Company continues to deploy its automated, modular greenhouses that deliver fresh produce at costs competitive to traditional, outdoor-grown agriculture using less water, fertilizer and waste.
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 14, 2024 — Hippo Harvest, a controlled environment agriculture (CEA) startup developing advanced greenhouse systems that produce sustainably-grown produce, today announced the close of its $21M Series B funding round led by Standard Investments. Congruent Ventures, Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Hawthorne Food Ventures, and Energy Impact Partners also participated in the round. The funding will be used to scale the company’s greenhouse operations and to expand its product offerings into new categories of leafy greens.
Founded in 2019, Hippo Harvest operates a first-of-its-kind repurposed greenhouse facility in Pescadero, CA that out-competes traditional greenhouses in scalability and unit economics and is comparable to traditional outdoor-grown produce prices. The company utilizes a closed-loop, non-recirculating, direct-to-root fertilizer system, machine learning and autonomous mobile robots to calculate and efficiently distribute water, fertilizer, light, and heating on a micro-climate basis throughout its greenhouses. The result is significantly more cost and resource efficient production of fresh produce. Consumers and retailers enjoy the superior quality, consistency, and food safety of Hippo greens at competitive prices.
“We’re excited by the opportunity to scale our production and reach more consumers with high-quality, sustainable produce,” said Hippo Harvest CEO Eitan Marder-Eppstein. “Our team’s work over the past twelve months demonstrates our ability to create modular, cost-effective growing systems that can be deployed across the country. We look forward to working with our investors to make it a reality.”
“Since inception, Hippo has delivered superior produce while maintaining cost efficiencies. Standard invests in companies disrupting traditional industry and we are thrilled to partner with Hippo on its journey to scale,” said Logan Ashcraft, Principal at Standard Investments, who joins Hippo’s Board of Directors.
The company’s farming methods increase food safety and extend shelf life by up to 30% compared to outdoor-grown produce, due to a number of unique factors. Plants are irrigated with purified water and a uniquely customized nutrient blend from below, rather than above, reducing the risk of pathogen and fungus formation caused by water and nutrients touching the leaves. Off-the-shelf robots with customized attachments are used to tend to and harvest the plants, delivering precise levels of water and nutrition for healthier plants. All production is done in a clean, controlled greenhouse, reducing damage and quality variations that occur in conventional outdoor farming. Products are packed on-site, immediately after harvesting, using 100% post-consumer recycled plastic. Instead of conventional chemical pesticides, the company uses beneficial insects, natural oils, and other pesticide free practices.
Hippo Harvest’s approach to growing produce in greenhouses addresses a critical need to reduce climate change related volatility in the fresh-food supply chain. It also offers ecological benefits like significantly reducing water and fertilizer use, even in low-water environments or areas with limited agricultural space, and reduces methane-producing agricultural waste that is caused by traditional farming, without sacrificing accessibility and affordability at commercial scale. These characteristics increase the availability of locally grown, fresh food and provide communities with more accessible water, a cleaner environment, and safer, more stable agricultural jobs, without sacrificing accessibility and affordability at commercial scale.
The company signed The Climate Pledge, a commitment co-founded by Amazon and Global Optimism for businesses to reach net-zero carbon by 2040. Today, San Francisco residents can find Hippo Harvest products on the shelf at their local Gus’s Community Markets or online at Amazon Fresh with more locations coming soon in Northern California.
About Hippo Harvest Hippo Harvest is a venture-backed controlled environment agriculture (CEA) startup based in the San Francisco Bay area. The company uses closed-loop, direct-to-root fertilizer systems, machine learning and robots to grow fresh produce in repurposed greenhouses. Hippo’s first-of-its-kind modular greenhouse design enables produce to be grown closer to consumers using fewer inputs (such as water, fertilizer and energy). For more information, please visit hippoharvest.com.
About Standard Investments Standard Investments is a fundamentally driven investment platform focused on the intersection of industry and technology. Standard Investments deploys capital flexibly and creatively across the public and private markets, spanning the life cycle of a company, and leverages its deep industrial knowledge and operational experience to create value.
