• Inclusive trial recruiting women and men with androgenetic alopecia to evaluate safety and preliminary efficacy of PP405, a topical treatment designed to reactivate dormant hair follicle stem cells
• $14M financing led by GV (Google Ventures) to accelerate Phase 2 clinical program
• Leaders in dermatology join Clinical Advisory Board (CAB) to advance clinical development

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 13, 2024 — Pelage Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage regenerative medicine company pioneering a new generation of treatments for hair loss, today announced that the first patients have been dosed in its Phase 2a clinical trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of PP405, a novel topical small molecule, for the treatment of androgenetic alopecia (pattern baldness). The company is enrolling 60 women and men for the clinical study. PP405 is designed to reactivate dormant hair follicle stem cells to stimulate hair growth.

Pelage also raised a $14 million Series A-1, led by GV, following an initial $16.75 million Series A financing announced in February 2024. The Series A-1 follows positive Phase 1 data, which demonstrated proof of mechanism and target engagement in patients with androgenetic alopecia, supporting a Phase 2 study.

“The advancement of our lead program, PP405, into Phase 2a is a pivotal moment in our journey to deliver a non-invasive, innovative treatment for androgenetic alopecia across all genders, skin types, and hair types,” said Qing Yu Christina Weng, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Pelage Pharmaceuticals. “We are excited to include women and men of all skin tones and hair textures, which has not always been the case in hair loss studies.”

PP405 addresses the metabolic processes that regulate activation of hair follicle stem cells. In androgenetic alopecia, the normal growth cycle of hair is disrupted due to a combination of genetics, age, hormones, and environmental factors, but the follicles and stem cells remain intact. PP405 is based on the discovery of a molecular switch that specifically targets hair follicle stem cells to reactivate dormant processes and restore the growth cycle of hair.

The Phase 2a trial (NCT06393452) is a randomized, placebo-controlled study of PP405 in women and men with androgenetic alopecia. Also known as pattern balding, it is the most common form of alopecia and will affect most people throughout their lives. Study participants will receive a daily topical application of PP405 or a placebo. Participants of all skin phototypes and hair types and textures are eligible. Those interested in participating can find the information at this link.

“GV is encouraged by Pelage’s prior Phase 1 data readouts and robust clinical safety profile,” said Cathy Friedman, Executive Venture Partner, GV and Board Director, Pelage Pharmaceuticals. “We believe the expert team at Pelage is well-positioned to advance this novel and innovative hair loss research, providing a potential alternative to existing treatments that simply slow hair loss.”

Along with the Phase 2a trial, Pelage has announced the formation of its Clinical Advisory Board (CAB), which will support the company’s strategic initiatives as it advances its clinical programs. 

The newly appointed members are:

• Mathew Avram, M.D., J.D., F.A.A.D., Director, Massachusetts General Hospital Dermatology Laser & Cosmetic Center and Associate Professor of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School
• Amelia K. Hausauer, M.D., F.A.A.D., Director of Dermatology and Minimally Invasive Aesthetics at Aesthetx
• Amy McMichael, M.D., F.A.A.D., Professor and past Chair, Department of Dermatology at Wake Forest School of Medicine
• Arash Mostaghimi, M.D., M.P.A., M.P.H., F.A.A.D., Associate Professor of Dermatology, Vice Chair of Clinical Trials and Innovation, and Director of the Dermatology Inpatient Service at Brigham & Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School

“The compelling science behind Pelage’s approach signals an exciting opportunity to potentially reverse the effects of alopecia, an issue I see daily in my clinical practice,” said Dr. Avram. “Hair loss impacts an incredibly diverse patient population, which should be reflected in early clinical trials. We’re focused on guiding the study design to support the inclusion of participants that reflect the diversity of people affected by hair loss.”

About Pelage Pharmaceuticals

Pelage Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage regenerative medicine company developing novel treatments for hair loss including androgenetic alopecia and chemotherapy-induced-alopecia. With a focus on molecular and stem cell biology, Pelage is advancing a new class of treatments designed to reactivate dormant hair follicle stem cells and restore the body’s ability to naturally grow hair. Its lead program, PP405, is currently in clinical trials. Through its rigorous scientific foundation, Pelage is pioneering first-in-class hair growth solutions for people of all hair types experiencing hair loss.

