NIJMEGEN, Netherlands, Feb. 13, 2025 — Torrey Pines Investment, a specialty life-science investment company based in San Diego, CA, and Oost NL, a regional development agency supporting innovation-driven companies, announced the pre-seed funding and launch of Mair Therapeutics. Headquartered in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, Mair Therapeutics is a biotechnology startup focused on developing transformative treatments for neurodegenerative disorders.

Mair Therapeutics brings together a team of entrepreneurs, researchers, and specialist investors to accelerate progress in therapies for Parkinson’s disease. The company’s platform is built on years of industrial experience in ion channel modulation. The company is dedicated to discovering compounds that regulate the lysosomal ion channel TMEM175, which controls lysosomal pH to maintain optimal conditions for degrading protein aggregates – hallmarks of Parkinson’s disease.

Parkinson’s disease is prevalent worldwide and continues to grow, partly due to an aging population but also because of the use of certain pesticides in food production. In 2024, the number of people diagnosed with Parkinson’s is estimated to exceed 11 million, including approximately 63,500 in the Netherlands. Currently, there is no available treatment that cures the disease.

Mair Therapeutics wants to change that by focusing on the rapid identification and development of potential therapeutics using cutting-edge computational modeling and discovery technologies. This approach will be supported by the drug development expertise of Expert Systems accelerator, which incubated and developed the program ab initio.

“Parkinson’s disease represents one of the greatest unmet medical challenges of our time,” said Dr. Tudor Oprea, CEO of Expert Systems. “Combining artificial intelligence with human expertise could help identify disease-modifying therapies for Parkinson’s. We are excited to see Mair Therapeutics committed to advancing groundbreaking technologies to address this pressing medical need.”

Headquarters in Nijmegen

The company is establishing itself in Nijmegen, partly due to the presence of a strong knowledge cluster in the field of Parkinson’s disease. Radboudumc hosts a Parkinson expertise center led by Prof. Dr. Bas Bloem. Additionally, Mair will collaborate with the lab of Dr. Marijn Kuijpers, the Kuijpers Lab (http://www.kuijperslab.com/), which is part of the Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behavior at Radboud University.

Björn Schaap, Investment Manager Health at Oost NL: “The combination of expertise and entrepreneurship, leveraging the latest techniques in R&D, with a focus on a very exciting target for the initial program makes a strong case for creating an impact in the field of Parkinson’s.”

About Torrey Pines Investment

Torrey Pines Investment, based in San Diego, CA, has focused on early to development-stage breakthrough medicines since 2002. Its therapeutic interests include oncology, neurodegenerative disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and more.

About Oost NL

Oost NL (East Netherlands Development Agency) is an agency that focuses its activities and projects on strengthening and stimulating the economy of the provinces of Gelderland and Overijssel, the Netherlands.

About Expert Systems

Expert Systems, an advanced accelerator platform, is equipped with a comprehensive, hybrid AI-based system that covers the entire spectrum of preclinical drug discovery and early development phases. Expert Systems has been pivotal in establishing Seed and Series A companies, organizing and managing over 30 research and development programs across various financial investors and strategic partners in North America, Europe, and Australia. To learn more visit www.expertsystems.inc.

Media Contact:
Vasily Kazey
CEO
[email protected]

SOURCE Mair Therapeutics

• Oversubscribed Series A Funding Round Was Co-Led By Quona Capital and PayPal Ventures with Participation from Citi Ventures
• Finmo Will Use Funds to Accelerate Product Development and AI Capabilities and Expand Global Reach

SINGAPORE, Feb. 12, 2025 — Finmo, the pioneering all-in-one Treasury Operating System (TOS), today announced its successful oversubscribed $18.5 Million Series A funding round, bringing its total funding to US$27 million. This investment underscores the growing demand for an innovative approach to modern treasury management. With the new funding, Finmo plans to accelerate its product development, invest in AI capabilities, and expand its global reach. The company aims to continue delivering cutting-edge solutions that not only improve operational efficiency but also empower organizations to make informed financial decisions by better harnessing the power of its treasury operating system.

