HONG KONG, Nov. 20, 2024 — Asian Venture Capital Journal (AVCJ), part of Mergermarket and the leading provider of private equity and venture capital intelligence in Asia, this week hosted its 37^th Annual AVCJ Private Equity Forum. The event saw a wide range of discussions among leading private equity and venture capital participants from around the world. Leading contributors included Matthew Michelini, Head of APAC, Apollo Global Management, Harvey Schwartz, CEO of Carlyle, and Jeffrey Perlman, CEO of Warburg Pincus.

The AVCJ Private Equity Forum brings together over 3,300 senior investors, advisors, and regulators from Asia and more than 50 geographies across the globe. The forum is a valuable opportunity to share insights and forge partnerships, at a time when the global private equity investment revival has yet to extend to Asia, according to Mergermarket data.

Yana Morris, Chief Content Officer, ION Analytics, said, “This is a crucial and fascinating time for the leaders in the private equity and venture capital industry globally. The wealth of experience and knowledge at this week’s event is testament to the convening power of ION Analytics as a forum for exchanging the ideas, innovations, and insights that are crucial to the PE and VC community.”

Day one focused on ESG. Sessions addressed issues such as the future of ESG engagement, how industry leaders are practically approaching climate adaption, and how Asian LPs’ approaches to ESG compare to their global peers. Tim Burroughs, Managing Editor, Global Private Funds and AVCJ, reflected in the opening remarks on how industry ESG debates have progressed in recent years.

The second day’s agenda featured the Private Equity Leaders, Venture Capital, and Limited Partners Summits. These summits included sessions on Asia’s key areas for value creation and the potential pitfalls of an AI bubble: crucial topics given that most AI deals are targeted in China, according to Mergermarket data.

In the opening keynote, Jeffrey Perlman, CEO of Warburg Pincus, discussed implications of the changing macroeconomic conditions for the firm’s investment strategy, and why its approach to Asia is extending from emerging to developed markets. “We find that investors want to play Asia in a more diversified way, and that has impacted how we construct our platform in the region. We’ve already done this in real estate, where the business is truly pan-Asian, and there are opportunities for private equity to expand beyond emerging Asia on the back of that,” he said. “Two-thirds of global growth is expected to come from Asia over the next decade.”

The day also featured a fireside chat between Samson Wong, Chief Investment Officer for Private Markets at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, and Harvey Schwartz, CEO at Carlyle. Mr. Schwartz set out the firm’s views on the current investment environment globally and in Asia and emphasized that “pricing risk correctly” is important for successful investing in today’s complex environment. “We don’t look to avoid risk,” he said. “We certainly don’t look to take excessive risk, but what we look to do is price the risk component correctly and determine whether or not we can add value to the enterprise.” They also discussed how GP-LP partnerships have evolved, and the issues that will shape the next era for private markets.

The third day featured a keynote interview between Yana Morris, Chief Content Officer at ION Analytics, and Matthew Michelini, Head of APAC, Apollo Global Management. The pair held an insightful discussion about trends and opportunities in private markets and how the industry is evolving, offering an in-depth vision for future growth amid changing industry dynamics.

“At Apollo, we have positioned our business in front of massive tailwinds and we continue to build and evolve our capabilities to serve these market opportunities. In Asia in particular, there’s significant demand for safe-yielding strategies across mature markets like Japan, Australia and Korea, and opportunities to partner with insurers and institutions in the region on retirement solutions,” said Mr. Michelini.

To download key Mergermarket data around private dealmaking in Asia, view a summary of the conference, and to register for future events, please visit the Mergermarket website.

