–          Funds to support the advancement of SF001, a next-generation polyene antifungal designed for reduced toxicity

NEW YORK, June 17, 2024 — Elion Therapeutics (“Elion”, formerly Sfunga Therapeutics), a biotechnology company dedicated to transforming the treatment of life-threatening invasive fungal infections (IFIs), announced today it has closed a $81 million Series B funding round led by Deerfield Management (“Deerfield“) and the AMR Action Fund. Additional investors include Illinois Ventures.

Elion’s clinical-stage candidate, SF001, a next-generation polyene antifungal, completed a first-in-human single-ascending dose study and is now being evaluated in a multiple-ascending dose study.  The active molecule is a novel analog of the antifungal amphotericin B (AmB), rationally designed to mitigate systemic toxicities. In 2023, SF001 received Qualified Infectious Disease Product (QIDP) and Fast Track designations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for early antifungal therapy of presumed invasive fungal disease and treatment of invasive aspergillosis.

“Invasive fungal infections have reached historic levels of concern, largely due to increased medical reliance on biologic immunosuppression, more people with severe pulmonary disease at risk of IFI, and increased exposures associated with environmental changes,” said Kieren Marr, M.D., M.B.A., Elion’s President and Chief Medical Officer. “As we move into the next stage of our clinical program, we’re optimistic about the potential of SF001 to deliver antifungal treatment with reduced toxicity and the potential to address critical challenges with currently available options.”

Elion is led by Dr. Marr and a highly experienced team of experts who have been instrumental in the development of most currently available antifungal agents. Dr. Marr, co-founder of Elion and international expert in fungal diseases, served as Director of Transplant and Oncology Infectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine until 2022, when she became Elion’s Chief Medical Officer and recruited the leadership team as it stands today.

“The speed of development of SF001 to date has been impressive and is a testament to the world-class leadership team established at Elion,” said James Flynn, Managing Partner, Deerfield Management. “Fungal infections are a growing medical concern globally, and we have an opportunity with this therapeutic candidate to address millions of disease cases and preventable deaths that occur every year. We are excited to support this mission and confident that this financing will provide the runway to achieve Elion’s clinical development goals.”

“With resistance to existing antifungals growing and infection rates increasing, it is essential that we develop effective therapies for patients in need,” said AMR Action Fund CEO Henry Skinner, PhD, MBE. “The World Health Organization recently identified four fungal pathogens that it considers a ‘critical priority,’ including Aspergillus fumigatus. We are pleased to support the team at Elion and believe their work could deliver an important treatment for patients suffering from devastating fungal infections.”

ABOUT INVASIVE FUNGAL INFECTIONS
More than 150 million people suffer from serious fungal infections worldwide. Severe, life-threatening fungal infections result in approximately 2.5 million annual deaths globally. IFIs typically occur in individuals with compromised immune systems due to HIV/AIDS, cancer therapies or organ transplants, or those with severe lung disease, especially those caused by influenza and SARS CoV-2 infections. Only four classes of antifungal drugs are currently available, and antifungal resistance, organ toxicities, and drug-drug interactions complicate IFI treatment. This group of drugs includes AmB, a highly efficacious natural product widely used since the 1950s to treat a variety of fungal infections. However, AmB also causes kidney impairment, occurring in up to 80 percent of patients. SF001 was rationally designed to mitigate renal toxicities through increased specificity to fungal cells.

ABOUT ELION THERAPEUTICS
Elion Therapeutics is a cutting-edge biotechnology company dedicated to transforming the treatment of life-threatening IFIs. Elion was founded on the belief that mechanistic insights enable targeted optimizations of natural products. Today, Elion is advancing the first polyene antifungal rationally designed to mitigate toxicities and potentially transform the future of polyene therapy. For more information, please visit www.eliontx.com. 

ABOUT DEERFIELD MANAGEMENT
Deerfield is an investment management firm committed to advancing healthcare through investment, information and philanthropy. The Firm works across the healthcare ecosystem to connect people, capital, ideas and technology in bold, collaborative and inclusive ways. For more information, please visit www.deerfield.com.

