The company continues its nationwide expansion of cutting-edge, insurance-covered care for young women with complex health needs

NEW YORK, Oct. 18, 2023 — Allara, a first-of-its-kind virtual care platform bridging the care divide for the millions of women of reproductive age dealing with chronic hormonal conditions, today announced $10 million in Series A funding led by GV (Google Ventures), with participation from Great Oaks Venture Capital, Humbition, Vanterra, Gaingels, and individual investors, including Tom Lee (One Medical) and Maggie Sellers. GV General Partner Frédérique Dame also joins Allara’s Board of Directors.

Allara’s pioneering care platform pairs patients with specially trained expert doctors and registered dietitians for ongoing care to fill a significant gap in women’s healthcare. In the past year, Allara grew its patient base fivefold and has gone in-network with all major insurers across eight states, representing 30 million covered lives, with plans to expand nationwide by next year. Allara will use the new funds to expand access to care by extending its insurance coverage, launching partnerships with leading health systems to ensure continuity of patient care, and conducting much-needed clinical research.

Digital health veteran Rachel Blank founded Allara after her own difficulty navigating a PCOS diagnosis without sufficient medical support. “Women’s health is often misperceived as limited to pregnancy and fertility, failing to acknowledge the intricate web of health conditions that affect women’s daily lives and long-term health. At Allara, we finally take the burden off the patient to navigate a siloed care system and empower her with a whole-body, preventative approach to her health. We are grateful for the support of GV and our dedicated partners to scale our operations and extend this vital care offering to women nationwide.”

Over 1 in 3 women live with a chronic condition such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis, or hypothyroidism. Despite their widespread nature, women report years of suffering and go as many as 10 years undiagnosed. These conditions often cause complications such as infertility, high-risk pregnancies, obesity, and diabetes, and delayed diagnoses and treatments cost the health system billions annually. Allara recognized these gaps as a call to help women with chronic conditions feel seen, heard, and treated with specialized care.

“Women of reproductive age have complex hormonal care needs, and Allara raises the bar for clinically driven, personalized hormonal healthcare,” said GV General Partner Frédérique Dame. “Allara has built a brand and community that hundreds of thousands of patients trust, and we’re excited to support CEO Rachel Blank and the team as they provide women with compassionate, modern healthcare.”

For more information about Allara and its groundbreaking approach to women’s healthcare, please visit allarahealth.com. 

About Allara
Allara is a specialty care platform built for the tens of millions of women living with complex hormonal and gynecologic conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and endometriosis. Allara makes expert healthcare accessible online by connecting patients with expert medical practitioners and Registered Dietitians who have a deep understanding of hormonal and metabolic care. Allara provides ongoing medical, lifestyle, and emotional support for chronic conditions, helping patients see improved health outcomes and achieve their individualized goals. To learn more about Allara, visit allarahealth.com.

Media Contact
Factory PR
allarahealth@factorypr.com

SOURCE Allara Health

HawkEye 360 and Lockheed Martin Corporation sign Strategic Cooperative Agreement

HERNDON, Va., Oct. 18, 2023 — HawkEye 360 Inc., the world’s leading defense technology company for space-based radio frequency (RF) data and analytics, announced today the second and final close of the company’s Series D-1 funding round with an additional $10 million, bringing the total Series D-1 to $68 million. Investors for the second close included Lockheed Martin Ventures, the venture arm of Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT), and company insiders. As part of this investment, HawkEye 360 and Lockheed Martin Corporation have signed a strategic cooperative agreement to further the development of end-to-end remote sensing solutions for government and commercial customers, with a particular focus on delivering sophisticated RF intelligence systems globally.

“We are thrilled to join forces with Lockheed Martin, a company with an unparalleled legacy in aerospace and defense,” said HawkEye 360 CEO John Serafini. “As the premier commercial provider of RF geospatial intelligence, HawkEye 360 continues to innovate in response to the increasing global demand for our cutting-edge technologies. Lockheed Martin’s leadership as a system integrator and their signal processing capability will expand what HawkEye 360 can accomplish as we work together to make the world a safer and more secure place.”

“At Lockheed Martin, we see synergies between our programmatic analytical expertise and HawkEye 360’s commercial RF data generating constellation,” said Chris Moran, vice president and general manager at Lockheed Martin Ventures. “HawkEye 360 has the potential to apply highly tailored RF solutions to fit our customers’ mission.”

The funding will be used to develop new space systems and expand analytics that support high-value defense missions. HawkEye 360 currently has 21 satellites in orbit and plans to move to a new Block 3 satellite architecture starting with Cluster 14. The company is also investing further in artificial intelligence, data fusion, and multi-intelligence orchestration to better extract value from the large amount of RF data being collected. The goal is to address the increasing demand for tactically relevant RF intelligence.

The initial $58 million in Series D-1 funding, which was announced in July 2023, was led by funds and accounts managed by BlackRock with additional funding provided by Manhattan Venture Partners and existing investors including Insight Partners, NightDragon, Strategic Development Fund (SDF), Razor’s Edge, Alumni Ventures, and Adage Capital.

About HawkEye 360

HawkEye 360 is a defense technology leader providing global knowledge of human activity and trends derived from revolutionary radio frequency (RF) geospatial intelligence. The company’s innovative space-based technology was developed to detect, characterize, and geolocate a broad range of RF signals. These RF data and analytics provide an information advantage allowing analysts to detect the first glimpse of suspicious behavior, trace the first sign of adversarial activity, reveal the first sighting of ships attempting to vanish, and improve situational awareness across all domains. HawkEye 360’s RF intelligence provides timely insights on critical events and patterns of life, enabling early warnings to drive effective tip and-cue activities that ensure leaders have the intelligence needed to make decisions with confidence.  HawkEye 360 is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia.

