CHICAGO, Nov. 15, 2023 — Lynette Montoya, a prominent figure in the hospitality and economic development sectors, has announced her investment in Dream Exchange, the first minority stock exchange, in formation.

Lynette Montoya serves as the President and CEO of the Latino Hotel Association. Since 2016, she has provided resources, education, training, and networking opportunities to Latino entrepreneurs in the hotel industry, facilitating wealth creation through hotel ownership and investment. Ms. Montoya’s dedication to her community extends beyond her professional endeavors. She is the founder of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she also served as its founding Executive Director. Lynette is married to James (Jimmy) Valdez, who is employed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory for 40 years. They continue to work together to make advancements in their community.

“Supporting initiatives like the Dream Exchange is not just a matter of financial investment, but a testament to our commitment to creating a more equitable future. As we strive for a diverse and equitable financial landscape, Dream Exchange is not just great, but essential in the movement to bring more access to underserved communities. I am excited to be a part of this groundbreaking journey.” – Lynette Montoya, CEO of the Latino Hotel Association

Dream Exchange Founder and CEO, Joe Cecala, emphasized the significance of Lynette Montoya’s involvement:

“Dream Exchange is pioneering a new era in financial markets We are thrilled to have Lynette Montoya join our investor network. Her expertise in the hospitality industry, her deep community involvement, and her leadership aligns with our values to bring humanity, access, and fairness into our capital market system.” – Joe Cecala, Founder and CEO

“Lynette Montoya’s investment in the Dream Exchange stands as a testament to the growing momentum of creating an accessible financial environment that reflects the diversity of our society. Her leadership and commitment to positive change continue to make a significant impact in the hospitality, economic development, and community service sectors. We are thrilled and inspired by her, and proud to have her join our investor community.” – said Managing Member of DX Capital, LLC, Dwain Kyles

About Dream Exchange 

The Dream Exchange is preparing its application and operations to become registered as the first minority company to operate a stock exchange in the history of the United States. In addition, Dream Exchange noticed that a transformative development is in the horizon that aligns seamlessly with the Dream Exchange’s mission:  The Main Street Growth Act, a bill that was introduced to Congress, will allow for the creation of a new type of stock exchange, called a venture exchange. If enacted, this legislation has the potential to usher in a new era for small and early-stage businesses, including minority-owned companies, and offers enhanced access to capital and expanded opportunities for growth. This bill furthers Dream Exchange’s mission to create equal access to a marketplace that instills ethics, humanity, and fairness into finance.

Visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn for more.

MEDIA CONTACT
Vanessa Jean-Louis
Vice President of Public Relations
[email protected]
1-773-914-1182

SOURCE Dream Exchange

SF and Toronto-based startup that aims to transform how developers build on the blockchain, launches first unified API platform for Web3

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 15, 2023 — Uniblock, a San Francisco and Toronto-based startup that’s transforming how developers build on the blockchain through its pioneering Unified Web3 API platform, is thrilled to announce a funding round of $2.3 million. The round includes participation from Cadenza, Blockchain Founders Fund, Side Door Ventures, AQN, Serafund, Outsider Ventures, and others.

Uniblock’s goal is to be the default developer platform that companies use when building for the blockchain. Today, blockchain development is fragmented and inefficient due to the time and expense involved to maintain the myriad of Web3 integrations essential for product success. Uniblock aims to unify this scattered market by connecting the best blockchain tools such as Alchemy, thirdweb, Moralis, Parsiq, Covalent, QuickNode and many more, into one easy-to-use platform. This milestone enables Uniblock to accelerate the development of its Unified Web3 API platform, integrating hundreds of top Web3 connections and endpoints into one tool enabling faster and more scalable blockchain development.

Co-founded by Kevin Callahan (CEO), David Liu (CTO), and James Liu (VP Eng), Uniblock was created out of the group’s shared vision to make blockchain development accessible and scalable. Kevin has a background in Product and Partnerships, was formerly at Coinbase and Twitter, and is an adjunct professor in Product Management at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) and an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Ivey School of Business. David is previously the co-founder of ANIFTY, an anime NFT marketplace that was acquired, and is an adjunct lecturer of blockchain at the University of Toronto. James was a lead engineer at ANIFTY, and a lead blockchain developer on several Web3 projects. He holds a degree in statistical machine learning and artificial intelligence from the University of Toronto.