Deerfield contact:
Rachel Pelletier
[email protected] 
(440) 409-6274

SOURCE Deerfield Management

TOKYO, June 16, 2024 — TIER IV, a pioneer in open-source software for autonomous driving systems, proudly announces the successful extension of its Series B funding round, securing an additional US$54 million (¥8.5 billion). This brings the total Series B funding to US$132 million (¥20.7 billion) and the company’s overall funding to US$243 million (¥38.1 billion).

Background

During the Series A round, TIER IV expanded beyond developing the open-source software Autoware* to commercialize comprehensive software platforms that encompass communication, insurance, and risk management features for autonomous driving systems. The Series B round has further enhanced our software development capabilities, particularly in advocating the concept of reference designs. TIER IV was also selected for the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization’s (NEDO) Green Innovation Fund Project, participating in a substantial US$162 million (¥25.4 billion) R&D initiative aimed at introducing scalability to autonomous driving systems.

Purpose of the funding

The latest funds are earmarked for launching the production of Level 4 autonomous driving systems, leveraging TIER IV’s advanced software platforms and reference designs. The funds will also boost our efforts to develop safety assessment methods that tightly integrate processes and tools.

TIER IV has been selected for a NEDO program to support tech startups, with a focus on advancing electrification modules applicable to various vehicle models, which tackles grand challenges for hardware disparity, software quality, and system dependability from fiscal 2023 to 2025. Furthermore, we have been selected for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) Phase 3 funding, underscoring our commitment to establishing a robust Level 4 certification framework from fiscal 2024 to 2027.

These strategic initiatives align with the Japanese government’s objective to deploy Level 4 autonomous driving systems in 50 locations by 2025 and over 100 by 2027, which aims to improve mobility services nationwide.

Key business areas

From Series A to Series B, TIER IV has significantly advanced its software platforms, with an emphasis on vehicle models and safety assessment methods for Level 4 autonomous driving systems. In collaboration with global partners, we are ready for full-scale commercialization, both in Japan and worldwide. Our main applications include mobility services such as route buses and urban taxis, as well as logistics services encompassing intra-factory transportation and highway trucks, all within a Level 4 regulatory framework.

Future outlook

TIER IV is set to further develop new vehicle models and open safety assessment methods, spearheading the deployment of enhanced mobility and logistics services powered by Level 4 autonomous driving systems. Building on our current reference designs for route buses and urban taxis, we plan to create a new reference design for privately-owned passenger vehicles, which introduces state-of-the-art technologies to the automotive industry. Going forward, TIER IV will focus on developing electric and electronic architectures (EEA) optimized for software-defined vehicles (SDV), along with a new generative world model tailored for end-to-end autonomy.

TIER IV remains committed to harnessing its expertise in software development, vehicle manufacturing, and safety assessment to foster the deployment of Level 4 autonomous driving systems across various environments.

*Autoware is a registered trademark of The Autoware Foundation.

About TIER IV

TIER IV stands at the forefront of deep tech innovation, pioneering Autoware, the world’s first open-source software for autonomous driving, to empower intelligent vehicles worldwide. Harnessing Autoware, we build scalable platforms and deliver comprehensive solutions across software development, vehicle manufacturing, and service operations. As a founding member of the Autoware Foundation, our commitment to open-source software enables individuals and organizations to thrive within the evolving technology for autonomous driving, reshaping the future of intelligent vehicles.

Media Contact
[email protected]

SOURCE Tier IV, Inc.

WILMINGTON, N.C., June 14, 2024 — This “StructuralAI” from UmbrellaAI enables transparent applications where users can see and audit how the AI makes its decisions. This is in direct contrast to the more well-known GenerativeAI using Large Language Models (LLM). Their results are not trackable. These LLM’s are a “Black Box” and cannot be fully trusted, due to their lack of transparency. In comparison StructuralAI is a “Glass Box”

MBA students at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business learned about UmbrellaAI’s Structural AI. They developed hypotheses about the most attractive go-to-market opportunities. “Many of our students were learning about business problems surrounding AI for the first time. Yet they immediately recognized the distinctiveness of StructuralAI,” said Prof. Dennie Kim.