The funding round was co-led by prominent investors Quona Capital and PayPal Ventures with participation from Citi Ventures. Known for their investment focus on cutting-edge fintech companies, these investors’ support is a strong validation of Finmo’s value proposition. Finmo offers a unified platform that addresses the complexities of modern treasury operations.

The Finmo TOS is uniquely designed to address the need for effective treasury management in a global context. It streamlines payment processes, enhances cash flow visibility, manages FX risks, ensures compliance, automates manual tasks, and optimizes financial decision-making, including excess liquidity management. With features such as real-time payment capabilities, modular design for scalability, and a strong emphasis on regulatory compliance, Finmo empowers organizations to optimize their cash management, enhance liquidity, and mitigate financial risks—all within a single platform.

Today’s organizations are global players that demand integrated solutions to streamline their treasury functions. Finmo was developed with a first-hand understanding of what treasurers and CFOs need, ensuring that the platform addresses real-world challenges faced by finance professionals today.

“We are thrilled to have the support of esteemed investors such as PayPal Ventures, Quona, and Citi Ventures,” said David Hanna, CEO and Co-Founder of Finmo. “This funding validates our vision of transforming how global businesses manage their treasury function and enables us to scale our platform, enhance our technology further, and expand into new markets. Underpinning all these developments will be our continued commitment to focus on our customers’ evolving needs to enhance operational efficiency, risk mitigation, and strategic financial decision-making.”

Ashish Aggarwal, Partner at PayPal Ventures, said, “Finmo is redefining treasury operations. Their innovative approach addresses critical pain points faced by businesses in today’s dynamic financial landscape. We are proud to support their journey as they continue to deliver transformative solutions that empower organizations globally.”

“Finmo’s innovative Treasury Operating System addresses critical pain points for businesses operating in multiple geographies, empowering them with seamless cash and FX management capabilities,” said Ganesh Rengaswamy, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Quona, which co-led the Series A. “With their exceptional founding team and strong financial discipline, we believe Finmo is well-positioned to redefine how businesses manage payments, liquidity and risk, and we are excited to support their vision to revolutionize treasury management and cross-border payments for businesses across APAC and beyond.”

About Finmo

Finmo is a global treasury operating system that empowers businesses to manage cross-border payments, optimize liquidity, and navigate financial complexities with ease. Founded in 2021, Finmo is committed to simplifying treasury operations for businesses of all sizes.

For more information about Finmo and its mission to redefine global treasury operations, visit www.finmo.net.

SOURCE Finmo

SpotDraft’s Series B funding round, spearheaded by Vertex Ventures and Trident Partners, will accelerate the company’s global expansion and drive the advancement of its AI-powered product innovation.

NEW YORK, Feb. 12, 2025 — SpotDraft, the CLM platform that helps in-house legal teams manage their contract ecosystems, has raised $54 million in Series B funding. Vertex Growth Singapore and Trident Partners were the lead investors, the existing investors (Xeed VC, Arkam Ventures, Prosus Ventures, and Premji Invest) have also participated in this round.

SpotDraft is an AI-driven contract lifecycle management (CLM) platform built for in-house legal teams. The tool manages all aspects of contracting, including AI-assisted redlining, e-signatures, intelligent contract repository, third-party papers, clickwrap agreements and more.

“We believe 2025 will be an inflection point for team SpotDraft,” said Shashank Bijapur, CEO of SpotDraft. “Apart from market expansion and talent growth, we’re strongly committed to deepening the use of AI in the product to help legal teams unlock efficiencies and drive innovation.”

SpotDraft’s CLM platform has made a huge impact on our legal team’s time, workflows, and efficiencies, said Jonathan Franz, Head of Legal, Crunchbase. “It is easy to implement and gives us the confidence we need to manage reviews, automate high-volume contracts, close deals faster and navigate diligence.”