About ION

ION provides mission-critical trading and workflow automation software, high-value analytics and insights, and strategic consulting to financial institutions, central banks, governments, and corporate organizations. Our solutions and services simplify complex processes, boost efficiency, and enable better decision-making. We build long-term partnerships with our clients, helping transform their businesses for sustained success through continuous innovation. For more information, visit https://iongroup.com/

About ION Analytics

ION Analytics delivers personalized, targeted data and market intelligence to banks, investors, and corporates, helping clients find opportunities and drive better decisions in markets ranging from equities and fixed income to infrastructure and private equity. For more information, visit https://iongroup.com/analytics/

About Mergermarket

Mergermarket is the premier provider of global proprietary M&A intelligence, data, and AI-driven predictive analytics. With access to coverage of 1.4 million companies, almost 3,000 sponsors, and powered by 300 journalists and analysts globally, we bring transformative M&A insight and a competitive edge to capital markets professionals, shaping the future of M&A. For more information, visit https://info.mergermarket.com/

About AVCJ

AVCJ, a service of ION Analytics, is the leading provider of Asian private equity and venture capital information and intelligence. For more than 30 years, Asia’s deal-making industry has relied on AVCJ’s insightful editorial coverage, reliable data, intelligent analysis, and market-leading conferences to conduct their day-to-day business from deal sourcing, and due diligence to fundraising and exits. For more information, visit https://www.avcj.com/

All product and company names herein may be trademarks of their registered owners.

SOURCE ION

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CENTENNIAL, Colo., Nov. 20, 2024 — Iontra Inc, a Colorado-based leader in next-generation battery charging technology, announced today that it has successfully completed its $45M Series C funding round with support from both current and new investors. The company has raised $120.3 Million to date.  Combined with the recent DOE award of the $2.15 million ARPA-E circular grant, this solidifies Iontra’s leadership position in battery charging technology.

Iontra’s funding round was led by repeat prominent energy sector investor Volta Energy Technologies, with additional support from others.

“The team and I are grateful for the continued strong support from our investors,” said Jeff Granato, CEO of Iontra. “This Series C financing supports the significant market potential of our technology and positions us for aggressive growth, starting with customers launching Iontra-enabled products in a matter of months and samples of our purpose-built MCU becoming available for customers in 2025.”

“Iontra is in a unique position as the only charge control technology based on electrodynamic principles, which enables us to deliver maximum performance from Lithium batteries while enhancing safety,” said Daniel Konopka, CSO of Iontra. “Thanks to our passionate and highly innovative team, we have a compelling roadmap of breakthroughs to further shape battery performance for product OEMs.”

This funding will advance Iontra’s leadership position as a fabless supplier of low-cost, small-footprint battery charger microcontrollers (MCUs). With embedded Iontra charge technology, Iontra’s MCU will maximize battery performance and efficiency across a wide range of consumer and industrial products, including power tools, smartphones, and wearables.

Iontra’s MCU also includes industry standard cyber security capabilities, and advanced high-speed peripherals, allowing OEMs to unlock options for further system integration, reducing electronic Bill-of-Material (e-BOM) costs and carbon footprint.

Through Iontra’s state-of-the-art design centers and semiconductor supply chain partners, Iontra is committed to delivering a robust and reliable solution for its customers with initial samples of its custom MCU expected by mid-2025 and release to production in 2026.

“Iontra’s technology is a game-changer for the battery industry,” said David Schroeder, CTO at Volta Energy Technologies. ” While significant advancements have been made in battery technology, the charging process itself has often been neglected, especially for current battery products. Iontra’s innovative approach offers a groundbreaking solution that policymakers and manufacturers should consider to further optimize their existing battery performance. We are excited to continue supporting their mission to dramatically improve battery performance and sustainability for a wide range of markets.”

This funding will also enable Iontra to support its customers’ upcoming product releases. Notable customers include Salom Europe Ltd, a global leader in power supply solutions and battery chargers, and Spectralink, a pioneer in enterprise communication solutions.

About Iontra:
Iontra’s unique advanced battery sensing and charging method is predictive and responsive, proactively protecting the battery while charging. Iontra minimizes the most concerning failure modes of batteries – plating and dendrite formation – which cause safety issues and limit battery performance.

Iontra charge technology is chemistry agnostic and proven to concurrently increase battery cycle life and charge speed up to and greater than 200 percent, support cold weather charging to -20°C, and create a safer charge overall, without changing the design and chemistry of existing battery cells.

Iontra’s breakthrough charge control technology is validated by approximately eight million cycling hours performed in-house, testing dozens of battery types and the stability of the system under various charge conditions for quality, reliability, and durability. Iontra’s technology has also been tested by four independent research labs, including National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Novonix, and University of Michigan.

