The enterprise AI platform integrates with every layer of the modern data stack to replicate the interactions you would have with a senior data scientist that’s always available

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 25, 2024 — TextQL, a startup building an AI data analyst that connects to your business intelligence (BI) tools, semantic layers, and existing documentation, announced today that it raised $4.1 million across pre-seed and seed rounds that was co-led by Neo and DCM. Other participants in the round include VC firms Unshackled Ventures, Worklife Ventures, PageOne Ventures, FirstHand Ventures, & Indicator Fund. They are also joined by angel investors like dbt CEO Tristan Handy; former Notion founder Chris Prucha; Tackle executives Dillon Woods, John Jahnke, and Brian Denker; Observe CTO Matt Kraning; and Braze CPO and SVP of Growth, Kevin Wang and Spencer Burke.

“With the rise of data came another issue: non-technical workers were not given the tools to find the answers they needed in the data, until TextQL,” says Hurst Lin, General Partner at DCM, and #40 on the Midas List. “We’re excited about the work that TextQL is doing to help non-technical workers across various industries and organizations access the critical data they need to make informed business decisions, and we see TextQL as the solution to free data analysts from the monotony of pulling data requests with their virtual data analyst.”

TextQL’s mission is to fully automate every single step in the lifecycle of data. To do this, TextQL replicates the experience of working with a human data analyst. Its analyst, called Ana, integrates across the entire data stack. Ana connects to your BI tools and points users to existing dashboards when a question has already been asked. It documents your semantic layer and can alternate to write semantic layer code when needed. It’s able to do this by referencing documentation from enterprise data catalogs, like Alation, as well as notes in your Confluence or Google Drive.

“Every conversation about self-service analytics with data practitioners starts with an eye roll. They’ve been sold disappointing self-service products for the past 15 years that are always ready tomorrow, after another new BI tool or a bit more data modeling,” said Ethan Ding, CEO and co-founder of TextQL. “TextQL is built to mimic the hierarchy of responses a human analyst goes through – operating across your data stack without any migration. It browses your BI tools, queries your semantic layer, reads your dbt documents, and asks for help when it doesn’t know what to do. This is the hardest unsolved problem at the intersection of enterprise data, AI and user experience – but the difficulty of the problem has attracted a ton of really incredible people to our team.”

Despite its challenges, TextQL is already partnering with organizations with tens of thousands of employees in industries like media, bio and life sciences, manufacturing and financial services. Most notably, TextQL has recently announced participation in the NBA Launchpad program as an accelerated way to bring the NBA’s data platform on an AI-native path.

This round of funding will be used to expand the TextQL team, which is currently focused on hiring software engineers and forward deployed engineers to join their team of ex-founders to work across data engineering and language model training. With this expanded team, they expect to have the capacity to onboard ten more companies in the next quarter.

“I’ve been blown away by TextQL’s bold vision and Ethan’s technical leadership,” said Ali Partovi, CEO of Neo. “The world of data is at the brink of a seismic shift as AI relieves us from manually organizing database tables and writing SQL. TextQL will unlock a massive surge in data usage where anybody in an org can access data and get insights just by asking questions instead of waiting for the engineers to construct queries.”

The latest features from TextQL’s Ana platform encompass a dynamic Metadata engine for indexing from Notion, Confluence, Google Drive, and Microsoft Office; business intelligence compatibility with Tableau, Looker, and PowerBI; an AI-boosted semantic layer for dbt, Cube, and LookML; a Python-proficient language model that’s HIPAA and SOC 2 compliant; and a Slack integration for on-the-go team communication.

In the coming months, TextQL anticipates the launch of key technology partnerships with their preferred semantic layer, business intelligence platform, and data catalogs.

About TextQL

TextQL’s mission is to democratize and automate data analysis by building generative AI-powered data discovery and analytics for the modern data stack. By automating the day-to-day job of a data analyst, TextQL is replacing the tasks of human analysts, from pulling dashboards to answering data questions straight from a company’s data warehouse, in order to get business teams answers about their company’s data in seconds instead of days. Learn more at https://www.textql.com/.

