Company Focused on Bringing Industry-Leading Technology to Market in Food Safety and MedTech Industries 

ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 5, 2024 — HyperSpectral, the world’s first AI-powered spectral intelligence company with hardware-agnostic solutions for particle detection, emerged from stealth today with $8.5 million in a Series A funding round. HyperSpectral’s Series A round was co-led by RRE Ventures and  Kibo Ventures with participation from Correlation Ventures, and GC&H Investments. The funds will allow the company to ramp up development of the technology, hire key talent, and create wider AI datasets through lab partnerships and testing.

The company has garnered significant interest from multiple industry sectors, with food safety and healthcare being among the most important. In the food safety sector, Case Western Reserve University and the Safe Food Alliance are key partners. This interest has led the company to initiate several pilot programs in these industries. Additionally, the company has secured a contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to help develop defense applications for this technology.

“This funding will accelerate our go-to-market strategy for our unique spectral AI technology with real-world applications in food and beverage safety, health care, and more industry sectors,” said Matt Theurer, co-founder and CEO of HyperSpectral, “We are excited to prove to the world that our technology not only works but is faster and cheaper than traditional lab testing, allowing farmers, food processors, and physicians to get instant results with a quick scan.”

HyperSpectral’s technology utilizes spectroscopy to measure the unique absorption and emission of light from different sources and artificial intelligence trained on large custom created datasets to recognize different particle spectroscopy signatures in the real world. While the technology has a vast number of applications, HyperSpectral’s focus is on revolutionizing how the agricultural and medical industries detect dangerous pathogens such as E. coli, salmonella, listeria, staph aureus, and others.

Traditional testing for pathogens is a time-consuming process where farmers and physicians have to ship samples to specialty testing labs to be analyzed. When using HyperSpectral’s software platform and standard  third-party hardware, users will be able to conduct these tests onsite in minutes with a quick, non-intrusive scan, allowing for radically faster  threat detection.

“HyperSpectral is massively improving the speed and accuracy of food safety testing through the power of computer vision and AI,” said Will Porteous, General Partner at RRE 

Ventures. “This is just the first of a number of significant market applications of this powerful technology.”

“We have known part of the team for over 7 years, before they founded Hyperspectral,” said Juan Lopez, Partner at Kibo Ventures. “They have demonstrated their capabilities as founders, with a proven track record of creating and scaling successful companies. We are thrilled to partner with them to unlock the power of spectral data using state-of-the-art AI and help them expand internationally.”

The HyperSpectral team is led by:

• Co-Founder and CEO Matt Theurer, an entrepreneur who co-founded Virtustream, a cloud computing management software purchased by EMC Corp. for $1.2 billion
• Chief Medical Officer Dr. Adam Saltman, former CMO at ChemImage and medical officer at the Food and Drug Administration
• Chief Science Officer Erik Avaniss-Aghajani, Ph.D., former Director of Clinical Diagnostics at Primex Clinical Laboratories
• Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer Lauren Stack, veteran operations and finance executive
• Chief Information Officer Vince Lubsey, a former co-founder of Virtustream and global technology leader
• Chief Product Officer Dr. Simi George, a veteran data scientist and product manager

“As a highly engaged member of the Peanut and Tree Nut Processors Association (PTNPA), Hyperspectral has quickly catapulted the topic of AI and how food safety solutions are becoming more data and AI driven in the food industry,” said Jeannie Shaughnessy, CEO of the Peanut and Tree Nut Processors Association. “We are thrilled to watch their ongoing business successes.”

About HyperSpectral
Based in Alexandria, VA, HyperSpectral seeks to combine spectroscopy, AI and machine learning to detect and recognize unique particle signatures. HyperSpectral is actively working to provide agricultural and medical technology companies with real-time intelligence on product safety and protect people from invisible threats. For more information, visit https://www.hyperspectral.ai/.