Information on the ARPA-E Circular grant to Iontra can be found at https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/iontra-selected-for-arpa-e-circular-grant-to-revolutionize-ev-battery-life-302295719.html

About Volta Energy Technologies:
Volta Energy Technologies is a leading cleantech investment firm focused on accelerating the adoption of sustainable energy solutions. The firm invests in companies across the clean energy spectrum, with a focus on battery technologies, renewable energy generation, and energy efficiency solutions. For more information, visit.

Media Contact
Madeleine Stump
[email protected]
Iontra Website: https://iontra.com/

SOURCE Iontra Inc

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The fund supporting Veteran-Owned Small Businesses does it again

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 20, 2024 — Veteran Loan Fund (VLF) announced that since its launch in 2021, its members have deployed more than $77 million across the country, helping over 1,000 veteran-owned businesses create or retain close to 5,500 jobs. More than 50% of the business owners receiving financial and technical assistance were people of color, close to 50% low or moderate income and over 30% women. These impressive statistics show the importance of the work this group of CDFIs and their technical assistance partners do, serving those who served for all of us.

The fund is also announcing the successful closing of its second round of funding. The round was sized down to $15 million to meet the increasing demand of loan capital from veteran entrepreneurs while more nimble adapting to changing interest rates in the market. The group expects this round to be fully deployed by the end of the year, at which time they will announce the third round of funding.

“Every day, everyone at Veteran Loan Fund works tirelessly to help veterans grow their businesses, realize their dreams, and achieve financial independence. As a veteran myself, it’s incredibly meaningful to support my fellow veterans in this journey,” says Ray Pennie, Chief of Business Advisory Services for Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs, a Georgia based CDFI and member of VLF. “The closing of this second round truly cements VLF’s place in the field, and I couldn’t be more excited about what the future holds.”

Veterans interested in receiving financial or technical assistance can complete a simple online assessment at www.veteranloanfund.com to be matched with the CDFI or partner that best meets their needs. Eligible entrepreneurs can apply for a low-interest loan and access free technical assistance (specialized business coaching and education) whether or not they receive financial assistance.

Thank you to our partners and investors that are making this second round possible, including Bank of America as lead investor and PNC Bank as well as many other financial institutions, foundations and partners that support this initiative.

About Veteran Loan Fund:

Veteran Loan Fund is a collaborative effort of a national group of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and specialized technical assistance partners with the mission to help underserved veterans and their spouses start and grow small businesses. The fund provides a specialized source of capital and a forum to share best practices and conduct advocacy efforts for lenders to originate loans and grow their local veteran programs. Member CDFIs include Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs (GA), Appalachian Community Capital (VA), Black Business Investment Fund (FLA), Business Impact Northwest (WA), Colorado Enterprise Fund (CO), DreamSpring (NM), Economic and Community Development Institute (OH), Justine Petersen (MO), Pathway Lending (TN), PeopleFund (TX), Pursuit (NJ), and Wisconsin Women Business Initiative Corporation (WI). Learn more at https://www.veteranloanfund.com.

SOURCE PeopleFund

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SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 20, 2024 — Shinami, the leading developer platform across Move-based blockchains (Aptos, Sui, and Movement), has announced the successful close of a $5.645 million seed funding round. Race Capital led the round, with participation from 6th Man Ventures, Coinbase, Circle, and Mysten Labs. Aptos Foundation provided an additional undisclosed investment.

Positioned as the “Consensys for Move,” Shinami offers a comprehensive, ‘one-stop-shop’ developer platform that simplifies building applications on Move-based blockchains through advanced tooling, easy-to-use APIs, and helpful docs. The platform’s impact is demonstrated through its Node Service powering billions of monthly on-chain reads across hundreds of applications, its Gas Station sponsoring over 100 million transactions to date, and its Wallet Services supporting more than 2 million monthly active users.

“Our team’s experience building developer platforms at Twilio, Microsoft and Alchemy, combined with our early conviction in Move, has shaped how we support builders across the entire ecosystem,” said Nikhil Chari, Co-founder and CEO of Shinami. “This funding empowers us to continue providing the infrastructure and tools Move developers need to create better user experiences across the Sui, Aptos, and Movement networks.”

