WASHINGTON, June 13, 2024 — Women Business Collaborative (WBC) announces an open call for applications for women entrepreneurs and capital investors to attend the Women’s Capital Summit, set for September 4-5, 2024, in New York, NY.
The Women’s Capital Summit is a dedicated platform for women entrepreneurs to access essential funding and for investors to discover high-potential women-owned businesses. With women-owned businesses making up 40% of all U.S. businesses and employing approximately 5.8 million people, the Summit underscores the critical need for financial backing to elevate these enterprises further.
“Women entrepreneurs bring invaluable innovation and leadership to the economy, yet often face hurdles in securing the capital needed for growth,” said Gwen K. Young, CEO of WBC. “We’re inviting women business owners and forward-thinking investors to join us at the Women’s Capital Summit and foster partnerships that will drive significant economic and social impact.”
The Summit will include:
Investor Matchmaking: Sessions to connect women entrepreneurs with investors.
Keynote Addresses: Hear from influential leaders and women entrepreneurs who have navigated the challenges of securing investment.
Expert Panels: Discussions on current trends in entrepreneurship and investment, the future of women-led businesses, and strategies for overcoming funding obstacles.
Networking Sessions: Opportunities for informal networking, enabling attendees to forge valuable connections with peers, mentors, and industry leaders.
Women Entrepreneurs
Eligibility: Open to women entrepreneurs from all industries seeking investment to grow their businesses.
About Women Business Collaborative (WBC) Women Business Collaborative (WBC) is an unprecedented alliance of over 80 women’s business organizations and hundreds of business leaders building a movement to achieve equal position, pay, and power for all women in business. Through collaboration, advocacy, action, and accountability, we galvanize thousands of diverse professional women and men, business organizations, public and private companies to accelerate change. For more information on the Women Business Collaborative visit wbcollaborative.org.
Backed by leading AI investors Daniel Gross and Nat Friedman, JACE can complete cognitively-complex, multi-step tasks by performing browser-based actions
SAN FRANCISCO, June 13, 2024 — Zeta Labs, an AI research and product company developing autonomous agents capable of efficiently performing complex and multi-step tasks, today announced the raise of its $2.9 million pre-seed round and the debut of its large language model (LLM)-based proprietary autonomous AI agent, JACE. The round was led by Daniel Gross, former head of AI at Y Combinator, and Nat Friedman, former Github CEO, with participation from Earlybird VC and Kaya VC as well as AI Grant, Shawn (swyx) Wang, Bartek Pucek and Mati Staniszewski, founder of ElevenLabs. Zeta Labs will use the funding to expand its engineering team, host training models, and enhance JACE’s overall infrastructure, improving its speed and reliability.
A groundbreaking digital assistant, JACE represents the future of AI agents, going beyond traditional uses of current AI chatbots like ChatGPT and their text-generation focus. Instead, JACE focuses on taking action in the digital world. It differs from existing AI-powered chatbots due to its complex cognitive architecture, which enables it to complete high-difficulty tasks. Created by Zeta Labs, JACE can control and perform actions in the browser similarly to a human user, excelling in managing complex tasks that involve web automation, interaction and direct communication. This is due to the development and training of Zeta Labs’ proprietary web-interaction model, AWA-1 (Autonomous Web Agent-1), which enables JACE to reliably execute tasks over long periods of time, effectively handling the challenges and inconsistencies commonly found in web interfaces.
“At Zeta Labs, we aim to enable AI models to interact with the digital world around them. The development of our AWA-1 model allows JACE the ability to control a browser, essentially giving the AI assistant the digital equivalent of arms and legs,” said Peter Albert, co-founder of Zeta Labs. “You can’t ask any current chatbot on the market to book a trip, pay an invoice or set up a job post. With JACE, you can.”
By learning through extensive simulated interactions and utilizing synthetic data for rapid self-improvement, JACE developed the ability to navigate and utilize digital tools effectively. It is able to provide tangible assistance in a wide array of tasks from simple to-dos like making a restaurant reservation to more complex projects like setting up a recruitment pipeline or starting a business. The end result is a modern AI agent capable of assisting in a broad spectrum of tasks previously beyond the scope of chat-optimized AI models. By teaching JACE to control a browser, Zeta Labs created a system capable of emulating a substantial portion of day-to-day office work. To prove JACE’s efficacy and ability to go beyond the traditional AI-assistant role, the Zeta Labs team tested the autonomous agent by asking it to create a company on its own. Starting with a simple prompt, JACE led the user through creating a business plan, registered the business – a math tutoring company – found the first client and made its first revenue, all within two weeks. In the latest internal benchmark test conducted by Zeta Labs, which focused on the most common web-based tasks, like navigating the ordering process for a pizza delivery or finding two flats in London that meet specific criteria from the past week’s listings, JACE showed impressive performance. JACE performed the best when using Zeta Labs’ AWA-1 model, delivering an 89% task completion success rate, compared to when it used GPT-4o (68% success rate) and an open-source web agent using GPT-4o (25% success rate).
