TOKYO, Aug. 22, 2024 — NIPPON EXPRESS HOLDINGS, INC., made an investment on Tuesday, August 20, in Gatik AI Inc. (hereinafter “Gatik”), a company developing self-driving technology for commercial vehicles and autonomous vehicle-based logistics services in North America, via the NX Global Innovation Fund.

Gatik Logo: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/img/202408205135-O3-j1d7H638 

NX Logo: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/img/202408205135-O1-W5Zm73Ks 

Profile of Gatik
Gatik, a startup company founded in the United States in 2017, provides logistics services using autonomous trucks. The company has expertise not only in autonomous software development but also in the overall design, testing and evaluation of autonomous vehicles, and successfully completed the world’s first commercial deliveries using unmanned autonomous vehicles on public roads in 2021. It specializes in short- and medium-haul business-to-business (B-to-B) logistics, and provides logistics services using self-driving vehicles for “middle-mile” deliveries between shippers’ intermediate warehouses and between warehouses and stores. The company has been expanding its business in North America with major U.S. retailers such as Walmart and Kroger as well as food and beverage manufacturers and other shippers that handle daily commodities and food products.

Image: https://cdn.kyodonewsprwire.jp/prwfile/release/M103866/202408205135/_prw_PI4fl_81008g53.jpg 

Investment background and objectives
Autonomous driving technology is attracting a great deal of attention as a solution to social issues such as the aging of drivers, human resource shortages, soaring labor costs, traffic accidents caused by human error, and an increase in mobility-impaired people due to the aging of societies. Japan’s government has announced a policy aiming for the year-round operation of autonomous vehicles on public roads in all prefectures by FY2025, and efforts toward full-scale operations are accelerating. Increased operational efficiency is also expected to improve fuel efficiency vis-a-vis manned operations, helping to satisfy rising social demand for decarbonization.

The NX Group supports the logistics needs of customers in various industries and provides many of them with “middle-mile” logistics services, especially for delivering raw materials to factories or shipping finished products. By establishing capital ties with Gatik, whose efforts are compatible with such a business model, the Group is seeking to deepen its knowledge of the cutting-edge autonomous trucking business. The Group is also looking to work with Gatik in the U.S. and elsewhere globally.

The NX Group will continue resolving social issues by co-creating businesses with startup companies in Japan and overseas, and contributing to the realization of sustainable societies where all people can lead productive and fulfilling lives.

Profile of investee
Company name: Gatik AI Inc.
Head office location: 161 E Evelyn Ave, Mountain View, CA 94041 USA
Year established: 2017
Representative: Gautam Narang
Description of business: Development of autonomous driving systems, peripheral functions and tools, and provision of autonomous logistics services
Website: https://gatik.ai/ 

About the NX Group: https://kyodonewsprwire.jp/attach/202408205135-O1-P1Z2dzZa.pdf 

NX Group official website: https://www.nipponexpress.com/
NX Group’s official LinkedIn account: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nippon-express-group/ 

Educational program in partnership with Tokyo Metropolitan Government and JETRO is designed for VCs in Japan to become better investors

TOKYO, Aug. 21, 2024 — Silicon Valley venture capital firm 500 Global today announced the second cohort of a bespoke educational program for Japanese venture capitalists with the goal of supporting the vision of positioning Tokyo as a central hub for venture capital, in partnership with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO).

Venture Capital Unlocked: Tokyo leverages 500 Global’s experience as a multi-stage venture capital firm and venture education leader. 500 Global’s Venture Capital Unlocked has conducted over 40 programs in 10 countries and has trained over 1,200 investors to hone their investment skills at a global scale through various VC Unlocked Programs.

The education program consists of 4 days of in-person workshops taking place in Tokyo on October 15 – 18 and two virtual sessions led by US-based VCs. Through experiential learning and curated lessons from 500’s experts, participants will have the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of venture capital frameworks and build their network. The curriculum includes courses that cover topics such as: Early Stage Investing Frameworks, GP:LP Relationships, Fund Modelling & Portfolio Construction, Valuations, Cap Tables & Ownership, and Term Sheet Negotiations & Scaling Startups.

The first cohort of the program, delivered in March 2024, had 33 participants from various Japanese venture capital firms and received strong feedback with an NPS of 97.