About RRE Ventures
RRE Ventures is a leading venture capital firm based in NYC, with a strong focus on investing in early-stage technology companies. Founded in 1994, RRE has a proven track record of identifying and supporting innovative startups across various sectors, including enterprise software, fintech, healthcare, and frontier technologies. With over $2 billion in assets under management and a portfolio of more than 200 companies, RRE brings deep expertise, extensive networks, and a long-term commitment to helping entrepreneurs build transformative businesses.

About Kibo Ventures
Kibo Ventures, a leading venture capital firm established in 2012, is dedicated to partnering with founders to tackle today’s biggest challenges through technology, helping them grow and scale internationally in Europe, Latam and USA. Its portfolio includes companies with a strong technological focus and global reach, such as Flywire ($FLYW), Devo, Job&Talent, Sorare, Exoticca, and Capchase.

About the Peanut and Tree Nut Processing Association
The Peanut and Tree Nut Processors Association, established in 1939, is composed of leading nut industry companies, representatives and solution providers, ranging from international household brands to fourth-generation family-owned businesses. The organization exists to advance the nut industry through professional networks, advocacy and education for and on behalf of its members. For more information about PTNPA, the nut industry or to become a member, visit www.ptnpa.org.

SOURCE HyperSpectral

NEW YORK, June 5, 2024 — Envisagenics, an AI-driven revenue generating biotechnology company focused on discovery and development of novel RNA splicing therapeutics, today announced a Series B fundraising round with participation from existing investors Third Kind Venture Capital, Empire State Development and Red Cell Partners, and new strategic investor Bristol Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY). Bristol Myers Squibb previously entered into an oncology research collaboration with Envisagenics in 2022.

Proceeds from the Series B financing will be used to further develop Envisagenics’ pipeline of novel preclinical oncology assets with the company’s cloud-based AI drug discovery platform, SpliceCore^®, and to scale its commercial offerings. SpliceCore integrates machine learning (ML) algorithms with high performance computing to identify novel and disease specific alternative splicing isoforms using its proprietary database of more than 14 million RNA splicing events.

The funding follows a Series A round announced in September 2021, which enabled Envisagenics to scale and commercialize its platform. Since then, the company has established collaborations with Biogen and the Lung Cancer Initiative at Johnson & Johnson, in addition to Bristol Myers Squibb. 

“Today, as a profitable company with a strong AI/ML platform, a brilliant team, and world-class collaborations, we are focused on product and asset development to improve patients’ lives,” said Maria Luisa Pineda, Ph.D., Envisagenics co-founder and CEO. “Funding from this round will primarily be used to drive our developmental pipeline, including immunotherapies for multiple indications in oncology and disease-modifying ASOs for neurodegenerative diseases, with the goal of advancing our first asset into the clinic. Along with the continued support of our existing investors, we’re very pleased to welcome Bristol Myers Squibb as a new investor.”

About Envisagenics
Envisagenics is an AI-driven biotechnology company harnessing the therapeutic potential of RNA splicing. Over 95% of human genes undergo alternative splicing, a process generating multiple RNA isoforms from a single gene. Alternative splicing holds the key to understanding and targeting over 370 diseases, including cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. SpliceCore boasts an impressive 400-fold increase in transcriptomic search space compared to conventional tools for target identification. Leveraging our extensive map of over 14 million RNA splicing events, SpliceCore enables the discovery of disease-specific targets, paving the way for the rational design and development of immunotherapies and RNA therapeutics.

Envisagenics collaborates closely with biopharmaceutical companies and academic institutions to elevate their drug discovery capabilities and has partnered with the Lung Cancer Initiative at Johnson & Johnson, Biogen and Bristol Myers Squibb. Founded in 2014 as a spin-out from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Envisagenics is a woman- and minority-led organization, with several grants from esteemed institutions like the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and the National Cancer Institute.

For more information on our groundbreaking work, connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn or visit https://www.envisagenics.com.

Media Contact

Katie Morris, PhD
ENTENTE Network
+1-833-500-0061 x7
[email protected]

SOURCE Envisagenics, Inc.

New investment fuels expanded capabilities to empower life sciences, healthcare, banks, financials services, insurance, and public sector organizations to rapidly leverage generative AI in every use case. 

