SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 18, 2023 — Spec, a leading cybersecurity firm specializing in advanced fraud detection and defense, is thrilled to announce the successful closure of its $15M Series A funding round, marking a significant milestone in the company’s journey. This funding round was led by SignalFire, with participation from Legion Capital, and Rally Ventures.
From its beginnings as a “hello world” prototype during the early days of the pandemic, the Spec platform has advanced to invisibly protect enterprises processing billions in online transactions. Today, Spec’s platform scans the entire customer journey, allowing for the identification of all threats and attacks, and then deploys active countermeasures, especially against the AI-powered attack tools that threaten to disrupt online businesses.
This funding round will power Spec’s continued growth and innovation. With this new investment, the company is poised to:
Advanced the Spec platform to deliver increased visibility and control over attack detection and exploit remediation
Expand its threat labs, the R&D powerhouse that deconstructs the tools and tactics used by modern attackers and develop countermeasures that neutralize their impact
Co-develop specialized products with partners that resolve the fraud problems that customers cannot fix with single point solutions
“I’m excited about our continued partnership with SignalFire, who led this funding round,” said Spec co-founder and CEO Nate Kharrl. “The firm’s deep expertise in cybersecurity and AI at enterprise scale is a perfect match for our mission. We’re equally grateful for the continued support from Legion Capital and Rally Ventures, whose insights and experience are invaluable.”
Kharrl further expressed gratitude to everyone who has been part of Spec’s remarkable journey, emphasizing that trust and support forms the very foundation of the company’s success. “I’m proud of what this team has accomplished. I’m also grateful for the support of the enterprise customers that helped us grow our platform into what it is today, bolstered by the incredible support and guidance of our board and investors,” he said. “We’re excited to forge ahead on our mission to protect customer journeys against a landscape of evolving threats.”
About Spec: Spec is a leading cybersecurity firm specializing in advanced fraud detection and defense, providing enterprises with unparalleled fraud security solutions. With a commitment to innovation, Spec is dedicated to protecting businesses against emerging threats and security challenges.
This California light-duty electric vehicle charging infrastructure incentives project will offer $38 million in funding for the deployment of Level 2 charging stations.
PASADENA, Calif., Oct. 18, 2023 — The Communities in Charge Project, implemented by CALSTART, has announced dates for its second round of funding since its launch earlier this year. The project is funded by the California Energy Commission’s Clean Transportation Program, and is supported in partnership with GRID Alternatives and Tetra Tech.
Beginning at 9 a.m. Pacific Time on November 7, 2023, and continuing through 5 p.m. Pacific Time on December 22, 2023, applicants can apply for their share of up to $38 million in incentives. Applicants will be able to submit their application documents through an online Incentive Processing Center during the application period. Once the funding lane closes, the project team will review applications and notify awarded recipients.
Incentives are open to a wide variety of project sites like schools, health care centers, local businesses, and communities. Projects able to show a high degree of readiness and those located within disadvantaged or low-income communities will be prioritized for incentives.
Prospective applicants are encouraged to view the supporting documents on the Resources section of the Communities in Charge website to learn more about the application process. A virtual workshop will be held on October 19, 2023, to give important updates about the incentives opportunity.
“We are thrilled to open the funding opportunity once again to communities across California. We hope that the increase in funding will attract a new wave of applicants,” said Geoff Cook, Clean Fuels and Infrastructure, Deputy Director, CALSTART.
Visit the Communities in Charge website to learn more, and can contact Communities in Charge at [email protected] to ask questions.
Communities in Charge is California’s market-accelerating, light-duty electric vehicle (EV) charging incentive project funded by the California Energy Commission’s Clean Transportation Program, administered by CALSTART, and supported in partnership with GRID Alternatives and Tetra Tech. Communities in Charge is designed to transform EV accessibility, rapidly catalyze new markets, and swiftly deploy Level 2 EV charging stations.