“In its current form, I see JACE as a meta-aggregator for web interfaces. Why learn to navigate all the different user interfaces when you can have a universal UI for everything?” said Fryderyk Wiatrowski, co-founder of Zeta Labs. “With JACE, you simply say what you need, and if you forget, it will ask you all the necessary questions up front. Imagine a universal service desk with a consultant who knows you personally and never needs to sleep. JACE will be that for you, just sitting there, ready to serve you at all times.”
Zeta Labs was co-founded by Fryderyk Wiatrowski and Peter Albert in August 2023. Albert, who launched his first e-commerce business eight years ago, noticed the extensive amount of office time spent on repetitive mundane tasks as he looked to fill operational roles. He wanted to create an environment where his team could focus on the interesting work that really mattered, while simultaneously being more efficient and effective. This vision laid the foundation for Zeta Labs and, after connecting with Wiatrowski during their time at Meta, where Albert was part of the core team behind Llama 2, the two decided to join forces.
“Web browsing was invented 34 years ago and forever changed the global economy, yet AI models don’t understand how to use it,” said Daniel Gross, Zeta Labs investor and entrepreneur known for founding Cue and Pioneer. “The next paradigm shift in AI is unlocking that behavior, and Zeta Labs is poised to make that happen. I am pleased to be an investor in this grand mission!”
About Zeta Labs Founded in 2024 by Fryderyk Wiatrowski and Peter Albert, Zeta Labs is an AI research and product lab dedicated to the art of possibility and the pursuit of significance. Their mission is to develop technologies that clear the path for humanity to engage with what truly matters. They are the creators of JACE, a proprietary AI agent based on large language models (LLMs) that is able to control and perform actions in the browser, like a human user would, and excels in managing interactive and complex tasks that require web interaction, automation, and direct communication functionalities. Engineered to navigate and utilize digital tools, JACE offers tangible assistance in a wide array of tasks, from routine activities like making a restaurant reservation to complex projects such as managing recruitment pipelines or launching businesses. JACE’s capability to complete cognitively-complex, multi-step tasks represents a significant advancement in AI capabilities. In 2024, the Zeta Labs team utilized this autonomous AI agent to establish the world’s first AI-created company.
Startup that simplifies access to guided fishing, hunting experiences will enhance platform, expand to additional markets with latest funding.
MEMPHIS, Tenn., June 13, 2024 — AnyCreek, a Memphis-based startup simplifying access to guided experiences, such as fishing and hunting, with top guides and outfitters, announces the successful completion of a $1.8 million seed funding round. This round brings AnyCreek’s total funding since its launch in 2022 to $3.3 million with continued participation from Starting Line and other notable angel investors, and new participation from Bridge Investments, LaunchTN and others.
Since launching, AnyCreek developed a guide-centric platform that has helped thousands of adventurers across 183 markets easily discover, book, and pay for fishing and hunting experiences with the top guides and outfitters in the industry, while also fostering a community of outdoor enthusiasts.
According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the outdoor recreation economy accounted for 2.2 percent ($563.7 billion) of current‐dollar gross domestic product (GDP) for the nation in 2022, and Americans alone spent $144.8 billion on fishing and hunting in 2022, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Survey with trip-related expenses making up $48.9 billion (34 percent).
With this latest round of funding, AnyCreek will continue enhancing its technology and expand into additional markets. Led by an accomplished growth leader at venture-backed companies like Compass, Groupon, and Zenefits, AnyCreek co-founder and CEO Benjamin Lazarov has a track record of driving business from tens of millions to billions in revenue, but his passion for the outdoor industry is what differentiates AnyCreek.
“We believe that humans in nature represent the best of human nature, and we have a profound respect for the businesses facilitating this connection,” said Benjamin Lazarov, co-founder and CEO of AnyCreek. “It’s our mission to equip guides and outfitters with the latest technology to get more people outside. This funding will help us continue this momentum as we expand into additional markets and offerings.”
