NewSpring Health Capital IV targets high-growth, lower-middle market companies focused on technology-enabled healthcare services and niche clinical providers.
RADNOR, Pa., Jan. 2, 2024 — NewSpring, a family of private equity strategies investing in the lower-middle market, announces the final close of its oversubscribed fourth healthcare fund, NewSpring Health Capital IV (“NSH IV”), raising over $180 million. NewSpring Healthcare is a thesis-driven, domain-specific growth equity strategy, with over 20 years of experience investing in companies that help different segments of the healthcare ecosystem transform the way care is delivered to patients. NSH IV received strong support from existing and new investors, which include a diverse group of strategics, financial institutions, and family offices. Triago acted as exclusive placement agent for NSH IV.
“We partner with companies that influence healthcare by using technology and human capital in novel ways,” says NewSpring General Partner Dr. Kapila Ratnam. “Like our team, the management teams we invest behind are passionate about easing access to care, improving outcomes, and increasing efficiency while lowering costs.” NSH IV will continue NewSpring Healthcare’s decades-long history by investing in companies that evolve and shape high-impact sectors in healthcare.
The NewSpring Healthcare team focuses on proprietary deal flow, using primary and secondary research to identify sectors that have a meaningful influence on healthcare. NSH IV has already made six investments prior to the final close, including specialized pharmaceutical distribution services provider, AeroSafe Global; end-to-end sleep disorders management provider, BetterNight; cardiovascular staffing leader, Healthworks; mobile dysphagia diagnostics leader, Patheous Health; provider of business process outsourcing services to behavioral health programs, Prosperity Behavior Health; and industry leader in healthcare disclosure management technology and services, Verisma.
“The NewSpring Healthcare team has extensive expertise in different segments of healthcare. We rely on this experience and our networks to influence the way we deploy capital. Our LPs recognized this differentiating factor, and we are deeply grateful for their support in what proved to be a successful fundraise in less-than-ideal macroeconomic circumstances,” says NewSpring Partner Mike Kaplan.
Led by Dr. Kapila Ratnam, Mike Kaplan, and Brian Murphy, it’s that deep domain experience and passion for the sector that better positions the NewSpring Healthcare team to execute on strategic opportunities to help management teams grow their companies. A team of advisory partners round out the strategy’s healthcare industry expertise, including Pete Buzy, former CEO of previous NewSpring portfolio company Paragon Bioservices; Chris Bodine, former President of CVS Caremark; Bruce Downey, former Chairman and CEO of Barr Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; and Mark Pacala, a 30-year healthcare industry veteran.
With NewSpring Healthcare’s deep and growing deal pipeline of innovative healthcare companies, the strategy will continue to capitalize on the escalating opportunities and growing momentum within this segment of the market. NewSpring Healthcare invests from $10 to $25 million in lower-middle market companies that have between $10 to $100 million in revenue at the time of investment.
About NewSpring
Founded in 1999, NewSpring partners with the innovators, makers, and operators of high-performing, lower-middle market companies in dynamic industries to catalyze new growth and seize compelling opportunities. The Firm manages approximately $3.5 billion across five distinct strategies covering the spectrum from growth equity and control buyouts to mezzanine debt. Having invested in over 200 companies, NewSpring brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and resources to take growing companies to the next level and beyond. Partnering with management teams to help develop their businesses into market leaders, NewSpring identifies opportunities and builds relationships using its network of industry leaders and influencers across a wide array of operational areas and industries. To learn more, visit www.newspringcapital.com.
AVON, Conn., Jan. 2, 2024 — Constitution Surgery Alliance (CSA), a leading developer and operator of outpatient surgery centers, has announced that Hartford HealthCare Rocky Hill Surgery Center in Rocky Hill, CT, has been named to The Leapfrog Group’s prestigious “Top Ambulatory Surgery Center” list. This award is in recognition for the ambulatory surgery center’s clinical outcomes and processes that protect patients from harm and preventable medical errors. Only 27 ambulatory surgery centers in the nation were named to the list this year.
Hartford HealthCare Rocky Hill Surgery Center opened in 2019 in partnership with Hartford HealthCare, CSA and 13 local surgeons who specialize in ophthalmology surgery including cataracts, glaucoma and advanced retinal procedures. Every one of Hartford HealthCare’s seven acute care hospitals earned an “A” rating from Leapfrog for safety in the most recent 2023 rankings. “We celebrate the meaningful progress HHC and our partners at the Hartford HealthCare Rocky Hill Surgery Center have made to transform care and advance access, affordability, equity, and excellence for the patients and communities we serve,” said Karen Goyette, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer for Hartford HealthCare.