NEW YORK, Oct. 18, 2023 — Two grants from the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a four-year $3.2 million award and a 12-month $550,000 administrative supplement, will support innovative research to advance the understanding of how climate change and extreme weather influence HIV-related health outcomes around the world.
Houses submerged after a flood in Thailand
A multidisciplinary team of researchers from the CUNY Institute for Implementation Science in Population Health (CUNY ISPH) at the CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH), the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai will examine the effects of extreme weather events, such as heavy rainfall, hurricanes and drought on short and long-term outcomes of more than two million people living with HIV who have enrolled in HIV care at clinics in 44 countries around the world.
“Most of the 37 million people living with HIV are on treatment, which requires continuous access to antiretroviral medications both to ensure a normal life expectancy and prevent onward transmission of the virus,” says CUNY SPH Distinguished Professor of Epidemiology Dr. Denis Nash, executive director of CUNY ISPH and a principal investigator of both studies. “We know very little about the ways that extreme weather influences HIV outcomes and, by extension, its past and present influences on the trajectory of the HIV pandemic.”
“Drought and extreme rainfall threaten agricultural yields and pastoral conditions, increasing food insecurity, undernutrition, migration and infrastructure erosion,” says co-principal investigator Dr. Sheri D. Weiser, professor of medicine at UCSF and the director of the University of California’s Center for Climate, Health and Equity. “These climate-related factors likely also increase the risk of poor clinical outcomes among people living with HIV.”
Work on the four-year R01 award will combine data sources uniquely suited to characterize the influence of extreme weather on HIV care outcomes. The R01 will center on the global IeDEA cohort collaboration, which includes longitudinal data on more than two million people enrolling in HIV care since 2004 at more than 400 clinics in 44 countries. IeDEA data includes daily information on clinic visits, antiretroviral medication uptake and HIV-related laboratory tests that can be used to assess several key outcomes, including disruptions in HIV care and treatment, laboratory monitoring, HIV viral suppression and discontinuing care at a clinic.
The IeDEA cohort data will be combined with climate-related data sources, including high spatial resolution, daily data on temperature and rainfall data publicly available from UCSB’s Climate Hazards InfraRed Precipitation/Temperatures with Station Data (CHIRPS/CHIRTS), which is based on weather-related satellite imagery and weather station data. With these combined data sources, the team will conduct in-depth analyses to produce some of the first longitudinal studies of the impact of extreme weather on HIV outcomes over time.
“This is an important and novel application of some of UCSB’s flagship data resources,” says Dr. Frank Davenport, a co-investigator and associate researcher at UCSB’s Climate Hazards Center, which developed and curates CHRPS/CHIRTS.
The R01 project also includes a qualitative study among people living with HIV and key stakeholders in the Philippines and Rwanda – two countries vulnerable to and historically impacted by extreme weather events. The team will elucidate vulnerability and resilience factors as well as promising clinic and household adaptation strategies that are used in response to extreme weather events.
“This work will help provide important context and insights around the mechanisms by which extreme weather influences HIV outcomes, as well as approaches that are currently being used to adapt to climate change, both of which will be critical for our future work,” says Weiser.
“The HIV pandemic is heavily concentrated in geographic regions of the world that are also most vulnerable to the impacts of extreme weather, creating the prospect that climate change may be a significant barrier to the goal of ending HIV/AIDS as a public health threat,” says Dr. Andrew Maroko, director of the Geospatial Health Research Lab in the Institute for Health Equity Research at Icahn Mount Sinai. “Advances in spatial methods and geographic analysis have improved rapidly over the last few decades and are particularly well suited to this investigation. Because the study includes so many diverse geographic locations with data going back to 2004, we expect to gain insights about the specific types of locations where people living with HIV are most susceptible to specific types of extreme weather events.”