DENVER, June 5, 2024 — Today, Liminal, the leader in horizontal generative AI data security, announces they have added more than $5M in funding in an oversubscribed seed round led by Fin Capital, with participation from High Alpha, Matchstick Ventures, Craft Ventures Scout Fund, and veteran regulated industry executives. The new investment expands Liminal’s ability to quickly enable customers to securely deploy and use generative AI.

The proliferation of generative AI over the past 18 months is unprecedented. With thousands of new models and more than 12,000 generative AI-enabled applications released over the past year alone, regulated organizations are forced to contend with a new and vast set of data security and privacy challenges.

Using Liminal’s model agnostic, horizontal platform and secure workflow tools, regulated organizations can unlock the immense productivity benefits of generative AI while confidently maintaining regulatory compliance and protecting sensitive data such as intellectual property, employee, customer, and other private information. Liminal’s platform secures every interaction with generative AI, providing both a seamless experience for end users and total AI oversight, administration, and observability for security teams.

“The rise of generative AI and its associated security risks have made it challenging for regulated enterprises to adopt these technologies,” said Steven Walchek, founder and CEO of Liminal. “Our platform and workflow tools are designed to help organizations quickly get started with the low-lift, high-impact use cases, while also providing the necessary safeguards for more complex and transformational AI implementations.”

“Generative AI represents a massive leap forward in productivity for every enterprise,” said Edmund Murphy III, Liminal Investor and CEO of Empower. “Liminal’s platform is purpose-built to help regulated organizations quickly leverage this new technology, without compromising on security and user experience.”

“We are already seeing the transformative power of AI in financial services. However, the barriers to its full adoption and potential are significant,” shared Christian Ostberg, General Partner at Fin Capital. “With generative AI budgets expected to triple between 2023 and 2025, Liminal is uniquely positioned to unlock the adoption of AI for large enterprises in regulated industries by solving AI data privacy, security, and sovereignty.”

About Liminal

Liminal empowers regulated enterprises to securely deploy and leverage generative AI across all use cases. With Liminal, organizations have complete control over the data submitted to large language models (LLMs). Whether that be through direct interactions, through the consumption of off-the-shelf software with generative AI capabilities, or via the generative AI-enabled applications built in-house, Liminal’s model agnostic, horizontal platform helps ensure protection against regulatory compliance risk, data security risk, and reputational risk. Across every model, in every application you use, and in every application you’re building. For more information, visit liminal.ai or follow Liminal on LinkedIn.

‍About Fin Capital

Founded in 2018, Fin Capital is a global asset manager focused on full lifecycle investing in B2B fintech software companies. Fin Capital is passionate about rolling up its sleeves and partnering with repeat entrepreneurs that have deep financial services experience, differentiated products, and a global mindset. Fin is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in Los Angeles, London, Miami, and New York. To learn more, visit www.fin.capital.

SOURCE Liminal

Supporting more than 500,000 U.S. healthcare professionals, Eko combines FDA-cleared algorithms with digital medical devices to enhance the early detection of cardiac and pulmonary diseases during physical exams.

SAN FRANCISCO, June 5, 2024 — Eko Health, a pioneer in applying artificial intelligence for early detection of heart and lung diseases, today announced it has raised $41 million in Series D financing. With participation by ARTIS Ventures, Highland Capital Partners, NTTVC, and Questa Capital, the funding round will be used to expand U.S. and global access to the company’s early disease detection platform.

The funding builds on recent commercial and clinical milestones, including U.S. FDA clearances for its structural heart murmur and low ejection fraction (Low EF) detection algorithms. Eko’s murmur detection algorithm was clinically validated in a Massachusetts General Hospital study and found to double identification rates of structural heart murmurs versus conventional practice in primary care. The low EF detection algorithm, developed with Mayo Clinic, was shown in an Imperial College London study to significantly enhance the identification of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction in GP clinics. By enhancing detection capabilities, Eko’s platform significantly reduces diagnostic bottlenecks, leading to earlier interventions and improved patient outcomes.