AnyCreek transcends the traditional marketplace model by offering a comprehensive suite of vertical SaaS tools tailored for guides and outfitters, including calendar management, payments, referrals and easy guide assignments, SEO, marketing, customer communication, CRM, and 24/7 support.
“AnyCreek understands how I like to run my guide businesses and has built a technology that helps me grow and save a ton of time,” states Capt. Scott Owens of Southeastern Angling in Saint Simons Island, GA. “From managing deposits to streamlining customer communication, the platform has given me back a ton of time that I now enjoy spending with my family versus the hours on the phone responding to inquiries after a long day on the water.”
Not only does AnyCreek’s platform cater to the evolving needs of guides and outfitters, but also to adventurers in the digital era, by powering a modern booking experience for novice and experienced adventurers alike.
“With so many guides and outfitters offline, it can be challenging and intimidating to find great, local guides,” shared Nick Larson, co-founder and chief technology officer at AnyCreek. “Our platform is stress-tested by the best guides and outfitters and makes discovering, booking, and paying for high-quality hunting and fishing trips easy and convenient for any adventurer.”
AnyCreek’s seasoned leadership team––with experience from companies like Compass, Dropbox, and Costa––combines a proven track record of success and an unwavering commitment to the outdoor industry to capture significant market share.
“In today’s digitally-inclined landscape, AnyCreek strategically positions itself to capitalize on and cultivate consumers’ appetite for high-quality outdoor experiences, a growing industry where significant spending still occurs offline,” remarked Scott Holloway, general partner at Starting Line. “We take pride in supporting innovation that is shaping the future of the outdoor recreation sector.”
To learn more about AnyCreek, visit anycreek.com.
About AnyCreek AnyCreek is the trusted way to get outside with the best guides on the planet. The industry’s top guides and outfitters rely on AnyCreek’s platform to manage their business, save time, and grow — making it easy for adventurers to discover and book once-in-a-lifetime trips. From hunting to fishing, anyone can find adventure outdoors at AnyCreek. Learn more at anycreek.com.
NEW YORK, June 13, 2024 — J.P. Morgan Private Capital, a venture capital and growth equity investment team within J.P. Morgan Asset Management, today announced the final close of the first Life Sciences Private Capital offering, 270 Life Sciences Private Capital Fund I (the “Fund”), led by Chief Investment Officer Stephen Squinto, Ph.D. and Managing Partner Gaurav Gupta, M.D., M.S.E. The fund closed above its $500 million target, attracting strong support from investors, including institutional allocators, strategic corporate partners, family offices and high net worth individuals across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, as well as JPMorgan Chase & Co.
“We are pleased to announce the close of our inaugural fund, which was raised in just over a year, almost two times faster than our peers in the past decade1,” said Dr. Stephen Squinto, Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner of J.P. Morgan Life Sciences Private Capital. “As investors and company builders, we are strongly positioned at J.P. Morgan Private Capital to identify and support highly innovative companies that can shape the future of how patients are treated. Our mission is not only to capitalize companies, but also to utilize our collective experience to guide them towards successful outcomes, and to mentor a new generation of biotechnology founders and executives.”
The Fund invests in private biotechnology companies across stage, modality, therapeutic area, and geography. The Fund’s early company formation activities and portfolio investments span cardiometabolic disease, oncology, immunology, and genetic medicines. The Fund also aims to leverage the scale and resources of J.P. Morgan to add value to portfolio companies.
“We are grateful for the support of our investors, and for the key contributions of our strategic advisors and internal team members, as we announce the close of our inaugural life sciences venture capital fund. As the biotechnology industry enters the next era of scientific discovery, we strive to become a partner of choice for world-class researchers and entrepreneurs,” said Gaurav Gupta, M.D., M.S.E., Managing Partner of J.P. Morgan Life Sciences Private Capital.
About J.P. Morgan Private Capital
J.P. Morgan Private Capital provides customized financing solutions for private companies across the capital structure with a focus on venture and growth investing. The platform’s solutions span the consumer, technology, and life sciences sectors. J.P. Morgan Private Capital has a technology and consumer fund; J.P. Morgan Growth Equity Partners, with US$1 billion in aggregate commitments that closed in April 2023. Additionally a biotechnology venture fund; 270 Life Sciences Private Capital Fund I, with over US$500 million in aggregate commitments that closed in June 2024.