With the 12-month administrative supplement to the NIH-funded Central Africa IeDEA project (U01AI096299, MPIs Nash, Anastos, Yotebieng), the CUNY team will create a new Climate and Health Scientific Interest Group (SIG) within the global IeDEA network. Many critical HIV care outcomes that are the focus of IeDEA’s research, such as gaps in care, engagement in care, loss to care, viral suppression and drug resistance, remain unexplained by the universe of data currently collected within IeDEA. The new Climate and Health SIG within IeDEA will be a way to engage, share knowledge and support those among the 500+ investigators in the IeDEA network who also have an interest in climate and health research.
The project will also develop climate-related data resources specific to IeDEA to facilitate climate and health-focused research.
“We are trying to create a new research frontier within the IeDEA network focused on climate and HIV outcomes, which has further relevance for the larger group of IeDEA-engaged stakeholders, such as WHO, UNAIDS and PEPFAR, as well as for other health outcomes beyond HIV/AIDS,” says Nash.
The few studies on the topic have suggested that extreme weather has a negative impact on exposures and HIV outcomes; however, most have been cross-sectional. Findings from the work of these new projects will leverage longitudinal data over a period of decades, which will better characterize true causal relationships. This, in turn, can inform strategies to help mitigate the impacts of climate change and extreme weather on HIV care outcomes and the trajectory of the HIV pandemic. The team also expects that the work will be relevant for other chronic health conditions that require continuous access to care and medications, such as hypertension and diabetes.
The team is currently recruiting for a full-time Postdoctoral Fellow to focus on climate and health research, as well as a full-time Project Manager, to join the project team.
For media inquiries, contact: Ariana Costakes Communications Editorial Manager [email protected]
About CUNY SPH The CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH) is committed to promoting and sustaining healthier populations in New York City and around the world through excellence in education, research and service in public health and by advocating for sound policy and practice to advance social justice and improve health outcomes for all. sph.cuny.edu
About the CUNY ISPH The CUNY Institute for Implementation Science in Population Health (ISPH) was founded on the notion that substantial improvements in population health can be efficiently achieved through better implementation of existing strategies, policies, and interventions across multiple sectors. With that in mind, we study how to translate and scale up evidence-based interventions and policies within clinical and community settings in order to improve population health and reduce health disparities. The CUNY ISPH is also part of the NIH funded Einstein, Rockefeller, CUNY Center for AIDS Research.
About UCSF The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is exclusively focused on the health sciences and is dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. It includes UCSF Health, which comprises three top-ranked hospitals, as well as affiliations throughout the Bay Area. Learn more at https://www.ucsf.edu.
About UCSB The UCSB Climate Hazards Center, housed within the University Geography Department, is an alliance of multidisciplinary scientists utilizing climate and crop models, satellite-based earth observations, and socioeconomic data sets to predict and monitor droughts, food security, and health outcomes among the world’s most vulnerable populations. Through partnerships with USAID, USGS, and the Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS NET), the CHC provides early warning to save lives and secure livelihoods.
About the Mount Sinai Health System Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with more than 43,000 employees working across eight hospitals, over 400 outpatient practices, nearly 300 labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time — discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it. For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Company Announces $30 Million Seed Funding to Advance Proprietary Plasma-Powered, Tunnel Boring Robots
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 18, 2023 — Today, EarthGrid Public Benefit Corporation (EarthGrid PBC), a plasma boring technology and infrastructure development company, is announcing it has raised $30 million at the close of its seed funding, doubling the investment goal of $15 million. This brings the total equity raised by EarthGrid to approximately $50 million since its inception in 2016.
The $30 million will enhance the production of Tunnel Boring Robots (TBRs) which utilize a series of plasma-powered torches to break down geologic structures. The TBRs will be used to create a network of new underground transmission lines across the United States.
The $30 million includes more than $3 million from a crowdfunding on NetCapital where 1,514 individuals invested between $100 to $165,000. This option was offered to democratize the ownership of infrastructure and utilities.