This unique partnership between a technology company and university-based research started with UmbrellaAI’s 4-year collaboration with Golden Gate University in San Francisco. They focused on developing the technology with an eye on the Black Box problem.

“Our original focus on the R&D was for developing an AI for the early diagnosis of disease,” said Chip Venters, CEO of UmbrellaAI. “Healthcare applications must be transparent and auditable for use according to the CDC. The Darden students’ strategic analyses turned the focus on other industries that also required transparency.”

“We were impressed by the creativity of the pitches,” said Prof. Kim. “They ranged from diagnosing problems with cars, farm equipment, and medical devices to improving college admissions. Forecasting natural disasters was also a great application. Others included assisting in legal cases and helping medical students prepare for exams. The market opportunity and impact on society were extremely compelling.”

UmbrellaAI’s COO, Kent Locklear is a UVA medical school and Darden MBA graduate. He said, “Dennie’s students opened our eyes to the true potential of what we have been working on. As a result, we are going to move to more of a platform approach. We will still use it for disease diagnosis but are opening it up for use on the applications that Darden students identified.”

Professor Dr. Rao Mikkilineni from GGU: “The future of AI is transforming. The new StructuralAI approach paves the way for transparent AI. This is AI with guardrails, no hallucinations, and fully auditable. UmbrellaAI will continue their collaboration with the Darden School and Golden Gate.

UmbrellaAI will continue their collaboration with Prof. Kim and Darden students to further explore the business applications of StructuralAI and help students get hands-on exposure to real world business problems at the cutting edge of AI technology. “With Golden Gate continuing to develop the technology, the university-based partnership to develop a fundamental new AI is ground breaking in itself,” said Venters. “We are very excited about this next stage.”

For More Information: Chip Venters, [email protected], 919-271-3937 www.equalaccesscarriers.com. www.MyHealthUmbrella.com

SOURCE UmbrellaAI

Jason Carman Will Use His $100,000 Grant to Grow His Weekly Documentary Series, “S³,” and Work on New Film Projects

GREENWICH, Conn., June 14, 2024 — O’Shaughnessy Ventures LLC (OSV), an investment firm that empowers creators, has awarded an O’Shaughnessy Fellowship to Jason Carman, a filmmaker based in San Francisco, California.

Carman, who has been creating films since his childhood, will continue to grow his weekly documentary video series, “S³.” He will also develop several other original film projects.

Launched by Carman in 2023, “S³” makes the field of deep technology more accessible by spotlighting pioneering founders and companies. Carman has released over 40 episodes of “S³” and accumulated over 30,000 subscribers on the show’s YouTube channel. “S³” has given multiple startups their first media coverage.

Carman’s original film projects will include documentaries exploring controversial deep technology topics.

OSV’s founder and CEO, Jim O’Shaughnessy, commented, “We were immediately impressed by Jason’s optimistic, high-agency, tech-positive worldview and excellent storytelling ability. He has some exciting projects in the pipeline, and we’re delighted to be able to support him in bringing these to fruition.”

“The stories we tell today light the path of our future,” said Carman. “Receiving an O’Shaughnessy Fellowship is one of the most exciting and empowering turning points in my 15 years of filmmaking. It’s time to make some movies.”

About Carman

Carman has been fascinated with filmmaking since his childhood. He started creating short films at age nine. He experimented with visual effects throughout his teenage years, winning Best Visual FX at the 2016 All-American High School Film Festival among thousands of other entrants. Carman’s prize for winning in this category included a four-year scholarship to the University of Advancing Technology in Arizona. However, he declined this offer to pursue filmmaking full-time instead of attending college.

Since leaving school, Carman has directed and produced music videos, worked on creative commercial editing and production for video games, and led content and digital strategy at Astranis Space Technologies Corp., which aims to provide affordable internet to underserved populations.

In 2023, Carman launched “S³,” hoping to inspire viewers to follow in the footsteps of the founders and innovators profiled on the show.

