First-of-its-kind venture studio to commercialize deep technology in New Mexico with all-star roster of technologists and entrepreneurs.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Dec. 5, 2023 — Roadrunner Venture Studios today launched in Albuquerque, New Mexico backed by America’s Frontier Fund (AFF) and the New Mexico State Investment Council. Roadrunner works to commercialize American science and technology, especially ideas coming out of New Mexico’s world-class national labs and innovation ecosystem. The studio is focused primarily on building companies in critical technology fields including AI, quantum, energy, space, clean tech, and advanced manufacturing.

Roadrunner is led by industry heavyweights. AFF president and COO Jordan Blashek, AFF GP and veteran entrepreneur Steve Weinstein, and ICON co-founder Evan Loomis sit on the board of directors. Technologist Amotz Maimon is the studio’s Head of Technology and Product. The leadership is rounded out by Mike Chieco, Head of Business and Strategy, and Ashley Hudson, Head of Talent. The studio also boasts a strong local team who ensure close collaboration with New Mexico stakeholders.

“Roadrunner’s mission is to bring national resources to bear on places teeming with scientific talent and untapped innovation like New Mexico. We’re thrilled to anchor our work in this community,” said Roadrunner Head of Studio Adam Hammer. “Out of this new headquarters in downtown Albuquerque will spring our team’s work to build the nation’s premier platform for new deep tech ventures in America, for America.”

“Roadrunner’s model is unique. It’s exactly what the country needs to kickstart a new era of innovation,” said Roadrunner Chairman of the Board Steve Weinstein. “Roadrunner is pushing outside the box into territories beyond New York and Silicon Valley and into technologies beyond our imaginations.”

“AFF is proud that Roadrunner Venture Studios was our first investment,” said AFF CEO Gilman Louie. “By creating companies in critical technologies, Roadrunner is ushering in a new wave of American innovation and ecosystem building that will benefit not only New Mexico, but also the greater U.S. economy.”

Roadrunner will announce its first portfolio companies at today’s launch event. The launch will also feature a ribbon-cutting for the downtown Albuquerque headquarters, a fireside chat with Evan Loomis and Gilman Louie, two panel discussions featuring leaders from Playground Global, Khosla Ventures, and Prelude Ventures, studio portfolio company leadership, and a celebratory reception.

About Roadrunner Venture Studios:
Roadrunner Venture Studios is a company creation factory. We co-found breakthrough deep-tech ventures with the nation’s most brilliant scientists, engineers, and innovators. Our team gets involved at the earliest possible moment — often when a company is just a whiteboard scribble, a concept modeled in wire-frame, or as founders are puzzling through how to design a pitch deck or process payroll — and rapidly accelerates product development, commercialization, and recruitment. We are the ultimate company “starter-kit,” equipping our portfolio companies with everything they need to go from the kernel of an idea to a venture-backed growth engine. Our promise is clear: our founders leave our studio with a company, a check, a customer, and a team.

Media Contact: John Rich, 631-335-3530, [email protected]

SOURCE Roadrunner Venture Studios

Top Tier Capital Partners Leads Round With Support From Existing Investor Durable Capital Partners LP, Bringing Total Funding to Over $140 Million

BELLEVUE, Wash., Dec. 5, 2023 — Center, a software company modernizing expense management, today announced a $30M Series C fundraise. Funds from the Series C round will be used to accelerate innovation, broaden distribution, and drive to profitability. The round comes on the heels of Center’s integrated travel and expense launch, reinforcing the company’s mission to transform spend management with a card-first approach, usage-based pricing model, and expanded product offerings. The business has continued to scale with +64% customer growth year-over-year.

Amidst a backdrop of inflation and a rise in business travel, streamlining and controlling corporate spend remains a top priority for businesses. Center’s card-first approach delivers complete visibility and control of employee spend, eliminating patchwork expense systems and enabling better management of decentralized purchasing. Center will leverage its infusion of capital to continue developing new features and capabilities that address customer pain points of rigid ‘one-size-fits-all’ expense management and integrated travel and expense solutions.

One key area of innovation will focus on creating an open platform targeted at both vertical software developers and financial institutions. The company will offer client libraries and APIs that enable third-parties to embed card and expense management features into existing workflows. Insights from EY show the value of intelligent integration, noting that organizations can lower payment processing costs and gain visibility through a consolidation of payment types. The use of purchasing cards (p-cards) and corporate cards provide more control over small spend amounts if data is captured within integrated environments, resulting in up to 17% cost savings in travel and expense categories. 

