STERLING, Va., Oct. 9, 2024 — Molg Inc. (“Molg”) announces the closing of $5.5 million in seed funding to scale the company’s circular manufacturing processes for electronics and electrical components. Closed Loop Partners’ Ventures Group led the round, with participation from Amazon Climate Pledge Fund, ABB Robotics & Automation Ventures, Overture, Elemental Impact and Techstars. The company plans to use funding to scale production capacity and meet growing customer demand for circularity and automation.

The funding round is closing at a pivotal time, amidst growing urgency to keep electronics in circulation and recover the critical minerals needed to support the clean energy transition. Today, tens of millions of tonnes of electronic devices are discarded or become obsolete each year. In 2022, only 22.3 percent of e-waste was recycled, according to data from the UN Global E-waste Monitor, resulting in the vast majority of electronics being sent to landfill, where they release greenhouse gasses and chemical substances into the environment. Over $62 billion worth of critical minerals and precious metals are also left unrecovered within electronics waste, missing the opportunity for reuse and remanufacturing for clean energy supply chains. As these materials grow increasingly scarce, expensive and geopolitically sensitive, more solutions are needed to ensure they are kept in circulation.

“After a decade in consumer electronics manufacturing, we founded Molg because we saw firsthand how current design, production and recovery processes—or the absence thereof—contribute to the massive problem of e-waste,” said Molg cofounder and CEO Rob Lawson-Shanks. “Achieving true circularity requires a fundamental shift in the underlying systems that support demanufacturing. It starts with better design and is enabled by dynamic automation. This funding allows us to accelerate our work at both ends of a product’s life, designing for circularity from the start and recovering valuable devices, components and materials through automated disassembly.”

Molg is tackling the e-waste challenge through a comprehensive circular manufacturing process powered by robotics and design. Its robotic microfactories can autonomously disassemble complex electronic products to recover valuable components for reuse, remanufacturing or recycling. The team also partners with leading manufacturers to design electronics with circularity in mind—ensuring one product’s end is another’s new beginning.

“We invested in Molg because they are rethinking how critical materials can be recovered from electronics, addressing a historically overlooked source of valuable resources. Their process maximizes the value of recovered materials and allows for local recovery where materials are most needed––important parts of advancing the circular economy,” said Aly Bryan, Investor on the Ventures Group team of Closed Loop Partners, a firm focused on building the circular economy. “They are helping to unlock a scalable solution that not only reduces environmental impact but also strengthens supply chains by recovering materials domestically.”

Molg has its headquarters and manufacturing facility in the heart of the data center industry in Northern Virginia. The company’s seed round of funding will be used primarily to scale production to meet customer demand for circular supply chains.

“Amazon remains committed to our decarbonization efforts and supporting technologies that aim to improve the circularity of our supply chains,” said Sam LaPierre, Investor at Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund. “Efforts to improve hardware demanufacturing and material recovery, such as those developed by Molg, are promising technologies that can help advance the recycling and material recovery industries at scale. We are excited to support the growth of Molg, a company at the forefront of unlocking circular supply chains for electronics.”

Molg has already installed robotic disassembly Microfactories at Sims Lifecycle Services and is rolling out to ITAD facilities of leading hyperscalers. The team also works on circular design with leading companies like HP, Dell and ABB Robotics & Automation Ventures to redesign products for the automated recovery of valuable components, remanufacturing and recycling.

“Our investment in Molg will open new possibilities for using industrial robots in the recovery and recycling of data center equipment,” said ABB Robotics Managing Director Business Line Industries, Craig McDonnell. “By helping to enable the automated disassembly and responsible disposal of disused electronics, we are excited to be playing our role in transforming the circularity and sustainability of the data center sector.”

“We invested in Molg to help solve two critical challenges: dealing with mountains of toxic waste that are growing every year, and meeting the rapidly increasing demand for critical minerals in batteries, data centers, and electronics,” said Elemental Impact CEO Dawn Lippert. “Molg is an example of how innovation in AI and robotics can be good for the planet and consumers: why would we landfill precious metals when we can recover them domestically and reuse them?”

“The AI boom and rapid expansion of data centers is coinciding with an energy transition that demands an immense supply of critical minerals. Molg helps hyperscalers and electronics manufacturers tap into the supply of retired servers and other e-waste that still contain immense material value,” said Overture Climate VC Managing Partner, Shomik Dutta. “Molg’s robotic solution not only moves the industry towards circularity; it presents a supply that is cheaper and more domestically secure.”