Speaking about the investment, Aly Madhavji, Managing Partner at Blockchain Founders Fund, says, “Uniblock’s innovative approach to Web3 development holds the promise of transforming how blockchain products are built. We’re backing their mission to tackle this fragmented market with their easy-to-use Unified Web3 API platform. Their platform is a massive upgrade for any company that wants to build, manage, and maintain a Web3 product.”

Echoing similar sentiments, Kumar Dandapani, Managing Partner at Cadenza says, “We were immediately excited about the opportunity to work with Kevin, David and James. We’re acutely aware of the market need for their Unified Web3 API platform and have the utmost confidence in the team to execute on their vision.”

Uniblock envisions a future where every company can easily build for the blockchain and maintain their product using a singular platform. With Uniblock that future is today.

About Uniblock

Uniblock empowers Web3 developers by providing a single platform with access to all essential Web3 tools. We offer normalized data across various Web3 platforms, complete with backup and error handling. Our goal is to consolidate the top Web3 integrations into one comprehensive toolkit, allowing developers to scale their projects seamlessly. We’re committed to partnering with leading tools like Alchemy, ThirdWeb, Moralis, Parsiq, and QuickNode to streamline integrations across all Web3 categories, including DeFi, GameFi, NFTs, Tokens, Security, On-ramp, and more. With Uniblock, developers can trust in the consistent delivery of their data, even in the face of service disruptions.

Contact:
Kevin Callahan
[email protected]
+1 206-681-3007

SOURCE Uniblock

Martin Garcia, Former Genesis Managing Director and Co-Head of Trading and Lending, Appointed Co-CEO

NEW YORK, Nov. 15, 2023 — VersiFi today announced the completion of its Series A funding, led by Hunting Hill Global Capital. VersiFi will use this funding to launch a new digital assets trading and lending business backed by institutional-grade technology, an experienced management team, and partnerships with third-party custodians.

Martin Garcia, former Genesis Managing Director and Co-Head of Trading and Lending, has been appointed co-CEO and will lead VersiFi’s sales, trading, and lending functions. Established technology entrepreneur Sameer Shalaby, who founded VersiFi in 2022, will take charge of all non-trading aspects of the business, including the ongoing development of its low latency plug-and-trade platform.

“We are working with Hunting Hill to bring the best tradfi and digital assets talent together to build a stronger market environment,” said Sameer Shalaby, co-CEO, VersiFi. “Martin’s depth of experience and understanding of both markets and client needs are invaluable qualities that will help us achieve our goals. We are fully committed to developing a digital assets ecosystem that sees market participants working together to minimize risk and provide customers with a robust market structure that helps them trade responsibly.”

Martin Garcia is a skilled trading and financial markets leader whose experience spans both tradition and digital assets. He previously served as Managing Director and co-Head of Lending and Trading at Genesis, where he helped create and scale the company’s digital assets business, including developing market-pioneering products and services. He also led Genesis’s sales efforts and was responsible for client relationships, including those with leading hedge funds, market makers, lenders, and exchanges. Garcia left Genesis in August 2021.

“I’m excited to be joining Sameer and the talented team at VersiFi,” said Martin Garcia, co-CEO, VersiFi. “Institutional investors are ready for a reliable way to scale their activity in digital assets. They need the highest grade technology, risk management, and trading and lending services, which is exactly what we are building at VersiFi. Now is the right time to combine a high-touch trading mindset with Sameer’s seasoned tech-forward approach to markets.”

“The promise and potential of digital assets is still very clear,” said Adam Guren, CEO, Hunting Hill. “VersiFi’s talented team, which now includes Martin, has the experience across trading, lending, and technology to help evolve digital assets market structure in the right way. We’re excited to be working with them and contributing our own expertise to help realize this potential.”