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 14, 2024 — Artie has closed a Seed round of $3.3M to make database replication real-time, reliable, and cost-effective.
Exponent Founders Capital led the round with participation from General Catalyst, Y Combinator, and angel investors including Benn Stancil, Lenny Rachitsky, and Arash Ferdowsi.
Artie is unique in its use of change data capture (CDC) and streaming technology to sync data, along with the ability to automatically handle schema evolution in-flight.
Today, the majority of companies are still utilizing batched ETL (extract, transform, load) processes to sync data. This introduces data lag in the data warehouse, hindering real-time analytics and operational use cases, and results in data consistency and scalability issues.
Artie’s software ensures high data integrity while dramatically reducing latency to seconds. It also saves money by eliminating the need to process large batches of data. Customers are then able to operationalize their data warehouse and generate more timely, impactful insights.
For example, Substack, a leading subscription network, previously used batched ETLs to move production data from its databases into Snowflake. These batches would transfer data every few hours or even overnight. This delayed its data analysts’ ability to analyze experiment data and initiate new workflows, which lowered overall organizational productivity. After implementing Artie, data lag was slashed dramatically to a mere 10-15 seconds. Substack’s A/B testing framework now measures much faster and data integrity also improved. The result is a tangible acceleration in decision-making processes across the entire company.
“One common misconception about real-time streaming is its presumed higher cost compared to batch processing,” says co-founder and CEO Jacqueline Cheong. “Artie’s customers tell a different story: not only do they benefit from real-time data, but they often also see a reduction in total cost of ownership.”
Companies with large volumes of data stand to benefit the most, explains co-founder and CTO Robin Tang, who previously scaled infrastructure at Opendoor, Zendesk, and several early-stage startups. “While not immediately intuitive,” he says, “processing smaller amounts of data continuously using Snowflake’s virtual data warehouse requires less computational power than ingesting bulk data every 1-2 hours.”
Who benefits from real-time data? A wide range of industries. Fintech companies, for instance, rely on it for risk analysis and transaction monitoring. Ecommerce companies use real-time data to monitor inventory levels, optimize warehouse logistics, and iterate on experiments. For advertising agencies, the use of real-time marketing analytics enhances campaign effectiveness and the ability to personalize outreach.
Companies employing AI models for incremental or online machine learning depend on access to the latest production data. The importance of real-time data escalates even more when companies provide analytical dashboards to their customers. While internal BI teams might manage with some data delay, expecting customers to endure even brief lags in data is increasingly seen as unacceptable in today’s fast-paced environment.
Artie has achieved remarkable growth. Having launched six months ago, it has scaled from processing zero to over 30 billion rows of data. It is now serving over 10 enterprise customers and has experienced significant revenue growth of mid-double digits month-over-month in the past few months. With the infusion of new funding, it plans to expand the team to support its pipeline of high-growth and innovative companies. To experience how real-time data can elevate your competitive edge, contact us to discuss your use case.
Aircastle, Air New Zealand, Embraer, Google, HIS, Natixis CIB, Safran, and Technip Energies are now part of first-of-its-kind effort to reduce emissions and drive production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) by providing startups with both financial and strategic capital
United customers play a role too, with more than 115,000 people contributing nearly $500,000 since February 2023
CHICAGO, Feb. 14, 2024 — United today announced that Aircastle (a Marubeni & Mizuho Leasing Company), Air New Zealand, Embraer, Google, HIS, Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking, Safran Corporate Ventures, and Technip Energies are now among the 22 corporate partners that make up the airline’s The United Airlines Ventures Sustainable Flight FundSM, a first-of-its kind effort to reduce emissions and drive production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) through investments in startups.
United Adds New Corporate Partners to Sustainable Flight Fund That Now Exceeds $200 Million
These corporate partners make up all parts of the aviation supply chain – airlines, aircraft and engine manufacturers, fuel producers, engineering and technology experts, financiers, travel management and more – and have now committed more than $200 million while collaborating to provide strategic expertise to help the Fund’s portfolio companies reach commercialization.