“Congratulations to Rocky Hill Surgery Center for being awarded one of the top 2023 ASCs in the U.S.! The entire team greatly deserve this recognition for our commitment to patient safety and outcomes.” said Geoffrey Emerick, MD, the center’s Medical Director.
The Leapfrog Group is an independent watchdog organization focused on health care quality and safety. The “Top Ambulatory Surgery Center” award is based on excellence in upholding quality standards across several areas of patient care including staffing, hand hygiene, infection rates, practices for safer surgery and error prevention. “This recognition is one of the toughest awards in the industry to earn. ASCs that receive this award have demonstrated an incredible commitment to patient safety and their community,” Leah Binder, president, and CEO of The Leapfrog Group.
Facility administrator Lorie Duzan has been with the Hartford HealthCare Rocky Hill Surgery Center since the facility opened. “Our surgeons and staff are the front-line champions who create a center focused on patient safety,” she said. “Their investment in fostering a culture of high reliability, transparency and excellence sets the tone for the entire team and translates into our daily operational performance.”
About Hartford HealthCare
With 37,000 colleagues, Hartford HealthCare’s unified culture enhances access, affordability, equity, and excellence. Its care-delivery system, with more than 500 locations serving 185 towns and cities includes two tertiary-level teaching hospitals, an acute-care community teaching hospital, an acute-care hospital and trauma center, three community hospitals, a behavioral health network, a multispecialty physician group, a clinical care organization, a regional home care system, an array of senior care services, a mobile neighborhood health program and a comprehensive physical therapy and rehabilitation network. HHC continues to receive national recognition for providing best-in-class quality and safety for all patients. Recently, Hartford HealthCare earned a perfect “A” grade for safety from Leapfrog at every HHC hospital, an accomplishment no other health system in the Northeast achieved. Visit Hartford HealthCare at HartfordHealthCare.org
About CSA
CSA is a leading developer and operator of outpatient surgery centers. Over the past 25 years, CSA has developed 26 surgery centers, including 15 hospital joint ventures, and has partnered with more than 500 surgeons and physicians. CSA’s surgery centers encompass 100-plus operating rooms that complete more than 100,000 surgical cases each year. For more information about Rocky Hill Surgery Center or other CSA award winning ASCs, please visit CSAsurgery.com
About The Leapfrog Group
Founded in 2000 by large employers and other purchasers, The Leapfrog Group is a national nonprofit organization driving a movement for giant leaps forward in the quality and safety of American health care, so consumers make informed decisions about their health and access safe, high-value care. For more information, please visit leapfroggroup.org
CardioMech received strong support by investors despite challenging environment because of its potential to be a category-defining Chordal Repair technology
MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 2, 2024 — Norway-based CardioMech AS, a medical device company developing a transfemoral, transseptally delivered mitral valve chordal repair technology in Fridley, MN, today announced it has closed on $13M in fresh capital ($42M to-date). CardioMech received strong financial support from existing and new investors, including a non-disclosed strategic investor.
The heavily oversubscribed round further demonstrates investors’ expectations that Chordal Repair may be a first-line therapy for Degenerative Mitral Regurgitation patients and, particularly for CardioMech, confidence that CardioMech can lead the market.
The CardioMech device is an artificial chord that is designed to reduce or eliminate regurgitation and to restore the native anatomy. This catheter-based therapy is intended to be a simple and straightforward procedure and an alternative therapy option for both patients eligible for open-heart surgery and those considered surgically ineligible. Therefore, the CardioMech device can potentially reduce the need for open-heart surgery and may lessen the need for watchful waiting in younger and healthier patients.
Mitral Regurgitation is the third most common cardiovascular disease that occurs when there is backward flow of blood across the mitral valve. It is highly prevalent, debilitating for patients, and deadly if untreated. The market is expected to be larger than the TAVR market, currently a $6B market.
“I am thrilled to continue building on a successful long-term collaboration with our existing investors in the development of this technology, as well as to partner with new individual investors that truly believe in this team and this technology,” said Rick Nehm, President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of CardioMech. “We are working together to achieve our objective to significantly improve the standard of care for the millions of patients suffering from degenerative mitral regurgitation.”
“There is a significant need for a less-invasive technology that can eliminate mitral regurgitation in younger and healthier patients and Norwegian- born CardioMech is developing a category-defining technology that may benefit patients suffering from mitral regurgitation around the world,” said Jacob Bergsland, MD, Founder of CardioMech. “CardioMech has the right technology, the right team, the right partners in the right market and we are excited to develop this profound technology.”
