NEW YORK, Dec. 10, 2024 — J.F. Lehman & Company (“JFLCO”), a leading middle-market private equity firm focused exclusively on the aerospace, defense, maritime, government and environmental sectors, today announced the successful closing of its latest flagship fund, JFL Equity Investors VI, L.P. and affiliated investments vehicles (“Fund VI”). At $2.23 billion, the offering marks the largest in the firm’s 33-year history and was meaningfully oversubscribed relative to its $1.6 billion target.
Fund VI will enable JFLCO to continue to execute its long-standing investment strategy leveraging over three decades of specialized industry knowledge and demonstrated operational capabilities to help companies reach their full potential. The new fund increases the firm’s total assets under management to $7 billion as of November 30, 2024.
“The highly successful outcome of this marketing effort reflects our demonstrated ability to source intrinsically valuable companies, drive tangible improvements across our portfolio and the substantial confidence placed in our team,” said Louis N. Mintz, Partner. “We are determined to continue to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns as we continue to deploy and manage Fund VI.”
“We are grateful for the support from our longstanding partners, many of which endorsed our efforts early in the process with increased conviction,” added Karina Perelmuter, Managing Director, Investor Relations & Marketing. “We are equally appreciative of the trust and confidence placed in our team by the many new partners backing our sector-focused strategy.”
UBS Securities LLC acted as placement agent for Fund VI and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP served as legal adviser.
About J.F. Lehman & Company, Inc.
Founded in 1992, J.F. Lehman & Company focuses exclusively on investing in the aerospace, defense, maritime, government and environmental industries. The firm has offices in New York and Washington, D.C. http://www.jflpartners.com
ABU DHABI, UAE, Dec. 10, 2024 — Abu Dhabi Finance Week (ADFW), the flagship event hosted by ADGM, continued into a second day with the 2024 edition of Asset Abu Dhabi. The forum, organised with theme partners ADCB, Mubadala and PGIM Global Asset Management, discussed topics such as investing in the next decade of technology, opportunities in Private Equity & Credit and investing in cities of the future.
Asset Abu Dhabi gathered asset allocators and asset managers, investment bankers, venture capitalists, private equities, family offices and other institutional investors, which collectively manage over USD 42.5 trillion in assets, to share their perspectives and offer insights into some of the world’s biggest hedge funds.
Ray Dalio – Founder & CIO Mentor at Bridgewater Associates – delivered an insightful session on the Principles of a Changing World Order that set the tone for the discussions during the day. His thought-provoking keynote address delved into some of the most turbulent economic and political periods to reveal why the future is likely to be different to those in recent history.
With AUM levels in the asset management industry rising to almost USD120 trillion in 2023 and multi-trillion-dollar managers holding around 61% of the total industry assets, the session on The Market View of Trillion Dollar Asset Managers provided insights on the market view from the top with asset management experts Aleksandar Ivanovic – President of UBS Asset Management, David Hunt – President and CEO of PGIM and Bill Huffman – CEO at Nuveen.
Other prominent names in the financial investment space such as Robert Smith, Founder – Chairman & CEO at Vista Equity Partners and Aron Landy – CEO at Brevan Howard, also provided notable discussions and keynote speeches. Topics covered included an update on the falcon economy, how to spot and grow a world-class opportunity, the big picture of real estate and a brief guide on Abu Dhabi’s top sovereign funds.
Commenting on the event’s prominence, H.E. Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi, Chairman of ADGM and the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development (ADDED)said:“Convening some of the biggest nameswithin the asset management sector, Asset Abu Dhabiis an unparalleled platform to share insights on and shape the future of this dynamic sector. Through this platform, we arehighlighting the next frontier of technology and investment opportunities andproviding critical perspectives on regional and global economic prospects that will transform the next decade of investments in an evolving world order.Asset Abu Dhabi underscores ADGM’s unwavering commitment to driving the growth of the Falcon Economy.”
14 Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) have been signed at ADFW so far. Some of the major ones signed by ADGM today included prominent names such as Istanbul Financial Centre, Beijing Financial Street Services Bureau and Polygon. Another agreement signed between Circle and Lulu Financial Holdings was also a highlight at the event. Abu Dhabi Investment Office (ADIO) signed MoUs with leading entities such as PGIM, EXIM Bank and MasterCard.