Media Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE TextQL

Rebrands from Lendsmart to ATTUNE to Reflect Expanded Product Offering

NEW YORK, Jan. 25, 2024 — ATTUNE, formerly known as Lendsmart, today announced the successful closure of its seed funding round, raising $2,225,000. This milestone marks the company’s evolution from a primarily lending-oriented organization to an all-encompassing Engagement Banking Platform, enabling financial institutions to digitize their service lines and intelligently engage with customers at key moments.

The seed round was led by Tribeca Early Stage Partners, with significant contributions from CastleCreek Launchpad, ICBA, and Mike Roffler. The new funding will accelerate ATTUNE’s growth, allowing the company to expand its team across sales, marketing, and technology.

Founder & CEO of ATTUNE, AK Patel, shared his vision, “ATTUNE is poised to redefine Engagement Banking by streamlining digital interactions and personalizing customer experiences for banks and credit unions of all sizes. Our platform is not just a tool; it acts as a bridge for banks and credit unions to better connect with their customers, driving growth and efficiency in today’s competitive market. We are thrilled to partner with investors who understand our vision and will support us as we enter this next phase of growth.”

The platform attracts banks and credit unions through intuitive, user-friendly digital tools, enhancing operational efficiencies and increasing conversions with new revenue channels.

“We believe there’s a substantial market opportunity for ATTUNE as financial institutions look to modernize their core systems and engage with their customers more effectively,” said David Levy, member of the Investment Committee of Tribeca Early Stage Partners. “ATTUNE’s platform enables banks to quickly and inexpensively deploy account onboarding, lending, mortgage and any other financial products workflows that are fast, simple and personalized, reducing obstacles and enhancing customer enrollment.”

“AK and the ATTUNE team have achieved impressive traction. With expansion into onboarding, their robust customer engagement platform is enabling broad digital transformation at banks,” said Launchpad Capital Partner Jurgen van de Vyver. “ATTUNE simplifies often overwhelming choices, with a versatile digital platform that can readily integrate new modules as fintech advances.”

ATTUNE’s rebranding from Lendsmart reflects its expanded product portfolio, including the launch of several new solutions to meet evolving market demands and offer enhanced support to clients. ATTUNE’s suite of products includes:

• Digital Lending: Streamlining the lending process with real-time underwriting.
• Digital Onboarding: Transforming customer onboarding for accounts and credit cards.
• Upsell & Cross Sell: Personalized product and service recommendations.
• Digital Insurance: Offering automated underwriting and personalized product recommendations.
• Digital Connect: Enabling marketing teams to engage and convert customers in real time.
• Digital Support: Empowering customer service teams to increase sales opportunities and deliver exceptional experiences.

For more information about ATTUNE and its services, please visit ATTUNE’s website.

About ATTUNE

Founded in 2020, ATTUNE, previously Lendsmart, equips financial institutions with a user-friendly Engagement Banking Platform to improve every step of their customer’s financial journey. The platform integrates seamlessly with current banking systems to enhance operations and customer service and drive new revenue growth. With ATTUNE, financial institutions access high-quality financial technology at a more affordable cost.

About Tribeca Early Stage Partners

Tribeca Early Stage Partners is a FinTech-focused venture investment group based in New York City. Our membership comprises more than 60 FinTech founders, Wall Street leaders, and technologists, with deep domain expertise in virtually every aspect of institutional finance. Our members generate our deal flow, evaluate our opportunities, provide funding, and support our portfolio companies. We have backed 47 early-stage companies since our founding in 2014.

About Castle Creek Launchpad

This fund, managed jointly by Castle Creek Capital and Launchpad Capital, invests in early-stage fintech companies that are transforming the future of financial services through partnerships with regulated financial institutions, including the fund’s 34 community bank limited partners.

Media Contact:
info@getattune.com

SOURCE ATTUNE

HAMILTON, Bermuda and CHICAGO, Jan. 25, 2024 — AVLA, a global insurance group, and Creation Investments Capital Management, LLC, a leading global impact investor in emerging markets, today announced Creation’s participation in a $25 million equity round to further support AVLA’s international growth strategy and its plans to enter the U.S. market.

Creation Investments, based in Chicago, currently has $ 2.1 billion in assets under management invested in 31 portfolio companies operating across eight countries. Creation first invested in AVLA in 2021.

AVLA, based in Bermuda, generated approximately $150 million of insurance revenue in 2023 and ranks as a top five provider of surety and trade credit solutions in Latin America, with operations in Brazil, Mexico, Chile and Peru. 