About CardioMech: CardioMech AS, a privately held company, is developing its transcatheter mitral valve chordal repair technology. Caution: Investigational device. Limited by law to investigational use.
Leading dairy products brands projected to benefit from Platinum Equity’s carve-out experience and operational expertise
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 1, 2024 — Platinum Equity today announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Horizon Organic and Wallaby from Danone.
Horizon Organic is the largest USDA-certified organic dairy brand in the world and is a pioneer in dairy beverages, having introduced the first organic milk available coast to coast in the United States in 1991. Horizon Organic’s portfolio of organic dairy products includes milk, creamers and whiteners, yogurt, cheese and butter.
The proposed acquisition also includes the Wallaby brand, an Australian-inspired Greek-style yogurt made with organic milk and premium ingredients.
“Horizon Organic is an iconic name in dairy that is well recognized and beloved by consumers,” said Platinum Equity Co-President Louis Samson. “The brand has earned a reputation for quality and innovation that is unmatched in the industry. We appreciate Danone’s confidence in our ability to build on that legacy and support Horizon Organic’s growth as a standalone company.”
The US dairy category is estimated at $68 billion with milk comprising approximately $17 billion of that total.
“Premium offerings, including organic and value-added products, are driving the growth in the dairy milk category,” said Platinum Equity Managing Director Adam Cooper. “Horizon Organic is a pioneer of that segment and is in position to continue capitalizing on and accelerating the trend.”
Platinum Equity has decades of experience acquiring and operating global businesses that have been part of large corporate entities. The firm recently announced the pending acquisition of Kohler Energy from Kohler Co. In recent years Platinum Equity has also acquired businesses from firms like Ball Corporation, Caterpillar, ConAgra, Emerson Electric, Ingersoll Rand and Johnson & Johnson, among others.
“We are excited about Horizon Organic’s potential as an independent business with a renewed sense of focus and a commitment to investing in its success,” said Cooper. “We have a lot of experience supporting food and beverage businesses. We look forward to partnering with Horizon Organic’s management team to ensure a seamless transition and chart a path for continued growth and expansion.”
Platinum Equity’s current portfolio includes Biscuit International, a European manufacturer of private-label sweet biscuits, wine producer Fantini Group Vini and seafood provider Iberconsa. Previous Platinum Equity investments include JM Swank, a food ingredients distributor acquired from ConAgra, and Harvest Meat Company, a US distributor of packaged meat and bakery products.
The proposed acquisition of Horizon Organic and Wallaby is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval.
Morgan Lewis is serving as legal advisor and Alston & Bird is serving as debt financing counsel to Platinum Equity.
About Platinum Equity Founded in 1995 by Tom Gores, Platinum Equity is a global investment firm with approximately $47 billion of assets under management and a portfolio of approximately 50 operating companies that serve customers around the world. Platinum Equity specializes in mergers, acquisitions and operations – a trademarked strategy it calls M&A&O® – acquiring and operating companies in a broad range of business markets, including manufacturing, distribution, transportation and logistics, equipment rental, metals services, media and entertainment, technology, telecommunications and other industries. Over the past 28 years Platinum Equity has completed more than 450 acquisitions.
About Danone (www.danone.com) Danone is a leading global food and beverage company operating in three health-focused, fast-growing and on-trend categories: Essential Dairy & Plant-Based products, Waters and Specialized Nutrition. With a long-standing mission of bringing health through food to as many people as possible, Danone aims to inspire healthier and more sustainable eating and drinking practices while committing to achieve measurable nutritional, social, societal and environment impact. Danone has defined its Renew strategy to restore growth, competitiveness, and value creation for the long-term. With 100,000 employees, and products sold in over 120 markets, Danone generated €27.7 billion in sales in 2022. Danone’s portfolio includes leading international brands (Actimel, Activia, Alpro, Aptamil, Danette, Danio, Danonino, evian, Nutricia, Nutrilon, Volvic, among others) as well as strong local and regional brands (including Aqua, Blédina, Bonafont, Cow & Gate, Mizone, Oikos and Silk). Listed on Euronext Paris and present on the OTCQX market via an ADR (American Depositary Receipt) program, Danone is a component stock of leading sustainability indexes including the ones managed by Moody’s and Sustainalytics, as well as the Ethibel Sustainability Index, the MSCI ESG Indexes, the FTSE4Good Index Series, Bloomberg Gender Equality Index, and the Access to Nutrition Index. Danone’s ambition is to be B-Corp certified at global level in 2025.
