The round brings Topsort to a $150M valuation, and is led by Upload Ventures and returning seed round investors, Quiet Capital and Pear Ventures

SAN FRANCISCO, March 4, 2024 — Artificial intelligence and machine learning-based technology company, Topsort, today announces that it has raised $20 million in Series A funding. The round is led by Upload Ventures and returning seed round investors, Quiet Capital and Pear Ventures. The Series A round sees the company valued at $150 million.

Topsort will use this round of funding to further scale its clean advertising platform that’s free of creepy third-party cookie tracking and privacy-invasive data – a significant departure from the advertising world of yesterday and a leap towards democratizing the same kind of auction-based advertising that garnered massive profits for giants like Google and Amazon. As the industry closes the chapter on third-party cookies, Topsort’s platform serves as the connective tissue for the post-cookie world of ads that doesn’t work around the privacy issue, but solves it entirely for enterprise-level customers.

The Topsort platform is fueled by similar AI and ML models that power platforms in the 2020s AI revolution. Essentially a large “prediction machine”, Topsort works on a self-learning algorithm, using human feedback to maintain a constant state of improvement. Unlike copycat ad tech companies, Topsort:

• Empowers Retailers and Marketplaces: Through its retail media platform and customizable APIs, Topsort enables retailers and marketplaces to run effective ad campaigns with high returns.
• Provides a Clean Replacement of Cookies: The commerce and media-focused, easy-to-use clean room is one-of-a-kind, encrypted technology with zero-visibility into privacy data – not even Topsort can see it.
• Brings Transparency to Retail Media Buying: Topsort offers 1-click sponsored listings across onsite searches with total return on advertising spend (ROAS) control. This enables retailers and brands to uncover valuable insights while respecting privacy with compliant, anonymous data matching.

Founded in 2021, Topsort is led by CEO and co-founder Regina Ye, a former beauty brand seller turned advertising disruptor, CTO and co-founder Francisco Larrain, a serial entrepreneur who had two exits including one from Groupon and led its engineering in its heyday, and co-founder and Chief Scientist, Michael Ostrovsky, a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business and a world-renowned economist on auction theory, game theory, and marketplace design.

“This funding round is further fueling our mission to accelerate the clean advertising revolution using AI and new age machine learning technology. Only one part of what’s to come is the democratization of auction-based advertising technology into Bidless formats, which previously had a much higher bar of entry and amassed an insane amount of profit for some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley,” said Topsort CEO and co-founder Regina Ye. “With Topsort, we hope to democratize the access to KPI-driven, efficient and transparent media in the new age of post-cookies to both enterprise retailers, top brands and agencies, as well as small, long-tail sellers alike. Advertisers of all shapes and sizes can benefit from a highly profitable ad business that works for everyone within the ecosystem.”

Since its inception just a few years ago, Topsort has earned the trust of major retailers, marketplaces and brands, including Poshmark, Cencosud, Unilever, Coca-Cola, L’Oreal, General Mills, Glovo (part of Delivery Hero), Phillips and many more. It previously raised $8.6 million in a seed round in 2022.

About Topsort
Topsort is the connective tissue for the post-cookie era of clean advertising, by offering a world class retail media technology stack with the most nimble integration and flexibility, clean room that is truly clean with attribution and incrementality measurements, and an ad network product. Companies like Google and Amazon have been making huge advertising profits from auction-based technology for decades, yet it’s not been available to third parties and now Topsort makes it plug-and-play with full flexibility to catch up all in the context of zero cookie data dependency. For more information visit: https://www.topsort.com/.

Media Contact
[email protected]

SOURCE Topsort

SAN FRANCISCO, March 4, 2024 — Entrada, a leading Databricks consulting and implementation services firm, received a strategic investment from Databricks Ventures to help scale the firm’s next leg of growth. Entrada’s focus in the Databricks ecosystem is accelerating time to value with industry focused Data + AI solutions.

“We are thrilled to expand our Databricks partnership with its strategic investment in Entrada. Entrada’s service innovations allow customers to rapidly achieve the benefits of Databricks technology. Our mission is to simplify the customer journey of adopting AI and modern data technologies, paired with Industry expertise, we aim to help customers move faster,” explained Trey Roldan, CEO of Entrada.