“We are delighted to continue strengthening AVLA and expanding our business focused on small and medium-sized enterprises in the region. Following our successful entry to Mexico and Brazil, we are aiming to further expand into the United States, with the goal of reaching 150,000 clients and generating revenue of $350 million on a consolidated basis in the coming years,” said Ignacio Álamos, founder and CEO of AVLA.

“AVLA is a unique growth story combining attractive profitability, strong social impact, and an impressive capability to enter new markets,” said Amadeo Ibarra, Mexico country head of Creation Investments and AVLA board member. “We are thrilled to invest additional capital to support AVLA’s existing operations and technology as well as the company’s entry into the U.S. market.”  

The equity round included participation by DEG Invest, a subsidiary of the German development bank KfW, and Altra Investments, a private equity firm based in Colombia.

About AVLA
AVLA is a global insurance group that provides comprehensive solutions through Surety, Trade Credit, and General Insurance for businesses. AVLA currently operates in Chile, Peru, Mexico, and Brazil, supporting over 65,000 small and medium-sized enterprises across the region. For more information, visit www.avla.com.

About Creation Investments
Creation Investments Capital Management, LLC is a leading global impact investment manager in emerging markets. Creation Investments seeks out the next generation of financial services firms focused on increasing access to capital and providing financial products to the unbanked and underbanked in emerging markets. The firm aims to improve the lives of those living at the bottom of the economic pyramid, reducing poverty and its ill effects in the developing world through market-based solutions. Creation Investments is headquartered in Chicago and has offices in Bangalore, Dallas, and Mexico City. As of Sept. 30, 2023, Creation Investments had $2.1 billion in assets under management. For more information, visit www.creationinvestments.com.

Media Contacts:

Margaret Kirch Cohen
Newton Park PR, LLC
M: +1 847-507-2229
[email protected]

Rich Chimberg
Newton Park PR, LLC
M: +1 617-312-4281
[email protected]

SOURCE Creation Investments Capital Management, LLC

Funding will support Krepling’s team expansion across departments and advance e-commerce workflow integrations all-in-one platform

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 25, 2024 — Krepling, an e-commerce channel management platform, announced it has raised a $3.3 million seed round and launched a fully centralized universal builder, offering merchants a consolidation of tools and services to foster personalized customer experiences. The round includes the participating investors: LAUNCH, Brickyard, Front Porch Ventures, 11 Tribes Ventures, Colabora Ventures, and Broadshade Investments. The funding will be used to further expand the Krepling team in several departments and enhance the capabilities of simplifying e-commerce integrations, without the need for outside agencies or developers.

With the retail e-commerce industry projected to reach $8.1 trillion by 2026, merchants are focused on modernizing and integrating their workflows, such as shipping solutions and inventory management systems, to offer consumers a seamless shopping experience. However, a data bottleneck arises when basic business operations and powerful automation platforms do not communicate across different e-commerce services, ultimately holding merchants back from growing their businesses efficiently. Krepling is solving this issue for hundreds of mid-market merchants by granting control over their channel management and e-commerce tech stacks. The company’s new centralized universal builder enables merchants to have their operations all-in-one place, eliminating the need for disparate platforms, and offers enhanced data capabilities to capture customer data without coding experience.

“As marketplace options for consumers and technology advancements increase, it’s adamant for brands to use tools that will maintain business growth and not fall behind,” said Liam Gerada, CEO and co-founder of Krepling. “We are addressing the most critical challenge in the e-commerce sector currently and are pivotal in providing a comprehensive toolkit that supports the modern mid-market merchant looking to scale. With this funding, we can advance our distinctive edge in the market and empower merchants to navigate the e-commerce landscape with unparalleled ease and efficiency.”

The investment will be mostly channeled toward expanding Krepling’s team, with a primary focus on hiring new sales leads, managers, and developers. The company prioritizes nurturing a workspace that is employee-centric and harnesses the myriad of benefits in a hybrid-remote model. With Krepling nearly doubling its valuation by the end of the year, new hires will help accelerate productivity and streamline an intuitive dashboard to help brands refine the shopping experience for their customers. 