Carman is creatively inspired by science-fiction and fantasy classics like “Star Wars” and “The Lord of the Rings” and by directors such as Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Christopher Nolan and Denis Villeneuve. He believes that the quality of storytelling in Hollywood is declining and wants to be at the forefront of a new generation of filmmaking.

More information about Carman is available on his website.

About the Fellowship Program

OSV launched the O’Shaughnessy Fellowships in 2023. It is a one-year program for ambitious people who want to build something great. Fellows receive a $100,000 grant and access to OSV’s network of founders, investors and experts to support them in bringing their projects to life. More information about last year’s Fellows is available on OSV’s website.

In 2024, OSV will award ten $100,000 Fellowships. Applicants for the Fellowships will also be considered for its sister program, the O’Shaughnessy Grants. Under this program, OSV will make twenty additional $10,000 grants to promising creators, who will also be provided with access to OSV’s network.

Applications for the 2024 Fellowships are now closed and will reopen on January 1, 2025. Creators interested in learning more can visit OSV’s website.

About O’Shaughnessy Ventures

OSV is a creative investment firm that empowers and inspires creators to bring their ideas to life. Founded by Jim O’Shaughnessy, a pioneer in quantitative investing, founder of O’Shaughnessy Asset Management, and author of four books on investing, OSV aims to provide financial support and to partner in growing the next life-changing creative ideas.

OSV combines Jim’s deeply rooted interest in all things art, science, investing, and tech with his long-held desire to establish scenarios designed to help promising creators and their inspiring ideas succeed, regardless of age, location, job history, or level of education. For more information, visit https://www.osv.llc.

Media Contact:
Ena Gong
O’Shaughnessy Ventures LLC
(917) 355-7420
[email protected]

SOURCE O’Shaughnessy Ventures

Developing therapeutics against novel, tumor-selective targets and co-target pairs using bispecific antibodies

Series A proceeds fund advancement of the Company’s lead programs to clinical readiness and the identification of additional candidates

Dr. Raman, a seasoned industry veteran previously of Novartis and Flagship Pioneering, joins as CEO to advance InduPro pipeline

SEATTLE and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., June 13, 2024 — InduPro, Inc., a biotechnology company defining protein spatial relationships to create novel therapeutics for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases, today announced an $85 million Series A financing co-led by The Column Group and Vida Ventures with participation from investors, including MRL Ventures Fund (the therapeutics-focused venture fund of Merck & Co, Inc.), Emerson Collective and Euclidean Capital. The financing will support the advancement of the first expected clinical product candidate targeting cancer tissue based on the proximity of co-targeted pairs, from preclinical development to an expected IND filing in Q4 2025 for a Phase 1 clinical trial. It will also fuel a pipeline of novel bispecific antibodies and antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) that utilizes protein proximity for identification of novel tumor selective target pairings.

Prakash Raman, Ph.D. joins as Chief Executive Officer of InduPro with more than two decades of biopharmaceutical business development and executive leadership experience, blending his scientific background, program and portfolio management and strong business development experience to lead and support biopharma companies.

InduPro therapeutically targets cell surface proteins in a variety of disease contexts by leveraging inherent or induced protein proximity. Through precise mapping of protein neighborhoods using its proprietary, high resolution proximity labeling technology, the Company is discovering novel co-target pairs that are highly selective for specific disease biology. Additionally, since protein proximity influences signals in cells that are critical for cellular health, proximity can be induced to modify cellular signaling and interactions in disease. InduPro’s approach relies on a unique discovery engine (ProXiMATE) to generate potential first-in-class and best-in-class novel therapeutic candidates across multiple indications and modalities.

“Our team is highly focused on precisely defining the spatial proximity of proteins on the surface of cells with high therapeutic potential across a broad range of indications and applications,” said Dr. Raman. “Instead of a limited subset of targets with known disease biology, we are discovering novel targets and best-in class approaches for areas of high unmet need for many cancer and autoimmune patients.”