Since its inception in February 2023, the Fund remains aviation’s first and only venture fund backed by a broad limited partner base and created to identify and support startups advancing feedstock and technology development focused on increasing the supply of SAF.
The airline has included a way for everyday consumers to participate as well. Anyone using United.com or the United app has an option to contribute to supplement United’s investment in the UAV Sustainable Flight FundSM before check-out. Users have the choice to contribute $1, $3.50 or $7.00.1 Continuing in the effort toward climate transparency for our customers, United also now shows an estimated carbon emissions for flights booked through United.com or the United app. In less than 12 months, more than 115,000 people have contributed nearly $500,000 since February 2023.
SAF is an alternative to conventional jet fuel that, on a lifecycle basis, reduces greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions associated with air travel compared to conventional jet fuel alone. To date, United has invested in the future production of over five billion gallons of SAF – the most of any airline in the world.2
“SAF is the best tool we have to decarbonize airplanes, but we don’t have enough of it. To create the fuel supply we need for our fleet, United recognized that we would have to help build a brand-new industry from scratch – like wind and solar in previous decades,” said Andrew Chang, Managing Director of United Airlines Ventures. “As part of our effort to build a new sustainable aviation ecosystem, we recruited a group of partners with the industry expertise to support our startups with both financial and strategic capital, to help them navigate the entire process from conception to commercialization.”
Sustainable Flight Fund Milestones
Added 22 corporate partners
Raised more than $200 million in committed capital
Portfolio company milestones:
UAV Sustainable Flight Fund
The UAV Sustainable Flight FundSM is a first-of-its-kind investment vehicle designed to leverage support from cross-industry businesses in order to support start-ups focused on decarbonizing air travel through SAF research, technology and production. The fund is comprised of more than $200 million in investment commitments from United and corporate partners including: Air Canada, Air New Zealand, Aircastle (a Marubeni & Mizuho Leasing Company), American Express Global Business Travel, Aviation Capital Group, Boeing, Boston Consulting Group, Embraer, GE Aerospace, Google, Groupe ADP, Hawaiian Airlines, HIS, Honeywell, JetBlue Ventures,Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking, Safran Corporate Ventures, and Technip Energies, among others. For more information about the fund, please visit the United Airlines Ventures website.
Consumer Awareness and Call to Action
The default option for customer contributions is set at $3.50 to illustrate the potential impact of customer action at scale: if the 152 million people who flew on United in 2022 each contributed just $3.50 to the UAV Sustainable Flight Fund, that would be enough to design and build a SAF refinery capable of producing as much as 40 million gallons of alternative fuel annually.3
United’s Commitment to Net Zero Emissions by 2050
United aims to be net zero by reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 100% by 2050, without relying on traditional carbon offsets. In addition to the UAV Sustainable Flight FundSM, United has launched a SAF purchasing program called the Eco-Skies Alliance and established a venture fund – United Airlines Ventures – to identify and invest in companies and technologies that can help decarbonize air travel. These strategic investments include carbon capture, hydrogen-electric engines, electric regional aircraft and airtaxis. In May 2023, United received validation of our 2035 near-term emissions reduction target from the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) to reduce our carbon intensity 50% from a 2019 base year. In 2023, United became the first U.S. airline to show customers an estimate of each flight’s carbon footprint in their search. This year, United was the only domestic airline to receive an ‘A-” leadership band score for Climate Change 2023 from CDP, formerly Carbon Disclosure Project.
About United
At United, Good Leads The Way. With U.S. hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., United operates the most comprehensive global route network among North American carriers and is now the largest airline in the world as measured by available seat miles. For more about how to join the United team, please visit www.united.com/careers and more information about the company is at www.united.com. United Airlines Holdings, Inc., the parent company of United Airlines, Inc., is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol “UAL”.
United Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 relating to, among other things, plans and projections regarding the company’s environmental, social or governance (ESG) goals, targets, commitments, strategies and initiatives and related business and stakeholder impacts. All statements that are not statements of historical facts are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on historical performance and current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about our future plans, objectives, goals, targets, commitments, strategies and initiatives and involve inherent risks, assumptions and uncertainties, known or unknown, including internal or external factors that could delay, divert or change any of them, that are difficult to predict, may be beyond our control and could cause our future plans, objectives, goals, targets, commitments, strategies and initiatives to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the statements. These risks, assumptions, uncertainties and other factors include, among others, any failure to meet stated ESG goals, targets, commitments, strategies and initiatives in the time frame expected or at all as a result of many factors, including changing societal, market, competitive, regulatory or stakeholder expectations, any delay or inability of United Airlines or the United Airlines Ventures Sustainable Flight Fund (the “SFF”) to realize the expected benefits of the investments, including from a delay or failure of any project to be fully developed or become operational or to produce sustainable aviation fuel or other ESG-related product in the amounts contemplated or at all, or a failure of the SFF to achieve any return on an investment by the SFF or a realization of a partial or total loss of any investment by the SFF. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Forward-looking statements in this press release should be evaluated together with the many risks and uncertainties that affect United’s business and market, particularly those identified in the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and “Risk Factors” sections in United’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, as updated by our subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Risks and uncertainties related to United’s environmental compliance, climate commitments and climate strategy are further described in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors of United’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022—”We are subject to many forms of environmental regulation and liability and risks associated with climate change and may incur substantial costs as a result. In addition, failure to achieve or demonstrate progress towards our climate goals may expose us to liability and reputational harm.”
The statements included in this press release are made only as of the date of this press release and except as otherwise required by applicable law or regulation, United Airlines undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise. In particular, United Airlines reserves the right to change, amend, supplement or abandon some or all of the statements regarding goals, targets, commitments, strategies, initiatives, intentions and other statements from time to time without notice.
In addition, some of our disclosures in this press release are estimates or based on assumptions due to inherent measurement uncertainties. For example, United’s statement that it has already invested in the future production of more than five billion gallons of SAF – the most of any airline in the world is based on publicly announced future purchase agreements for SAF of certain airlines as of the date hereof. The use of words such as “partnered,” “partnering,” “partner” and variations of such words in this press release is not intended to and shall not be construed to imply that a legal partnership relationship exists between United and any other company.
1 Customers will not have any interest in United’s investments made with customer contributions, and customers will not participate in any gains or losses associated with United’s investments in the UAV Sustainable Flight Fund.
2 Based on publicly announced airline offtake agreements for future purchases of SAF.
3 United derived these approximated figures based on an illustrative capital expenditure benchmark of $200,000 per barrel per day to build a SAF production facility.
Revolutionizing the MSP Landscape: Our Innovative Platform Breaks Through Consolidation Clutter, Gaining Momentum
CINCINNATI, Feb. 14, 2024 — Blue Alliance, a fast-growing, operator-led MSP collective, announced today that it has completed a growth recapitalization transaction with Prairie Capital, a proven firm in scaling companies across a wide array of industries. Prairie Capital’s investment will enable Blue Alliance to accelerate its growth strategy and offer more MSP owners an alternative to the standard agreement, as well as the opportunity to be part of a strong, supportive community focused on scaling and shared success.
For Nick Recker, founding partner and CEO of Blue Alliance, the fundamental synergies of the two companies felt like a partnership right from the start. “Freedom drives entrepreneurs like me. We designed the Blue Alliance model to offer MSPs owners continued freedom throughout our partnership, and Prairie’s business model resembles ours in that way.” Blue Alliance will continue to operate independently within the Prairie portfolio.
“We hand-selected Prairie as our investment partner because the two companies share many of the same philosophies for growing businesses,” added Recker. These shared philosophies include protecting the company’s brand, stakeholders, and relationships; leveraging best practices and building scalable platforms; embracing an entrepreneurial mindset; encouraging autonomy and focusing strategic investment in operational areas to unlock incremental value and growth.