Over and above its end-to-end CLM offering, the team is sharpening its focus on product enhancements and AI functionality. SpotDraft has launched products like VerifAI and ClickThrough which are consolidating SpotDraft’s positioning as the preferred CLM partner for mid-market companies. With over 250 employees across its offices in Bengaluru and New York, SpotDraft is looking to further acquire key leadership talent in alignment with its growth strategy.

Shashank Bijapur, an alumnus of Harvard Law School and Madhav Bhagat, alumnus of Carnegie Mellon co-founded the company in 2017. Prior to this, Shashank practiced law in New York and Madhav was with Google. Augmenting the leadership team, Rohith Salim, Madhav’s batchmate at Carnegie Mellon joined as Chief Product Officer (CPO), and most recently, Akshay Verma, legal industry veteran, ex-Meta and Coinbase came onboard as Chief Operating Officer (COO). 

SpotDraft raised $26M in its Series A round of funding in March 2023. In the last two years, the company has seen explosive growth in its revenue and customer base.

“We see potential in SpotDraft being the first in class CLM solution globally,” said James Lee, Managing Partner, Vertex Growth. “SpotDraft’s product vision and go-to-market strategy is anchored on a deep understanding of enterprise legal teams’ painpoints and the unwavering commitment to delivering a world-class solution in enabling faster and more accurate contract processes. We’re excited to join and support SpotDraft as they continue to leverage AI to transform the legal tech landscape.“

To learn more about SpotDraft, visit www.SpotDraft.com.

About SpotDraft

SpotDraft is headquartered in Bengaluru, India with an office in New York, USA. Over 400 organizations and cross-functional teams across the world use SpotDraft to optimize time-consuming processes, refocus on strategic outcomes and maximize their impact through a contract lifecycle.

SpotDraft was featured in the Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies list in 2024 and Forbes Asia’s 100 To Watch for in 2024. The SpotDraft mission is supported by prominent investors, including including Xeed Ventures (formerly 021 Capital), Xeed VC, Arkam Ventures, Prosus Ventures, Premji Invest, Riverwalk Capital and esteemed angel investors like Girish Mathrubootham and Satyen Kothari.

Media Contact
Annapoorna Ramanath
PR and Communications
[email protected]

SOURCE SpotDraft

A collaborative, team-based approach to providing unique cancer-specific behavioral health and care navigation to people undergoing cancer treatment.

WEST HARTFORD, Conn., Feb. 12, 2025 — Following a strong launch in 2024 with three large oncology practices, Cerula Care, a new oncology behavioral health and care navigation company, announced an oversubscribed Seed funding round of $3.7 million. The round was led by Esplanade Ventures, with participation from Amplify Capital, BrightEdge (the innovation and impact investment arm of the American Cancer Society), DigiTx Partners, SpringTime Ventures, and Mike Pykosz (former CEO and co-founder of Oak Street Health). The new funding will be used to expand services to more practices and invest further in patient-facing technology.

“At Esplanade Ventures, we invest in and empower founders that are solving meaningful gaps in healthcare and have a proven ability to execute.  Having supported family members in their cancer journey, Cerula Care’s vision and mission resonated with us instantly, and we are incredibly proud to partner with Supriya and Kyle. As a platform purpose-built for cancer patients, Cerula Care and its co-founders are uniquely positioned to become leaders in the cancer behavioral health space and transform the challenging journey for millions of patients,” says Ella Seitz, Esplanade Ventures Managing Partner and Cerula Care board member.

Twenty-two million people in the US have cancer and over 85% suffer from unique unmet behavioral health needs, causing unsatisfactory cancer outcomes, excess utilization, and lower survival rates.  Cerula Care seamlessly integrates with oncology groups to provide personalized, virtual-first, behavioral health and care navigation solutions – including counseling, health coaching, and psycho-oncology – to improve health outcomes for people living with cancer.

