate real-time payments (RTP) into their Pay-by-Bank offerings. 

AppBrilliance’s groundbreaking MoneyAPI can reduce payment processing costs by up to 75% compared to processing the same transaction over debit or credit card rails. Their patented platform plugs into any payment experience for instant account-to-account payments over The Clearinghouse’s RTP or FedNow networks. It works alongside traditional payment rails and simplifies the instant payment process while bypassing traditional debit and credit networks. Built directly for banks and FinTech partners offering Pay-By-Bank solutions, the Money API is the only service that provides consumer-permissioned account control to execute requests for payment that are secure and immune to insufficient funds.

“We are thrilled to partner with the team at Truist Ventures, who share our vision for the future of next-generation payments. By combining Pay-by-Bank experiences with next-generation payment rails like RTP and FedNow, we enable our partners to deliver incredible user experiences from e-commerce to point-of-sale (POS),” said C. Eric Smith, CEO and Co-Founder of AppBrilliance. “This additional funding will fuel our efforts to scale the MoneyAPI and collaborate closely with forward-thinking financial institutions and other FinTech partners as we enable the coming revolution in payments.”

AppBrilliance’s MoneyAPI creates a triple win that benefits businesses, financial institutions and consumers alike. For businesses, the platform integrates seamlessly into a brand’s existing A2A payment flow, ensuring brand consistency at checkout while avoiding card acceptance fees, fraud and chargebacks. The consumer’s enriched payment experience can include additional financial controls and loyalty programs. Financial institutions benefit from the MoneyAPI security features and its ability to seamlessly integrate existing investments in faster payments capabilities that open new avenues for customer engagement and value-added services.

“AppBrilliance has developed an innovative platform that provides tangible benefits for businesses looking to reduce payment acceptance costs,” said Tarun Mehta, Head of Corporate Development and Truist Ventures. “Money API can reduce the user friction of real-time payments to a couple of clicks and has strong potential to impact the digital payments ecosystem. We look forward to working with them as they continue to grow.”

About AppBrilliance

Founded in 2016, AppBrilliance is a leading Account-to-Account (A2A) Payments Platform revolutionizing digital transactions. Backed by technology covered by multiple issued US Patents MoneyAPI enables seamless integration of real-time payment (RTP) systems and open banking protocols, allowing card-free, frictionless transactions.

To learn more and see a demonstration of the technology in action, please visit: appbrilliance.com

About Truist Ventures

Truist Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of Truist Financial Corporation (NYSE: TFC). Truist Ventures delivers touch and technology to Truist clients through partnerships with and investments in innovative companies and exceptional management teams with novel solutions to help Truist shape the future of finance. Truist Ventures’ investment focus includes financial technology, payments and money movement, and regtech. Learn more at TruistVentures.com.

Media contact: 
C. Eric Smith
eric@appbrilliance.com

SOURCE AppBrilliance , Inc.

HOUSTON, Nov. 20, 2023 — Ezee Fiber, a Houston-based fiber telecommunications service provider to both residential customers and commercial/enterprise locations, today announced plans for a $200 million investment in the continued expansion of its high-speed, 100% fiber optic network in Fort Bend County. The announcement was made by Matt Marino, Chief Executive Officer.

As part of the company’s ongoing growth strategy, Ezee Fiber is targeting to reach an additional 125,000 Fort Bend County homes in 2024, extending its high-speed fiber internet to residents in Mission Bend, Sugar Land, Missouri City, Pearland and surrounding communities. This expansion creates a wide range of construction and engineering career opportunities throughout the markets it serves. Already a trusted fiber optic internet service provider to homes and business enterprises in Fort Bend County, Ezee Fiber is on track to connect an additional 14,000 homes in the county by year-end 2023.

“Ezee Fiber’s significant investment in fiber optic network construction, including a 2,000 mile core network backbone throughout Houston, reflects our commitment to providing best-in-class technology and future-proof infrastructure that revolutionizes the digital landscape for the people in the Houston communities we serve.” said Marino. “Our expansion in Fort Bend County will bring reliable, affordable multi-gig symmetrical internet to more neighborhoods in the area, enabling them to enjoy the fastest, most reliable fiber-based internet available.”