“We are confident that how a payments platform integrates with other software packages will not only become a top priority for customers across industries but will also evolve into the most crucial payments differentiator,” said Naveen Singh, CEO of Center. “Opening up our platform and creating an ecosystem that can be deeply integrated, customized, and embedded natively inside of existing web and mobile applications provides value for the corporate customer, developer partners, and financial institutions alike. We see a fully integrated approach as the next frontier of innovation for expense management.”

“Center’s enriched tech portfolio underlines the company’s vision of providing a seamless, end-to-end expense management experience from sales to deployment,” said Garth Timoll, Managing Director at Top Tier Capital. “As evidenced by continuous business momentum and customer growth, their card-first approach is redefining what effective expense management is for the modern era. We look forward to supporting their growth in this next phase.”

“We believe in Center’s vision of building a modernized expense management experience and are reiterating our commitment to this partnership with our additional investment,” said Henry Ellenbogen, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer at Durable Capital Partners LP. “Center’s focus on expanding their tech stack and offering plug and play solutions increases value to existing customers and unlocks multiple entry points into the market, creating new opportunities to serve a broader range of customers.”

About Center
Center is a software company modernizing corporate card, travel, and employee expense management with one integrated solution. Our corporate card and connected software gives businesses real-time visibility into all employee spending, automates traditional expensing and accounting tasks, simplifies travel booking, and provides finance teams with the controls and data needed for optimal decision making. With a usage-based business model requiring no upfront investment, our card-first experience combines self-service configurability with first-class deployment to ensure customer success. Center is a privately held company headquartered in Bellevue, WA with team members nationwide. For more information, please visit getcenter.com.

Contact:
[email protected]

SOURCE Center

MIAMI, Dec. 5, 2023 — Enveedo, a cybersecurity company with an innovative approach to integrated risk management, announced today the closing of its $3.15 million seed funding round, led by Silverton Partners, a prominent venture capital firm based in Austin, Texas.  The round was also joined by Runtime Ventures and Blu Ventures who are both focused on the cybersecurity industry and contribute relevant operating experience in addition to funding.

The fresh capital will enable Enveedo to accelerate product innovation, attract top talent, and expand the market presence of the company’s all-in-one SaaS platform that enables organizations to affordably and seamlessly build and maintain cyber resiliency.

Enveedo’s integrated risk management platform guides Security and IT professionals through the process of building their security program. It starts by establishing leadership buy-in, identifying critical assets, and assessing risks using a growing library of API integrations. The platform then provides a tailored strategic roadmap with detailed recommendations and robust reporting. It enables all businesses – especially those with limited resources, capabilities, or expertise – to plan, execute, and continuously evolve an enterprise-grade cybersecurity strategy based on an understanding of their risk posture.

Luciano Salata, CEO of Enveedo, expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership, stating, “This investment from three prestigious VCs with deep knowledge of cybersecurity is a strong validation of our vision and hard work. With this support, we are poised to accelerate our growth and continue to innovate, improving cyber resiliency for businesses that are in desperate need of help and guidance to protect their crown jewels.”

Kip McClanahan, General Partner at Silverton, also shared his thoughts on the investment, saying, “Silverton is thrilled to partner with and support the Enveedo team as they accelerate their growth. What resonated with me is how quickly Enveedo can help customers comprehensively define a CISO-level playbook for identifying and protecting what’s most important to the business.  Enveedo’s automated workflow then guides their customers along a step-by-step roadmap for achieving their security goals. For businesses operating in today’s dynamic threat landscape, Enveedo’s product is timely and very impactful.”

To learn more about Enveedo’s industry-leading Cyber Risk Management Platform, visit enveedo.com.

About Enveedo

Enveedo is a Miami-based cybersecurity company, founded in May 2021. Its Cyber Risk Management Platform is an innovative approach to integrated risk management. The all-in-one platform is a force multiplier that enables IT and security professionals to plan, execute, and evolve a cybersecurity strategy that continuously defends against emerging cyber threats. For more information, visit https://www.enveedo.com/.