“We are excited to bring VC Unlocked: Tokyo back after the positive reception to our first program in March 2024. We remain dedicated to contributing to the growth of Japan’s venture ecosystem through sharing investment perspectives and practices” said Bedy Yang, 500 Global Managing Partner. “VC Unlocked: Tokyo offers a tailored approach that blends Silicon Valley’s innovation with Japan’s unique market dynamics, giving participants a platform to explore and engage with the latest investment trends both locally and globally.”

To learn more about the upcoming program, please visit: Venture Capital Unlocked Tokyo 

500 Global
500 Global is a multi-stage venture capital firm with $2.4B in assets under management that invests in founders building fast-growing technology companies. We focus on markets where technology, innovation, and capital can unlock long-term value and drive economic growth. We work closely with key stakeholders and advise governments on how best to support entrepreneurial ecosystems so startups can thrive. 500 Global has backed over 5,000 founders representing more than 2,900 companies operating in 80+ countries. We have invested in 35+ companies valued at over $1 billion and 160+ companies valued at over $100 million (including private, public, and exited companies). Our 200+ team members are located in over 30 countries and bring experience as entrepreneurs, investors, and operators from some of the world’s leading technology companies.

Tokyo Metropolitan Government
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government formulated its startup strategy, “Global Innovation with STARTUPS,” in November 2022, with a “10x10x10 Innovation Vision to Open the Future,” aiming for 10 times the number of unicorns, 10 times the number of startups, and 10 times the number of collaborative projects between the government and startups. In FY2023, Tokyo established the Startup and International Financial City Strategy Office to strategically develop policies to create a virtuous cycle of solving social issues and economic growth by maximizing the power of startups and finance, and to strengthen the city’s ability to win in the global competitive landscape. The city developed the Tokyo Innovation Base, which serves as a node for innovation around the world, and recently hosted the global innovation conference, SusHi Tech Tokyo 2024.

JETRO
JETRO, or the Japan External Trade Organization, is a government-related organization that works to promote mutual trade and investment between Japan and the rest of the world. Originally established in 1958 to promote Japanese exports abroad, JETRO’s core focus in the 21st century has shifted toward promoting foreign direct investment into Japan and helping small to medium size Japanese firms maximize their global export potential.

ENQUIRES ABOUT THE PROGRAM
Japan Programs at 500 Global
[email protected]

MEDIA CONTACT
Communications at 500 Global
[email protected]

THIS PRESS RELEASE IS INTENDED SOLELY FOR GENERAL INFORMATIONAL OR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. 500 GLOBAL, TOKYO METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT AND JETRO ARE INDEPENDENT THIRD PARTIES.

WHILE PARTIES HAVE TAKEN REASONABLE STEPS TO ENSURE THAT THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PRESS RELEASE IS ACCURATE AND UP-TO-DATE, NO LIABILITY CAN BE ACCEPTED FOR ANY ERROR OR OMISSIONS. NO REPRESENTATIONS ARE MADE AS TO SPECIFIC OUTCOMES FROM RELYING ON THE CONTENTS OF THIS PRESS RELEASE AND ANY THIRD- PARTY LINKS.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD ANY CONTENT IN THIS PRESS RELEASE BE CONSTRUED AS INVESTMENT ADVICE. NO CONTENT OR INFORMATION IN THIS PRESS RELEASE SHOULD BE CONSTRUED AS AN OFFER TO SELL OR SOLICITATION OF INTEREST TO PURCHASE ANY SECURITIES OF OR ADVISED BY ANY PARTIES HEREIN. ALL VIEWS AND OPINIONS PRESENTED ARE THE RELEVANT PERSONS’ OWN.

SOURCE 500 Global

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Aug. 20, 2024 — Human Longevity, Inc. (HLI), with over 10 years as a longevity focused technology company, today announced the completion of an oversubscribed $39.8M Series B round led by TVM Capital Healthcare with participation from new and existing investors, including Panacea Venture and Emerging Technology Partners.  The funding will be used to invest in HLI’s artificial intelligence health risk and recommendation platform, new longevity focused technologies and services, and new expansion sites globally.

Founded in 2013, with a group of pioneers in the precision medicine field, HLI has made significant research and development progress in the longevity field.  In 2020, the company published groundbreaking research in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, demonstrating the integration of whole-genome sequencing, comprehensive metabolomics, and advanced imaging to identify significant health risk.  As result of our research, we have created a 100+ Longevity care membership program to identify early stages of the major age-related health diseases, with the goal to increase healthspan and extend lifespan through the company’s clinical care team and data platform. 