About PP405

PP405 is a novel, non-invasive, topical small molecule designed to reactivate dormant hair follicle stem cells and restart hair growth. Through a regenerative medicine approach, the treatment focuses on addressing the metabolic processes that regulate the activation and inactivation phases of hair follicle stem cells. Early results from a Phase 1 trial show that PP405 was well-tolerated and demonstrated statistically significant activation of hair follicle stem cells. In 2018, Pelage Pharmaceuticals licensed the intellectual property to PP405 and related topical small molecules from the University of California. PP405 is currently in Phase 2a clinical evaluation to assess safety and preliminary efficacy in adults with androgenetic alopecia (NCT06393452).

SOURCE Pelage Pharmaceuticals

Strategic Investment to Accelerate PROBIS’ AI-Powered Financial Management Solutions for Real Estate Development and Support Global Expansion

CHICAGO, Aug. 13, 2024 — JLL today announced that its corporate venture capital arm, JLL Spark Global Ventures, has led the Series A investment round in PROBIS, a company specializing in financial management for real estate development through AI and benchmark technology.

PROBIS aims to advance the real estate industry by replacing outdated financial management systems. The PROBIS platform offers comprehensive financial control of development projects and enhances cost and revenue management through advanced AI-based technology. JLL Spark’s investment helps position PROBIS for substantial growth in the cloud-based project controlling sector.

“JLL’s investment is a continuation of our global expansion strategy,” said Moritz Koppe, CEO of PROBIS. “Their involvement enables us to grow and offer our customers additional cloud-based AI functions that expand our capabilities in multi-project controlling and the provision of real-time data for real estate lenders and developers.”

JLL Spark focuses on investing in PropTech companies that deliver innovative solutions to the real estate industry. The strategic investment in PROBIS aims to drive digital transformation and efficiency within the industry. The partnership will enable PROBIS to leverage JLL’s extensive resources and JLL Spark’s expertise in PropTech and FinTech, further advancing its software solutions.

“After extensive evaluation, we determined that PROBIS’ financial management technology represented a great fit for JLL and its clients, as well as a highly compelling investment opportunity for JLL Spark,” said Sean Wright, Principal at JLL Spark in EMEA. “We’re excited about the prospects of this partnership and look forward to working with the PROBIS team in the years ahead.”

“The investment in PROBIS marks a pivotal step in JLL’s digital transformation within our Project & Development Services,” said Dunja Nigrin, Head of Project & Development Services DACH at JLL. “By combining PROBIS’ AI-driven solutions with our industry expertise, we are poised to redefine project and development management, offering clients efficient, automated oversight from planning to completion. This collaboration underscores our commitment to establishing new standards in ESG, revenue, and construction cost control, ultimately delivering enhanced value and savings for our clients.”

The Series A funding round underscores PROBIS’ commitment to leveraging technology for enhanced AI-based financial control and calculations. This partnership promises substantial progress in the digitalization of the real estate industry.

About PROBIS

PROBIS, headquartered in Munich, provides a scalable cloud-based platform for efficient and transparent financial process management, targeting real estate owners, banks, project developers, and investors. Founded in 2022, PROBIS has rapidly become a leading multi-project controlling software in the real estate and finance sectors, known for ensuring cost security and control from early project stages. With up to 1,000 completed projects annually and a management team with 20 years of experience in digital cost control for major developments like airports, hotels, soccer stadiums, and office buildings, PROBIS is a trusted partner. The platform’s comprehensive services and user-friendly processes facilitate seamless planning, control, and optimization of projects and portfolios. For more information, visit https://en.prob.is/. 