About Silverton Partners

Silverton Partners invests in entrepreneurs who are dedicated to tackling growth markets and building lasting companies. In partnering with Silverton, companies benefit from its vast network and expertise from decades of growing and investing in successful businesses. Silverton Partners is based in Austin, TX, and was the initial institutional investor for AlertMedia, Apprentice, Billie, Convio, SailPoint, Silicon Labs, Storable, Self Financial, SpyCloud, TrendKite, TurnKey Vacation Rentals, Wheel, WP Engine and The Zebra among others. Silverton Partners is Texas’s most active early-stage investment group with seven funds and over $640 million assets under management.  For more information, visit https://www.silvertonpartners.com/.

SOURCE Enveedo, Inc.

Temasek and Isuzu join Woven Capital and NVIDIA in a major round led by 83North

TEL-AVIV, Israel and SUNNYVALE, Calif., Dec. 5, 2023 — Foretellix, the leading provider of safety-driven verification and validation (V&V) solutions for Automated Driving Systems and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), has announced today that it closed a Series C funding round of $85 million, bringing its total raised capital to $135 million. The funding round was led by 83North. The new investors Temasek and Isuzu joined Woven Capital – the growth fund of Toyota – NVIDIA, and Artofin, which participated in the first closing earlier this year. All major existing shareholders participated, including MoreTech, Nationwide, Volvo Group VC, Jump Capital, Next Gear Ventures, and OurCrowd. Foretellix will use the funding to accelerate the development of its expanding product portfolio and address the growing worldwide demand for its solutions.

“We are thrilled to have Temasek and Isuzu join as investors,” said Ziv Binyamini, Foretellix CEO and Co-Founder. “Foretellix is driving a transformative leap forward in V&V technology and methodology. Our solutions address the largest barriers to safe large-scale deployment of autonomous vehicles while dramatically reducing development costs. We are committed to continue our partnerships with leading autonomy developers and supporting our customers. This funding round will secure our long-term sustained growth. It will help extend our product line for real-world and synthetic driving scenarios and the development of new AI capabilities.”

“Isuzu believes that safety verification and validation is essential for OEMs to responsibly develop safe autonomous vehicles,” said Mr. Hiroshi Sato, Vice President of Isuzu’s Engineering Division. “Foretellix’s advanced technology in automated scalable scenario generation, and their leadership position in the OpenSCENARIO® 2.0 standard, are key assets for Isuzu. Collaborating with Foretellix’s senior management and engineers is a great opportunity, and a major advantage, for Isuzu’s autonomous vehicle development.”

Foretify™, Foretellix’s Safety-Driven V&V Platform, is used by Automotive, Trucking, and Mining customers worldwide to accelerate the development and deployment of their Automated Driving Systems. The platform provides a unified V&V flow that combines real-world test drives and virtual simulation in one platform. It helps development, testing, and safety engineers at OEMs, Tier-1 suppliers, and Autonomous Vehicle providers to better collaborate and boost their efficiency throughout their AV and ADAS projects cycle.

Foretellix led the ASAM OpenSCENARIO^® 2.0 (OSC2.0) standard development, revolutionizing how safety is developed and tested in Automated Driving Systems. Foretellix contributed key syntax and concepts to ASAM, and it continues to lead standard enhancements. The Foretify platform is the industry’s first solution offering native OSC2.0 support.

For more information about Foretellix, visit www.foretellix.com, or email [email protected]

About Foretellix
Foretellix is the leading provider of safety-driven verification and validation solutions for Automated Driving Systems and ADAS. Foretellix’s Foretify™️ platform helps automotive, trucking, and mining customers to ensure safety, reduce development costs, and accelerate time-to-market. Foretellix is headquartered in Israel, with offices in the US, Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit https://www.foretellix.com/

Media Contact:
George Giles
[email protected]

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2293070/Foretellix.jpg
Logo –  https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1977129/Foretellix_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Foretellix

The distinguished roster of industry investors attests to Ionomr’s materials
as breakthrough technology for the green hydrogen economy

VANCOUVER, BC and ROCHESTER, N.Y., Dec. 5, 2023 – Ionomr Innovations Inc., developer and manufacturer of breakthrough, foundational polymer and membrane technologies for next-generation hydrogen applications, has closed a US$20 million Series A-4 funding round with returning lead investors NGIF Cleantech Ventures and Pallasite Ventures supported by Shell Ventures, Chevron Technology Ventures and Finindus, and joined by N.V. Bekaert, Asahi Kasei, Samsung Ventures and SAIC Capital.