“Databricks-focused consulting and implementation partners are critical to the growth of the Databricks ecosystem. The Entrada team is industry veterans and Entrada has stood out with their focus on industry expertise and global delivery as a boutique partner. We are thrilled to expand our partnership with this strategic investment and look forward to helping our customers accelerate their AI goals,” said Kori O’Brien, SVP of Partnerships at Databricks.

The investment comes shortly after Entrada released a series of solutions designed to guide customers from the initial stages of their Databricks implementation through adopting advanced capabilities, such as Generative AI. Entrada’s “AI + Data Maturity Assessment” delivers a tailored evaluation and aligns with industry-leading practices, offering actionable insights into current data + AI capabilities. Realizing the value of the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform is accelerated with Entrada’s “Race to the Lakehouse” solution, allowing customers to leverage the platform in eight weeks. Consumption of third party data for advanced analytics and AI and data monetization is enabled by Entrada’s “Modern Data Connectivity” solution. To explore how Entrada can elevate your organization’s AI journey, visit www.entrada.ai and initiate your AI readiness assessment today.

About Entrada

Entrada is a Databricks-focused consulting and implementation partner backed by Databricks Ventures. Entrada harnesses the power of Databricks to help customers accelerate their AI + data initiatives. Our expertise in AI/ML, Databricks, and analytics is centered around industry-centric solutions. Our mission is to simplify complex data + AI challenges and support end-to-end transformations, delivering future-ready solutions fast. Learn more at https://www.entrada.ai/.

About Databricks Ventures

Databricks Ventures is the strategic investment arm of Databricks, the Data and AI company. Databricks Ventures invests in innovative companies that align with our view of the future for data, analytics and AI. We are investing in companies that are committed to extending the lakehouse ecosystem or using the lakehouse architecture to create the next generation of AI-powered companies.

Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2352634/Entrada_AI_Inc_Logo.jpg

Dennis Liu, AKA Virtual Bacon, has now amassed a growing audience of nearly half a million viewers as a trusted Web3 Educator

TORONTO, March 4, 2024 – Dennis Liu has experienced substantial growth since starting his YouTube channel “Virtual Bacon” just over 3 years ago today. Liu has developed a reputation for offering insights into developments within what Liu believes to be “a pivotal year for crypto.” As a general partner at Momentum 6 Venture Capital Fund, an angel investor, and a revered Web3 educator with a captive audience of nearly half a million followers across socials, Virtual Bacon’s insights are grounded in research and direct experience. This month, Liu’s content has set the stage for a bullish 2024, helping interested parties maximize exposure to potential airdrops and breaking down transformative Web3 developments, including Zero-Knowledge Rollups, Linea, and more.

In one of Liu’s latest videos, he explores 2024’s potential trajectory, emphasizing the significance of the first U.S.-listed exchange-traded funds Bitcoin ETF approval, the potential of Ethereum along with its upcoming ETF, and the necessary role of Layer 2 solutions are sure to play in accelerating the blockchain’s scalability and efficiency throughout the next bull run and beyond. He foresees 2024 to continue to be a year marked by global regulatory clarity that will hopefully foster broader acceptance and integration of blockchain technology across various sectors.

Other focus areas from Liu’s 2024 strategy include Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKPs), highlighting these as key technologies poised to revolutionize privacy and security for blockchain transactions. According to Liu:

“I believe the first half of 2024 will see a huge wave of interest in ZK blockchain infrastructure. Most new protocols are opting to build with a ZK-based solution rather than optimistic rollups, as the technology of ZK is finally ready, and its advantages are crystal clear: For scaling solutions such as Roll-ups, ZK greatly enhances the networks’ security by removing trust assumptions in optimistic solutions. Instead, all security is guaranteed through mathematical proofs. This also has the side benefit of instant withdrawals versus the delayed withdrawals of traditional roll-ups.

For privacy solutions, ZK is the clear leader in achieving on-chain anonymity by choice. This enables unique use cases such as on-chain sports betting, data-protected identity verification, and private communications.”