About JLL Spark 

JLL Spark Global Ventures is the corporate venture arm of JLL and a part of the JLL Technologies division. Founded in 2017, JLL Spark offers JLL the ability to provide innovative products and data-driven solutions to real estate owners, occupiers, and users. The JLL Spark fund is run by experienced Silicon Valley VCs and entrepreneurs with successful track records building and investing in tech companies. JLL Spark has invested over $390 million since June 2018 in more than 50 early-stage PropTech startups with underlying investment themes of data and sustainability, across construction tech, financial tech, smart buildings, future of work, and industrial tech. For more information, please visit https://spark.jllt.com. 

About JLL

For over 200 years, JLL (NYSE: JLL), a leading global commercial real estate and investment management company, has helped clients buy, build, occupy, manage and invest in a variety of commercial, industrial, hotel, residential and retail properties. A Fortune 500 company with annual revenue of $20.8 billion and operations in over 80 countries around the world, our more than 110,000 employees bring the power of a global platform combined with local expertise. Driven by our purpose to shape the future of real estate for a better world, we help our clients, people and communities SEE A BRIGHTER WAY^SM. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit jll.com.

Contact: Lesley Mirkowski
Phone: +1 312 228 2112
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE JLL

PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 12, 2024 — NEXT Insurance, a leading digital insurer transforming small business insurance, announced it has been named to CNBC’s inaugural list of the World’s Top Insurtech Companies of 2024 in the digital insurer category. The global list is published by CNBC in partnership with market research firm Statista.

“Our recognition from CNBC underscores the transformative power of our early investment in technology to revolutionize small business insurance and address a critical market gap in the industry,” said Guy Goldstein, CEO of NEXT Insurance. “As a digital-first insurance provider, we’re well underway to lead the market into a new era and to deliver outstanding products and services to our customers, partners and agent ecosystem.”

CNBC’s list of The World’s Top Insurtech Companies of 2024 highlights the top insurtech companies globally and includes companies from six different market categories: Underwriting & Risk Analysis, Policy Administration & AdminTech, Claim & Fraud Management, Marketing, Sales, and Distribution, Digital Brokerage & Comparison Platforms, and Digital Insurers. To select the top companies, Statista analysts conducted in-depth research into relevant KPIs for over 1,000 eligible companies between March and May 2024. The digital insurer category includes insurance carriers and Managing General Agents (MGAs) that use technology to offer a personalized, flexible insurance experience online.

NEXT helps over half a million small businesses nationwide thrive by providing simple and tailored business insurance. As a vertically integrated, technology-led, full-stack insurer, NEXT provides an end-to-end digital experience for customers that includes writing policies, claims handling, pricing, servicing, and underwriting. The company has raised over $1.1 billion in venture capital funding, including a recent $265 million strategic investment from Allstate and Allianz X.

About NEXT Insurance
NEXT Insurance is transforming small business insurance with simple, digital coverage tailored to the self-employed. Trusted by over 500,000 business owners, NEXT offers policies that are easy to buy and provides 24/7 access to Certificates of Insurance, additional insured, and more, with no extra fees. Revolutionizing a historically complicated insurance industry, NEXT utilizes AI and machine learning to simplify the purchasing process. Founded in 2016, the company is headquartered in Palo Alto, has received a total of $1.1 billion in venture capital funding, is rated “A- Excellent” by AM Best and has been recognized by CNBC Disruptor 50, Forbes Fintech 50, Inc.’s Best-Led Companies, and Forbes Best StartUp Employers. For more information, visit NEXTInsurance.com. Stay up to date on the latest with NEXT on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and our blog.

Media Contact
Kerry Ogata
Director of Corporate Communications
301-717-4224
[email protected]

SOURCE NEXT Insurance

$5.5M in Seed Funding from Craft Ventures, Valor, Saga VC and Chapter One

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 12, 2024 — Today we are announcing Ragie, a new AI company that enables developers to build AI applications connected to their own data with outstanding results in record time. Now available to the general public, Ragie was built by industry veterans Bob Remeika and Mohammed Rafiq. Ragie has raised $5.5M in funding led by Craft Ventures, Saga VC, Chapter One, and Valor.