As part of its commitment to advancing the Move ecosystem, Shinami also joined the Move Collective. This collaboration strengthens Shinami’s ability to support developers as they expand and build on Movement, while contributing to the ecosystem’s broader growth and innovation.

For more information about Shinami and to stay updated on future developments, visit shinami.com and follow Shinami on X at @ShinamiCorp.

About Shinami
Shinami is the leading developer platform for Aptos, Sui and Movement, designed to help Move developers build faster, with better UX, and less overhead. Through its industry-leading Node Service, Gas Station, and Wallet Services, Shinami serves a growing community of developers and millions of end-users.

Media Contact:
[email protected]

SOURCE Shinami

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Zitadel elevates open source project for enterprises that need multi-tenancy identity infrastructure across public and private cloud, flexible deployments, and data security

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 20, 2024 — Zitadel, creators of the popular open source project for cloud-native identity infrastructure, today announced its $9 million Series A funding round led by Nexus Venture Partners with participation from Floodgate. Both firms represent the world’s best experts in open source, developer tools, and identity infrastructure. Zitadel’s developer-first approach and a strong focus on data security and ownership has fueled its growth to more than 150 customers across North America and Europe. This investment will further Zitadel’s vision to lead the identity infrastructure and authentication market.

Abhishek Sharma, Managing Director at Nexus Venture Partners, said, “We have been impressed with the Zitadel team’s vision and are excited to strengthen our partnership. With a vision to bring a cloud-native identity platform that puts developer experience and data security at its core, Zitadel is on the path to becoming the de facto standard for identity and authentication management. The identity and authentication space is ripe for disruption and Zitadel is well-positioned to win.”

“Zitadel is addressing a critical need in the market for cloud-native identity infrastructure. The identity solutions in the market today fall short on their promise to deliver simplicity of integration and flexible deployment options, especially for mid-market and large enterprises,” added Mike Maples, Jr. Founding Partner at Floodgate. “Zitadel’s vision and continued execution are reflected in a steady growth in their customer base, strengthening their ability to become the leading identity infrastructure provider.”

As subscription-based businesses continue to outgrow traditional business models, numerous companies are seeking scalable solutions to authenticate, authorize, and manage users efficiently. Companies are also challenged more than ever to ensure data is protected with the highest level of security. By offering cloud-native identity infrastructure with multi-tenancy capabilities, Zitadel is the only identity infrastructure tailored for the enterprise to tackle authentication and permission management.

“Zitadel is more than just a tool; it is a comprehensive identity platform that caters to the diverse needs of developers, operators, and security professionals”, said Florian Forster, co-founder and CEO of Zitadel. “Embarking on this next phase, we will invest in our platform, customers, and the open source community by improving APIs and SDKs for developers, enhancing observability and visualization tools for site reliability engineers, and investing in AI-driven threat detection and security incident management modules.”

Businesses today struggle with the complexities of single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, and granular permissions, especially in business-to-business (B2B) environments. Zitadel’s open source approach, developer-friendly APIs, and a robust multi-tenant architecture make it easy to integrate with both new and existing applications. This empowers customers to manage multiple organizations and security policies simultaneously.

Zitadel serves a globally distributed customer base of over 150 businesses with an identity platform that caters to a diverse range of industries, including manufacturing, finance, education, healthcare, and SaaS. Zitadel’s customers include large enterprises with advanced use cases and deployments, as well as small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), that value the company’s developer-first approach, commitment to data ownership, comprehensive audit trails, and flexible deployment options. Zitadel gives businesses complete control over their sensitive data and ensures regulatory compliance.

The Series A investment will enable Zitadel to accelerate product development, expand its technical team, and strengthen its position as the leading solution in cloud-native identity security. Developers will be able to create fully customizable login experiences that seamlessly integrate with existing protocols like SAML2 and OpenID Connect. Security operators will be empowered to derive actionable insights through data aggregation, enabling them to monitor compliance and security across user behaviors and application usage patterns. By streamlining complex processes, security operators can leverage advanced usage analytics and threat intelligence capabilities, allowing them to focus on strategic security initiatives.