In parallel to Asset Abu Dhabi, ADFW celebrated 40 years of bilateral relations between the UAE and China with the inaugural special edition of the UAE-China Investment Forum in collaboration with HSBC. The event explored the opportunities for mutual trade and prosperity with some very special guests such as Carl Ge –Partner at Hillhouse Investment, Dr. Nasser Saidi – President at Nasser Saidi & Associates, Sean Ho – CIO at Triata, Chi-Man Kwan – Founder & CEO at Raffles Family Office and Casey Ge – Group VP and Chief Strategy Officer at WInd Information.
ADFW hosted several other special events on day two such as RESOLVE, the UBS Investor Forum, the International Family Office Congress and T.R.I. (Turnaround Restructuring & Insolvency) Summit, Spears Summit – Private Wealth Forum and the Future of Talent Summit.
ADFW’s event series continues for another two days with flagship events such as Fintech Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi Sustainable Finance Forum (ADSFF) that will bring together the industry’s best to its international stage.
Concentro unlocks tax credit transfers for mid-sized clean energy projects, enabling developers to easily monetize transferable tax credits without high transaction costs and complexity.
They take a differentiated high-touch approach, managing the entire end-to-end process from running diligence to providing full-wrap insurance, making it effortless and seamless for parties to transact.
The team has closed a variety of transactions, including transacting with a Fortune 50 all the way down to closing one of the smallest transactions ($99k!) in the industry.
The platform also provides CFOs & Tax Directors of corporations as well as individuals with the ability to purchase fully vetted and insured tax credits, helping them reduce their tax bill.
NEW YORK, Dec. 10, 2024 — Concentro, the clean energy financing platform, has closed a seed round of $3m, in an oversubscribed deal led by firstminute Capital, with participation from Silence VC, LifeX, Plug & Play, & Avesta Fund. Other participants include existing investors J Ventures, Contour Venture Partners, & Dorm Room Fund as well as various angels and VC scout networks. This follows a pre-seed round last year led by J Ventures.
Concentro is the fully-integrated financing engine for the clean energy middle-market. Despite the hundreds of billions of dollars invested annually in clean energy, accessing funds and financing projects remains highly complex, especially for mid-sized developers and projects who often struggle to get projects across the finish line.
One great example of this problem applies to tax credits, which account for over 30% of the financing stack of clean energy projects in the US. While the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 allocated over $210 billion in tax credits to subsidize clean energy development in the US and unlocked transferability – allowing projects without sufficient tax liabilities to transfer tax credits to third parties – the “middle-market” of clean energy continues to struggle in leveraging this newly unlocked financing mechanism.
For example, a $1M Commercial & Industrial Solar project earning a $300,000 tax credit would find it difficult to transfer the tax credits. This is because typical “buyer tickets” start at $5M and tax credit insurance providers generally won’t cover projects smaller than this amount either. Additionally, the high transaction costs including legal and CPA all but ruin the economics of engaging in a transfer. As a result, only large developers are able to easily access the market, leaving smaller projects at a disadvantage.
This is hampering the US economy as well as efforts to fight climate change, given that these “middle-sized” (i.e., distributed generation) projects are typically located closer to where energy is being consumed, leading to a more efficient grid and avoiding (very long) interconnection queues that are slowing deployment. This is where Concentro can help. The Concentro platform takes a tailored approach, beyond providing a “marketplace”, to enable distributed generation companies to sell transferable tax credits, without the complexity and hassle of traditional tax equity financing structures. From the “buyer” perspective, it provides a “white glove” solution for US corporations to reduce their federal tax liability while accelerating renewable energy projects, making it also accessible for smaller corporations that lack the resources to navigate the opportunity.
Inigo Rengifo Melia, Co-Founder & CEO, says: “Today, there are billions of dollars sitting on the sidelines because many developers cannot access cost-effective financing. Lack of scale, high transaction costs as well as complexity to transact means that many developers find it hard to finance their projects, leaving a massive gap in the market for financing these projects. Concentro is leveraging technology to streamline the transaction and diligence process so that middle-market developers can finally access the financing they need to bring their projects to life.
Tao Mantaras, Co-Founder & COO, added: “The Inflation Reduction Act was supposed to provide all developers and their projects – large and small – with a more streamlined way to monetize their tax credits, but we feel more needs to be done to enable transferability for the middle-market. We’ve been busy closing transactions this year and our pipeline continues to grow so we feel we’ve hit a clear need in the market.”