Most companies rely on LLM providers like OpenAI and Anthropic combined with a technique called RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) for their AI applications. RAG leverages a company’s own data to generate more insightful content than can be generated based on what models have been trained on alone. To do this, companies ingest and index their data in a vector database, feed it into a prompt, and generate more thorough and accurate content.

However, the process of building production applications using RAG is very tedious. Developers must:

• Connect and sync multiple data sources including knowledge base applications and cloud file stores
• Extract meaningful data from a variety of file formats and media types like PDFs, Microsoft Office documents and images
• Implement constantly evolving techniques for chunking and retrieval
• Build a scalable data processing pipeline that is resilient and fast
• Avoid hallucinations and ensure that generated content is accurate
• Use open source frameworks that can be time consuming to learn and set up

Building a homegrown solution like this is time consuming and, despite a team’s best efforts, produces brittle applications.

Ragie solves this by providing a fully managed RAG-as-a-Service platform for developers. Originally developed as a solution for Glue, David Sacks’s new chat application, Ragie implements a robust data ingest pipeline and retrieval API that uses the latest techniques in RAG for chunking, searching, and re-ranking. Through a streamlined developer experience, developers can connect and sync their applications with data in Google Drive, Notion, and Confluence.

In addition to offering the core functionality developers need for RAG, Ragie also offers advanced features such as “Summary Index” to avoid document affinity problems and “Entity Extraction” for extracting structured data from unstructured documents.

Ragie’s straightforward pricing aligns with the way apps are developed, deployed, and scaled. Ragie includes a free tier for developers to get started building their applications, a pro plan for production, and enterprise for scale.

Sign up for Ragie for free and get started in minutes using the TypeScript and Python SDKs. For a limited time to celebrate the launch, Ragie is offering a free month of Pro. Learn more at Ragie.ai

SOURCE Ragie

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 12, 2024 — Copec WIND Ventures today announced the inaugural TailWIND Awards, celebrating trailblazing startups that have successfully expanded into the dynamic Latin American market. The list recognizes VC-backed tech companies that have demonstrated impressive traction in their home countries while also making significant and successful expansions into Latin America.

Latin America presents an opportunity for startups from around the world. With double the population and urbanization equal to the United States, Latin America is experiencing a massive digital and innovation transformation. Over the last few years, the region has quickly become a vibrant and growing tech ecosystem and has emerged as a growth market for technology companies and start-ups. This is due to high smartphone penetration, a rapidly growing middle class yearning for better mobility, retail, and other sectors experiences, abundant advantages in solar, wind, and hydro resources, and clean energy elements such as copper and lithium.

The TailWIND Awards shine a spotlight on innovative private companies based outside Latin America that have recognized the opportunity and expanded into the region, contributing to its transformation in meaningful ways. They honor these exemplary startups that embody the spirit of innovation and expansion.

The following companies are being recognized for this year’s award:

• Busbud (Quebec, Canada) – Online Marketplace
• Caban Systems (Burlingame, California) – Energy
• Cabify (Madrid, Spain) – Mobility
• MineSense Technologies (Vancouver, Canada) – Mining
• Optibus (Tel Aviv, Israel) – Transportation
• PayJoy (San Francisco, California) – Fintech
• Turntide Technologies (Sunnyvale, California) – Energy Efficiency
• Revolut (London, UK) – Fintech

The full report can be viewed here:  https://s3.sa-east-1.amazonaws.com/windventures.vc-static-files/TailWIND+Report.pdf

Brian Walsh, the Head of Copec WIND Ventures, expressed his enthusiasm about the awards: “We are excited to recognize and celebrate these innovative startups that are making a significant impact in Latin America. Their expansions are not only contributing to the region’s digital and economic transformation but also fostering a more sustainable and connected future. The TailWIND Awards are a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit and vision of these companies, and we look forward to seeing their continued growth and success in Latin America.”

Started in 2020 and backed by Copec, WIND Ventures aims to invest in start-ups and scale-ups across the world, transforming the energy, mobility, and retail sectors and granting entrepreneurs with ‘unfair’ access to the rapidly growing Latin America region. The firm has deployed over $110 million in capital and completed three exits to date. It manages 20 active portfolio companies and continues to deliver distinctive value to global founders in partnership with COPEC S.A. Investments include Ineratec, SOURCE Global, Wallbox, Grabango, and Resonant Link.