Liu believes that aside from the advancements of ZK technology, the tailwind of the Ethereum Dencun upgrade will also propel ZK adoption:

“Dencun will introduce the anticipated EIP4844 upgrade, which can reduce layer-2 transaction costs by 10-100x. This specifically benefits ZK layer-2 solutions, as ZK proofs are traditionally expensive to operate. After Dencun goes live in March, ZK-rollups will become just as cheap as optimistic roll-ups with negligible gas fees.”

However, we are only just at the beginning of this bull run and still have much to come this year within the ZK ecosystem and beyond. According to Liu:

“Narratives are often front-ran by capital injection; most of the largest ZK blockchain projects will be releasing sometime in the first half of 2024. We just had the StarkNet token airdrop, which reached a fully diluted valuation of over 37 Billion dollars. Similar levels of launches could continue throughout the next 3-4 months with the likes of zkSync, Linea, Taiko, Scroll, and Aleo. Follow the money, and the narrative will come.”

For more insights from Virtual Bacon and to stay updated on his latest insights and strategies, follow him on YouTube and X / Twitter.

About Virtual Bacon

VirtualBacon is a Crypto Developer, Educator, and Angel Investor. He has invested in and supported over 100 Web3 Companies, focusing on branding, community, tokenomics, and fundamental narrative crafting. He has built a community of over 1 million followers with fundamentals-driven Crypto investing strategies.

LINKS:

• Connect with Dennis / Virtual Bacon via his website
• Connect with Dennis on X (Twitter)
• Find more high-quality photos of Dennis here

SOURCE Virtual Bacon

Moriah Asset’s wellness-focused investment drives the startup’s growth strategy

SÃO PAULO, March 4, 2024 — Naturanic, a company innovator in healthy and appealing snacks made with 100% natural and organic ingredients from the Brazilian biodiversity, today announced the closing of its $2 million Series A funding. The funding round is led by Moriah Asset, a well-known Brazilian investment firm specializing in the health and wellness sector with a focus on sustainability and social responsibility.

This strategic partnership catalyzes Naturanic’s ambitious expansion efforts aimed at improving production capacity, expanding its market presence in the US and introducing new product lines. Naturanic is characterized by its commitment to guilt-free snacks that do not compromise on taste or environmental responsibility. Ingredients are sourced from the Naturanic Guardians network of farmers and communities that practice sustainable agriculture and are rewarded with fair trade premiums.

“When it comes to healthy eating, there are plenty of options, but Naturanic combines all the characteristics perceived as healthy by consumers,” says Gilberto Sampaio, co-founder of Naturanic, alongside Flávio Fernandes. “We adhere to the philosophy of 100% natural, organic, no sugar added, vegan and GMO-free ingredients, free from chemical preservatives or artificial sweeteners, without sacrificing flavor.”

Starting as an online-exclusive brand through Amazon, Naturanic quickly captured consumers’ attention. “Looking ahead to 2024, we’re poised to broaden our product assortment and enter major health-focused retail chains,” Flávio Fernandes shared, highlighting the pivotal role of Moriah Asset’s investment not just in funding but also in providing management expertise and valuable wellness industry connections. Moriah Asset has already infused approximately $40 million into the health sector, backing successful ventures like Desinchá and Super Nutrition with a footprint in both the US and Europe.

“The concept of smart money is pivotal today, and Moriah Asset exemplifies this, fostering a dynamic ecosystem of wellness brands that benefit from mutual information exchange and synergy,” stated Fernandes.

Fabiano Zettel, Moriah’s founder and CEO, envisions future collaborative opportunities, particularly in retail distribution, leveraging Naturanic’s insights into the American market and organic supply chains. “Naturanic is a crucial addition to our ecosystem, brimming with potential for generating novel opportunities,” Zettel noted.

Ultra-Healthy Portfolio

Established in 2021, Naturanic’s current lineup includes freeze-dried fruits, chocolate-covered snacks and bars and barks chocolates, utilizing organic premium ingredients from the Brazilian biodiversity, like açaí, camu camu, cupuaçu, acerola, banana, coconut and Brazil nuts. With the new partnership, Naturanic is set to diversify into protein bars and spreads, with launches anticipated later this year. “We are at an advanced stage of development and will be launching them this year,” says Sampaio.