About Molg
Molg tackles the growing e-waste problem by making manufacturing circular. The company’s robotic microfactory can autonomously disassemble complex electronic products like laptops and servers, helping keep valuable components and materials within supply chains and out of landfills. Molg partners with leading electronics manufacturers to design the next generation of products with reuse in mind, ensuring that one product’s end is another’s beginning. To learn more, visit molg.ai.

About Closed Loop Partners
Closed Loop Partners is at the forefront of building the circular economy. The company is comprised of three key business segments: its investment arm, Closed Loop Capital Management; its innovation center, the Center for the Circular Economy; and its operating group, Closed Loop Builders. Closed Loop Capital Management manages venture capital, buyout private equity and catalytic private credit investment strategies. The firm’s venture capital group, the Closed Loop Ventures Group, has been investing early-stage capital into companies developing breakthrough solutions for the circular economy since 2016. The Closed Loop Ventures Group’s portfolio includes companies developing leading innovations in material science, robotics, agritech, sustainable consumer products and advanced technologies that further the circular economy. Closed Loop Partners is based in New York City and is a registered B Corp. To learn more, visit closedlooppartners.com

About ABB Robotics & Automation Ventures
ABB Robotics & Automation Ventures (ABB RA Ventures) is the business-led strategic venture capital unit of ABB Robotics & Discrete Automation, part of ABB’s corporate venture capital framework: ABB Ventures. Since its formation in 2009, ABB Ventures, formerly known as ABB Technology Ventures (ATV), has invested around $500 million into startups having a close fit to its electrification, robotics, automation, and motion portfolio. For more information, visit www.abb.com/ventures

About Elemental Impact
Elemental Impact is a non-profit investing platform that invests in climate companies and projects with deep local impact. Elemental has a 15-year history of investing in real world solutions that make neighborhoods and homes cleaner, healthier, safer, and more affordable. The investing platform scales climate technologies through a three-tiered approach: deploying catalytic capital, providing project expertise, and prioritizing community partnership. Elemental’s portfolio is active nationwide as well as in more than 100 countries and has raised over $10B in follow-on funding.

About Overture
Overture Climate VC is an early-stage climate tech fund with a focus on helping founders win government support and navigate regulatory complexity. For more information, visit https://www.overture.vc/

SOURCE Closed Loop Partners

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OpenGradient is building the first decentralized platform for AI model hosting, secure inference, and application deployment on-chain

NEW YORK, Oct. 9, 2024 — OpenGradient, a leading decentralized AI infrastructure company, has raised $8.5M in seed funding. With a mission to accelerate open-source AI, OpenGradient democratizes model ownership, streamlines AI deployment, and enables universal access to AI.

OpenGradient’s end-to-end decentralized platform offers scalable AI compute on-chain, ensuring verifiability and attribution while enhancing security for AI deployment and hosting. Its multi-layer technology stack includes an EVM-compatible blockchain with its innovative heterogeneous AI compute architecture (HACA) and a proprietary library of feature-rich tools to support and scale secure AI workflows on-chain.

OpenGradient empowers developers to build and deploy optimized decentralized applications (dApps) with ease. OpenGradient’s web portal and SDK allow Web2 developers to leverage its AI stack without the complexities of blockchain while enjoying the security and composability benefits of a decentralized infrastructure.

CEO and Co-Founder, Matthew Wang, said,

“Developers today face significant hurdles when developing secure software for custom AI models, often grappling with developing a variety of complex cryptographic or hardware solutions into their stack. OpenGradient revolutionizes this approach, offering near-instantaneous model deployment and secure inference of AI models in mere seconds.”

The $8.5 million seed round included participation from a16z Crypto Startup Accelerator (a16z CSX), SV Angel, Coinbase Ventures, SALT Fund, Symbolic Capital, Foresight Ventures, and angel investors, including Balaji Srinivasan (ex-Coinbase CTO), Illia Polosukhin (NEAR Founder), Sandeep Nailwal (Polygon Founder), and more. OpenGradient is also currently participating in the Fall 2024 a16z CSX program in New York City.

Principal at SV Angel, Mike Liu, said,

“OpenGradient is ushering in a new era for decentralized AI by developing infrastructure to support the next generation of intelligent applications. They’ve built a truly disruptive tech stack at the intersection of AI and blockchain, and we’re excited to support such an innovative and talented team.”

The funding will be used to continue building out the decentralized infrastructure, deploying solutions and tools for AI and Web3 developers, and advancing applied ML research to grow the open-source AI ecosystem on blockchain. OpenGradient’s testnet is expected to be available to developers in Q4 2024.