Blue Alliance is the fourth company founded by Nick Recker, and it was inspired by his experience and passion running the Cincinnati-based MSP, Path Forward IT, a company he founded in 2002 that specializes in providing concierge IT services to healthcare practices. The global interruption to business in 2020 exposed vulnerabilities, especially for founder-business owners. “I recognized that banding together would make us stronger. That sentiment became the vision to create a platform for MSP owners that fosters collaboration, sharing resources, buying power and expertise.”
Today, Blue Alliance is redefining the MSP landscape by translating the founders’ experiences as MSP owners into a collaborative ecosystem where elite MSPs can thrive and grow, but it’s an increasingly crowded market.
“Consolidation is flooding the MSP industry. Regardless of whether it’s called a roll-up or a platform, most consolidations are transaction-based,” said Patrick Jensen, Partner, Prairie Capital. Blue Alliance is built on the understanding that for MSP owners, it’s not merely a transaction; it’s their life’s work and legacy. “Blue Alliance stands out for its empathetic approach and deeper integration model, making it a compelling alternative to traditional acquisition platforms.”
“Our mission is to champion the independent MSP,” says Shaun Sexton, founding partner of Blue Alliance. “We set out to create an option for MSP owners like us who were ready to partner and take their business to the next level but hesitate because they don’t want the company they built to be dismantled, to lose its soul,” Sexton added. “Our approach is about collaboration, not control. We know the collective is only as strong as the sum of its parts. That’s why our mission is to amplify all the good things about a member MSP company, not change them.”
“What we’ve built at Blue Alliance is different from the other MSP platforms. For us, it’s personal. We’ve been where they are, we speak their language,” says Recker. “With Prairie on our team, we’ll be able to move faster, offering freedom to more MSP owners.”
ABOUT BLUE ALLIANCE Blue Alliance is a fast-growing, operator-led MSP collective that offers a different option for MSP owners looking to invest in their future and unlock the full potential of their business. Built on first-hand entrepreneurial experience and insights, Blue Alliance invests in and nurtures a community where the best MSPs can unite and grow without losing their identity. For more information, visit bluealliance.com.
ABOUT PRAIRIE CAPITAL Founded in Chicago in 1997, Prairie Capital is a private equity fund with a long and successful track record of scaling growth-oriented, lower middle market companies in partnership with talented founders and management teams. Since inception, Prairie has invested over $1 billion in 100+ platform companies. Prairie makes control equity investments in founder-owned companies that require company-building investments to evolve into scalable platforms capable of sustaining accelerated growth. Prairie targets companies that participate in growing subsectors within business services, consumer, education, healthcare, industrial, and technology. More information about Prairie can be found at www.prairie-capital.com.
NEW YORK, Feb. 14, 2024 — WIT, the digital activation platform across sports and entertainment, announced today that it has closed a round of funding led by McCarthy Capital out of their Emerging Growth strategy.
Vaidhy Murti founded WIT in 2021 as a platform for sports teams to create immersive fan experiences to digitally engage with fans. Over the last two years, WIT has powered some of the most exciting experiences in sports – from viral campaigns featured on ESPN and Sunday Night Football, to a custom arcade-style game mirroring the NFL’s Emmy Award-winning Super Bowl LVII halftime commercial.
WIT’s rapid growth demonstrates the evolution of an industry that is being dynamically transformed by technology. In a world where building direct customer relationships is paramount, WIT’s turnkey platform augments marketing capabilities and fosters deeper connections. WIT provides the ability to launch sleek, branded campaigns at scale in a matter of minutes that are designed to engage consumers while capturing valuable first-party data. “We are excited to partner with the management team of WIT,” said Matt Breunsbach, Managing Director at McCarthy Capital. “WIT enables sports and entertainment companies to create digital activations to increase fandom. The company has experienced impressive growth since inception and has an innovative Fan AI product launch on the horizon. We look forward to supporting WIT’s growth and continued efforts to become the leading digital activation platform.”
WIT will use the new funding to scale its operations, fuel product innovation, invest in new verticals, and expand the team. “We are incredibly excited to partner with McCarthy Capital to continue to push the boundaries of fan engagement”, said Vaidhy Murti, Founder & CEO of WIT. “We are in the early stages of a digital revolution, and this investment will empower us to further deepen our commitment to our people and our partners. Our exponential growth has been made possible by our incredible team members and dedication to excellence, and we’re only just getting started.”
