The Funding Will Drive the Next Phase of Course5’s Growth through Targeted Acquisitions and IP-Based Innovation in its AI Labs

BELLEVUE, Wash., May 18, 2023 — Analytics & AI solutions company, Course5 Intelligence, announced today that they are raising a round of funding of USD 55 million. The company has taken a first close with 360 ONE Asset Management Limited’s (formerly known as IIFL Asset Management Limited) Tech Fund which focuses on growth-oriented technology companies. 360 ONE Asset has led the round by investing USD 28 million in Course5. The company will be closing the balance with other premier investors shortly. Course5 has been experiencing rapid growth and has delivered consistent financial performance.

Course5’s analytics and insights solutions are backed by continuous innovation in Course5’s AI Labs and also leverage global open research in AI technology. The company’s enterprise analytics platforms are already integrated with Open AI’s GPT models for Generative AI and offer enterprises the capability to rapidly leverage the latest technology innovations to derive business impact from data.

Course5 plans to use investor funds to supplement its strong organic growth with inorganic growth as well as synergistic acquisitions, and also ramp up its investments in innovation and advanced AI technology in areas such as deep learning, computer vision, natural language and generative AI. The company is in talks with several M&A prospects that would add strategic capabilities or IP to complement its existing bouquet of solutions. Course5 Intelligence is on track to cross USD 100 million revenue in the next fiscal and plans to launch its IPO in the next 18 months.

Ashwin Mittal, Chairman and CEO of Course5 Intelligence, said, “Course5 has been organically built on its own cash flows to date. We have always believed in being capital efficient and think that this is the right time to raise external capital given our trajectory and the tailwinds in our industry. We have been experiencing strong demand for our analytics and AI solutions with current and new clients. Analyst recognitions for our IP-based products and solutions have also been pouring in and testify to the kind of value we are creating for our clients. Course5’s growth and client wins are largely due to our focus on building a world-class talent pool, driving innovation through our AI Labs, and creating business impact through the work we do. This funding will enable us to continue to invest in augmenting our value proposition for our clients. We are thrilled to have found a strong partner in 360 ONE Asset. They have a strong understanding of the technology landscape and have made many successful bets.”

Chetan Naik, Fund Manager and Senior EVP at 360 ONE Asset, said, “Data Analytics is expected to see strong secular growth over the next decade with companies leveraging AI and Advanced Analytics to accelerate digital transformation. Course5 has emerged as a leading Data Analytics and Insights player with strong IP-led solutions and deep domain knowledge across Technology, Media & Telecom, Life Sciences, Consumer Packaged Goods and Retail. Course5 is amongst the few scaled, profitable, and highly capital efficient pure-play Data Analytics players out of India. Ashwin Mittal has built a highly respected and market-leading company, and we are excited to partner with Ashwin on the next journey of growth and value creation.”

The funding will be targeted at expanding Course5’s footprint in the current industries it serves, while also entering new sectors that are relevant to its business.

As Course5 continues to enhance its analytics and insights offerings with AI capabilities across machine learning, computer vision, natural language and generative AI, growing investor confidence in the company indicates that this is the way forward in the organizational growth and customer service excellence journey.

About Course5 Intelligence Limited

Course5 Intelligence Limited (“Course5”) focuses on helping organizations drive digital transformation using artificial intelligence (“AI”), advanced analytics, and insights. Course5’s AI-driven products and solutions and IP-led solutions are supported by industry-specific domain experience and the latest technologies and aim at enabling organizations to solve complex issues relating to their customers, markets, and supply chain at speed and scale. Course5 combines a multi-disciplinary approach to data integration across structured and unstructured data sources to help businesses grow through informed decision-making.

Course5 caters to some of the world’s largest enterprises, including many Fortune 500 companies. The company’s clients span Technology, Media, and Telecom (TMT), Pharma & Lifesciences, CPG, Retail, and other sectors. Course5 Intelligence has been recognized by leading industry analysts like Gartner and Forrester for its Analytics and AI capabilities and proprietary AI-based platforms.

About 360 ONE Asset Management Limited

360 ONE Asset Management Ltd, earlier known as IIFL Asset Management Limited, is one of India’s leading alternates-focused and public markets-focused firm, offering products across multiple asset classes. With deep-domain knowledge, a strong understanding of the Indian markets and a highly experienced investment team, 360 ONE Asset is focused on creating the right risk-adjusted alpha for investors.

