Funds from ATP will support the progress of Ascidian’s lead program in ABCA4 retinopathies, including Stargardt disease, and advance key pipeline programs
 in CNS and neuromuscular diseases

Ascidian anticipates filing an IND and initiating a first-in-patient trial in ABCA4 retinopathy
in the first half of 2024

Ascidian Board of Directors reinstates Ascidian founding CEO Michael Ehlers
to lead the company through its next period of growth

BOSTON, Nov. 8, 2023 — Ascidian Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on treating human diseases by rewriting RNA, today announced $40 million in Series A extension funding committed by Apple Tree Partners (ATP). The funds will be used to advance Ascidian’s lead program, an RNA exon editor to halt the progression of Stargardt disease or other ABCA4 retinopathies, and additional programs in the company’s pipeline. The company also announced that its founding CEO Michael Ehlers, M.D., Ph.D., will return as interim President and Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. Dr. Ehlers, who also chairs Ascidian’s Board of Directors and serves as Chief Scientific Officer at ATP as well as a venture partner at the firm, succeeds Romesh Subramanian, Ph.D., who is departing Ascidian.

“We thank Romesh for his contributions to Ascidian over the past 14 months, including his work to validate the company’s novel exon editing platform and progress its programs,” Dr. Ehlers said. “Ascidian’s approach to edit RNA at kilobase scales has demonstrated its potential in non-human primate studies, and today we are poised to submit our plans for human trials of what we believe will be a one-time treatment to preserve sight in people with Stargardt disease. This is only the beginning. The potential reach of altering RNA at this scale is vast.”

Today’s announced financing follows ATP’s initial $50 million Series A investment in Ascidian announced in October 2022.

“ATP created and incubated Ascidian with Mike Ehlers as the framer of the vision and architect of its groundbreaking exon editing platform, which defines a new class of RNA therapeutics,” said Seth Harrison, M.D., ATP founder and managing partner and a member of the Ascidian Board of Directors. “Our renewed investment in Ascidian is a resounding vote of confidence in the originality and brilliance of the company’s approach, the promising data to date, and Mike’s proven leadership.”

Ascidian designs RNA editors to replace multiple mutated exons simultaneously. Using this platform, Ascidian can edit genes too large to package in viral vectors and genes with high mutational variance, thereby addressing underlying causes of complicated genetic diseases that are beyond the reach of current gene therapy and base editing approaches. Because Ascidian’s technique does not introduce exogenous enzymes, the risk of adverse immune reactions is reduced. And because it does not modify DNA, the risk of off-target effects is decreased.

Earlier this year, Ascidian presented at the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy Annual Meeting (ASGCT) six-month data from its lead program establishing the production of therapeutically relevant levels of full-length ABCA4 protein following a one-time treatment with a single AAV-delivered RNA exon editing development candidate in the non-human primate retina. These data represent the most efficient and durable RNA exon editing via trans-splicing ever achieved in large animals.

Ascidian anticipates submitting an Investigational New Drug (IND) Application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its lead program in ABCA4 retinopathies in early 2024. Beyond its lead program, Ascidian is advancing programs with first-in-class potential in neurological and neuromuscular disorders.

About Ascidian Therapeutics

Ascidian Therapeutics, an ATP company, is redefining the treatment of disease by rewriting RNA. By editing exons at the RNA level, Ascidian therapies enable precise post-transcriptional editing of genes, resulting in full-length, functional proteins at the right levels, in the right cells, at the right time. With active discovery and preclinical programs in retinal, neurological, neuromuscular, and genetically defined diseases, Ascidian’s approach has the potential to treat patients with one dose of an RNA exon editor, opening new therapeutic possibilities for patients in need of breakthroughs. For more information, visit www.ascidian.com.

SOURCE Ascidian Therapeutics

• Led by Menlo Ventures, this funding will help accelerate growth through additional investment in product development and strategic partnerships, which will speed the adoption of AI across behavioral health.
• Eleos grew revenue 3X each of the last three years while developing three new CareOps Automation solutions for group therapy sessions, compliance automation and field-based care. 