About WIT
WIT offers a digital activation platform that powers some of the most exciting, turnkey experiences in sports and entertainment. WIT’s supercharged experiences elevate marketing efforts, enhance brand partnerships, capture first-party data and drive revenue. Partners include numerous venues, leagues and teams across the NFL, NHL, NBA, WNBA, MLB, MLS, NWSL, and NCAA. Learn more by visiting WIT’s website and LinkedIn.
About McCarthy Capital
McCarthy Partners Management, LLC is a registered investment advisor that conducts business as McCarthy Capital. McCarthy Capital, headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is focused exclusively on lower middle-market companies. For more than 35 years, the McCarthy organization has been partnering with founders, families, and exceptional management teams to support the growth of their companies. More information about McCarthy Capital can be obtained at https://www.mccarthycapital.com.
Moves will accelerate adoption of AI-driven brand protection focused on e-commerce revenue growth
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 14, 2024 — IPSecure, the leading Buy Box brand protection company for brands and e-commerce agencies, announced today that it has raised its second multi seven-figure round of funding, led by Secondary Market pioneer Manhattan Venture Partners. The company also announced that Dan Ciporin, a successful early e-commerce operator and former General Partner at Canaan Partners, Frederick Felman, Partner at Sage Partners, and William Barkow, Partner at Manhattan Venture Partners, will be joining IPSecure’s Advisory Board.
Owning the Buy Box is the key to sales, revenue and wallet share for e-commerce professionals, especially on Amazon, the dominant e-commerce platform in the U.S. and globally. Statista estimates that Amazon captured 37.8 per cent of all US e-commerce spending in 2022 and forecasts an 11.7 per cent increase in 2024. The Amazon platform is home to almost 10 million sellers, with 4,000 new sellers added daily. These sellers compete for every Buy Box click on Amazon to drive their revenue, ROI, and market position.
“Unlike traditional brand protection software that targets intellectual property attorneys, IPSecure offers a platform that is purpose-built to protect and expand wallet share for e-commerce professionals and Amazon managers,” said David Cooper, CEO and Founder of IPSecure. “With Amazon representing almost half of every dollar spent on e-commerce in the US, the Amazon Buy Box is valuable real estate that drives revenue and ROI for brands and Amazon agencies.”
“Competition for the Buy Box is fierce, and, despite Amazon’s best efforts, unauthorized sellers will try to win the Buy Box from legitimate sellers,” continued Cooper. “As a result, brands and Amazon agencies must safeguard their Buy Box from illicit sellers or risk losing wallet share.”
IPSecure’s AI-driven technology targets sellers operating within this illicit market. When brands and agencies purge unauthorized sellers from Amazon, they are able to increase their Buy Box win rate. IPSecure tracks and quantifies net new sales and can demonstrate a clear ROI from investing in Buy Box brand protection.
“Since our original seed investment in 2021, IPSecure has gained significant traction with both major brands and Amazon agencies, proving that the esoteric online brand protection market is ripe for disruption,” said William Barkow, Partner at Manhattan Venture Partners. “I am excited to join the IPSecure Advisory Board and help David and his team to leverage their decades of experience in brand protection into transforming the brand protection category from a cost center to a revenue and ROI driver.”
“As e-commerce becomes more integrated into everyday lives, the need for brands to control their customer experience grows exponentially. IPSecure’s innovative technology leverages IP protection as the fuel to drive real, verifiable e-commerce growth and I look forward to working with Dave and his team to accomplish great things in the future,” added Dan Ciporin, new IPSecure Advisor and former General Partner at Canaan Partners.
About IPSecure
IPSecure is Buy Box Brand Protection for brands and Amazon Agencies. After 20+ years building brand protection solutions for the world’s largest brands, the team at IPSecure has reinvented intellectual property (IP) protection and channel management on Amazon into the fuel that is driving massive revenue growth for their customers. Founded in early 2020, with offices in the San Francisco Bay Area and Boise, IPSecure increases Buy Box win rates by up to 50% and is rapidly becoming the go-to solution for sellers, brands, and agencies. Visit IPSecure at www.ipsecure.com to learn more.
AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 14, 2024 — Epic Funds, an asset management firm investing in niche private credit and private equity strategies, announced the closing of a funding round for its management company, with 100% participation from existing investors and a select group of cornerstone clients. The successful fundraise fuels strategic investments in technology infrastructure and bolsters the team with the addition of Valentine Whittaker, John Battipaglia, and Alyssa Kubiak.
Epic Funds
Valentine Whittaker joins as Director of Investor Solutions, bringing with him 20 years of experience in capital formation and investor relations. His background includes roles at Abbott Capital, Brookfield Asset Management, and JPMorgan Asset Management.
John Battipaglia joins as Fund Controller, bringing with him more than a decade of experience in fund accounting and operations. His background includes roles at KPMG and Antares Capital.
Alyssa Kubiak joins as Investment Associate, bringing with her experience in fund finance and underwriting. Her background includes roles at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Unigestion.
“We’re thrilled with the support of our vision from our investors and the recent team expansion. There is a new wave of interest in allocating to private markets and we’ve seen many new platforms build on-ramps to the largest funds. These solutions, however, overlook niche strategies with capacity constraints, which, in our view, offer the strongest opportunity to deliver the returns and diversification that investors seek from less liquid assets. We look forward to advancing our mission of helping investors build sustainable, long-term portfolios through private markets, and delivering what we believe are exceptional results for our limited partners” emphasizes Alec Garza, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Epic Funds.
In addition, Jim Hirschmann, CEO of Western Asset Management, one of the world’s largest fixed income asset managers, has joined the Epic Funds advisory board. Alec adds, “Jim’s journey building Western Asset Management into one of the top fixed income firms globally is a testament to his strengths as a leader. Tapping into Jim’s insights and advice is invaluable.”
AboutEpic Funds Epic Funds offers investors opportunities to invest in niche and capacity-constrained private equity and private credit strategies. The firm manages diversified multi-manager funds and bespoke solutions for sophisticated investors seeking to broaden their portfolio beyond traditional public offerings and conventional, large market strategies.
Parlay is an embedded fintech software that helps community banks and credit unions get more small businesses approved for loans.
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 14, 2024 — Parlay, the first-of-its kind small business loan readiness platform, today announces the close of $1.3 million in pre-seed financing led by Fenway Summer.
Other firms investing in the round include Hivers and Strivers Capital, Service Provider Capital, Capacity Capital, and Alumni Ventures, together with a follow-on investment from Techstars.
First-of its-Kind Loan Readiness Platform, Parlay, Raises $1.3M to Offer Inclusive Access to Financial Resources for Small Businesses
Parlay was founded in 2022 by entrepreneur and military spouse Alex McLeod, West Point graduate and former U.S. Special Operations Command Innovation Officer Jay Long, and West Point graduate and former Army Ranger James Cho. Parlay partners with community banks and credit unions to enable financial inclusion and capital access for the small business market — over 33 million diverse small business owners across the United States.
“This pre-seed funding enables us to continue fulfilling our mission: partnering with community banks and credit unions to extend more loans to the small businesses that form the backbone of our economy,” said CEO of Parlay Alex Mcleod. “We’re excited to continue this important work with strategic champions like Fenway Summer by our side.”
“We are excited and proud to back Parlay. Small businesses drive the American economy; access to capital drives small businesses. Parlay’s loan readiness platform is an innovative approach to helping banks and credit unions better access and underwrite those critical small business customers” said Raj Date, managing partner of Fenway Summer, the Washington, D.C.-based venture capital firm focused on early-stage fintech investing, “But what we are most excited about is supporting a founding team that is as ambitious, talented, and passionate as this one.”
Parlay was selected to participate in The PenFed Foundation Veteran Entrepreneur Program Fall 2023 Cohort. The program exclusively supports veteran and military spouse entrepreneurs building highly scalable startup companies — ranging from the idea stage through to Series A and beyond.