J.P. Morgan Private Capital is part of J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives, the alternative investment arm of J.P. Morgan Asset Management. With over 60 years of experience in managing alternative investments, $214 billion in assets under management and over 800 professionals (as of March 31, 2024), its strategies cover the full spectrum of alternatives: real estate, private equity, private credit, liquid alternative products, infrastructure, transport, hedge funds and forestry. From the Americas, Europe and Asia, independent alternative investment teams combine their cutting-edge expertise with J.P. Morgan’s resources, infrastructure and global reach to achieve each client’s specific objectives. For more information: jpmorgan.com/am
About J.P. Morgan Asset Management
J.P. Morgan Asset Management, with assets under management of $3.1 trillion (as of December 31, 2023), is a global leader in investment management. J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s clients include institutions, retail investors and high net worth individuals in every major market throughout the world. J.P. Morgan Asset Management offers global investment management in equities, fixed income, real estate, hedge funds, private equity and liquidity. For more information: www.jpmorganassetmanagement.com. J.P. Morgan Asset Management is the marketing name for the asset management businesses of JPMorgan Chase & Co., and its affiliates worldwide.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (the “Firm”) (NYSE: JPM) is a leading financial services firm based in the United States of America (“U.S.”), with operations worldwide. JPMorgan Chase had $3.9 trillion in assets and $328 billion in stockholders’ equity as of December 31, 2023. The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing and asset management. Under the J.P. Morgan and Chase brands, the Firm serves millions of customers in the U.S., and many of the world’s most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients globally. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.
1 Preqin, 2024. Inclusive of first-time healthcare venture capital funds launched between 2014 and 2024.
Funding to accelerate growth and fuel ongoing enhancements to the YourSixOS unified platform
ST. PAUL, Minn., June 13, 2024 — YourSix Inc., a leader in cloud physical security solutions, announced today that it has raised $10.5 million in Series A funding, led by Vocap Partners and joined by Eastside Partners. This investment is poised to accelerate growth, broaden market presence, and further its vision of transforming the delivery of commercial physical security solutions.
“We are extremely proud to have secured this substantial investment,” said Eric Styles, CEO of YourSix Inc. “In Vocap, we’ve found more than just a financial investor; they bring invaluable strategic support that aligns perfectly with our vision. With their partnership, we can build on our trusted role in guiding partners and customers in their transition from on-premise to cloud solutions, ensuring our mutual success.”
“YourSix’s team of industry experts and technologists deliver a modern, cloud-native physical security solution that uniquely meets the demands of a rapidly emerging ‘as-a-service’ market,” said Emery Waddell, Principal at Vocap Partners. “Their innovation is evident in their low latency, low bandwidth device-to-cloud methodology, scalability, and ease of use, as well as their channel-first go-to-market, all of which have established them as a trusted partner in the industry’s transition to modern cloud solutions. We look forward to working with Eric and his industry-leading team to help YourSix achieve its full potential.”
YourSix will use the funds from this round to support broader market penetration and accelerate the industry leading YourSixOS platform. With this investment, YourSix is well-positioned to continue its rapid growth and solidify its standing as a trusted security partner.
About YourSix Inc. YourSix is an award-winning Physical Security as a Service (PSaaS) provider. The YourSixOS direct-to-cloud, unified platform leverages a unique convergence of surveillance, access control, audio, sensors, artificial intelligence, and monitoring to deliver a modern, cloud-native physical security solution. To learn more, visit www.yoursix.com.
About Vocap Partners Vocap Partners provides capital, connections, and operational know-how to emerging B2B software and healthcare IT companies with disruptive potential. With offices in Atlanta, Georgia, and Vero Beach, Florida, Vocap has a strong track record of building and realizing value alongside entrepreneurs. To learn more, visit www.vocappartners.com.
About Eastside Partners Eastside Partners is a growth equity firm that backs management teams who are building exceptional products and services. Since 2005, the firm has invested more than $250 million, focusing on B2B SaaS, Healthcare, and Tech-Enabled Services companies. Eastside’s investment strategy is focused on companies whose culture always puts the customer first. To learn more, visit www.eastsidepartners.com.
LOS ANGELES, June 13, 2024 — LawPro.ai, an innovative tech company that uses AI-driven solutions for the legal industry, announced today the successful completion of a seed investment round. This investment will accelerate LawPro.ai’s mission to transform the legal industry by leveraging cutting-edge AI technology to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and accessibility in law firms’ ability to review medical records.
The seed round was led by prominent venture capital firms, including The Legal Tech Fund and Scopus Ventures, with participation from notable angel investors with backgrounds in law and technology.