About OpenGradient

OpenGradient is a leading decentralized platform unlocking scalable AI compute on-chain, empowering developers to build secure, intelligent, and optimized decentralized applications. We provide on-chain AI model hosting, permissionless composability, secure inference execution, and seamless access to accelerate open-source AI and foster next-gen applications. Headquartered in New York City, the team comprises global talent with deep expertise in AI/ML, blockchain, crypto, and Web3 ecosystem. Learn more at https://opengradient.ai and follow us on X and LinkedIn.

Media Contact
[email protected] 

SOURCE OpenGradient

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New Leadership from SaaS and Subscription Space to Drive Innovation in the Automotive Industry

DALLAS, Oct. 9, 2024 — AVVA Mobility, a Dallas-based technology company bringing all-inclusive mobility subscriptions to everyday Americans, today announced the formal opening of its Series A round after successfully completing an initial pilot market launch in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

AVVA Mobility’s initial seed funding fueled the development of Drive AVVA where this proof-of-concept mobility subscription offering combines a new vehicle with bundled services such as insurance, extended warranty, and ongoing vehicle maintenance. The success of this pilot informed AVVA Mobility’s comprehensive platform, offering enterprise clients tools for efficient program management – from its innovative applicant origination and underwriting processes to fleet management and telematics systems creating a one-of-a-kind consumer experience. This modular, white-label solution enables manufacturers and mobility providers to quickly launch subscription services, expanding their customer base without overhauling existing infrastructure.

Following the successful debut at MOVE America, AVVA Mobility is now in active conversations with several OEMs and mobility providers, exploring potential partnerships and pilot programs.

The leadership team, comprised of Matt Murphy, newly appointed President, previously the COO at Drive AVVA, and Beth Wilson, Chief Product Officer, also previously CPO at Drive AVVA, brings a fresh perspective to the automotive industry, combining deep SaaS and subscription expertise with automotive know-how. With over 25 years of experience in enterprise software and technology consulting, including projects for Fortune 50 clients, the team is uniquely positioned to drive innovation in this space.

“Our platform is a game-changer rapidly gaining recognition as a disruptive force in the automotive industry,” said Matt Murphy, President of AVVA Mobility. “We’ve proven that the unit metrics for subscription-based vehicle access can be profitable while meeting the evolving needs of consumers. We’re seeing strong interest from manufacturers and mobility providers eager to tap into this market quickly and efficiently.”

The Series A funding will be used to scale the technology and deploy it with OEM and mobility providers, further solidifying AVVA Mobility’s position as a leader in the automotive subscription space.

“The automotive industry has shown a clear appetite for innovation,” stated Beth Wilson, CPO of AVVA Mobility. “Drawing from my 25+ years of experience in Product Engineering and User Experience, including a decade at Match.com, we’ve created a platform that allows OEMs and mobility providers to offer flexible, subscription-based services without overhauling their existing infrastructure. The positive response we’ve received demonstrates the industry’s eagerness to expand their customer base and build lasting relationships in an increasingly dynamic market.”

“The enthusiastic reception at MOVE America and the subsequent discussions with industry leaders have validated our approach,” added Murphy. “We’re excited to be at the forefront of this transformation, working closely with OEMs and mobility providers, and powered in part by Deloitte to reshape the future of vehicle access.”

For more information about AVVA Mobility and its transformative platform, visit www.avvamobility.com.

About AVVA Mobility:
AVVA Mobility is a technology company bringing all-inclusive mobility subscriptions to everyday Americans. Our innovative platform provides a turnkey solution for manufacturers to offer flexible, subscription-based vehicle access to a broad range of consumers, including those underserved by traditional financing models. By bridging the gap between manufacturers and everyday Americans, AVVA Mobility is driving the future of automotive access, fostering economic growth, and strengthening communities nationwide. AVVA Mobility was founded in 2024, and AVVA Inc. in 2020, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. AVVA Mobility is committed to making reliable, affordable, and debt-free mobility a reality for all Americans. For more information, visit www.avvamobility.com.

Contact:
[email protected]

SOURCE AVVA Mobility

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Brings Fast, Easy, Full-Spectrum Financing to Marine Dealers and Consumers

NEW YORK, Oct. 9, 2024 — Octane^® (Octane Lending, Inc.^®), the fintech revolutionizing the buying experience for major recreational purchases, announced today that it has entered the marine market.