About Horizon Organic® Horizon Organic has been producing great-tasting organic milk since 1991. From the start, Horizon has remained committed to protecting a healthy planet and hasn’t stopped working toward raising the bar as a leading organic milk producer in the U.S. In 2017, Horizon Organic became a brand of Danone North America. Today, Horizon works with more than 600 family farmers across the U.S. For more information on Horizon’s full portfolio of organic dairy products, visit Horizon.com.
Funding will accelerate deployment of AI pilots to different classes of aircraft
SAN DIEGO, Dec. 29, 2023 — Shield AI, the defense technology company building the world’s best AI pilot for aircraft, today announced the expansion of their Series F funding round to a total of $500 million. An additional $100M in equity, raised at the Series F price, and $200M in debt from Hercules Capital were added to the initial $200M in equity closed in November.
“The defense and investment communities are seeing the profound impact AI pilots will have on national security and global stability. AI pilots solve the electronic warfare (GPS- and communications-jamming) problem that’s devastating 10,000 drones per month in the Russia-Ukraine War, and they enable the operating concept of intelligent, affordable mass, where swarms of affordable aircraft can accomplish missions normally reserved for expensive, exquisite aircraft.”
“AI pilots are becoming a strategic conventional deterrent in class with our aircraft carriers and guided missile submarines. But interestingly, it’s the first strategic deterrent that is software-defined and has only recently become possible because of advances in AI and compute power. That’s a huge paradigm shift for aerospace and defense,” said Ryan Tseng, Shield AI’s CEO and Cofounder.
“The defense and investment communities are seeing the profound impact AI pilots will have on national security and global stability. AI pilots solve the electronic warfare (GPS- and communications-jamming) problem that’s devastating 10,000 drones per month in the Russia-Ukraine War, and they enable the operating concept of intelligent, affordable mass, where swarms of affordable aircraft can accomplish missions normally reserved for expensive, exquisite aircraft,” said Brandon Tseng, Shield AI’s President, Cofounder, and former Navy SEAL.
Shield AI’s flagship product, Hivemind, is an AI pilot that enables teams of intelligent aircraft to operate and complete missions autonomously in high-threat environments, without the need for remote operators or GPS. Hivemind is an aircraft agnostic autonomy stack similar to the self-driving technology found in cars. It has flown quadcopters, the MQ-35A V-BAT, and the F-16. Next year it will fly Kratos’ XQ-58 Valkyrie. Shield AI has accumulated more autonomous flight hours executing fighter jet maneuvers, like dogfighting, than any company in the world.
Recently, Shield AI introduced V-BAT Teams, a first-of-its-kind software product powered by Hivemind that enables teams of V-BATs to execute missions, autonomously reading and reacting to each other and the environment just as a team of humans would normally pilot them.
About Shield AI
Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed defense technology company whose mission is to protect service members and civilians with intelligent systems. In pursuit of this mission, Shield AI is building the world’s best AI pilot. Its AI pilot, Hivemind, has flown a fighter jet (F-16), a vertical takeoff and landing drone (V-BAT), and a quadcopter (Nova). The company has offices in San Diego, Dallas, Washington, D.C., and abroad. Shield AI’s products and people are currently in the field actively supporting operations with the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. allies. For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn,Twitter, and Instagram.
UBTech is the first humanoid robot company to go public on HKEx
Qiming is UBTech’s early institutional investor, exclusively investing in its Series A round in 2015
UBTech’s listing is Qiming’s eighth IPO in 2023
SHANGHAI, Dec. 29, 2023 — Qiming Venture Partners’ portfolio company UBTech, a humanoid robot leader in China, successfully debuted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange today. The first humanoid robot company to list on the exchange, UBTech (SEHK:9880)’s issue price was HK$90.00 per share, valuing it at HK$37.60 billion.
At the listing ceremony, Panda Robot Youyou took to the stage and presented a mallet to Zhou Jian, Chairman, Executive Director, and CEO of UBTECH. In a pioneering move, Zhou Jian and UBTECH’s newest generation of industrial humanoid robot Walker S, holding another mallet, jointly hit the ceremonial gong, which has made a footnote in history and symbolically ushered an era of human-robot synergy.
As an early institutional investor in UBTech, Qiming has been a key supporter since exclusively investing in its Series A financing in 2015. The successful listing also marks the eighth IPO for Qiming in 2023.
Established in March 2012, UBTech is one of the few market players in the global humanoid robot industry. The company is dedicated to the research and development of humanoid robots, and design, production, and commercialization of smart service robot solutions. Notably, UBTech was among the first to commercialize while the sector was still at a nascent stage.