Concentro was founded by Inigo & Tao, who met whilst at business school at Harvard. Both have previous founding experience as well as strong operational backgrounds, having worked at McKinsey, Goldman Sachs & KPMG. Concentro will use the funding to grow its team and expand its technology product enabling more transactions to close on its platform. Concentro is headquartered in New York, United States.
Sam Endacott, Partner at firstminute Capital, comments: “We’re incredibly excited about the recent regulatory shifts that have taken place in the clean energy tax credits market. The new rules enabling their transferability are primed to increase the market size of transactions to $40bn annually within the next 10 years in the US. Concentro – by being a trusted financial intermediary and software layer between developers and global corporates – is providing crucial infrastructure to unlock this investment and drive innovation in the renewables and decarbonisation financial markets.”
Companies interested in buying or selling tax credits can contact [email protected].
About Concentro Concentro is a platform helping clean energy developers monetize tax credits through transferability, with a focus on DG assets. They take a differentiated high touch approach managing the entire end-to-end process from running diligence to providing full-wrap insurance, making it effortless for small-mid sized projects to transact. They have closed multiple transactions, have $300M+ in credits from 60+ developers and are backed by top-tier investors. To learn more, visit www.concentro.io.
About firstminute Capital firstminute Capital is a $315m AUM venture fund, investing in seed stage tech companies. firstminute is sector agnostic and invests across the UK, Europe and the US. Backed by over 120 unicorn founders and founded by Brent Hoberman (founder of lastminute.com, made.com, Founders Forum) and Spencer Crawley (Goldman Sachs, DMC Partners) in 2017, firstminute has invested in over 100 companies. To learn more, visit www.firstminute.capital.
SOURCE Concentro, Inc.
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HiringBranch is accelerating AI innovation in the skills-based economy, giving candidates fairer access to opportunities with a new generation of assessments and fewer interviews.
MONTRÉAL, Dec. 10, 2024 — HiringBranch, a leading AI-powered soft skills assessment platform, announced today that it has raised CAD 5 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Crédit Mutuel Equity, with participation from Export Development Canada and Anges Québec.
The funds will fuel market penetration of the company’s innovative Soft Skill AI™, using strategic integration partnerships and sales initiatives to North and Latin America, Asia and the UK. This new trajectory comes on the heels of 330% customer growth in the past two years.
The round was led by Crédit Mutuel Equity
HiringBranch is transforming the way enterprises and contact centers hire with its tailored conversational voice and chat assessment experience. This approach allows candidates to preview the job before getting the job while AI scores role-critical soft skills for the recruiter.
“We want to unlock the power of soft skills in the workforce by measuring what used to be immeasurable,” said HiringBranch Co-Founder and CEO Stephane Rivard. “Our native AI technology provides unparalleled accuracy in soft skills evaluation, enabling organizations to leverage skills data for hiring, talent mobility and strategic decision-making. This isn’t a multiple-choice or personality test—it’s a precise measure of a candidate’s real abilities to do a job well, creating a fairer path to opportunity.”
The company recently announceda study demonstrating its proprietary dataset measures soft skills at 98% accuracy while the next best public LLM’s accuracy sits at 64%.
André Couillard, President at Procom and angel investor says, “For companies that hire in high volume, HiringBranch revolutionizes the recruitment process by replacing the interview stage. Companies see themselves speeding up the process, dramatically reducing costs and selecting candidates who perform better and stay on the job longer.”
By automating soft skills measurement, HiringBranch’s platform reduces the need for traditional interviews in high-volume hiring, which are often time-consuming and can introduce bias. Compared to human-based assessments, HiringBranch’s AI has shown greater fairness and has proven to select candidates who perform better on the job compared to those hired with traditional methods.
“We have seen firsthand HiringBranch using AI for good, eliminating bias, and alleviating hiring managers of manual processes, like interviews, to work on higher value tasks. This is the true value of AI when executed responsibly,” says Nina Ni, Associate at Crédit Mutuel Equity. “Our goal is to help HiringBranch continue improving the assessment market, enabling enterprises to make better hiring decisions in the process,” says Ludovic André, Managing Director at Crédit Mutuel Equity Canada.
“We are uniquely positioned to be a catalyst in the skills-first talent movement with our award-winning Soft Skills AI™. The future of hiring starts with skills measurement, and we plan to be at the forefront of this paradigm shift as we scale,” said Rivard.