About VersiFI
VersiFi is a digital asset trading and lending firm that combines a hightech platform with high-touch services to help institutions trade and borrow efficiently. VersiFi’s plug-and-trade platform provides a single point of access for trading, borrowing, and lending, as well as custody services provided by third-party partners. Led by a team of proven industry professionals, VersiFi is determined to help digital assets reach their fullest potential. For more information visit www.versifi.io.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Jennifer Berlin
Forefront Communications for VersiFi
+44 (0) 7375 288 641
[email protected]

SOURCE VersiFi

Norwest-led Financing Will Bring FDA-Cleared IntelliSep^® Test to Hospitals Nationwide to Support Early Detection and Treatment of Serious Condition

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 15, 2023 — Cytovale^®, a commercial-stage medical diagnostics company focused on advancing early detection technologies to diagnose fast-moving and immune-mediated diseases, today announced it has raised $84 million in Series C funding led by Norwest Venture Partners with participation by additional new investors Sands Capital and Global Health Investment Corporation (GHIC). The financing included participation from other new and existing investors, as well as the conversion of bridge notes. Cytovale will use the proceeds to bring its recently FDA-cleared rapid sepsis diagnosis test – IntelliSep^® – to more hospital emergency departments (ED) and health systems in the United States, addressing historical diagnosis lag time that makes sepsis the leading cause of death in U.S. hospitals.

“Sepsis is a dangerous, fast-moving condition that can result in death if not identified and treated quickly,” said Cytovale CEO Ajay Shah. “Our flagship diagnostic tool, IntelliSep, with a blood-to-answer time frame of under 10 minutes, helps healthcare providers recognize sepsis early and make critical, time-sensitive clinical decisions. With the support of our investors, we are now able to expand efforts to get our tool in the hands of more providers so they can address the potential deadly outcomes patients currently face.”

Sepsis – A Hidden Killer
Sepsis is the leading cause of death in U.S. hospitals, with more than one-third of all in-hospital deaths attributed to the condition. About 80% of sepsis patients present to the ED, where it can be difficult to discern from ordinary infections or other conditions that can mimic sepsis. ED providers are often tasked with making triage and treatment decisions with limited information in a complex and resource-strapped environment. As a result, sepsis patients can be either underdiagnosed, resulting in rapid deterioration, risk of organ damage and need for readmission; or over-diagnosed, which can lead to increased costs, unnecessary utilization of limited hospital resources, and the avoidable and sometimes serious health consequences of overtreating patients with broad-spectrum antibiotics. These errors and delays make sepsis the leading cost of hospitalization in the U.S, estimated at $62 billion annually.

Since sepsis is more prevalent in the U.S. than heart attacks and strokes combined, the related challenges are magnified because there has been no standardized care pathway to evaluate potentially septic patients. Existing ED sepsis tests and techniques are often not specific to the condition or lack the timeliness, objectivity and accuracy needed for ED use. Since the risk of death from sepsis increases by up to 8% for each hour that it goes untreated, a tool that enables providers to quickly and confidently recognize this medical emergency is urgently needed.

“Sepsis is one of the most deadly, complex and costly conditions faced by hospitals. Until now, healthcare providers have lacked a fast and reliable test to inform treatment paths,” said Zack Scott, M.D., general partner at Norwest Venture Partners. “Offering the first early-detection test on the market, Cytovale has the incredible potential to dramatically improve how our healthcare system gets the right care to the right patients at the right time. We look forward to working with Cytovale as IntelliSep revolutionizes care pathways for so many patients, improving their outcomes while also helping hospitals optimize utilization and operational excellence.”

IntelliSep – Fast, Actionable Diagnosis of Sepsis
IntelliSep is a transformative tool for hospital ED personnel who may suspect infection in patients. The first-of-its-kind host immune response diagnostic generates results in under 10 minutes using standard blood draws and can be seamlessly and efficiently integrated into existing care workflows.

IntelliSep takes a unique approach, assessing the body’s immune response to an infection by interrogating immune cell morphology and mechanics. In simple terms, IntelliSep squeezes white blood cells and characterizes their responses – which differ between septic and non-septic patients – using cutting-edge machine learning technology.