About Parlay Parlay Finance is an embedded fintech software that helps community banks and credit unions get more small businesses approved for loans. The company helps small businesses maximize their eligibility for loan products while increasing loan quality, throughput, and efficiency for lenders.
About PenFed Foundation Founded in 2001, The PenFed Foundation is a national nonprofit organization that supports veterans in their transition from service to success. Affiliated with PenFed Credit Union, the Foundation has provided more than $50 million in financial support to veterans, active-duty service members and military families. The credit union funds the Foundation’s personnel and most operational costs, allowing 99% of incoming donations to go directly to our programs. To learn more, please visitwww.penfedfoundation.org.
Potential best-in-class lead program targets Nav1.8, a validated human target for pain
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., Feb. 14, 2024 — Latigo Biotherapeutics Inc. (“Latigo”), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing best-in-class non-opioid pain medicines that target pain at its source, today announced its emergence from stealth with a $135 million Series A financing. Westlake Village BioPartners (“Westlake”) incubated the company. Westlake led the Series A financing with 5AM Ventures and Foresite Capital as co-leads with participation from Corner Ventures.
Desmond Padhi, PharmD, Latigo Biotherapeutics interim CEO
Nancy Stagliano, PhD, chair of Latigo board of directors
The company has appointed Desmond Padhi, Pharm.D., operating partner at Westlake as interim chief executive officer (CEO) and Nancy Stagliano, Ph.D., CEO of Neuron23, Inc., as chair of the board. Proceeds from the financing will support the continued advancement of Latigo’s portfolio of novel pain therapeutics and the growth of the company and its platform.
The Thousand Oaks-based company was founded by Westlake in 2020, reinforcing Westlake’s commitment to building world-class biotech companies in the Los Angeles area. Recruiting local talent with expertise in neuroscience, pain, and drug discovery allowed Latigo to innovate and quickly advance to a clinical stage.
“It is particularly gratifying for me to participate in the evolution of Latigo over the past several years since its inception,” said Dr. Padhi. “With a strong syndicate of investors and the significant capital we’ve raised, we are well positioned to build a company that provides new therapeutic options to patients with pain. Latigo’s targets are identified by human genetics, grounded in human biology, and characterized using state-of-the-art human model systems. This combination increases our probability of success across the development continuum.”
Latigo’s lead program, LTG-001, is an oral, selective Nav1.8 inhibitor currently in a Phase 1 clinical trial in healthy volunteers and intended to treat acute and chronic pain. LTG-001 has the potential to be best-in-class with a rapid onset, meaningful efficacy, and superior safety to standard of care with no central nervous system effects. In addition to LTG-001, the company has a suite of Nav1.8 inhibitors, enabling Latigo to address the broad potential of such a target in the clinic.
Beyond Nav1.8, the company has a pipeline of novel, genetically identified targets with small molecule programs at the discovery stage.
“Until recently, there was little innovation in pain therapeutics. Current treatments have significant liabilities – opioids carry the risk of dependency, while NSAIDs can be poorly tolerated with long term use,” said Dr. Stagliano. “Today, with a potentially best-in-class clinical-stage Nav1.8 inhibitor as our lead program, Latigo is fulfilling its vision of developing non-opioid therapies for patients suffering from acute and chronic pain where there is a significant high unmet need for new treatments.”
About Latigo Biotherapeutics Latigo Biotherapeutics Inc., headquartered in Thousand Oaks, CA, is a privately held clinical-stage biotechnology company developing best-in-class non-opioid pain medicines that target the fundamental mechanism of pain transduction. The company’s proprietary, in-house technology generates novel drugs against targets validated by human genetics using the most advanced artificial intelligence, machine learning, structure-based, and knowledge-based design techniques to optimize potency and selectivity. The company is backed by top-tier investors, including Westlake Village BioPartners, 5AM Ventures, Foresite Capital, and Corner Ventures. For more information, please visit https://latigobio.com or follow us on LinkedIn.