BOSTON and TEL AVIV, Israel, Nov. 8, 2023 — Eleos Health, the leader in AI for behavioral health, today announced a $40M Series B funding round led by Menlo Ventures, with participation from F-Prime Capital, Eight Roads, Arkin Digital Health, SamsungNEXT and ION. Along with funding from existing investors aMoon and lool ventures, this round brings Eleos Health’s total funding to $68M.

In addition to fueling the company’s product development plans — which include new and enhanced AI solutions for group therapy sessions, compliance automation, case management, concurrent documentation and value-based care support — this investment will accelerate Eleos Health’s hiring efforts, expand its reach to serve more behavioral health providers and segments, and bolster strategic partnership development to bring more EHRs and industry associations into the Eleos ecosystem. The company plans to hire more than 50 people by the end of 2024.

“Experts have documented an urgent and critical need for behavioral health services in the US,” said Steve Sloane, partner at Menlo Ventures. “But unfortunately, many people still struggle to access the care they need. Clinician shortages, unsustainable caseloads and administrative burdens make it difficult for providers to meet demand. Eleos Health will close this gap with a platform that combines unparalleled clinical expertise and an advanced AI platform built on a foundation of LLMs specific to behavioral health. Their goal is noble: Drive better patient outcomes. And the data shows they are already doing just that!”

Since launching in 2020, Eleos Health — a CareOps Automation platform that leverages specialized AI models to turn behavioral health conversations into automated documentation and clinical insights — has charted an impressive growth path. In the lead-up to the Series B announcement, Eleos:

• Achieved 3x year-over-year revenue growth and is on track to do the same this year.
• More than doubled its customer base, quadrupling the number of providers using an Eleos solution and expanding to serve 23 states.
• Analyzed more than 3 million minutes of therapy sessions year-to-date in 2023, saving more than 300 days of documentation time across all providers and organizations.
• Expanded the product offering to support field-based providers in case management and community outreach, compliance management and group therapy.
• Published two major peer-reviewed research studies, including a randomized controlled trial that linked usage of the Eleos platform to improved outcomes for patients diagnosed with anxiety and depression.
• Grew overall headcount to 95, an increase of 56% year-over-year. Today, women comprise 51% of all team members and 40% of the leadership team at Eleos.

“At Eleos, we believe client-centered care can’t happen without a human provider at the center of the therapeutic relationship, which is why we focus on augmenting — not replacing — their ability to engage with and help clients effectively and efficiently,” said Eleos CEO and Co-founder Alon Joffe. “We started Eleos after personally witnessing the immense administrative barriers facing clinicians — through our own experiences and those of our loved ones. The providers will always be the heroes of the care story — we’re just here to help them write it better and faster.”

Dixie Casford, LPC, MBA, MLS, is the Co-CEO of Mental Health Partners, which rolled out Eleos earlier this year. “When we started working with Eleos, they made it clear from the very beginning that our team is important, our experience is important, and improved outcomes for clients and providers is important,” Casford said. “They understand that strong relationships are key to transformation, and now that they have the resources to build more of those relationships, they can propel more behavioral health organizations to the cutting edge in client care. This will be crucial as changing attitudes around behavioral health encourage more people to confidently seek the care they need. Innovative tools like Eleos can help providers not only meet this growing demand, but also continue setting a high bar for care quality.”

Former VA Secretary and current Eleos board member Dr. David Shulkin believes smart tech innovation is crucial to the overall sustainability of the U.S. healthcare system and the long-term health and wellbeing of providers and consumers alike. “Healthcare has changed so much over the last few decades — more regulations, more compliance requirements and more system complexity — but the quality of the provider-client relationship is still at the core of effective care, especially in a field like behavioral health,” Dr. Shulkin said. “And to deliver the most effective care, those providers need the space to focus on the human in front of them — which is why solutions like Eleos are so critical. By alleviating the administrative burden weighing down on providers day after day, these technologies lay the foundation for better care environments, better care experiences and ultimately, better care outcomes.”