Modernizing Legal Services
With a strong customer base, LawPro’s technology is modernizing law firms’ ability to streamline their case intake and increase employee efficiency. “LawPro is a game changer for my team and me. Instead of taking hours to review, summarize, and understand medical records, now it gets done in minutes. This allows us to maximize our client’s case value in the shortest amount of time!” says Juan Carlos Puga, attorney at Saiontz & Kirk.
LawPro’s Co-Founder and CEO, Jeremy Schmerling says the industry has been asking for transformative technologies, “LawPro.ai is poised to redefine the legal landscape by streamlining legal workflows, enhancing decision-making, and improving client outcomes.”
Founders with a Vision
LawPro.ai was founded and backed by a group of industry veterans with decades of experience in the legal industry, SaaS enterprise software, and artificial intelligence. The founders bring a unique blend of expertise to the company including a senior partner at a leading law firm with extensive experience in complex litigation. Their leadership has successfully built companies and created new market verticals in the legal and software industries. LawPro.ai’s platform integrates advanced machine learning algorithms to automate routine legal tasks and offers intelligent insights that aid in case strategy and management.
Strategic Growth and Development
The new capital will be used to accelerate product development, expand the engineering and sales teams, and fuel go-to-market strategies. “This funding will enable us to scale our platform, expand our team, and continue developing transformative technologies that empower legal professionals and clients alike,” says Josh Schmerling, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of LawPro.
Investor Confidence
“We are excited to support LawPro.ai as they bring groundbreaking AI innovations to the legal industry,” said Bahram Nour-Omid, Managing Partner at Scopus Ventures. “Their platform addresses critical pain points in legal practice and has the potential to significantly enhance productivity and client satisfaction. We believe LawPro.ai is well-positioned to become a leader in legal technology.”
Zach Posner, Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Legal Tech Fund added, “We’re thrilled to be backing the team at LawPro. At The LegalTech Fund, we believe when lawyers are empowered with technology, they can better service their clients and expand their business. A key investment thesis for us is the use of software to unlock the source data of legal case documents, which is exactly what LawPro aims to do.”
About LawPro.ai
LawPro.ai is an AI-powered legal technology company dedicated to transforming the legal industry through innovative SaaS solutions. By combining deep legal expertise with state-of-the-art artificial intelligence, LawPro.ai empowers legal professionals to work more efficiently, make better-informed decisions, and deliver superior client outcomes. For more information, visit www.LawPro.ai.
About The Legal Tech Fund
TLTF is a leading investment firm focused on supporting and scaling legal technology companies. With a deep understanding of the legal tech landscape, TLTF provides strategic investment and support to innovative companies driving change in the legal industry. For more information, visit www.legaltech.com.
About Scopus Ventures
Scopus Ventures is a venture capital firm dedicated to investing in early-stage technology companies with high growth potential. Scopus Ventures partners with visionary entrepreneurs to build companies that create significant value and impact. For more information, visit www.scopusventures.com.
About Saiontz & Kirk
Saiontz & Kirk, P.A. is a nationally known injury law firm that is focused exclusively on representing individuals. For more than 40 years, Saiontz & Kirk has helped clients with medical malpractice, automobile accidents, product liability and other personal injury lawsuits. For more information, visit www.youhavealawyer.com.
Investment from key healthcare leaders validates the Better Health care delivery model, bringing the company’s total funding to $27.5 million.
SAN FRANCISCO, June 13, 2024 — Better Health, a medical supply and support provider built on peer-to-peer connection, announces $14 million in strategic funding, which includes investments from Healthworx, the innovation and investment arm of CareFirst Inc., UHealth – University of Miami Health System, and Mosaic General Partnership. This investment underscores the industry’s recognition of Better Health’s pivotal role in revolutionizing healthcare delivery for chronic conditions.
Better Health Co-founders Adam Breckler and Naama Stauber Breckler
This financing builds on Better Health’s previous $10 Million Series A round and includes participation from new investor Samsung Next, which continues to expand its investment in healthcare solutions. Existing investors also participated in the round, including Caffeinated Capital, General Catalyst, Bill Ackman’s family office Table Management, and at.inc/.
Improving Health Outcomes and Driving Down Costs
Established in 2019, Better Health provides support and medical supplies for people with chronic conditions, such as ostomy, chronic wounds, diabetes, chronic retention, and incontinence. The company’s solution challenges the current status quo by combining a cohesive care model that incorporates peer coaching, education, and home delivery of medical supplies, focusing on driving engagement, adherence, improved outcomes, and reduced costs.