“BrightEdge is committed to investing in companies that have the potential to drive impact for cancer patients and help fulfill the American Cancer Society’s vision of ending cancer as we know it, for everyone,” said Stephen Curtis, Senior Director of New Ventures at BrightEdge. “We know that most people diagnosed with cancer experience symptoms of anxiety or depression, and that feelings of loneliness are linked to poorer outcomes. We are excited to support Cerula Care as they work collaboratively with providers to bring critical behavioral health resources, which have been shown to improve quality of life, to cancer patients.”

The company’s innovative care model involves the whole Cerula Care team working in concert with the oncology team to ensure that every patient has comprehensive coverage across cancer, behavioral health, and care navigation.

“When someone is going through one of the scariest moments of their life – being told they have cancer – they get an oncologist focused on eradicating the cancer.  However, the whole journey truly changes someone’s outlook on life, and no one is currently focused on improving the patient’s mental health.  Cerula Care exists to help everyone going through the cancer journey have a better quality of life and ensures one coordinated team with their oncologist,” says Supriya Laknidhi, Cerula Care co-founder and CEO.

With this collaborative, team-based approach, Cerula Care has already shown outstanding clinical outcomes.  Patients have seen a statistically significant improvement in somatic symptoms, quality of life, anxiety, and depression within three months in care – all leading to greater adherence to their cancer care plan and a decrease in unwanted hospitalizations.  Additionally, oncologists have found tremendous value in having an extension of their team focused on their patient’s behavioral health and care navigation needs.

“Cerula Care is making my job a lot easier because it goes back to that team aspect, where we have many people specialized in whatever the patient needs, whether it’s cancer and taking care of the physical symptoms or emotional or mental symptoms that come with a diagnosis like that. That’s where Cerula Care becomes an invaluable part of our team.” says Timothy Finnegan, M.D., oncologist at Cone Health.

The Seed round follows a strong Pre-Seed round with Flare Capital Partners, Healthworx Accelerator, and One Mind as participating investors.

About Cerula Care

Cerula Care is the first cancer-focused collaborative behavioral health and care navigation company that seamlessly integrates with oncology practices and is focused on improving quality of life and health outcomes for people living with cancer. For more information, visit cerulacare.com.

SOURCE Cerula Care

NEW YORK, Feb. 12, 2025 — Equals 5, the leading AdTech platform revolutionizing pharmaceutical and healthcare marketing is excited to announce a strategic growth equity investment from Baleon Capital. This investment marks a significant milestone in Equals 5’s mission to provide unparalleled, precisely targeted, and attributable HCP marketing solutions for the pharmaceutical industry.

With this partnership, Equals 5 will further enhance its innovative platform, which empowers pharmaceutical companies and agencies to seamlessly build audiences, execute campaigns, and precisely engage HCPs across 20+ channels in one place. Unlike traditional marketing approaches, Equals 5 leverages 100% NPI-level targeting and reporting to deliver unmatched performance transparency and campaign attribution.

“Our platform is transforming pharmaceutical marketing by delivering precisely targeted HCP campaigns across social media channels and beyond, with clear, attributable performance insights at the NPI level,” said Roman Makukh, Co-Founder and CEO at Equals 5. “With Baleon Capital’s investment, we will accelerate platform advancements, introduce AI-powered solutions, expand HCP reach across more channels with superior PLD, and much more – all aimed at scaling to meet the surging demand from our clients. We’re excited about what’s happening now and even more about the opportunities ahead.”

Baleon Capital specializes in supporting high-growth healthcare and B2B technology companies, providing both financial backing and strategic guidance. Their investment underscores the unique value and market differentiation of Equals 5’s AdTech solutions in an industry where precise, data-driven engagement with HCPs is essential.

As social media and non-endemic digital channels become increasingly crucial for HCP marketing and engagement, Equals 5’s ability to bridge the gap with proprietary targeting capabilities and NPI-level insights positions it as the go-to platform for pharmaceutical marketers looking to power their HCP campaigns and maximize ROI.

For more information about Equals 5 capabilities, visit www.equals5.com.