Commitment to ESG

Anticipating sales growth, Naturanic plans significant investments in its supply chain, including partnerships with small-scale Brazilian organic producers across diverse ecosystems through its Guardians program, supporting them in achieving certifications for international markets.

“This program represents a major social initiative for us, working closely with cooperatives and promoting organic certification for global markets,” explained Fernandes. Naturanic’s product base harnesses Brazil’s rich biodiversity, as Atlantic Forest, Caatinga and Amazon, aiming to introduce consumers to novel, healthy food alternatives that break the monotony of daily diets. “This exoticism is part of the essence of Naturanic. We want to be a healthy alternative that breaks the monotony of people’s daily diet.”

As part of its strategy to grow in the American market, Naturanic will attend Natural Expo West, the world’s leading natural products expo, from March 12 to 16, with sights also set on European expansion. “We are fully equipped to meet the demands of the entire US market,” the partners concluded.

Contact:
https://naturanic.com/
[email protected] 

SOURCE Naturanic

MANCHESTER, England, March 4, 2024 —  Phagenesis, a pioneering UK company which has developed a revolutionary neurostimulation system to treat swallowing dysfunction, has closed a $42M Series D financing all equity investment round. The combined European and United States investment syndicate was led by EQT Life Sciences, and co-led by Sectoral, with new investors British Patient Capital, Northern Gritstone and Aphelion/Cardeation Capital also joining the round. This substantial investment reflects their recognition of the transformative potential of Phagenesis’ cutting-edge therapy, Phagenyx®.

The Phagenyx® neurostimulation system targets and restores the neurological components of swallowing coordination and control that are disrupted due to brain injury (including stroke) or because of prolonged mechanical ventilation. Patients with swallowing dysfunction (dysphagia) are unable to safely or effectively eat, drink, or manage their own saliva. Dysphagia can often lead to life threatening complications such as pneumonia and is also associated with substantially higher healthcare costs.

With the recent approval of Phagenyx® by the FDA in the United States, the investment is primarily intended to support commercialization in the United States and deepen penetration in Europe. It will also support clinical trials, regulatory activities, as well as research and development of pipeline products.

“This investment from a highly experienced international investor syndicate will accelerate access to and adoption of our therapy,” said Reinhard Krickl, CEO of Phagenesis. “We will invest in exceptional talent to scale up our customer outreach and to support passionate clinicians who want to bring our therapy to those who need it. Our novel and proven therapy can help the millions of patients every year who suffer from swallowing disorders.”

Drew Burdon, Partner at EQT Life Sciences, said: “Dysphagia is a severe medical condition that affects countless patients in hospital. It can increase hospital length of stay, the risk of complications, and lengthens recovery time. The Phagenyx System demonstrates significant reductions in hospital length of stay, with a corresponding and substantial reduction in healthcare costs, as evidenced by the Company’s strong portfolio of high-quality clinical studies. This is strongly aligned with EQT’s Health Economics strategy of transforming cutting-edge scientific innovation into impactful and cost-effective healthcare solutions. We’re excited to support the next phase of Phagenesis’ journey.”

Michael Sjöström , Co-Founder and Partner at Sectoral Asset Management, added, “Dysphagia associated complications are known to substantially increase mortality, but there is still a lack of adequate treatment modalities. That’s why Phagenyx is an amazing innovation with the potential to change care paradigms. It allows treatment of dysphagia very early in the care pathway, which prevents later complications. Our investment will support the Phagenesis team to make Phagenyx more broadly available, specifically in the United States.”

Randomized controlled trials have demonstrated clinically significant improvements, which support faster recovery of patients and reduced length of hospital stay.

As part of this transaction, Drew Burdon, Michael Sjöström and Mark Wyatt will join the Phagenesis’ Board of Directors.

Phagenesis has just showcased its product and the latest US data at ISC (International Stroke Conference) from Feb. 7-9 in Phoenix, Arizona.