“Eko harnesses AI to unlock universal access to expert-level cardiac and pulmonary disease detection for patients everywhere,” said Connor Landgraf, CEO and co-founder of Eko Health. “Just as Ring transformed doorbells into home security systems, Eko has reinvented the world’s most ubiquitous medical tool into a powerful early disease detection platform, creating the world’s largest install base of professional AI-enabled cardiology devices.”

Cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases are among the leading causes of death worldwide, underscoring the critical need for early detection. Millions of patients remain unaware of their risk factors, often due to limited access to effective detection tools. Eko is addressing this gap by introducing sophisticated detection capabilities into any physical exam — from primary care exams at NCH Healthcare System in the U.S. to maternal-fetal health exams in Nigeria.

“Eko has spent the past decade building an unparalleled dataset of digital heart and lung sounds, which it leverages to develop clinical AI for the physical world,” said Vas Bailey, PhD, Chair of the Board at Eko Health and Partner at ARTIS Ventures. “Like countless others, I lost a parent much too early to undetected heart disease. I am deeply inspired by the team’s dedication to saving lives by equipping hundreds of thousands—and soon millions—of clinicians worldwide with our groundbreaking early detection platform.”

Eko will use the new capital to deepen its presence in the U.S. and accelerate its expansion into key international markets, supported by new strategic investments from Double Point Ventures in the U.S., Singapore-based global investor EDBI (the corporate investment arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board), and LG Technology Ventures, backed by the LG Group of South Korea. With the new funding and regulatory clearances, Eko is poised to rapidly expand access to its AI-enabled cardiac and pulmonary disease detection platform, empowering millions of healthcare professionals to improve patient outcomes in the coming years.

About Eko Health
Eko Health is a leading digital health company advancing how healthcare professionals detect and monitor heart and lung disease with its portfolio of digital stethoscopes, patient and provider software, and AI-powered analysis. Its FDA-cleared platform, used by over 500,000 healthcare professionals worldwide, allows them to detect earlier and with higher accuracy, diagnose with more confidence, manage treatment effectively, and ultimately give their patients the best care possible. Eko Health is headquartered in Emeryville, California, with over $165 million in funding from ARTIS Ventures, DigiTx Partners, Double Point Ventures, EDBI, Highland Capital Partners, LG Technology Ventures, Mayo Clinic, Morningside Technology Ventures Limited, NTTVC, Questa Capital, and others.

Media Contact:
Sam Moore
[email protected]

SOURCE Eko Health

PHOENIX, June 5, 2024 — Trinity Capital Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIN) (“Trinity”), a leading provider of diversified financial solutions to growth-oriented companies, today announced the commitment of $15 million in growth capital to restor3d, a 3D printing, patient specific medical device company.

restor3d enhances patient care and meets surgeons’ needs by providing solutions tailored to patients’ unique anatomies, enabling precise repair, reconstruction, and restoration. The company holds proprietary expertise in advanced 3D printing of osseointegrative materials, AI-based planning and design automation tools, and digital health solutions to provide seamless data-backed care to optimize individual patient outcomes.

“restor3d is at the forefront of innovation in the customized orthopedic implant industry with its unique patient specific 3D printed technologies,” said Lauren Cosentino, Managing Director, Life Sciences at Trinity. “We look forward to working with restor3d’s leadership team and supporting the company’s continued growth.” 

The new debt facility from Trinity will allow restor3d to continue its product innovation and expansion into new markets.

“We are thrilled to partner with Trinity as we continue to scale our business and bring our innovative, patient specific medical devices to more surgeons and patients worldwide,” said Kurt Jacobus, Chief Executive Officer of restor3d. “This investment underscores the immense potential of our technology to transform patient care and drive better surgical outcomes.”

About Trinity Capital Inc.

Trinity Capital Inc. (Nasdaq: TRIN), an internally managed business development company, is a leading provider of diversified financial solutions to growth-stage companies with institutional equity investors. Trinity Capital’s investment objective is to generate current income and, to a lesser extent, capital appreciation through investments, including term loans and equipment financings and equity-related investments. Trinity Capital believes it is one of only a select group of specialty lenders that has the depth of knowledge, experience and track record in lending to growth stage companies. For more information, please visit the Company’s website at www.trinitycap.com.