“Krepling’s solution eliminates the countless hours spent connecting the various business operations required to deliver a seamless ecommerce experience,” said Jason Calacanis, CEO, founder, and managing partner of LAUNCH. “Krepling went through Launch Accelerators 23rd Cohort and has grown nicely since then allowing us to back the company consistently.
With their background as e-commerce merchants themselves, Liam and his team are uniquely positioned to build a powerful, future-forward platform for merchants.”

Krepling serves merchants in over 80 countries to expand and enhance their e-commerce stack and integrations with other channels without prior coding experience. They are working with brands like Hash Pies, Giorgio’s, and Forestals. Krepling plans to launch new features in the coming months to continue providing users with unique capabilities to maintain access and control over their workflows.

To learn more about Krepling, please visit www.krepling.com.

About Krepling
Krepling is the e-commerce enablement platform for mid-market merchants who want greater control over their tech stack. Its mission is to provide merchants with a more unified, expansive, and highly digitized e-commerce experience through its no-code platform that enables growing merchants and retailers to build and scale their e-commerce operations.

SOURCE Krepling

PLYMOUTH, Mass., Jan. 25, 2024 — MitoSense Inc., a leading innovator in biotechnology with a focus on neurodegenerative diseases, in collaboration with Uppsala University, Elliott Mitochondrial Center, and the Sallie Astor Burdine Breast Foundation in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA, proudly announces a landmark scientific breakthrough in the field of mitochondrial preservation, a key element in mitochondrial transplantation therapies.

The study, “Extracellular Vesicles from Mesenchymal Stromal Cells (imEVs) Enhance Cold Preservation of Isolated Mitochondria,” reveals an innovative technique for maintaining the viability of isolated mitochondria during cold storage. This method, utilizing extracellular vesicles from mesenchymal stromal cells (imEVs), marks a significant advancement in mitochondrial medicine. Mitochondrial organelle transplantation (MOT™) is an innovative strategy for the treatment of mitochondrial dysfunction such as neurodegenerative diseases injuries, Parkinson’s, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Alzheimer’s Disease. However, one of the challenges for widespread usage is a methodology for preservation of isolated mitochondria.

Karl-Henrik Grinnemo and Sergey Rodin of Uppsala University, vital contributors to this research, described the study as a “milestone in mitochondrial science.” They noted the significant implications of this discovery in opening new therapeutic pathways for conditions related to mitochondrial dysfunction.

Van Hipp, Chairman of MitoSense, emphasized the importance of collaboration in achieving this breakthrough. “The partnership with Elliott Mitochondrial Center and the Sallie Astor Burdine Breast Foundation has been instrumental in this discovery, reflecting our collective commitment to pioneering medical solutions,” he stated.

MitoSense Inc. has been a front-runner in developing advanced therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. Its patented MOT™ technology has shown promising results in addressing mitochondrial dysfunction. This technology is now being explored in a CAMP/ Vinnova- sponsored project (https://atmpsweden.se/), targeting ischemia-reperfusion injury post-myocardial infarction.

This collaborative effort represents a major addition to MitoSense Inc.’s achievements, highlighting the company’s crucial role in advancing medical science and enhancing patient care.

About MitoSense Inc.: MitoSense Inc. is at the forefront of biotechnology, dedicated to developing innovative therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. The company’s commitment to advancing mitochondrial health is evident in its ongoing research and exploration of novel treatments.

https://www.mitosenseinc.com/

Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1735129/Logo_with_name_Logo.jpg

The Only AI Platform Analyzing Social Videos in Their Entirety, ViralMoment Catapults Brands Ahead of Trends While Fully Protecting Brand Safety

MENLO PARK, Calif., Jan. 25, 2024 — ViralMoment, the leading provider of AI-powered social video insights and analytics, today announced a seed round of $2.5M, led by Supernode Global, with participation from funds including Crush Ventures, Duo Partners, Carnegie Mellon University, and Techstars. With powerhouse brands already on board including Warner Bros, The Coca-Cola Company, WPP, and Omnicom agencies, ViralMoment’s leading AI is the only way for marketing teams to truly own and analyze short-form user-generated videos – the #1 form of social media content today. Only ViralMoment’s AI sees social video in its entirety, tracking every brand mention, emotion, and product within a video in real-time, to deliver a complete view of what’s trending as well as online image and reputation. With over 1 billion videos analyzed, ViralMoment will use this latest seed round to widen the scope of its video-reading AI and continue to arm the world’s largest agencies and brands with the most robust intelligence available.