For more information about the TailWIND Awards and Copec WIND Ventures, please visit our website at www.copecwindventures.com.

About Copec WIND Ventures:

Copec WIND Ventures is based in San Francisco and serves as the CVC arm of Copec, one of the leading energy, mobility, and retail companies in Central and South America. Copec is also one of the most valued brands throughout Latin America. WIND Ventures leverages Copec’s significant resources to accelerate growth, primarily within Latin America, for startups and scaleups across the world within the new mobility, energy, and retail sectors.

For more information, visit windventures.vc or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Media Contact:
Mary Magnani
CodePR
[email protected]

SOURCE Copec WIND Ventures

Series A Fund Boosts AI-Driven Plant Monitoring in U.S. Industrial Sector

HOUSTON, Aug. 12, 2024 — UptimeAI, the world’s first AI-based plant monitoring software for industrial businesses announces it has raised $14 million in Series A funding to boost its North American operations. WestBridge Capital led the round, with participation from Emergent Ventures and Aditya Birla Ventures. This funding will accelerate UptimeAI’s mission to revolutionize U.S. industrial plant monitoring and maintenance with advanced AI technology, following a stellar 400% growth in FY2023.

Meeting Industry Needs with Advanced AI

The global AI market for heavy industries is projected to grow from $10.6 billion in 2024 to $47.8 billion in 2029 at a CAGR of 35.1%. Global manufacturing leaders are increasingly leveraging AI to achieve more than basic pattern recognition and predictive analytics. They seek intelligent applications that can automatically identify root causes, extract best practices, and drive continuous improvement.

However, assessments by Forbes, McKinsey, and other industry bodies indicate a failure rate of 70-95% for such digital initiatives, compelling enterprises to develop their own scalable AI solutions.

Delivering ROI with Minimal Site Involvement

UptimeAI’s solutions deliver a 10-15X ROI within nine months, requiring minimal site team involvement. Its patented system model design approach eliminates the need for continuous AI model training by data scientists.

Consequently, nine out of ten customers have already scaled the UptimeAI solution across all sites within a 12-month period. This has resulted in significant savings in energy and maintenance costs, which in turn have driven a positive IRR for industrial plants.

“UptimeAI offers an enterprise-grade, AI-enabled Operational Excellence platform, which has achieved a 100% success rate in improving the profitability of process and manufacturing operations across six industries. This funding will enable UptimeAI to further assist large industrial enterprises to succeed in their digital transformation journey by optimizing their reliability, process efficiency, and maintenance cost.” stated Rishit Desai, Partner at WestBridge Capital.

US Operation Expansion

This latest round of funding will significantly support UptimeAI’s rapid expansion plans across North America and will help position the company as the market leader in boosting efficiency and reliability in U.S. manufacturing and processing sectors.

Jagadish Gattu, CEO, UptimeAI, said, “Our vision is to embed the expertise of a seasoned Subject Matter Expert (SME) into a self-learning AI solution, making this invaluable knowledge accessible to every engineer aiming for operational excellence. With 90% of our revenues already generated from the US and Middle East markets, and with our current profitability, this new funding validates our go-to-market and product strategy. It will further enable us to expand our AI Expert OEx platform offerings in these key regions.”

Aryaman Vikram Birla, Founder, Aditya Birla Ventures, concluded, “AI-enabled operational efficiency solutions can significantly impact industries. UptimeAI, with deep domain expertise is demonstrating strong ROI impact across large enterprise clients in US and India with its AI solutions.  We have strong belief in the capabilities of the founding team and the investment is in line with our vision to back outstanding founding teams, building businesses of tomorrow. Our endeavor is to open up ABG’s global ecosystem and network for the growth of our portfolio companies.”

Founded in 2019 by Jagadish Gattu and Vamsi Yalamanchili, UptimeAI secured $3.5 million in seed funding in December 2022. The company empowers manufacturing leaders to achieve peak capacity utilization and drive AI-enabled operational excellence across all sites.