About HiringBranch Hiring assessments aren’t new. AI skills assessments are. HiringBranch uses native AI to measure soft skills from conversations. This unique open-ended approach is the next generation to legacy multiple-choice assessments – because human skills cannot be measured by A, B or C. Fortune 1000s and contact centers use HiringBranch to reduce interview time by over 80% while achieving mis-hire rates as low as 1%. Founded by Patricia Macleod and Stephane Rivard and headquartered in Canada, HiringBranch proudly serves high-volume hiring companies like Bell Canada.
HiringBranch is committed to operating fairly while fostering diversity and inclusion for all its customers globally through unwavering and unbiased technology.
About Crédit Mutuel Equity Crédit Mutuel Equity is the Private Equity arm of Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale and carries out venture capital, growth capital and buyout activities.
Crédit Mutuel Equity supports business leaders at all stages of their companies’ development, from seed phase to buyout, by providing them with the means and the time required to implement their transformation plan. Crédit Mutuel Equity brings together a network of over 350 business leaders and entrepreneurs who share similar beliefs and can benefit from one another’s experience, no matter the nature of their challenges. From its own funds (€4 billion), Crédit Mutuel Equity finances investments tailored to the time horizons and growth strategies of the companies, whether in France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, or Canada.
New growth capital, taking total raised by Hyro to $50 million, will advance leading conversational and generative AI solutions across key channels and segments in healthcare
NEW YORK, Dec. 10, 2024 — Hyro, the leader in voice and chat artificial intelligence (AI) for healthcare, today announced that it has finalized an extension to their Series B funding round led by Healthier Capital, joining previous investors including Macquarie Capital, Liberty Mutual, Twilio Inc. and Black Opal Ventures—bringing the company’s total funding to $50 million. With additional capital raised, Hyro will be even further positioned to serve the healthcare sector’s soaring demand for responsible voice and chat AI agents, acting as a natural bridge between rising patient expectations for modernized digital services and healthcare enterprises’ resource constraints.
Rom Cohen, CIO & Co-Founder and Israel Krush, CEO & Co-Founder (Photo: Hyro)
Healthier Capital, founded by Amir Dan Rubin, seeks to deliver healthier outcomes for all, partnering with technology-powered innovators to deliver impactful innovation and significant value creation. The Healthier Capital team and Amir Dan Rubin bring significant expertise and experience from across the healthcare industry. Most recently, Amir served as the CEO of technology-powered primary care company, One Medical, which went public in a $1.7B IPO in 2020 before being acquired by Amazon for $3.9B in 2023. Prior to One Medical, Amir served as an EVP at Optum / UnitedHealth Group, as CEO at Stanford University’s health system, as COO at UCLA’s health system, and in other senior leadership roles.
Hyro has successfully positioned itself as the platform of choice for the world’s most innovative and AI-responsible health IT executives, pushing the envelope with conversational technologies while ensuring safeguarded, secure and HIPAA-compliant implementation processes. Off the heels of doubling annual recurring revenue within the healthcare sector over the past 12 months, Hyro looks to expand its presence in the healthcare delivery space while adding new solutions for the payer and pharmaceutical segments. Hyro continues to attract top engineering and other talent to advance its no-code platform for AI-powered call center, web, and mobile solutions, and to source new partnerships, integrations and automated skills.
Throughout 2024, Hyro has continued to onboard leading health systems across the US, including Hackensack Meridian Health, Intermountain Health, Inova Health System, Piedmont Healthcare, Prisma Health, Emory Healthcare, Texas Health Resources and more, as well as to form key strategic partnerships with CRMs and telephony systems – such as Salesforce and Cisco. Hyro’s market success stems, in part, from its strong track record of delivering outstanding AI-powered performance to transform the traditional call center experience. Health systems have leveraged Hyro to automate scores of repetitive calls, decreasing operational costs by 35% and securing a fivefold return on investment.
“Healthcare organizations will continue to prioritize efficiency and proven ROI through automation catalyzed by generative AI solutions,” said Israel Krush, CEO and Co-Founder of Hyro. “Our platform blends outstanding conversational experiences with our industry-leading safeguards, including explainability, compliance and control, implementing responsible patient-facing AI agents that earn widespread adoption amongst our clients. Healthier Capital’s investment is yet another signal to the market of the steadfast trust we’ve established in our ability to deliver stellar outcomes at Hyro, catching the attention of Healthier Capital’s founder Amir Dan Rubin after his tenure in healthcare innovation. We are thrilled to have the Healthier Capital team in our corner.”