“We are delighted to receive the financial support of industry players that represent the full spectrum of the hydrogen ecosystem,” said Bill Haberlin, CEO of Ionomr Innovations.  “The participation of leaders across our industry underscores that Ionomr is delivering proven competitive advantages to our customers and their system users. It reinforces that Ionomr’s Aemion^® is a viable solution for improving the economics in the hydrogen economy and that Ionomr’s Pemion^® enables higher-temperature operation, essential for fuel cells in next-generation heavy-duty transportation to succeed, while eliminating toxic “forever chemicals”.

Green hydrogen production, hydrogen fuel cells and efficient carbon utilization are critical to reducing emissions in hard-to-decarbonize heavy industries such as steel making, chemical production, long-term seasonal energy storage, heavy-duty transport, aviation and shipping.

The funding will allow Ionomr to further scale its ion-exchange membranes and polymers, Aemion® and Pemion®, that are fundamental to accelerating the hydrogen economy — from production of H₂ gas and chemicals through electrolysis to efficient use of hydrogen in fuel cells. Ionomr’s superior materials can make more efficient, cost-competitive solutions possible, including eliminating expensive precious metal requirements from hydrogen production, CO₂ electrolysis and supporting higher-temperature fuel cell solutions.

About Ionomr Innovations
Ionomr Innovations is revolutionizing electrochemistry with newly developed ion-exchange membranes and polymers for clean energy. Ionomr’s Pemion^® and Aemion^® technologies provide cost, performance and sustainability advantages for fuel cells, hydrogen production and carbon capture, use and conversion. Leveraging technology developed at Simon Fraser University, Ionomr was founded in 2018 and employs 51 professionals in Vancouver, Canada and Rochester, USA. For more information about how Ionomr is helping to advance the clean energy economy, visit www.ionomr.com.

SOURCE Ionomr Innovations Inc.

Investment fuels innovation to ensure patient safety and validate the use of AI in medical devices 

BOSTON, Dec. 5, 2023 — Ketryx, provider of the first and only connected application lifecycle management software for the life sciences industry, today announced that it has raised $14 Million in Series A funding. The round was led by investor Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors including MIT’s E14 Fund and Ubiquity Ventures, bringing the total funding raised to date to over $18 Million. Lightspeed partner Guru Chahal will join the board. The new funds will be used to accelerate product development and commercial expansion. 

The healthcare industry is embracing software and its promise to improve patient outcomes, including the power of Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning (AI/ML). As a result, companies are grappling with how to maintain quality assurance and regulatory compliance as more frequent software updates are required and software complexity grows.

“Our mission is to enhance medical software safety and reliability, reducing recalls and improving patient outcomes. Quality assurance is becoming more complex as software and AI rapidly permeate the healthcare industry,” said Ketryx founder and CEO Erez Kaminski. “We’re thrilled to partner with Lightspeed to further our mission, expand access to our platform, and meet the fast-growing market demand.”

Traditional manual approaches to software quality assurance are now inadequate and increasingly prone to human errors that could result in injury or death. The solution is to integrate automation and quality process enforcement into the software development lifecycle and quality processes. This ensures teams follow best practices and proactively empowers them to identify and mitigate risks before they affect performance.

With this objective in mind, Ketryx has assembled a team of experts who understand software development, regulation, and AI/ML. It includes professionals from the FDA, Wolfram Research, creator of the world’s largest AI-knowledge engine; and quality leaders from Amgen, one of the world’s leading biotechnology companies known for its high-quality practices.

In building out its solutions, Ketryx spent years designing products around FDA regulations and quality standards. The result is a purpose-built Connected Lifecycle Management platform that automates and aligns many of the manual tasks and processes, like traceability, required of medical software development and quality teams.

Customers can now automate much of what the industry has traditionally done by hand, including documentation, process enforcement, and traceability. In addition, development teams can refocus their time and use modern DevTools and DevOps practices. This is all possible because Ketryx overlays and transforms development tools into an FDA-compliant single source of truth for the total product lifecycle including automated documentation.