To learn more about Eleos Health and current career opportunities, visit eleos.health.

About Eleos Health
Eleos Health turns behavioral health conversations into documentation and intelligence that drives better care. Leveraging proprietary, behavioral health-specific large language models (LLMs) created with treatment data and clinical expertise unmatched by any other platform on the market, Eleos accurately interprets, analyzes and documents behavioral health conversations, reducing the operational burden on providers while unlocking objective insights into evidence-based care and the therapeutic alliance. Leadership teams can scale supervision and training while gaining unprecedented visibility into staff activity, caseloads and performance as well as population health. Eleos is the only technology of its kind that embeds seamlessly into electronic health records (EHRs), telehealth tools and existing provider workflows. With Eleos CareOps Automation, behavioral health providers and health plans are setting a new standard for care. Learn more at www.eleos.health.

About Menlo Ventures
Menlo Ventures is a venture capital firm that strives to have a positive impact on everything we do. That’s why we support businesses including Carta, Chime, Harness, Poshmark, Pillpack, Pinecone, Roku, Rover, Uber and Warby Parker that are reimagining life and work for the better. Over 47 years, we’ve grown a portfolio that includes more than 80 public companies, over 165 mergers and acquisitions, and currently have $5.6 billion under management. We invest at every stage and in every sector, with expertise in Consumer, Enterprise and Healthcare. From developing market strategies to creating communities, we provide real impact where entrepreneurs need it most. When we’re in, we’re ALL IN. Learn more at www.menlovc.com.

SOURCE Eleos Health

Osmo’s discovery and development of novel scent molecules that repel insects and minimize insect-borne disease globally will be accelerated through support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 8, 2023 — Osmo, a machine olfaction startup, announced the receipt of a $3.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to advance the company’s AI-enabled scent platform for discovering and producing compounds that repel, attract, or destroy disease-carrying insects to improve animal and human health. The grant is in addition to a $5 million equity investment in Osmo that the foundation made at the company’s January 2023 launch.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that disease-carrying insects such as mosquitoes cause millions of deaths worldwide each year. Because insects rely heavily on their olfactory senses for navigation and locating potential hosts, scent is the most direct way to steer disease-carrying insects away from humans. Developing compounds with specific scents that repel or deter insects can effectively disrupt their attraction to human hosts, minimizing disease transmission and providing a targeted, efficient approach to insect control.

“New scent molecules that more effectively steer disease-carrying insects from human contact have the potential to save millions of lives,” said Osmo CEO Alex Wiltschko. “In the vast space of billions of potential molecules, only a few thousand have ever been screened for such capabilities. With generous support from the Gates Foundation, we’re using our AI Scent Platform to analyze this vast chemical space and discover novel agents that modify the behavior of insects to prevent disease and are effective, safe, and affordable for both human and animal health globally.”

This grant follows a proof-of-concept pilot previously funded by the foundation and published as a research paper in late 2022. In the pilot, the research team trained a state-of-the-art computational model on history’s largest mosquito repellency dataset to date. Evaluating the model experimentally on ~400 chemically diverse repellency molecules, the team identified eight molecules that were more repellent than that of the widely used DEET and Picaridin.

In the current project, Osmo will build on the proof-of-concept pilot with the primary aims of:

• scaling up the previous research at least tenfold by incorporating more data and more tests on more compounds;
• discovering through machine learning promising candidate molecules that are novel, inexpensive, and chemically diverse;
• developing predictive models to incorporate real-world constraints associated with the candidate molecules, including cost, spatial range, biodegradability, toxicity, and human odor perception;
• synthesizing, testing, and optimizing novel candidate repellents for advancement to human trials and ecological impact assessments; and
• leveraging this repellent model to demonstrate the efficacy of ML-driven discovery of novel mosquito attractants that outperform existing lures.