Hyro combines the conversational flexibility of LLMs with plug-and-play chat and voice interfaces built through their own proprietary natural language engine consisting of knowledge graphs and computational linguistics. Their Responsible AI-Powered Communications Platform resolves up to 85% of millions of routine patient interactions processed per month, unburdening health systems from operational challenges without sacrificing safety and security. AI agents layer on top of existing omnichannel workflows and data sources to help streamline communications, enhance patient access to services and care, and eliminate client-side maintenance efforts. The skills automated by Hyro, including patient registration, routing, scheduling, IT helpdesk ticketing, frequently-asked-questions, and prescription refills, constitute roughly 60-70% of all calls and messages received by contact center teams. For remaining situations that are more suited for manual intervention, Hyro relays context and information smoothly to live agents, reducing handling time while improving the patient experience.
In 2025, Hyro plans to expand its outbound calling offering to significantly prevent appointment no-shows across the provider landscape, and to encourage patients to switch from reactive to proactive care. Hyro will also bolster its Conversational Intelligence analytics suite which already serves healthcare organizations with actionable insights they can apply to business operations. Unique to conversational and generative AI solutions, Hyro’s built-in dashboard includes “voice of the patient” performance metrics, popular trends and explainability surrounding AI outputs, providing full visibility as well as a continuous feedback loop for organizations to successfully optimize their data.
“Hyro’s transformational AI solution stands out in its ability to dramatically improve the patient experience, while reducing operational inefficiencies and team member burdens,” said Amir Dan Rubin, CEO & Founding Managing Partner of Healthier Capital, who joins Hyro’s board as a director. At Healthier Capital, we couldn’t be more thrilled to partner with Hyro on its mission to reshape patient engagement, with conversational AI, responsibly.”
ABOUT HEALTHIER CAPITAL Healthier Capital seeks to advance healthier outcomes for all, partnering with technology-powered healthcare innovators for impactful innovation and significant value creation. Amir Dan Rubin serves as CEO & Founding Managing Partner, launching Healthier Capital after having served as CEO at One Medical | Amazon, EVP at UnitedHealth Group / Optum, CEO at Stanford University’s health system, COO at UCLA’s health system, COO at Stony Brook University Hospital, and in other senior leadership roles.
ABOUT HYRO Hyro, the leading Responsible AI-Powered Communications Platform for healthcare, enables health systems to safely automate workflows and conversations across their most valuable platforms, services, and channels—including call centers, websites, SMS, mobile apps, and more. Hyro’s clients, which include Intermountain Health, Baptist Health, and Hackensack Meridian Health, benefit from AI agents that are fully HIPAA-compliant, fast to deploy, easy to maintain, and simple to scale—generating better conversations, successful patient outcomes, and revenue-driving insights. Hyro was founded in 2018 by Israel Krush and Rom Cohen. Learn more at www.hyro.ai.
Menlo Ventures led the round through their Anthology Fund, a strategic partnership with Anthropic, alongside Workday Ventures and previous investors BVP, CRV, and F2, bringing the total raised to $85M
NEW YORK, Dec. 10, 2024 — Astrix Security, the enterprise’s trusted solution for securing non-human identities (NHIs), announced $45 million in Series B funding led by Menlo Ventures with the participation of Workday Ventures, as well as existing investors, Bessemer Venture Partners, CRV, and F2 Venture Capital. This funding advances Astrix’s mission to secure enterprises’ biggest identity blind spot with a revolutionary infrastructure that ensures trusted access to critical systems and expansion to all identities, including humans.
The Astrix Security team – the people driving our success and innovation.
Gartner predicts that by 2028, at least 15% of day-to-day work decisions will be made autonomously through agentic AI. As organizations increasingly rely on these “virtual employees” to help support human workflows, the very definition of the “workforce” will change, forcing enterprises to rethink their existing identity and access management approaches.
NHIs, such as API keys, service accounts, and secrets, have been repeatedly exploited in recent high-profile cyberattacks such as those reported by Microsoft and Okta. With the rapid adoption of AI agents – software programs that enhance productivity by automating tasks – securing NHIs is becoming even more imperative.
“From inception, we’ve been laser-focused on securing enterprises’ most vulnerable entry points and defining the NHI security domain. Now, with AI driving the proliferation of API keys, service accounts, and other NHIs in the enterprise, our mission has never been so critical and complex,” said Alon Jackson, Astrix Co-founder and CEO. “Our innovative technology will go beyond governance to ensure secure access of human and non-human identities to the enterprise’s most sensitive environments and data.”