“Ezee Fiber is a fantastic community partner,” said Claudia Shakespeare, Vice President of Settlers Park HOA and also an Ezee Fiber customer following Ezee Fiber’s deployment of fiber optic assets in her neighborhood. “It is a true benefit for our residents to have access to the fastest, most reliable fiber-based internet available in the marketplace. The availability of 5 Gig internet for less than $100 a month is a game changer, particularly for those who work from home. Coupled with excellent customer service, Ezee Fiber is a valued partner in our community.”

In the interest of operational efficiency and to minimize disruptions to the community, Ezee Fiber’s construction will be executed in geographic zones, bringing the company’s multi-gig internet product to thousands of new homes every month. Residents will receive construction updates by mail and door hangers before construction commences and throughout the fiber network build.

Upon project completion, slated for Q3 2024, more than 140,000 Fort Bend County residents and 1,000 enterprise and commercial locations will have access to Ezee Fiber’s internet with 99.99% network reliability and a range of speeds from 1 Gig to 8 Gig symmetrical. No-contracts, no data cap limits, no hidden fees and affordable prices with lifetime pricing will range from $69 to $119 per month. Businesses, enterprises, independent school districts and medical facilities throughout the expansion footprint also will have access to Ezee Fiber’s 100% fiber-to-the-premise internet.

“Ezee Fiber’s lifetime pricing ensures our valued customers can count on industry-leading, future-proof internet speeds at a locked-in monthly rate,” added Marino. “Our role as a trusted community partner is paramount, and Ezee Fiber’s fair and transparent guaranteed pricing with no contracts reflects our unwavering commitment to the communities we serve.”

For more information about Ezee Fiber’s geographic service areas and multi-gig plans, visit EzeeFiber.com.

About Ezee Fiber
Ezee Fiber is a rapidly growing Houston-based fiber telecommunications company that provides affordable and reliable multi-gig internet service to residential, business and government customers through its 100% fiber-optic network. Founded in 2021, Ezee Fiber is built on a foundation of exceptional customer service, lightning-fast internet speeds and straightforward, transparent pricing. The company operates a carrier-grade network throughout Texas, where its customers are supported by local teams that live and work in the communities they serve. Visit ezeefiber.com for more information.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Christine Scott
VP, Marketing
713.405.1083
christine.scott@ezeefiber.com

SOURCE Ezee Fiber

Startup Delivers Exceptional Growth, Increasing Annual Recurring Revenue by More Than 5X Over the Past Two Years

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 20, 2023 — LucidLink, pioneers in enabling instant access to data and real-time collaboration for the world’s most innovative companies, today announced that it has raised $75 million in Series C funding, including secondaries, led by Brighton Park Capital an investment firm focused on entrepreneur-led, growth-stage companies within the software, healthcare, and tech-enabled services businesses space. Major existing investors, including Headline, Baseline Ventures, and Adobe Ventures, also participated. Over the past two years – despite a challenging environment – LucidLink has delivered exceptional growth, including growing its annual recurring revenue (ARR) by nearly 5x and the number of users on its platform by over 4x.

Founded in 2016, LucidLink developed the world’s first storage collaboration platform designed to help remote and hybrid teams of creative professionals tackle a variety of complex use cases by enabling immediate access to huge files and secure real-time collaboration. LucidLink’s system is built specifically for the modern computing environment, eliminating the need to download or synchronize files by allowing users to stream data directly from the cloud.

“LucidLink recognized a substantial need for real-time collaboration in the cloud, and their solution has rapidly become indispensable for hybrid and remote creative professionals, underscored by its robust recent growth and diverse customer base of leading innovative companies,” said Mike Gregoire and Sam Kentor, Partners at Brighton Park Capital. “The Company is well-positioned to build on its momentum, and we are excited to support LucidLink’s strategic initiatives to drive future growth.”

According to a recent Filestage report, three-quarters of creative collaboration now happens remotely, with the average creative review process taking eight days and over three versions to receive sign-off.¹ International Data Corporation predicts this trend will drive investment in cloud infrastructure and services to $1.2 trillion by 2027 as the need for businesses to prepare for a hybrid workforce grows more urgent.² For creative industries that work with complex files and applications, real-time collaboration across a hybrid and remote employee base has become a top pain point organizations face today.

Peter Thompson, CEO and Co-Founder of LucidLink, stated, “Legacy collaboration and storage solutions are not designed for this new hybrid workplace reality, and LucidLink is becoming the go-to solution for companies looking to future-proof their businesses. Our customers are reaching 5x in productivity gains on previously impossible workflows, and we are excited to see how they continue to unlock new possibilities as we help to accelerate the future of collaborative work.”