360 ONE Asset manages a total AUM of more than INR 58,000 crores* across all its businesses. The sizeable and growing asset management business is the market leader in alternatives and an important pillar of the 360 ONE group, growing independently but also synergistically. 360 ONE Asset’s differentiated product suite includes alternative investment funds (AIFs), portfolio management services (PMS) and mutual funds (MFs) spanning across asset classes of public and private equity, fixed income and real estate. 360 ONE Asset has been playing a pivotal role in the growth of the AIF industry in India.

360 ONE Asset has been active in the private equity ecosystem since late 2015. Across multiple strategies, 360 ONE’s Category II AIF has early-stage to late-stage investments across Technology, Healthcare, Financial Services and Consumer spaces. The company has made investments in multiple unicorns in India and generated exits from few portfolio companies.

*As on March 31, 2023

Securities investments are subject to market risks and there is no assurance or guarantee that the objectives of the scheme/strategy will be achieved. This press release is neither a recommendation nor a research report for investing in any of these sectors/portfolio companies and these sectors/portfolio companies may or may not form part of the portfolio of the scheme(s) in the future. The views & opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s)/individuals mentioned herein and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of 360 ONE Asset Management Limited (“360 ONE AMC“) (Formerly known as IIFL Asset Management Limited) / 360 ONE WAM Limited (“360 ONE WAM“) (Formerly known as IIFL Wealth Management Limited) and/or its subsidiaries.

Media Contact:

Megha Chaudhry
Vice President – Global Head of Marketing
Course5 Intelligence
M: +1(925)9179139
E: [email protected]

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1987372/3852234/Course5_Intelligence_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Course5 Intelligence

Companies to Work Together on Next-Generation Automation and Cleaning Solutions

PASADENA, Calif., May 17, 2023 — Today, Miso Robotics – the company transforming the restaurant industry with robotics and intelligent automation – announced a new partnership and multi-million dollar investment from the world’s water, hygiene and infection prevention company, Ecolab.

Miso Robotics is the creator of Flippy, the world’s first autonomous robotic kitchen assistant that automates the fry station for QSR restaurants. Flippy can perform all the food preparation tasks at the fry station with speed and precision, while also promoting food safety and quality standards.  Miso’s products leverage advanced computer vision technology, all developed to power back-of-house solutions for the restaurant industry.

Ecolab’s investment will support Miso Robotics’ growth and innovation, as well as enable collaboration between the two companies to explore new opportunities to enhance food safety, hygiene, and efficiency in the food industry through automation and digital solutions.

“For 100 years, Ecolab has been at the forefront of innovation designed to help foodservice customers achieve their operational and sustainability goals,” said John Houghtby, Ecolab’s EVP & GM Global Specialty. “As we look to the kitchen of the future, we are excited to partner with Miso Robotics, a pioneer in AI-driven automation for the foodservice industry, and to support their vision of creating a better, safer, and more efficient kitchen.”

“We are thrilled to have Ecolab as an investor and a strategic partner,” said Buck Jordan, Chairman of the Board and Founder, Miso Robotics. “Ecolab’s expertise and leadership in water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services are unparalleled, and we look forward to working together to create new value for our customers and the foodservice industry at large.”

About Miso Robotics 
Miso Robotics is revolutionizing commercial foodservice through intelligent automation solutions that solve some of the largest gaps in back-of-house kitchen operations. Ready to make an immediate financial impact on a restaurant’s bottom line, Miso’s AI-driven platform incorporates robotics, machine learning, computer vision and data analytics to power and develop its breakthrough products, including: Flippy 2, CookRight and Sippy.

With real industry knowledge and learnings accrued through brand partnerships over its first five years, Miso’s products are constantly evolving to drive consistency, increase productivity, reduce costs and improve the overall dining experience. 