Osmo’s insect-control platform design leans heavily into recent advances in machine learning and generative AI, which enable – in a matter of seconds – the evaluation of billions of molecules for their potential effectiveness and safety.

“New machine learning approaches have major potential to speed up the discovery and design of improved mosquito repellents and attractants,” said Meg Younger, Assistant Professor in Boston University’s Department of Biology. “Osmo’s model shows great promise, and I’m looking forward to tracking the team’s progress in the coming years.” 

Osmo’s insect control work is part of the company’s mission to give computers a sense of smell to improve the health and wellbeing of human life. Core to this mission is a “map of odor” built by the Osmo team to predict what a molecule smells like from its structure.

“Osmo’s science revealed a surprising link between insect and human olfaction, with our map of odor predicting how molecules smell to humans as well as insects,” said Wiltschko. “Our mission to digitize olfaction will have many potential paths to make the world healthier and happier. All of us at Osmo are particularly excited about using our map to design totally new molecules to stop the spread of insect-borne disease.”

About Osmo
Launched in January 2023 with $60 million Series A funding led by Lux Capital and Google Ventures, Osmo fuses machine learning, data science, psychophysics, olfactory neuroscience, electrical engineering, and chemistry in a multi-disciplinary approach to digitizing scent. Osmo’s work is grounded in machine olfaction research that the team validated at Google Research, including a 2019 study that used Graph Neural Networks to predict the smell of a molecule from its structure. The company has begun work in the flavor and fragrance market to create a new generation of better, safer, environmentally-friendly aroma molecules. Over time, Osmo expects to work in domains such as public health and agriculture on solutions that help humans detect diseases earlier, track pandemics faster, grow more food, catch food spoilage, and ward off insects.

Contact
Jeannie Entin
646-460-9470
[email protected] 

SOURCE Osmo

• The development of Nubis Communications’ optical engine technologies – featuring high density and linear optics targeting the exploding Artificial Intelligence (AI) market – spurred the investment
• The startup’s executive team of industry veterans has demonstrated an optical engine power efficiency of 3 pJ/bit with a bandwidth density of up to 1 Tbps/mm
• By partnering with Nubis, TDK Ventures reaffirms its dedication to digital transformation through connectivity and improved computing networks

SAN JOSE, Calif., Nov. 8, 2023 — TDK Corporation (TSE: 6762) announced today that subsidiary TDK Ventures, Inc. has invested in leading-edge photonics innovator Nubis Communications to rapidly accelerate and scale their developments in optical engine technologies. Emerging from stealth mode in February 2023, the combination of Nubis’ strong executive team and industry expertise along with the company’s ability to achieve new standards in efficiency, density, and cbandwidth drove the investment.

An optical engine refers to the self-contained component of the optical transceiver, which is essential for realizing the conversion of data between electrical and optical domains. Electrical is the favored domain for compute processing and storage while optical is the preferred domain for networking and transmission. The technology of Nubis speaks to the advancements and efficiencies within that conversion.

Although growth estimates range, increases in electricity and energy consumption on information and communication technologies will continue in an exponential and upward trend. Industry experts have long asserted that efficiencies in connectivity technologies and infrastructure, specifically in data centers and communication networks, will be vital to keeping up with network demand while reducing energy consumption. Recently, the demand as accelerated dramatically due to the rise of generative AI. Addressing this specific industry challenge, Nubis has developed a next-generation optical engine platform that has demonstrated 1.6 Tbps connectivity at  3 pJ/bit efficiency  made possible by a novel 2D optical-fiber array and highly integrated silicon photonics. These advancements are uniquely scalable across industry applications. Nubis has already demonstrated record-setting linear optics operation which obviates the need for DSPs,   driving down power consumption and cost while driving up connectivity.

“The support of TDK Ventures is a huge opportunity for our team,” stated Dan Harding, Nubis CEO. “Not only does it represent financial support, but their network of connections, market expertise, and productization is incomparable. We are particularly excited to team with an organization that recognizes and wants to solve the hard problems of digital transformation and improved connectivity.”