Cytovale’s rapid laboratory test provides valuable insights into potential sepsis diagnosis. The test provides a score, which categorizes a patient’s probability of having or developing sepsis within the next three days. Using that score, healthcare providers can quickly determine next steps for treatment with a higher level of confidence, potentially reducing the likelihood of poor outcomes from sepsis, including death.

Cytovale is working with select early access hospitals and health systems to implement the IntelliSep test as part of triage processes for adults presenting to the ED with signs and symptoms of infection. Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center was the first to implement IntelliSep, which has since enabled essential ED personnel to focus efforts on critically ill patients. In fact, IntelliSep reduced the number of all-hands-on-deck alerts in the ED by 80% relative to previous sepsis detection methods.

“The ability to detect the probability of sepsis early in patients who present to our emergency department allows us to focus our efforts and attention on our most critical patients and get them the support and interventions they need, saving precious time,” said Chris Thomas, MD, vice president and chief quality officer of Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System. “Not only are we saving lives, we are better able to channel our valuable emergency department resources in a meaningful way.”

TD Cowen served as financial advisor to Cytovale for this fundraising.

About Cytovale^®
Cytovale is committed to improving human health by pioneering early detection technologies powered by insightful assessment of immune activation. Comprised of an extraordinary team of life scientists, engineers, clinicians and dreamers, Cytovale intends to accelerate the time it takes to get from triage to life-saving therapies. Learn more about Cytovale and request to implement IntelliSep^® in your hospital or care setting through cytovale.com. For updates, follow Cytovale on LinkedIn and X.

About Norwest Venture Partners
Norwest is a leading venture and growth equity investment firm managing more than $12.5 billion in capital. Since its inception, Norwest has invested in more than 650 companies and currently partners with more than 200 companies in its venture and growth equity portfolio. The firm invests in early- to late-stage businesses across a wide range of sectors with a focus on consumer, enterprise and healthcare. The Norwest team offers a deep network of connections, operating experience, and a wide range of impactful services to help CEOs and founders scale their businesses. Norwest has offices in Menlo Park and San Francisco, with subsidiaries in India and Israel. For more information, please visit www.nvp.com.

SOURCE Cytovale

EMERYVILLE, Calif. and GRENOBLE, France, Nov. 15, 2023 — Injectsense Inc., a sensor-enabled digital health company, and sister company Injectpower, a developer of ultra-miniature solid-state microbatteries for medical applications, today announced combined funding of $9.4 million to bring highly integrated autonomous implantable devices – smaller than a grain of rice — to production.

The implantable sensors, which monitor key indicators over decades, offer a disruptive capability at a time when most diagnostic tools are a mere static snapshot. Physiological markers are typically dynamic and vary widely over a 24-hour period. Such is the case with glaucoma, where intraocular pressure (IOP) is measured in the doctor’s office during daylight hours. Injectsense sensors measure IOP continuously, even during sleep, when pressure can spike significantly and cause vision loss over the long term.

The funds will serve to further consolidate the two companies’ combined global supply infrastructure to create an advanced medical device cluster for implantables based in France. The cluster will streamline business opportunities, enable improved supply chain management, and support Injectsense’s February 2024 first-in-human studies for sensors that continuously measure intraocular pressure (IOP).

Injectsense already produces hundreds of prototype devices and is ramping up to thousands in 2024. Besides IOP sensors, it is also producing sensors for intracranial pressure (ICP) measurement and is building a path to cardiovascular pressure monitoring applications.

The funding consists of a $2.5M bridge investment from private investors for Injectsense as it moves into clinical IOP studies and final product development incorporating rigorous quality management systems. The funding also includes €6.5M (US$7M) for Injectpower, which is readying its energy-dense, solid-state lithium-ion technology for transfer to production.

“As a company driven by worldwide medical needs including learning more about the pathology of glaucoma, our infrastructure to support production must be global,” said Ariel Cao, CEO/president and co-founder, Injectsense Inc. “We are excited to be moving towards full-scale battery production with the unique capabilities of Injectpower in our medical supply chain cluster, which will support our work in human clinical studies.”