Effective immediately, marine, recreational, and powersports dealers selling pontoons and motorboats can offer competitive rates and flexible terms to a wide range of prime and non-prime customers through Octane’s in-house lender, Roadrunner Financial, Inc.^®. Octane’s innovative digital experience allows dealers to move quickly and seamlessly through the financing process, from initial customer inquiry through deal close, saving time for dealers and consumers alike.

“We’re thrilled to bring our innovative, end-to-end financing experience to the marine market,” said Mark Davidson, Chief Growth Officer. “We look forward to supporting dealers and OEMs in this growing market while offering full-spectrum financing that fuels our customers’ lifestyles.”

This expansion follows several exciting milestones for the company; Octane recently announced its Series E funding round, closed a $500 Million Forward-Flow Deal with AB CarVal, and surpassed $5 billion in aggregate originations.

Dealerships interested in Octane’s seamless, digital financing experience can learn more at https://octane.co/o/dealer/signup/.

About Octane:
Octane^® is revolutionizing recreational purchases by delivering a seamless, end-to-end digital buying experience. We connect people with their passions by combining cutting-edge technology and innovative risk strategies to make lifestyle purchases–like powersports vehicles, RVs, boats and personal watercraft, and outdoor power equipment–fast, easy, and accessible.

Octane adds value throughout the customer journey: inspiring enthusiasts with the Octane Media™ editorial brands, including Cycle World^® and UTV Driver^®, instantly prequalifying consumers for financing online, routing customers to dealerships for an easy closing, and supporting customers throughout their loan with superior loan servicing.

Founded in 2014, we have more than 30 OEM and 4,000 dealer partners, and a team of over 500 in remote and hybrid roles. Visit www.octane.co.

Octane^® and Roadrunner Financial^® are registered service marks of Octane Lending, Inc.

Media Relations: Shannon O’Hara
[email protected]

Investor Relations:
 [email protected]

SOURCE Octane

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BOSTON, Oct. 9, 2024 — Holobiome has closed an oversubscribed Seed round of $9M. The round was led by iSelect Fund, with major participation from Corundum Systems Biology, Satori Neuro, SkyRiver Ventures, Pace Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, and Astanor. The company’s initial success with substantial non-dilutive funding laid the groundwork for this sizeable institutional round. 

Holobiome is building the world’s most comprehensive collection of human gut bacteria – it’s Microbiome Vault – and performing target-directed screening of this collection to map how the microbiome influences health. The large datasets generated by these screens are used to inform development of novel consumer products and drugs. Holobiome’s initial focus is on mapping the gut-brain axis, and its lead program is a next-generation probiotic targeting biology relevant for depression. Through its partnership model, Holobiome is advancing other programs with major consumer, food, and pharmaceutical partners, in areas including stress and pain.

Dr. Philip Strandwitz, CEO and co-founder of Holobiome, highlights: “Over the past two decades, we have come to appreciate that our microbiome – the trillions of microbes that live on and in us, most of which reside in the gut – is essential for many aspects of our well-being. This is obvious in hindsight, as this complex and beautiful microbial ecosystem has evolved alongside humans for millennia, enabling each of us to become a superorganism, a Holobiont.”

“However, we have also learned that our gut microbiome can be destroyed, through poor diet, hyper sanitation, antibiotic use, and infection. This disruption has recently been tied to nearly all aspects of our health, ranging from metabolic disease to neuropsychiatric disorders. This gives hope – fixing the gut microbiome has the potential to improve the daily lives of millions of people, and could even be a cure for some of humanity’s most tragic diseases.”

“But there is a major problem in translating the science of the gut microbiome into potential solutions – we cannot currently replenish nor change our microbiome with precision. Of the many thousand bacterial species and strains that we can ‘see’ in the human gut through genome sequencing, most have never even been grown in the laboratory, and only a small portion can be purchased in products or found in food. This means if you are missing important gut microbes, it’s nearly impossible to add them to your gut microbiome. This also prevents testing basic hypotheses or generating datasets that enable action – such as how your gut microbiome will respond to specific foods, and how you can harness that knowledge to improve health and prevent disease.”

“This is the exact problem Holobiome seeks to fix through our platform – we want to help build a future where having your optimal gut microbiome is by choice, not chance,” says Dr. Strandwitz.

“Like many others, we have been closely observing the field of the microbiome,” says Craig Herron, Managing Director of iSelect Fund. “The science is undeniable, but it hasn’t yet been translated into meaningful solutions. We believe Holobiome’s microbiology-first platform is the key to unlocking this potential, opening up broad opportunities for both food applications and pharmaceuticals.”