“The entire EarthGrid team is excited about this funding announcement, especially with the current difficult fundraising environment. Not only did we greatly exceed our investment goals, but we received investments from hundreds of individuals, showing a breadth of excitement and support for EarthGrid’s goal of creating a network of underground tunnels to transmit clean energy and high-speed broadband across the U.S.,” said Troy Helming, CEO of EarthGrid PBC.
“This is just the beginning of our work to efficiently, safely and quickly expand underground transmission pathways, which are desperately needed to keep up with the rapid development of renewable energy and Americans’ increasing demand for electricity,” added Helming.
In addition to the seed funding announcement, EarthGrid also secured a binding term sheet with a prominent institutional investor to lead significant financing in early 2024. The company also expects to be announcing several projects including a major joint venture that will generate multiple years of revenue.
ABOUT EARTHGRID
EarthGrid is a private American company that was established in 2016. EarthGrid has developed proprietary, ground-breaking plasma tunnel-boring technology that can revolutionize the grid infrastructure in the U.S. and is poised to greatly increase the capacity to transmit electricity across the country to power America’s clean energy transition.
In addition to expanding electricity capacity, the project will also enhance the safety, security and reliability of grid infrastructure, housing critical infrastructure underground to avoid natural disasters that have repeatedly devastated grid operations and caused crippling power outages across the country.
The women-led social enterprise pitch competition awarded $50K to its grand prize winner
DETROIT, Oct. 18, 2023 — 1863 Ventures, an independent, Black-led national business development nonprofit and venture capital accelerator and Ford Motor Company Fund, the philanthropic arm of Ford Motor Company held their 5th annual HI-HERImpact Pitch Competition this past month in Detroit, Michigan. HI-HERImpact is a pitch competition designed to assist women social entrepreneurs scale their enterprises in order to increase their impact and long term sustainability.
The highly viewed event concluded with the organic period care brand, Femly, delivering a successful pitch to secure the grand prize of $50,000. Femly, known for its organic cotton period products and patent-pending dispensers, is revolutionizing the public restroom experience for individuals seeking a healthier and more sustainable period care option.
“Winning top prize in Hi-HerImpact is transformative for Femly,” says CEO Arion Long. “I was overjoyed to receive inbound customer interest for our period care dispensers during our pitch. The financial award, introductions, and support from this competition directly support our growth, job creation, and ability to scale.”
In addition, The Lab Drawer secured the second-place award, winning $25,000. This financial support enables them to continue offering STEM education to young individuals in disenfranchised communities. While, Black Girl MATHgic, which provides a monthly subscription box to foster confidence in math, secured third place. They also won the highest number of votes from both the in-person and virtual audience choice competition, granting them a total prize of $20,000.
“We are thrilled to celebrate our winners for their dedication and drive to create positive changes within their communities. These businesses are a testament to the power of innovation and showcase how diverse voices can truly make a change” says 1863 Ventures Founder, Melissa Bradley. “HI-HERImpact’s 5th year was an incredible success and we are inspired for the years to come.”
Visit 1863 Ventures YouTube to watch the full HI-HERImpact pitch competition. For more information on upcoming competitions and the initiatives 1863 Ventures is leading, visit 1863Ventures.net.
About 1863 Ventures: 1863 Ventures is a leader in providing culturally competent accelerator programs, non-dilutive financing, and mentorship to Black, Latino, and other historically underestimated entrepreneurs. By addressing the unique needs of this demographic, 1863 Ventures assists entrepreneurs in transforming high-potential business ideas into high-growth, profitable companies that generate jobs and wealth for their communities. Learn more at 1863ventures.net.
LAUNCH Fund leads the round, supporting Anyplace’s mission to redefine the future of living and working
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 18, 2023 — Anyplace, a short-term rental company specializing in remote work-friendly accommodations complete with high-speed internet and efficient office setups, announces its $10.27 million Series B funding round. An $8.27 million was raised as equity, while a strategic $2 million in debt was secured from Silicon Valley Bank. Spearheaded by the LAUNCH Fund and its founder, Jason Calacanis, the investment underscores the growing demand for flexible, work-friendly housing solutions. Additionally, Michael Savino, President of the LAUNCH Fund, is a new addition to Anyplace’s board. The funding initiative also garnered support from a roster of prominent investors, including CapitalX, Gaingels, Riverside Ventures, Potluck Ventures, MSIVC, FreakOut Shinsei Fund, Delight Ventures and several influential individual backers.