For more information about Zitadel, please visit: https://zitadel.com/

About Zitadel
Zitadel is the leading provider of cloud-native identity infrastructure solutions. Its platform offers a comprehensive suite of tools for multi-tenant, authentication, authorization, and user management. Designed for scalability, flexibility, and security, Zitadel empowers organizations to protect their cloud infrastructure and applications. For more information, please visit https://zitadel.com/

About Nexus Venture Partners
Nexus helps extraordinary founders build product-first companies and manages $2.6B capital across funds. Over the years, we’ve supported companies like Postman, Apollo.io, Zepto, MinIO, Hasura, Orkes, Fingerprint, Observe.ai, Neuron7.ai, Nx, Druva, Rancher, Ultrahuman, Pubmatic, Delhivery, H2O.ai, ISFC, Rapido, and Turtlemint. To learn more about us, please visit www.nexusvp.com or follow @nexusvp on X.

About Floodgate
Floodgate’s core belief is that the world needs more breakthrough builders who design the future. Over the past 2 decades, we have been early believers and investors in transformational consumer and B2B startups like Okta, Twitter, Twitch, Lyft, Applied Intuition, and others. You can find our core beliefs at www.floodgate.com.

Press Contact:
Jennifer Cloer
503-867-2304
[email protected]

SOURCE Zitadel

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New funding from Blackstone Innovations Investments, FINTOP Capital and JAM FINTOP will support Cardo AI’s expansion into the U.S. market and accelerate its mission to scale asset-based finance and private credit with modern technology.

MILAN, Nov. 20, 2024 — Cardo AI, a next generation asset-based finance and private credit technology platform, has completed its $15mn Series A round. The investment was co-led by Blackstone Innovations Investments, Blackstone’s early-stage strategic investment arm, FINTOP Capital and JAM FINTOP. Andy Horwitz and Kevin MacDonald, co-founders of Black Mountain Systems, also participated in the round.

The $40 trillion asset-based finance and private credit market continues to operate with outdated systems, manual processes and fragmented data. As the market expands with increasingly complex investment strategies, Cardo AI is modernizing the sector’s operations with advanced portfolio modeling and collateral data management technology. The platform facilitates investment decision-making and portfolio monitoring of multi-strategy credit portfolios for industry stakeholders—from investors to banks and servicers—leveraging advanced software workflows, a powerful data engine and predictive AI algorithms. The platform also supports servicers, trustees and fund administrators in streamlining operations and reducing costs.

Founded in 2018, Cardo AI rapidly expanded its presence throughout Europe, with early support from Fasanara Capital, before entering the U.S. market earlier this year. Over the past few months, Cardo has onboarded several of the most sophisticated private credit and asset-based finance investors in the U.S. In addition to co-leading the Series A round, Blackstone is leveraging Cardo AI’s technology in its Credit & Insurance operations to support direct lending and asset-based finance transactions.

Co-leads FINTOP Capital and JAM FINTOP bring deep operating expertise and a strategic network of nearly 100 regional and community banks. Rick Kushel leads the investment for FINTOP and brings over three decades of experience building companies such as iLevel Solutions and DealCloud.

Altin Kadareja, Founder and CEO of Cardo AI: “Our expansion into the US market, supported by such prestigious institutions, highlights Cardo AI’s ability to deliver powerful technology for the alternative credit industry. We are excited to collaborate with new investors and are confident that our platform will play a significant role in scaling the market and enhancing operational excellence for our clients.”

John Stecher, Chief Technology Officer at Blackstone, said: “At Blackstone we have seen firsthand the rapid growth in alternative credit. To keep pace, the industry needs to move away from manual, spreadsheet-based processes to embrace scalable technology solutions. Our Credit & Insurance team has been impressed by Cardo AI’s robust portfolio management capabilities for complex instruments.”

Rick Kushel, Managing Partner at FINTOP Capital said: “We see enormous potential for Cardo AI to transform an industry that has been slow in adopting technological innovation. With decades of experience, their team brings the expertise needed to tackle the challenges this market faces. We are excited to support them in setting the standard in asset-based finance and private credit technology.”