Short-form content on sites like TikTok and YouTube Shorts has taken over as the go-to method of marketing – especially to younger generations representing billions of dollars in potential buying power. Social media is a battleground where brands can either fight to stay relevant and win customers, or crumble from backlash that irrevocably damages their brand. At the heart of the ViralMoment platform is a powerful AI that analyzes millions of videos a day and tracks social trends as they are happening, keeping brands ahead of the curve in every way. 

“In today’s world, every brand needs to become an entertainment company – and the best ones give their customers the microphone. But this can quickly get away from brands in the fast-paced world of short-form video, as they struggle to cut through the noise and keep up,” said Chelsie Hall, CEO of ViralMoment. “Online creators can make or destroy a brand in one 30-second video that goes viral. ViralMoment allows brands to take control of their narrative, instead of the other way around.”

Created by two female founders with previous experience developing tech solutions for the Department of Defense and NASA, ViralMoment’s AI is powerful enough to stay on top of even the highest traffic trends. With the amount of creative content available these days, simply pulling data from captions and hashtags isn’t enough to paint a full picture. A case in point: peak Barbie traffic reached over 4,300 videos a day in April 2023, resulting in 425 million views. Only ViralMoment was able to capture everything – from top participating influencers to most commonly featured products – offering a complete picture for brands to get ahead of the trend.

“Social video has effectively taken over our culture – the amount of traffic we see daily can be overwhelming, making it seemingly impossible for brands to keep up. However, just because a brand can’t see the damage happening, doesn’t make it less impactful. Our platform makes the social world transparent,” said Sheyda Demooei, CTO of ViralMoment. “In this new world, information is king – and ViralMoment is the only solution that can provide a 360-degree, frame-by-frame view of the social landscape.”

To learn more about how ViralMoment can raise your brand above the trends, please visit: https://viralmoment.com/

About ViralMoment
ViralMoment is an AI sidekick that delivers AI-powered social video insights, strategy, and analytics to the world’s leading brands and agencies, including WPP, Omnicom, Warner Brothers, and more. Only ViralMoment can analyze millions of short-form social videos in their entirety within minutes – going beyond captions, transcripts, and thumbnails to offer a complete view of a brand’s reputation as well as viral trends in real time. The female-founded platform has tracked over 1 billion social videos to date, working with some of the world’s largest brands and agencies to take control of their social media insight strategy and catapult ahead of the trends. For more information visit https://viralmoment.com/.

SOURCE ViralMoment

GENEVA, Jan. 25, 2024 — ACE & Company (ACE), a leading Swiss private equity and venture capital group, introduces a new brand identity, emphasizing its commitment to innovation and its established role as a multi-strategy specialist across private equity. Since its inception, ACE’s focus has been to deliver differentiated returns and effectively manage risks across various private equity stages. Nearly two decades later, this principle remains fundamental to ACE’s success, having distributed over $606mm back to investors. 

In collaboration with Chaos Design, a UK Top 50 branding and creative agency, ACE’s new branding draws inspiration from topography, the study of the Earth’s surface. Similar to how detailed topographical studies reveal Earth’s hidden features, ACE benefits from its collective understanding and knowledge of Secondaries, Buyouts, and Ventures to make better-informed decisions and uncover opportunities in private markets. Incorporating royal navy and gold tones and a modern typeface, the refreshed logo reflects ACE’s shift towards a more refined and contemporary identity. 

Sally Beh, Managing Partner at ACE, reflected on the rebranding, emphasizing the firm’s foundational philosophy: “At the heart of ACE’s new brand identity lies our enduring commitment to a people-centric approach—our business is people. Our team’s profound market insights and varied perspectives are crucial in uncovering and navigating the intricate landscapes of private markets. This deep-rooted approach allows us to deliver differentiated returns to our stakeholders.” 

Furthering its commitment to innovation, ACE & Company launches ACE Ventures, a sub-brand identity and a dedicated arm designed to foster deeper ties within the entrepreneurial community and broader ecosystem. ACE Ventures draws its brand inspiration from the concept of light waves. Just as waves of light illuminate and transform the landscape they touch, ACE Ventures aims to influence Switzerland’s entrepreneurial scene with its new ACE Swiss Tech Outliers Fund. The diverse team of operators, engineers, and investors is focused on backing and supporting early-stage founders building enduring companies in sectors such as climate tech, deep tech, fintech, and AI. 