About UptimeAI

UptimeAI is a San Francisco-based technology provider offering operational excellence capabilities via its AI Expert OEx platform. The company supports firms in the chemical, oil and gas, and utility sectors, helping them understand the relationships between asset performance and process anomalies to drive operational excellence. Many global industrial customers have implemented UptimeAI’s solutions across North America, the Middle East, and India.

Notes to editors:
Media contact: [email protected] 

Data References:

SOURCE UptimeAI

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., Aug. 12, 2024 — cultivate(MD), a leading medical device venture capital company announced today its participation in the successful Series A extension round of Prana Thoracic, a Houston-based medtech startup.

The round, which was oversubscribed by 30%, secured an additional $3 million, bringing Prana Thoracic’s total funding to $9 million. This achievement underscores the strong confidence in Prana Thoracic’s mission to revolutionize lung cancer intervention through precision surgical solutions.

“We are excited to support Prana Thoracic in their mission to improve lung cancer treatment. Their innovative approach has the potential to significantly impact patient outcomes,” said R. Sean Churchill,MD, MBA – Managing Director of cultivate(MD).

Prana Thoracic’s cutting-edge approach to lung cancer treatment aligns with cultivate(MD)’s commitment to investing in transformative healthcare technologies. The company’s pioneering work in developing minimally invasive techniques for lung tissue excision has the potential to dramatically improve patient outcomes, offering earlier and more precise interventions for those affected by lung cancer.

“We are grateful for the overwhelming support from our investors in this financing round. Their confidence in our mission and plan is motivating,” said Joanna Nathan, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Prana Thoracic. “This additional funding will enable us to accelerate our efforts in bringing precision surgical solutions to lung cancer patients worldwide.”

“The team has made remarkable progress in developing this novel and minimally invasive technique for lung tissue excision, which has the potential to transform the diagnosis and treatment of early-stage lung cancer,” said Edward M. Boyle, MD, Founder and Director of Prana Thoracic. “Beyond lung applications, they are pioneering new methods to use this technology for other soft tissues and are actively exploring integration with ablation and robotic systems, aligning with the future direction of these fields.”

In addition to the investment from cultivate(MD), this fundraising round was supported by new investors GenHenn Capital, and Houston Angel Network, with participation from prior lead investor New World Angels. Existing investors include Johnson & Johnson Development Corp, Texas Medical Center Venture Fund, and the Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT).

The funds from this oversubscribed round will be instrumental in accelerating Prana Thoracic’s product development and advancing its clinical and regulatory milestones, bringing the company closer to its goal of transforming lung cancer intervention.

About cultivate(MD)

cultivate(MD) is a medical device venture capital firm dedicated to advancing healthcare innovation. With a keen focus on cutting-edge medical technologies, cultivate(MD) supports companies that show the potential to revolutionize healthcare delivery and patient care.

For more information, visit: https://cultivate-md.com

About Prana Thoracic

Prana Thoracic was founded with a vision to transform lung cancer intervention through precision surgical solutions. We aim to right-size interventions for those patients seeking earlier options in the management of their disease. Our flagship product, the Prana System, has been meticulously designed to enable image-guided, minimally invasive surgery, conserving healthy tissue and driving personalized treatment plans in a range of conditions including lung cancer. Our team of leading surgeons, engineers, and entrepreneurs is obsessed with developing technologies that raise the bar for physicians and patients alike.

For more information, visit: https://www.pranathoracic.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This communication contains statements that constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our plans, beliefs, expectations, assumptions, and other statements that are not necessarily historical facts. You are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are only predictions and involve risks and uncertainties. Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and we do not intend to update or revise any forward-looking statements. This communication also contains market data related to our business and industry which includes projections that are based on several assumptions we believe are reasonable and most significant to the projections as of the date of this communication. If any of our assumptions prove to be incorrect, our actual results may significantly differ from our projections based on these assumptions.