TDK Ventures invests globally in early-stage startups that leverage fundamental materials science to unlock an attractive and sustainable future for the world. Nubis represents the potential for unmatched performance and connectivity, aligning with the expected megatrend of growth in information and communication technologies. Their vision to mature and scale their solution quickly to market requires investments from partners such as corporate venture capital funds.

The developments of Nubis stem from the expertise of founder Dr. Peter Winzer, who previously led Bell Labs’ fiber-optic transmission research. He has authored more than 500 scientific papers and received over 80 patents. Dan Harding, previously of Broadcom, serves as CEO of Nubis.

Celebrating the new partnership, Nicolas Sauvage, President of TDK Ventures, commented, “TDK Ventures sees a tremendous opportunity to partner with Nubis. They are a visionary team who have engineered a solution at just the right time as the network connectivity challenges we have long been confronted with are exacerbated by the explosion in Generative AI processing. Nubis high-efficiency, high bandwidth optics will unlock new performance in the data center.”

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 health and wellness, 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 Nubis Communications

Nubis innovates across photonics, electronics, packaging and manufacturing to create optics significantly more dense, scalable and lower power than existing solutions, breaking the I/O wall in data centers and enabling more advanced computing, AI and machine learning. For more information visit https://www.nubis-inc.com.

You can download this text and associated images from https://tdk-ventures.com/industry-breakthroughs-in-optical-engine-technologies-prompt-tdk-ventures-investment-in-nubis-communications 

Contacts for regional media

SOURCE TDK Ventures

Pioneering Fund aims to grow to $100 million for Former Military Personnel

NEW YORK, Nov. 8, 2023 — Bank of America is seeding a second round of financing for Veteran Loan Fund, doubling a two-year-old commitment that has already funded more than 500 small businesses built by former military personnel that have created or retained more than 3,000 jobs across 37 states. The fund’s first $15 million round, closed in 2022, was deployed in less than 12 months.

The Veteran Loan Fund is a national collaborative of a growing number of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) and specialized veteran service organizations providing responsible capital and technical assistance to underserved veteran entrepreneurs. The fund offers an online platform that connects military veterans and their spouses with mission-focused lenders and education partners to help them build and sustain small businesses. Eligible veterans benefit from below market rate funding and free business coaching.   

“Many veterans have the drive, discipline and leadership skills to fuel small business growth but lack the funding or network to help them grow. We have seen the benefits of low-cost capital in catalyzing entrepreneurship and are pleased to continue to support this work,” said Dan Letendre, head of CDFI Lending at Bank of America.

“Access to responsible capital is a key issue for military veteran entrepreneurs,” says Grant Bennett, Director of Veteran Programs and Operating Manager of the Veteran Loan Fund. “Now is the time to scale our impact within the veteran business community. We can only do this through the work of our CDFI partners and support of organizations like Bank of America.”

The Veteran Loan Fund plans to grow to $100 million across the nation by 2027, an amount equal to the estimated annual demand for capital from veteran entrepreneurs who lack any funding for their businesses. Its first $15 million round, fully deployed in less than 12 months, was made possible by a $5 million commitment of long-term, below market rate lending capital from Bank of America as lead investor in 2021, along with support from other major institutions. In this round, Bank of America will provide $10 million in support of the new $25 million fund.   

Bank of America is the largest investor in CDFIs, with $2 billion in financing to more than 260 CDFIs across all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia.

Veteran Loan Fund
Member CDFIs currently include: Access to Capital For Entrepreneurs (GA), Appalachian Community Capital (VA), Black Business Investment Fund (FL), Business Impact Northwest (WA), Colorado Enterprise Fund (CO), Dream Spring (NM), Economic and Community Development Institute (OH), Pathway Lending (TN), Justine Petersen (MO), PeopleFund (TX), Pursuit (NY), and Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corporation (WI).

