Installed in just minutes, ScaleOps reduces companies’ cloud costs by up to 80%, fully automating production environments and freeing engineers from constant manual adjustments

TEL AVIV, Israel , Dec. 19, 2023 — ScaleOps, a startup specializing in cloud resource management, announced today $21.5M in funding for the first fully-automated cloud-native resource orchestration platform. The Seed and Series A funding rounds announced today were led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, NFX, and Glilot Capital Partners. ScaleOps has attracted a large and dedicated customer base of companies that use the platform to fully automate their production environments, achieving up to 80% cloud cost savings and delivering better-running applications.

As cloud-native and Kubernetes environments become increasingly dynamic and interconnected, managing them has become highly complex and tedious. Kubernetes’ native container sizing, scaling thresholds, and node type selection use static configurations, but consumption and demand are dynamic. Engineers spend precious time manually adjusting cloud resources to meet fluctuating demand — trying to avoid under or overprovisioning — resulting in millions of dollars wasted on idle resources or poor application performance issues during peak demand.

“In production environments, each container requires a different scaling strategy,” said Yodar Shafrir, ScaleOps’ co-founder and CEO. “Experienced engineers spend hours trying to predict demand, running load tests, and tweaking configuration files for every single container. It’s impossible to manage this at scale. We realized there’s a huge need for a context-aware platform that can optimize these constantly-changing environments automatically, adapting to changes in demand in real-time.”

ScaleOps is the first fully-automated platform that continuously optimizes and manages cloud-native resources during runtime. The platform is installed in just two minutes on any cloud provider, on-premises and in air-gapped environments.

ScaleOps ensures application scaling matches real-time demand. Instead of static allocations, it allocates resources dynamically, automatically rightsizing containers based on application needs. The platform also ensures every container runs in the most suitable node type, significantly cutting cloud costs.

“The only way to free engineers from ongoing, repetitive configurations and allow them to focus on what truly matters is by completely automating resource management down to the smallest building block: the single container,” added Shafrir. “By employing AI, the ScaleOps platform is  context-aware and autonomously handles resource management for engineers, lowering infrastructure costs and delivering better performance.”

ScaleOps was co-founded by Yodar Shafrir (CEO), and Guy Baron (CTO). Since its founding in 2022, ScaleOps has experienced rapid growth worldwide, and today it automatically manages the production environments of industry leaders like Wiz, PayU, Orca Security, At-Bay, RTL, OutBrain, Salt Security, Noname Security, and dozens more. The company will use the funding to fund its global expansion to the US and Europe.

“ScaleOps automatically optimizes Wiz’s workloads in production according to our real-time needs, improving performance even during demand spikes,” said Ron Tzrouya, Lead Cloud FinOps at Wiz. “While dramatically reducing our Kubernetes cloud costs, the hands-free automation freed our teams from dealing with ongoing configurations, which is critical in our rapidly ever-growing environment.”

About ScaleOps

ScaleOps, a Tel Aviv based startup, is on a mission to automate the management of cloud environments, enabling organizations to focus on their core business objectives and dramatically reduce cloud costs. ScaleOps is backed by Lightspeed Venture Partners, NFX, Glilot Capital Partners, and other leading investors.

Learn more at https://scaleops.com/

Media Contat
Lazer Cohen
347-753-8256
[email protected]

SOURCE ScaleOps

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 19, 2023 — Iris&Romeo (“IRIS&ROMEO” or the “Company”), a clean beauty brand based in Northern California, has announced a retail expansion into Sephora (“Sephora”), in conjunction with a Series A partnership backed by US-based investment firm, True Beauty Ventures (“True Beauty”), a beauty and wellness dedicated emerging growth fund.

Since 2019, Iris&Romeo has become highly-recognized as a leading innovative, clean, skincare-makeup hybrid brand and is committed to thoughtful, multi-functional hero products for the beauty minimalist. The brand believes in modern essentialism, creating tinted skincare with serum-strength actives, designed to create more time for self care and less waste for the planet.

In conjunction with the Series A announcement, Iris&Romeo’s hero essentials will launch on  Sephora.com on December 26th, including the award-winning Weekend Skin SPF 50  and cult-favorite Best Skin Days™.

“Launching at Sephora is a pivotal moment for our brand. It gives us an opportunity to tell our story on a bigger level and for a whole new group of customers to try our products and fall in love,” expressed Michele Gough-Baril, the Company’s founder, “for me personally, it’s a dream come true moment because I’ve worked with Sephora for many years on other brands, and to do it now with the brand I founded is beyond exciting.”