Thompson added, “Brighton Park’s deep expertise, broad network, and track record of supporting growth across its portfolio companies make it the perfect partner, and we are grateful to our existing investors for their continued support.”

Today, LucidLink customers in creative industries and beyond are collaborating on over one billion files across 40 countries. Customers include Adobe, A&E Networks, Whirlpool, Shopify, Buzzfeed, and Spotify, as well as Hollywood studios, major broadcasters, brands, digital ad agencies, architectural firms, and gaming companies. The new capital will accelerate LucidLink’s product and engineering development, customer acquisition efforts, and expansion into new verticals and geographies.

“With this Series C investment, LucidLink will accelerate its most ambitious product updates in the Company’s history to expand our technology leadership position, open up new customer use cases, and create more personalized product experiences that enable creative professionals to work more efficiently and effectively,” said George Dochev, CTO and Co-Founder of LucidLink.

LucidLink’s industry-leading technology and culture has received numerous accolades, including National Association of Broadcasters Product of the Year in 2022 and 2023 and Inc. Magazine’s Best US Workplaces in 2023. LucidLink is hiring across departments and geographies. For more information on open roles, please visit Careers. For more information about LucidLink, contact [email protected], follow the Company on X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn, and visit www.lucidlink.com.

About LucidLink
LucidLink has created an award-winning storage collaboration platform that enables creative professionals to work together seamlessly from anywhere. This cloud-based SaaS product connects remote teams instantly to project files of any type and size. LucidLink’s solution is designed for workflows involving huge files, massive data sets, and real-time collaboration. Used in industries like media and entertainment, advertising, retail, architecture, news, and sports, LucidLink helps teams optimize productivity, costs, and creativity for today’s workforce. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, LucidLink has an office in Sofia, Bulgaria, and remote employees across North America, Europe, and Australia.

About Brighton Park Capital
Brighton Park Capital is a Greenwich, Conn.-based investment firm focused on entrepreneur-led, growth-stage software, healthcare, and tech-enabled services companies. The firm invests in companies that provide highly innovative solutions in partnership with great management teams. Brighton Park brings purpose-built value-add capabilities that match the unique requirements of each of its companies. For more information about Brighton Park Capital, please visit www.bpc.com.

References

1. Lott, E. (2023, February 1). Report: The State of Creative Collaboration in 2023 – Filestage. Filestage: The world’s best-rated review and approval platform. https://filestage.io/blog/creative-collaboration-report/
2. Worldwide Spending on Public Cloud Services is Forecast to Reach $1.35 Trillion in 2027, According to New IDC Spending Guide. (n.d.). IDC: The Premier Global Market Intelligence Company. https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS51179523

Media Contacts

LucidLink
Clare Plaisted
PRComs
[email protected]

Brighton Park
Julie Rudnick/Elizabeth Lake
[email protected]

SOURCE LucidLink

• Founded by experienced technology investor Shalin Mehta, SEVA Fund I is targeting fast-growing, profitable, founder-led, technology-enabled companies
• Oversubscribed inaugural fund received support from diverse group of blue-chip limited partners

NEW YORK, Nov. 20, 2023 — SEVA, a newly-launched growth equity firm serving customer-centric founders and companies based in New York, today announced the close of its $85 million oversubscribed, debut fund (“SEVA Fund I” or the “Fund”), reaching its hard cap and exceeding its original target of $50 million.

The Fund’s close follows just four months of fundraising amidst a historically challenging environment and received wide support from a leading group of limited partners comprised of world-class bootstrapped founder/CEOs, industry leaders, and blue-chip institutional investors including leading university endowments, charitable foundations, investment managers, and family offices.

SEVA will seek to build a focused portfolio between eight and ten investments in fast-growing, profitable, founder-led, technology companies. The firm will target companies that have achieved strong product-market fit, exhibit robust customer loyalty, and are looking to scale and accelerate their long-term growth and profitability.

Founded by Shalin Mehta, formerly of Susquehanna Growth Equity and Spectrum Equity, who built his career by sourcing, leading, and managing proprietary investments in leading founder-led, technology companies, SEVA brings a unique  perspective to its partnership approach, combining flexible capital with empathy and strategic expertise for customer-centric founders and companies focused on profitable growth.