ACE & Company’s established Buyout and Secondary investment strategies continue to be a priority, as the firm recently had a first close for its ACE Buyout Opportunities V fund and is in the process of closing its ACE Secondary Investments VII fund. 

In line with the rebranding, ACE has launched revamped websites for both its main brand (aceandcompany.com) and ACE Ventures (aceventures.vc), offering enhanced user navigation and refreshed content. 

About ACE & Company 
ACE & Company (ACE) is a multi-stage private equity and venture capital group built on the unique combination of expertise, experience, and knowledge of its founders and team. The group has $1.7bn total assets across Secondaries, Buyouts, Ventures, and Investment Solutions. ACE delivers differentiated returns through the breadth of its portfolio, investment process, and information advantage built on decades-long relationships with industry leaders. 

Contact:
Elia Innamorati
Office  +41.22.311.3333  |  Web  aceandcompany.com
ACE & Company SA | Rue du Rhône 30 | 1204 Geneva | Switzerland

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2325690/ACE_Logo.jpg

Value-based care investor’s additional investment to support the continued growth of the Arizona-based provider

NEW YORK, Jan. 24, 2024 — Kain Capital LLC, a leading private equity firm focused on the technology enablement of healthcare services companies, today announced that it has exercised a follow-on investment in MY DR NOW, a leading provider of primary and specialty care with multiple locations in Arizona. Total investment to date is $60 million. Total investment to date is $60 million.

The additional funding will support the continued growth of MY DR NOW as it pursues its mission to provide convenient, affordable, and high-quality care to underserved populations in Arizona. Since Kain’s initial investment in August 2022, MY DR NOW has increased its operations from nine sites to 18 sites and has plans for significant future expansion within the state.  

“With this additional investment, more people in the greater Phoenix area will benefit from ready access to affordable healthcare,” said Dr. Payam Zamani Founder and CEO of MY DR NOW.

MY DR NOW is a comprehensive, value-based, integrated primary and specialty care platform that offers an omni-channel approach to care delivery via convenient retail-based clinics, mobile house calls and virtual visits. All MY DR NOW services, including primary care, mental health and specialty services, are available with extended hours on a scheduled or on-demand basis seven days a week, including holidays.

“Kain Capital is excited about the growth, execution, and evolution of MY DR NOW, and our new investment will help accelerate its ability to make affordable, convenient, high-quality care even more accessible in Arizona through its innovative care model,” said Steven Yecies, Managing Partner at Kain Capital.   

About Kain Capital LLC
Kain Capital is a private equity firm focused on investments in healthcare services and information technology companies. The firm partners with founders and entrepreneurs seeking additional capital, technology capability and resources to enhance and grow their existing services. Kain Capital does not utilize debt in its investments so that capital can be focused on maximizing growth and the quality of services to patients. More information about Kain Capital can be found at www.kaincap.com

About MY DR NOW
Founded by Dr. Payam Zamani, MY DR NOW is Arizona’s largest privately owned primary care group, offering a variety of services to patients of all ages, including primary care, urgent care and more, with offices open every day, including weekends and holidays. MY DR NOW offers in-person care in neighborhood locations convenient to where people work, shop and live, as well as video visit services and mobile doctor services. For more information, visit www.MYDRNOW.com

Contact:

Lambert
Joanne Lessner, [email protected], 212-222-7436
Caroline Luz, [email protected], 203-570-6462

Kain Capital
Harry Zirinsky, Head of Business Development
[email protected]

SOURCE Kain Capital LLC

M&A, Venture Capital, Private Investment & IPO Funding for MoCo Companies

ROCKVILLE, Md., Jan. 24, 2024 — Montgomery County, Maryland, companies had a strong year of investment in 2023, with more than $2.2 billion generated through more than 100 deals. Companies in a wide range of industries, from life sciences and technology to manufacturing and real estate, brought in substantial investments showcasing a positive economic direction going into 2024.

Life sciences companies in Montgomery County continue to be a powerful driver of investment, with more than $500 million dollars generated in 2023. Montgomery County anchors the thriving Biohealth Capital Region, which rose from #4 to #3 in the top 10 of U.S. biopharma clusters.