The lead bispecific ADC program uses the Company’s Tumor Associated Proximity Antigen (TAPA) therapeutic approach to specifically target cancer tissue based on the proximity of co-targeted pairs discovered. In a separate ‘immunological synapse modulation’ approach, multi-specific antibodies are directed against targets whose induced proximity recruits and activates (or sequesters) proteins on the surface of immune cells in the treatment of autoimmune disease or immuno-oncology.

“Our approach provides unique insight into novel targets and mechanisms of biology by which to target and manipulate disease biology. This approach creates high patient impact and enables our first- and best-in class programs,” said Scott Lesley, Ph.D., President & Chief Scientific Officer. “Our ProXiMATE platform leverages deep learning analysis of protein microenvironment and membrane proteomic data to create an extensive knowledge base of highly-tuned protein proximity maps that continually generate novel and high-value tumor selective targets for ADCs and T cell engagers.”

“We are delighted that InduPro’s unique discovery engine is driven and supported by a talented team led by Prakash and will provide a strong foundation for a robust pipeline of potentially transformative therapeutics with opportunities for expansion and partnership,” said Sarah Hymowitz, Ph.D., partner at The Column Group and Board Chair of InduPro. “We look forward to collaborating with the InduPro team to bring novel and highly promising therapies to patients living with a wide range of cancers and autoimmune diseases.”

Dr. Raman previously served as President and CEO of Ribon Therapeutics, a biotech company focused on first-in-class small molecule drugs for Oncology and Immunology targeting the PARP family of enzymes. Prior to joining Ribon, Dr. Raman was a Senior Partner, Chief Business Development Officer at Flagship Pioneering, and held senior roles at Novartis for nearly 14 years, most recently as Vice President, Global Head of Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research (NIBR) Business Development and Licensing. Dr. Raman completed his undergraduate work at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, and received his Ph.D. in Organic and Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Formed in 2022 by Scientific Founder and recent Passano Award winner Chris Garcia, Ph.D., CSO Scott Lesley, Ph.D., and inventors of the protein proximity-based mapping technology, Rob Oslund Ph.D. and Niyi Fadeyi Ph.D., InduPro is led by a dedicated Board of Directors that includes Sarah Hymowitz, Ph.D., Board Chair from The Column Group, Helen Kim and Rajul Jain, M.D. from Vida Ventures, Peter Dudek, Ph.D. from MRL Ventures Fund, Rahul Ballal, Ph.D. CEO from Mediar Therapeutics, Craig Parker CEO from Surrozen, and InduPro CEO Prakash Raman, Ph.D.

About InduPro
InduPro is a biotechnology company defining and harnessing inherent and induced proximity biology to unlock next-generation therapeutics in cancer and autoimmune diseases. The Company develops therapeutics against novel, tumor-selective targets and co-target pairs using bispecific antibodies including antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) and T cell engagers (TCEs), fueling a robust pipeline of first- and best-in-class programs. To learn more, visit https://www.induprotx.com.

About The Column Group
The Column Group is a leading venture capital firm based in San Francisco that seeks to partner with exceptional scientific founders, entrepreneurs, executives, and investment organizations with a shared vision for building the next generation of drug discovery and development companies. TCG invests in disease-focused drug discovery companies with the potential to become leaders in their respective fields. These companies are strongly supported by the unique and complementary skill sets of TCG’s team, which includes prominent authorities in the scientific, operational, and financial arenas.

About Vida Ventures
Vida Ventures is a next-generation life sciences investment firm founded by scientists, physicians, entrepreneurs and investors passionate about building and funding breakthroughs in biomedicine. Together they form an independent, bold investment group bound together by a simple word – life. Its mission is to bring science to life and advance transformative biomedical innovations that have the potential to make a meaningful difference for patients. Vida has a bicoastal presence and currently has approximately $1.8 billion under management.

About MRL Ventures Fund
MRL Ventures Fund (MRLV) is the therapeutics-focused corporate venture fund of Merck & Co., Inc., with headquarters in Rahway, N.J., USA. From its headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., USA, the MRLV team invests globally in early-stage innovative therapeutics companies that are developing transformative medicines in any therapeutic area using any modality. The MRLV team of experienced life-sciences venture capital professionals is committed to supporting great entrepreneurs in their quest to create value through building companies that have a meaningful impact on health and disease. For more information, please visit: www.mrlv.com.

SOURCE InduPro

NEW YORK, June 13, 2024 — GPTZERO, the leading platform for AI-generated content detection and responsible AI adoption, today announced it has raised $10 million in Series A funding led by Footwork VC with participation from Reach Capital, Uncork, Neo, Alt Capital, and the former CEOs of Reuters and the NYT.

“As we spent time with the GPTZero team, we became more and more excited by what we learned,” says Nikhil Basu Trivedi at Footwork. “Their north star, in building an independent layer to measure and preserve authentic content on the internet, will only grow in importance in the years to come.”

This funding will enable GPTZero to redefine the interaction between humans and AI, enabling individuals, not AI companies, to measure and define the application of artificial intelligence on their own terms.

GPTZero’s roadmap includes launching and developing:  

• Hallucination detection: A core technology for ensuring the integrity of AI-generated content
• AI Sources: Identify the training data behind LLM outputs to judge how trustworthy they are and avoid reproducing copyrighted text
• GPTZero Docs: A new editor platform with an embedded AI that records and cites its AI usage. It includes education-specific functionality around limiting and watermarking AI outputs.

“We have been extremely fortunate to support a community of millions in identifying AI,” says CEO Edward Tian, “now we are committed to empowering teachers, students, writers, readers, and organizations to transparently interact with AI.”

SOURCE GPTZero

Abishek Kulshreshtha brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the position

COLUMBIA, Md., June 13, 2024 — The Maryland Innovation Initiative (MII) Board of Directors announces the appointment of Abishek Kulshreshtha as the executive director of TEDCO’s MII program. In this position, Kulshreshtha will oversee all MII activities starting July 1, 2024.

As an independent unit within TEDCO, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation, MII was created to promote the commercialization of research conducted in five of Maryland’s academic research institutions (Johns Hopkins University; Morgan State University; University of Maryland, Baltimore; University of Maryland, Baltimore County; and University of Maryland, College Park) while leveraging each institution’s strengths. This collaborative program has supported more than 170 startup companies, created 370 jobs and procured more than $737 million in follow-on funding since its inception nearly 12 years ago. 

Recently, the program expanded to include opportunities at two comprehensive universities – Frostburg State University and Bowie State University. The addition of these pilot programs expands MII’s reach and allows for even more research to be brought to market.

“On behalf of the MII board of directors and our staff, we are thrilled to have Abi join our team. His experiences and perspectives, merging science and economic development, are perfect for the MII program,” said Renée Winsky, MII board chair. “I want to express my gratitude to my fellow board members and to our amazing MII team for their patience and support during this search process.”

Kulshreshtha’s experience positions him to be an asset for not only the MII program, but for the various site miners, researchers and innovators in the ecosystem that the program supports. His expertise includes economic development through innovation, translational research and commercialization. Most recently Kulshreshtha served as the chief business officer for Southern Research, where he oversaw business development, commercialization and economic development functions, launched a biotechnology accelerator, managed an intellectual property portfolio of nearly 200 patents and more. He holds a D.Phil. in theoretical physics from Oxford University and a bachelor’s degree in mathematical physics from Brown University.

“I am excited to begin this new journey with the MII team, the MII board and all of TEDCO,” said Kulshreshtha. “Their impact on Maryland’s economic development has been inspiring and I’m honored to be a part of the continued journey. Together, I know we can enhance MII’s impact, support more entrepreneurs, researchers and innovators in the ecosystem and bring more research to market.”

About TEDCO
TEDCO, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation, enhances economic empowerment growth through the fostering of an inclusive entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem. TEDCO identifies, invests in, and helps grow technology and life science-based companies in Maryland. Learn more at www.tedcomd.com.

Media Contact
Tammi Thomas, Chief Development & Marketing Officer, TEDCO, [email protected]

SOURCE TEDCO

WASHINGTON, June 13, 2024 — Women Business Collaborative (WBC) announces an open call for applications for women entrepreneurs and capital investors to attend the Women’s Capital Summit, set for September 4-5, 2024, in New York, NY.

The Women’s Capital Summit is a dedicated platform for women entrepreneurs to access essential funding and for investors to discover high-potential women-owned businesses. With women-owned businesses making up 40% of all U.S. businesses and employing approximately 5.8 million people, the Summit underscores the critical need for financial backing to elevate these enterprises further.

“Women entrepreneurs bring invaluable innovation and leadership to the economy, yet often face hurdles in securing the capital needed for growth,” said Gwen K. Young, CEO of WBC. “We’re inviting women business owners and forward-thinking investors to join us at the Women’s Capital Summit and foster partnerships that will drive significant economic and social impact.”

The Summit will include:

• Investor Matchmaking: Sessions to connect women entrepreneurs with investors.
• Keynote Addresses: Hear from influential leaders and women entrepreneurs who have navigated the challenges of securing investment.
• Expert Panels: Discussions on current trends in entrepreneurship and investment, the future of women-led businesses, and strategies for overcoming funding obstacles.
• Networking Sessions: Opportunities for informal networking, enabling attendees to forge valuable connections with peers, mentors, and industry leaders.

Women Entrepreneurs

• Eligibility: Open to women entrepreneurs from all industries seeking investment to grow their businesses.
• How to Apply: Submit an application by June 30 at: https://wbcollaborative.org/wbc-events/womens-capital-summit/
• Benefits: Selected entrepreneurs will receive exclusive access to meet with investors and feature their company at the event.

Capital Investors

• Eligibility: Open to individual investors, venture capital firms, and funding organizations interested in supporting women entrepreneurs.
• How to Apply: Register at www.womenbusinesscollaborative.org/capitalwomenssummit
• Benefits: Investors can pre-schedule meetings with promising women entrepreneurs, access all summit sessions, and network with peers.

For more information, please email [email protected] or visit www.womenbusinesscollaborative.org/capitalwomenssummit.

About Women Business Collaborative (WBC)
Women Business Collaborative (WBC) is an unprecedented alliance of over 80 women’s business organizations and hundreds of business leaders building a movement to achieve equal position, pay, and power for all women in business. Through collaboration, advocacy, action, and accountability, we galvanize thousands of diverse professional women and men, business organizations, public and private companies to accelerate change. For more information on the Women Business Collaborative visit wbcollaborative.org.

SOURCE Women Business Collaborative

Backed by leading AI investors Daniel Gross and Nat Friedman, JACE can complete cognitively-complex, multi-step tasks by performing browser-based actions

SAN FRANCISCO, June 13, 2024 — Zeta Labs, an AI research and product company developing autonomous agents capable of efficiently performing complex and multi-step tasks, today announced the raise of its $2.9 million pre-seed round and the debut of its large language model (LLM)-based proprietary autonomous AI agent, JACE. The round was led by Daniel Gross, former head of AI at Y Combinator, and Nat Friedman, former Github CEO, with participation from Earlybird VC and Kaya VC as well as AI Grant, Shawn (swyx) Wang, Bartek Pucek and Mati Staniszewski, founder of ElevenLabs. Zeta Labs will use the funding to expand its engineering team, host training models, and enhance JACE’s overall infrastructure, improving its speed and reliability. 

A groundbreaking digital assistant, JACE represents the future of AI agents, going beyond traditional uses of current AI chatbots like ChatGPT and their text-generation focus. Instead, JACE focuses on taking action in the digital world. It differs from existing AI-powered chatbots due to its complex cognitive architecture, which enables it to complete high-difficulty tasks. Created by Zeta Labs, JACE can control and perform actions in the browser similarly to a human user, excelling in managing complex tasks that involve web automation, interaction and direct communication. This is due to the development and training of Zeta Labs’ proprietary web-interaction model, AWA-1 (Autonomous Web Agent-1), which enables JACE to reliably execute tasks over long periods of time, effectively handling the challenges and inconsistencies commonly found in web interfaces.