About Equals 5
Equals 5 is a pioneering provider of marketing and media buying solutions for the Pharma and Life Sciences industries. The Equals 5 All-in-One Healthcare Marketing Platform enables to easily set up and launch HCP marketing campaigns on 20+ channels in one place while using a unique 100% NPI-level targeting technology to precisely reach the HCPs on your target lists and gather NPI-level reporting data on all engagements.

About Baleon Capital
Baleon Capital specializes in investing in early-growth stage healthcare and B2B technology companies, providing both capital and operational support to accelerate success. Focusing on businesses with strong revenue growth and innovative market positioning, Baleon Capital partners with founders to scale their companies from initial investment through exit.

Follow us on LinkedIn: Equals 5 | Baleon Capital

For press inquiries, please contact:
Julia Tsymbaliuk
Marketing Director
Equals 5
[email protected]

SOURCE Equals 5

NEW YORK, Feb. 12, 2025 — Keragon, an AI-powered, HIPAA-compliant automation platform for healthcare, has raised $7.5 million in an oversubscribed seed funding round led by Upfront Ventures, with early investors Afore Capital, Focal, and 25m Health doubling down. This brings Keragon’s total funding to $10.5 million. Six months since product launch, the company has already surpassed 100 paying customers, is growing at a 30% month-over-month rate, and has successfully executed more than 2 million workflow automations.

“Healthcare providers, front and back office staff are weighed down by a long tail of point solutions that don’t talk to each other and slow down patient care. Keragon turns this fragmentation into a connected ecosystem, and is already beloved by numerous clinics saving hours of manual work,” said Kevin Zhang, Partner at Upfront Ventures.

Keragon enables healthcare professionals to seamlessly integrate over 300 popular software tools — including electronic health records (EHRs) like athenahealth, Healthie, Elation Health and Canvas Medical, scheduling platforms, referral management systems, AI medical scribes etc – without any engineering required. This streamlines real-time data exchange, reduces administrative burdens, and safeguards patient data. Recently, Women’s Mental Health Specialists, a clinic serving over 1,000 patients, has cut 5 hours of administrative work per week using Keragon, enabling faster referrals while increasing revenue by 15%. Other common use cases include:

• Patient intake and appointment scheduling
• Patient marketing and communication
• Internal notifications and team coordination

“With Keragon behind the scenes, we’ve been able to improve our processes and expand our operations. Plus, their support is next-level. In a nutshell, Keragon is like Zapier for healthcare, but HIPAA-compliant and way faster,” said Kevin Bundy, CEO of Alive IV and Wellness, a Keragon customer.

Looking ahead, Keragon is doubling down on AI-powered automation. “Integrations are Keragon’s backbone. Connecting complex systems at scale and bringing all the tools our customers use into one unified & compliant ecosystem is our top priority,” said Conno Christou, CEO & Co-founder of Keragon. “With the comprehensive best practices gleaned across these tried and true workflow automations, we are now adding an agentic AI layer to guide and personalize any existing and new automation to each healthcare professional and organization.”

About Keragon
Keragon is an AI-powered healthcare automation platform that enables healthcare professionals to easily connect 300+ popular software and build powerful automations  in a HIPAA-compliant way — no coding required! Learn more at  https://keragon.com

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Keragon

Reinsurance Capacity Grows with Added A+ Rated Partners

CHICAGO, Feb. 12, 2025 — High Definition Vehicle Insurance (HDVI), a technology-driven commercial auto insurance provider, has secured $40 million in growth capital, bringing its total funding to over $87 million. The round, co-led by existing investors 8VC, Autotech Ventures, Munich Re Ventures, and Weatherford Capital, will support the enhancement of HDVI’s telematics-driven products, expanded coverage, and improved tools for insurance agents as the company scales nationwide.

“HDVI’s innovative use of real-time telematics is reshaping commercial trucking insurance,” said Will Weatherford, managing partner at Weatherford Capital. “This latest fundraise underscores the confidence we have in HDVI’s leadership and ability to deliver profitable growth.” 

