The SEEDesign™ company secured significant support from new and returning investors as it seeks to redefine the seed technology landscape

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 7, 2025 — Inari, the SEEDesign™ company, today announced the completion of a $144 million fundraise fueled by the performance of its first-generation products and progress toward commercialization. With cumulative equity raised of more than $720 million, the new capital underpins the leading pure-play seed technology company’s financial strength and paves the way for long-term growth.

The fundraise attracted significant support from new investors, who represented most of the capital raised in the round – including a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), and a large financial investor collaborating on forthcoming agriculture projects. Existing investors including Hanwha Impact, NGS Super, the State of Michigan Retirement System and company founder Flagship Pioneering also contributed.

“This round of funding underscores investors’ steadfast confidence in our business and ability to bring truly impactful solutions to market,” said Inari CEO Ponsi Trivisvavet. “Inari is poised to redefine the seed technology landscape as we work to empower the industry with high-performing products on a global scale. In being a true business partner with seed companies, we aim to achieve our vision of a sustainable food system by designing seeds that support a thriving planet, food security and farmer well-being.”

Inari is at the forefront of breeding innovation, combining AI-powered predictive design with an unmatched multiplex gene editing toolbox to deliver step-change outcomes. The company is singularly focused on seed technology for large-acre crops with its first wave of products, and its progress in soybeans, corn and wheat to date is generating excitement from seed companies both within and outside the U.S. The company brings a unique approach to the seed industry by focusing purely on innovation and operating an asset-light business model that reflects the company’s commitment to supporting, not rivaling, its customers.

Flagship Pioneering Managing Partner and Inari Board member Stephen Berenson added: “With its pioneering technology, incredible team and commercial traction, Inari is well poised to create a new paradigm for the seed industry, delivering significant value to seed companies and their farmer customers.”

Visit Inari.com to learn more.

About Inari
Inari, the SEEDesign™ company, develops seeds that address the world’s needs, pushing the boundaries of what is possible for a more sustainable, nature-positive food system. Through a combination of AI-powered predictive design and a pioneered multiplex gene editing toolbox, the company is unlocking the full potential of seed to bring step-change soybean, corn and wheat products to market. Founded by Flagship Pioneering in 2016, Inari is based in Cambridge, Mass., with additional sites in West Lafayette, Ind., and Ghent, Belgium. Inari is a growing team of more than 300 employees working to solve the critical issues of food security and sustainability. To learn more, visit Inari.com.

SOURCE Inari Agriculture

NEW YORK, Jan. 7, 2025 — Citrin Cooperman Advisors LLC (the “Firm”), a premier tax, advisory and accounting provider for private middle market businesses and high net worth individuals, today announced a definitive agreement for a significant investment from private equity funds managed by Blackstone (“Blackstone”). As part of the transaction, Blackstone is acquiring its stake in the Firm from New Mountain Capital LLC (“New Mountain”).

Citrin Cooperman was founded in 1979 with a mission to enhance the businesses and personal lives of its clients, partners, and staff through its services, guidance and enthusiasm for building long-standing relationships. Today, the firm is a trusted advisor to more than 15,000 clients globally through its tax, advisory and accounting services.

Alan Badey, CEO of Citrin Cooperman, said: “We are excited to have reached an agreement for Blackstone to invest in Citrin Cooperman as we enter our next chapter of growth. Blackstone will help us make additional investments in expanded service offerings and technology as we deliver on our continued commitment to best-in-class firm culture and providing an exceptional client experience. We thank New Mountain for their years of partnership in helping to build and support our business.”

Eli Nagler, a Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, and Kelly Wannop, a Managing Director at Blackstone, said: “The Citrin Cooperman partners and staff have done an exceptional job making the firm a leader through an unwavering commitment to excellence and client service. We are excited to invest in the business to help it continue to provide the highest quality offerings moving forward.”

Andre Moura and Nikhil Devulapalli, Managing Directors at New Mountain, said: “We are proud of our successful partnership with Citrin Cooperman, and we thank the management team, partners and staff of Citrin Cooperman for all we have accomplished together over the last three years. We look forward to seeing Citrin Cooperman continue to thrive for the benefit of all its clients and stakeholders.”