“As software becomes more intrinsic to everything we do as a society, there will be more regulation, especially where software impacts human health and safety,” said Guru Chahal, Lightspeed Partner and Ketryx Board Member. “It is key though that we enable technology companies to be compliant with regulations, without impacting the pace at which they innovate. That’s why Lightspeed is so excited about Ketryx – their platform is uniquely positioned to help companies around the world develop software faster while remaining safe and compliant.”

Ketryx is helping some of the top medical device manufacturers in the world streamline their regulated development processes to deliver safer software faster for connected medical devices, drug delivery systems, surgical robotics, imaging diagnostics, and regulated medical apps like digital therapeutics.

Ketryx uses its own software to build and release FDA-compliant cloud-based validated software regularly—the promise that has attracted so many early customers.

About Ketryx
Ketryx is the first and only connected application lifecycle management software for the life sciences industry. Our automation-based software enables companies building FDA-regulated software and AI-based applications to accelerate development through modern cloud-based tools while improving quality and compliance. Ketryx creates a real-time, and traceable, single source of truth by overlaying product development tools and connecting all items, risks, code, and tests. Teams reduce their time to market with automated documentation and improve their quality and compliance through the enforcement of SOPs across connected systems. Learn more at ketryx.com.

SOURCE Ketryx

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. and MOJAVE, Calif., Dec. 5, 2023 — Cambium, an advanced materials innovator for defense and other high-performance fields, announced a $19 million Series A funding round today. 8VC led the round, with participation from Veteran Ventures, GSBackers, Marlinspike, MVP Ventures, Gaingels, Kern Venture Fund, Jackson Moses (Founder, Silent Ventures), Vertical Capital, and select angel investors. DLA Piper provided legal counsel to Cambium on the transaction.

This significant investment underscores Cambium’s commitment to addressing critical capability and supply chain gaps to support current and future high-performance hardware needs across land, air, sea and space applications. These same innovations are widely applicable outside defense, from commercial aerospace to renewable energy.

This Series A round enables Cambium to build out staffing and R&D, rapid discovery-to-field demonstrations, and pilot-scale manufacturing. Each of the above will accelerate the development of its product pipeline, such as the advancement of next-generation Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) for defense tech and commercial applications.

Cambium’s TPSs are designed and fabricated to better protect various hardware against extreme conditions such as heat, fire and rapid-heating impacts, and from severe aerodynamic heating and pressure loads experienced during flight. Existing TPSs are slow to manufacture and severely supply-constrained. Cambium is developing alternative TPSs that exhibit similar high thermal stability and mechanical strength characteristics, coupled with easier manufacturing processes and a stable domestic supply chain.

More broadly, Cambium is supporting the generational shift in the defense industrial base from large, complex, manned platforms to autonomous, networked systems. This includes everything from the emergence of new platforms like UAVs and hypersonics to the need for lightweighting and improved fuel consumption across many platforms. Each requires material solutions that make products easier, faster, and cheaper to produce.

Cambium’s contracts include BioMADE (a prime contractor), as well as the bio-manufacturing arm of the Department of Defense (DoD), which drives the transition of bio-for-defense (B4D) products from the laboratory to defense and commercial markets. Cambium also works closely with the U.S. Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division and the U.S. Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering to develop a range of new high-performance biomaterials that can be industry certified and integrated into a broad set of high-value defense and aerospace performance systems. These range from hypersonic flight vehicles to enhanced survivability unmanned aerial vehicles to laser-protective eyewear and optics.

“The continuous advancement of next-generation hardware for air, land, sea and space applications also demands continuous improvements in advanced materials and associated supply chains used to fabricate and protect these hardware,” says Cambium co-founder and CEO Simon Waddington. “Cambium has closely collaborated with multiple arms of the US defense community and commercial innovators to build solutions to meet their ongoing requirements. The benefits of our vertically-integrated development approach, from computational material discovery through to production of advanced composite solutions, is designed for rapid innovation, production and deployment.”

According to Joe Lonsdale, Managing Partner, 8VC, “The rise of autonomous and software-defined systems makes the development of advanced materials that much more urgent. Cambium is a force multiplier for defense innovation, and we are proud to have supported their mission from the beginning.”