SOURCE cultivate(MD)

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 12, 2024 — Startup World Cup, one of the biggest and richest startup pitch competitions in the world, successfully hosted its highly anticipated flagship Startup World Cup Silicon Valley Regional competition on August 1, 2024.

Out of the Top 16 finalists, Earthgrid, which develops plasma tunnel boring robots to build a network of underground utility tunnels, became the champion. This achievement paves the way for their participation in the Startup World Cup Grand Finale to be held in San Francisco on October 4, 2024 for an opportunity to win a $1,000,000 investment prize.

The event was organized and by Pegasus Tech Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based global venture capital firm. A panel of independent venture capital investors judged the pitches of the finalists and ultimately awarded Earthgrid as the winner.

“We are delighted by the quality and enthusiasm of the entrepreneurs who were competing,” said Anis Uzzaman, Founder and CEO of Pegasus Tech Ventures, who created the Startup World Cup competition in 2016. “Each year we are impressed by the quality of startups who apply and present. I look forward to seeing Earthgrid on the Grand Finale stage.”

With more speakers to come, Robert Herjavec (ABC’s Shark Tank Star), Tim Draper (Founding Partner of Draper Associates & DFJ), Suzanne DiBianca (Chief Impact Officer of Salesforce), Faye Iosotaluno (CEO of Tinder), Daniel Danker (Chief Product Officer of Instacart),and more are already confirmed to speak at the Grand Finale on October 4^th, 2024 in San Francisco. (https://www.startupworldcup.io/grand-finale)

Event Details:

Startup World Cup 2024 Grand Finale
October 4, 2024
San Francisco Hilton Union Square

Grand Finale Tickets: https://swc2024.eventbrite.com 

Check out the Grand Finale video highlights here.

About Startup World Cup

Startup World Cup is a global conference and competition with the goal of bridging startup ecosystems worldwide. The competition gives startup companies from all over the world a chance to win a US $1,000,000 prize in the form of an investment. This year, there will be approximately 100 regional events across North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia, leading up to the Grand Finale in San Francisco in September. Startup World Cup is organized by Pegasus Tech Ventures, a Silicon Valley-based global venture capital firm.

About Startup World Cup 2024 Grand Finale:

The Startup World Cup Grand Finale will take place in San Francisco, October 4, 2024. Past Startup World Cup Grand Finale events featured prominent figures from the high-tech community, including John Chambers (Former CEO of Cisco), Steve Wozniak (Co-Founder of Apple), Reid Hoffman (Founding CEO of LinkedIn), Vinod Khosla (Co-Founder of Sun Microsystems), Adam Cheyer (Co-Founder of Siri), Marc Randolph (Co-Founder of Netflix), and Jay Vijayan (Former CIO of Tesla). The Grand Finale judging panels have included prominent investors from Kleiner Perkins, Y Combinator, Techstars, Intel Capital, 500 Startups, GE Ventures, DFJ, Social Capital, and Index Ventures.

SOURCE Pegasus Tech Ventures

Personal Hair Care Pioneer Innovating $83BB Global Hair Care Market with B2B, B2C, and B2R Solutions

ATLANTA, Aug. 9, 2024 — MYAVANA, the trailblazer in AI-driven personalized hair care, has just closed a $5.9 million seed round. This infusion of capital underscores MYAVANA’s pivotal role in revolutionizing the global hair care market, projected to reach $113 billion by 2031. It is spearheaded by strategic investors who understand the AI market and MYAVANA’s impact using hair data to inform markets. Investors include Prisma Ventures (the innovation fund of Ulta), H/L Ventures, New Age Capital, BrainTrust, Duo Partners, REFASHIOND Ventures, Resilient Ventures, Amazon, Reform Ventures, and NGC Capital. This round of funding will accelerate MYAVANA’s unique market position, pioneering personalized haircare under the visionary leadership of its founder, Candace Mitchell.

MYAVANA’s journey over the past 12 years has been marked by breakthrough innovations, with the development of the world’s first AI-driven, proprietary personalized hair care software system at its core. Hair analysis is as unique as a fingerprint and reveals so much about us:  texture, type, condition, toxins and minerals in the body, illnesses, stress, medications, and diet. MYAVANA is leveraging its market leadership position and data-driven insights to impact several core areas initially.