Prior to founding SEVA in 2023, Shalin supported leading companies across the internet, software, data, marketplace, and technology-enabled services categories, such as Clutch.co, ProviderTrust, Seek Now, NoRedInk, Poppulo, and Muck Rack.

“SEVA’s purpose is simple: to serve customer-centric founders and companies,” said Shalin Mehta, Founder and Managing Partner of SEVA. “SEVA realizes its distinct purpose through its strong thematic focus, data-centric approach, extensive bootstrapped founder network, and proprietary sourcing capability to help capital-efficient, customer-centric founders build enduring technology-enabled companies.”

SEVA—a name inspired by the Sanskrit word, which means selfless service—will seek to serve customer-centric founders of fast-growing, bootstrapped companies to scale via profitable growth and achieve their vision on their own terms.

“The typical VC and PE ecosystems continue to overlook and misunderstand these customer-centric founders and companies, who don’t want to subscribe to the dilutive fundraising treadmill or cede control to outside investors too early in the company’s lifecycle – we’ve built SEVA to solve this quandary, by offering a balanced and optimal partnership to enable capital-efficient, customer-centric founders to have the best of both worlds.”

SEVA has also cultivated an extensive network of bootstrapped founders and operational leaders that have built world-class customer-centric companies through profitable growth. SEVA’s Network is a community of world-class founders and growth stage technology executives across key functions with experience solving today’s high-growth initiatives. The SEVA Network will bring their unique perspective to partner with SEVA’s founders to help them scale and accelerate long-term growth and profitability via sharing best practices and expertise across Strategic Planning, Executive Hiring, Product/GTM, Financial Reporting & Operational Infrastructure, and Exit Planning.

About SEVA

SEVA is an early growth equity firm exclusively focused on serving customer-centric founders building fast-growing, profitable, founder-led, internet, software, data, marketplace, and technology-enabled services companies. SEVA is based in Brooklyn, NY. https://www.sevagrowth.com/

SOURCE SEVA

Data-agnostic startup is an all-in-one enrichment & activation platform, helping B2B SaaS GTM teams doubling productivity and growth

NEW YORK, Nov. 20, 2023 — Scalestack, the AI-powered all-in-one data enrichment, prioritization & activation platform for RevOps, has raised $1MM in their first round. Investors include Ripple Ventures, Forum Ventures, Flyer One Ventures, Founders Network Fund, and others. This round of capital will help the platform expand its offerings and grow its reach in the market.

Most sales tools in the market focus on converting and engaging with prospects, but the targeting stage in sales tech remains archaic and underdeveloped. B2B SaaS Companies are hence left with either leaving research up to the reps, killing performance, or building in-house data enrichment teams, which are expensive and hard to maintain.

Scalestack does not sell data, but creates customized, yet automated workflows for existing data (internal and external), along key dimensions of their customers’ ICP. Scalestack runs these workflows at scale in customers’ CRMs, so that data’s always fresh, and properly prioritized, then does the last-mile delivery of insights to sales reps with AI.

Scalestack reports the addition of new customers, including a renewed, expanded and multi-year contract with MongoDB. MongoDB’s developer data platform is a database with an integrated set of related services that allow development teams to address the growing requirements for today’s wide variety of modern applications, all in a unified and consistent user experience.

“Our sellers get hundreds of sales leads coming in weekly from a large variety of sources like events, job postings, and via social networks,” says Meghan Gill, SVP Sales Operations, MongoDB. “Leveraging AI, Scalestack has been key in helping us to easily aggregate, manage, and automate disparate GTM data sets in a matter of minutes and identify true leads.”

Scalestack, who also leverages MongoDB’s Atlas and Atlas Vector Search to enable its AI enrichment workflow at scale, works by identifying who in the sales and marketing funnels are primed for engagement by training on available data sources like ZoomInfo, Crunchbase, LinkedIn, plus internal data sources (e.g., CRM data). The platform creates a customized and automated data-view of ideal customer profiles, and prioritizes prospects based on this information. The platform then suggests what sales people should do to reach out, or maintain relationships with potential and existing customers, based on sales plays.

“No one should spend their time doing repetitive and boring work,” says Scalestack Cofounder and CEO Elio Narciso. “Yet, sales reps today spend 72% of their time on non-sales tasks: a lot of effort is wasted on manual research, prospect prioritization and data entry. That’s why we created this platform — to automate the most time-consuming part of selling, so that sellers can focus on what really matters.”