Specialized technical assistance partners include: Bunker Labs, Vet Met, Vet to CEO, as well as local partnerships with Veteran Business Outreach Centers, SCORE and SBDCs.

For more information, please visit https://www.veteranloanfund.com.

Bank of America
Bank of America is one of the world’s leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 69 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 3,900 retail financial centers, approximately 15,000 ATMs (automated teller machines) and award-winning digital banking with approximately 57 million verified digital users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 4 million small business households through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and more than 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BAC).

For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements and other important information, visit the Bank of America newsroom and register for news email alerts.

Reporters may contact:

Susan Atran, Bank of America
Phone: 1.646.599.3300
[email protected]

Jenny Palecek, PeopleFund
Phone: 1.512.222.1005
[email protected]

SOURCE Bank of America Corporation

With a national network of experienced facilitators, Forum helps people find support groups for life transitions, health, relationships, career and more

Forum also announces a $5.3 million seed investment led by NextView Ventures

NEW YORK, Nov. 8, 2023 — Forum, a new marketplace for peer support groups that connects mission-driven facilitators with people seeking support for life’s greatest challenges, today announced its formal launch with $5.3 million in funding. The seed round was led by NextView Ventures and included participation from MBX Capital, Cue Ball Capital, Sahil Bloom of SRB Ventures, Romeen Sheth, Shaan Puri and City Light Capital.

Forum is a purpose-built marketplace platform that harnesses the power of human connection through virtual peer support groups. The marketplace has a rapidly expanding list of groups that cover topics like grief, loneliness, chronic conditions, substance use recovery, caregiving, relationships, and career.

Each of Forum’s support groups is led by an experienced facilitator. The company’s platform equips facilitators with the tools they need to create, grow and manage their groups. As a result, more facilitators can pursue their passion for helping people and create a new income stream without the administrative burden that typically prevents them from launching their own peer support groups.

Forum was co-founded by CEO Rajiv Kumar, MD, and President Lee Pichette, bringing together Dr. Kumar’s extensive experience in building and scaling group-based support models with Pichette’s expertise in helping people grow businesses in the “passion economy” at scale.

Dr. Kumar was previously the founder and CEO of ShapeUp, a venture-backed digital health company built on group-based behavior change models that was acquired by Insight Partners and Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group. Pichette previously served as SVP of Strategy at talent optimization leader Predictive Index where he recruited and led a national network of thousands of independent consultants, empowering them to grow their businesses while doing fulfilling work.

“I’ve seen firsthand the power of peer support groups to help people navigate challenges in their lives while also building a sense of community. Our vision is to create a world where peer support is accessible and affordable for everyone,” said Dr. Kumar. “Forum provides a unique digital space for people to connect, heal and thrive together – without having to leave the comfort of their home.”

“There are so many people who are qualified and eager to facilitate peer support groups on topics they are passionate about,” said Pichette. “By empowering these mission-driven facilitators to do their life’s work on a greater scale, we’re creating virtual peer support groups that can meet the diverse and specific needs of millions of individuals seeking support.”

Driven by a shortage of available mental health resources combined with a growing loneliness epidemic, demand for peer support groups has never been greater. However, traditional support group models are insufficient due to geographic constraints and a lack of specificity. People often turn to large online communities for peer support, but these channels are typically anonymous, asynchronous, and unmoderated, resulting in a lack of trust and authentic human connection. Forum solves these issues by delivering highly-specific, live, video-based and facilitated group meetings where meaningful relationships can form over time.

“Forum is the industry’s first marketplace that truly understands what consumers are looking for in peer support groups,” said Lee Hower, co-founder and partner at NextView Ventures. “As demand for peer support skyrockets, we’re thrilled to be partnering with a founding team that has a differentiated vision informed by its deep and unique experience.”

“As a long-time teacher who started working as a grief companion, I wanted to explore new ways to reach people beyond meeting with them one-on-one,” said Annie Adams, a Forum group facilitator who specializes in supporting mothers who have lost a child. “Forum gave me support to get my group off the ground, in addition to the freedom to design the experience I want for my members.”