About Ecolab 
A trusted partner for millions of customers, Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) is a global sustainability leader offering water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services that protect people and the resources vital to life. Building on a century of innovation, Ecolab has annual sales of $14 billion, employs more than 47,000 associates and operates in more than 170 countries around the world. The company delivers comprehensive science-based solutions, data-driven insights and world-class service to advance food safety, maintain clean and safe environments, and optimize water and energy use. Ecolab’s innovative solutions improve operational efficiencies and sustainability for customers in the food, healthcare, life sciences, hospitality and industrial markets. www.ecolab.com. www.ecolab.com

Contacts 
Miso Robotics
Miso Robotics Media Relations 
[email protected]

Ecolab
Ecolab Global Communications 
[email protected] 
+1 651 250 4724

SOURCE Miso Robotics

The venture capital fund also adds new VP of Finance to the team

SAN FRANCISCO, May 17, 2023 — Shima Capital, the web3 venture capital firm led by founder Yida Gao, is thrilled to announce Brandon Stahl as its new Chief Financial Officer. Stahl will also assume the roles of Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer, and his appointment further strengthens the core team of leaders in place at the fund. Additionally, Stacey Santos joins as its VP of Finance.

Stahl, who joined Shima in January 2023, is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in California and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charterholder, bringing nearly two decades of accounting and finance experience. He previously served as the Director of Accounting at Pacific Life Insurance Company where he built a back-office supporting private funds managed by Pacific Private Fund Advisors. Prior to this, he was the accounting manager for Canyon Partners Real Estate LLC, a multi-billion dollar real estate private equity investment platform based in Los Angeles. Stahl began his career as an auditor at PwC Los Angeles.

Mr. Stahl holds an M.Acc. in Accounting from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, and Bachelor’s Degrees in Music and Business Administration with concentrations in Accounting and Finance from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Santos joined Shima Capital in April 2023, bringing over a dozen years of accounting experience to Shima. Previously, she served as the Manager of Investment Accounting at Pacific Life Insurance Company. Ms. Santos has a BS in Accounting from Loyola Marymount University.

“We couldn’t be more thrilled to add Brandon and Stacey to our team,” said Yida Gao, who’s also Managing General Partner at Shima Capital. “Their combined experience is incalculable, and they’ve made a positive difference at Shima since day one.”

Stahl added, “I’m excited to join the team and build a top-tier investment firm in this exciting industry. Shima Capital is at the forefront of technology investing; we strive to maximize value for our founders and investors in a thoughtful, risk-controlled manner. Shima has a unique position in this emerging space. We will lead by positive example!”

For more on Shima Capital, visit www.shima.capital.

About Shima Capital

Shima Capital is a leading early stage VC firm, founded by Yida Gao in 2021, investing in disruptive blockchain companies. The fund is deeply focused on taking a hands-on approach and working closely with its portfolio companies to provide the most sweat equity per dollar invested. As teams in Web3 push the frontier of innovation, Shima helps hire talent, build community, amplify narratives, and foster the acceleration of technical research and development. Shima is composed of seasoned investors, accomplished operators, and former founders who align on a mission to support all-star teams with building and scaling generational companies. For more https://shima.capital/

Contact:
***@shima.capital

Photo(s):
https://www.prlog.org/12964683

Press release distributed by PRLog

SOURCE Shima Capital

MINNEAPOLIS, May 17, 2023 — BARR Center (Building Assets, Reducing Risks) announced $5 million for more Minnesota schools to implement the BARR system was included in the final House and Senate 2023 education finance bill and is headed to Minnesota Governor Walz’s desk for final sign-off.

Introduced in January 2023 as bipartisan legislation and authored by House E-12 Finance Committee Chair Rep. Cheryl Youakim (Hopkins) and Sen. Aric Putnam (St. Cloud), the funding will allow 18 geographically distributed (urban, suburban, and rural) Minnesota schools to implement the BARR system over three years. More than 40 Minnesota schools and 200 others nationally are currently using the BARR system to improve their schools’ cultures and students’ outcomes.

“I want you to picture how hard it is to be a teacher and to have a system come into place that can support you in accomplishing things that support and help the students – that’s what BARR is” shared Lake Elmo Elementary Instructional Coach Lisa Boland Blake during a February legislative hearing. She was one of more than 15 educators who testified during committee hearings in support of funding the BARR system for more Minnesota schools. Boland Blake went on to tell legislators “I’ve been in education for 38 years. BARR is here to stay.”