Menlo Ventures led the round through their Anthology Fund, a $100M initiative launched in 2024 in strategic partnership with Anthropic. “With the Anthology Fund, we’re building a portfolio of next-generation AI startups; Astrix stands out for their pioneering work in securing non-human identities and addressing the emerging challenges of agentic AI. We’re thrilled to partner with Jackson, Idan, and the Astrix team as they pave the way for redefining what security means in an AI-first world,” said Rama Sekhar, Partner at Menlo Ventures.
Since raising its Series A funding only last year, Astrix has grown 5X and tripled the size of its team to support its growing Fortune 500 customer base, which includes organizations such as Figma, Netapp, Priceline, and Workday, Inc. Recognized industry-wide, Astrix was recently named a SINET16 Innovator 2024, a Gartner Cool Vendor in Identity-First Security, and an RSA Innovation Sandbox finalist in 2023.
In the first NHI Security Conference hosted by Astrix and Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), data revealed critical gaps in NHI protection, with one in five organizations having experienced a non-human identities security incident—but only 15% remain confident in their ability to secure them. Using an agentless approach, Astrix allows security teams to quickly discover all their non-human identities in one place, and automatically detects and remediates over-privileged, unnecessary, and malicious access that exposes their organizations to attacks.
“Our investment in Astrix reflects a shared commitment to empowering organizations with innovative, scalable solutions that address emerging security needs. As the adoption of AI and interconnected systems accelerates, Astrix’s proactive approach to securing non-human identities aligns with our vision of enabling enterprises to navigate the future of work with confidence and trust,” said Erin Yang, VP and Chief Technologist at Workday Ventures.
About Astrix Security Founded in Tel Aviv in 2021, Astrix Security helps enterprises close their biggest security blind spot – Non-Human Identities (NHIs). Astrix provides visibility into all non-human identities, and automatically detects and remediates over-privileged, unnecessary and malicious access to prevent supply chain attacks and data leaks. Led by two veterans of the Israel Defense Force 8200 military intelligence unit, CEO Alon Jackson and CTO Idan Gour, Astrix’s team is rapidly expanding. Astrix has raised $85M in funding, with a Series B led by Menlo Ventures and new investor Workday, as well as additional investments from CRV, Bessemer Venture Partners, F2 Venture Capital.
About Menlo Ventures Menlo Ventures is a leading early-stage venture capital firm investing at the forefront of AI. Our portfolio includes more than 80 public companies and more than 165 exits through mergers and acquisitions. Currently managing more than $6B in assets, we invest at every stage across Consumer, Enterprise, and Healthcare. Our portfolio companies include Abnormal Security, Anthropic, Benchling, Carta, Chime, Harness, Pinecone, Poshmark, Pillpack, Recursion, Roku, Rover, Siri, Typeface, Uber, and Warby Parker. We strive to have a positive impact on everything we do. When we’re in, we’re ALL IN, and we are ALL IN on AI.
Investment led by Maverix Private Equity to enhance solar farm productivity and accelerate the transition to smart, sustainable energy solutions
BOSTON, Dec. 10, 2024 — Booming electricity demand. Record-breaking supply of low-cost, clean power at unprecedented scale. These are the fundamentals of the global energy economy and the backdrop to which Raptor Maps today announces its oversubscribed Series C financing round. The $35 million growth investment was led by Maverix Private Equity (“Maverix”), with significant participation from existing investors MKB, Blue Bear Capital, Congruent Ventures, Buoyant Ventures, and Y Combinator.
The investment underscores the critical need for the industry to address years of solar asset underperformance and highlights the increasing impact of advanced analytics and digital solutions in the solar market. Since its inception, Raptor Maps has developed software to help solar energy scale and has digitized the leading solar portfolios in the North American and global markets. With the recent introduction of Raptor Solar Sentry, an industry-first software product that orchestrates solar operations and maintenance work by people and robotics, the company has proven the path for owners to realize double digit gains on solar financial returns.
“Our mission is to revolutionize solar asset management through cutting-edge technology,” said Nikhil Vadhavkar, Co-Founder and CEO of Raptor Maps. “Many leaders in solar have heard of Raptor Maps, and supercharging our product with Raptor Solar Sentry has been a leap forward for customers. It provides a fundamentally new approach for solar asset owners to manage OpEx and realize returns that were underwritten in the first place but have slipped out of reach for far too many portfolios. With the support of this elite investment group, we are capitalized to more fully achieve our work of making solar energy the smartest and most competitive electricity source in the economy.”