From 2020 to the first half of 2023, UBTech’s R&D expenditures account for an average of 56.5% of total revenue. The company holds over 1,800 registered robotic and AI-related patents as of June 30, 2023, including more than 900 invention patents and over 380 overseas patents. UBTech’s full-stack technology combines robotic technologies (robotic motion planning and control technology and servo actuators) and AI technologies (computer vision and voice interaction technologies), powering a range of integrated robotic and AI technologies (SLAM and autonomous technology, visual servo operation, and human-robot interaction), controlled through the self-developed Robot Operating System Application Framework (ROSA).
Leveraging advanced humanoid robot technologies, UBTech offers products and services across five main areas in AI education, smart logistics, smart wellness and elderly care, commercial services, and consumer-level robots. As of December 10, 2023, UBTech has served a broad customer base primarily in China and over 50 other countries and regions globally, with more than 900 corporate clients and over 760,000 units of robotic products sold during its track record period.
“In the field of hard & core technology, it’s essential for entrepreneurs to strike a balance between what’s technically possible and what the market needs. I am deeply convinced of the substantial and real market need for humanoid robots. Regardless of whether it takes ten or thirty years, we are committed to realizing our goals.” Said Zhou Jian, “Therefore, it is crucial for entrepreneurs to collaborate with investors who share a similar vision and focus on fostering long-term value. In this regard, Qiming Venture Partners has made a worthy example.”
Duane Kuang, Founding Managing Partner of Qiming Venture Partners, said, “Mr. Zhou’s commitment to the humanoid robot industry and his entrepreneurial drive to overcome challenges have impressed us from the start. We are proud to have supported UBTech’s journey to the IPO. Qiming is optimistic about the future of AI and humanoid robots, and we are bullish on Chinese entrepreneurs and companies who dare to innovate and break new grounds in these sectors.”
About Qiming Venture Partners
Founded in 2006, Qiming Venture Partners is a leading China venture capital firm with offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou, Hong Kong in China and Singapore.
Currently, Qiming Venture Partners manages eleven US Dollar funds and seven RMB funds with $9.5 billion in capital raised. Since our establishment, we have invested in outstanding companies in the Technology and Consumer (T&C) and Healthcare industries at the early and growth stages.
Since our debut, we have backed over 530 fast-growing and innovative companies. Over 200 of our portfolio companies have achieved exits through IPOs at the NYSE, NASDAQ, HKEX, Shanghai Stock Exchange, or Shenzhen Stock Exchange, or through M&A or other means. There are also over 70 portfolio companies that have achieved unicorn or super unicorn status. Many of our portfolio companies are today’s most influential firms in their respective sectors, including Xiaomi, Meituan, Bilibili, Zhihu, Roborock, Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals, Tigermed, Zai Lab, CanSino Biologics, Schrödinger, APT Medical, New Horizon Health, Sanyou Medical, AmoyDx, Berry Genomics, SinocellTech, UBTech, Yuanxin Technology, Caidya, Belief BioMed, WeRide, Biren Technology, among many others.
Fasal, acknowledged as a trailblazer in Precision farming, plans to utilize the funds to propel research and development, accentuating innovation in their proprietary farm IoT-crop intelligence technology, and development of advanced cross-industry data products to foster carbon-negative agriculture value chain.
Fasal’s commitment extends globally, utilizing the funds for business expansion in India, Southeast Asia and Africa reinforcing its dedication to promoting sustainable agriculture practices worldwide.
The company aims to expand and diversify its B2B brand, Fasal Fresh, procuring sustainably grown, fully traceable, and high-quality produce from its extensive network of growers covering 75,000+ acres of Farmland enabled by Fasal’s IoT-crop intelligence technology
TDK Ventures and British International Investment partners with Fasal to scale their game-changing innovations to market, representing a perfect example of technological progress to improve humanity
SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 28, 2023 — TDK Corporation (TSE: 6762) announced today that TDK Ventures, Inc. has invested in India’s full-stack agriculture pioneer Fasal, in an INR 100cr round co-lead by British International Investments to foster its innovative full-stack horticulture optimization solution and bring it to market. Fasal’s solution has already proven to improve crop yield and reduce operational costs at an affordable price to the individual farmer. This financing round provides further ammunition to Fasal in its mission to transform the Indian agriculture industry with its full-stack platform anchored on top of its patented IoT-crop intelligence technology and expand further to Southeast Asia markets.