Now more than ever, in this challenging, post-pandemic period, educators need support addressing school climate and student mental health issues. Using existing resources, the BARR system focuses on building meaningful relationships – capitalizing on the strengths of every student – and leveraging student data to truly transform a school’s culture. In every school implemented it has proven to be a successful way to meet the social and emotional needs of all students while simultaneously increasing student achievement and teacher satisfaction and effectiveness.

“This is a really big thing that is going to allow for teacher retention in a time where many schools are searching to have more applicants for positions,” stated White Bear Lake High School Associate Principal Joseph Held during his legislative testimony. “I want to highlight that BARR has transformed our ability to address recurring behavior problems, and also our academics have improved. Our passing rates have gone up and our behavior rates have gone down. And, again, this has nothing to do with new content or new curriculum, it’s how we as adults are helping our students.”

The BARR system stands alone as the most consistently proven school improvement model in the country. Through rigorous studies conducted by the American Institute for Research (AIR), the BARR system has demonstrated statistically significant results in 20 areas, including increasing math and English achievement scores, improving student credit attainment, reducing course failure, closing the achievement gap, and reducing chronic absenteeism all while improving the school environment for both students and staff.

“I’ve been teaching for 31 years and for a lot of those years I felt like I was on an island when dealing with students who struggled. I tried to figure it out by myself, there was nothing set up for me to communicate with other teachers,” shared Detroit Lakes High School Social Studies Teacher Kalan Malchow during legislative testimony in February. “With the BARR meeting systems, teachers communicate and share strategies about how to meet the needs of these students. The data reaffirms the effectiveness of this crucial program.”

BARR Center will work with the Minnesota Department of Education on the application and school selection process. The schools will be geographically distributed (urban, suburban, and rural) and priority will be given to schools serving Black, Indigenous, and students of color, and those experiencing poverty. Educator training will be scheduled for this summer, and schools will begin implementing the BARR system during the 2023-24 school year. These schools will form a statewide network and also join the national network of BARR schools.

“BARR’s mission is to create equitable schools where every student, regardless of race, ethnicity, or economic status, has access to high quality education where adults know them, recognize their strengths, and help them succeed,” explains Angela Jerabek, founder and executive director of the BARR Center. “I am so grateful to the Minnesota legislature for allocating this funding so more educators and students can experience the BARR system, a true evidence-based school success system.”

About BARR Center
BARR Center (Building Assets, Reducing Risks) delivers the expertise and resources required for a school to implement the BARR system, an evidence-backed system designed to nurture a collaborative and strengths-based culture of support and success for every student through intentionally deepening relationships and improving use of data. For more information, visit, https://barrcenter.org/.

SOURCE BARR Center

Union Cloud enables any organization to operationalize complex AI with data ownership, governance and cost efficiency

BELLEVUE, Wash., May 17, 2023 — Union.ai, a company that extends companies’ ability to create next-generation AI and data products at scale, today announced general availability of Union Cloud for North American and European customers of AWS and GCP. Union Cloud empowers organizations to deliver highly reliable and impactful products that leverage the latest AI technologies at low cost, high quality and rapid velocity. The company also announced it has raised $19.1 million in Series A financing from NEA and Nava Ventures in order to fuel growth and its expanded offerings.

For the past few quarters, Union AI has been working with its Union Cloud customer partners to solve problems that impede delivering high-quality AI products. “During this period we learned about problems like observability, governance and infrastructure maintenance that impede realization of value from AI,” said Union AI CEO Ketan Umare.  “Our accelerated momentum reflects on the success of Flyte, the popular open-source workflow orchestration platform, and we are seeing an even broader range of customers expressing excitement about Union Cloud as a new managed solution that is powered by Flyte.”

“Machine learning, and especially large language models, raise big issues around privacy and information security. Companies are becoming increasingly wary of using services where they lose control over what precisely happens with their data,” said Greg Papadopoulos, venture partner, NEA. “Combining the power of big models with rich company data has to be handled with care — that’s one of the reasons why we’re so excited about the progress made by the Union.AI team, first with Flyte and now with Union Cloud. This is exactly what people are demanding and a real differentiator: Let me exploit the power of large language models while maintaining control and ownership of my data.”

“The AI landscape is evolving quickly, and companies that do not have significant internal developer resources run the risk of falling behind. To be able to participate let alone compete in today’s rapidly changing AI powered product landscape, time to value is of the essence.” said Manish Patel, founder, Nava Ventures. “That’s why we are excited to invest in and work closely with Ketan Umare and the Union.AI team as they extend the power of Flyte even further through Union Cloud, allowing many more companies to quickly go from research to production.”