As part of the funding round, Dr. Joan LaRovere, Operating Partner of iSelect and Associate Chief Medical Officer for Transformation at Boston Children’s Hospital, will join Dr. Iain Chessell, Global Head of Neuroscience of AstraZeneca, and Dr. Strandwitz on Holobiome’s board of directors. The new capital will enable Holobiome to advance its lead program in depression into human testing, expand its platform, and build out expansive analytical pipelines coupled with real-world datasets.

About Holobiome

Holobiome is a biotechnology company harnessing the potential of the human gut microbiome to generate products that can improve health through multiple marketplaces. The Holobiome platform is powered by its Microbiome Vault – the world’s most diverse collection of human gut bacteria – and proprietary tools to understand which functions gut bacteria perform that may impact health. Holobiome’s initial focus is on targeting the gut-brain-axis, and its lead asset is a next generation probiotic targeting biology relevant for depression. Through a partnership model, Holobiome is advancing programs with major consumer, food, and pharmaceutical partners in other areas, like stress and pain. Holobiome was launched in 2018, and has been supported by a world-class investor base, as well as non-dilutive grants from the NIH and the Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH), as well as several corporate partnerships. It is headquartered in Boston, MA, USA.

About iSelect Fund

iSelect is a venture capital firm investing in companies addressing critical global issues in agriculture, food tech and healthcare with large markets and financially attractive business models. The firm supports the disruptive potential of emerging technologies that may substantially change markets, offering unique access to pre-IPO and pre-exit companies alongside name brand, global venture funds. iSelect evaluates thousands of start-ups every year, carefully crafting a portfolio it believes has the greatest chance to make a significant impact on food and health and create the potential for significant growth. For more information visit iselectfund.com.

Media Contact: Philip Strandwitz, [email protected]

SOURCE Holobiome, Inc.

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SINGAPORE, Oct. 9, 2024 — Surfin, a financial technology platform dedicated to serving the underserved middle class, has raised $12.5 million from Insignia Ventures Partners. This funding round comes as Surfin announces its service to 60 million individuals across eight countries on three continents, with approximately $2.7 billion in cumulative transactions.

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Singapore, Surfin began with consumer lending and expanded into a suite of financial services including payments and remittance, credit card issuance, and wealth management. Leveraging AI and analytics, Surfin is committed to offering an ecosystem of transparent and innovative financial services to the growing middle class that is often overlooked by traditional banking systems.

The company has a significant presence in Indonesia, Mexico, Philippines, Nigeria, Kenya, India, Uganda, and Australia. In Indonesia, its largest market, Surfin holds licenses for P2P lending, mutual fund distribution, remittance, and payment gateway services.

This Series A round marks Surfin’s first external funding since its inception, having been bootstrapped and self-financed without any third-party debt.

Surfin’s Founder and CEO, Dr. Yanan Wu, said: “Surfin’s vision has always been to build a financial technology services ecosystem on top of our scalable and sustainable risk management system, powered by AI and big data. This system has been stress-tested by the behavior of 60 million users across three continents. Recently, we’ve leveraged this system to launch remittance, payment, wealth management, and credit card services, deepening our mission of financial inclusion in the markets where we operate.”

In 2023, Surfin launched Ayovest in Indonesia, a mutual fund trading platform designed for young, first-time investors to invest productively and safely, starting from as low as IDR 10,000. Ayovest has been operating under the license of the OJK since its inception.

Also in 2023, Surfin established its credit card business in Mexico, “Sufinc,” in partnership with Visa. Sufinc offers a credit card designed to strengthen Surfin’s consumer finance presence in Central America, with flexible payment terms, no annual fees, and global acceptance.

Seasoned Finance Executives Drawn to Surfin’s Mission of Financial Inclusion in the Era of AI

More than 2500 people across the globe have joined Dr Wu on Surfin’s mission. Its leadership team includes former Shopee, Akulaku, and Baidu executives. Surfin is also advised by a board composed of accomplished, multi-hyphenate finance

Surfin’s Board Member, Nobel laureate Michael Spence, commented:”Surfin has the potential to reshape financial mobility and inclusion for millions of families globally. I have a long-standing interest in asymmetric information in markets and the challenges it presents. Surfin’s approach to addressing the information challenges of credit access through AI and data science is innovative and much-needed. It’s a privilege to support its mission of advancing financial inclusion.”