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. is serving as financial adviser, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP are serving as legal advisers to Blackstone. Guggenheim Securities, LLC is serving as lead financial advisor to New Mountain and Citrin Cooperman, with Koltin Consulting Group serving as an additional financial adviser to both parties. Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, Zukerman Gore Brandeis & Crossman, LLP, and Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP are serving as legal advisers to New Mountain and Citrin Cooperman.

About Citrin Cooperman
Citrin Cooperman, recently named #18 on the “Top 100 Firms” list by Accounting Today, is one of the nation’s largest professional services firms. Built on the values of close relationships, integrity, and a genuine passion for client service, Citrin Cooperman combines deep industry expertise, diversified service portfolio and national reach with a down-to-earth people-first approach in servicing clients. “Citrin Cooperman” is the brand under which Citrin Cooperman & Company, LLP, and Citrin Cooperman Advisors LLC serve clients’ business needs in an alternative practice structure in accordance with the AICPA’s Code of Professional Conduct and applicable law, regulations, and professional standards. Citrin Cooperman & Company, LLP, a licensed independent CPA firm, provides attest services and Citrin Cooperman Advisors LLC provides business advisory and nonattest services. The entities include more than 450 partners and 2,800 total professionals. Learn more about Citrin Cooperman at www.citrincooperman.com.

About Blackstone
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. We seek to deliver compelling returns for institutional and individual investors by strengthening the companies in which we invest. Our more than $1.1 trillion in assets under management include global investment strategies focused on real estate, private equity, infrastructure, life sciences, growth equity, credit, real assets, secondaries and hedge funds. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow @blackstone on LinkedIn, X (Twitter), and Instagram. 

About New Mountain Capital
New Mountain Capital is a New York-based investment firm that emphasizes business building and growth, rather than debt, as it pursues long-term capital appreciation. The firm currently manages private equity, credit and net lease investment strategies with approximately $55 billion in assets under management. New Mountain Capital seeks out what it believes to be the highest quality growth leaders in carefully selected industry sectors and then works intensively with management to build the value of these companies. For more information on New Mountain Capital, please visit www.newmountaincapital.com.

SOURCE Citrin Cooperman

Funding will continue supporting VAPOR 2 pivotal clinical study and U.S. commercialization of Vanquish Water Vapor Ablation proprietary prostate cancer treatment

MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 7, 2025 — Francis Medical, Inc., a privately-held medical device company developing an innovative and proprietary water vapor ablation therapy for the treatment of prostate, kidney and bladder cancer, today announced the completion of the company’s oversubscribed $80 million Series C equity financing, the largest fundraising round to date for the company.

Arboretum Ventures and Solas BioVentures co-led the Series C round. New investors Orlando Health Ventures and two additional strategic partners joined this round, along with previous investors Coloplast A/S and Tonkawa. The Series C proceeds will continue to fund the VAPOR 2 pivotal clinical study for the management of prostate cancer and the development and U.S. commercialization of its Vanquish Water Vapor Ablation proprietary prostate cancer treatment, expected by the end of 2025.

“We’re extremely proud to be joining this funding round and investing in Francis Medical’s development of a groundbreaking, disruptive therapeutic solution to treat prostate cancer,” said David Strong, president and CEO of Orlando Health. “Vanquish is an innovative therapy that has the potential to revolutionize the way prostate cancer is treated, by safely and effectively ablating the cancerous tissue while minimizing or eliminating thermal damage to the nerves and surrounding prostate tissue, thus reducing adverse events associated with radical prostatectomy and radiation therapies.”  

The VAPOR 2 study is a prospective, multicenter, single-arm study that is evaluating the safety and efficacy of the Vanquish Water Vapor Ablation System for prostate cancer. Data gathered from the VAPOR 2 study will support 510(k) clearance, which the company expects to file for in July 2025. Previously, the company was awarded FDA Breakthrough Device status for Vanquish on the strength of its VAPOR 1 Early Feasibility Study, published in the Journal of Endocrinology in November 2022. The VAPOR 1 study reported no serious adverse events, no device-related adverse events, and no unanticipated adverse device effects as its primary endpoint. In 87% of patients treated, six-month biopsy results indicated no remaining Gleason Grade Group 2 or greater clinically significant disease in the targeted treatment areas.