Following this funding round, Alexei Andreev of Autotech Ventures and Jake Medwell of 8VC will join HDVI’s Board of Directors, alongside existing members Jacqueline LeSage of Munich Re Ventures, Will Weatherford, and HDVI’s Reid Spitz and Chuck Wallace.

HDVI also announced key leadership transitions. After seven successful years as CEO, co-founder Chuck Wallace will become a strategic advisor and continue supporting the company’s long-term vision. Co-founder Reid Spitz, appointed president in January 2024 to prepare for this shift, will now serve as CEO and guide HDVI’s next phase of profitable growth.

“With the infusion of capital, HDVI is well positioned to continue leading the industry in leveraging technology in commercial auto insurance,” said Spitz. “Our team remains committed to continued innovation using telematics and other data sources along with new AI tools throughout the commercial auto policy lifecycle to drive risk reduction and efficiency at scale.”

Wallace added: “I look forward to supporting my co-founder Reid in his new role. Reid is the right person to lead HDVI as it continues its strong growth and innovation in the future.” 

Reinsurance Capacity Expanded with Addition of New A+ AM Best Rated Reinsurers

To support its growth strategy, HDVI has expanded its reinsurance panel to include some of the world’s largest and most financially secure reinsurers. This expansion diversifies HDVI’s reinsurance support and increases HDVI’s underwriting capacity to meet the rising demand for its data-driven insurance solutions.

“We’re excited to have the backing of global leaders in reinsurance who chose to partner with HDVI due to our preeminent use of telematics in underwriting and data-driven approach,” said Chief Underwriting Officer Adam Barnett. “Their support strengthens our ability to protect insureds and serve the increasing demand for innovative transportation insurance.”

Telematics-Driven Growth and Performance 

The company’s flagship product, HDVI Shift™, leverages telematics to help customers reduce risk and save up to 20% upfront and on monthly premiums based on safety performance.

In 2024 alone, HDVI customers logged nearly one million miles of safe driving daily and saved $3.2 million, triple the previous year’s savings.

“We’ve harnessed over 7.5 billion miles of telematics data to enhance our understanding of risk models, refine our pricing models and underwriting process, and improve how we manage claims in-house to deliver a more streamlined, efficient, and customer-centric experience,” said Spitz. “These insights allow us to be highly price competitive while attracting fleets that prioritize safety and operational efficiency.”

Since the launch of HDVI Shift in 2021, HDVI has experienced significant, sustained growth, achieving a 107% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) and a loss ratio well below the industry average.

Improved Safety Modeling

HDVI has revised pricing and underwriting, enhancing traditional methods with approaches that base premiums on actual driving behaviors. This results in fairer, more personalized pricing.

HDVI’s telematics models also continue to improve. In addition to leveraging telematics, HDVI integrates data from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and other sources to enhance risk assessment and pricing. Nearly 90% of customers see safety improvements within their first policy term.

About HDVI 

HDVI is a technology-first commercial auto insurance provider. The company assesses risk using historical and real-time telematics data and provides tools and services that help fleets increase safety, reward safe driving, and benefit from efficient and fair claims processing. HDVI is headquartered in Chicago with additional offices in Greenville, South Carolina, and Columbus. High Definition Vehicle Insurance, Inc. is a licensed property casualty insurance agent with products underwritten by various insurance companies. For more information, visit https://hdvi.com.

SOURCE High Definition Vehicle Insurance (HDVI)

PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 12, 2025 — Early stage venture capital firm True Ventures welcomed two new full-time Partners to its team: Kevin Rose and Mike Montano. Both Rose and Montano entered the True Ventures ecosystem as founders in the firm’s portfolio. Rose was funded in 2011 and Montano in 2009. Both have previously worked as Venture Partners at True. As long-time repeat entrepreneurs and large-scale operators, they bring deep experience and expertise across multiple sectors, including artificial intelligence, consumer and B2B software, and health and wellness.