TDK Ventures and British International Investment invests in Series-A round of agri-tech innovator Fasal and its full-stack precision farming solution
Since the commercialization of its technology, Fasal has worked with horticulture farmers spanning more than 75,000+ acres growing crops like grapes, pomegranates, bananas, apples, chili, cardamom, etc. by enabling them to grow more and grow better with its patented IoT-crop intelligence technology. Fasal’s farmers have reduced irrigation water consumption by 82.8 billion liters, pesticide reduction by 127,426 kgs, curbed GHG emissions by 54,965 MT, and have increased their yields and quality by up to 30% with the help of technology. Fasal has gone deeper into the value chain by building technology to predict the exact harvesting time, yield, and tentative quality and is utilizing this intelligence to bring this sustainably grown, traceable, and high-quality produce to the consumers via its B2B brand ‘Fasal Fresh’.
The company highlights that its technology platform has a traceable supply of over half a billion USD worth of produce, connecting seamlessly with demand across various consumption markets in the supply chain, ensuring 10x more efficient procurement thereby reducing wastages significantly. This technology platform empowers the company to synchronize supply with the most appropriate demand directly at the farm gate before the harvest itself.
Nicolas Sauvage, President of TDK Ventures commented on the alignment, “Partnering with Fasal represents a perfect example of two organizations with the passion for enacting positive change coming together to do good in the world. The Fasal team has created something incredible that addresses the critical needs of the Indian agricultural market and does so in a way that’s an equal-win for everyone. It’s a pleasure to get to work with them and help in even a small way to accelerate their solution.”
Shailendra Tiwari, Founder/CEO of Fasal, mentioned “We are delighted to welcome our new investors to the Fasal Family, with TDK Ventures and British International Investments (BII) co-leading this round. Their participation strongly validates the depth of innovation in our patented IoT-crop intelligence technology and its impact on making the horticulture value chain resilient to climate change and carbon-negative. We extend our gratitude to our existing investors for their unwavering faith and support as we reform the horticulture ecosystem. With this capital infusion, we plan to expand Fasal’s presence from 75,000 acres to 500,000 acres and enable our technology to deliver more to our farmers by providing them access to sustainable crop inputs, farm-level crop insurance, and working capital at lower interest rates. We will provide our buyers with sustainably grown, high quality, and traceable horticulture produce by further diversifying and strengthening our B2B brand ‘Fasal Fresh’.
In the race towards global food system resilience, we acknowledge our responsibility, and drawing confidence from our successful track record in India, we are excited to play a pivotal role in it.”
Ananda Verma, Founder of Fasal, stated, “With this funding, we’re on the brink of a technological revolution in horticulture. As the driving force behind our innovation, I perceive this as venturing into new frontiers, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in horticulture. These funds will amplify our exclusive farm IoT-Crop intelligence technology, reshaping the farming landscape. We envision a data driven behavioral change where each byte contributes to sculpting the future of agriculture. We’re not just enhancing crops; we’re orchestrating a symphony of innovation in the very roots of agriculture. From predicting optimal harvest times to establishing a sustainable, traceable supply chain, this investment propels us into a future where science, technology, and agriculture seamlessly intertwine. It’s not just a financial boost; it’s the catalyst for a technological metamorphosis that will redefine how we perceive, practice, and sustain horticulture in the digital age.” “In addition, we would to thank our investors such as, British International Investment (BII), the United Kingdom’s development finance institution and impact investor, TDK Ventures with contribution from ITI Growth Opportunities Fund, Navam Capital and Aureolis Ventures. The round also saw participation from all existing investors including 3one4 Capital, Omnivore, Wavemaker Partners, Genting Ventures, and The Yield Labs Asia Pacific.”
The essence of TDK’s mission, both as a global corporation and TDK Ventures, is defined by progressing technology for the well-being of all people. Fasal represents an exemplary case of entrepreneurial vision that is doing just that. Investing and partnering with Fasal, TDK Ventures is committing to bring their entire network and expertise to the disposal of impact scaling Fasal technologies, and together making the world a better place.
About TDK Corporation TDK Corporation is a world leader in electronic solutions for the smart society based in Tokyo, Japan. Built on a foundation of material sciences mastery, TDK welcomes societal transformation by resolutely remaining at the forefront of technological evolution and deliberately “Attracting Tomorrow.” It was established in 1935 to commercialize ferrite, a key material in electronic and magnetic products. TDK’s comprehensive, innovation-driven portfolio features passive components such as ceramic, aluminum electrolytic and film capacitors, as well as magnetics, high-frequency, and piezo and protection devices. The product spectrum also includes sensors and sensor systems such as temperature and pressure, magnetic, and MEMS sensors. In addition, TDK provides power supplies and energy devices, magnetic heads and more. These products are marketed under the product brands TDK, EPCOS, InvenSense, Micronas, Tronics and TDK-Lambda. TDK focuses on demanding markets in automotive, industrial and consumer electronics, and information and communication technology. The company has a network of design and manufacturing locations and sales offices in Asia, Europe, and in North and South America. In fiscal 2023, TDK posted total sales of USD 16.1 billion and employed about 103,000 people worldwide.