As the second most common cancer in U.S. men, the American Cancer Society estimates 1 in 8 American men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime. Prostate cancer is a serious disease often treated with therapies that cause complications, such as urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction. Francis Medical’s Vanquish device’s thermal water vapor energy technology is a breakthrough therapy designed to use phase shift energy stored in sterile water vapor to convectively transfer thermal energy to cancerous tissue, causing cell death. Through this process, damage to surrounding structures can be minimized or eliminated by respecting the prostate’s natural boundaries. Vanquish aims to be a revolutionary cancer therapy that is tough on cancer yet gentle on patients.

“This milestone is an important step forward in the fight to vanquish prostate cancer,” said Michael Kujak, president and CEO of Francis Medical. “We are excited to be bringing this therapy to the U.S. market in late 2025 and are incredibly grateful to our investor partners for their dedication to making a meaningful difference in the lives of prostate cancer patients and are more confident than ever that this groundbreaking technology will ultimately become the first-line treatment of choice for men and their doctors.”

About Francis Medical
Francis Medical is committed to developing urological cancer treatments that are tough on cancer and gentle on patients, with a compassionate belief that minimally invasive therapies can effectively treat cancerous tissue. The inventor, Michael Hoey, founded Francis Medical as a tribute to and legacy of his father, Francis Hoey, who endured prostate cancer treatments that had harsh implications on his everyday life before he died from the disease in 1991. Unfortunately, current prostate cancer treatments, which come with side effects like urinary incontinence and erectile dysfunction, are not much different than what Francis Hoey encountered. In contrast, water vapor technology applies the thermal energy stored in sterile water vapor to treat cancerous tissue via a simple transurethral procedure, potentially minimizing life-altering side effects. For more information on Francis Medical, visit www.francismedical.com or call (763) 951-0370.

Vanquish Water Vapor Ablation System is currently an investigational device for treating prostate cancer.

Contact:  Michael Kujak, CEO
612-910-9790
Shelli Lissick, Bellmont Partners
651-276-6922

SOURCE Francis Medical, Inc.

NEW YORK, Jan. 7, 2025 — Bregal Sagemount (“Sagemount”), a leading growth-focused private equity firm, today announced a minority growth investment from its Basecamp fund, in 360 Advanced, a leading consulting firm focused on cybersecurity and compliance frameworks. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 2009 and headquartered in St. Petersburg, FL, 360 Advanced specializes in delivering high-quality, client-centric cybersecurity and compliance services. The company offers a suite of audit and attestation services, including SOC, PCI, ISO, HITRUST, FedRAMP, CMMC, HIPAA, among others. With a strong focus on customer satisfaction and a commitment to excellence, 360 Advanced has built a reputation for providing tailored solutions to clients ranging from growth stage to large enterprises across healthcare, financial services, technology, government and business services.

“We are thrilled to partner with 360 Advanced and support their growth journey,” said Zuhair Khan, Co-Head of Bregal Sagemount’s Basecamp fund. “We have a long history of investing in compliance solutions and believe that 360 Advanced’s dedication to delivering high-quality, client-focused, technology-enabled services helps differentiate them in the rapidly growing cybersecurity and compliance market. We look forward to working closely with Dan and the 360 Advanced team to drive continued growth and success.”

Dan Collins, CEO of 360 Advanced, added, “We are incredibly excited to welcome Sagemount as our first strategic investor. This investment will help enable us to accelerate our growth and continue to provide what we believe to be market-leading cybersecurity and compliance services to our clients. Our client-centric and consultative approach has been the cornerstone of our success, and we are confident that this partnership will help us achieve new heights.”

With the completion of this investment, 360 Advanced will operate in an alternative practice structure.  360 Advanced Cybersecurity, LLC will provide advisory and non-attest services while 360 Advanced, Inc., an independently owned licensed CPA firm, will provide attest services.

Goodwin Procter LLP and Vedder Price PC served as legal counsel for Sagemount, and Hunton Andrews Kurth, and Shumaker, Loop, and Kendrick served as legal counsel for 360 Advanced. DC Advisory served as financial advisor to 360 Advanced.