Organizations that have adopted Flyte include hundreds of well-known brands and startups, among them Spotify, Stripe, Gojek, Wolt, LinkedIn and ZipRecruiter. Users report Flyte dramatically increases productivity by automatically versioning data and AI pipelines, making them auditable, reliable, reproducible and infinitely scalable.

Mick Jermsurawong, a machine learning infrastructure engineer with Stripe, said Flyte’s efficiencies create measurable business outcomes for the payment platform. “Based on a single team, we see 10x more offline training jobs dispatched from Flyte, and that results in 5x more frequent model releases with sizable business gains,” Jermsurawong said. “I think the realization here is that ML productivity is not a nice to have but actually a business requirement.”

Katrina Palen, a staff ML platform engineer at Stash, describes Flyte’s impact on its ML workflows: “Our provision time is at least two times faster on average. Model execution is three times faster, and the cost — which we can actually probably further optimize with minimal configuration and optimization — is at least three times cheaper.”

Flyte is built for efficiency with features like automatic provisioning of data and ML systems, which helps reduce compute costs. “Rather than running expensive GPU clusters constantly, Flyte launches infrastructure when needed and tears it down when idle,” Umare said. “Additionally, its built-in caching and smart checkpointing architecture enables data and ML teams to use cheaper Spot instances reliably.”

Union Cloud: Machine Learning Engineered and Delivered Seamlessly

Union Cloud delivers all the power and capabilities of Flyte orchestration to companies that don’t want to invest in building and maintaining their own infrastructures.

• For an end-to-end view of even the most complex pipelines, Union Cloud provides engineering and production teams state-of-the-art task-level observability and gives group leaders the ability to measure ROI for individual projects.
• Data scientists, researchers and production engineers can run highly efficient workloads without installing or maintaining Kubernetes clusters for their AI and data pipelines.
• Union Cloud offers role-based access control (RBAC) and fine-grained authorization, guaranteeing security and flexibility.
• Union Cloud is secure. It’s deployed in your VPC, so you control access to your data.
• Union Cloud is SOC 2 Type II compliant.

Union Cloud significantly enhances the power available to data and AI teams of any size, Umare continued. “We have given any team the ability to compete without the infrastructure burden with data ownership and governance.”

Union Cloud is a transformative technology platform that empowers organizations to carry out a broad range of sophisticated tasks without the need for extensive infrastructure or dedicated Kubernetes teams. This allows organizations to focus on their core objectives, fostering innovation across various domains. These tasks include (but are not limited to) developing production pipelines for advanced perception and language modeling, enabling autonomous driving capabilities, facilitating breakthroughs in drug discovery, engineering novel molecules, and refining operational research strategies. The beauty of Union Cloud is that it provides a streamlined, user-friendly approach, reducing the complexity typically associated with such processes.  Most importantly, Union Cloud can lower overall compute costs dramatically while offering complete observability for data and AI workflows — even on a task level.

Union Cloud is immediately available for AWS and GCP and starts at $2,500 per month. Union offers free trials for qualified users. Learn more about Union Cloud at http://union.ai.

About Union: Union.ai is revolutionizing the way organizations approach machine learning and data orchestration with Union Cloud, a managed version of the innovative Flyte platform. This unique, Kubernetes-native solution simplifies the processes of data scientists and machine learning engineers, ensuring seamless and efficient workflow automation. With a proven track record of success among market-leading companies, Union.ai continues to be the driving force behind Flyte’s development and adoption.

About NEA: New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) is a global venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs build transformational businesses across multiple stages, sectors and geographies. Founded in 1977, NEA has over $25 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2022 and invests in technology and healthcare companies at all stages in a company’s lifecycle, from seed stage through IPO. The firm’s long track record of investing includes more than 270 portfolio company IPOs and more than 450 mergers and acquisitions. For more information, please visit www.nea.com.

SOURCE Union.ai

The funding round follows 300% year-over-year growth and adoption from thousands of restaurants across the U.S. and Canada. 