About TDK Ventures TDK Ventures Inc. invests in startups to bolster innovation in materials science, energy/power and related areas typically underrepresented in venture capital portfolios. Established in 2019 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of TDK Corporation, the corporate venture company’s vision is to propel the digital and energy transformations of segments such as next-generation transportation, robotics and industrial, mixed reality and the wider IoT/IIoT markets. TDK Ventures will co-invest and support promising portfolio companies by providing technical expertise and access to global markets where TDK operates. Interested startups or investment partners may contact TDK Ventures: www.tdk-ventures.com or [email protected].
About Fasal Founded in 2018, Fasal is a precision horticulture pioneer that leverages AI, Crop-sciences, and IOT to provide farm-level, crop-specific & crop-stage-specific intelligence enabling resource optimization (water, pesticides, etc) and higher farm productivity while procuring the high quality, traceable produce for an end-to-end optimized value chain play. At its core, Fasal’s mission is to empower farmers by solving for guesswork in farming. The full stack offering doesn’t stop at data analysis and imparting intelligence for growing better; it takes a step further. Under its B2B brand Fasal Fresh, it procures farm produce to secure the best market rates for farmers while optimizing the supply chain play. Fasal’s overarching brand mantra is simple but impactful: “Grow More, Grow Better, and Sell Better.” https://fasal.co/
DETROIT, Dec. 28, 2023 — According to a report Pessimism and Hope: A Survey of the Financial Status and Aspirations of Black Americans, by the Joint Center for Political and Economic studies, 75 percent of Black Americans could NOT handle an unexpected expense of $1,000. Change that dynamic in 2024 with the Life Culture Audit vision board app.
Ida Byrd-Hill 2023 Life Culture Audit Vision Board
Ida Byrd-Hill Photo
The Life Culture Audit app embodies the principles of Kwanzaa – Unity, Self-Determination, Collective Work and Responsibility, Cooperative Economics, Purpose, Creativity and Faith. These principles are needed to grow the spending power of Black communities from 1.6 trillion annually. While that figure is slowly increasing, many Black people, even those earning above $100,00, are not economically stable.
After investors refused to invest in the startup of Automation Workz, a tech training firm that assists low-income people of color acquire certifications in cybersecurity ops, AI & data analytics, tech project management and IoT, Ida Byrd-Hill sold her downtown Detroit residence, car and retirement funds. Ida believes economic stability comes with increased income and a positive mindset. Almost 4 years later of living in voluntary poverty, she has trained 100+ to move into a tech career and achieved her goal of affluence, again. Her secret weapon – Her 1-page Life Culture Audit vision board on her phone screen saver.
“I look at my phone 100 times a day. The vision board drives me to complete the mundane ‘little’ tasks to achieve my goal. It keeps me ‘fabulous,’ my favorite greeting response and excited at all times. In 2023, my goal was to double the revenue of Automation Workz and finance my vision,” exclaims Ida Byrd-Hill.
Ida created the Life Culture Audit vision board app to focus her learners on improving their lifestyle goals, daily. Her tech training completion rates are 75% with many of her learners having doubled or nearly doubled their salaries.
Here are learner success stories –
Kay from $35,000 to $130,000 as a Technology Engineer.
Jah from $50,000 to $130,000 for a Cybersecurity job.
Jordan from $45,000 to $92,000 as a Tech Trainer.
Miranda from waitress to Tech Support Engineer at $65,000.
Willie from $30,520 to $81,120 Robotic Restaurant Manager.
Demetrius from $50,000 before layoff to $85,000 as wealth tech analyst.
Timera from $40,000 to $70,000 as Cybersecurity Sales.
Stefan from $41,600 as Factory Worker to $64,708 as IT Analyst
The Life Culture Audit vision board app utilizes the power of visualization. What people reflect upon and speak, they attract like a magnet. If you see yourself as broke, you speak in broke language, you remain broke. If you see yourself with abundance, you speak in abundance terms and abundance is attracted to you. Ida knows this first hand as she has been using a vision board since the age of 15 where she matriculated from a Flint housing project to the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
In 2024, Ida plans a 10x revenue growth to train even more Black people for tech careers in multiple states.