About Sagemount

Bregal Sagemount is a leading growth-focused private capital firm with more than $7.5 billion of cumulative capital raised. The firm provides flexible capital and strategic assistance to market-leading companies in high-growth sectors across a wide variety of transaction situations. Bregal Sagemount has invested in 75 companies in a variety of sectors, including software, information / data services, financial technology & financial services, digital infrastructure, healthcare IT, and business & consumer services. The firm has offices in New York, Palo Alto, and Dallas. For more information, visit the Sagemount website: www.sagemount.com or follow us on LinkedIn. 

About 360 Advanced

360 Advanced is a relationship-focused cybersecurity and compliance firm that provides tailored solutions to meet the needs of both organizations and their clients. The firm’s seasoned professionals take a hands-on approach to develop personalized roadmaps, guiding clients through their security and compliance journeys while delivering measurable results. They help open doors to new opportunities and support the retention of valuable business relationships.

As a licensed PCI Qualified Security Assessor (QSA), ISO Certification Body, HITRUST CSF Assessor, and State/FedRAMP 3PAO, 360 Advanced offers a wide range of services, including the SOC Suite (SOC 1, SOC 2, SOC 3) through 360 Advanced, Inc., an independent CPA firm. Additionally, they are credentialed to support various security and privacy frameworks. The 360 Cyber team specializes in services such as penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, risk evaluations, remediation, GRC administration, and advisory services to strengthen clients’ cybersecurity posture.

360 Advanced is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Florida.  For more information, visit www.360Advanced.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

SOURCE 360 Advanced

Fazeshift looks to streamline and automate manual processes with AI agents

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 7, 2025 — Fazeshift, an AI agent for Accounts Receivable, raised $4M in seed funding led by Gradient, Google’s early-stage AI fund. The round also included investment from Y Combinator, Wayfinder, Pioneer Fund, Ritual Capital, Phoenix Fund, and prominent angels including Terrence Rohan, Kulveer Taggar, and Rich Aberman.

Enterprises waste over $200 billion annually managing accounts receivable (AR), bogged down by manual tasks like reconciling payments, generating invoices, and chasing overdue accounts. Fazeshift streamlines this process by automating everything from invoice creation to payment reconciliation, freeing teams from hours of manual work.

Unlike traditional robotic process automation (RPA), which struggles to understand the nuances of AR, Fazeshift’s LLM-powered approach handles complex workflows with ease. Fazeshift’s use of highly specialized LLM prompts tuned to each specific task, allows it to achieve the accuracy and flexibility required for enterprise-grade operations.

“We are seeing AI agents that can reason, perform human-like tasks, and do so with the nuance required for these more sensitive business applications. Eventually we’re going to see all tedious and manual back-office tasks be eliminated. The opportunity for transformation in AR is massive, and this funding allows us to accelerate our product development and customer acquisition efforts,” said Caitlin Leksana, CEO and Co-Founder of Fazeshift.

Fazeshift’s AI agents don’t just answer questions – they can handle complex billing workflows, send customer emails, and even update accounting records. They do this by manipulating the same software tools that human teams previously used. Fazeshift has proven that AI agents can penetrate even the most sensitive business processes.

“The B2B payments stack is being completely reinvented since AI agents have become more mainstream. Finance teams at companies large and small typically struggle with monthly reconciliation and collecting overdue invoices. These finance processes are typically manual and tedious,” said Darian Shirazi, Managing Partner at Gradient. “We’re excited to partner with the Fazeshift team as they streamline finance processes while still giving significant customization and visibility to finance operations teams.”

Fazeshift is already working with several large enterprise customers and automating workflows that previously required teams of 12 people. As the AR space becomes increasingly complex, Fazeshift is positioning itself as the go-to solution for enterprises looking to streamline their AR process.

About Fazeshift
Fazeshift is an AI agent for Accounts Receivable. With Fazeshift, companies can automate their entire accounts receivable process across their existing tools, helping them save time and money, while improving cash flow. Fazeshift is backed by leading investors including Y Combinator and Gradient, Google’s early-stage AI fund. For more information, visit https://fazeshift.com.

About Gradient
Gradient has been investing at the forefront of artificial intelligence since 2017. We are led by former founders, technical experts, and domain specialists who have supported hundreds of AI founders from the beginning. Gradient is headquartered in San Francisco. For more information, visit www.gradient.com.