About Cardo AI
Intelligent technology for the asset-based finance market. Cardo AI is a global fintech company with the mission to make the market more efficient, transparent, and accessible to all players. Using proprietary technology that integrates software, data, and intelligence Cardo AI accompanies banks, credit originators, servicers, asset managers, and asset owners throughout the entire process of asset based finance investments: from managing data, formulating predictive analytics, and optimizing portfolios. To date, more than $40 billion are managed through its technology platforms, drawing on a team of more than 120 talents.

For further information: www.cardoai.com.

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2563139/Cardo_AI_Logo.jpg

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SAN DIEGO, Nov. 20, 2024 — Cortechs.ai, a leader in AI-powered neuroimaging and prostate imaging solutions, is pleased to announce the successful close of an oversubscribed Series C funding round led by VILAS Ventures. This strategic investment will fuel the company’s mission to advance medical imaging through cutting-edge technology, expanding both its product suite and market reach.

The funding round, which exceeded its hard cap by a wide margin, drew strong interest from a diverse group of investors, reflecting high confidence in Cortechs.ai’s innovative solutions. Existing investor Genting Berhad, a global conglomerate, participated in the round as well.

“We are thrilled by the enthusiastic response from our investors,” said Kyle Frye, CEO of Cortechs.ai. “This oversubscribed round is a testament to the growing recognition of the critical role our AI-powered tools play in improving diagnostic confidence and patient outcomes. In selecting VILAS Ventures as our capital partner, we valued their deep understanding of healthcare technology, their track record of providing operational support to portfolio companies, and their shared commitment to transforming healthcare. With this support, we’re poised to drive even greater innovation and provide unparalleled value to our clinical partners.”

Daniel Livschutz, Managing Director of VILAS Ventures, expressed excitement about the partnership: “As our inaugural deal, we couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with a visionary company like Cortechs.ai, which has established itself as a frontrunner in AI-driven medical imaging. In our search for the best AI imaging product on the market, Cortechs.ai stood out as a clear leader with the most comprehensive and accurate suite of AI diagnostic tools for the brain and prostate. Their innovation is truly unparalleled, driven by a talented team and a unique ability to bring products to market at record speed. We believe their technology is the leader to address significant gaps in neuroimaging and cancer detection. With this record-breaking investment, we look forward to helping Cortechs.ai realize its extensive product roadmap and continue to expand its position as the global leader in AI diagnostic tools and clinical decision support.”. Livschutz will assume the role of Board Chair, bringing his leadership and expertise to guide Cortechs.ai in this next stage of growth.

Cortechs.ai’s long-standing partnership with Genting Berhad has been pivotal to its growth. “Genting has been a proud partner of Cortechs.ai from the very beginning, supporting its journey from research and development to groundbreaking product innovation,” said Dato’ Sri Tan Kong Han, COO of Genting Berhad. “We are thrilled to co-invest in this next phase, as the company takes bold steps toward fully realizing its commercial success and transforming patient care through advanced AI-driven imaging solutions.”

The company’s rapid evolution is also a point of pride for its founder, Anders Dale, PhD. “It has been an incredible journey founding and building this company, and today, partnering with both Genting Berhad and VILAS truly validates Cortechs’ position as a leader in the neurology and oncology quantitative imaging market,” said Dale. “Our innovation continues to advance, with growing demand from clinicians and patients alike for our cutting-edge technology. I am immensely proud of how far we’ve come, and even more excited for the future and the opportunities ahead.”

This capital infusion will accelerate the rollout of new product features, broaden Cortechs.ai’s commercial footprint, and drive ongoing research and development efforts. Built on the groundbreaking research of Professor Anders Dale, Cortechs.ai’s flagship products include NeuroQuant®, which plays a critical role in early diagnosis and monitoring of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, and OnQ Prostate, a fast-growing tool aiding in prostate cancer detection.

Under Kyle Frye’s leadership, Cortechs.ai has been consistently growing in excess of 100% while deepening its engagement with current customers and expanding its offering to major healthcare organizations in the US and globally. Advising Cortechs.ai during this funding round was Uplift Partners out of Chicago, IL.