“Anyplace is the premier provider of specialized remote-friendly accommodations for today’s digital nomad,” says President of LAUNCH, Michael Savino “Their vision is aligned with the future of work and we are excited to support their next growth chapter.”
The company’s rapid growth can be credited to strategic partnerships with real estate giants such as Greystar, Avalon Bay and UDR. Altogether, this latest round brings Anyplace’s total funding to $18 million. They have a distinguished presence currently in four major US cities: San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles and San Diego, with ambitious plans to expand further across the nation anticipated in Q4 2023.
“Since our inception, our goal has been to offer individuals the freedom to travel with confidence without compromising productivity,” says CEO and Founder, Steve Satoru Naito. “This funding is not just a testament to our past achievements but a beacon for our future. With the unwavering support of our investors, partners and the Anyplace community, we are excited to continue to pioneer remote work-friendly accommodations in the post-pandemic world.”
Short-term apartment rentals are available for bookings in San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles and San Diego. Visit www.anyplace.com to learn more.
About Anyplace Anyplace offers fully furnished apartments tailored for 30+ day stays, featuring high-speed internet and home office setups. They are currently located in San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, and San Diego, with plans for national expansion in Q4 2023. For more information, please visit www.anyplace.com.
About Steve Satoru Naito Steve Satoru Naito is the Co-founder and CEO of Anyplace and is dedicated to his dream of establishing a global product on par with giants like Airbnb. Steve holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Rikkyo University in Tokyo. He has also landed a coveted spot on the prestigious Forbes 30 Under 30 list in Japan where he credits much of his development to Silicon Valley’s business culture. As a digital nomad himself, he encourages others to join the nomadic movement and see the world while maintaining their work productivity.
PROVO, Utah, Oct. 18, 2023 — RevRoad Capital (RRC), a seed-stage venture fund designed to scale founders faster, announced today a $61 million final close of its first fund, marking the largest debut early stage venture fund raise in Utah state history and fourth largest debut in the mountain region, according to Pitchbook.
Under the leadership of Executive Managing Director David Mann and Managing Directors Rachelle Morris, Scott Petersen and Bart Skalla, RevRoad Capital closed its debut fund during the most challenging environment for first time fund managers in recent history. Of all debut early stage venture funds launched in the U.S. in 2022, RevRoad Capital closed the largest fund between the Coasts and counts 30 percent of its LPs as women investors.
“We launched RevRoad Capital in 2022 as a sister company to ‘venture services’ firm RevRoad, to help drive greater success for innovation-driven startups and to scale founders faster. Our founding team’s proven track record and our capital, paired with RevRoad’s mature entrepreneurial ecosystem, fills a gap in today’s modern venture capital business model that was sorely needed,” said Mann. “Our ability to raise this debut fund is a direct reflection of these combined strengths. We’re already attracting dynamic founders and have begun investing in the next generation of global companies, such as Hypercraft, Particl, Kinectify, Halosight and Sierra Innovations.”
RevRoad Capital will support high-potential, transformative founders and teams in the U.S., spanning industries such as electric vehicles, artificial intelligence, SaaS, manufacturing and more. The fund’s investors are successful entrepreneurs and operators in Utah and across the country, who recognize the legitimacy of RevRoad and RevRoad Capital working in tandem to help founders with valid business models scale faster.
“Utah is one of the top states in the country for entrepreneurial women, and it has been exciting for our team to receive the financial backing of many successful women as we’ve raised our fund. When you look at what we’re building and how we’re building, you cannot separate women from men in the story of RevRoad Capital. We are all working together,” said Morris.