BOSTON, May 17, 2023 — Incentivio, the all-in-one intelligent guest engagement platform for restaurants, has closed $10M in Series A Funding. Osage Venture Partners led the round with participation from Ardent Venture Capital and Grotech Ventures.

“The pandemic accelerated restaurants’ need to evolve with the times and adopt more of a digital presence. Now most restaurants are looking to take their digital guest experience to the next level while simplifying their tech stack” says Rajat Bhakhri, CEO and Co-Founder at Incentivio. “Most small to medium-sized restaurant groups simply do not have the resources to compete with the largest enterprise brands who have multi-million dollar budgets and large IT teams. That’s where we come in!”

Incentivio plans to invest in go-to-market initiatives to accelerate its growth and to invest in product, engineering, and innovation. “We are truly about the art of flavor meeting the science of data,” says Sash Dias, Co-Founder, and COO. “The largest enterprise brands have an unfair advantage in leveraging data to drive business results. We want to level the playing field so that all brands can thrive in this digital-first economy.”

Today, Incentivio helps restaurants consolidate their digital tech stack, gain a 360-degree picture of their guests, and leverage their guest data to gain real-time insights and enhance the digital guest experience. The next phase of Incentivio’s growth is to continue to innovate using AI & Machine Learning to help restaurants reduce manual intervention, cut costs, and increase revenue based on their own data.

“Osage Venture Partners is honored to partner with Incentivio to build the next-generation platform for digital customer engagement for all restaurants,” commented Sean Dowling, Managing Partner at Osage Venture Partners. “The company’s integrated, AI-driven solution that extracts intelligence from a restaurant’s data and drives automated action to elevate the guest journey can create a category leader in an increasingly critical part of the restaurant tech stack, and we are excited to support the exceptional team in realizing that vision.”

About Osage Ventures

Osage Venture Partners (OVP) is a leading venture capital firm located just outside Philadelphia, PA. For nearly two decades, OVP has partnered with exceptional entrepreneurs building the next generation of leading early-stage, B2B software companies. OVP applies a deep understanding of how to drive success in B2B software with a focus on companies innovating in the Future of Work the Future of Education.

For more information, visit OsageVenturePartners.com.

About Incentivio

Founded in 2016 by Rajat Bhakhri (CEO) and Sash Dias (COO), Incentivio is the industry leader in leveraging AI and Machine Learning to drive revenue and guest engagement for restaurants. Incentivio is passionate about helping its partners build stronger relationships with their guests, and that starts with the company’s consultative and customized approach to sales, implementation, customer success, and customer support.

Incentivio combines online ordering and white-label restaurant apps with loyalty, gift cards, machine learning upsells, CDP analytics, a data-driven marketing suite, and guest journey management to give restaurants a powerful system to build relationships with their guests and drive digital revenue. For more information visit www.incentivio.com. 

Contact: 
Samuel Kusinitz 
617-833-0110 
[email protected]

SOURCE Incentivio

Proprietary THC Testing Platform Offers Employers and Insurers Workplace Safety Solution

LIVERMORE, Calif., May 17, 2023 — Buzzkill Labs (“Buzzkill”), developer of the world’s first rapid saliva test for psychoactive THC, today announced the close of an oversubscribed Series A funding round co-led by Poseidon and existing investors. Buzzkill will use the proceeds from the financing to commercialize its technology, which fills employers’ critical need to maintain safe workplaces while respecting the dignity of employees who legally use cannabis outside of work.

Before now, the available tests for THC often utilized urine samples and outdated technologies that detect past use, cross-react with non-impairing compounds like CBD, and are prone to adulteration. Buzzkill’s proprietary technology performs on-site detection of psychoactive THC in saliva (oral fluid) samples in less than 15 minutes. The platform, initially deployed in workplace safety applications, enables employers with safety-sensitive roles to identify the use of cannabis during or immediately before work hours.

This month the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) published an update to their drug testing policy to include oral fluid testing. This action harmonizes the DOT policy with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) policy, guides DOT-regulated testing, and has a strong influence on non-regulated workplace drug testing programs.

“The world is moving steadily toward broad cannabis legalization, and the current cannabis testing technology is obsolete,” said Buzzkill’s CEO, Jeff Heimburger. “The Buzzkill platform gives employers a way to deter on-the-job use of THC for safety-sensitive roles – such as vehicle operators and hazardous materials handlers – in a way that is fair to employees who legally consume cannabis on their own time.”