“The AI sales market is on a path to reach an estimated value of $93 billion by 2032. However, many companies in this sector provide tools primarily tailored for the lower end of the sales funnel. This often necessitates manual research of prospect data,” explains Matt Cohen, Managing Partner at Ripple Ventures and an investor in Scalestack. “Scalestack is addressing this particular challenge head-on. Through its automation solutions targeting the upper segment of the sales funnel, it significantly enhances the productivity of sales representatives during the critical initial phase – account and prospect targeting,” Cohen points out. “For sales leaders, Scalestack’s a no-brainer.”

To learn more and request a demo, visit: [https://scalestack.ai/]

About Scalestack
Headquartered in New York, Scalestack’s mission is to build products that make computers work for humans, so they can focus on what really matters. Built for RevOps and GTM leaders, Scalestack AI is an all-in-one data enrichment, prioritization & activation platform. It allows GTM teams to easily map existing data to their ideal customer profile, and to their sales engine. Scalestack counts leading SaaS companies like MongoDB and Typeform among its customers, who use it in increasing ways to unlock new levels of GTM productivity, and generate more pipeline. Founded by Elio Narciso and Alessandro Prioni, seasoned entrepreneurs and GTM leaders, Scalestack is backed by investors with deep knowledge of the SaaS space. https://scalestack.ai/

Contact
Rick Medeiros
[email protected]
(510) 556-8517

SOURCE Scalestack

HEILBRONN, Germany and BOSTON, Nov. 20, 2023 — ProtaGene, a leading global contract research organization (CRO) dedicated to advanced analytics for biologics and cell and gene therapies, today announced additional investment from Ampersand Capital Partners.

Given the critical importance of advanced bioanalytics and product characterization for developing increasingly complex therapeutics, Ampersand has invested nearly $40 million within the past year to support ProtaGene’s services and capacity expansions. This investment has allowed the organization to meet rebounding market demand among biologics developers, address increasingly complex analytical challenges, and deliver the growing product understanding and safety assurances required by global regulatory bodies.

Investments Fueled Capacity & Capabilities Expansions

Ampersand’s investments have been pivotal in ProtaGene’s worldwide expansion efforts, including establishing cutting-edge facilities in North America and Europe. Most recently, ProtaGene unveiled a brand-new, state-of-the-art lab and office headquarters in the Burlington BioCenter, located in Boston’s rapidly growing biotechnology hub.

This capital has also been instrumental in enabling ProtaGene to enhance its global offerings, encompassing integration site analysis (ISA), a comprehensive suite of bioanalytical services (including biodistribution, vector shedding, and transgene expression analysis), Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) solutions, and specialized support for biosimilars. These advancements effectively address the ever-evolving needs of clients across the globe.

Funds Allocated for Industry-Leading Equipment and Services

The investment will enable ProtaGene to procure state-of-the-art equipment and technology for characterizing novel biologics and gene therapies. This intention underscores ProtaGene’s mission to provide world-class solutions supporting the dynamic biopharmaceutical and cell and gene therapy sector.

Ampersand’s continued investment in ProtaGene reflects its commitment to progressing innovation and excellence in advanced analytics, essential capabilities needed to enable the discovery and development of novel therapeutics addressing vexing disease states for patients worldwide.

About ProtaGene

ProtaGene is a world-leading CRO partner for the biopharmaceutical and cell and gene therapy industries. ProtaGene provides the most advanced, integrated, and complete protein and gene analytic capabilities and packages, from discovery to product commercialization. A unique combination of protein- and gene-based analytical platforms makes ProtaGene the leading analytic service provider in biologics and cell and gene therapy development. The organization operates four sites in Europe and North America and works in advanced therapeutic platforms with leading biopharmaceutical and gene therapy companies worldwide. For additional information, visit www.protagene.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

About Ampersand Capital Partners

Founded in 1988, Ampersand is a middle-market private equity firm with $3 billion of assets under management dedicated to growth-oriented investments in the healthcare sector. With offices in Boston, MA, and Amsterdam, Netherlands, Ampersand leverages a unique blend of private equity and operating experience to build value and drive long-term performance alongside its portfolio company management teams. Ampersand has helped build numerous market-leading companies across each of the firm’s core healthcare sectors. For additional information, visit www.ampersandcapital.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

SOURCE ProtaGene

NEW YORK, Nov. 20, 2023 — Malou, the all-in-one solution that helps restaurants increase their sales by attracting, retaining, and building loyalty from customers, has announced that it has successfully raised more than $10 million in funding. This fundraise was led by prominent investors including the SaaS B2B experts henQ, Bleu Capital, Bertrand Jelensperger (founder of The Fork), Jim Texier (former CPO of Lightspeed), as well as several restaurant clients.