RevRoad Capital is positioned to capitalize on Utah’s growing cohort of visionary startups and founders. The state’s renowned culture of collaboration is often cited as the foundation of its success in job creation and why Utah is a top destination for innovation and entrepreneurship, ranking “Best State to Start a Business” by Wallet Hub in 2023, and the “Nation’s Best Economy” and “No. 1 Overall” by U.S. News & World Report in the same year.
The founding partners’ decades of operating and investing experience is timed perfectly for the current economic environment and fund’s debut. Mann’s background as an Amazon executive and as a serial entrepreneur, who scaled and ran a 1,000+ person organization, lends vital experience and foresight to the companies RRC invests in. Morris’ own extensive experience as an investor and former Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan executive further bolsters the firm’s ability to responsibly steward its capital and manage its diverse community of LPs.
Petersen and Skalla each bring decades of experience in entrepreneurship, leadership and finance to RRC; Skalla co-founded RevRoad in 2017, establishing its Finance and Capital Services by leveraging his experience in startups, corporate finance and venture capital. Petersen spent his career as a serial entrepreneur, founding and leading several successful startups, and recently served for ten years as the Executive Director of the Rollins Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology at Brigham Young University.
About RevRoad Capital Founders drive. We help navigate. RevRoad Capital is a seed-stage venture fund designed to scale founders faster and help them drive more value for customers, employees and investors. In collaboration with RevRoad, a sweat equity firm for early-stage companies, we combine our deep operational experience with a commitment to keeping our promises to help founders allocate capital, build high-performing teams, prevent premature scaling, and enlist the help of others to scale their businesses. We’re not just passive investors; we actively participate in the startup journey, matching our capital with expertise. Founders drive. We help navigate. Let’s scale together.
Actym Therapeutics adds $25.5 million to close its Series A with $59.5 million total
New investor GKCC LLC joins syndicate
Capital will propel lead program ACTM-838 into first-in-human oncology trial and further advance proprietary STACT platform
BERKELEY, Calif., Oct. 18, 2023 — Actym Therapeutics, pioneering a new drug modality to treat solid tumors, announced today it has extended its Series A financing round with an additional close of $25.5 million, bringing the total Series A amount raised to $59.5 million. The extension was co-led by existing investors Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund and Illumina Ventures, with GKCC LLC as a new investor joining the round with Actym’s other current shareholders, Panacea Ventures and JLo Ventures.
Actym’s proprietary platform, S. Typhimurium-Attenuated Cancer Therapy (STACT), represents a new approach to achieving a comprehensive immunological re-activation of the Tumor Microenvironment (TME) for the treatment solid tumors. By leveraging a genetically modified bacterial vehicle, STACT-based therapeutics transport therapeutic payloads to initiate a selective immune response within the TME. Actym’s lead candidate, ACTM-838, safely introduces optimized IL-15 and STING, two highly potent and synergistic payloads, directly into the TME. In preclinical studies, ACTM-838 is effectively enriched within the TME, unlocking a comprehensive and durable innate and adaptive anti-tumor immune response. The Series A extension will support the company’s entry into a Phase 1 clinical trial. This trial is designed to achieve proof of mechanism for ACTM-838, demonstrating its ability to selectively enrich in tumors, deliver payload combinations there, and positively re-activate the immuno-compromised TME. In addition, the trial is designed to assess the dose selection, safety, efficacy and pharmacokinetics of ACTM-838.
“We have advanced the STACT platform and defined a value-building clinical pathway that will allow us to translate our deep understanding of the tumor microenvironment into a novel approach to an effective and safe cancer treatment,” said Christopher Thanos, Ph.D., CEO and Co-founder of Actym Therapeutics. “We value the continued commitment from our current investors and welcome GKCC LLC into the syndicate. Through their combined support, we aim to bring innovative therapies to patients across multiple solid tumor indications.”