About Cambium

Cambium is an advanced materials innovator for defense and other high-performance fields. We are a one-stop shop for vertically-integrated innovation, from computational material discovery through to production of advanced composites in the US.  We leverage state-of-the-art advances in biology, chemistry, materials science, and AI-enhanced product development to accelerate the deployment of next-generation products. For more information visit Cambium at cambium-usa.com.

SOURCE Cambium Biomaterials, Inc

MBK Holding, an investment holding company with its main office in Qatar and a subsidiary in the United Kingdom, focuses on investing in technology startups. The Founder and Chairman, H.E. Sheikh Mansoor Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, member of the Qatari ruling family, formerly served for a decade as the director of information technology for The Council of The Qatar Ruling Family Affairs.

The announcement was held at the Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP) – Qatar’s premier hub for applied research, technology innovation, incubation, and entrepreneurship – by H.E. Sheikh Mansoor Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Founder and Chairman of MBK Holding, Jevgenia Kim, CEO of QANplatform, and Johann Polecsak, Co-Founder and CTO of QANplatform.

Besides the $15 Million technology-focused investment commitment, MBK Holding offers growth services to facilitate global market access and expansion for QANplatform. MBK Holding’s focus extends to various regional markets, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and United Kingdom while also encompassing other global opportunities. MBK Holding recently signed a strategic partnership with the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia to support entrepreneurial growth and innovation in Saudi Arabia by developing growth services that seek to create market-leading investment opportunities.

A Layer 1 blockchain platform, like Ethereum or QANplatform, is the basic infrastructure of all blockchain projects and applications. It is comparable to the operating system of a computer. It is the fundamental base layer on top of which the ecosystem can build endless solutions. QANplatform will be the first EVM-compatible, quantum-resistant Layer 1 hybrid blockchain platform where developers can code smart contract, DApp, DeFi, DAO, token, NFT, Metaverse, CBDC, tokenized asset, and robust Web3 solutions on top of the QAN blockchain platform in any programming language.

As a hybrid blockchain, QANplatform will have a private and public blockchain as well. In September 2023, QANplatform marked a new era of Web3 OS (Operating System) with the launch of the QAN Private Blockchain. QANplatform has unveiled the world’s first private blockchain that is both quantum-resistant (using NIST primary recommended post-quantum algorithm), and compatible with Ethereum‘s EVM, while also enabling developers to code smart contracts in any programming language.

One of the unique features of QANplatform, besides rapid cloud deployment or quantum-resistant security, is its ability to support smart contracts in any programming language. The QAN Virtual Machine (QVM) allows developers to write smart contracts in any Linux-Kernel-compatible programming language (like: JavaScript, Java, Python, TypeScript, C, C++, C#, etc.). This is a breakthrough for the whole blockchain ecosystem since most blockchain platforms are only compatible with the Ethereum smart contract language, Solidity. Out of over 26 million software developers worldwide only 200,000 can code in Solidity. Thanks to QANplatform’s invention of multi-language smart contracts, over 26 million software developers will be able to enter the Web3 space.

QANplatform’s ecosystem is building up with renowned companies such as Hacken, Beosin, or Alpine Esports. In February 2023, Alpine Esports, a Group Renault brand, and inter alia in the Formula 1® Esports Series signed QANplatform as its Official Blockchain Partner. In September 2023, QANplatform was selected to the Ernst & Young Startup Program as one of the nine selected promising startups in the technology and finance sectors, chosen from among hundreds of applicants globally.

H.E. Sheikh Mansoor Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Founder and Chairman of MBK Holding said: “MBK Holding proudly backs QANplatform, the game-changing quantum-resistant blockchain platform and nominates Johann Polecsak as the Director of Blockchain of MBK Holding. Blockchain technology in general, is still an untapped area with many opportunities and potential to transform entire value chains, sectors, and business processes. As a deep tech startup, QANplatform can lead the next wave of blockchain platforms with its remarkable features, including multi-language smart contracts and quantum-resistant security. QANplatform is a great fit for our portfolio and partner companies to discover and benefit from the potential of its technology.”

Johann Polecsak, Co-Founder and CTO of QANplatform said: “Working alongside MBK Holding and their team is truly an honor. QANplatform is driven by the vision of creating the safest and most user-friendly blockchain platform, enabling the development of numerous real-world robust applications that bring tangible value to various industries.”