“We’re excited to lead this investment in Raptor Maps, which aligns with our vision of fostering smart cities and sustainable energy solutions,” said Mohit Talwar, Partner at Maverix. “The platform not only enhances the efficiency of solar farm operations but also plays a critical role in advancing intelligent urban infrastructure. Our investment in Raptor Maps underscores our commitment to empowering asset owners and operators to unlock optimal solar performance, while championing disruptive technologies that drive a more sustainable and connected future.”
The Series C financing will accelerate Raptor Maps’ product development, including enhancements in solar automation, work management, and machine-learning insights. Additionally, the company plans to expand its team with further investments in software engineering and data science.
About Raptor Maps Raptor Maps is building the integrated operating system for the solar industry, enabling the industry to scale and lead the energy economy. Their solar management platform, Raptor Solar, provides a system of record and workflows for asset owners to build, manage, and operate their solar sites. Raptor Solar improves asset resilience and energy yield, reduces risk and costs, and ultimately increases the rate of return of solar assets. For more information about Raptor Maps, please visit raptormaps.com.
About Maverix Private Equity Maverix Private Equity is a Toronto-based private equity firm. It is led by an experienced and talented team with the background, network, and track record necessary to successfully execute on an investment strategy of technology-enabled growth and disruption. Maverix is currently investing out of its inaugural fund, the Maverix Growth Equity Fund I. Maverix targets North American companies with rapidly growing revenue and evidence of a profitable business model. To learn more about Maverix Private Equity, please visit maverixpe.com.
SOURCE Raptor Maps, Inc.
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The company plans to roll out cost-competitive waste remediation solutions to communities across North America, beginning in Indiana
CHICAGO, Dec. 10, 2024 — Nexus W2V, a leading developer of waste-to-value infrastructure projects, announced the closing of an anchor $75 million structured equity commitment from Orion Infrastructure Capital (“OIC”). With additional investment from Nexus Holdings, Khasma Capital, Sterling Bank and Ameris Bank, Nexus W2V has issued notice to proceed with the construction of its flagship facility, the Kingsbury Bioenergy Complex in La Porte, Indiana, which will turn source-separated organics into renewable natural gas (RNG).
Nexus W2V
Nexus W2V’s flagship facility, the Kingsbury Bioenergy Complex in La Porte, Indiana, will turn source-separated organics into renewable natural gas (RNG)
“National waste is on the rise, and the legislation around waste management is quickly evolving to drive meaningful change across the industry,” said Ben Hubbard, CEO of Nexus Holdings. “Nexus W2V is embracing that change and providing a cost-competitive alternative waste disposal method that’s positive for both energy production and the environment.”
Nexus W2V focuses on converting organic waste streams into renewable natural gas, compost products and biochar, as exemplified by the Kingsbury Bioenergy Complex. Led by waste and energy industry veterans, the Nexus W2V team boasts decades of combined experience across industrial design and construction, bio-energy development and regenerative agriculture.
“In conjunction with our newly forged capital partnership, Nexus W2V is well prepared to deliver industry-leading projects in the waste-to-value sector across North America, and OIC is excited to play a part in deploying these innovative solutions supporting sustainable landfill diversion and the reduction of associated emissions,” said Chris Leary, Investment Partner and Head of Infra Equity at OIC.
Located 70 miles outside Chicago, Nexus W2V’s flagship waste-to-RNG facility is expected to process 200 tons of organic waste daily into RNG and coproducts. The RNG will be injected into Northern Indiana’s existing pipeline system, enhancing the region’s domestically produced renewable energy supply. The Kingsbury Bioenergy Complex is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2026 and bring 35 local jobs to La Porte.
“The Kingsbury Bioenergy Complex will offer the greater Chicago area and western Indiana a long-term solution to their organic waste disposal needs,” said Roshan Vani, CEO of Nexus W2V. “It’s the first in a series of waste-to-value projects that Nexus W2V has planned nationwide and serves as a blueprint for how we plan to think about the waste-to-value ecosystem.”