Injectsense funding use

Injectsense has provided sensors to Johns Hopkins University’s Wilmer Eye Institute for animal testing under the guidance of Dr. Thomas Johnson III, M.D. The Institute is currently completing its study. The company used recent funding from the NIH for the latest iteration of its sensor. This version will be used for first-in-human studies by Dr. Juan Jose Mura in Santiago, Chile. The study will be conducted over months, with data available in late spring (and earlier for Injectsense’s ophthalmic device partner), with the aim of collecting long-term safety and clinical data.

The study will allow Injectsense to finalize its product development under its quality system for ramp-up to clinical studies in 2025. The Injectsense board of medical advisors, including glaucoma specialists from leading medical institutions, actively contribute on design considerations and in particular safety aspects of the in-office delivery and self-anchoring procedure. The final product, iOP-Connect™, will offer continuous and autonomous long-term measurement of IOP 24/7 over decades, with weekly recharging and data uploads. The iOP-Connect data analysis software will identify clinically actionable information based on parameters specified by the physician.

Injectpower funding use

Injectpower funding comes from private and commercial investors that include the IDEC Group, business angels from the French Silicon Valley as well as Bpifrance and banking partners. The company was founded in 2020 based on 20 years of technology development at French research institute CEA, and more than 40 patents. Injectpower aims to catalyze the energy storage market for medical implants. The company is building a proprietary 200mm MEMS fabrication facility in Grenoble, France, that will produce the batteries and other components.

The company’s technology enables customization of rechargeable lithium microbatteries as thin as a human hair. The batteries are safe and among the smallest and most integrated on the market today, offering energy densities 5 to 10 times greater than current commercial capability, high reliability and a lifetime of several thousands of cycles. The first components have already been developed, characterized and tested on a pre-commercial 200mm microelectronic supply chain with support from CEA/LETI, for Injectsense.

“We are convinced that the Injectpower solution is a game-changer in energy storage for medical applications,” said Patrice Lafargue, president, IDEC Group, the leading investor in Injectpower through its investment fund Groupe IDEC Invest Innovation, and a major player in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics sector through its subsidiary IDEC Health. “Their vision addresses a true gap in this sector. We want to help the company to ready its product line and support them as they deploy this commercial tool in France.”

About Injectsense
Injectsense is a sensor-enabled digital health company that enables tracking of progressive disease indicators and assessment of therapy effectiveness. The company’s Silicon Valley and Twin Cities product teams combine cutting-edge advances in microelectronics with best-in-class medical device development and expertise. Its systems provide continuous, clinically actionable information through an implantable ultra-miniature sensor coupled with a secure digital health platform. Injectsense received Series B funding in April 2019 and is expecting to close a Series C round in 2024. Injectsense currently has development revenue from a major non-ophthalmic device company. It has established a supply chain with the capacity for hundreds of thousands of devices per month. The device is currently for clinical investigation only and is not commercially available. For more information visit injectsense.com.

For more information contact:
Tom Breunig
Director of Communications
Injectsense Inc.
(510) 847-1637
[email protected]

SOURCE Injectsense

OAKLAND, Calif. and NEW YORK, Nov. 15, 2023 — OrbiMed, a leading healthcare investment firm and Koya Medical, a healthcare company with a mission to transform venous and lymphatic treatments through novel, people-centric solutions, today announced the closing of a financing for up to $30 million. The capital will support the company’s strategic expansion and continued growth.

“We are excited to partner with Koya on its journey to deliver innovative offerings that can help millions of patients living with these chronic conditions,” said Matthew Rizzo, General Partner, OrbiMed. “Lymphedema treatments are an underserved area for many patients, and we are just beginning to understand the full impact these diseases have on patients’ daily lives. We are pleased to have OrbiMed join us along with our existing investors on this important mission,” said Josh Baltzell, Board Chairman, Koya Medical.

With the close of this financing, Koya is well positioned to continue the growth of its Dayspring treatment for lymphedema. “Lymphedema and chronic venous diseases have tremendous unmet needs where millions of patients suffer due to the progressive nature of these conditions and their debilitating impacts. With OrbiMed joining our journey, we will be able to make a stronger impact in improving patient lives,” said Andy Doraiswamy, CEO. “This partnership and funding will enhance our abilities to better serve our patients.”