George Farquar, Ph.D., Buzzkill’s CTO added, “Our platform separates and detects the psychoactive THC parent compound from more than 100 cannabinoids, with analysis that ensures the results will stand up under scrutiny. DOT authorization is significant validation and is likely to accelerate adoption of oral fluid as the preferred sample type even more than we have experienced to date.”

Buzzkill also announced the appointment of Patrick Rea, Managing Director of Poseidon Garden Ventures, to its Board of Directors. “We are delighted to welcome Patrick to the board and are encouraged by the strong signal Poseidon’s investment in Buzzkill sends to the market,” said Joshua Silber of Tuscan Management, an investor and member of the board.

“We are proud to partner with Buzzkill Labs as they address an urgent market need to ensure safe workplaces that are fair for employees,” stated Rea. “Employers in states with legal cannabis are desperate for a solution to help them comply with legislation that prevents discrimination against employees who enjoy cannabis products when they are not at work. We are excited that Buzzkill is introducing the first product that truly helps solve this growing problem.”

About Buzzkill Labs

Founded in 2018, Buzzkill Labs (Buzzkill) has developed patented technologies for rapid, cost-effective detection of organic compounds. Buzzkill’s proprietary oral fluid collection device combined with gold-standard chromatography-based analysis delivers the highest specificity and sensitivity on the market. Headquartered in Livermore, CA, Buzzkill capitalizes on the rich talent pool and startup-friendly environment of the Tri-Valley and San Francisco Bay Area.

Contacts
Jeff Heimburger, CEO
Buzzkill Labs, Inc.
[email protected]
408-480-3090

SOURCE Buzzkill Labs

New investor including MetLife and Khazanah Nasional alongside existing and new shareholders, join Series B funding round led by Tokio Marine

SINGAPORE, May 17, 2023 — bolttech today announced it raised US$196 million in connection with its Series B with an up-round valuation of US$1.6 billion. The round was led by Tokio Marine – Japan’s first insurance company with a 140-year history. Other key investors include global life insurance giant MetLife through its subsidiary MetLife Next Gen Ventures, Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional, as well as new and existing shareholders.

International insurtech bolttech is defying the current capital markets backdrop – mega-round funding (US$100 million and above) for the global insurtech sector is at its lowest level since Q1 2020, according to a Gallagher Re report^[1]. bolttech’s Series B fundraise is the largest straight equity Series B for an insurtech in the last year, and follows the company achieving the largest ever Series A round for an insurtech in 2021.

bolttech will use the proceeds of the Series B to further fuel its organic growth, including investments in proprietary technology, digital capabilities for business partners and end consumers as well as talent across bolttech’s 30+ markets. In addition, the funds will be used to explore inorganic opportunities to accelerate international growth.

Rob Schimek, bolttech’s Group Chief Executive Officer, said, “Having just celebrated our third anniversary since our launch in 2020, we are incredibly proud of what we have achieved so far on our mission to build the world’s leading, technology-enabled insurance ecosystem. We are now one of the fastest growing insurtechs in the world, enabling our partners to find new revenue streams, accelerate their digital transformation, and deepen their customer relationships. We thank all our Series B investors for their support, and we are excited to welcome our new investors, reputable leaders in their respective spaces, and look forward to strong partnerships that will fuel bolttech’s continued growth on our path to profitability in 2024.”

The support of such esteemed investors is a resounding validation of bolttech’s leadership, innovative business model, and unique value proposition in shaping the future of insurance. bolttech has maintained a strong financial foundation with a clear path to profitability while driving its rapid growth and scale to build the most comprehensive international presence for an insurtech.

bolttech’s global operations

bolttech, one of the world’s leading embedded insurance providers, is a global B2B2C insurtech that connects insurers with distributors and their customers. With licenses to operate throughout Asia, Europe and all 50 U.S. states, bolttech provides businesses with everything they need to offer insurance products that meet their customers’ evolving insurance and protection needs in the digital age.

bolttech now quotes approximately US$55 billion worth of annualized premiums. Globally, bolttech’s ecosystem connects 700 distribution partners with more than 230 insurance providers and offers in excess of 6,000 product variations.