Surfin’s ecosystem of products is powered by a unified credit scoring engine, enabled by AI and data analytics. This core technology allows Surfin to lend sustainably at scale across different geographies and enter new financial service use cases.

Surfin’s ambitions to scale its consumer loans business and reach more consumers across income classes with a full suite of products, from robo-advisory to remittances, laid the groundwork for the partnership with Insignia Ventures Partners and Surfin’s first round of institutional funding.

Founding Managing Partner Yinglan Tan shares, “Surfin represents two key shifts in the way companies are growing from Southeast Asia. It is a company headquartered and operating in the region, but with a multi-country presence and global ambitions from early on. It is also a company leveraging the wave of AI transforming industry to deliver more equitable credit access to the underbanked. In a space that is highly competitive and challenging at scale, this combination of proven multi-market entry with licensed multi-jurisdiction products and robust risk management capabilities positions them in a unique place to scale. Their operational track record is more impressive considering they have been bootstrapped thus far. We are privileged to be working with Dr Wu and his team to scale their financial services ecosystem further, both in terms of reach and use cases.”

Know More About Surfin: https://www.surfin.sg/

Article: https://review.insignia.vc/2024/10/08/surfin-series-a/

SOURCE Surfin

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25 funds will join the 2024-2025 program featuring educational content, peer networking, financial support, and other new offerings

NEW YORK, Oct. 9, 2024 — Recast Capital, a platform dedicated to investing in and supporting emerging managers in venture, today announced the second cohort of Recast Accelerate, a catalytic program designed to drive the success of women and nonbinary-led, early stage US funds in venture capital.

Recast Accelerate launched in early 2023 with the intent to help more diverse managers successfully raise and run institutional-quality funds. Accelerate provides access to Recast’s established Enablement Program, including key educational content, professional development and community-building resources, complimentary executive coaching, and $100k to be leveraged in support of each fund’s backend operations.

The Fall 2024 cohort welcomes GPs from 25 funds; 100% of the funds have at least one GP who identifies as a woman or non-binary, 28% have at least one GP who is Black, 20% Asian, 4% LatinX, 12% LGBTQIA+, and 32% first generation US citizens. The participating funds are headquartered across the US, and 68% of the participating funds are raising a Fund I. Sectors of fund focus vary across verticals including, but not limited to, ClimateTech, Artificial Intelligence, Enterprise SaaS, FinTech, and Health and Wellness.

The second cohort of Recast Accelerate includes:

The review process was supported by a selection committee of limited partners with experience working with emerging managers in venture, including Ashlie Tyler of Bank of America, Angela Outlaw-Matheny of Crewcial Partners, Anna Mason of Ingeborg Investments, Geoff Abrahams of The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Margot Kane of Spring Point Partners, and Matt Rho of Avivar Capital.

Building upon the success of and learnings from the first cohort, Cohort II is comprised of a smaller number of funds to allow for additional program funding for more shared services, providing no-cost support to the emerging managers for critical needs across their firm-building experience: investor relations, operational templates, an internship program for additional support, and storytelling and sales workshops, among other things.

“Today marks an exciting milestone for Recast as we begin the next chapter of Accelerate with this second cohort. Innovation thrives when different perspectives come together and we are actively working to foster that diversity within the venture capital community,” says Courtney McCrea, Co-Founder and Managing Partner. “By providing meaningful resources that tip the scale for underrepresented leaders, we’re not just backing new funds, we’re building the framework for a future where diversity is more than a checkbox, but a cornerstone of progress, growth and outsized returns.”

“While increasing the number of female and non-binary GPs in venture was one driver in forming Accelerate, our north star is to see those managers thrive and build highly successful funds. Just increasing the number of diverse GPs is not enough,” says Sara Zulkosky, Co-Founder and Managing Partner. “Despite a growing number of female and diverse-led funds, the amount of capital managed by these managers has actually decreased in recent years. The managers in the Accelerate Program will be successful without Recast;  our mission with this program is to accelerate that success.”

Early support for Accelerate comes from Pivotal Ventures, a Melinda French Gates company. The Accelerate participant experience is also supported in 2024 by our partners and event sponsors Gunderson Dettmer, Strut Consulting, Antares Capital, Aumni, Banc of California, Citizens Bank, Cornerstone Fund Services, Frank, Rimerman & Co., Sydecar, and Mercury.

Recast Accelerate is a fiscally sponsored project of New Venture Fund, a 501(c)(3) public charity. Recast is looking to bring additional funders on board to broaden the program’s reach, include more managers in future cohorts and provide more funding to the managers.