Jevgenia Kim, CEO of QANplatform said: “The strategic partnership with MBK Holding opens up new horizons and elevates the potential of QANplatform to unprecedented heights. We eagerly anticipate exploring new use cases and targeted regional market expansions, thanks to the support and opportunities provided by MBK Holding.”

———————
About MBK Holding:
Founded by H.E. Sheikh Mansoor Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, member of the Qatari ruling family, MBK Holding, an investment holding company with its main office in Qatar and a subsidiary in the United Kingdom, focuses on investing in technology startups. In addition to investing, MBK Holding offers growth services to facilitate global market access and expansion. MBK Holding’s focus extends to various regional markets, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, and United Kingdom, while also encompassing other global opportunities.

Website: https://mbkholding.org

About QANplatform:
QANplatform is the quantum-resistant Layer 1 hybrid blockchain platform that will allow developers and enterprises to build quantum-resistant smart contracts and Web3 solutions on top of the QAN blockchain platform in any programming language. In February 2023, Alpine Esports, a Group Renault brand, and inter alia in the Formula 1® Esports Series, signed QANplatform as its Official Blockchain Partner. QANplatform was selected for the EY (Ernst & Young) Global Startup Academy 2023 Program.

Website: https://qanplatform.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/QANplatform
Contact: [email protected] (Jevgenia KIM)

SOURCE QANplatform

MENLO PARK, Calif., Dec. 5, 2023 — Sustainable construction aggregates startup ClimateCrete Inc. announced today the close of a $3.3 million series A funding round led by Capital K, a Silicon Valley VC firm specializing in deep tech startups, and joined by KAUST Innovation Ventures, the venture arm of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).

The firm also announced the appointment of its first CEO, Peter Hadrovic, a veteran Silicon Valley CEO, startup advisor and attorney.

ClimateCrete makes concrete production sustainable and more climate friendly thanks to a patent-pending technology that uses abundant local sand, instead of increasingly scarce imported sand, in a formulation that requires less cement, the main source of concrete’s CO2 footprint. Compared to conventional concrete, ClimateCrete™ has a significantly reduced carbon footprint and costs no more than comparable products.

“ClimateCrete’s technology transforms abundant but unusable local sand into a precious new commodity for the construction industry worldwide,” said Patrick Suel, Capital K’s Managing Director. “The resulting concrete is stronger while reducing CO₂ global emissions. Considering that the world is fast running out of construction sand, ClimateCrete is poised to radically change the economics and environmental impact of concrete applications.”

ClimateCrete’s technology was developed at KAUST in the laboratory of co-founder Jorge Gascon, Professor and Director at the KAUST Catalysis Center. His research was inspired by the fact that the vast sands of the Arabian peninsula were not, until now, suitable for use in concrete.

“Currently, only 5 percent of the world’s sand can be used for concrete. At ClimateCrete, we have developed technology that modifies the surface of the sand particles, making a much more durable and stable concrete” said Professor Gascon. “ClimateCrete’s modification process improves the quality of the concrete and reduces the need for cement, which is the source of concrete’s CO₂ profile. Transportation costs and CO₂ emissions associated with sand imports are also eliminated.”

ClimateCrete is delivering its first prototypes for concrete production to partners in Saudi Arabia, where more than $1.1 trillion in real estate and infrastructure projects are in development.

“The adoption of this technology presents an immense opportunity for Saudi Arabia,” said William McDonough, another ClimateCrete co-founder and KAUST Distinguished ResearchProfessor, recently named as one the TIME 100 most innovative leaders driving climate action. “With an executable first pilot program to prove its technology and solution, ClimateCrete is positioned to establish a path for unprecedented growth within the construction manufacturing industry in Saudi Arabia and the region.”

ClimateCrete’s new CEO, Peter Hadrovic, has 23 years experience in Silicon Valley as a CEO, startup advisor and practicing attorney. His most recent roles include CEO at Integrated Tactical Technologies, CEO at Sonitus Technologies, and SVP at Adamas Pharmaceuticals. Hadrovic began his career in Silicon Valley at the Venture Law Group. 

About

ClimateCrete is a US-based startup that converts previously unusable local sand into a sustainable new aggregate for concrete manufacturing, making concrete production sustainable by enabling production locally with a much reduced carbon footprint. ClimateCrete™ is the official, registered trademark of the patent-pending ClimateCrete™ process.

SOURCE ClimateCrete