Recent highlights for Montgomery County’s ongoing life sciences success include:

• Deka Biosciences closed $60 million to continue developing drugs for patients suffering from cancer and autoimmune diseases;
• Welcoming Amgen to Montgomery County through a $28 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics, now building its North American technical center in Rockville;
• The impact of two life science leaders and soon to be neighboring companies: MilliporeSigma and Horizon Therapeutics, together represent more than $500 million invested in new facilities;
• Selecta Biosciences merging with Cartesian Therapeutics, which included a $60.25 million private financing deal for Cartesian.

“Deka Biosciences has grown exponentially as part of Montgomery County’s Business Innovation Network,” said Deka President & CEO John Mumm. “We wouldn’t be where we are without them. They have completely enabled us to grow faster than I’ve ever grown a company before,” he explained about the incubator facility.

Nine companies in the manufacturing sector received funding in 2023, including MasPanadas, a home-grown success story. With a recent influx of investment, MasPanadas is in the process of building a space that will triple its square footage to 18,000, while adding another 70 employees.

“Our company continues to thrive here with exceptional growth in annual sales and our client base including having our products in national grocery chains,” said Margarita Womack, founder of MasPanadas. “Montgomery County has been a great partner providing connections to programs, tax credit assistance and funding. We are excited about our growth and expansion plans.”

Another highlight in the manufacturing arena is Eat the Change, which received a $14 million venture capital investment. Co-owner Seth Goldman, who is also co-founder of PLNT Burger and Honest Tea, said: “Downtown Bethesda may not be Silicon Valley or Route 128, but with its active startup community and experienced workforce, it has served us well as the perfect location to launch and scale a mission-driven tea brand…twice! Our success with Honest Tea helped us launch Just Ice Tea in 90 days, and then close our Series A $14 million financing in just 60 days. Just Ice Tea, a product of mission-based Eat the Change, is now the nation’s top-selling organic tea brand and we look forward to continued expansion into mainstream channels.”

Technology leaders continue to thrive in Montgomery County, with close to 50 companies receiving funding. Companies include Quantum Xchange, GivHero, and Aledade. Rockville-based N5 Sensors received $2.5 million in funding for its proprietary cloud-connected ecosystem of smart sensors to keep people safe from environmental hazards. N5 Sensors’ CEO Abhishek Motayed says the company has grown from seven people to over 25 in their three years in Montgomery County. “We plan to open a second facility, a high-tech semiconductor manufacturing center, to support advanced R&D and product delivery for different critical markets from defense to environmental detection.”

Montgomery County is a welcoming home to businesses with a diverse economy, top talent pools, access to funding and anchored by major federal agencies including the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

“By many measures, 2023 was a very good year for the Montgomery County economy and I applaud the successful efforts of the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation,” said County Executive Marc Elrich. “We are expanding our economy by building on our strengths as well as opening our doors to new opportunities. We are better equipped to address challenging issues, and we are making progress. This was reinforced during our economic development trips to Taiwan, India, and Vietnam last year. People, around this nation and throughout this world, know Montgomery County, Md., as a welcoming and diverse place with a wealth of talent and plenty of possibilities. I am looking forward to more economic success in 2024.”

“The robust investment in Montgomery County companies is a testament to our pioneering spirit, diversity, and exceptional climate for business growth,” said Bill Tompkins, president and CEO of Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation. “While the country as a whole has experienced a downturn in funding, investments in Montgomery County businesses, especially in life sciences, continues to be strong.”

To learn more about doing business in Montgomery County, Maryland, go to thinkmoco.com or the Montgomery County Business Center.  See the full list of 2023 investments in Montgomery County companies here.

Source: PitchBook, Accessed January 23, 2024

About Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) 

Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation (MCEDC) is the official public-private economic development organization representing Montgomery County, Maryland. Created in 2016, MCEDC is led by a Board of Directors of business executives. Its mission is to help businesses start, grow and relocate in Montgomery County by helping them gain access to top talent, business and market intelligence and prime locations. For more information, visit our website. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Contact:
Michael Mitchell
MCEDC,
Vice President, Marketing & Communications
240-641-6725
[email protected]

SOURCE Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation