DENVER, Oct. 1, 2024 — thebad.company, a Colorado-based venture studio, business accelerator, and investment group, is excited to announce a groundbreaking partnership with WeFunder, aimed at raising $250 million over the next 10 years. The funds will be used to solve key challenges facing Colorado, focusing on workforce readiness, reshoring manufacturing, and transforming the artificial intelligence (AI) landscape.

Building the Workforce of the Future

A core initiative of this partnership is enabling every high school and college student in Colorado to gain real-world work experience. thebad.company is building technology that will connect employers and educational institutions to create real-time curriculum revisions that align with rapidly evolving job market needs.

“At thebad.company, we’re reimagining how education and business can collaborate to prepare the workforce of tomorrow,” said Orin Wilson, CEO of thebad.company. “By creating direct bridges between schools, employers, and the workforce, we’re not just enhancing career readiness — we’re transforming it.”

Reviving U.S. Manufacturing, Starting with Colorado

In addition to education and workforce development, the partnership will focus on reshoring manufacturing to the U.S., beginning with Colorado. thebad.company will work to build technological infrastructure and networks that empower the state’s manufacturing industry.

“This isn’t just about solving today’s problems; it’s about building a better tomorrow,” said Brad Kellum, Chief Innovation Officer of thebad.company. “This partnership will position Colorado as a leader in manufacturing innovation and growth.”

Transforming the AI Industry with Spectre Labs

A visionary aspect of this partnership is thebad.company’s AI Future Lab, known as Spectre Labs, where the company is exploring what the AI landscape will need to look like over the next decade. Spectre Labs metaphorically “time-travels” into the future to build the frameworks necessary for an optimal AI environment. The lab is setting its sights on creating an AI ecosystem that not only pushes the boundaries of innovation but also ensures ethical, sustainable, and efficient AI development.

“Through Spectre Labs, we’re looking beyond today’s challenges and building the AI frameworks of tomorrow,” said Ryan Doelling, COO of thebad.company. “Our goal is to anticipate the needs of an AI-driven world and ensure that we’re ready to meet them.”

The AI Future Lab will explore breakthrough AI technologies, addressing ethical concerns and laying the groundwork for an AI landscape that enhances productivity, sustainability, and human well-being.

Additional Key Initiatives:

1. Colorado Investment Coalition – Creating a coalition that gives Colorado investors more direct control over investing in local initiatives.
2. Business Climate Analytics Tools – Providing entrepreneurs and chambers of commerce with analytics to understand business needs and helping them bring new businesses to life.
3. Industry Alliances – Building alliances in key sectors like technology, aerospace, manufacturing, and e-commerce to drive long-term innovation and growth.
4. Housing Affordability & Sustainability – Addressing rising housing costs through technological innovation and sustainable business models.
5. Environmentally Sustainable Business Environment – Promoting environmentally conscious practices through collaboration and technological advancements.

“Our partnership with WeFunder allows us to bring these transformative ideas to life,” added Orin Wilson, CEO at thebad.company. “Together, we’re creating a vibrant, resilient, and future-ready business landscape for Colorado.”

WeFunder’s Vision for Innovation

WeFunder, a leading crowdfunding platform, is equally enthusiastic about the partnership and its potential to create lasting change.

“At WeFunder, we aim to empower communities and entrepreneurs to solve pressing challenges,” said Justin Renfro, a representative of WeFunder. “This collaboration with thebad.company is perfectly aligned with our mission to support visionary startups that can make a real difference, particularly in areas as critical as AI and workforce development.”

Tech and Innovation Leadership in Denver

Thebad.company is already laying the foundation for a tech-forward future by founding the Denver YCombinator Alumni Group through their CEO, Orin Wilson, who is a YCombinator Alum, furthering the company’s commitment to fostering local talent and innovation in Colorado.

About thebad.company

Thebad.company is a venture studio, business accelerator, and investment group with a mission to solve the world’s toughest problems through the creation of innovative companies. From reshaping industries to advancing AI, thebad.company is committed to generating widespread positive impact.

For more information, visit https://www.thebad.company/.

Media Contact:

[email protected]

SOURCE thebad.company

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Founded in January 2024, Eon’s vision for the future of cloud backup posture management has attracted funding from Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Greenoaks, and dozens of industry leaders

NEW YORK, Oct. 1, 2024 — Eon, a next-generation cloud backup solution, announced its launch from stealth, having raised a total of $127 million in funding. The first backup autopilot for the age of cloud infrastructure, Eon monitors cloud resource sprawl and brings cloud backup posture management (CBPM) to enterprises. Eon replaces legacy backup tools and generic snapshots, transforming backups into useful, easy-to-manage assets.

Eon was founded by Ofir Ehrlich, Gonen Stein, and Ron Kimchi, the team behind CloudEndure, which was acquired by Amazon in 2019, where they built and led the Disaster Recovery and Cloud Migration services at AWS. Their experience working with the biggest companies revealed a glaring hole in the cloud infrastructure backup and recovery market, leading to the creation of Eon. 

Since its founding in January 2024, Eon has secured three rounds of funding; a $20 million Seed led by Sequoia Capital with participation from Vine Ventures, Meron Capital, and Eight Roads, a $30 million Series A led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and participation from Sheva, and a $77 million Series B led by Greenoaks with participation from Quiet Ventures.

The global cloud infrastructure market is growing at an aggressive pace, expected to reach $838 billion by 2034, with enterprises estimating that 10-30% of their total cloud bill will be spent on backup storage and management. However, the scale and dynamic nature of the cloud have led to enterprises losing control over their backups. Current backup management methods require time-consuming, manual data classification and tagging processes, agents and appliances, face mounting prohibitive costs, and ultimately produce backups that are not accessible. 

“Eon has reimagined what backups can be for enterprises by introducing a new era of cloud backup storage and management,” said Ofir Ehrlich, Co-Founder and CEO of Eon. “We are fortunate to have supportive funding partners who deeply understand the value of unlocking cloud backups to be truly automated, globally searchable, portable, and useful”.

Eon autonomously scans, maps, and classifies cloud resources continuously, providing backup recommendations based on business and compliance needs, and ensuring the appropriate backup policy is in use. Existing solutions rely on snapshots, which are non-searchable black boxes, that require full restores, and are vendor-locked. In contrast, Eon’s next-generation backup storage is fully managed, portable, and provides global search capabilities. This enables customers to find and restore individual files and run SQL queries on backed-up database snapshots seamlessly, without any resource provisioning. 

“In an industrywhere file restoration can take weeks, Eon’s novel backup solution pinpoints data instantly, saving time, money, and compliance headaches for customers,” said Shaun Maguire, Partner at Sequoia Capital. “With a world-class team led by cloud pioneers Ofir, Gonen, and Ron – Eon is bringing the next generation of cloud backup management to market.”

“Investing in the right company begins with investing in the right team, and with Eon we saw an exceptional team, uniquely skilled for the task at hand,” said Tal Morgenstern, Partner at Lightspeed. “Eon is addressing a critical need as enterprises accelerate their cloud adoption and face headwinds of data protection concerns. We are thrilled to support their mission.” 

“Storage and backup are among the largest parts of the IT budget,” said Patrick Backhouse, Partner at Greenoaks. “Yet customers are stuck with frustrating, outdated options, leaving them with poorly optimized costs; incomplete data inventories; and shallow classification. Eon has the team, the expertise, and the ambition to develop an entirely new product that we believe will become the cognitive referent for cloud-native backup. We are proud to partner with Ofir and his team early in their journey, as they break the trade-off between price, performance, and transparency.”

About Eon

Eon is a next-generation cloud backup solution, introducing the first backup autopilot for the age of cloud infrastructure. It brings cloud backup posture management (CBPM) to enterprises and transforms traditional, hard-to-use cloud backups into useful, easy-to-manage assets. Founded in 2024 by Ofir Ehrlich, Gonen Stein, and Ron Kimchi, the team behind CloudEndure (acquired by Amazon), Eon is backed by leading venture capital firms including Sequoia, Greenoaks, and Lightspeed, as well as dozens of industry leaders. For more information and to learn more, please visit https://www.eon.io/. 

Media Contact 
Josh Schaefer
[email protected]
+972-050-790-4505 

SOURCE Eon

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BOSTON, Oct. 1, 2024 — J2 Ventures announced today that Jennifer Cable, the President of Thorlabs, the leading international provider of optical and fiber optics equipment design and manufacturing in America, has joined its advisor board. Ms. Cable’s expertise will help J2 Ventures continue its expansion into the cutting edge of deep technology sourcing and manufacturing lines of business. 

Ms. Cable has led Thorlabs’ comprehensive and strategic expansion efforts, growing its lines of business through strategic collaborations and organic growth, with a focus on serving academic and industrial research customers, as well as both startups and established firms working in industries such as quantum, semiconductor, optical telecommunications test and measurement, and medical devices and imaging. The firm was founded by her father, Alex Cable, who saw a significant gap in the market to provide best-in-class optical equipment to frontier tech companies and academic institutions around the world, and has since grown into one of the largest equipment providers in the United States, with Ms. Cable now leading as a second generation owner.

“We could not be more excited to collaborate with Jenn Cable who has already shown both an incredible wisdom and alacrity in working with deep technology startups” commented J2 Ventures Managing Partner and Co-founder, Alexander Harstrick. Alex has worked with and known Jenn Cable for over a decade, but she has already seamlessly worked directly with J2 companies and the rest of the team before joining their advisory board permanently. “The value Jennifer brings is palpable, and everyone at J2 recognizes both the brand and value that a partner like Thorlabs means in the space”, noted Jonathan Bronson, PhD, the other side of J2’s founding team.

Jennifer Cable joins other J2 Advisory Board Members VADM Raquel Bono, MD, the former head of the Defense Health Agency, LTG Patty Horoho, the former Surgeon General of the U.S. Army, Nori Gerardo Lietz, a significant leader in Private Equity, Mr. Kenny Lee, the founder of Kencoa Aerospace and Mr. Paul Gompers, one of the most published authors at Harvard Business School in the space of Venture Capital and a leading expert in the space.

“It is clear the J2 team has unprecedented access to some of the most exciting companies in our space and I am excited to take our mutual passion to the next level as an advisor to their team”, noted Jennifer. “I look forward to continuing to help the team advise founders, especially with scaling their supply chain and manufacturing and help the team grow into some incredible opportunities to commercialize and scale cutting edge technologies”.

About J2 Ventures
J2 Ventures is a $250M+ AUM deep-tech venture capital firm based in Boston, investing in sectors critical to national security and private sector advancements, including advanced computing, cybersecurity, telecom and infrastructure, and healthcare. For more information about J2 Ventures and their initiatives, please visit https://www.j2vp.com/.

About Thor Labs
Thorlabs, a vertically integrated photonics products manufacturer, was founded in 1989 to serve the laser and electro-optics research market. As that market has spawned a multitude of technical innovations, Thorlabs has extended its core competencies in an effort to play an ever-increasing role to serve the Photonics Industry at the research end, as well as the industrial, life science, medical, and defense segments. The organization’s highly integrated and diverse manufacturing assets include semiconductor fabrication of Fabry-Perot, DFB, and VCSEL lasers; fiber towers for drawing both silica and fluoride glass optical fibers; MBE/MOCVD epitaxial wafer growth reactors; extensive glass and metal fabrication facilities; advanced thin film deposition capabilities; and optomechanical and optoelectronic shops.

Media Contact: 
Alexander Harstrick
[email protected]

SOURCE J2 Ventures

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STOCKHOLM, Oct. 1, 2024 — Avassa is a Swedish edge application management and operations platform provider. They now close a new investment round, adding the global fashion retailer H&M Group as a strategic investor for the continued modernization of brick-and-mortar store IT operations.

Edge computing is revolutionizing enterprises everywhere by bringing data processing closer to the source, significantly improving application availability, and enhancing real-time decision-making. Avassa offers a Platform as a Service (PaaS) for managing edge applications and infrastructure across various industries including retail, industrial, and automotive. This enables enterprises to efficiently manage the lifecycle of innovative edge applications and build resilient infrastructure that can operate undisrupted during offline scenarios, maintain security posture in exposed store environments, and accelerate innovation.

H&M Group has selected the Avassa Edge Platform as a key component in a broader redesign and innovation initiative for their in-store IT infrastructure. Building on this collaboration, H&M Group’s investment arm, H&M Group Ventures is now extending their engagement with Avassa by investing in the continued growth of the company, alongside Avassa’s existing investors, Fairpoint Capital, and Industrifonden.

“We are honored and proud to have H&M Group join as an investor. This investment further emphasizes H&M Group’s commitment to building a secure and innovative new generation of store IT, already demonstrated in the implementation of the Avassa Edge Platform. Retail is one of the fastest-moving industries in edge computing and we are excited to collaborate closely with H&M Group, industry leaders in this category. We are also grateful to our existing investors for their renewed trust in us on our continued growth journey,” says Fredrik Lundberg, CEO and co-founder of Avassa.

“We are delighted to deepen our partnership with Avassa with this investment and we look forward to continuing to use Avassa as an important component to further enhance our edge computing capabilities across the H&M Group”, says Katharina Gromotka, Investment Manager at H&M Group Ventures.

With this strategic collaboration with H&M Group, Avassa continues their commitment to offering a leading edge management and operations platform at a global scale.

CONTACT: 
Amy Simonson
Marketing Manager
[email protected]
+4673 026 47 38

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/avassa/r/avassa-closes-new-round-of-funding–welcomes-h-m-group-as-strategic-investor,c4044484

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$2.5 Billion of Venture Capital Investment Poured into Virginia in 2023

RICHMOND, Va., Sept. 30, 2024 — The Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC) hosted the President of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA), VIPC Board members, and local ecosystem stakeholder leaders at Amazon Visitors Landing at Amazon HQ2 in Arlington, Virginia to celebrate Virginia’s top 10 national ranking for venture capital investment activity during 2023, as reported by Pitchbook-NVCA’s latest Venture Monitor industry data. NVCA reported approximately $2.5 billion of venture capital investment activity during 2023 in Virginia, ranking Virginia the 8^th highest state in the country and ahead of other states such as Illinois, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Delaware, and Ohio. This is Virginia’s highest venture capital national ranking, and the first time Virginia has climbed back into the top 10, in over 15 years according to Pitchbook/NVCA reported data.

A theme at the VIPC hosted event was Virginia cultivating a culture of growth, opportunity, and collaboration that is contributing to a thriving business environment for entrepreneurs, innovators, startups, businesses, and investors. Virginia’s top 10 national ranking for venture capital investment also coincides with Governor Glenn Youngkin recently announcing Virginia being ranked #1 Top State for Business in America by CNBC and Virginia realizing a record 10,000 new high-growth startups launched in the Commonwealth over just the past two years. 

The President of NVCA delivered a keynote address at the event which was attended by Virginia Secretary of Commerce Caren Merrick, State Senator Saddam Azlan Salim, and local stakeholder leaders representing Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax county economic development authorities; Northern Virginia Black Chamber of Commerce; George Mason University and Virginia Tech Innovation Campus; the Commonwealth of Virginia; and the entrepreneur startup and venture capital community.

VIPC President and CEO, Joe Benevento, remarked, “Virginia’s top 10 national ranking demonstrates how dynamic high-growth companies in Virginia are offering VCs from across the country compelling opportunities to deploy capital. Capital fuels growth and VIPC looks forward to fostering continued private sector engagement and investment within our thriving entrepreneur ecosystems, including through our new Virginia Invests venture capital partnership initiative.”

Bobby Franklin, President and CEO of NVCA, commented, “Virginia is asserting itself as a key leader in the venture capital industry. The Commonwealth is not only competing but outpacing other states in attracting investment, thanks to its supportive innovation landscape and growing pipeline of startups.”

VIPC & Virginia Invests

VIPC is Virginia’s statewide economic development authority for advancing innovation, technology, commercialization, entrepreneurship, startups, and venture capital investment. Since 2004, VIPC has helped catalyze and leverage over $2 billion of cumulative investment capital from the private/public sector which has supported Virginia-based early-stage companies, technology commercialization, and innovation ecosystems.

In May 2024, VIPC launched a new venture capital partnership initiative called Virginia Invests, which is designed to expand access to early-stage capital and catalyze investment from both in-state and out-of-state investment fund networks into Virginia-based startups.  VIPC has initially partnered with seven venture capital fund managers who combined have committed to invest at least $100 million in Virginia-based startup companies as well as participate in a number of local entrepreneur ecosystem events and engagements throughout Virginia over the next five years.  Two of these fund managers have also relocated their headquarters, or plan to expand new offices, in Virginia.  VIPC expects Virginia Invests to attract at least $10 of private sector investment for every $1 committed by VIPC (10:1 leverage).

VIPC’s Virginia Venture Partners Managing Director, Tom Weithman, stated, “Our top 10 national ranking by NVCA is a testament to Virginia’s sustained commitment to a robust innovation and technology landscape which supports the next generation of great companies to launch, grow, and scale here in the Commonwealth.” 

Learn More about VC opportunities and VIPC: www.VIPC.org.

About Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation (VIPC)
Connecting innovators with opportunities. VIPC operates as the nonprofit corporation on behalf of the Virginia Innovation Partnership Authority (VIPA). VIPA / VIPC is Virginia’s designated authority for leading innovation and economic development in the Commonwealth of Virginia through research, commercialization, and technology advancement; entrepreneurship, startup, and venture capital growth; and regional ecosystem, innovation network, and industry sector expansion. As part of its operations, VIPC helps attract and catalyze private investment into early-stage startup companies, provides research and technology commercialization grants to universities and entrepreneurs, and offers resource and funding support for entrepreneurial ecosystems, innovation networks, and public-private partnerships at local, state, and federal levelsVIPC’s programs include: Virginia Invests | Virginia Venture Partners (VVP) | Commonwealth Commercialization Fund (CCF) | Entrepreneurial Ecosystems Development | Regional Innovation Fund (RIF) | Smart Communities | The Virginia Smart Community Testbed | The Virginia Unmanned Systems Center | Virginia Advanced Air Mobility Alliance (VAAMA) | The Public Safety Innovation Center (PSIC) | Federal Funding Assistance Program (FFAP) for SBIR & STTR | University Partnerships | Startup Company Mentoring & Engagement.

For more information, please visit www.VIPC.org. Explore the latest news from VIPC and images from VIPC-supported stakeholder events. Follow VIPC on Facebook, X, and LinkedIn.

Contact
Angela Costello
VIPC, VP of Communications & Marketing
[email protected]
757-870-6848

SOURCE VIPC

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Lucky Energy raises $11.75M to bolster brand awareness through retail expansion, trial, and new leadership hires

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 30, 2024 — Lucky Energy, the simpler, better-for-you energy drink company, today announced the close of their oversubscribed $11.75M Series A led by Brand Foundry Ventures with additional investment from Imaginary Ventures, Sapphire Sport, and Sugar Capital, among others. This brings the total funding raised to date to $26.5M. Already a category disrupter despite launching in late 2023, Lucky Energy continues to defy the odds with their rapid expansion and new leadership hires. The funds will be used to grow brand awareness and trial, support strategic partnerships, and accelerate retail growth as Lucky Energy looks to enter major retailers in 2025.

“In starting Lucky Energy, I saw a white space in the category to create a ‘less is more’ product that not only entertains today’s consumer but inspires our community to never give up and relentlessly chase their dreams,” stated CEO and Founder of Lucky Energy, Richard Laver. “We’ve put together a team of industry disruptors and we’re making an impact on the market in never-before-seen ways.”

Since its launch, Lucky Energy has seen explosive growth across the industry, selling 2x the category average in retail, and plans to reach over 8,000 doors by end of year. The oversubscribed round comes as Lucky Energy continues to expand its team with industry veterans, including their new Chief Marketing Officer Hamid Saify who joins from Liquid Death and Chief Growth Officer Aaron Sorelle who joins from C4 Energy, in an effort to bring critical insights and expertise into scaling the energy drink brand. Additional hires across marketing, finance, and operations include Jeanette Bustamante (RXBAR), Dustin Canner (Lemon Perfect), Tyler Larkin (Liquid Death), Rudra Persaud (Liquid Death), and Matt Rickert (Liquid Death).

“The energy market is vast, rapidly expanding, and primed for brand and product innovation,” said Rico Mallozzi, Principal at Sapphire Sport. “With the top three energy brands being over 20 years old, there is a clear demand for an anti-brand like Lucky Energy, which embodies positivity and has the potential for broad consumer appeal. We are excited to partner with Lucky Energy as they build and scale their unique brand, and we look forward to supporting them not only as investors but also through Sapphire Sport’s iconic network of sports, media, and entertainment LPs.”

Founded by beverage entrepreneur Richard Laver in 2023, Lucky Energy contains simpler ingredients than competitors and is available in 5 flavors with 5 super ingredients (Maca, Ginseng, Beta-Alanine, Taurine, Caffeine). In taking a rebellious approach to spreading luck through out-of-the-box content, consumer rewards, merchandising, and product launches, Lucky Energy empowers its growing squad of loyalists to take risks and live life to the fullest, and it’s not stopping any time soon.

“Clean energy makes up less than 10% of the broader $100B+ energy drink category today,” said Andrew Mitchell, Founder of Brand Foundry Ventures. “We believe that Lucky Energy has a clear opportunity to be a major market driver with its unique value proposition. It has attracted talent from the hottest beverage brands and is transforming how consumers experience energy drinks. BFV is thrilled to lead this investment in Lucky Energy, the next iconic energy brand.”

To learn more about Lucky Energy, visit www.luckybevco.com and follow on social media @luckyfckenergy.

About Lucky Energy
Lucky Energy is a simpler, better-for-you energy drink company founded by serial beverage entrepreneur Richard Laver. Richard Laver founded Lucky Energy to inspire people to persevere and keep going as he learned to do. The youngest survivor of Delta flight 191 flight that killed his father and 136 others, and the founder of Kate Farms (now the #1 recommended plant-based tube-feeding formula), Laver was inspired to create a cleaner alternative to the energy drinks on the market. The brand creates high-quality products to motivate people to keep going and inspire lucky moments.

SOURCE Lucky Beverage Company

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The platform enables enterprises to boost software development efficiency and enhance code quality by embracing AI-empowered coding, testing, and reviewing

TEL AVIV, Israel, Sept. 30, 2024 — Qodo (formerly CodiumAI), the generative AI code integrity platform, today announced $40 million in Series A funding, bringing the company’s total funding to $50M. The oversubscribed round was led by Susa Ventures and Square Peg, with participation from Firestreak Ventures, ICON Continuity Fund, and Seed investors TLV Partners and Vine Ventures. Just 18 months since exiting stealth, Qodo’s solutions have already been used by over 1M developers, and its enterprise platform has been adopted by industry leaders including multiple Fortune 100 companies.

The software development landscape is undergoing a radical transformation, with widespread adoption of AI-powered coding solutions and massive investment in the space. With AI rapidly gaining capabilities in code generation, developers will shift towards high-level tasks like defining business logic and system design. This trend has sparked excitement but also heightens concerns about code quality and the lack of necessary safeguards for successful enterprise-level implementation. As more code is AI-generated, ensuring its reliability becomes even more critical to prevent potential bugs that could impact millions of users.

Qodo’s approach to AI-empowered software development places a strong emphasis on code quality and reliability. The company’s comprehensive platform seamlessly integrates agentic AI into the environments where developers work, including popular IDEs, git platforms, and CLIs. Qodo assists with intelligent code generation, testing, thorough reviews, and documentation, prioritizing quality throughout the development lifecycle. Qodo has quickly gained strong enterprise traction with thousands of teams using its solution worldwide. Enterprise sales crossed $1M in ARR within three months of launching its enterprise offering in March of this year. Further, Qodo was recognized by Gartner last month as a Cool Vendor in AI-Augmented Development and Testing for Software Engineering, and was accepted earlier this month into AWS’ Generative AI Accelerator.

“As we shift towards AI-native code development, success won’t come from rushing to automate everything,” said Itamar Friedman, CEO and co-founder of Qodo. “Instead, we need to carefully integrate AI tools to enhance human expertise, focusing on quality and adaptability rather than just speed. Through comprehensive testing and reviewing, embedded into each stage of the software development lifecycle, we will be able to rely on AI agents as an integral part of the team, dramatically reducing fear of bugs or hallucinations.”

“Recent outage events highlight the devastating potential of errors within software,” said Jenna Zerker at Susa Ventures. “This affirms that enterprises absolutely cannot risk embracing a high degree of AI autonomy in software development without having the proper validation and safeguards in place first. We invested in Qodo because they’re taking on code development from the necessary quality-first mindset. Their approach mitigates risks and improves the reliability of code, providing immediate ROI for enterprises while unlocking tremendous value in enabling agentic software development.”

“AI agents play an increasingly pivotal role in software creation, and we believe a quality-first approach is key for their widespread adoption at the enterprise. Devs at the enterprise don’t ‘start from scratch,’ their code needs to work in harmony with tens of thousands of lines of code that are already there,” said Yonatan Sela at Square Peg. “The impressive grassroots adoption of Qodo paves the way for safer, more reliable AI-driven software development.”

Qodo’s traction comes on the heels of the release of its enterprise code integrity platform earlier this year. Central to Qodo’s enterprise solution is its advanced code analysis and indexing, using Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) techniques that enable context-aware code generation, testing and reviewing. Additionally, a dynamic best practices database enables adherence to each organization’s specific coding standards. The deep understanding of the unique context of each company’s code and knowledge of company-specific conventions, allows Qodo’s agents to provide more accurate, customized suggestions. Qodo’s enterprise platform also validates code correctness through an automated test-driven process where generated code is iteratively checked and fixed.

Contact:
Gavriel Cohen
Concrete Media for Qodo
[email protected] 

SOURCE Qodo

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New capital fuels growth and innovation for company’s cloud access management solution

NEW YORK, Sept. 30, 2024 — Apono, the leader in privileged access for the cloud, today announced the successful completion of its Series A funding round, raising $15.5 million. The funding round was led by New Era Capital Partners, with participation from Mindset Ventures, Redseed Ventures, Silvertech Ventures, initial seed investors, and more.

The newly secured funds will be used to advance Apono’s mission of providing AI-driven, simple, innovative, and secure solutions that organizations need to manage access in complex, distributed cloud environments. Additionally, these newly secured funds will be used to accelerate product development and enable Apono to continue its growth, deliver unparalleled value to its customers, and solidify its position as a leader in the identity security space. This latest round brings the total investment from new and current investors to $20.5 million, underscoring strong investor confidence in Apono’s vision and capabilities.

Apono is a next-gen solution for cloud access governance. The company is committed to delivering capabilities that meet the dynamic needs of modern enterprises and support the development, operations and security teams responsible for securing and maintaining cloud environments they depend on. Apono’s innovative approach provides organizations with a deep understanding of privileged access within their cloud environments, enforces robust security guardrails, and leverages AI-driven least privilege and anomaly detection capabilities to enhance security measures while providing a frictionless experience for end-users.

“Today, more than ever, we are seeing a shift in the identity space,” said Apono’s Co-Founder and CEO Rom Carmel. “Privileged access management and identity governance are converging, driving the need for more holistic identity and access security solutions, particularly within today’s dynamic cloud environments in which modern businesses operate. As we continue our rapid growth, this funding will enable us to maintain our momentum and continue delivering cutting-edge solutions to our clients. Our investors were drawn to Apono’s unique AI-driven product offering, innovative approach, and its swift adoption by enterprises, recognizing the company’s potential to lead the identity security market.”

With this investment, Apono is set to significantly expand its US sales and marketing teams, while also expanding investments in research and development. After the company recorded a 300% increase in revenue the last 3 quarters, Apono has welcomed several key industry executives, further bolstering its market position and enhancing its ability to support a rapidly growing customer base. Customers can anticipate new AI-based access product offerings and improved support from Apono’s sales engineering and customer success teams, which have tripled in size in the US. Additionally, to meet the needs of new enterprise customers, the company has added enterprise support teams who will deliver the scale of service today’s enterprises require. These strategic developments will ensure seamless onboarding and continuous support for Apono’s expanding clientele.

“We are thrilled to support Apono in their mission to revolutionize identity and access security,” said Ziv Conen, Partner at New Era Capital Partners. “Apono’s innovative solution addresses critical challenges in the cloud access management space, providing organizations with robust, scalable solutions. This investment reflects our confidence in Apono’s vision and their ability to lead the market with cutting-edge technology and exceptional customer focus. We look forward to supporting Apono’s continued growth and success as they redefine how businesses manage and secure access in today’s dynamic environments.”

“We were able to self-service Apono in minutes, which significantly enhanced customer trust in our global multi-cloud platform. This seamless integration allows our teams to work without friction, ensuring efficiency and productivity. Moreover, it helps us maintain a least-privilege cloud environment, which is crucial for our security and compliance standards,” said Arthur Goren, Director of Cloud Engineering at Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

Apono is devoted to addressing the evolving needs of the identity and access security landscape, particularly as it has grown to play a more significant role in today’s modern cloud environment. Apono’s solution was built from the ground up to empower organizations to deliver just-in-time, just-enough access management at scale by bridging the security-operational gap in identity and access management. With a focus on innovation and customer success, Apono is poised to redefine how organizations manage and secure access, ensuring robust protection and seamless operations in an ever-changing digital world.

“In response to the growing complexity and security threats associated with cloud adoption, forward-thinking organizations are increasingly aligning the goals and workflows of their security and engineering teams,” said Katie Norton, Research Manager, DevSecOps and Software Supply Chain Security at IDC. “Cloud identity and privilege management are central to these alignment efforts. Apono’s approach to cloud privileged access management aligns with these goals and helps bridge the gap between security and engineering teams.”

For more information visit the Apono website here: www.apono.io.

About Apono:

Founded in 2022 by Rom Carmel (CEO) and Ofir Stein (CTO), Apono leadership leverages over 20 years of combined expertise in Cybersecurity and DevOps Infrastructure. Apono’s Cloud Privileged Access Platform offers companies Just-In-Time and Just-Enough privilege access, empowering organizations to seamlessly operate in the cloud by bridging the operational-security gap in access management. Today, Apono’s platform serves dozens of customers across the US, including Fortune 500 companies, and has been recognized in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Privileged Access Management.

Media Contact:
Lumina Communications
[email protected]

SOURCE Apono

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SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Sept. 30, 2024 — Spiral Therapeutics, Inc. (Spiral), a clinical-stage company focused on developing novel therapies for inner ear disorders, announced the successful completion of the Phase 1b/2a clinical trial of SPT-2101 (6% dexamethasone) in Meniere’s disease. Data review of 21 patients showed a significant reduction in vertigo frequency and severity. 

The study recruited 21 patients across sites in Perth, Melbourne, and Sydney. The trial included two cohorts:

• Cohort 1: Single administration of SPT-2101 (6% dexamethasone) to 10 patients.
• Cohort 2: A 1:1 randomization with 6 patients receiving a single administration of SPT-2101 (50 µL of 6% dexamethasone) and 5 receiving a control (saline intratympanic injection), with an optional crossover opportunity for non-responders (3 patients crossed over).

Using Spiral’s proprietary Minimally Invasive Cochlear System (MICS™) platform in the clinic, dexamethasone was delivered precisely to the round window membrane for extended release in all study participants. No serious adverse events (SAEs) or unexpected adverse events (AEs) were reported, and no negative impact on hearing was observed. All patients experienced full resolution of the myringotomy.

The treatment with SPT-2101 showed superior vertigo management compared to the control group, with a statistically significant difference (p< 0.05). Additionally, non-responders in the placebo group who crossed over to receive SPT-2101 demonstrated a dramatic reduction in Definitive Vertigo Days at Month 3 (78.7%). The data suggest higher dexamethasone exposures correlated with improved vertigo management across the treatment period, regardless of baseline disease severity.

Dr. Habib Rizk, Director of the Vestibular Program at the Medical University of South Carolina and President of the Board of Directors of the Vestibular Disorders Association (VeDA), commented, “These preliminary results for SPT-2101 are exciting for Meniere’s disease patients debilitated by their vertigo episodes. Reliable delivery of steroids into the inner ear may be the key to having patients achieve remission. I am looking forward to seeing Spiral Therapeutics progress with Phase 3 studies to confirm these promising findings.”

Dr. Charles Limb, Chief of the Division of Otology, Neurotology, and Skull Base Surgery at UCSF and Chief Medical Officer of Spiral Therapeutics, added, “The encouraging outcomes from this trial reflect Spiral’s innovative approach, which combines the concurrent development of a novel therapeutic medication together with a unique delivery procedure using the world’s smallest microendoscope for clinical use in the ear. We look forward to continuing our clinical trials so that we can finally offer an effective treatment for Meniere’s disease.”

The clinical results of SPT-2101 (6% dexamethasone in a crosslinking gel formulation with an estimated two months of drug delivery time) surpass those of Otonomy’s OTO-104 (6% dexamethasone in a thermoreversible gel formulation) that was administered with a standard intratympanic injection for the treatment of Meniere’s disease and had consistently shown a small efficacy signal on the management of severe vertigo in this patient population. Spiral acquired data on OTO-104 and a right of reference from Otonomy in 2023. Across all measured endpoints, SPT-2101 demonstrated superior outcomes, validating Spiral’s approach.

“We are excited to share these positive early results that not only demonstrate the efficacy of SPT-2101 but also reinforce the value of the MICS™ platform, which ensures and extends drug exposure to the inner ear,” said Hugo Peris, Chief Executive Officer of Spiral Therapeutics. “These positive results mark a significant milestone in our mission to address the unmet needs of patients with Meniere’s disease. The ability to deliver precise, sustained doses of medication directly to the inner ear while remaining minimally invasive is a critical advance for the field.”

Spiral’s MICS™ platform provides precise and sustained drug delivery directly to the cochlea, addressing a key challenge in therapeutic treatment of the inner ear while maintaining a minimally invasive, clinic-friendly approach. This new paradigm is expected to enable successful clinical translation for a broad range of therapeutics that have shown preclinical promise for treating inner ear disorders.

Data Presentation
Spiral presented these results at a breakfast meeting with key opinion leaders during the American Academy of Otolaryngology Annual Meeting 2024 in Miami, FL, on September 28th. Further analyses are ongoing, and additional results will be reported in the coming weeks.

About SPT-2101

SPT-2101 is a long-acting dexamethasone formulation developed using Spiral Therapeutics’ Minimally Invasive Cochlear System (MICS™) for precise delivery to the round window membrane. This innovative platform ensures targeted, sustained drug release directly to the cochlea, addressing significant unmet needs in inner ear disorders. In clinical trials, SPT-2101 has shown promising results, with a substantial reduction in vertigo for patients with Meniere’s disease, significantly improving their quality of life.

About Spiral Therapeutics

Spiral Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing innovative therapies for inner ear disorders. Leveraging its proprietary Minimally Invasive Cochlear System (MICS™), Spiral enables precise, durable, and minimally invasive drug delivery directly to the cochlea. This groundbreaking platform addresses significant unmet medical needs in treating conditions such as hearing loss and balance disorders. Spiral’s therapeutic pipeline includes promising candidates aimed at improving the lives of patients suffering from these challenging conditions. For more information, visit: www.spiraltx.com.

Media Contact:
Hugo Peris
650-453-0893
[email protected]

SOURCE Spiral Therapeutics, Inc.

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