A powerful solution made by and for restaurants to enhance their presence

Since its inception in January 2021, Malou has been dedicated to providing tailored digital marketing solutions designed exclusively for the restaurant sector, integrating a restaurants’ Google page, social media profiles, as well as listing and delivery platforms all into one centralized hub. Malou then utilizes AI and automation to efficiently analyze and generate responses to customer reviews, generate social media posts, and maintain consistent information, all of which enhances the restaurants’ online presence, SEO, visibility, and social media engagement.

In an era where 9 out of 10 customers choose restaurants online, Malou has emerged as an essential tool for restaurateurs. The platform’s comprehensive approach manages and improves the entire relationship between restaurants and their customers, from discovery and conversion to customer satisfaction monitoring and loyalty building.

With over 2,000 restaurants on board across 12 countries, including independents, food chains, top chefs, and high-profile restaurant groups, Malou has demonstrated its universal appeal and effectiveness. Among their well-known clients are Jean-George Group’s Tin Building marketplace in New York City, Bagatelle Group, and Krispy Kreme.

Funding an international expansion with new talents and an even better solution for restaurants

“Malou’s team has been able to translate their deep understanding of marketing for restaurants into a ‘hyper-verticalized’ solution which optimizes all aspects of a restaurant’s online presence automatically,” said Mick Mackaay, Partner at lead investor henQ. “This leads to more visitors without forcing owners to become marketing experts. The team has further impressed us with their ability to get this solution into the hands of many restaurants, a notoriously hard target group to sell to.”

With the recent funding secured, Malou plans to accelerate growth in France, enhance product functionality, and expand internationally in France, Europe, the Middle East, and the U.S., focusing on New York City and Paris, where co-founder and CEO Louiza Hacene divides her time.

“The restaurant industry is one where success so heavily relies on building and maintaining your reputation, especially through your online presence,” said Louiza. “Malou is dedicated to providing the tools to help restaurants connect with potential customers and maintain their relationships with their existing customers, and this new funding will allow us to further improve our product, expand our team, and increase our market reach, especially in the United States.”

The international team behind the platform 

Malou is led by a dynamic and international trio of co-founders: CEO Louiza Hacene, a Franco-Algerian HEC graduate, along with her two partners, a Tunisian engineer and CentraleSupélec graduate Waad Toumi (CPO), as well as Télécom Paris educated developer, Victor Sage (CTO). Between them, they comprise the entrepreneurial vision, commercial skills and, above all, technical expertise needed to pivot Malou from a restaurant digital marketing agency to the innovative SaaS model tech platform that it is today.

With a strong foundation, a growing client base, and a renewed focus on innovation, Malou is poised to revolutionize restaurant marketing and empower even more restaurants to succeed in the digital age.

More information about Malou can be found at Malou.io.

About Malou
Malou is an AI-powered platform online tool backed by industry experts, designed to enhance the digital presence of restaurants. It offers a range of features to help restaurants improve their online reputation, visibility, and customer engagement. With a focus on simplicity and effectiveness, Malou aims to make digital marketing more accessible and manageable for restaurants, leading to increased visibility and customer attraction.

For media inquiries, please contact:

[email protected]

SOURCE Malou

SUZHOU, China, Nov. 20, 2023 — TSUN, a leading player in the photovoltaic (PV) industry, has recently secured over RMB 150 million in Series B funding, marking its second successful funding round in 2023. Led by IDG Capital and following an investment from Hidden Hill Capital in February, this funding will strategically enhance TSUN’s capabilities in automated production lines, production capacity, and technological advancements in core products. The funds will also support supply chain development and the expansion of domestic and international business channels, further solidifying TSUN’s influence in the PV industry.

Founded in 2019, TSUN is dedicated to the innovative research and development of microinverters and energy storage products. With a mission of “More Safety, More Power,” the company aims to deliver safe and efficient PV solutions, contributing to a low-carbon and eco-friendly lifestyle.