The 100+ Longevity Care program leverages precision medicine health data, clinical care, targeted interventions and the program also focuses on reducing biological age.  Key components include whole genome sequencing, whole-body and brain MRI, comprehensive cardiac evaluation, body composition analysis, advanced blood biomarkers, and wearables.  Accurate and proven personalized health data will be the primary driver for science backed precision medicine.

Early detection of health risks is a cornerstone of proactive healthcare and will not only save millions of lives but will also significantly reduce healthcare costs in the future.  By identifying potential issues at their inception, individuals can take timely steps to prevent or manage serious conditions.  HLI’s clinical care team has successfully diagnosed early-stage conditions such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurodegenerative disorders, and metabolic diseases.  Guided by these findings, personalized programs are created for our members to optimize health and mitigate chronic disease risks.

Year around membership in HLI’s 100+ Longevity Care program is the foundational platform for the practice of empowering individuals to achieve peak living and extend their longevity.  With advanced health assessment centers in San Francisco and San Diego, and future planned locations, including in Europe, Asia, Saudi Arabia and the surrounding GCC countries, HLI is poised to lead the industry in longevity care. 

Human Longevity, Inc.
Built by the pioneers of the human genome sequencing effort since 2013, Human Longevity is the global leader in advancing the Human Longevity Care movement, on a mission to discover and harness the technological and biological interventions that amplify span of life, health, & high-performance.  Human Longevity, Inc. is committed to accelerating living to 100+ by revolutionizing the landscape of the current system of “sickcare” to true “healthcare”. By continually adding and analyzing our client’s health data, we are transforming treatment from a reactive practice to one that is proactive, preventative, and personalized.
Human Longevity, Inc. https://humanlongevity.com

SOURCE Human Longevity, Inc.

FORT COLLINS, Colo., Aug. 21, 2024 — PhotonPharma, a cutting-edge biopharmaceutical company based in Fort Collins, Colorado, is pleased to announce the successful closing of a $2.5 million seed financing round. This vital funding will support the Phase I clinical trial of Innocell™, an innovative therapy for the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer. According to the National Cancer Institute (https://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/ovary.html) ovarian cancer will impact 19,680 women in the US with 12,740 deaths in 2024 alone. The average five-year relative survival rate is 50.4% (2014-2020).

In February 2024, PhotonPharma received FDA clearance to initiate clinical development of Innocell™. The Phase I trial, expected to enroll its first patient in Q4 2024, will be a crucial step in evaluating the safety and efficacy of this promising new treatment.

“This funding is a significant milestone for PhotonPharma and marks a pivotal moment in our mission to advance breakthrough therapies for cancer therapies,” said Dr. Terry Opgenorth, Chairman of the Board of Directors of PhotonPharma. “We are excited to move forward with our clinical trials and are grateful for the support of our investors, whose confidence will help drive the development of our technology platform forward.”

PhotonPharma’s presentation at the upcoming Rocky Mountain Life Sciences Investor and Partnering Conference will provide a comprehensive overview of the company’s progress and development plans. The conference will be an opportunity for investors and partners to learn more about PhotonPharma’s advancements and the potential impact of Innocell™ on the treatment of ovarian cancer.

Founded in 2018, PhotonPharma is dedicated to pioneering novel drug delivery systems and targeted treatments aimed at improving cancer care. The company’s innovative approach and commitment to scientific excellence position it at the forefront of cancer therapeutics.

“We invite investors and industry partners to attend our presentation at the Rocky Mountain Life Sciences Investor and Partnering Conference in September,” added Dr. Alan Rudolph, CEO of PhotonPharma. “It’s an excellent opportunity to learn about the development of our cutting-edge technology and the development plans for the company and its technology platform.”

About PhotonPharma

PhotonPharma is dedicated to developing innovative cancer therapies that leverage the body’s immune system to fight disease. With a focus on personalized medicine, the company’s lead product, Innocell™, aims to provide a first in class treatment for a wide range of solid organ tumors.

For more information, please visit www.photonpharmaceuticals.com  or contact:

Alan Rudolph, PhD
CEO
PhotonPharma, Inc.
[email protected]
301-520-8982

Media Contact:

Ms. Anjelica Doriety
PhotonPharma, Inc.
[email protected]
954-851-4023

SOURCE PhotonPharma Inc.