SOURCE Fazeshift

Revolutionizing AI-Driven Peptide Therapeutics, Strengthening Pipeline for Next-Generation Drug Discovery

JERUSALEM, Jan. 7, 2025 — Pepticom, a pioneer in AI-driven peptide-based therapeutics, today announced the successful completion of its Series A1 funding round, securing $6.6 million. Japan Israel High Tech Ventures 2 LP led the round, with strong participation from existing investors.

This funding will accelerate the development of Pepticom’s oral IL-17 inhibitor program, targeting improved treatments for autoimmune diseases. This includes the design of two families of fully synthetic, small cyclic peptidomimetic inhibitors with nanomolar activity that target both IL-17A and IL-17F isoforms. Composed of non-natural amino acids, these compounds have achieved key milestones in record time and cost, demonstrating increased stability and extended half-life in vitro and in vivo.

By addressing unmet needs in psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and other autoimmune diseases, Pepticom’s AI-driven drug discovery platform is advancing next-generation therapeutics to overcome limitations of traditional small molecule and biologic therapies in complex therapeutic areas.

Pepticom’s proprietary platform for de novo design, and discovery of peptide therapeutics, combines state-of-the-art machine learning with cutting-edge biochemistry to design peptides with exceptional specificity, stability, and therapeutic potential.

By combining over 600 natural and non-natural amino acid building blocks with AI-driven reinforcement learning, Pepticom can explore an infinite chemical space—over 10⁸⁰ potential peptide structures. This enables the de novo design and discovery of entirely new peptidomimetic targets that provides significant advantages over other therapeutic modalities. This unique capability accelerates the drug discovery process, bringing us closer to impactful peptide therapies in a fraction of the time and cost compared to traditional methods.

“This successful funding round validates our pioneering approach to AI-driven peptide drug discovery,” said Immanuel Lerner, CEO and Co-Founder of Pepticom. “Our platform’s design of novel oral IL-17 inhibitors in record time and cost demonstrates its transformative impact to redefine how precision peptide therapeutics are discovered and developed. This funding accelerates our mission to bring more effective, accessible treatments to patients across multiple therapeutic areas.” 

About Pepticom: Pepticom is a biotech company specializing in the AI-driven discovery of peptide-based therapeutics. The company’s mission is to transform medicine by developing targeted, more effective treatments for serious diseases, including autoimmune disorders, and other high-need therapeutic areas. By harnessing the unique properties of peptides, Pepticom’s innovative approach creates precision therapies that address complex biological challenges, offering a new frontier in drug development. For more information, visit: www.Pepticom.com.

About Japan Israel High Tech Ventures 2 LP:

Japan Israel High Tech Ventures 2 LP, a venture capital fund established in 2022, is managed by Singapore-based Chartered Investment Managers Pte. Ltd. The fund specializes in investing in Israeli and Israeli-affiliated technology companies. To date, it has backed 19 Israeli startups across diverse deep-tech sectors, as well as one university-affiliated venture capital initiative in Israel.

A Message from the Chairman of Chartered Group:

“This investment marks a pivotal milestone in our commitment to fostering groundbreaking technologies that address critical challenges in healthcare. Pepticom’s pioneering approach to AI-driven peptide therapeutics aligns seamlessly with our vision of supporting transformative innovations with the potential to revolutionize lives globally. We are proud to contribute to Pepticom’s journey in developing next-generation therapies that not only address unmet medical needs but also set new standards for efficiency and precision in drug discovery,” said Eyal Agmoni, Chairman of Chartered Group.

www.pepticom.com

SOURCE Pepticom

Capital and resources will further drive product innovation and grow the company’s global customer base

BOSTON, Jan. 7, 2025 — Northern Light Group, the leading enterprise knowledge management platform for competitive intelligence and market research, today announced a $23 million growth investment by LoneTree, a New York-based growth capital firm. The investment will accelerate Northern Light’s ability to scale, providing capital and resources to drive continued product innovation and enhance its ability to support enterprise customers worldwide.

With a customer base that includes many of the world’s largest pharmaceutical, technology, financial services, consumer products, manufacturing and healthcare companies, Northern Light has built a loyal following of research-driven organizations that require enterprise-wide access to information. These organizations depend on Northern Light’s intelligence and research for successful strategy, R&D, product management, marketing and sales.