Sources:

^[1] – Gallagher Re, 4 May 2023, Gallagher Re Global InsurTech Report for Q1 2023

SOURCE bolttech

Company to Ramp Up Production to Meet Booming Demand for High-Throughput, Fully Dense Aluminum Parts for EVs, Industrial and Heavy Equipment

BURLINGTON, Mass., May 17, 2023 — Alloy Enterprises, the world’s first Digital Aluminum Fab, announces the completion of a $26 million oversubscribed Series A round led by Piva Capital and joined by new investors Unless, Flybridge Capital, MassMutual Catalyst Fund, Robert Downey Jr.’s Footprint Coalition, and existing investors Congruent Ventures and Riot Ventures. The funding brings the total raised to $37 million.

Novel Manufacturing Process to Fill The Void

A gap exists between the demand for complex aluminum components and the supply. Demand for aluminum has been escalating, driven by lightweighting for e-mobility across the transportation sector and the need for more sustainable materials. Aluminum is infinitely recyclable; it has twice the strength-to-weight ratio of steel and is an incredible material for lightweighting. Aluminum components will be part of the electrification journey of everything that moves.

However, the United States has lost a third of its foundries. Traditional manufacturing processes, such as casting, are not keeping pace with the speed of innovation. U.S. manufacturers need on-demand capacity, at scale, at home.

Alloy Enterprises is filling the void with a fast, cost-effective manufacturing method that streamlines the production of aluminum parts at scale here in the U.S. Alloy supplies complex aluminum components to its customers. Its’ unique solution is the first process specially designed for aluminum that does not use aluminum powder. Using a combination of laser cutting and diffusion bonding, the team can produce production volumes through its machines cost-effectively while maintaining the advantages of 3D printing, such as reducing lead times, iterating designs quickly, avoiding expensive tooling, and digitizing inventory.

“The Alloy team has proven out a highly efficient process for delivering aluminum components quickly and at scale,” said Maria Buitron, Principal at Piva Capital. “This is a breakthrough for the industry that addresses the need for reasonable lead times, major cost reductions, and on-demand manufacturing, delivering direct benefits to EV, industrial and heavy equipment. We have been so impressed with the Alloy team and look forward to partnering with them to help them scale as the need for their solution ramps up.”

“Alloy is poised to transform key industries at a critical time for companies concerned with building more resilient supply chains and reducing their carbon footprint,” said Liz Reynolds, Partner at Unless and Former Special Assistant to the President for Manufacturing at the National Economic Council. “We are at the beginning of an industrial transformation in which the country is reindustrializing. Alloy’s unique technology will help companies accelerate through this transformation.”

Additive Manufacturing System Specifically for Aluminum

Increasingly, manufacturers want the advantages of 3D printing, including complex geometries, the ability to iterate designs, and freedom from expensive tooling. But aluminum, especially alloys such as 6061, can be difficult and expensive to print using powder bed processes. The company developed its selective diffusion bonding process specifically for aluminum, with scale production in mind. Its novel feedstock is already scaled and is produced in 10-ton runs. This summer, Alloy Enterprises will start delivering production volume parts. The company is actively evaluating and qualifying new customer applications and has the capacity for volume production.

“We have an incredible team with the ability to continuously solve hard R&D challenges while staying focused on the customers’ needs,” said Ali Forsyth, CEO Alloy Enterprises. “We went from invention to commercial sales in less than two years. With this sizeable fundraise, we’ve added great partners to the table to help us take Alloy to the next level.” 

Forsyth continued, “We’ve made rapid progress and have garnered Fortune 100 manufacturing customers in three major market verticals: automotive, industrial, and heavy equipment. We’ve proven our manufacturing process and are already qualifying customer production parts. We will use this funding to ramp production capacity, further develop our software suite, and apply next-gen automation. We’re open for business and scaling rapidly, including hiring across the board in sales, marketing, applications, software, operations, and manufacturing.”

About Alloy Enterprises

Within a year of invention, Alloy Enterprises makes parts using its novel additive manufacturing system that provides high throughput of fully-dense aluminum parts, enabling manufacturers to scale from prototyping to production. To learn more about Alloy Enterprises, visit https://www.alloyenterprises.co/

Media Contact:
Mary Magnani
CodePR
[email protected]

SOURCE Alloy Enterprises