About VILAS Ventures
VILAS Ventures is a healthcare-focused investment firm founded by Daniel Livschutz, a visionary entrepreneur with deep experience in healthcare technology and managed services. Drawing from a background that includes scaling multiple HIT companies to national prominence, Daniel founded VILAS Ventures with a commitment to supporting transformative healthcare enterprises while creating immense value for investors and stakeholders. As its inaugural investment, VILAS Ventures aims to deliver not only capital but also extensive operational support to portfolio companies. The firm’s team includes leaders across healthcare and technology verticals, including significant benefactors of healthcare transformation, health-tech executives, and serial entrepreneurs.

About Cortechs.ai
Cortechs.ai is a leader in AI applications in radiology. Cortechs.ai uses cutting-edge technologies in medical imaging to revolutionize disease screening and early detection so patients can enjoy longer, healthier lives. The company develops and markets breakthrough medical device software that quantifies and tracks neurodegenerative diseases, and assists in the detection of clinically significant cancer. Cortechs.ai’s industry-leading brain imaging software provides radiologists, neurologists, oncologists, and clinical researchers worldwide with a convenient and cost-effective way to quantify brain structures for assessing Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, brain trauma, and other brain abnormalities. The company has FDA-cleared products for use in helping the diagnosis and follow-up of neurodegenerative and traumatic brain conditions, as well as prostate cancer. Please visit www.cortechs.ai for further information and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.

SOURCE Cortechs.ai

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Led by Pantera Capital, the round will be used to elevate Monkey Tilt as the preeminent leader in gaming and entertainment

LAS VEGAS, Nov. 20, 2024 — Monkey Tilt, the platform pioneering a new era of entertainment and online gaming experiences, announced today $30M in Series A funding. Launched in March 2024, Monkey Tilt is pioneering the next frontier of gaming and bringing together the most trusted executives and voices across the industry to deliver an optimal, modern gaming experience.

The round, which closed this past summer, was led by Pantera Capital, with participation from Polychain Capital, PokerGo, Hack VC, Dream Ventures, Accomplice, Mirana, and Josh Hannah. This latest funding brings the total amount of capital raised to over $50M USD.

Monkey Tilt is an entertainment-first company that combines traditional casino experiences with improved social and lifestyle integrations. The company capitalizes on its multi-currency crypto payment infrastructure to accommodate wagering with a wide range of digital assets. The platform includes dealer-led craps, roulette, a 24/7 sportsbook, and more. In just under a year, Monkey Tilt has become a destination for both seasoned gamblers and rookie users alike who are eager to game in a more entertaining and engaging way, with like-minded individuals.

“The reality is this industry has failed to keep up with how people want to game, connect, and interact. Monkey Tilt was designed to completely upend what we think of as the traditional gaming experience,” said Founder and CEO Sam Kiki. “What we’re creating is immersive, engaging, and culturally relevant – and everyone is recognizing it.”

Coming out of launch earlier in 2024, Monkey Tilt has already generated a large and loyal following through an innovative product suite that blends traditional casino games, sports, poker and crypto all in one platform and brand.

“Monkey Tilt is pushing the online gaming world into a new era that’s heads and shoulders above the rest of the market,” said Ryan Barney of Pantera Capital. “Sam has already proven to be an authoritative leader in this space, and we’re so proud to back a platform that’s genuinely shaping the future of entertainment.”

Monkey Tilt is now looking ahead to an exciting 2025 that will include the launch of a new crypto trading gamified product in Q1 that will excite first-time and long time players alike. In its pursuit to innovate and deliver for players, Monkey Tilt will continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in online gaming.

About Monkey Tilt
Monkey Tilt’s mission is to redefine how the world engages with gaming, leveraging the power of blockchain to enhance every aspect of the player experience. Monkey Tilt is more than gaming and entertainment —it’s a lifestyle brand that spans from fashion to media.

SOURCE Monkey Tilt

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New capital will drive continued global expansion to bring more insurers into the AI era

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 20, 2024 — Federato, the AI-native underwriting platform for insurance, announced today that it has raised a total of $80 million, including its latest Series C funding round. The $40 million round was led by global private markets investor StepStone Group (NASDAQ: STEP), with participation from existing investors, including Emergence Capital, Caffeinated Capital and Pear VC, who together represent over $200 billion in combined assets under management.