“We’re thrilled to introduce Iris&Romeo to our clients as a part of our growing clean makeup assortment,” said Amy Abrams, VP Merchandising, Makeup at Sephora, “with its minimalist and simplified approach to beauty, Iris&Romeo offers multi-use products that are clean, high-performing, and seek to improve skin’s wellness with every wear. We look forward to introducing this innovative brand to our Sephora community and know that it will be a great addition to our assortment.”

The Company plans to use capital to improve retail readiness through supply chain sufficiencies, elevating brand-first content, and securing key hires to complement its current best-in-class team.

“We are thrilled to bring on True Beauty Ventures as our Series A lead. Rich and Cristina’s  expertise in the early stage beauty space is unparalleled. Having Cristina on our board will be incredibly valuable as we scale,”  Tara Desai, the Company’s CEO commented, “This Series A funding will unlock the brand’s ability to reach more consumers. Our existing customer base is exceptionally loyal. Strengthening our ability to reach her in more places will accelerate our growth, especially within our 35+ demographic.” Tara Desai joined Iris&Romeo in 2022, after working for brands such as Estee Lauder and Marc Jacobs.

“After three years of building a strong relationship with Iris&Romeo, we are thrilled to announce our lead Series A investment,” said Cristina Nunez, Co-Founder and Partner at True Beauty Ventures . “The brand is at a major inflection point driven by excellent product development, strong consumer demand, and an industry tailwind of multi-functional makeup-skincare hybrids. We are excited to support Iris&Romeo in this next phase of growth.”

ABOUT IRIS&ROMEO
Iris&Romeo was founded by Michele Gough-Baril after two decades in the beauty industry, climbing her way to the top. Burned out by the persistent excess and hustle culture, she stepped away to the healing rhythms of Northern California and gave herself permission to reprioritize her relationship with her body and herself. Iris&Romeo was born as the antidote to the beauty hustle culture and the more is more mentality. At Iris&Romeo, products are brought into the world thoughtfully, consciously, and beautifully. We are committed to multi-functional, all-in-one, tinted skincare solutions of the highest quality and efficacy.  We simplify your morning routine and deliver skin wellness—instantly and over time. This kind of beauty—this undone, well-hydrated look combined with serum strength actives—is the effortless bare-faced beauty we all want. Less makeup. More you.

ABOUT TRUE BEAUTY VENTURES
True Beauty Ventures is a beauty & wellness dedicated emerging growth fund that was created to provide not just capital to indie brands in the space, but also true partnership and sector expertise. We leverage decades of beauty-focused institutional investment experience, first-hand operating expertise, and extensive industry insider networks to help businesses scale into successful, resilient, and long-lasting beauty brands.

ABOUT SEPHORA
Since its debut in North America 25 years ago, Sephora has been a leader in prestige omni-retail with the mission of creating an inviting beauty shopping experience and inspiring fearlessness in our community. With the goal of delivering unbiased shopping support and a personalized experience, Sephora invites clients to discover thousands of products from more than 360 carefully curated brands, explore online and through our mobile app, enjoy services at the Beauty Studio and engage with expertly trained Beauty Advisors in more than 600 stores across the Americas. And with its long-term strategic partnerships with Kohl’s, customers can now shop a fully immersive, premium beauty destination, with over 850 locations nationwide. Clients can access the free-to-join Beauty Insider program and digital community, which together enhance the experience of Sephora’s passionate clients.

Sephora has been an industry-leading champion of diversity, inclusivity, and empowerment, guided by our longstanding company values. In 2019, Sephora announced a new tagline and manifesto, “We Belong to Something Beautiful,” to reinforce its dedication to fostering belonging amongst all clients and employees and to publicly strive for a more inclusive vision for retail in the Americas. Sephora continues to give back to our communities and advance inclusion in our industry through its social impact and equity programming, called the Sephora D&I Heart Journey.

For more information, visit: https://www.sephora.com/about-us and @Sephora on social media. For media inquiries, please visit our Sephora Newsroom or email [email protected].

Contact: Image and Interview Requests: [email protected] 

SOURCE Iris&Romeo

SimSpace has developed government-grade cyber ranges since 2015 and is uniquely positioned to capitalize on a 2030 cybersecurity market set to top $480 billion.

BOSTON, Dec. 19, 2023 — SimSpace, a US-based market leader in military-grade cybersecurity, today announced that it has closed a $45 million equity raise led by L₂ Point Management, a private investment firm specializing in flexible capital solutions for growth companies. This investment brings the total capital raised by SimSpace over the past year to $70 million and will support the company’s continued growth trajectory, including its expansion into new geographies.