ABOUT PHAGENESIS

Phagenesis® Ltd, is a private MedTech company co-founded by Dr. Conor Mulrooney and Professor Shaheen Hamdy from the University of Manchester in 2007. Phagenesis offers innovative treatments for neurogenic dysphagia using pharyngeal electrical stimulation, PES. The Phagenyx® Neurostimulation System is the result of years of rigorous scientific research, initiated by Professor Hamdy, and has been featured in numerous clinical publications. For additional information, visit www.phagenesis.com.  

ABOUT EQT

EQT Life Sciences was formed in 2022 following the integration of LSP, a leading European life sciences venture capital firm, into the EQT platform. As LSP, the firm raised over EUR 3.0 billion and supported the growth of more than 150 companies since it started to invest over 30 years ago. With a dedicated team of highly experienced investment professionals coming from backgrounds in medicine, science, business, and finance, EQT Life Sciences backs entrepreneurs who have ideas that could truly make a difference for patients. The team combines deep sector knowledge, analytical skills, and investment experience to provide the added value that entrepreneurs seek. For more information, go to eqtgroup.com/private-capital/life-sciences/

ABOUT SECTORAL ASSET MANAGEMENT

Founded in 2000, Sectoral Asset Management is one of industry-leading specialists, focused exclusively on managing global healthcare portfolios. We are fully employee-owned, with offices in Montreal, Geneva, and Hong Kong. Our clients include sovereign wealth funds, private banks, and family offices. In addition, we have long-standing sub-advisory relationships with institutional investors in Europe and Asia. More on www.sectoral.com

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SOURCE Phagenesis

Founder and CEO Mark Klein to step away from day-to-day operations

PHILADELPHIA, March 4, 2024 — PCS Retirement (“PCS” or “the Company”), a leading retirement plan recordkeeper focused on the ERISA and Non-ERISA markets, today announced it received a majority investment from funds managed by Lee Equity Partners, LLC (“Lee Equity”), a growth oriented middle market private equity firm. As part of the transaction, LLR Partners will exit its investment in PCS. Scott David will join as CEO. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founder, CEO, and industry veteran Mark Klein will be stepping away from day-to-day operations of PCS Retirement and will remain a valuable member of the Board of Directors.

Founded in 2001, PCS Retirement delivers high-quality retirement plans to business owners, school districts, municipalities, not-for-profits, and individuals. The Company’s mission is to help close America’s retirement gap by equipping financial advisors with the most powerful, trusted, and easy-to-use retirement solutions available anywhere.

“We established PCS Retirement with the goal of building a next generation recordkeeper with no hidden agenda. Our vision for complete transparency has allowed us to be a leader in the retirement plan industry with significant momentum and opportunities ahead,” said Mark Klein, Founder of PCS Retirement. “We are very appreciative of LLR’s partnership and are excited to welcome Lee Equity as our financial sponsor and Scott David as CEO. Lee Equity deeply understands the value of our employee-centric business and appreciates our tremendous growth potential, and I’m confident that the addition of Scott will lead us well as we evolve into our next chapter.”

Scott David is a proven leader with more than 35 years of retirement services industry experience, including serving as the Head of Individual & Retirement Plan Services and an Executive Committee Member at T. Rowe Price and President of U.S. Retirement Services at Fidelity.

“Mark, the entire management team and I share a common view of the needs of the small business community and non-ERISA 403b space and understand the opportunity available to innovate on how these markets are served,” said Scott David. “I am looking forward to building on the strong foundation that Mark and his incredible team have laid.”

PCS believes Lee Equity’s partnership will help accelerate new business sales and expand existing relationships, optimize the service and digital experience for customers, and support the Company’s M&A efforts.

“PCS Retirement is a leading retirement platform with a unique go-to-market strategy and track record of innovation,” said Danny Rodriguez, Partner at Lee Equity. “There’s great potential for the Company still ahead, and we are excited to partner with Scott and the Company’s leadership to capitalize on the many opportunities to grow the business.”

“LLR is grateful to have been part of PCS Retirement’s journey. Together, we were able to expand product capabilities and build upon the Company’s market position. We thank the management team for their trusted partnership and are excited to see PCS Retirement’s success continue with Lee Equity as their new financial sponsor,” said Sam Ryder, Principal with LLR Partners.

PCS Retirement employees will maintain a meaningful ownership interest.