NEW YORK, Aug. 21, 2024 — The Rounds, an inventory management platform that delivers recurring grocery and household essentials in reusable packaging, today announced a $24 million Series B funding round led by Moderne Ventures, with participation from FJ Labs and existing investors, bringing its total funding to date to $66 million. The company will use the investment to scale its AI-powered service, strategically focusing on profitable growth in existing markets, expanding its team across machine learning, data science, and executive leadership, and launching new markets. The funding comes at a time of rapid progress towards market profitability. Since its Series A, The Rounds has posted 6X revenue growth, opened a state-of-the-art facility in Washington D.C., launched cold chain operations, and extended its closed-loop supply chain with local vendors.

“Sustainability has been at our core since day one. According to the EPA, more than 82 million tons of packaging waste is discarded every year and less than 10% is recycled. Waste is just bad design. The Rounds creates a better experience for our members that wastes less than the alternatives. To date, we’ve saved over 1 million pounds of packaging waste, proving sustainability does not have to come at the expense of convenience,” said Alex Torrey, Co-Founder and CEO of The Rounds. The company sources products locally, directly from producers, and in bulk, then refills in reusable packaging and delivers on a weekly schedule to members via its proprietary two-way last-mile logistics network. “By applying machine learning to provide smarter prediction on when everyday items in your home need to be refilled and sharing personalized product recommendations, The Rounds offers a better solution for managing your recurring essentials and we’re breaking the mold of quick commerce with a sustainable path to profitable long-term growth.”

The Rounds recently launched new AI-enabled features giving its members greater flexibility to choose their own “Refill Day” and add products one time or have products managed on a recurring basis using the company’s “Psychic Home Manager” feature. The company also expanded its product selection with over a hundred new SKUs—including fresh produce, local goods, and household staples—and now provides more transparency around its sustainability benefits, with detailed information on product sourcing and a redesigned sustainability page. “We aim to make The Rounds the #1 go-to platform for all your essentials. Our goal is to continue to enhance member satisfaction with a service that provides smarter recommendations, is tailored to your schedule, and allows you to easily see the positive environmental impact of your purchasing decisions that reduce your waste at home and support local businesses in your community,” said Torrey.

As the company scales, it looks to strategically partner with multifamily property managers, which is why it opted to work with Moderne Ventures. “The Rounds is addressing a huge pain point for city dwellers by enabling them to restock household essentials and get trusted local brands delivered with unparalleled convenience and less waste,” said Liza Benson, Partner at Moderne Ventures. “Our strategy at Moderne is rooted in connecting our portfolio companies with top real estate companies to create outsized returns. We are excited to work with The Rounds and multifamily partners to bring this valuable amenity to many more residents.”

The company has also expanded its Board of Directors to include Gad Allon, a professor of Operations, Information, and Decisions at Wharton School of Business, who also serves as the Director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Management & Technology program. “The Rounds exemplifies the critical intersection of tech innovation and operations, which is essential for the future of last-mile logistics to be sustainable,” said Professor Allon. “By leveraging AI to optimize operations and reduce waste, The Rounds is not just scaling up its business but is also setting a new standard for sustainable growth and efficiency in two-way last-mile logistics. I am excited to join the Board and contribute to a mission that aligns with my research on scaling operations in tech ventures and linking strategy with execution.”

To learn more about The Rounds, visit therounds.co.

About The Rounds

The Rounds is an AI-driven shopping platform designed to intelligently manage home essentials and reduce packaging waste. For $10 a month, Members can automate the delivery and replenishment of thousands of grocery SKUs in categories including household, personal care, pantry, produce, dairy, and dry goods, along with favorites from local brands and businesses. All products are delivered in reusable packaging and empty containers are picked up, sanitized, and refilled by The Rounds weekly, leveraging their proprietary two-way logistics network. The company’s personalized set-it-and-forget-it platform allows for predictive recurring deliveries and smarter product recommendations over time. Launched in 2019, the company has expanded to service Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Atlanta.

About Moderne Ventures

Moderne Ventures is a strategic venture capital and growth equity firm with more than $500M assets under management and a 16-year track record generating top-tier returns across multiple funds. Moderne is a generalist investor with a vertical approach focused on technology companies in and around the multi-trillion-dollar industries like real estate, finance, insurance, and sustainability – which make up >17% of the US GDP and are ripe for innovation and disruption. The Fund focuses on companies that pertain both to these verticals and that can also expand beyond these industries to capture larger markets and top-tier venture returns.

Moderne differentiates itself by bringing customers to its portfolio companies. Moderne has both a Fund and an Industry Immersion Program, the Moderne Passport, designed to foster innovation, partnership, and growth between industry partners and emerging technology companies. Moderne has built an extraordinary network of over 1,500 executives and corporations within its core industries and programmatically connects its portfolio to the industry network to help generate growth for the portfolio. Moderne has invested in over 150 companies across three funds.

Contact:
Lauren O’Reilly
[email protected]

SOURCE The Rounds

CBS Sports, CNBC, Gannett, Hearst, NASCAR, New York Post, Paramount, Rotten Tomatoes, USA Today Sports, And Thousands More Use Admiral To Grow 1st-Party Visitor Relationships, Data, and Revenue

NEW YORK, Aug. 21, 2024 — Admiral, The Visitor Relationship Management (VRM) Company, today announced the successful close of $19M in growth equity and debt funding, led by Harbert Growth Partners, the growth equity team of Harbert Management Corporation (HMC), joined by Bridge Bank and others. This latest funding, coupled with previous equity and debt, brings Admiral’s total capital raised to $28M, with Admiral funding partners including Birchmere Ventures, Gulfshore Capital, Florida Opportunity Fund, and media publisher Capitol Broadcasting.

Harbert has a proven track record of identifying and funding industry leading software companies, including AI-powered customer experience platform Clarabridge (acquired by Qualtrics), location based intelligence software platform MapAnything (acquired by Salesforce) and field service software platform Payzer (acquired by WEX).  Bridge Bank has been helping innovators in the tech sector bring industry-leading ideas to their next stage of development, from startup to IPO and beyond, for more than 20 years.

With this infusion, Admiral will serve publishers even better with larger Revenue, Product, and Customer Love teams, expand internationally, and build on its lead in AI-powered marketing automation for media publishers, copyright access control, and 1st-party data innovations. Harbert’s and Bridge Bank’s funding and strategic resources will help Admiral grow publisher revenue worldwide.

Admiral’s Visitor Relationship Management platform builds relationships, revenue, and retention for thousands of premium publishers and networks worldwide including CNBC, Hearst, New York Post, Paramount, Rotten Tomatoes, USA Today Sports, and more. Described as marketing automation for media publishers, Admiral draws inspiration from B2B SaaS giants such as Hubspot, Drift, and Salesforce, applying inbound marketing principles on a B2C level to help sites engage site visitors and maximize revenue. Admiral’s AI-powered VRM modules include:

• Measure: Revenue Analytics
• Recover: Adblock Recovery
• Transact: Paid Subscriptions, Donations, Memberships
• Connect: 1st-Party Data Collection, Segmentation, and Activation
• Convert: Email Acquisition, Registration, Social Growth, Mobile Downloads, & Content Recommendation
• Consent: CMP (GDPR/GPP)

“We’re pleased to partner with Admiral to provide them with a flexible and customized venture debt solution,” said Blake Reid, senior director, in Bridge Bank’s Technology Banking Group. “We look forward to supporting Admiral in their mission to provide visitor relationship management tools and expertise to help publishers navigate the evolving digital landscape toward The Authenticated Web.”

Last week, Admiral announced a partnership with The Trade Desk’s OpenPass. The Trade Desk has their own successful history of working with Bridge Bank. The bank played a contributing role to The Trade Desk’s growth, ultimately resulting in their IPO in 2016.

Admiral also completed a strategic move to bolster its leadership team, adding Wayne Hunter, Managing Partner of Harbert Growth Partners, and Birchmere Partner Sean Ammirati, former COO of ReadWriteWeb and Founder/CEO of mSpoke (acquired by LinkedIn), to its Board of Directors.

“We followed Admiral’s progress for years and kept seeing more top media brands adopt their solution,” said Wayne Hunter, Managing Partner of Harbert Growth Partners. “General purpose marketing automation platforms like Hubspot, Salesforce, and Adobe Marketing Cloud aren’t built to help media publishers grow 1st-party visitor relationships, data, and revenue, so Admiral’s AI-powered VRM is filling the gap quickly.”

“The core business model of the Internet is shifting from an adtech paradigm to a martech paradigm — The Authenticated Web — and publishers need help, fast,” said Dan Rua, CEO and co-founder, Admiral. “Relationships drive revenue, and publishers that embrace that reality will survive and thrive for decades to come. The key is delivering the right offer, to the right visitor, at the right time, and AI-powered VRM makes that possible with zero dev lift. We couldn’t have hoped for a better lead partner than Harbert at this stage in Admiral’s journey. We’re incredibly proud of the team and what we’ve accomplished for our customers, but we’ve still got plenty of work ahead.”

“Admiral predicted the importance of visitor relationship management ahead of much of the industry,” said Rob Beeler, Founder & CEO of Beeler.tech and Head of Ad Operations at Golf.com. “With Google now throwing their weight behind ‘user choice’, Admiral’s strength in visitor journeys and 1st-party data will help more publishers than ever. I’m excited to see smart money flow to such a quality team and publisher-first mission.”

To learn more about Admiral Visitor Relationship Management, please visit https://getadmiral.com.

About Admiral
Admiral (https://www.getadmiral.com/) the Visitor Relationship Management (VRM) Company, helps thousands of digital publishers worldwide grow visitor relationships and revenue. Admiral’s AI-powered SaaS platform solves several monetization challenges digital publishers face, with visitor journeys that include: registration walls, paywalls and paid subscriptions, donation management, advanced adblock analytics and revenue recovery, GDPR/GPP privacy consent, email acquisition, 1P data collection, social growth, and more.

About Harbert Management Corporation and Harbert Growth Partners
Harbert Management Corporation is an alternative asset manager with approximately $8.0 billion in Regulatory Assets Under Management as of July 31, 2023. Formed in 1993, the firm is privately owned and serves foundations and endowments, fund of funds, pension funds, financial institutions, insurance companies, family offices, and high net worth individuals across multiple asset classes. Investment strategies include European and U.S. real estate, seniors housing, U.S. growth capital, credit solutions, infrastructure, and absolute return funds. For additional information about HMC visit, www.harbert.net.

Harbert Growth Partners (“HGP”) seeks to generate superior returns for their investors by identifying and investing in promising emerging growth stage technology companies. The HGP Investment Team combines substantial investment, advisory, and operating experience with capital and networking contacts to support great entrepreneurial teams in successfully executing their growth plans. Currently investing out of HGP V, HGP’s prior funds include exits to a distinguished list of strategic acquirers including, among others, Amazon, GE, GSK, Medallia, Philips, Qualtrics, Salesforce, Sophos, Target and WEX. For more information, visit: www.harbert.net

About Bridge Bank
Bridge Bank, a division of Western Alliance Bank, Member FDIC, delivers relationship banking that puts clients at the center of everything. Founded in 2001 in Silicon Valley, Bridge Bank offers a full spectrum of tailored commercial banking solutions with specialized expertise focused on life sciences and technology and innovation companies at every stage in their life cycle, from startup to IPO and beyond. With offices in major tech hubs across the country, Bridge Bank delivers the reach, resources and market expertise that make a difference for its clients. Bridge Bank also serves the private equity and venture capital communities by providing banking solutions for portfolio companies and funds, plus banking solutions for small to mid-size businesses in the Bay Area. Bridge Bank is part of Western Alliance Bancorporation, which has more than $80 billion in assets. Major accolades include being ranked as a top U.S. bank in 2023 by American Banker and Bank Director. For more information, visit Bridge Bank.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Lane Buschel
TrueStoryPR for Admiral
[email protected]

Michael Yeon
Admiral PR
[email protected]

SOURCE Admiral

Omega Funds and Intuitive Ventures join top-tier syndicate of healthcare investors to support ongoing clinical activities

UNION CITY, Calif., Aug. 21, 2024 — XII Medical, Inc., a clinical-stage medical technology company developing innovative therapies for obstructive sleep apnea, today announced the closing of a $45 million Series B equity financing. The financing was led by Omega Funds and joined by new investor Intuitive Ventures. Existing investors also participated, including founding investor Cleveland Clinic, Ajax Health, Longview Ventures (an affiliate of Broadview Ventures), Aperture Venture Partners, JobsOhio Growth Capital Fund and an undisclosed strategic investor. Funds will be utilized to further product and clinical development. XII Medical has developed a state-of-the-art, patient-centric neuromodulation therapy designed to enhance quality of life for the millions of people suffering from obstructive sleep apnea.

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a disorder in which the muscles in the throat temporarily relax, causing blockage of the airway during sleep. It is estimated that 425 million people, globally, have moderate to severe OSA requiring treatment. Current treatment options are overly burdensome to patients and physicians, leaving a significant number of patients untreated, undertreated and at risk of severe health complications.