SimSpace works with the most advanced Fortune 2000 companies, as well as national and state governments, to provide unmatched training and stress-testing capabilities for their defensive tools and cyber teams. In 2024, organizations worldwide are set to suffer $9.5 trillion in financial damages from cyber-attacks, as regulators and insurers increase their pressure on the disclosure and Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) requirements of mission critical companies. In a climate of heightened cyber threats, SimSpace is uniquely equipped to help public and private entities withstand the most sophisticated cyber-attacks that are now transcending geographical borders.

“For nearly a decade, SimSpace’s ground-breaking technologies have allowed large financial institutions and critical national infrastructure companies to withstand and recover from the most severe cyber events imaginable. The exponential growth in cyber threats has underlined the necessity for the boards and c-suites of large and listed organizations to implement national-grade cybersecurity to mitigate threats and ensure bottom line growth,” said William “Hutch” Hutchison, CEO of SimSpace. “The $45 million investment from L₂ Point Management will serve as a milestone of growth at SimSpace, bolstering our ambitions to enter new markets around the world while allowing us to significantly accelerate the pace of our customer acquisition.”

“SimSpace’s high-fidelity cyber ranges have gained significant traction with leading companies and national cyber defense organizations. This financing will allow SimSpace to build on its strong momentum and continue to invest in its military-grade capabilities as the company serves an increasingly diverse and advanced customer base,” said Kerstin Dittmar, Managing Partner at L₂ Point Management. “We are excited to support Hutch and his talented team as they position SimSpace as a global leader in a potential $480 billion cybersecurity market.”

SimSpace’s Cyber Force Platform provides granular, data-driven performance metrics that give CFOs multi-million dollar answers to cost reduction decisions without increasing top line risk. The metrics-led data will also allow disclosure teams to practice their roles in severe incident response and security teams to keep their capabilities sharp for the day when they will need to outperform the adversaries intent on inflicting critical damage to the reputation and finances of large and listed companies.

About SimSpace

SimSpace is the global leader in military-grade cyber ranges, founded by experts from U.S. Cyber Command and MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory to respond to a new era of unprecedented cyber threats. The company’s Cyber Force Platform enables the most sophisticated enterprises, governments, and critical national infrastructure organizations to find intelligence-driven answers to the most vexing security, governance, training, and cyber readiness questions. SimSpace’s Cyber Force Platform results in an average reduction in cyber operational costs of 30% and a 40% reduction in breaches. For more information, please visit: www.SimSpace.com.

About L₂ Point Management

L₂ Point Management (“L₂ Point”) is a San Francisco based investment firm providing innovative capital solutions for growth companies. With expertise across the capital structure, L₂ Point works to address a common concern of late-stage companies today: the lack of an alternative cost of capital product between highly dilutive growth equity and operationally restrictive debt. For more information, please visit: www.L2-Point.com. 

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1947574/3766941/SimSpace_Logo.jpg

SOURCE SimSpace

Secondary investment in recognition of EDH’s leading market position, strong fundamentals, and world-class leadership team 

DALLAS, Dec. 19, 2023 — Employer Direct Healthcare (EDH), a leading specialty healthcare network solution, today announced a $92 million secondary investment from global software investor Insight Partners, bringing the company’s valuation to $1 billion. EDH’s existing institutional investors, Serent Capital, Redmile Group and Dundon Capital, will maintain their ownership interest in the business. 

EDH has quietly grown to become one of the largest participants in the specialty networks, centers of excellence, and bundled payments categories for employers who self-fund healthcare coverage for their employees. Currently, EDH serves hundreds of self-funded plan sponsors across 1000+ employers (including approximately two dozen Fortune 500 employers and three dozen public sector entities), representing over 4 million people across the U.S. The EDH network includes more than 3,000 surgeons and oncologists and over 500 facility partners, spanning 157 metropolitan regions across the country – all of whom have gone through a rigorous selection process designed by EDH’s medical advisory board.

Over the past 12 years, EDH has facilitated more than 43,000 surgical journeys, significantly reducing members’ financial burdens by an average of $4,000. While doing so, EDH has lowered overall healthcare costs for employer clients by a total of ~$700 million since inception and will reduce overall healthcare costs for clients by approximately 2% in 2023.

“For too many Americans – even those with insurance – the financial and logistical burdens of a cancer diagnosis or need for surgery can be earth shattering. Every day, EDH is serving people at their most vulnerable – guiding members to high-quality providers that are close to home, at little or no cost to them,” said John Zutter, CEO of EDH. “We’re grateful for Insight Partners’ significant vote of confidence as we continue to deliver excellent, affordable, and accessible specialty care for more communities. Further, this investment provides an attractive outcome for some of our earliest backers, including TEXO Ventures, while bringing Insight’s world-class capabilities to bear for the future of the business.” 

“EDH represents the next generation of value-driven healthcare, attacking the largest sources of spend for U.S. employers – surgery and cancer – with a laser focus on quality and cost for clients and their employees,” said Scott Barclay, Managing Director at Insight Partners. “EDH is a rare example of the right management team, the right model, and the right technology to truly change the outcomes and business of healthcare.” 

“Partnering with EDH has yielded very positive outcomes for our AutoZoners and they often share with us their wonderful experiences with SurgeryPlus,” said Matt Harmon, VP of Compensation, Benefits and HRIS, Customer Satisfaction at AutoZone. “EDH helps to ensure that we’re able to provide access to high-quality, affordable surgical care for our AutoZoners across the U.S..”

In the coming year, EDH will continue to build on market momentum and strong overall growth, including expansion of Cancer Care Direct, the industry’s first end-to-end oncology solution, and several key partnerships with national health plans, navigators, and other industry-leading employer solutions.

EDH is also pleased to announce a number of key executive hires who bring deep, differentiated experience across healthcare, benefits consulting, technology, and government, including Chief Growth Officer Jamie McLeod, who previously held senior roles at One Medical and Virgin Pulse; Chief Product Officer Jeremy Leventhal, who previously held senior product roles at Hinge Health and Springbuk; Chief Client Officer Lindsey Conon, previously SVP of Account Management at Progyny; Chief Marketing Officer Shelly Towns, previously CMO at Marathon Health; Head of Communications Amy Dudley who served in top communications roles for then-Vice President Joe Biden, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative; Nicki MacManus, GM of EDH’s oncology solution, who previously had executive leadership roles at CVS including GM of CVS Kidney Care; and Head of Channel Tim Kelly, who was previously Chief Commercial Officer at Carrot Fertility and President of National Accounts at Aetna, a CVS Company. Other recent hires include senior leaders from KindBody, WTW and WithMe Health.

About EDH
EDH is a market-leading healthcare services business providing high-quality and cost-efficient solutions for self-funded employers and their members. The company’s highly selective provider networks transform healthcare for its members, facilitating access to top-quality care at fair prices nationwide. 

EDH’s first product, SurgeryPlus^®, is the market-leading surgical benefit solution, providing full-service concierge and network services to millions of covered members across 1000+ employers. In 2022, the company launched a first of its kind, comprehensive end-to-end oncology solution, Cancer Care Direct^®. 

About Insight Partners
Insight Partners is a global software investor partnering with high-growth technology, software, and Internet startup and ScaleUp companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. As of June 30, 2023, the firm has over $80B in regulatory assets under management. Insight Partners has invested in more than 800 companies worldwide and has seen over 55 portfolio companies achieve an IPO. Headquartered in New York City, Insight has offices in London, Tel Aviv, and the Bay Area. Insight’s mission is to find, fund, and work successfully with visionary executives, providing them with tailored, hands-on software expertise along their growth journey, from their first investment to IPO. For more information on Insight and all its investments, visit insightpartners.com or follow us on Twitter @insightpartners. 

SOURCE Employer Direct Healthcare (EDH)

The visionary founder of a digital health startup introduced a revolutionary wearable technology to the Circle of Money, presenting investors with an exclusive opportunity to invest in this transformative venture.

Watch the Unicorn Hunters trailer here

Watch the episode here

NEW YORK, Dec. 19, 2023 — Unicorn Hunters, the groundbreaking series that connects entrepreneurs seeking funding with millions of potential investors worldwide and offers viewers the opportunity to invest in billion-dollar ideas in the pre-IPO stage, announced a brand new episode featuring Healables, a digital health start-up at the forefront of commercializing wearable, bioelectric, smart textiles for recovery and performance and developing AI-powered therapeutic technology designed to relieve pain, accelerate healing, and reduce inflammation without medication. The episode is now available for streaming on UnicornHunters.com, LinkedIn Broadcast, Facebook Video, and YouTube.

Healables Digital Health, Inc., headquartered in Miami was founded in 2022 by Moshe Lebowitz to commercialize technology he patented and developed.  Lebowitz is a visionary who believes in humanity’s positive trajectory and the shared responsibility to address prevailing health challenges. Uniquely blending his background in business and user-centric design with Hasidic meditation, craniosacral therapy, and Chinese medicine, Lebowitz has been developing and patenting personalized wearable technology since 2017 at the Healables R&D  Innovation Labs in Jerusalem, Israel.

“At Healables, our mission is to empower individuals to own and improve their physical, spiritual and mental well-being,” said Moshe Lebowitz, Founder and CEO of Healables. “It’s a privilege to spotlight our unique solutions on Unicorn Hunters and introduce our business to the Circle of Money and the millions of viewers actively seeking distinctive investment opportunities.”

The Unicorn Hunters show is produced by reality TV icon Craig Plestis (I Can See Your Voice, The Masked Singer) who is pioneering enrichtaniment – a brand new genre of television that combines entertainment with investment opportunities that can boost individual wealth.

“Healables is revolutionizing healthcare by prioritizing human well-being, alleviating pain, and championing wearable solutions for accelerated sports recovery and enhanced performance personalized with AI. This presents a remarkable opportunity for  investors to explore the latest technologies in the digital health, sports tech and biotech sectors, disrupting industries and shaping a healthier world through innovative solutions,” stated Alex Konanykhin, CEO of Unicorn Hunters.

In February 2022, Unicorn Hunters launched Unicoin, its official cryptocurrency, which is a next-generation coin designed to address the extreme volatility typical of early coins with little to no inherent value, which ultimately led to the market meltdown and subsequent crypto winter.

Backed by a diversified portfolio of assets that includes equity in high-growth companies, Unicoin has garnered the support of business luminaries, industry leaders, and policymakers. In the new episodes of Unicorn Hunters, founders who pitch the Circle of Money and obtain a yes from more than one panelist will receive Unicoins. Those who receive a commitment of investment from all the members of the Circle of Money will receive up to 10 million unicoins.

The Unicorn Hunters show can be streamed on multiple platforms including UnicornHunters.com, LinkedIn Broadcast, Facebook Video, YouTube, and Vimeo. Through global syndication agreements, Unicorn Hunters also streams on Claro Video, one of the largest streaming platforms in Latin America and on TV3 Network, one of the main broadcast networks in Ghana. Unicorn Hunters also premiered on in-flight entertainment on Tap Air Portugal, WestJet, and Etihad Airways, an international airline based in Abu Dhabi that services millions of passengers in the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Asia, Australia, and North America.

About Unicorn Hunters

Unicorn Hunters is a pioneering business show that democratizes access to funding, giving founders the possibility to raise expansion capital from millions of viewers around the world, and gives people the opportunity to invest in pre-IPO opportunities alongside business luminaries.

The Circle of Money is comprised of a star-studded cast of business leaders, policymakers, and investors who study the company’s potential and probe its founders with questions to evaluate the investment opportunity, while helping viewers at home decide if they want to invest along with them. The Circle of Money panelists in this episode are Rosie Rios, Former Treasurer of the United States, Chris Diamantopoulos, social entrepreneur and actor in HBO TV series Silicon Valley, Silvina Moschini, Founder, President and Chairwoman of Unicoin, Alex Konanykhin, CEO of Unicoin, Jason Felts, founder, entrepreneur, strategic brand advisor and former CEO of Virgin Produced and Virgin Fest, Danny Cortenraede, serial entrepreneur and investor, CEO and founder of InStudio Ventures, and Cris Carter, NFL legend and Hall of Famer.

Each episode will feature brand new special guests who have been meticulously selected based on their areas of expertise including Susan Segal, president and CEO of the Americas Society and Council of the Americas and pioneer of early stage venture capital, Jason Scott, venture investor, partner of ANIM Fund, and former Head of Startup Development Ecosystem at Google, and Laura Chinchilla, Former President of Costa Rica.

Media Contact:
Pilar Planells
+5491141711804
[email protected] 

SOURCE Unicorn Hunters

Claure Joins Agreement to Acquire Ownership Stake in Fund 1 from SoftBank Group

• Marcelo Claure to become Vice Chairman and General Partner alongside Dr. Paul Judge as Chairman and Managing Partner
• Claure joins Judge and affiliated entities in previously announced agreement to acquire an ownership stake in the $100 million Fund 1 of the Opportunity Fund from SoftBank Group
• Open Opportunity Fund is now raising Fund 2 to continue to back exceptional Black and Latino tech founders

NEW YORK, Dec. 19, 2023 — Open Opportunity Fund, a venture capital fund dedicated to funding Black- and Latino-founded technology companies, is announcing two significant advancements within the fund.

Marcelo Claure, a technology entrepreneur and investor, is returning to the Open Opportunity Fund as Vice Chairman and General Partner. In June 2020, SoftBank Group (“SoftBank”) launched the SB Opportunity Fund to invest in underrepresented founders. Claure was a founding member of the fund while he was CEO of SoftBank Group International. In less than three years, SoftBank successfully incubated the Opportunity Fund and deployed the initial $100 million into 75 Black- and Latino-led companies. Two of SoftBank Group’s core growth funds—Vision Fund 2 and the Latin America Fund—separately invested nearly $600 million in Opportunity Fund portfolio companies, for a total of nearly $700 million invested across SoftBank’s funds.

In addition, Claure joins Open Opportunity Fund Chairman, Paul Judge, in the previously announced agreement to acquire an ownership stake in the $100 million Opportunity Fund 1 portfolio from SoftBank. SoftBank remains committed to building a community of diverse founders and continues to support the fund as an investor in Fund 2. Open Opportunity Fund aims to double in size, raising Fund 2 to a $200 million fund open to LPs and other investors.

Claure is the founder & CEO of Claure Group, a multi-billion-dollar global investment firm. He is also Chairman and Managing Partner at growth equity firm Bicycle Capital as well as Group Vice Chairman of SHEIN.

After building his first business, Brightstar, into the world’s largest global wireless distribution and services company, Claure became CEO of Sprint. He later became CEO of SoftBank Group International, where he oversaw strategy alongside SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, and launched SoftBank’s $8 billion Latin America Fund.

Claure’s return to Open Opportunity Fund is part of a personal mission, shared with Judge, to provide equal opportunity for Black and Latino entrepreneurs like themselves – entrepreneurs who struggle to get access to capital to grow their businesses.

“As a Latino and Hispanic entrepreneur who was successful in growing businesses, I still had to fight harder to get funding,” said Open Opportunity Fund Vice Chairman and General Partner Marcelo Claure. “Paul fought those same battles as a Black entrepreneur. Together through the Open Opportunity Fund, we are investing back into our communities, ensuring that Black and Latino innovators have the capital they need to grow profitable businesses. We are grateful to SoftBank for investing in Black- and Latino-led companies through the initial fund, and we appreciate their commitment to Fund 2 as we build on that legacy.”

“I’m excited to work alongside Marcelo again. It is a full-circle moment to have him back as a partner. Beyond our work as investors and advisors, I believe our position as an independently-owned fund led by a Black American and a Bolivian immigrant is a powerful statement that I hope will inspire future leaders,” said Open Opportunity Fund Chairman Paul Judge.

“As the founding LP and an investor in Fund 2, SoftBank remains committed to building a community of diverse founders,” said Brett Rochkind, Managing Partner of SoftBank Investment Advisers. We believe that under Marcelo and Paul’s leadership, the Open Opportunity Fund is strongly positioned to enter its next chapter, and we look forward to our continued support of its important mission.”

Opportunity Fund 1 invested $100 million into 75 Black- and Latino-led tech companies, with a portfolio that includes Atomic, Brex, Career Karma, Cityblock Health, Eight Sleep, Esusu, Lendtable, Lumu, Mayvenn, Paystand, Praxis Labs, QuickNode, Squire, and Subject. The fund has had seven exits.

In 2022, Black and Latino founders received less than 3% of venture capital funding, despite comprising over 30% of the United States population. Research has consistently shown that diverse companies yield greater results, such as producing higher profits and exit multiples.

Open Opportunity Fund is now raising Fund 2 with the aim of continuing to deliver strong financial performance by backing Black and Latino tech founders. The fund is open to other corporations, institutions, qualified individuals, and other LPs who are committed to this cause.

For more information, visit http://TheOpportunityFund.com and follow @OpportunityFund on X (previously Twitter) and Instagram.

For media and interview requests, please contact
[email protected] 

About Open Opportunity Fund

Open Opportunity Fund is a technology venture capital fund focused on investing in and partnering with outstanding Black and Latino founders. Fund 1 was a $100 million fund with SoftBank as an LP. In 2023, the team led by Paul Judge and Marcelo Claure acquired the Fund from SoftBank and announced Fund 2 to continue to execute the thesis.

SOURCE Open Opportunity Fund

New cloud platform brings high-resolution micro-forecasting while dramatically reducing complexity, expense and time of actionable weather forecasts

SAN MATEO, Calif., Dec. 19, 2023 — Excarta, pioneers of commercializing AI for business-targeted weather forecasting, today announced that it has completed its seed round of investment to commercialize its AI-driven weather forecasting platform. The platform—already functional and “real world” proven—enables businesses to easily, quickly and inexpensively access or produce highly accurate, high-resolution weather forecasts for the parameters they care about. These AI-driven weather forecasts can dramatically enhance situational awareness for businesses that currently rely on conventional weather models.

“We are leveraging  breakthroughs in the use of AI for weather modeling that mirrors the impact of using large language models like GPT in other fields,” said Vivek Ramavajjala, founder and chief executive officer, Excarta. “We’re harnessing these cutting edge developments in AI to solve real business issues with speedy, actionable weather forecasts of higher accuracy than conventional forecasts.”

To gain greater efficiencies and resiliency while mitigating disasters, businesses can benefit from more precise weather intelligence, but traditional models may be limited in the amount of data they can analyze, and the resolution they can provide over an extended period. The current weather “data stack” is also difficult to engage with, hampered by data stored in hard-to-access formats and in different locations.

While conventional models typically offer hourly forecasts only for the first three to five days, Excarta exploits the lower cost and higher speed of AI models to provide hourly forecasts for up to 14 days. Excarta uses its AI models to produce ensemble forecasts to provide not just the most likely forecast, but estimate  the uncertainty in forecasts as well. Excarta is also able to extend the AI models to consume other types of data for better performance on specific tasks, such as forecasting solar irradiance or electrical load on the grid.

Rather than being limited to numerical analysis with physical models, Excarta learns how to emulate the same physics as conventional weather models, at a fraction of the time and cost and enables interaction to produce needed insights. Customers can use such models to cheaply produce tailor-made forecasts, or directly access the forecasts through Excarta’s platform without the need for weather expertise. Pilot customers are already using the Excarta cloud platform for business value, including:

• Energy (utilities and traders) – optimization of energy sources, better energy trading, load planning and safe operation of electrical grids
• AgTech – planning of operations, such as fertilizer spraying, increasing crop yield and reducing losses using pest prediction
• Supply chains – optimization of routes and resources, contingency planning, better delivery certainty and lower insurance claims from weather damage

“Excarta makes weather forecasts better, faster, and cheaper with AI, and enables businesses to improve operations, pricing, purchasing, and more with those forecasts via APIs”, said Anne Dwane, Co-founder & Partner at Village Global, the venture firm backed by Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and Reid Hoffman. “Excarta has moved AI weather forecasting from pure research into commercial applications with measurable ROI.”

Excarta’s founding team brings over 15 years of combined experience in AI and climate modeling from Google Research, DeepMind, and Xerox PARC, forming Excarta to use AI to make businesses more resilient to volatile weather. Excarta’s $2.5 million seed round was led by Village Global and joined by Ubiquity Ventures, Converge VC and angel investors. A $500,000 inception-stage SAFE round preceded the seed round. Funding has enabled the successful creation and validation of the Excarta platform.

About Excarta

Founded in 2022, Excarta was formed to commercialize the power of AI for business-targeted weather forecasting. Excarta enables businesses to easily, quickly and inexpensively produce highly accurate, high-resolution weather forecasts for the parameters they care about to gain greater efficiencies and resiliency while mitigating disasters. Excarta offers a cloud-based platform that can utilize unlimited amounts of weather data to study and forecast weather for geographies a fraction of traditional size with great accuracy and covering greater time spans. Learn more about Excarta or request a demo through the company website.

SOURCE Excarta

Backer has acquired the web’s premier 529 destination Saving For College to modernize 529s with fintech and AI

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 19, 2023 — Today Backer, the leading fintech company focused on tax-advantaged 529 Savings Plans, announced its $9.5M Series A round of financing and the acquisition of Saving For College (savingforcollege.com), the top 529-related media property and education savings resource that millions of American families rely on each year.

“From day one, our mission has been to use technology to help the 529 industry reach a younger generation of parents,” said Jordan Lee, Backer’s founder and CEO. “As we enter a new era of AI-powered tech, we see an exciting opportunity to combine the industry’s highest-traffic web destination with the industry’s top product team to modernize the way American families discover, enroll in, and engage with 529 plans.”

529s have existed as a powerful college savings tool for decades, growing to over $450 billion in assets across 16 million accounts. In recent years, Congress has expanded their use to cover K-12 private school tuition, apprenticeship programs, and student loan debt. Most recently, Congress made it possible to transfer some unused 529 savings into a Roth IRA. Since its founding in 1999, Saving For College has been the top 529 information resource used by tens of millions of Americans to navigate an intimidating landscape of 529 plan options and make the right choice for their family.

Backer has earned a reputation for innovation within the 529 industry. Since its debut in 2017, the Backer consumer savings app has helped more than 200,000 parents and kids save a projected $250 million for education, with 40% of the savings coming from family and friends. Backer’s high-conversion enrollment process, consumer-grade gifting platform, and first-of-its-kind mobile app have made it an important technology partner for the country’s many 529 programs.

Backer’s venture round was led by WndrCo, a team of Silicon Valley builders and operators founded by early Dropbox executive Sujay Jaswa and Hollywood legend Jeffrey Katzenberg. “We are thrilled to partner with Backer to transform how families across America save for college. We believe high-quality educational content and intuitive consumer experiences are the keys to improving financial literacy,” said WndrCo General Partner ChenLi Wang.

“For decades, Saving For College has been an indispensable resource for American families and the many finance professionals working at the state level to grow 529 adoption,” said Lee. “We are honored to partner with the domain experts at Saving For College to ensure that 529s will continue to meet the needs of generations to come.”

About Backer
Backer is the leading fintech company focused on 529 plans. It makes saving for education simple, helping ordinary families tap into tax-free investing with support from family and friends. Backer is headquartered in San Francisco, CA. Visit backer.com or follow @backer529 to learn more.

About Saving For College
For over 20 years, Saving For College has been the premier education savings destination for parents and financial professionals, providing them with information and tools to understand the benefits of 529 Savings Plans and how to meet the challenge of rising college costs. Visit savingforcollege.com or follow @saving4college to learn more.

About WndrCo
WndrCo is a multi-stage technology investment firm that builds companies and makes venture capital and seed investments. Founded in 2016 by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Sujay Jaswa, WndrCo’s team is based in San Francisco and New York. Visit wndrco.com to learn more.

Media Contact:
[email protected]
(844) SAVE-529

SOURCE Backer

PHOENIX, Dec. 19, 2023 — Trinity Capital Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIN) (“Trinity”), a leading provider of diversified financial solutions to growth-stage companies, today announced the commitment of $40 million in term loans to Taysha Gene Therapies, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSHA) (“Taysha”), a clinical-stage gene therapy company, pursuant to a Loan and Security Agreement dated November 13, 2023, by and among Taysha, the lenders party thereto from time to time (the “Lenders”), and Trinity, as administrative agent and collateral agent for the Lenders.

Taysha is focused on developing and commercializing AAV-based gene therapies for the treatment of monogenic diseases of the central nervous system (“CNS”). Its lead clinical program TSHA-102 is in evaluation for Rett syndrome, a rare neurodevelopmental disorder with no approved disease-modifying therapies that treat the root cause of the disease. The Company’s management team has proven experience in gene therapy development and commercialization. Taysha leverages this experience, its manufacturing process and its intrathecal delivery in combination with a clinically and commercially proven AAV9 capsid, in an effort to translate treatments from bench to bedside.

“We are excited to partner with Taysha as it advances its lead gene therapy program in clinical evaluation for Rett syndrome, and believe Taysha has the potential to achieve significant advancements in the gene therapy field,” said Igor DaCruz, Managing Director, Life Sciences at Trinity. “We look forward to working together with their management team as Taysha focuses on bringing novel treatments with disease-modifying potential for diseases, like Rett syndrome, with high unmet need.”

With the term loan, Taysha believes it will be able to fund its operating expenses and capital requirements into 2026 to support the clinical development of its TSHA-102 program in Rett syndrome.

“We are highly encouraged by the support from Trinity, which we believe further reinforces Taysha’s vision to transform the lives of patients suffering from devastating diseases through the development of AAV-based gene therapies,” said Kamran Alam, Chief Financial Officer of Taysha. “With Trinity’s support, we believe we are well-positioned to continue to execute across our near-term milestones for our TSHA-102 program in Rett syndrome.”

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 Taysha Gene Therapies

Taysha Gene Therapies (Nasdaq: TSHA) is on a mission to eradicate monogenic CNS disease. With a singular focus on developing curative medicines, we aim to rapidly translate our treatments from bench to bedside. We have combined our team’s proven experience in gene therapy drug development and commercialization with the world-class UT Southwestern Gene Therapy Program. Together, we leverage our fully integrated platform with a goal of dramatically improving patients’ lives. More information is available at www.tayshagtx.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as “anticipates,” “believes,” “expects,” “intends,” “projects,” “plans,” and “future” or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning: Taysha’s ability to fund its operating expenses and capital requirements into 2026, the potential benefits of TSHA-102 and Taysha’s other preclinical product candidates, the potential for Taysha to achieve significant advancements in the gene therapy field and Taysha’s ability to execute across its near-term milestones. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Accordingly, these forward-looking statements do not constitute guarantees of future performance, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Risks regarding Taysha’s business are described in detail in its Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filings, including in its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the full-year ended December 31, 2022, and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2023, both of which are available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. Additional information will be made available in other filings that Taysha makes from time to time with the SEC. Such risks may be amplified by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and Taysha and Trinity disclaim any obligation to update these statements except as may be required by law.

SOURCE Trinity Capital Inc.