“Illumina Ventures is committed to driving innovation by supporting companies dedicated to using breakthrough science to transform the healthcare landscape. Actym’s pioneering approach to cancer treatment aligns perfectly with our vision,” said Ron Mazumder, Ph.D., Partner at Illumina Ventures. “We are convinced that the Actym team is well-positioned to deliver on the promise of its platform and its new drug modality.”
“Actym Therapeutics is pushing the boundaries of cancer immunotherapy with an adaptable platform that precisely targets the TME and can deliver a wide array of therapeutic payloads to treat solid tumors,” added Julie Cherrington, Ph.D., Executive Chair of the Actym Board of Directors. “We are excited by the transformative potential of ACTM-838 and look forward to the company’s next phase of clinical and corporate development.”
About Actym
Actym Therapeutics has engineered a new drug modality harnessing the power of a genetically modified bacterial vehicle that safely introduces therapeutic payloads to activate the immune response in the tumor microenvironment. To achieve targeted anti-tumor effects, we have developed a systemically administered treatment that exploits intrinsic TME-specific metabolites, enabling selective enrichment of the bacterial vehicle in tumors. After cell-specific entry, our lead candidate, ACTM-838, positively activates tumor-resident myeloid cells and delivers two synergistic payloads, optimized IL-15 and STING, unlocking a comprehensive and durable innate and adaptive anti-tumor immune response. With the ability to tailor our platform utilizing a range of payload combinations, we aim to achieve a new level of therapeutic impact for cancer patients across multiple tumor types.
Contacts For Actym Therapeutics Dr. Christopher Thanos, CEO E-Mail: [email protected]
Media Requests for Actym Dr. Alison Opalko or Sara Ortiz Trophic Communications Phone: +49 172 861 8540 or +49 151 54041130 E-Mail: [email protected]
Using innovative data infrastructure and cutting-edge AI algorithms, Statement enables enterprise finance and treasury teams to better manage cash and liquidity and delivers the first cash-flow forecasting module to update in real-time.
TEL AVIV, Israel and NEW YORK, Oct. 18, 2023 — Statement, the cash-intelligence company for multi-banking, global liquidity management, announced today the general availability of its platform alongside $12M in seed funding. The round was led by Glilot Capital Partners, with participation from Citi, Mensch Capital Partners, Titan Capital and Operator Partners.
Dozens of companies leverage Statement to gain real-time visibility into their financial data and automate manual tasks including reconciliation and balance reporting, and reliably forecast their cash flow across the most comprehensive set of financial data – coupled with their ability to onboard customers in weeks, Statement is breaking the mold of traditional treasury and cash management solutions.
Founded in 2022, Statement was built from the ground up with an innovative data infrastructure and core capabilities that leverage artificial intelligence, with the purpose of empowering and supporting the ever-expanding strategic role of the finance department. With no IT resources required, Statement delivers global multi-bank and ERP connectivity, real-time cash-flow and performance analytics, automated A/R reconciliation and best-in-class forecasting in a single, intuitive UI. On top of this data set, their enrichment engine automates transaction categorization, which reduces the human time needed to build a strong balance sheet. Statement’s first-of-its-kind forecasting module leverages both the auto-categorized transactions and ERP accounting data to enable real-time BVA updates, and customer driven inputs.
While existing treasury solutions offer basic cash management functionality, these solutions often take many months to integrate, require extensive IT resources, don’t support every bank or ERP, and don’t update customers’ bank data in real-time. In today’s landscape – especially amidst high interest rates – not only are the pressures on the CFO and treasury teams even greater, but the need for complete, real-time and intelligent financial data can no longer be sacrificed. In fact, this year’s Strategic Treasurer’s “Treasury Perspectives Survey Report” showed that 83% of treasurers are currently or planning to use AI or predictive analytics within the next five years, 96% are currently or planning to use APIs. In addition, cash forecasting and cash positioning are the two areas respondents have said they spend the most time on for five years in a row.