“In a world where enterprises rely on massive data sets across multiple first and third-party systems to shape their growth and product strategies, it is imperative for organizations to effectively manage their content and data to maximize insights potential and create a more knowledgeable and efficient workforce,” said Mike Devine, Partner at LoneTree. “Northern Light has emerged as a leader through consistently working to understand each customer’s unique needs, and providing transformative solutions. It has a phenomenal team and an exceptional company culture, and we are looking forward to supporting them in the next chapter of their growth and evolution.”

“Over the past two decades, Northern Light has prioritized customer satisfaction and continuous innovation as a means of building the market’s most comprehensive enterprise-focused competitive intelligence and market research offering,” said David Seuss, CEO of Northern Light. “The investment by LoneTree is a significant milestone, validating our current and future market position and product strength. We are well-positioned to drive innovation, deliver exceptional value to our customers and foster new career growth opportunities for our employees.”

Seuss added, “We chose LoneTree as a partner because of the firm’s sector expertise, collaborative investment approach and experience with helping companies accelerate their growth. Together, we will continue to innovate and better meet the evolving needs of our customers.”

As part of the investment, Mike Devine, Rhett Lambert and Peter Bozian will join Northern Light’s Board of Directors. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Goulston & Storrs PC provided legal counsel to Northern Light. Goodwin Procter LLP represented LoneTree.

About Northern Light

Northern Light provides knowledge management platforms for competitive intelligence and market research insights to global enterprises across multiple industries, including information technology, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications and financial services. It has more than 200,000 users of its strategic research portals worldwide and has repeatedly been recognized by industry analysts and journalists as one of the companies empowering intelligent knowledge management. Visit https://northernlight.com.

About LoneTree Capital 

Founded in 2021 and headquartered in New York City, LoneTree provides operational and M&A support alongside flexible capital to accelerate revenue growth. The firm enables partner companies—notably, founder-owned bootstrapped businesses, divisions of larger enterprises and formerly venture-backed companies—to achieve their next stage of growth quicker and with a higher level of certainty. For more information on LoneTree, please visit www.lonetreecap.com. 

Media contact:
David Domeshek
Northern Light
(508) 873-7068
[email protected]

SOURCE Northern Light

The round led by NewSpring will fuel continued growth as the company releases GenAI Agents that leverage proprietary insurance data

NEW YORK, Jan. 7, 2025 — Jones, the vertical software company leading AI innovation in insurance verification, today announced the close of its $15M Series B funding round led by NewSpring Capital, a growth equity firm managing $3.5 billion in capital with over 250 platform investments, via its dedicated growth and expansion strategy, NewSpring Growth. The round also saw continued participation from major existing investors, including Hetz Ventures, Camber Creek, Khosla Ventures, JLL Spark, DivcoWest Ventures, Rudin Ventures, and Ground Up Ventures.

Founded by Omri Stern and Michael Rudman, Jones is an AI-driven vertical software company that helps real estate and construction clients to accelerate the collection of insurance certificates (COIs), endorsements, and policies, verify compliance with precision, and integrate bi-directionally with key ERP systems. The company has scaled to 25,039 real estate properties and construction projects across over 2.5 billion square feet in the United States.

The investment marks a pivotal moment for Jones as it doubles down on its mission to help clients make smart decisions about insurance risk so they can boost efficiency and mitigate insurance claims. Jones plans to release a suite of AI-powered Agents, smart assistants that automate routine tasks, reduce manual workloads, and offer autonomous decision-making. The AI Agents are fine-tuned by proprietary data including insurance logic, risk benchmarks, and millions of verified insurance documents. The company also plans to continue expanding software workflows and deepening ERP integrations.

“COI and insurance policy verification is a highly manual and error-prone process, making it ripe for disruption through automation,” said Marc Lederman, General Partner at NewSpring Capital. “Jones AI solutions enable construction and real estate companies to scale their departments efficiently while mitigating legal and financial risks in today’s highly litigious environment. As compliance becomes more complex and regulatory demands rise, Jones has ample room for continued expansion and represents exactly the type of growth-oriented business we seek for investment.”