Raymond James served as the exclusive financial advisor to PCS Retirement on this transaction. Waller Helms Advisors served as financial advisor to Lee Equity. Ropes & Gray acted as legal counsel to Lee Equity.

About PCS Retirement

PCS Retirement is a leading independent and conflict-free retirement services platform automating the sale, design, valuation and management of retirement plans. PCS offers its services to channel partners to deliver a customizable platform ideally suited for registered investment advisors, independent broker dealers and investment management firms serving the retirement ecosystem. Learn more at https://www.pcsretirement.com.

About Lee Equity Partners

Lee Equity Partners, LLC is a New York-based private equity firm that partners with successful management teams to build companies with strong growth potential. Lee Equity targets equity investments of $50 million to $150 million in middle-market control buyouts and growth capital financings in companies with enterprise values of $100 million to $500 million that are located primarily in the United States. The firm invests within three distinct sectors, healthcare services, financial services, and business services, where the team has developed deep relationships over decades. More information is available at www.leeequity.com.

About LLR Partners

LLR Partners is a private equity firm investing in technology and healthcare businesses. We collaborate with our portfolio companies to identify and execute on key growth initiatives and help create long-term value. Founded in 1999 and with more than $6 billion raised across seven funds, LLR is a flexible provider of equity capital for growth, recapitalizations and buyouts. Learn more at https://www.llrpartners.com/.

SOURCE Lee Equity Partners

SEOUL, South Korea, March 3, 2024 — CHEQUER Inc., a leading B2B SaaS cyber security platform startup, announced today that it has closed an investment round, positioning the company for accelerated expansion in the global market and innovation in the cloud native security platform sector.

The round was co-led by Salesforce Ventures and Z Venture Capital (ZVC), bringing the cumulative investment in CHEQUER Inc. so far – including the seed round in 2021 – to $24.82 million.

CHEQUER Inc., a US-based Y Combinator alumni (YC W20) focused largely in Japan and South Korea, has experienced rapid growth since its inception, achieving notable milestones such as launching ‘QueryPie’, a Cloud Data Protection Platform (CDPP) that enables companies to respond to data governance and its infrastructure development. It supports integrated management of data access control, auditing, and monitoring tasks in cloud environments, allowing for easier and safer cyber security by saving costs and increasing revenue. It also provides a zero-trust framework for corporate compliance with global data security regulations such as CSA-STAR(gold), ISMS-P, PCI-DSS, J-Sox and GDPR.

“This investment marks a significant watershed moment for CHEQUER as we continue to revolutionize the cloud data protection platform landscape,” said Brant Hwang, a founder & CEO of CHEQUER Inc. “We are thrilled to work with Salesforce Ventures and ZVC who share our vision of innovating cyber security.”

“We are impressed by CHEQUER’s innovative approach and leadership team,” said Ken Asada, Salesforce Ventures Partner & Head of Japan. “We believe that CHEQUER is well-positioned to help transform the way businesses harness technology and drive meaningful value for its customers. We look forward to supporting CHEQUER as it enters its next phase of growth and expansion.”

With this investment and global relationship with Salesforce Ventures and ZVC, CHEQUER Inc., is poised to deliver exceptional value to customers across B2B SaaS platform sectors in Japan as one of CHEQUER’s primary international expansion opportunities.  

About CHEQUER Inc.:

Founded in Silicon Valley in 2016, CHEQUER Inc., is a provider of B2B solutions optimized for SaaS and cloud environments, offering Cloud Data Protection Platform, CDPP. With a team consisting of engineers who formerly worked at Kakao and Naver and experts from various fields, the company officially launched the QueryPie in June 2020. QueryPie is a unified, data governance platform for data analytics and infrastructure environments, enabling enterprises to centrally manage development infrastructure, data access control, and data-related tasks, leading to reduced costs and increased revenue in the cloud environment. As well, it complies with data security regulations like J-Sox, ISMS, PCI-DSS, and GDPR.