“Despite advancements in obstructive sleep apnea therapies, challenges remain that prevent millions of people from receiving adequate treatment,” commented Saoussen Ben Halima, PhD, Sr. Associate, Omega Funds. “We are thrilled to lead this round. We believe XII Medical developed a ground-breaking platform technology to simplify treatment, expand access and improve outcomes for patients.”

“XII Medical’s transformative technology is poised to help the hundreds of millions of those suffering from OSA,” said Murielle Thinard McLane, President and Managing Partner of Intuitive Ventures. “Their neuromodulation therapy addresses patient compliance issues while also offering a high quality, minimally invasive solution with a streamlined surgical approach and smaller, flexible and easier to implant technology than current solutions.”

“XII Medical is committed to improving the lives of patients with obstructive sleep apnea. The significant support from our investors will allow us to expand our exceptional team and collaborate with best-in-class partners to advance our technology and clinical research,” commented Garrett Schwab, President and CEO of XII Medical.

“XII Medical has made significant progress and we are pleased to welcome these outstanding new investors to our syndicate,” commented Anthony Natale, M.D., Executive Chairman of XII Medical. “I share their excitement in the pioneering work the XII Medical team is doing to make best-in-class OSA therapy accessible to all who require it.”

About XII Medical
Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Union City, California, XII Medical, Inc. is a clinical-stage medical technology company revolutionizing the treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. Privately held, the company is backed by Cleveland Clinic, Ajax Health, Omega Funds, Longview Ventures, Broadview Ventures, JobsOhio Growth Capital Fund, Intuitive Ventures, Aperture Venture Partners, CincyTech, and an undisclosed strategic investor. The XII Medical platform is limited to investigational use and is not available for sale. Visit https://xiimedical.com/ for more information.

About Omega Funds
Founded in 2004, Omega Funds is a leading international venture capital firm that creates and invests in life sciences companies that target our world’s most urgent medical needs. Omega focuses on supporting companies through value inflection points across the full arc of innovation, from formation through clinical and commercial milestones. Omega portfolio companies have brought 50 products to market in multiple therapeutic areas, including oncology, rare diseases, precision medicine and others. Visit https://omegafunds.com/ for additional information.

SOURCE XII Medical, Inc.

Strategic investment supports emerging technology for secure device management

ST. LOUIS, Aug. 21, 2024 — Emerson (NYSE: EMR) today announced it has made a strategic investment through its corporate venture capital arm Emerson Ventures in Symmera, an early-stage company simplifying device authentication and data protection. Boulder Ventures will co-invest with Emerson.

Through Emerson Ventures’ value-add strategic investment approach, Emerson is investing in promising new technology: Symmera’s scalable, highly available and secure Distributed Intelligent Network (DIN) Orchestration Platform. This innovative device fleet management platform is compatible with industrial protocols and standards, vendor agnostic and built on a zero-trust architecture, providing the next generation of digital security in connected devices.  

Symmera seeks to help customers address the increasing complexity and cost of managing the lifecycle and security of devices while enabling trusted data streams from devices to accelerate artificial intelligence, machine learning and advanced analytics.

“Symmera aligns closely with many Emerson initiatives surrounding lifecycle management of devices and secure field communications,” said Thurston Cromwell, head of Emerson Ventures and vice president of development and innovation at Emerson. “The platform offers a unique, one-pane-of-glass approach for fleet management security and secure field communications that will have wide-ranging applications across essential industries.”

Combining zero-trust architecture with automated key and certificate lifecycle management, Symmera’s DIN Orchestration Platform will help ensure automation systems are protected against emerging cyber threats. In addition, its capabilities in device identity and security management will help address the industry’s growing need to enhance security and drive operational efficiency.

“Symmera is uniquely positioned to seize the industry’s demand for secure, scalable IoT/IIoT solutions by delivering trusted operations through the power of quantum-proof cryptography and streamlined device management,” said Srinivas Kumar, chief executive officer and co-founder of Symmera. “Given Emerson’s leadership in intelligent industrial devices as well as its broad expertise in legacy and new protocols and field communication networks, we look forward to gaining hands-on experience to bolster our device authentication and protection capabilities in this increasingly complex digital landscape.”