“We’ve seen a remarkable 86% of the people who went through the Better Health Peer Support program reported they were able to avoid an unnecessary ER or doctor visit,” says Dr. Robert Mirsky, Better Health clinical advisor and the former Chief Medical Officer of Aetna Medicare. “Receiving coaching from someone with similar lived experience builds trust, helps patients gain more knowledge and confidence, and as a result be more compliant with their treatment. This enables Better Health to drive impact on health outcomes and cost of care.”
“We’re committed to supporting our members in managing their health at home,” said Naama Stauber Breckler, CEO and co-founder of Better Health. “We’ve seen an increasing need for home-based care as we’ve grown our partnerships, especially for members living in rural areas. Members tell us that working with us is like finding a best friend, that they’re able to be more active, and that they feel supported and less lonely in their care journey, which is one of the main drivers of our 98% customer satisfaction rating. No one should manage their chronic condition alone, and our network of peers is a proven way to support that.”
Funding will be used to bring a more comprehensive solution to payers and providers, while also expanding into new categories to better serve members with chronic conditions. The company is also actively exploring how incorporating AI into its value stream can further enhance and accelerate its already best-in-class experience for patients, payers, and providers.
Benefiting Patients, Payers and Providers
Operating in 48 States, Better Health currently serves the populations of a fast growing network of over 150 health plans and health systems. For health plans, Better Health’s unparalleled engagement of 10.5 interactions a year (2.5X more than the avg PCP engagement) enables them to drive improved health outcomes with a first-year ROI. This helps chronically ill members avoid unnecessary ER visits and overutilization of care while impacting quality measures and bending the affordability curve.
“Healthworx aims to invest in and partner with solutions that reduce the cost of care, increase access to care, and improve health outcomes,” said Christopher George, Investment Manager at Healthworx. “We invested in Better Health to support their work toward bettering access and outcomes for patients dealing with chronic conditions, especially those who rely on durable medical equipment as a part of daily life.”
For providers and their patients, Better Concierge’s dedicated support simplifies the burdensome process of accessing home medical supplies through a single point of contact for easy referrals, insurance navigation, and care coordination, saving clinical teams hours of administrative work each week.
“Pairing a best-in-class product engine to order supplies with a scaled peer-to-peer platform for empathetic information sharing is very powerful,” shared Fatima Husain, General Partner at Mosaic General Partnership. “Better Health’s traction in the past year with payers and health systems validates the demand for their solution, and we couldn’t be prouder to partner with them on this much-needed and improved experience for chronic care patients dependent on home medical supplies.”
For more information about Better Health and its visionary work in the healthcare sector, please visit joinbetter.com
About Better Health
Better Health is a support and supplies platform built on peer-to-peer connection. The supported chronic conditions include ostomy, chronic wounds, diabetes, chronic retention, and incontinence. Better Health is trusted by healthcare payers and providers to deliver peer support, education, and medical supplies to drive engagement and adherence, improve outcomes, and lower the cost of care. The result is reduced overutilization, improved mental health, and a 98% customer satisfaction rating. Co-founded by Naama Stauber Breckler and Adam Breckler, Better Health operates in 48 states and serves the members of top payers, including Medicare, Medicaid, Cigna, Humana, Florida Blue, and Oscar, among others. To learn more, visit joinbetter.com.
Better HealthContact: Ian Twinn | Tandem Marketing Communications [email protected]
Led by Ecliptic Capital with strategic investment from Memorial Hermann Health System, AARP and the Texas Medical Center Venture Fund
HOUSTON, June 12, 2024 — Koda Health, an innovator in digital Advance Care Planning, today announced the successful oversubscription of its Seed+ funding round. This round was led by Ecliptic Capital, with strategic investment from Memorial Hermann Health System, AARP and the Texas Medical Center (TMC) Venture Fund, underscoring the health care community’s belief in Koda’s mission, technology and impact on patient care.
A Vision for the Future of Health Care
“If we’re looking at speed of market adoption, it’s clear that Koda Health is at the forefront of a crucial transformation in Advance Care Planning,” said Tatiana Fofanova, PhD, CEO of Koda Health. “In just a few years, we’ve built out a product that now serves well over 700,000 patients nationwide for industry giants like Cigna, Privia and Houston Methodist.
“While we’re well-equipped to meet these clients’ needs, we’re also signing new partnerships with major health care providers at an exciting rate,” she says. “This round of funding will help us maintain the quality that our clients expect at new and unprecedented scales.”