In response to industry challenges, TSUN introduced the TITAN series in 2020, touted as the world’s first high-power single-phase microinverter. This groundbreaking innovation addresses key industry pain points, combining cost-effectiveness with low voltage, high efficiency, and module-level monitoring, enhancing safety, power generation efficiency, and operations and maintenance in the PV sector.

TSUN’s microinverter product lineup includes the Gen3, Gen3 Plus, and TITAN series, covering power ranges from 300W to 3000W. The company has also pioneered “household” applications of microinverters, exemplified by the Easy Solar Kit—a plug-and-play balcony solar system designed for various installation scenarios including flat ground, railings and wall mounting.

Having established collaborations with tier-one companies, TSUN facilitates channel sharing and has expanded distribution channels in rapidly growing markets such as Europe, South America, and the Asia-Pacific region. The company’s subsidiaries and offices worldwide contribute to a comprehensive market operations system, sales service network, and after-sales service system, ensuring customer needs are met.

Supported by Suzhou High-Speed Rail New City, TSUN will commence construction of its self-owned facility this year. The 50,000 square meters facility, expected to be operational by 2025, will house automated production lines, resulting in a 500% increase in production capacity. In product development, TSUN aims to iterate high-power microinverters by 2024, enhancing their application in industrial and commercial areas.

Cora Su, responsible for TSUN’s financing, emphasized the company’s commitment to a long-term strategy. Leveraging its strengths in technology research and development, integrated innovation, and industry resources, TSUN plans to enrich its product line, accelerate iteration, establish competitive advantages, and upgrade its intelligent core, contributing to the green transformation of low-carbon energy.

IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 17, 2023 — University Lab Partners (ULP), a premier nonprofit wet lab incubator based in Orange County, California, is proud to announce that it has been selected as one of 220 applicants nationwide to receive a $2 million award from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Build to Scale program.

Build to Scale is a pivotal initiative by the U.S. Department of Commerce aimed at fostering innovation, supporting technology entrepreneurs, and driving economic growth. The program seeks to enhance inclusive access to entrepreneurial assistance and startup capital. ULP’s $2 million award will be matched by $2M in local funding and dedicated to scaling its accelerator and commercialization initiatives in Orange County and the broader Southern California region over the next three years.

Karin Koch, Executive Director of University Lab Partners, expressed enthusiasm about the grant, stating, “This investment by the EDA will scale ULP’s proven incubation and acceleration programs. Our startups don’t just dream about improving human health – they strive to make it a reality every day and ULP is an extension of their teams in so many ways.” The acknowledgment underscores the critical role that ULP plays in fostering innovation and economic development in Orange County.

Since its establishment in 2019, ULP has incubated 63 companies and graduated 6 companies, resulting in the creation of 448 new jobs within the region. Positioned as a leader in the Orange County innovation ecosystem, ULP provides state-of-the-art laboratory facilities and superior services, fostering an environment conducive to collaboration and growth. With a commitment to advancing innovation, the Build to Scale grant will significantly amplify the impact of ULP’s accelerator services.

Emre Koyuncu, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Crescenta Biosciences stated, “Being a part of the ULP community, I see this grant as a crucial catalyst for innovation in the region. In the hands of ULP’s proven leadership, it will empower life science startups with the resources and support needed to transform their discoveries and early programs into life-saving medical innovations.”

The primary objective of the ULP Accelerator is to empower and accelerate scalable ventures in the life science and medical technology sectors. The program will provide tailored advisory/consulting, specialized life science focused entrepreneurial training, access to scientific infrastructure to facilitate technology commercialization, and increase early-stage capital access culminating in regional high-wage job creation for a diverse workforce.

Ahmed Zobi, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Syntr Health Technologies, a resident company at ULP, shared his excitement about the EDA Build to Scale grant. He stated, “I am thrilled to witness ULP being awarded this grant. It holds the potential to assist numerous founders in Irvine, guiding them along the entrepreneurial path and facilitating the scaling of their ventures. The funding is instrumental in cultivating a robust medtech and biotech hub right in the heart of Irvine.”

About University Lab Partners:

University Lab Partners (ULP) is a premier, nonprofit, wet lab incubator located in Orange County, CA. ULP operates 2 facilities in Irvine and Aliso Viejo, CA. ULP offers highly-equipped wet lab facilities along with the benefits of peer-to-peer interactions among a life science-focused entrepreneurial community.

SOURCE University Lab Partners