About restor3d, Inc.

restor3d is a world leader in patient specific musculoskeletal implants and driven by the belief that every patient deserves personalized care. The company holds proprietary expertise in 3D printing of osseointegrative materials, AI-based planning and design automation tools, and digital health solutions to provide seamless data-backed care to optimize individual patient outcomes. Alongside its customers, restor3d is reimagining the musculoskeletal reconstruction landscape. More information is available at www.restor3d.com.

SOURCE Trinity Capital Inc.

Unveils new GenAI capabilities and launches new product designed for Salesforce ecosystem

BENGALURU, India, June 5, 2024 — AI-powered, low-code test automation platform Testsigma announced today that it has raised $8.2 million in funding led by MassMutual Ventures. Previous investors Accel, STRIVE and BoldCap also participated in the round. With its underlying NLP (Natural Language Programming) engine, Testsigma enables users to rapidly create, manage and execute end-to-end, automated tests for web and mobile apps, and APIs using plain English. The company previously raised $4.6M led by Accel along with STRIVE and BoldCap in 2022.

Testsigma also announced new GenAI capabilities to their low-code platform, enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of QA (Quality Assurance) teams. These GenAI features allow QA team members to generate test scenarios and test cases from various inputs such as URL, product designs, screenshots, and Jira stories. This advancement not only accelerates the process of writing and executing tests but also ensures comprehensive test coverage. The AI can suggest test scenarios to identify and cover gaps that may arise due to code changes, thus maintaining the robustness and reliability of the software being developed.

Testsigma has also unveiled a new product specifically designed for the Salesforce ecosystem, leveraging their robust low-code platform. This new offering is tailored to meet the needs of Salesforce developers and administrators, enabling them to accelerate automated salesforce testing significantly. By using this solution, teams can achieve a tenfold increase in test development speed compared to traditional testing methods.

In addition to its simplicity, Testsigma is also enterprise-ready and provides flexibility. Enterprises use the platform for their end-to-end testing needs including web apps, mobile apps, desktop apps, APIs and with their latest product, Salesforce. Leading companies such as Cisco, Oscar, Bosch and Samsung use Testsigma to streamline their testing processes and ensure robust software quality.

Testsigma was founded by Rukmangada Kandyala, Pratheep Velicherla, Vikram Chaitanya, and Rajesh Reddy in 2019. The team comes with rich experience in developing enterprise SaaS applications for Zoho, Freshworks, Oracle and HPE.

Rukmangada Kandyala (KR), Founder and CEO of Testsigma, said, “Quality engineering and DevOps teams currently use Testsigma’s low code test automation platform to test web, mobile and desktop apps in addition to database and APIs. With the new GenAI capabilities and our new product for the Salesforce ecosystem, we get one step closer to our vision of building the operating system for quality engineering teams. We have been investing heavily in GenAI and our customers are rapidly adopting generative AI practices.”

Commenting on the investment, Anvesh Ramineni, Managing Partner at MassMutual Ventures, mentioned, “We are witnessing a significant change in how QA teams approach automation. Testsigma’s AI-driven, low-code solution enables multiple user profiles, including manual testers and business analysts, to contribute to faster software releases. We are impressed by the rapid adoption of Testsigma’s platform among enterprise QA teams and are excited about the GenAI capabilities they have been building.”

“There is an accelerated demand for quality engineering teams to adopt low-code and AI-powered solutions. We are excited at the new Gen-AI capabilities and the accelerated adoption of Testsigma among the QA community and enterprises alike,” added Abhinav Chaturvedi, Accel Partners.

IDC predicts that by 2028, GenAI-based tools will be capable of writing 70% of software tests, decreasing the need for manual testing, resulting in improvements to test coverage, software usability and code quality. The report also mentions that by 2028, natural language will become the most widely used programming language, with developers using it to create 30% of net new applications.