Four Business Lines Driving Growth and Innovation

At the heart of MYAVANA’s business model lie four distinct pillars, each contributing to its rapid growth and market penetration:

• Strategic Retail Partnerships: MYAVANA’s real-time data analytics platform enables partners like Ulta and Amazon to drive purchases with its Hair RI solution. MYAVANA has also collaborated with the National Black-Owned Beauty Supply Association and Braintrust Founders Studio, facilitating distribution to over 1,000 retailers and salons.
• Consumer Data Solutions: MYAVANA’s comprehensive HairCl database is valuable for hair brands and R&D companies such as Unilever and BASF, which seek actionable consumer insights to enhance their offerings. MYAVANA hopes to work with all hair care manufacturers so they understand exactly who their target customers are and can boost sales accordingly.
• Personalized Hair Analysis: Unlike traditional one-size-fits-all approaches, MYAVANA offers personalized hair analysis through its HairAI^™ technology, empowering consumers with tailored product recommendations suited to their unique hair characteristics.
• Scientific Intelligence Services: MYAVANA’s scientific intelligence provides access to its proprietary HairSI^™ Strand Analysis Kit, offering comprehensive healthy hair care plans tailored to individual challenges and goals.

Hair AI: Redefining Personalized Hair Care

MYAVANA’s pioneering HairAI^™ technology utilizes microscopic hair analysis and advanced algorithms to decode the intricacies of hair texture, type, and condition, providing retailers, consumers, and salons with instant product recommendations tailored to their specific needs. “A person’s hair is as unique to them as a fingerprint, and we’ve unlocked powerful, personalized insights with our AI platform,” said MYAVANA CEO and Founder Candace Mitchell. “Hair is the longest record of your body’s health, providing as much as a decade of information about a person’s health and needs. I’m grateful to our investors who see the long-term potential and share our mission.”

“This is such a differentiated and powerful use of AI in an enormous market with few competitors,” said Agustina Sartori, Sr. Director of Innovation at Ulta Beauty. “There’s a great deal of potential for MYAVANA to not only influence the health and beauty sector but to have a profound impact beyond cosmetic concerns.”

“Our mandate is to seek impactful businesses with high growth potential and diverse founding teams, and MYAVANA is just such a company,” said Oliver Libby, Managing Partner at H/L Ventures. “Hair AI can lead to numerous commercial opportunities and even wellness insights, and we believe Candace and her team can unlock this exciting potential.”

“This represents a highly differentiated and powerful use of AI in a vast market with few, if any, competitors,” said Karyn Schoenbart co-founder of Duo Partners and former CEO of the NPD Group. MYAVANA has immense potential to revolutionize the health and beauty sector—and beyond—with its unique technology. By enabling consumers to identify the right products and offering brands and retailers a novel approach to market, MYAVANA is poised to disrupt the industry”.

Inaugural Techturized Beauty Tech Summit: Driving Industry Transformation

As MYAVANA celebrates its 12th anniversary, it hosted its inaugural Techturized Beauty Tech Summit on Saturday, June 15th, at Georgia Tech to unlock value and drive innovation in the hair care sector. Industry leaders such as Robin D. Groover and Melissa Hibbert participated to discuss the opportunities for retailers, manufacturers, and consumers as they explore the transformative potential of technology in shaping the future of beauty and wellness.

About MYAVANA: Empowering Consumers, Inspiring Change

MYAVANA is a venture backed 12-year old beauty tech company providing data-driven insights to retailers, salons, brands, and consumers. As one of the only black-owned AI enterprises, MYAVANA takes pride in its diverse team of women in STEM who have been instrumental in shaping its success story. MYAVANA has raised $6.2M total to chart new frontiers in personalized hair care and beyond, empowering consumers and businesses by driving positive change in the beauty and health industry. For more information visit www.myavana.com.

Media Contact:
Elizabeth Byington
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SOURCE MYAVANA