Join her in 2024. Use the Life Culture Audit vision boarding app to create a pictorial vision of your desired income and lifestyle so the math adds up. Download the Life Culture Audit app from the Apple App store and Google Play for FREE. Share with your friends and colleagues. Attend one of our Vision Boarding Parties. www.autoworkz.org/life
Ida Byrd-Hill is CEO of Automation Workz. Ida has 30+ years of professional business experience, including management of $620 million as a wealth manager, $40 million as a mortgage loan officer, a headhunter placing tech executives and now the founder of a cybersecurity post-secondary school. Ida Byrd-Hill is a graduate of University of Michigan – Ann Arbor with a BA Economics and Jack Welch Management Institute at Strayer University with an MBA specializing in People Management/Strategy. She is author of 8 books, including Breakin’ Out of Your Financial Funk and Invisible Talent Market.
The company has trained DNN foundation models to make predictions about the behavior of vehicles and pedestrians in complex urban scenarios, as well as to predict the path an autonomous vehicle would take in those situations, which are critical ingredients of the decision-making capabilities for self-driving cars. Helm.ai leveraged its industry-validated surround view full scene semantic segmentation and 3D detection system as the core representation to enable training intent prediction and path planning capabilities. Additionally, the foundation models are trained using the company’s proprietary Deep Teaching technology to achieve broad predictive capability in a scalable way.
Helm.ai’s technology learns directly from real driving data and uses the company’s highly accurate and temporally stable perception system to capture information about complex behaviors of vehicles and pedestrians and the surrounding driving environment, leading to DNNs that automatically learn subtle yet important aspects of urban driving. The foundation models powering Helm.ai’s intent and path prediction gather input from a series of observed images and generate predicted video sequences that represent the most likely possible outcomes of what happens next. The models also provide a predicted path for the autonomous vehicle that is consistent with the intent prediction. Both the intent prediction and path prediction capabilities are essential for planning the safest optimal action by the autonomous vehicle.
Importantly, the Helm DNN foundation models for intent prediction and path planning are trained in the highly scalable Deep Teaching paradigm, enabling unsupervised learning about complex urban driving scenarios directly from real driving data. This approach circumvents cumbersome physics-based simulators and hand-coded rules, which are insufficient to capture the full complexity of driving in the real world. In particular, the Helm.ai development and validation pipeline, while optimized for high end ADAS L2/L3 mass production software, can also be directly applied to L4 fully autonomous applications. Moreover, the Helm.ai scalable AI approach readily generalizes to robotics domains beyond self-driving vehicles.
Helm.ai is building an AI-first approach to autonomous driving that is designed to seamlessly scale from high-end ADAS L2/L3 mass production programs all the way to large scale L4 deployments. The company’s software-only platform is hardware-agnostic and vision-first, addressing the critical perception problem for vision yet also incorporating sensor fusion between vision and radar/lidar as needed. The technology advancements announced today accelerate the value of Helm.ai’s software offering by paving the way for scalable development and validation of AI-based intent prediction and path planning software for autonomous vehicles.
“At Helm.ai we are pioneering a highly scalable AI approach that addresses high end ADAS L2/L3 mass production and large scale L4 deployments simultaneously in the same framework,” said Helm.ai CEO Vladislav Voroninski.
“Perception is the critical first component of any self-driving stack. The more comprehensive and temporally stable a perception system is, the easier it is to build the downstream prediction capabilities, which is especially critical for complex urban environments. Leveraging our industry-validated surround-view urban perception system and Deep Teaching training technology, we trained DNN foundation models for intent prediction and path planning to learn directly from real driving data, allowing them to understand a wide variety of urban driving scenarios and the subtleties of human behavior without the need for traditional physics based simulators or hand-coded rules.”
Helm.ai closed a $55 million Series C funding round in August 2023. The round was led by Freeman Group and includes investments from venture capital firms ACVC Partners and Amplo as well as strategic investments from Honda Motor, Goodyear Ventures, and Sungwoo Hitech. This financing brings the total amount raised by Helm.ai to $102M.
About Helm.ai Helm.ai is building the next generation of AI software for high-end ADAS, L4 autonomous driving and robotics. Founded in November 2016 in Menlo Park, CA, the company has re-envisioned the way AI software is built to make truly scalable autonomous driving a reality. For more information on Helm.ai, including its products, SDK and open career opportunities, visit https://www.helm.ai/ or find Helm.ai on LinkedIn.