About Testsigma

Testsigma is a GenAI-powered, low-code test automation platform that makes it fast and easy for quality engineering teams to automate tests at speed and scale without coding expertise. Through its Natural Language Programming approach, Testsigma allows users to create complex automated tests using plain English, while maintaining the structured approach of programming languages. QA teams can also use the in-built Generative AI capabilities to generate test scenarios thus ensuring test coverage and significantly reducing test development efforts.

Hundreds of leading enterprises across the world use Testsigma to release quality software. Some notable customers of Testsigma include Cisco, Samsung, Bosch, Oscar Health, and American Psychological Association.

Testsigma is headquartered in San Francisco with engineering teams in Bangalore and Chennai. Testsigma is backed by marquee investors like MassMutual, Accel, Strive and BoldCap.

About MassMutual Ventures 

MassMutual Ventures (MMV) is a multistage global venture capital firm investing in financial technology, enterprise SaaS, healthtech, climate technology and cybersecurity companies. With teams based in London, Singapore, and Boston, MMV manages over $1 billion in investment capital across the globe. We help accelerate the growth of the companies we partner with by providing capital, connections and advice. With our deep expertise and extensive network, MMV helps entrepreneurs build compelling and scalable companies of value.

About Accel Partners

Accel is a global venture capital firm that aims to be the first partner to exceptional teams everywhere, from inception through all phases of private company growth. Accel has been operating in India since 2008, and its investments include companies like BookMyShow, BrowserStack, Flipkart, Freshworks, FalconX, and Infra.Market, Chargebee, Clevertap, Cure Fit, Musigma, Moneyview, Mensa Brands, Myntra, Moglix, Ninjacart, Swiggy, Stanza Living, Urban Company, Zetwerk, and Zenoti, among many others.

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2430674/Testsigma_CEO.jpg
Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2430675/Testsigma_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Testsigma Inc.

TAIPEI, June 5, 2024 — Tether, the largest company in the digital asset industry, has announced a strategic investment of $18.75M in XREX Group, a fully regulated, blockchain-enabled financial institution. This collaboration aims to drive innovation in the digital asset industry, facilitate USDT-based cross-border payments in emerging markets, and innovate regulatory technology.

With Tether‘s funding, XREX will facilitate compliant, USDT-based cross-border B2B payments in emerging markets, revolutionizing financial transactions by offering businesses greater ease, efficiency, and potentially lower costs. Additionally, XREX will work with the Unitas Foundation to launch XAU1, a USD-pegged unitized stablecoin over-reserved with Tether Gold (XAUt), providing customers with a stable alternative and a hedge against inflation.

This collaboration will drive innovation in Regulatory Technology (RegTech), enhancing solutions to detect and prevent illicit use of stablecoins. Tether‘s commitment to responsible financial stewardship aligns with XREX’s dedication to fostering a safe, accessible, and trusted environment for all crypto users in emerging markets.

“Tether‘s strategic investment in XREX Group signifies our unwavering commitment to fostering financial inclusion in emerging markets,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether. “Our collaboration with XREX will spearhead several groundbreaking initiatives, including the launch of a unique new unitized stablecoin by the Unitas Foundation and the facilitation of USDT-based cross-border payment, setting a new standard for financial accessibility and efficiency in the region. This latest investment aligns with Tether‘s long-term vision of building a resilient infrastructure that extends beyond the confines of the crypto market, as demonstrated by our diversified investments in various industry sectors.”

“Tether and XREX have collaborated successfully to help law enforcement agencies identify, arrest, and sentence criminals,” says Wayne Huang, XREX Group CEO. “With Tether‘s strong support and investment, we’re expanding this success into a RegTech product line that further refines XREX Group as a responsible financial institution.”

“We thank Tether and all existing investors for supporting this up round, which involved an issuance of new team (common) shares to fuel our top talent recruiting. This stablecoin-enabled financial inclusion movement will bring long-term and positive change to the existing global clearance and settlement systems,” says Winston Hsiao, XREX Group CRO.