Kevin Rose: A Longstanding Partnership With True

Rose’s relationship with True Ventures traces back to his early entrepreneurial days. His new role as Partner is the next step in an illustrious journey as both a multi-time founder and seed investor.

In 2004, Rose launched social news platform Digg, pioneering online content aggregation and virality. Digg attracted 38 million monthly users, becoming a mainstay of internet culture. In 2011, True backed Rose to start Milk, acquired by Google in 2012. In 2014, True funded Rose’s app incubator North, which later merged with Hodinkee, where Rose served as CEO.

Rose’s entrepreneurial streak continued when True backed his longevity and meditation apps Zero and Oak, which later became Zero Longevity Science in 2019. In 2022, True backed Rose again (for the fourth time), to start PROOF, a web3 media and technology company, which was acquired in 2024 by Yuga Labs.

Rose is also a seasoned investor, having angel-funded companies including Twitter, Square, Nextdoor, Wealthfront, and Facebook. He previously served as General Partner at Google Ventures. His work as an entrepreneur and investor has been featured on ABC Nightline News, The Jimmy Fallon Show, The Joe Rogan Experience, and The Tim Ferriss Show, and he’s appeared on the covers of Businessweek and Inc. Magazine. Rose hosts three podcasts exploring technology trends, longevity, financial well-being, and internet culture: The Kevin Rose Show, The Random Show, and Diggnation Rebooted.

Rose is now fully focused on investing at True, particularly in the sweeping AI innovation across health, consumer, and enterprise technologies and markets.

“I’m thrilled to dedicate my full attention to investing at True – this firm has played such a big role in my own journey as a founder, graciously encouraging me to tinker and build different businesses through the years,” said Rose. “Being a founder is all about riding the ups and downs of building a company, and the True team gets how to support in the most challenging moments with the kind of unconditional belief that makes all the difference. The right investors can be transformational and I’m eager to be that kind of partner for today’s builders as I put all my chips in at True.”

Mike Montano: From Founder and Engineering Leader to Investor

For Montano, returning to True is a kind of homecoming. True invested in Montano’s first startup, a social media analytics platform called BackType, in 2009. When Twitter acquired BackType in 2011, Montano joined Twitter and spent a decade scaling its engineering team, rising through leadership roles from Director to Vice President to Head of Engineering, ultimately leading a team of 3,000 and overseeing everything from mobile applications, machine learning, and data center operations.

While Montano led the engineering team, Twitter usage and revenue doubled. Additionally, he was proud to serve as the executive sponsor of Twitter’s Black Employee Resource Group, Blackbirds. As an angel investor in dozens of companies including biotech R&D platform Benchling and open source LLM platform Ollama, Montano has helped founders with product, hiring, and scaling engineering culture.

“My experience has taught me the importance of building a world-class team,” said Montano. “At Twitter I learned how to deliver at massive scale, but I also really enjoyed the early days at BackType when I worked with a small team of builders. There’s a magic that happens at that size and I’m happy to jump back into the trenches of that really early stage with founders.”

In 2023, Montano joined True as a part-time Venture Partner, and now as a full-time Partner he is particularly keen on the firm’s increase in AI investments. True has over 60 AI companies in its portfolio, and in Q4 2024, 75% of True’s new investments were AI-native.

“The pace at which technology is moving right now is something I’ve never seen before,” said Montano. “There’s a flood of talent building never-before-imagined products, and it’s a joy to work with these really hungry founders working on the biggest ideas. Our recent AI investments have spanned tools that make developers and other professionals multiply their ability and completely rethink the ways we interact with technology and devices.”

Headquartered in Palo Alto with a second office in San Francisco, True Ventures has 49 team members, including an investment team of 29, alongside finance, operations, and a platform team dedicated to community-building and portfolio support. The firm, which remains committed to pre-seed and seed-stage investments, manages over $3.8 billion, with $3.3 billion invested across more than 475 teams since True’s founding in 2005.