Facilitators interested in becoming a Forum partner go through a vetting process, where they are evaluated on their education, skills, and experience. All facilitators complete a formal onboarding and training program, and they receive longitudinal feedback and professional development opportunities.

Individuals interested in joining a peer support group can visit Forum’s marketplace and search for a group that meets their requirements and availability.

About Forum
Forum is a marketplace that connects people with peer support groups to help them navigate life’s biggest challenges. Founded in 2022 by entrepreneurs Rajiv Kumar, MD, and Lee Pichette, Forum’s mission is to create a world where peer support is accessible and affordable for everyone. The company is headquartered in New York City and is backed by NextView Ventures, MBX Capital, Cue Ball Capital, Sahil Bloom, Shaan Puri, Romeen Sheth, and other investors. For more information, visit www.joinforum.com.

SOURCE Forum

NEW YORK, Nov. 8, 2023 — Fillogic, the leading technology platform for Channel-Free Logistics, is thrilled to announce the closing of its $13 million Series A funding round, led by Revelry Venture Partners (“RVP”). This capital will fast-track Fillogic’s product development and nationwide expansion of its highly efficient, sustainable logistics technology ecosystem.

Established in 2018, Fillogic’s platform revolutionizes the logistics industry by providing channel-free, adaptive solutions. Partnering with the largest shopping mall owners, Fillogic offers its customers a cost-effective and eco-friendly middle-mile logistics network, slashing logistics expenses by up to 50%. The company has grown 300% so far in 2023, adding new enterprises, digital brands, and platform partners to its expanding list of customers.

“Fillogic is reinventing the retail ecosystem for a channel-free future,” said Fillogic Founder and CEO, Bill Thayer. “Today’s consumer doesn’t think in terms of channels, so why should brands and logistics providers? This funding enables us to hire world-class talent to amplify our proprietary technology, further support our network partners, and expand our national hub network.”

RVP Managing Partner, Peter Liu, who will join the board as Director, echoed this vision, “If we were to design a national logistics network today, it wouldn’t resemble the traditional systems filled with costly hubs, planes, and trucks. It would exploit technology and APIs to harness the existing infrastructure’s full potential. Fillogic’s explosive customer and revenue growth is a testament to the value it has created for its ecosystem,” said Liu.

As part of this Series A round, Fillogic welcomes to its board Herb Shear, Founder and Executive Chairman at G2 Reverse Logistics, and Gene Spiegelman, Vice Chairman and Principal at Ripco Real Estate. Their expertise will enrich Fillogic’s insights into logistics technology and commercial real estate. The round also saw contributions from existing investors including XRC Ventures, Closed Loop Partners, Venture 53, Groundbreak Ventures, and Green Egg Ventures.

For more details, visit www.fillogic.com.

About Fillogic

Founded in 2018, NYC-based Fillogic is a channel-free, local market logistics provider that converts under-utilized space in retail centers like shopping malls into middle-mile logistics centers. Fillogic provides retailers a more efficient, cost-effective, and sustainable middle-mile logistics platform that enables partners to optimize existing stores, people and inventory. For more information, please visit www.fillogic.com, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Media Contacts:

Amanda Bell, Director of PR, XRC Ventures, [email protected]

SOURCE Fillogic

Director of Max Planck Institute’s Biophysics Department of Molecular Membrane Biology to advise Verseon on its platform and pipeline development

FREMONT, Calif., Nov. 8, 2023 — Verseon is pleased to announce that Dr. Hartmut Michel, winner of the 1988 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, has joined the company’s scientific advisory board. Dr. Michel’s work in X-ray crystallography established improved methodologies for crystallizing cellular membrane proteins and elucidating their structures.

Among the many awards and prizes Dr. Michel has received are the Biophysics Prize of the American Physical Society and the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize, the highest honor awarded in German scientific research. He has been a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences since 1995, an international member of the US Academy of Sciences since 1996, and a Foreign Member of the UK’s Royal Society since 2005.