About Lymphedema

An estimated 20 million Americans live with lymphedema, a progressive, incurable condition where a buildup of protein rich fluid causes painful swelling in the arm, leg, and/or other regions of the body. For most, lymphedema requires lifelong maintenance and various levels of therapy to control swelling and pain. Lymphedema can result from a variety of factors, including cancer, chronic venous disease, infection, and surgery. 

About Koya Medical

Koya Medical, a privately held company founded in 2018, is a transformative healthcare company developing breakthrough treatments for venous diseases and lymphedema and personalized care that is unavailable with traditional treatments. For company or product inquiry, contact [email protected].
Follow us on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/koyamedical/.

SOURCE Koya Medical

Kinetex’s Strategic Funding Round is led by Factor and Gnosis Chain, a community-owned EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) Layer-1 blockchain prioritizing credible neutrality.

GIBRALTAR, Nov. 15, 2023 — Kinetex, a trailblazing decentralized platform that enables highly efficient cross-chain trading, announced the successful close of its strategic funding round. Taking the lead are Factor and Gnosis Chain, a community-led EVM Layer-1 blockchain. This partnership empowers Kinetex to refine its groundbreaking trading approach to transferring liquidity between networks that eliminates the need to store assets in pools and leverages zero-knowledge (ZK) technology to achieve validation without relying on third parties.

“We’re excited to support Kinetex and its unique approach to incorporating ZK into cross-chain decentralized finance. With Kinetex Flash Trade, users are able to access many of the liquidity benefits and on-chain assets of centralized exchanges, but via a much more permissionless and credibly neutral system” says Ken Li, Partner at Factor.

“With the support of Gnosis Chain and Factor, Kinetex is poised to redefine DeFi,” says Tigran Bolshoi, Co-Founder of Kinetex. “Our upcoming innovations will significantly improve our existing decentralized cross-chain protocol, allowing users to instantly and securely move liquidity between networks without trusting third parties and without the need to store TVL (Total Value Locked).”

Kinetex is in the final stages of testing the Flash Trade mode, before launching on Gnosis Chain by the end of the year. This mode will implement Kinetex’s new resolving-based approach to cross-chain trading.

“Kinetex has effectively removed the need for liquidity pools and slippage in cross-chain transfers, epitomizing the level of innovation of DeFi projects building on Gnosis Chain” says Georgios Gontikas, Head of Bridges at Gnosis. “This partnership underscores our collective ambition: a more efficient and secure DeFi landscape.”

Gnosis Chain is the ideal testbed for Kinetex’s new technology because of their shared commitment to decentralization, transparency, and inclusivity. Secured by a network of 150,000 validators worldwide, Gnosis Chain is open to everyone without privilege or prejudice. Live information about the state of the network is available at https://gnosischa.in/charts.

For more information about Kinetex or to join the whitelist, please visit kinetex.io or join the discussion on Discord, Twitter, and Telegram.

To learn more about how Gnosis Chain can support your Web3 project, please visit gnosis.builders/developers

About Kinetex
Kinetex is a pioneering blockchain technology company that aims to revolutionize cross-chain trading. Tigran Bolshoi and Mike Shishko co-founded the company in 2023 and have already launched their first version of the liquidity aggregation, now available for users via the Kinetex dApp. They also won the competition at the ETH Global Hackathon in Paris this summer, where they showcased innovative Zk light clients, presenting a new standard for transaction verification.

About Gnosis Chain
Gnosis Chain is a community-owned Beacon Chain Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) Layer 1 blockchain that prioritizes credible neutrality. Secured by over 150k validators in 75 countries and counting, Gnosis Chain stands as one of the most decentralized blockchains, second only to Ethereum. Gnosis Chain’s agile development environment supports innovation and streamlines application testing and deployment.

SOURCE Gnosis

KYIV, Ukraine, Nov. 15, 2023 — u.ventures, a leading venture capital fund based in Kyiv, Ukraine, has invested $4 million in eight promising Ukrainian and one Moldovan startup since Russia’s full-scale invasion began on February 24, 2022. This marks a significant commitment to Ukraine’s resilient tech sector amid ongoing conflict.