About Nexus W2V Nexus W2V is a leading developer of waste-to-value infrastructure projects, providing waste remediation to haulers, producers, and utilities across North America. The company’s integrated business model offers end-to-end services, including organic waste diversion to RNG, food waste and green waste to compost, wood and agriculture waste to biochar, and full-scale municipal solid waste sorting and recovery systems. To learn more, visit nexusw2v.com.
About OIC With approximately $5 billion in assets under management, OIC invests in North America and select international markets. OIC’s unique partnership approach – for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs – cultivates creative credit, equity, and growth capital solutions to help middle market businesses scale and deploy sustainable infrastructure. OIC’s target investment sectors include energy efficiency, digital infrastructure, social infrastructure, sustainable power generation, renewable fuels, waste & recycling, water, transportation, and agriculture. OIC was founded in 2015 by a team of energy and sustainability veterans, successful infrastructure investors, and former asset owners and industry operators. Across OIC’s platform is a team of approximately 45 professionals based in New York, Houston, and London. To learn more, visit oic.com.
About Nexus Holdings Nexus Holdings is an investment and advisory firm that supports the development and execution of low-carbon infrastructure projects. For over a decade, Nexus has supported the development and execution of more than $35 billion in low-carbon infrastructure projects and collaborated with investment firms to manage more than $1 trillion in assets. The company leverages the offerings of its three wholly owned subsidiaries to provide support and services throughout the lifecycle of low-carbon projects, including Nexus PMG, an infrastructure advisory firm; Pathway Energy, a sustainable aviation fuel producer; and Nexus W2V, a developer of waste-to-value infrastructure projects.
About Khasma Capital Khasma Capital provides development capital and expertise to teams building sustainable infrastructure projects. As a market leader in funding energy transition and circular economy assets, Khasma Capital’s partnership model enables developers to prove their business model, complete development activities, grow their teams and commercialize their technologies. To learn more, visit https://www.khasmacapital.com/.
About Ameris Bank Ameris Bank, a subsidiary of Ameris Bancorp (NYSE: ABCB), is a state-chartered bank headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Ameris operates 164 financial centers across the Southeast and serves consumer and business customers nationwide through select lending channels. Ameris manages $26.4 billion in assets as of September 30, 2024, and provides a full range of traditional banking and lending products, treasury and cash management, insurance premium financing, and mortgage and refinancing services. Learn more about Ameris at amerisbank.com.
Media Contact Mission Control for Nexus Holdings and Nexus W2V [email protected]
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DURHAM, N.C., Dec. 10, 2024 — Leyline Renewable Capital (Leyline), a leading provider of debt capital solutions for renewable energy developers, today announced that it has secured a total of $140 million in capital from Keystone National Group (Keystone) and a large public university foundation. Leyline will use the new capital to expand its support of an actionable pipeline of renewable energy projects, sourced from the company’s select network of experienced developers in North America.
Since inception, Leyline has deployed more than $340 million in financing solutions to advance more than 15 GW of renewable energy projects. Leyline’s proven strategy is to fund both mid and late-stage project development portfolios. The funding supports grid interconnection deposits and equipment down payments. This latest funding will catalyze Leyline’s growth strategy focused on providing private lending opportunities for developers at a speed and scale generally unavailable through traditional channels.
John Earl, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Keystone, commented, “We are proud to be increasing our funding to Leyline. The Leyline team has earned the trust of their extensive network of developers and investment partners. The team’s deep understanding of project-level risk enables them to execute deals efficiently and at scale.”
Made up of former developers, Leyline navigates policy and market nuances to support the best infrastructure projects and maximize returns for its investment partners.
Erik Lensch, CEO of Leyline, said, “Our development partners are accelerating their build plans for 2025 in light of soaring demand for new generation in key markets and increased capital needs, as well as potential policy shifts. This renewed support from Keystone and a large public university foundation enables us to advance the strongest renewable energy projects into construction as soon possible and reflects a major validation of our success in supporting value-aligned projects with strong risk-adjusted returns.”
About Leyline Renewable Capital Founded in 2016, Leyline Renewable Capital provides flexible financing solutions for renewable energy developers. With deep industry expertise and a commitment to sustainability, Leyline predominantly invests in the pre-construction phase of projects, helping developers scale their operations efficiently and bring more renewable energy online. For more information, please visit: leylinecapital.com.
About Keystone National Group Founded in 2006, Keystone National Group is a private credit investment firm focused on asset-centric lending and equipment finance across a wide variety of industries and asset types. For nearly two decades, Keystone has been an active and creative capital provider to thriving companies nationwide.
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