About Emerson
Emerson (NYSE: EMR) is a global technology and software company providing innovative solutions for the world’s essential industries. Through its leading automation portfolio, including its majority stake in AspenTech, Emerson helps hybrid, process and discrete manufacturers optimize operations, protect personnel, reduce emissions and achieve their sustainability goals. For more information, visit Emerson.com.    

About Symmera
Symmera is a technology and software company providing innovative solutions for enterprise digitalization. Through its SaaS orchestration platform for devices, Symmera helps manufacturers and end-users implement simplified and robust solutions based on open standards, with low to zero coding, at reduced costs to increase operational efficiencies. Symmera’s patented Distributed Intelligent Network (DIN) platform helps operators establish cyber trust in connected devices and harvest unprecedented device intelligence for security, scalability, availability, and interoperability to enrich data driven analytics in the emerging AI/ML and IT/OT converged ecosystems. For more information, visit www.symmera.com.

About Boulder Ventures
Founded in 1995 and based in Boulder, Colorado, Boulder Ventures invests in high-potential information technology and biotechnology companies. For more information, visit www.boulderventures.com. 

Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements
Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical may be “forward-looking” statements, which involve risks and uncertainties, and Emerson undertakes no obligation to update any such statements to reflect later developments. These risks and uncertainties include the Company’s ability to successfully complete on the terms and conditions contemplated, and the financial impact of, the proposed National Instruments transaction, the scope, duration and ultimate impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia–Ukraine conflict, as well as economic and currency conditions, market demand, including related to the pandemic and oil and gas price declines and volatility, pricing, protection of intellectual property, cybersecurity, tariffs, competitive and technological factors, inflation, among others, as set forth in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports filed with the SEC.

SOURCE Emerson

The maternal health start-up provides expert support for growing families through proactive care from pre-conception through early parenthood.

CHICAGO, Aug. 21, 2024 — Partum Health, the Chicago-based maternal health startup that offers direct-to-consumer interdisciplinary pregnancy and postpartum care, is expanding to Dallas, the brand’s third market. Partum was founded in Chicago in 2021 and expanded to Houston in November 2023 after raising $3.1 million in seed funding.

In the United States, more women die each year of pregnancy-related complications than in any other developed country, with the majority of those deaths happening between one week and one year of giving birth. And in Texas, the need is especially acute. A 2022 study published by the Texas Medical Association ranked the state 50th among all states in access to high-quality prenatal and maternal care, citing barriers to health care before and after their hospital stay as a key factor. Moreover, a report last year by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission found that 90% of the state’s pregnancy-related deaths are preventable, recommending an improvement in care coordination and access to comprehensive health services to achieve better outcomes.

Partum Health was founded with a mission to change the standard of maternal care after its founders witnessed the huge gap between the care they needed and what they actually received during their own families’ perinatal experiences.

In addition to a comprehensive network of postpartum specialty providers across lactation, mental health, physical therapy and more, Partum families also have a dedicated care coordinator. This go-to contact helps parents make informed decisions, schedule appointments, navigate insurance and is available 24/7 via text. To help remove barriers to access, Partum’s services are available virtually and in-home to meet the dynamic needs of modern families.

“We built Partum to help bridge the gap in comprehensive maternal health and improve outcomes during the critical postpartum period. Our offerings are focused on preventing the most common complications of pregnancy, including perinatal mood and anxiety disorders and avoidable C-sections, among others. We look forward to partnering with OBs and Midwives across Dallas/Fort Worth to provide wraparound, interdisciplinary care to their patients,” said Meghan Doyle, co-founder and CEO of Partum Health.

To support its launch in Dallas, Partum is hosting gatherings to engage local communities around women’s health. Collaborative Care in Women’s Health will bring together women’s health providers across the spectrum of care to discuss how to better integrate in service of improved patient outcomes. Reconnecting and Finding Intimacy will convene experts for an honest discussion on social and emotional wellbeing postpartum. Partum will also be meeting with local expectant families at the Prego Expo Convention.

About Partum Health

Partum Health believes all families deserve comprehensive, whole-person care that supports their mental, physical and emotional health needs throughout the pregnancy and postpartum experience. Through digital care coordination and patient education as well as interdisciplinary services offered virtually and in person by expert care providers, Partum Health makes this a reality for families. For more information, please visit www.partumhealth.com or follow Partum Health on Instagram, Facebook, X and LinkedIn.

Media Contact:
Sona Jones
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SOURCE Partum Health