To learn more about Recast Accelerate and explore how you can get involved, visit: https://recastcapital.com/accelerate/ and reach out to us via email at [email protected].

About Recast
Recast Capital is a 100% women-owned venture capital platform that invests in and supports top-tier emerging fund managers, with a focus on diverse partnerships. The platform was built to drive returns and create substantive change in the venture industry.

Founded by seasoned, institutionally-trained fund investors Courtney McCrea and Sara Zulkosky, Recast Capital leverages its deep network and exceptional track record to provide its limited partners diversified exposure to top-performing emerging managers, as well as access to a pipeline of the future’s industry-leading franchises.

Recast launched the Enablement and Accelerate Programs as powerful complements to its fund investment strategy; the programs provide learning and development opportunities for emerging managers in venture, allowing Recast to support more of the community than just those it can invest in via their fund investment strategies.

Learn more at www.recastcapital.com.

Media Contact
Gabby Champion
[email protected]
760-636-3490

SOURCE Recast Capital

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PayToMe.co Enters the Top 1% Startups Globally, Showcasing Innovation and Commitment to Financial Inclusion

SILICON VALLEY, Calif., Oct. 9, 2024 — PayToMe.co, an AI-driven fintech marketplace, has been selected to join Startupbootcamp, one of the world’s top accelerators, an honor reserved for the top 1% of startups globally. This milestone recognizes PayToMe’s innovative approach to solving financial challenges faced by over 400 million small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) worldwide.

Our Vision
At PayToMe, we aim to be the leading fintech marketplace for SMBs globally, and committed to enhancing cross-border payments, driving financial inclusion, and helping SMBs overcome financial barriers.

The Problem
SMBs worldwide lose an estimated $48 billion annually due to fraud, invoicing errors, and payment delays. For many businesses, outdated systems and the lack of IT infrastructure make it difficult to manage these challenges, stifling their ability to grow and operate efficiently.

PayToMe’s Solution
As a unified fintech marketplace, PayToMe addresses these pain points by offering AI-driven fraud protection, patented Text-to-Pay technology, customizable digital invoicing that supports over 100 countries, and connects with 12,000 financial institutions and 7,000 applications through global partnerships including Stripe, Plaid, US Bank, and AppTech Payments Corp.

PayToMe eliminates the need for SMBs to manage complex and costly financial systems. The platform’s ease of use and scalability make it the perfect solution for SMBs that often lack the resources to implement sophisticated IT solutions. With PayToMe, businesses can streamline their financial operations, enhance cash flow, and focus on accelerating growth.

Startupbootcamp: A Pathway to Growth
“We are incredibly excited and honored to join Startupbootcamp,” said Mike Ulker, Founder and CEO of PayToMe. “This opportunity gives us access to 5000+ mentors, corporate partners, and investors across industries, accelerating our mission to deliver seamless, integrated financial solutions to SMBs globally. We invite those who share our vision to connect with us and help drive financial inclusion for millions of businesses across the globe.”

About PayToMe.co:

Based in Silicon Valley, PayToMe.co is a fintech marketplace specializing in AI-driven payment solutions, cross-border financial transactions, and customizable digital invoicing for over 100 countries. With connections to 12,000 financial institutions and 7,000 applications through strategic partnerships including Stripe, Plaid, US Bank, and AppTech Payments Corp., PayToMe.co is at the forefront of innovation in the financial services industry. Its suite of services, including Payment-as-a-Service (PaaS), Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS), and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), empowers businesses to optimize financial processes, enhance cash flow, reduce fraud while contributing to a sustainable and socially responsible financial ecosystem. PayToMe has been honored with eight American and International business awards for Technology Excellence and Social Impact. For more information, visit www.paytome.co.

Media Contact:
Mike Ulker
[email protected]
(650) 963 4969
https://paytome.co/contact-us

SOURCE PayToMe.co

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Implantable Neuromodulation System Shows Early Promise in Improving Patient Quality of Life by Reducing Monthly Headache Days and Severity of Migraine Attacks

MINNEAPOLIS, Oct. 9, 2024 — ShiraTronics, a clinical-stage medical device company developing neurostimulation therapies for chronic migraine patients, today announced the closing of a $66 million Series B financing. The round was led by new investor Norwest Venture Partners, with participation from additional new investors Seroba., OSF Ventures, the Global BioAccess Fund and an undisclosed strategic investor. Returning investors U.S. Venture Partners, Amzak Health, Treo Ventures and Aperture Venture Partners also participated in the round.