Dr. Michel is the emeritus Director of the Max Planck Institute Biophysics Department of Molecular Membrane Biology and an adjunct professor at the University of Frankfurt. His research now concentrates on cellular respiration and active transport across cell membranes. The goal of his research projects is to fight diseases like tuberculosis and cancer.

“The advancements Verseon has made in quantum mechanical modeling of protein-drug interactions is extremely impressive,” commented Dr. Michel. “I look forward to working with them as they continue developing novel drugs for a range of major human diseases in which membrane-bound proteins are implicated.”

Verseon’s team is excited to have Dr. Michel join the company’s scientific advisory board. CEO Adityo Prakash said, “Hartmut Michel’s seminal work on membrane structure proteins has led to so much advancement in disease treatment. We are honored to have him on our advisory board.”

About Verseon

Verseon International Corporation (www.verseon.com) is transforming the delay, prevention, and treatment of disease. Using its Deep Quantum Modeling + AI platform, Verseon is rolling out a steady stream of life-changing medicines. Each of the company’s drug programs features multiple novel candidates with unique therapeutic properties. None of these candidates can be found by other current methods. Verseon’s fast-growing pipeline addresses major human diseases in the areas of cardiometabolic disorders and cancers. The company’s supporters and advisors include multiple Nobel laureates, former heads of R&D of major pharmaceutical companies, and various key opinion leaders in medicine.

Media Contact
Walter Jones
(510) 225-9000
[email protected] 

SOURCE Verseon International Corporation

After launching a StartEngine crowdfunding campaign on October 31st, Choose Your Horizon has already raised $100,000 for its at-home ketamine therapy platform.

AUSTIN, Texas, Nov. 8, 2023 — Choose Your Horizon’s first ever equity fundraising campaign is off to a successful start, hitting $100,000 in just 5 days. The campaign was launched on October 31, 2023 on the crowd investing platform StartEngine, quickly attracting the interest of the medical community, current patients and investors.

Choose Your Horizon has developed a proprietary telemedicine wellness platform, using clinical outcomes data, to connect patients with medical specialists who can prescribe at-home ketamine treatments for depression, anxiety, PTSD and to enable patients to get the most out of their therapy. Already the company has helped facilitate over 7,000 treatments for 1,600+ patients, of which 98% have reported an improvement in their symptoms.

Choose Your Horizon has experienced impressive growth in the last year with a 55% compounded quarterly growth rate. Funds raised during the StartEngine crowdfunding campaign will be used to continue Choose Your Horizon’s expansion into new markets beyond the 15 states where the company currently operates. The expansion will allow Choose Your Horizon to help thousands more patients who are currently struggling with mental illness with limited other treatment options.

As an added benefit, Choose Your Horizon is offering investors special time-based and volume-based incentives, including:

• Early Bird Bonus – Invest within the first 14 days to receive 5% bonus shares. Expiring on Nov 15th 2023.

Or

• Invest $2500+ for 5% bonus shares.
• Invest $15,000+ for 15% bonus shares.

“We are beyond excited at the level of support we’ve received so far in the campaign ” said Founder and CEO, Mark Holland. “It’s been an even stronger start than we were anticipating, and we fully expect to reach our funding goal.”

Those who are interested in investing in the burgeoning psychedelic therapy industry with one of the fastest growing at-home ketamine treatment platforms can visit the Choose Your Horizon StartEngine campaign page to learn more.

ABOUT CHOOSE YOUR HORIZON, INC.
Choose Your Horizon is a mental wellness company offering at-home psychedelic therapy for anxiety, depression and PTSD through telemedicine provided by certified medical experts. The company is dedicated to developing highly therapeutic customer journeys that are effective, affordable and accessible to all. 

Media Contact:
Rob Lee
202-963-1356
[email protected]

SOURCE Choose Your Horizon