XREX boasts an impressive investor lineup including the Taiwanese Government National Development Fund, CDIB Capital Group (TWSE: 2883), SBI Holdings (TYO: 8473), E.Sun Financial Holding (TWSE: 2884), ThreeD Capital (CSE: IDK), AppWorks, BlackMarble, and New Economy Ventures. XREX Singapore recently acquired the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Major Payment Institution license, while XREX has been operating under a Taiwan Financial Supervisory Commission’s Registered VASP status.

Today’s announcement further underscores Tether‘s ongoing endeavors to foster cryptocurrency adoption in emerging markets worldwide, while empowering those under-served communities that share the company’s vision of a more interconnected and inclusive financial landscape.

About Tether and USD₮

Tether is a pioneer in the field of stablecoin technology, driven by an aim to revolutionize the global financial landscape. With a mission to provide accessible, secure, and efficient financial, communication, and energy infrastructure. Tether enables greater financial inclusion, and communication resilience, fosters economic growth, and empowers individuals and businesses alike.

As the creator of the largest, most transparent, and liquid stablecoin in the industry, Tether is dedicated to building sustainable and resilient infrastructure for the benefit of underserved communities. By leveraging cutting-edge blockchain and peer-to-peer technology, it is committed to bridging the gap between traditional financial systems and the potential of decentralized finance.

About XREX

XREX is a blockchain-enabled financial institution working with banks, regulators, and users to redefine banking together. It provides enterprise-grade banking services to small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in or dealing with emerging markets, and novice-friendly financial services to individuals worldwide.

Founded in 2018 and operating globally under multiple licenses, XREX offers a full suite of services such as digital asset custody, wallet, cross-border payment, fiat-crypto conversion, cryptocurrency exchange, asset management, and fiat currency on-off ramps.

Sharing the social responsibility of financial inclusion, XREX leverages blockchain technologies to further financial participation, access, and education.

SOURCE XREX Inc.

iCOMAT’s breakthrough production technology delivers the lightest cars, planes and spacecraft – faster and at lower cost

BRISTOL, United Kingdom, June 5, 2024 — iCOMAT, a pioneer in advanced composite manufacturing, announced the successful closure of its Series A funding round, securing $22.5 million in capital. The round was led by 8VC, and co-led by NATO Innovation Fund. Other investors joining the round include Solvay Ventures and existing investors Velocity Partners VC.

iCOMAT’s automated and scalable manufacturing technology, the first of its kind, is delivering lighter, stronger and more sustainable structures for aerospace and automotive vehicles.

The heavier a vehicle is, the more energy it needs to move. The demand for lighter vehicles, produced at faster rates, is on the rise. Meeting this demand is critical in order to both strengthen our defensive capabilities and to reduce emissions.  However, new processes and materials either offer incremental benefits or are not financially viable at scale.

iCOMAT’s technology addresses these needs by leveraging a breakthrough in composite materials and carbon fiber. Unlike conventional methods, which produce components by stacking multiple straight fiber layers, iCOMAT has developed the world’s first production technology that enables fiber steering – the ability to steer the fibers to optimise the properties of a structure at any point. This innovative technology can help reduce weight by 10 to 65 percent compared to the state-of-the-art commercial solutions, and can increase production rates by 10x.

“iCOMAT’s Rapid Tow Shearing (RTS) process not only offers unparalleled structural efficiency, but unlocks fully automated production workflows, akin to automotive stamping lines,” said Dr Evangelos Zympeloudis, founder and CEO of iCOMAT. “We are thrilled to partner with our investors and accelerate progress towards our mission – to revolutionise transportation by delivering the lightest structures and vehicles possible.”

iCOMAT is currently working with more than 25 customers across the aerospace,  automotive and defence sectors, and has successfully delivered demonstrator parts for some of the most demanding applications, including fighter aircraft panels, space launcher structures and Formula 1 components.

To service demand, iCOMAT is building its first production factory in Gloucester, UK. The 45,000 square foot, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility will house three fully automated Rapid Tow Shearing (RTS) production lines, alongside an array of advanced processing equipment. The factory will be online by the end of the year, and able to go from raw material to final parts.