With this funding, Jones is focused on addressing the ballooning insurance costs in the industry. The company’s latest release, Insurance Policy Verification, helps clients to flag and interpret exclusionary language in insurance policies to mitigate costly payouts from third-party insurance claims, a problem plaguing the industry that COIs do not solve. “The insurance markets have been reeling from economic pressures and are one of the biggest challenges facing real estate and construction, whether it’s from headwinds in origination or the lack of digitization,” said Omri Stern, CEO of Jones. “We’re excited to be part of a cohort of maturing growth-stage AI and data companies that are partnering with the insurance industry to help clients make smarter decisions about insurance risk.”

The Series B funding highlights the company’s success in addressing one of the toughest challenges in the category: scaling an AI-driven software solution in an industry heavily reliant on human-in-the-loop processes. Jones resolved the manual bottleneck by combining machine learning with human compliance experts, paving the way for unparalleled efficiency and scalability. This milestone signals the confidence of investors in the company’s ability to continue building a category-defining business model.

About Jones

Jones is an AI-driven software company helping real estate and construction firms to make smart decisions about insurance risk so they can boost efficiency and mitigate insurance claims. In over 2 billion square feet of real estate and construction projects, Jones helps clients to accelerate and fortify their insurance verification, collection, integration, and decisioning across both commercial or residential asset classes. To learn more, visit www.getjones.com.

About NewSpring

NewSpring partners with the innovators, makers, and operators of high-performing companies in dynamic industries to catalyze new growth and seize compelling opportunities. The Firm manages over $3.5 billion across five distinct strategies covering the spectrum from growth equity and control buyouts to mezzanine debt. Having completed over 250 investments, NewSpring brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and resources to take growing companies to the next level and beyond. Partnering with management teams to help develop their businesses into market leaders, NewSpring identifies opportunities and builds relationships using its network of industry leaders and influencers across a wide array of operational areas and industries. To learn more, visit www.newspringcapital.com.

SOURCE Jones

NEW YORK, Jan. 7, 2025 — Waterpoint Lane (“the Firm”) is proud to announce the successful final close of its inaugural fund, Waterpoint Lane Sustainability Fund I (“Fund I”), marking a defining moment in its evolution as a leading impact investment manager. Fund I has attracted strong support from a distinguished global investor base, including premier family offices and high-net-worth individuals, all united by a commitment to advancing impact and innovation within the global food system.

Founded in 2021 as a specialized SPV investor, Waterpoint Lane has rapidly evolved into a full-scale investment manager. The successful close of Fund I underscores this transformation and reinforces the firm’s disciplined approach to identifying and scaling cutting-edge technologies that drive sustainable productivity across the agrifood value chain.

Fund I will focus on growth-stage B2B companies leveraging breakthrough technology to solve critical challenges in food and agriculture, with a clear emphasis on enhancing efficiency, sustainability, and resilience. The fund has already made several strategic investments and is actively building a robust pipeline of transformative opportunities.

Ben Gibbons, Founder and Co-Managing Partner of Waterpoint Lane, shared:
“We are deeply honored by the trust our limited partners have placed in us. This successful fundraise validates the strength of our investment thesis and our shared belief in the power of innovation to catalyze meaningful change in the global food system.”

Meifan Shi, Co-Managing Partner, stated:
“With Fund I, we’re building more than a portfolio—we’re crafting a blueprint for scalable, impact-driven value creation. By supporting visionary entrepreneurs and deploying bold strategies, we aim to set new benchmarks for innovation and leadership in this critical sector. Fund I represents a pivotal step in positioning Waterpoint Lane as a transformative force in sustainable investing.”

Waterpoint Lane’s investment strategy integrates capital with strategic growth initiatives, leveraging deep sector expertise and an extensive global network. The firm is uniquely positioned to deliver both financial returns and measurable impact, aligning the interests of its investors, portfolio companies, and the broader communities it serves.

About Waterpoint Lane
Waterpoint Lane is a leading venture capital firm dedicated to advancing productivity and sustainability in the global food system. Since its founding in 2021, the firm has grown from a single-purpose vehicle into a full-scale investment manager, combining disciplined strategies with a mission-driven approach to impact. By partnering with visionary entrepreneurs, Waterpoint Lane addresses critical challenges, redefines industry standards, and unlocks new opportunities for growth and innovation.

For more information, please visit www.waterpointlane.com

Media Contact
For inquiries, please reach out to:
Investor Relations
[email protected]
www.waterpointlane.com

SOURCE Waterpoint Lane