“At Zeta Labs, we aim to enable AI models to interact with the digital world around them. The development of our AWA-1 model allows JACE the ability to control a browser, essentially giving the AI assistant the digital equivalent of arms and legs,” said Peter Albert, co-founder of Zeta Labs. “You can’t ask any current chatbot on the market to book a trip, pay an invoice or set up a job post. With JACE, you can.”

By learning through extensive simulated interactions and utilizing synthetic data for rapid self-improvement, JACE developed the ability to navigate and utilize digital tools effectively. It is able to provide tangible assistance in a wide array of tasks from simple to-dos like making a restaurant reservation to more complex projects like setting up a recruitment pipeline or starting a business. The end result is a modern AI agent capable of assisting in a broad spectrum of tasks previously beyond the scope of chat-optimized AI models. By teaching JACE to control a browser, Zeta Labs created a system capable of emulating a substantial portion of day-to-day office work. To prove JACE’s efficacy and ability to go beyond the traditional AI-assistant role, the Zeta Labs team tested the autonomous agent by asking it to create a company on its own. Starting with a simple prompt, JACE led the user through creating a business plan, registered the business – a math tutoring company – found the first client and made its first revenue, all within two weeks. In the latest internal benchmark test conducted by Zeta Labs, which focused on the most common web-based tasks, like navigating the ordering process for a pizza delivery or finding two flats in London that meet specific criteria from the past week’s listings, JACE showed impressive performance. JACE performed the best when using Zeta Labs’ AWA-1 model, delivering an 89% task completion success rate, compared to when it used GPT-4o (68% success rate) and an open-source web agent using GPT-4o (25% success rate).

“In its current form, I see JACE as a meta-aggregator for web interfaces. Why learn to navigate all the different user interfaces when you can have a universal UI for everything?” said Fryderyk Wiatrowski, co-founder of Zeta Labs. “With JACE, you simply say what you need, and if you forget, it will ask you all the necessary questions up front. Imagine a universal service desk with a consultant who knows you personally and never needs to sleep. JACE will be that for you, just sitting there, ready to serve you at all times.”

Zeta Labs was co-founded by Fryderyk Wiatrowski and Peter Albert in August 2023. Albert, who launched his first e-commerce business eight years ago, noticed the extensive amount of office time spent on repetitive mundane tasks as he looked to fill operational roles. He wanted to create an environment where his team could focus on the interesting work that really mattered, while simultaneously being more efficient and effective. This vision laid the foundation for Zeta Labs and, after connecting with Wiatrowski during their time at Meta, where Albert was part of the core team behind Llama 2, the two decided to join forces.

“Web browsing was invented 34 years ago and forever changed the global economy, yet AI models don’t understand how to use it,” said Daniel Gross, Zeta Labs investor and entrepreneur known for founding Cue and Pioneer. “The next paradigm shift in AI is unlocking that behavior, and Zeta Labs is poised to make that happen. I am pleased to be an investor in this grand mission!”

To learn more about Zeta Labs and sign up for JACE’s waitlist, visit https://www.zetalabs.ai/.

About Zeta Labs 
Founded in 2024 by Fryderyk Wiatrowski and Peter Albert, Zeta Labs is an AI research and product lab dedicated to the art of possibility and the pursuit of significance. Their mission is to develop technologies that clear the path for humanity to engage with what truly matters. They are the creators of JACE, a proprietary AI agent based on large language models (LLMs) that is able to control and perform actions in the browser, like a human user would, and excels in managing interactive and complex tasks that require web interaction, automation, and direct communication functionalities. Engineered to navigate and utilize digital tools, JACE offers tangible assistance in a wide array of tasks, from routine activities like making a restaurant reservation to complex projects such as managing recruitment pipelines or launching businesses. JACE’s capability to complete cognitively-complex, multi-step tasks represents a significant advancement in AI capabilities. In 2024, the Zeta Labs team utilized this autonomous AI agent to establish the world’s first AI-created company.

SOURCE Zeta Labs