“iCOMAT is solving some of the most critical problems in materials, and the breakthroughs they’re making today will play a decisive role in the future of both combat and mobility,” said Alex Moore, Partner, 8VC.

“We’re excited about iCOMAT’s groundbreaking technology and believe they will play a critical role in building a more resilient and sustainable future. We are proud to be investing in teams that are revolutionising the transportation and defense sectors, from ground to sky to space,” said Kelly Chen, Partner, NATO Innovation Fund.

About iCOMAT:
iCOMAT is a leading manufacturer of advanced composite structures for the aerospace and automotive industries. Leveraging its proprietary fiber-steering technology, iCOMAT enables the production of lightweight, high-performance components at unprecedented scale and efficiency.

SOURCE 8VC

Funds will enable the company to continue rapid network expansion and capitalize on a projected US$175 trillion B2B payments market opportunity

SAN FRANCISCO and SINGAPORE, June 4, 2024 — Nium, the global leader in real-time cross-border payments, today announced it has raised US$50 million in a Series E funding round. The round was led by a sovereign wealth fund in Southeast Asia and values the company at US$1.4 billion post-money. The sovereign wealth fund joins other newly added investors from Nium’s prior funding round, including BOND, NewView Capital, and Tribe Capital. Nium will use the funds to further accelerate its growth plans in the B2B payments market, which is projected to reach US$175 trillion by 2030, including fueling global network expansion, accelerating product innovation, hiring top talent, and pursuing M&A activity.

“This investment defies current funding sentiment in fintech and is a vote of confidence in Nium’s growth ambitions, particularly as we focus on serving the needs marketplaces, SaaS platforms, travel, and financial institutions, for whom payments are mission critical,” said Prajit Nanu, Founder and CEO at Nium. “Our recent enterprise wins with globally recognized brands show that there is strong demand for our customer-centric B2B payment solutions as global businesses overhaul systems for the real-time era.”

Nium has experienced strong revenue growth of 50%+ in 2023 compared to 2022. This can be attributed to the company’s focused product development roadmap, which has delivered on features serving mission-critical client use cases in industries such as travel, payroll, spend management, and financial services. Recent client wins include, Australian expense management leader, Weel and one of UAE’s leading banks, Emirates NBD.

Foundational to Nium’s success has been the recent expansion of its license portfolio, which allows it to do business directly in several jurisdictions. Nium also holds regulatory licenses and authorizations in more than 40 countries, and recently received additional approvals including a Type 1 Funds Transfer Service Provider (FTSP) license from Japan’s Financial Service Agency (FSA) and registration on the Financial Service Provider Register (FSPR) in New Zealand.

Nanu continued, “This investment is proof of our global success at a time when raising money is exceptionally difficult for late-stage, venture-backed companies. Our investors believe in our long-term mission of building the payments infrastructure for on-demand money movement and this additional investment will allow us to accelerate our aspirations. We’re privileged to have this support are looking forward to working closely together with them to continue to advance our business.”

This year, Nium appointed former Bank of America executive, Alexandra Johnson, as Chief Payments Officer to oversee the businesses Global Banking and Payment Operations teams, former PayPal executive, Rissy Ruddy, as Chief Human Resources Officer to lead all people functions, and former Revolut executive, Anton Pasiechnikov, as VP of Finance. These leaders add to an already strong leadership team that Nanu has been building.

About Nium

Nium, the global leader in real-time, cross-border payments, was founded on the mission to deliver the global payments infrastructure of tomorrow, today. With the onset of the global economy, its payments infrastructure is shaping how banks, fintechs, and businesses everywhere collect, convert, and disburse funds instantly across borders. Its payout network supports 100 currencies and spans 220+ countries, 100 of which in real-time. Funds can be disbursed to accounts, wallets, and cards and collected locally in 35 markets. Nium’s growing card issuance business is already available in 34 countries. Nium holds regulatory licences and authorizations in more than 40 countries, enabling seamless onboarding, rapid integration, and compliance – independent of geography. The company is co-headquartered in San Francisco and Singapore.

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SOURCE Nium