“We have been closely following Federato’s rapid growth over the past five years as an LP in several organizations who have been investors in the company since inception. Founders Will and William’s deep expertise in AI and their dedication to bringing a true vertical AI product to the insurance industry is impressive. Federato’s fast-growing customer base is a testament to the impact they’ve already delivered,” said John Avirett, Partner at StepStone Group. “We are excited to partner with Federato as they help insurers innovate on business models to better serve challenged markets.”

Federato’s RiskOps platform opens the door to a new era of underwriting for the industry. Insurers have confronted new challenges like climate change, cyber crime, and social inflation over the last decade, and AI is likely to define the winners and losers in the decade to come. RiskOps is about enabling an AI-first mindset that makes risk selection faster and more precise, teams more efficient, and growth more profitable and sustainable. Federato customers regularly see a 90% improvement in time-to-quote, 3x improvement in the proportion of good business bound, and 50-90% reduction in systems used by underwriters. These improvements across the value chain are fundamental to confronting these new challenges while staying efficient and competitive.

“When we started with Federato nearly three years ago, we were impressed by the modern underwriting platform they had built. Since then, Federato has become the core engine that powers our growth businesses here in North America. Today, we are leveraging the RiskOps platform as a unified core system for the entire policy lifecycle, from submission to quote, bind, and issue.” said Mike Foley, Chief Underwriting Officer, QBE North America.

As losses have grown more volatile and less predictable for the insurance industry, the volume of data insurers need to manage has grown faster than it can be organized and used. The combination of these forces has led many large players to pull back from challenged markets, citing a technical inability to effectively price risk. Federato’s AI-native RiskOps approach has been particularly impactful in helping insurers confront difficult markets like aviation, commercial trucking, political violence, wildfire, and hurricane while delivering strong baseline efficiencies to more traditional markets.

“Velocity is and always has been in the relentless pursuit of a more efficient operation that can serve the challenged coastal wind-exposed property market,” said Rod Harden, President, Velocity Risk, an MGA/carrier hybrid specializing in E&S property insurance. “In order to do that, we need an underwriting platform that can keep up with the complexity and speed of our business. Federato has delivered on those needs and pushed us to constantly iterate and improve on our processes, driving a 3.7x increase in the percentage of our bound policies that meet our definition of high appetite.”

While Federato already helps thousands of underwriters focus on the highest-value business across global carriers, MGAs, and mutuals, this funding will be used to drive Federato’s continued global presence in the UK, Europe, LATAM, and APAC markets.

On the round and its significance, Will Ross, co-founder and CEO of Federato said, “We couldn’t be more elated that our investors and customers feel the momentum of RiskOps in insurance the way we do. We see this financing as a milestone of continued progress and not an achievement in and of itself. That achievement lies in the value we are creating each and every day for our customers and the communities they serve. Onward!”

About Federato

Federato is bringing RiskOps to insurance to help underwriters win the right deals, faster. From the moment a submission hits an underwriter’s email or portal, RiskOps puts AI to work, triaging submissions with a focus on high-appetite business, delivering real-time feedback on the portfolio, and consolidating workflows into a single proven system. Federato delivers the transformation required to drive profitable growth, providing confidence that teams will stick to the plan, because their unique portfolio goals, strategies, rules, and appetite are built into the core system through which they transact business.

About StepStone

StepStone Group Inc. (Nasdaq: STEP) is a global private markets investment firm focused on providing customized investment solutions and advisory and data services to its clients. As of September 30, 2024, StepStone was responsible for approximately $682 billion of total capital, including $176 billion of assets under management. StepStone’s clients include some of the world’s largest public and private defined benefit and defined contribution pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and insurance companies, as well as prominent endowments, foundations, family offices and private wealth clients, which include high-net-worth and mass affluent individuals. StepStone partners with its clients to develop and build private markets portfolios designed to meet their specific objectives across the private equity, infrastructure, private debt and real estate asset classes.

SOURCE Federato

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