SOURCE True Ventures

The investment will enable Jscrambler to expedite PCI DSS v4 compliance for customers while supporting advanced client-side protection innovations and groundbreaking research

PORTO, Portugal, Feb. 12, 2025 — Jscrambler, a pioneer in client-side protection, today announced the completion of a $5.2M investment round subscribed to exclusively by Iberis Capital. This latest investment builds upon a previous $15 million Series A funding round led by Ace Capital Partners with participation from Sonae IM and Portugal Ventures, which also led the company’s initial Seed round.

Despite the continued growth in client-side threats, many businesses continue to lack the tools needed to keep user data safe. According to the 2024 Jscrambler report, only 36% of respondents’ companies have policies and tools to prevent data skimming. Now, with this latest investment, Jscrambler will further accelerate its efforts to help companies securely and cost-effectively achieve PCI DSS v4 compliance ahead of the  March 31, 2025 deadline. PCI DSS v4 requirements 6.4.3 and 11.6.1, are designed to prevent digital skimming attacks on websites that capture payment card data. In addition to PCI compliance, this round of funding will also support Jscrambler’s commitment to ongoing research and solution innovation.

“Merchants accepting payments face escalating threats like digital skimming, yet many lack the client-side protection tools that are vital to securing customer cardholder data,” said Rui Ribeiro, CEO and co-founder of Jscrambler. “With the PCI compliance deadline rapidly approaching, the urgency for effective client-side protection solutions has never been greater. This funding round from Iberis Capital will enable us to address this immediate pressing need while accelerating our investments in innovation and research to ensure our clients are always prepared for the challenges of tomorrow.”

João Henriques, Partner at Iberis Capital, stated: “Jscrambler delivers a world-leading technological solution that empowers businesses to protect their websites, meeting the increasing demand for robust digital security. Supported by a leadership team with extensive industry knowledge, Jscrambler is uniquely positioned to lead in client-side security. Iberis is proud to be part of Jscrambler’s journey toward success.”

Jscrambler is transforming application security, becoming an essential solution for businesses seeking to protect their applications and web pages while ensuring user trust. By enabling organizations to monitor and safeguard their front-end JavaScript code in real-time, Jscrambler is designed to make client-side security easier to implement, scalable, and focused on threat prevention.

About Jscrambler

Jscrambler is the leader in Client-Side Protection and Compliance. Jscrambler is the first to merge advanced polymorphic JavaScript obfuscation with fine-grained third-party tag protection in a unified Client-Side Protection and Compliance Platform. Jscrambler’s integrated solution ensures a robust defense against current and emerging client-side cyber threats, data leaks, misconfigurations, and IP theft, empowering software development and digital teams to innovate securely online with JavaScript. Jscrambler’s Code Integrity product safeguards first-party JavaScript through state-of-the-art obfuscation and exclusive runtime protection. Jscrambler’s Webpage Integrity product mitigates threats and risks posed by third-party tags, all while ensuring compliance with the new version 4 of PCI DSS. With Jscrambler, businesses adopt a unified, future-proof client-side security policy, all while achieving compliance with emerging security standards.  Jscrambler serves a diverse range of customers, including top Fortune 500 companies, online retailers, airlines, media outlets, and financial services firms whose success depends on safely engaging with their customers online.

For more information, visit www.jscrambler.com, or follow Jscrambler on LinkedIn or X.   

About Iberis Capital

Founded in 2017, Iberis Capital is a venture capital and private equity fund manager based in Lisbon. Iberis Capital invests in Venture Capital, Mid-Market growth and buyout, Yielding Investments and Sustainable Investments with flexible investment structures adapted to the needs of companies. With close to 600 million euros in assets under management and a base of more than 1,200 investors, Iberis Capital establishes partnership relationships and has contributed to the development of some of Portugal’s most promising technology companies, being able to support them at different stages of their growth. Find out more about Iberis Capital: www.iberiscapital.com

CONTACT:
For Jscrambler:
Doug Fraim
Guyer Group for Jscrambler
[email protected]

For Iberis Capital:
[email protected]

SOURCE Jscrambler