Currently, the company provides solutions to leading Korean and international companies like Kakao Enterprise, Kakao Pay, Karrot, MUSINSA, Yanolja, and HYBE, demonstrating rapid growth. CHEQUER recently launched the QueryPie SAC(System Access Controller), an expanded security solution that complies with Korean and international data security regulations. For further information, please visit www.querypie.com 

About Salesforce Ventures:

Salesforce Ventures helps enterprising founders build companies that reinvent the way the world works. Since 2009, we’ve invested in and partnered with more than 400 of the world’s most tenacious enterprise software companies from seed to IPO, including Stripe, Zoom, Cohere, Dropbox, Hugging Face, Anthropic, and Snowflake, among others. Salesforce Ventures leverages our decades of expertise in the cloud and our long-term relationships with key decision-makers at thousands of businesses around the world to give our portfolio companies an unfair advantage, help them build credibility, and accelerate growth. Salesforce Ventures has invested in more than 28 countries with offices all over the world including in San Francisco, Irvine, New York, London, and Tokyo. Follow @SalesforceVC and learn more at http://www.salesforceventures.com. 

About Z Venture Capital:

Z Venture Capital serves as the corporate venture capital arm of LY Corporation(an integrated entity of Z Holdings•LINE•Yahoo Japan, etc.), supporting startups with global potential. ZVC is the succeeding company of YJ Capital Inc., which was established in August 2012, following its merger with LINE Ventures Corporation in April 2021.

SOURCE CHEQUER Inc.

SINGAPORE, March 2, 2024 — OKX Ventures, the investment arm of leading Web3 technology company OKX, has issued updates for March 2, 2024.

OKX Ventures Announces Series A Investment in Taiko, a Decentralized, Ethereum-Equivalent ZK-Rollup

OKX Ventures is pleased to announce its Series A investment in Taiko – a decentralized, Ethereum-equivalent ZK-Rollup.

Since 2022, Taiko has been a leader in innovation, conducting six successful testnets involving over 1,100,000 unique wallets, 30,000+ proposers and 14,000+ provers. With a bustling community of over 850,000 members on Discord and support for over 100 live apps, Taiko plays a crucial role in scaling Ethereum. It’s building a decentralized, permissionless and secure Layer 2 architecture.

OKX Ventures Founder Dora Yue said: “We are thrilled to participate in Taiko’s Series A funding round, the ZK-Rollup-based Ethereum Layer 2 network. We have participated in two of Taiko’s funding rounds so far and applaud its growth over the past year. Taiko has consistently pursued its initial goal of building a fully decentralized network. It has decentralized sequencers and validators that allow developers to leverage the power of Ethereum Layer 1 without altering existing DApps deployed to Taiko. The mainnet is expected to launch in the first half of 2024, marking the next milestone and ushering in a new phase of growth.”

About OKX Ventures

OKX Ventures is the investment arm of the second-largest crypto exchange by trading volume and Web3 technology company OKX, with an initial capital commitment of USD 100 million. It focuses on exploring the best blockchain projects on a global scale, supporting cutting-edge blockchain technology innovation, promoting the healthy development of the global blockchain industry, and investing in long-term structural value.

Through its commitment to supporting entrepreneurs who contribute to the development of the blockchain industry, OKX Ventures helps build innovative companies and brings global resources and historical experience to blockchain projects.

Find out more about OKX Ventures here.

SOURCE OKX Ventures

QUICK TAKE:

• Taiko Labs raised a total of US$37 million across three rounds, with its most recent Series A round led by Lightspeed Faction, Hashed, Generative Ventures, and Token Bay Capital.
• Taiko is now the largest Discord community in the rollups space.
• Last month, Taiko launched a new testnet, Katla, which has seen >1.1M wallet addresses and >13M total transactions to date.
• Taiko recently announced an allocation of nearly US$30 million for its second round of the grants program, making Taiko the only Ethereum Layer 2 to commit such substantial funding to support the ecosystem during a testnet phase.

NEW YORK and LONDON and SINGAPORE, March 2, 2024 — Taiko, an Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution provider, today announced the close of commitments for a US$15 million Series A funding round led by Lightspeed Faction, Hashed, Generative Ventures, and Token Bay Capital. Other notable participating investors in this latest round include Wintermute Ventures, Presto Labs, Flow Traders, Amber Group, OKX Ventures, GSR, WW Ventures, and more. The close of its most recent round brings Taiko’s total capital raised to US$37 million across three rounds. The closing of its Series A round comes just ahead of Taiko’s highly-anticipated mainnet launch. 