“We at Ecliptic are proud to continue our support of Koda Health’s work to provide patient education and access to Advance Care Planning, to help ensure that patients’ end-of-life wishes are honored,” said Adam Lipman, CIO of Ecliptic Capital. “The team at Koda is truly dedicated to this important mission, and we are proud to back them.”
“AARP research shows that there is a willingness among older adults in the U.S. to prepare for the end of their lives,” says Amelia Hay, VP of Startup Programming and Investments at AgeTech Collaborative™ from AARP. “This indicates a need for more programs and services geared towards ensuring adults take the necessary steps, and AARP is pleased to invest in Koda Health to help address that need.”
Expanding Partnerships and Innovation
Given Koda’s immense clinical and operations growth, it was important for the company to fill its latest funding round with strategic investors, said Dr. Desh Mohan, Chief Medical Officer of Koda Health. “That’s where our allies at Memorial Hermann, The Texas Medical Center, and the AgeTech Collaborative from AARP come in. Each brings unique strategic value to our growth strategy.”
Memorial Hermann, recognizing the potential for Koda Health’s solutions to enhance patient care and support health care providers, has not only contributed to the funding round but is also partnering with Koda on a pilot project.
“We are always looking for new ways to further engage our patients and make them feel better supported. The unique challenges of COVID-19 have only heightened the need for innovation in this area,” said Feby Abraham, PhD, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer for Memorial Hermann. “We believe investing in Koda Health will give patients the tools to make sure their wishes are carried forth and the burden is removed from their families to make those decisions.”
Fofanova founded Koda Health, a B2B Enterprise SaaS solution that streamlines the process of proactive health care planning and document completion, in early 2020 with her co-founders Dr. Desh Mohan, who serves as chief medical officer, and Katelin Cherry, the company’s CTO. The founding team connected through the Texas Medical Center’s (TMCi) Biodesign program, which tasked the team with finding solutions to issues affecting the world’s largest medical center.
“Koda is uniquely positioned to serve payers, providers and patients,” said William McKeon, President & CEO, Texas Medical Center. “We rarely see a company that provides value to all three stakeholders. Seeing Koda launch from our TMCi BioDesign program to the progress they’ve made with our member institutions and players in the value chain is incredible.”
With the successful close of this Seed+ funding round, Koda Health is poised to accelerate its mission of revolutionizing Advance Care Planning. Leveraging the strategic partnerships and support from leading health care investors, the company is well-equipped to expand its innovative solutions and impact on patient care. As Koda Health continues to grow, its dedication to ensuring patients’ wishes are honored remains steadfast, further cementing its position as a leader in the health care industry and setting new standards in patient care and education.
For more information, please contact Koda Health’s Director of Growth Marketing – Fady Shanow, MPH at [email protected].
About Koda Health
Koda Health is a tech-enabled care coordination service to improve serious illness care planning. Its Advance Care Planning (ACP) solution pairs a cloud-based ACP platform with an in-house 1:1 longitudinal ACP support and navigation. This allows healthcare organizations to provide scalable, personalized ACP without an increased organizational lift. To learn more about Koda, visit kodahealthcare.com.
About Ecliptic Capital
Ecliptic Capital is an emergent, early-stage innovation fund focused on pre-seed, seed, and series A investments. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Ecliptic’s thesis makes the case for capturing, developing, and scaling a range of emergent technologies from talented entrepreneurs from often neglected geographies and industries. Founded by serial entrepreneurs, investors, and operators, Ecliptic focuses on operational excellence, building rich relationships, and transparency to create value, trust, and insights over time. Knowing that visionary ideas need intentional nurturing, Ecliptic’s unique approach provides open-ended investment time frames to maximize value.
About AgeTech Collective™ from AARP®
AgeTech Collective™ from AARP® is an unparalleled innovation ecosystem bringing together cutting-edge thinkers in the longevity tech space to champion meaningful advances so that everyone can choose how they live as they age. AARP’s decades of exclusive longevity insights, the breakthrough collaborative ecosystem and community of innovators positions the AgeTech Collaborative to lead the future of AgeTech.