This latest round of funding will support ShiraTronics’ recently launched U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved pivotal trial, the RELIEV-CM2 Clinical Study, a multi-center, blinded, randomized, sham-controlled clinical trial. The trial is designed to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the company’s Migraine Therapy System in patients who have failed current medical therapies and have treatment-resistant chronic migraine. The financing also will support the company as it seeks premarket approval from the FDA and fund the initial commercial launch of its innovative therapy for chronic migraine patients.

“Today, about 3 million patients in the U.S. suffer from chronic migraine attacks that are resistant to conventional therapies. Our recent pilot study, which evaluated the preliminary safety and efficacy of the ShiraTronics Migraine Therapy System, shows immense promise in improving patient quality of life and reducing the severity, duration and frequency of migraine headaches for these patients,” said ShiraTronics CEO Rob Binney. “We are deeply grateful for the support of our distinguished new and existing investors, and are laser-focused on delivering this breakthrough therapy to those in need.”

Current Treatment Options Are Limited for Chronic Migraine Suffers

Migraine is a neurological disease with no cure. About 2% of the world’s population suffer from migraine, severe headaches accompanied by a complex set of debilitating symptoms including pulsating head pain, nausea, and sensitivity to light and sound. In the U.S., 5 to 6 million people have chronic migraine, a condition characterized by 15 or more headache days a month with at least eight of those days marked by typical migraine symptoms. Of these chronic migraine patients, approximately 3 million are treatment resistant. For these individuals, existing therapy options fail to deliver consistent and lasting relief, often leaving them to rely on a dark room and isolation as their best therapy.

There is an urgent need for better treatment options. A recent study by the National Headache Foundation found that more than 50% of chronic migraine patients are dissatisfied with their current therapies due to lack of symptom improvement and about 75% have stopped, or avoid, systemic drugs due to side effects. Additionally, many approved medications show limited efficacy, reducing headache days by just two per month on average, compared to placebo controls.

“ShiraTronics is offering new hope to the millions of people with chronic migraine who cannot get relief from existing therapies. The company’s breakthrough therapeutic neuromodulation system is purpose-built to tackle this debilitating condition,” said Dr. Zack Scott, general partner, Norwest Venture Partners. “ShiraTronics fits perfectly with our mission to partner with medical device companies that have a winning combination: a proven team that brings impressive clinical and commercial experience, and cutting-edge technology that has a real potential to lower costs, enhance outcomes and drastically improve quality of life for patients.”

ShiraTronics’ Pioneering Neuromodulation System

With its drug-free neuromodulation system, ShiraTronics is addressing the debilitating symptoms of chronic migraine with a potential new solution for patients who have exhausted all other treatment options. The ShiraTronics Migraine Therapy System is a minimally invasive device that is implanted just beneath the skin in the head where it delivers small electrical pulses to targeted nerves associated with migraine pain. The therapy aims to interrupt and calm pain signals in the head, potentially relieving and preventing chronic migraine symptoms. Patients can personalize and control their therapy using a dedicated application, allowing for continuous, 24-hour management of their disease.

Shiratronics received Breakthrough Device designation from the Center of Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) division of the FDA in 2021. In a recent pilot study, the ShiraTronics Migraine Therapy System demonstrated improvement in quality-of-life scores, substantial reductions in headache days per month and decreased severity of migraine attacks.

“Since Lynn Elliott and I co-founded ShiraTronics, it has been exciting to see the product development and clinical progress made by the ShiraTronics team under Rob’s leadership. I am looking forward to the next steps in the ShiraTronics journey to bring this novel therapy to serve millions of chronic migraine patients globally,” said Co-founder and Chairman of the Board Mudit K. Jain, Ph.D.

About ShiraTronics

ShiraTronics is a pioneering medical device company dedicated to developing state-of-the-art neurostimulation solutions aimed at improving the quality of life for patients living with chronic migraine. The ShiraTronics Migraine Therapy System demonstrated encouraging reductions in headache days and decreased severity of migraine attacks, as well as improvement in quality-of-life scores in its first-in-human pilot study. The company is currently enrolling its pivotal trial for FDA premarket approval, the RELIEV-CM2 Clinical Study. Based in Minneapolis, ShiraTronics is the first spinoff company from medical accelerator NuXcel and is backed by investors including Norwest Venture Partners, U.S. Venture Partners, Amzak Health, Treo Ventures, Aperture Venture Partners, Seroba., OSF Ventures, the Global BioAccess Fund and others. For more information, visit shiratronics.com.

SOURCE ShiraTronics

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