Taiko is an Ethereum-equivalent ZK-Rollup, scaling Ethereum by supporting all EVM opcodes in a Layer 2 architecture that is decentralized, permissionless, and secure. Since it was founded in 2022, Taiko has successfully executed six testnets involving over 1,100,000+ unique wallets, 30,000+ proposers, and 14,000+ provers. There are over 100 live apps in the Taiko ecosystem today, supported by a vibrant community of 850,000+ members on Discord.

Taiko has conducted six testnets, each focused on different aspects of the protocol. In each of these testnets, Taiko received substantial support from hundreds of thousands of community members. These members contributed by building dapps, operating nodes, serving as proposers and provers, and engaging with the protocol in various ways — all permissionlessly.

Taiko launched its 6th testnet, Katla, early this year. Katla is the first testnet to use Taiko’s Based Contestable Rollup (BCR) design, a configurable, multi-proof rollup architecture that features a contestation mechanism and based sequencing. Katla serves as the foundation of Taiko’s upcoming mainnet launch.

In the future, Taiko will develop Based Booster Rollup (BBR), a design that tackles the liquidity fragmentation issue by allowing developers to deploy on Ethereum and scale natively across all L2s.

Quote from Lead Investors:

Lead investors praised Taiko for its vibrant community, based sequencing architecture, successful testnets, and more.

“Amongst an explosion of new Rollups, Taiko stands out due to its passionate community, paired with a based sequencing architecture, which uniquely simplifies the L2 value chain, streamlining trust assumptions and removing friction for developer adoption,” said Samuel Harrison, Founding Partner at Lightspeed Faction.

“Hashed is profoundly impressed by Taiko’s leadership in blockchain scalability with its Ethereum-equivalent ZK-Rollup technology. The team’s achievements, including vibrant community engagement and successful testnets, underscore our confidence in their vision,” said Ryan Kim, Founding Partner at Hashed. “Our investment signifies our commitment to pioneering technologies that promise to transform Ethereum scaling and the broader blockchain ecosystem.”

Will Wang, the Managing Partner of Generative Ventures also added: “The scaling of Ethereum is an important prerequisite for the blockchain ecosystem to become the mainstream next-generation global financial system. Our continuous and firm support for Taiko demonstrated through three rounds of investment, reflects our recognition of Taiko’s philosophy and execution. Due to its positioning and capabilities in type1 and BBR, Taiko is a unique choice among the many Ethereum Layer 2 networks, and therefore, we are firmly optimistic about Taiko and will continue to build and invest into the Taiko ecosystem!”

“Taiko has been fully decentralized and permissionless from day one, staying true to crypto‘s original ethos,” said Lucy Gazmararian, Founder of Token Bay Capital. “These core values place Taiko in a strong position to become the default scaling solution for Ethereum, and we look forward to continuing our long-standing relationship with the team, helping them to scale across Asia and the Middle East from Token Bay’s hubs in Abu Dhabi and Hong Kong.”

Quote from Taiko Co-Founders:

“Building the first Ethereum-equivalent based rollup is something we knew was going to be a multi-year adventure,” said Daniel Wang, Taiko’s Co-Founder and CEO. “Now, as we approach mainnet launch, we realize what a ride it has been. We’re determined to ship our products as soon as they’re ready and show the industry that what had been thought of as impossible, is indeed possible.”

“Our commitment to scale Ethereum in the most native way possible is something investors and partners have been very keen to support,” said Taiko’s Co-Founder and COO Terence Lam. “We want to thank everyone who shares our vision and continues to support us in our journey to bring Ethereum to the world.”

About Lead Investors

Lightspeed Faction, a blockchain-focused venture capital firm, recently launched its inaugural US$285 million fund. Hashed is one of the largest crypto-focused venture funds and ecosystem builders in Asia, headquartered in South Korea. Generative Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on investing in companies working on decentralized networks and machine intelligence. Token Bay Capital is renowned for its expertise in blockchain investment strategies.

Note: Certain investments remain subject to regulatory approval.

SOURCE Taiko