About Memorial Hermann Charting a better future. A future that’s built upon the HEALTH of our community. This is the driving force for Memorial Hermann, redefining health care for the individuals and many diverse populations we serve. Our more than 6,500 active medical staff and 33,000 employees practice the highest standards of safe, evidence-based, quality care to provide a personalized and outcome-oriented experience across more than 250 care delivery sites. As one of the largest not-for-profit health systems in Southeast Texas, Memorial Hermann has an award-winning and nationally acclaimed Accountable Care Organization, 17* hospitals and numerous specialty programs and services conveniently located throughout the Greater Houston area. Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center is one of the nation’s busiest Level I trauma centers and serves as the primary teaching hospital for McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston. For more than 116 years, our focus has been the best interest of our community, contributing nearly $500 million annually through school-based health centers and other community benefit programs. Now and for generations to come, the health of our community will be at the center of what we do – charting a better future for all.
*Memorial Hermann Health System owns and operates 14 hospitals and has joint ventures with three other hospital facilities, including Memorial Hermann Surgical Hospital First Colony, Memorial Hermann Surgical Hospital Kingwood and Memorial Hermann Rehabilitation Hospital-Katy.
About Texas Medical Center (TMC) TMC is the world’s most comprehensive life science ecosystem at the forefront of advancing life sciences. TMC is on a mission to further accelerate the pace of healing by harnessing our collective expertise in innovation, research, development, production, and patient care within a single, centralized medical ecosystem. With over 70+ million square feet and 120,000+ employees, TMC is leveraging the collective power by pioneering a revolutionary life sciences initiative to house the entire treatment of life cycle from discovery to delivery, within a single, world-class medical complex, on a scale never before seen.
SINGAPORE, June 12, 2024 — In a move that underscores its commitment to broadening the reach and usability of Web3 technologies, HTX Ventures, the global investment arm of the cryptocurrency exchange HTX, has announced a strategic investment in Avail, a modular blockchain solution designed to unify Web3 and optimize data availability (DA) for scalable and customizable applications.
Avail DA provides decentralized infrastructure for developers to quickly build and scale modern blockchain applications. By inheriting security from the base layer through rollups and extending restaking to include multiple assets, such as BTC and ETH, it aims to provide ample security for the thousands of rollups built on top.
Edward, Managing Partner at HTX Ventures, shared his investment insights: “The Avail team possesses exceptional technical capabilities, and Avail DA is one of the fastest and most cost-effective data availability solutions in the market right now. By combining their data availability layer with cross-chain interoperability and the robust security provided by Avail Nexus & Avail Fusion, Avail is building the unification layer for Web3. HTX Ventures is excited to support Avail on this journey and participated in the recently announced $43M Series A fundraise alongside Founders Fund & Dragonfly.”
“This Series A funding marks a pivotal moment for Avail as we strive to build the permissionless unification layer for Web3,” said Anurag Arjun, Co-founder of Avail. “With this new capital, we are poised to accelerate our development, expand our global presence, and continue to address the most critical challenges facing Web3 today, such as blockchain fragmentation, insufficient data availability, and limited scaling. Additionally, it will help foster partnerships and collaborations with other players across the entire Web3 ecosystem, which is mission-critical for Avail’s success.”
Recently, Avail has crossed a major milestone in its incentivized testnet, “Clash of Nodes,” with nearly 110,000 total accounts created, and 116 million transactions processed — ahead of its upcoming mainnet due to be launched in the next few weeks. HTX Ventures is excited to support prominent projects like Avail that are building solid infrastructure to enable a user-friendly decentralized future.
About Avail:
Avail is led by Polygon’s former co-founder Anurag Arjun and is building a unification layer to solve rollup fragmentation at scale. Avail addresses this from first principles solving blockchain scalability with Avail DA, a foundational DA layer which implements the same technology planned for Ethereum‘s danksharding roadmap, including KZG Commitments and Data Availability Sampling (DAS). Avail Nexus addresses growing fragmentation concerns with permissionless interoperability, leveraging proof aggregation on Avail’s scalable DA layer. Avail’s security is then reinforced with multi-asset staking through Avail Fusion. Start your unification journey today at availproject.org
About HTX Ventures:
HTX Ventures, the global investment division of HTX, integrates investment, incubation, and research to identify the best and brightest teams worldwide. With a decade-long history as an industry pioneer, HTX Ventures excels at identifying cutting-edge technologies and emerging business models within the sector. To foster growth within the blockchain ecosystem, we provide comprehensive support to projects, including financing, resources, and strategic advice.
HTX Ventures currently backs over 300 projects spanning multiple blockchain sectors, with select high-quality initiatives already trading on the HTX exchange. Furthermore, as one of the most active Fund of Funds (FOF) investors, HTX Ventures collaboratively forges the blockchain ecosystem alongside premier global blockchain funds, including Dragonfly, Bankless, Gitcoin, Figment, and Animoca. Visit us here.