This shift is creating a new paradigm for CFOs – where on the one hand, they are now dealing with a multitude of isolated financial systems that don’t communicate with one another, and on the other, a massive opportunity to harness this data more strategically due to more advancements in data infrastructure and AI. These advancements are providing CFOs the opportunity to be strategic partners to the CEO and is the reason Statement was founded.
“The office of the CFO has remained largely unchanged for decades,” said Idan Vlodinger, co-founder and CEO of Statement. “In today’s rapidly evolving financial environment, treasury and finance teams need modern tools that give them a complete picture of their organization’s financial health. Simply put, we provide finance teams with access to real-time data and simplify the process required to make cash flow decisions. We are helping companies cope with volatility, inflation, FX risks, and enabling them to generate meaningful yields.”
“Each bank and financial service provider has a unique system for accessing financial data, and these systems don’t talk with each other,” said Shahar Lahav, co-founder and CTO of Statement. “Connecting these disparate platforms is a hard technological problem, which has stood in the way of efforts to modernize finance operations. At the core of our solution is a robust, scalable, and secure infrastructure that connects and aggregates all the company’s financial data in real time. This infrastructure lays the foundation for real time reconciliation, rolling cash flow forecasting, and secure AI database queries. The result is a dramatic improvement in finance teams’ workflows and a fundamental shift in how organizations manage their finances.”
Statement is compatible with over 3,000 banks, and seamlessly integrates with ERP and accounting software (including NetSuite, Oracle Cloud and Microsoft Dynamics), payment service providers (including PayPal and Stripe) and common business tools like Google Sheets. Featuring an easy-to-use interface, the solution can be connected to accounts in a matter of minutes, without any IT resources required. Statement is fully SOC, SOC2, ISO27001, and GDPR certified and provides full user entitlement control and robust audit trails.
About Statement
Statement was founded in 2022 by Idan Vlodinger (CEO) and Shahar Lahav (CTO) and is based in Tel Aviv with offices in New York. Prior to founding Statement, Idan was VP of Product & Innovation at Mastercard, led product development at Amazon and was a Consultant at EY. Idan served as a Special Operations combat officer (rank Major) in the IDF’s Special Operations unit for over a decade. Shahar Lahav (CTO) served as a cyber security researcher, reverse engineer and team lead for 6 years in the IDF’s Center of Encryption and Information Security. Prior to that Shahar sold his first startup, an indoor location solution based on BLE chip triangulation at the age of 19.
Additional Quotes
Hila Vaknin, Treasury Director at Riskified: “Implementing Statement was a breeze, with minimum IT efforts from our team. With the exceptional support from Statement’s success team, we managed to connect all our bank partners into one platform which helped us to have visibility of our cash position at a glance. We also managed to complete automatic bank information upload to our ERP which will significantly improve the efficiency levels of our bank reconciliation.”
Tomer Amitai, CFO at Natural Intelligence: “Accurate, up-to-date financial data is crucial for informed decision-making, particularly with respect to cash and liquidity management. Using Statement as our single source of truth across our entire banking infrastructure ensures real-time, accurate and reliable information to achieve just that. This is of critical importance, particularly at these volatile times in the markets and the banking sector specifically.”
Imri Tsidon, Senior Financial Controller at Mixtiles: “Statement has truly transformed our financial reporting. By eliminating the need to navigate multiple banking portals, we now have instant access to our cash position in real-time. This has been particularly beneficial for our B2C business, where we process thousands of transactions daily. What sets Statement apart is its promise of no IT effort required, it delivers on that promise with ease”.
Nofar Amikam, General Partner at Glilot Capital Partners: “SVB’s downfall and the latest events in the global banking ecosystem made ‘Real-Time Banking Visibility and Control’ a clear must-have. Being able to instantly view all of your bank accounts and react in real-time is essential for an organization’s continuous healthy financial management, not to mention its ability to survive an unexpected crisis.”