The funded startups include Instock (Robotics Warehouse Automation), Haiqu (Quantum Computing Software), Cloudprinter (Global Print-On-Demand Network), NewHomesMate (New Construction Homes Marketplace), Speedsize (AI Media Content Optimization), Bloomcoding (Online Coding School for children), and three undisclosed companies. These innovative startups demonstrate the adaptability and determination of Ukraine’s tech entrepreneurs, as they continue building globally-oriented products and services despite enormous challenges.

“The Ukrainian tech community has shown remarkable resilience and adaptability in the face of adversity,” said Jaroslawa Johnson, President and CEO of WNISEF. “While 2022 was devastating on many fronts, Ukraine’s IT exports were one of the only industries to show growth. This is a testament to the sector’s robust innovation and focus on the future.”

She added, “As technologies like AI, AR, and quantum computing unlock new possibilities in the coming decade, we believe Ukrainian startups are well-positioned to lead and take advantage of the opportunities ahead.”

u.ventures was established by the Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF), a $285 million regional fund, which has over 29 years of experience investing in high-growth companies in Ukraine and Moldova. Even amidst the war, u.ventures remains committed to backing Ukraine’s next generation of global tech leaders.

About u.ventures: With more than two decades of successful experience investing in small and medium-sized companies in Ukraine and Moldova, Western NIS Enterprise Fund established u.ventures in 2017 to invest up to $1,000,000 in early stage tech startups (from pre-seed to Round A) with world-class teams and potential for a global growth. To date, u.ventures invested over $7.5 million in 23 Ukrainian and Moldovan startups. https://u.ventures/ 

About WNISEF: Western NIS Enterprise Fund (WNISEF) is a $285 million regional fund, a pioneer in Ukraine and Moldova with over 29 years of successful experience in investing in small and medium-sized companies. WNISEF was funded by the U.S. government via the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). https://wnisef.org/ 

Media Contact:
Liudmyla Markitan,
[email protected],
+380 96 833 5973

NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov. 15, 2023 — Climate tech company Bio-Logical has raised a $1m seed round to scale up its operations in Kenya, facilitating its mission to build climate resilient communities of smallholder farmers around the world.

Smallholder farmers are facing a dire outlook with faltering harvests, increasingly extreme weather and skyrocketing fertiliser prices becoming increasingly common due to climate change. Bio-Logical addresses this challenge through a circular economy, transforming waste into biochar, a super material that sequesters carbon for millenia and regenerates degraded soil. Their biochar is then incorporated into an organic fertiliser which is distributed to smallholder farmers in the region, regenerating land, increasing crop drought resistance and boosting yields by over 50%.

“Bio-Logical was founded on the belief that Smallholder farmers should not suffer at the hands of a climate crisis they have played no part in. At present, soil degradation and changing weather patterns due to climate change is directly threatening the livelihoods of 500 million smallholder farmers around the world.” Rory Buckworth, Co-Founder

Utilising its innovative technology, Bio-Logical’s first site will be the largest biochar production facility in Africa. It will transform over 30,000 tonnes of agricultural waste a year into biochar, sequestering 25,000 tonnes of CO2. This process will generate carbon credits, the revenue from which will be used to subsidise its resilience building fertiliser for smallholder farmers, boosting yields and reducing fertiliser costs.

“We believe carbon credits should do more than simply remove carbon from the atmosphere and instead should be used to build the resilience of climate vulnerable communities” Philip Hunter, Co-Founder

The funding round is led by the Steyn Group alongside Angel Investors Rob Konterman, Luke Calcott-Stevens and Jochem Wieringa. The round will go towards the development of Bio-Logical’s first Kenya site which will pave the way for its expansion throughout the region that will see the company scale to support 1 million smallholders and sequester 1 million tonnes of CO2 annually by 2030.

 For other enquiries please visit : https://www.bio-logical.green/

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2276223/Bio_Logical_Carbon_Team.jpg
Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2276222/Bio_Logical_Carbon_Logo.jpg