SOURCE HawkEye 360

CHICAGO, Oct. 18, 2023 — Workstorm, a leading provider of secure collaboration solutions, today announced it has closed its Series A round, valuing the company at $200 million. The company was advised by Sidley Austin LLP, and funding participants include Author Capital Partners and Chicago-based high-net-worth investors. The funding will be used to accelerate product development, expand its customer base, and support the growth of its sales and engineering teams.

This milestone represents a significant achievement for the Chicago-based technology firm, particularly as a Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) dedicated to promoting innovation while prioritizing data security and privacy. Workstorm’s collaboration platform offers a suite of features including enterprise messaging, video conferencing, document management, email and calendar integration, and custom integration capabilities.

“Closing this funding round exemplifies our commitment to secure collaboration solutions and the growing relevance of our products in today’s digital landscape,” said Raj Fernando, Founder and CEO of Workstorm. “This milestone is especially meaningful, as it showcases the positive impact that US-based companies can have in the technology sector, particularly as it relates to privacy.”

Co-founder Nicholas Stech added, “This marks a significant achievement for the Workstorm team and our advisory board. The dedication and exceptional expertise of every individual involved have been instrumental in reaching this milestone collectively.”

Workstorm’s core values revolve around building a highly secure collaboration environment that prioritizes the privacy of user data. From its inception, Workstorm has been committed to never sell or share client data. With this latest round of funding, Workstorm is poised to further enhance its product offerings, fuel innovation, and expand its market reach, continuing its mission to enable organizations to collaborate effectively while safeguarding privileged information.

“Workstorm’s ability to secure this investment at a critical phase is a testament to the company’s strong growth potential and the increasing demand for secure collaboration,” stated Author Capital’s Founder and Managing Partner, Duane Jackson.

As Workstorm sets its sights on future growth and innovation, the company remains committed to its Chicago roots and the thriving local tech ecosystem. With a robust team of talented professionals based in Chicago and with all US-based employment, Workstorm is proud to contribute to the economic growth and technological advancement of the region and the nation.

About Workstorm
Workstorm provides secure collaboration technology designed for legal, government, and professional services organizations, as well as compliance mandated industries such as healthcare and finance. With robust user features, Workstorm enables teams to collaborate efficiently while maintaining the highest security and privacy standards. Please visit www.workstorm.com to learn more.

About Author Capital Partners
Author Capital Partners is a purpose-driven private investment firm that empowers highly entrepreneurial founder- and family-led businesses with flexible capital, strategic advice, and long-term partnership.

Media Contact:
Pam Hoover
Marketing Director
Workstorm
[email protected]
312-248-9005

SOURCE Workstorm LLC

Gridiron Continues to Invest in its Team, Processes, Technology, and Capabilities to Drive the Firm’s Strategy and Be The Partner of Choice for Business Owners and Management Teams

NEW CANAAN, Conn., Oct. 18, 2023 — Gridiron Capital, LLC (“Gridiron Capital” or the “firm”), an investment firm focused on partnering with founders, entrepreneurs, and management teams, is pleased to announce the closing of Gridiron Capital Fund V and its affiliated funds (“Gridiron V”) at $2.1 billion, which exceeded its target of $1.8 billion and represents an increase in fund size of 56% over the prior fund, Gridiron IV. Gridiron V is the largest flagship fund in the firm’s history, with a broad base of distinguished returning and new investors, including pension funds, insurance companies, family offices, endowments, and foundations located across the U.S., Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

“Following another successful fundraise, we cannot be more appreciative of our investors’ continued confidence and unwavering support. Despite a challenging fundraising environment, many of our existing Limited Partners chose to not only re-invest but also increase their commitments in Gridiron V,” said Tom Burger, Co-Founder and Managing Partner. “At Gridiron, we cultivate a team culture of respect, getting better every day, and ‘Winning Together.’ We strive to provide superior returns for our portfolio company partnerships, our investors, and most importantly, our investors’ underlying constituents, including retirees, teachers, hospitals, and students, among many others.”

Consistent with the Firm’s investment approach in prior funds, Gridiron V will target control, equity investments in North America that are specifically focused on partnering with industry leaders within branded consumer, B2B and B2C services, and niche industrial businesses with total enterprise values between $150 and $600+ million. The firm takes a thematic approach to investing, known as Gridiron’s Thematic Areas of Expertise™, by identifying target areas early where the firm has expertise and utilizing repeatable processes to prioritize, screen, and build proactive partnerships with strong companies. This coordinated approach allows Gridiron to develop relationships early and pursue leading companies in highly attractive sectors, creating a growing, long-term funnel of direct investment opportunities and a deep understanding of each industry. Leveraging this disciplined and consistent investment strategy, Gridiron V is approximately 40% deployed across four platform companies and 16 add-on investments for these companies. Since the firm’s inception in 2005, Gridiron has invested in over 185 companies, including 36 platform companies.

Kevin Jackson, Managing Partner at Gridiron Capital, stated, “Our success is built upon outstanding people and leaders. We are grateful for the talented and dedicated team at Gridiron, and we are proud of the performance of our portfolio company partnerships. Gridiron has developed repeatable processes and enhanced internal capabilities to prepare our portfolio companies for accelerated growth while protecting against a diverse range of economic headwinds. We enter Fund V with a dynamic group of companies poised for growth and we’re excited to continue executing our investment strategy to create further value for our loyal limited partners.”

“Gridiron’s investment in its team, operational capabilities, technology, and processes has served us well in our evolution as a firm,” Jackson added.

As former entrepreneurs, investors, and business operators, Gridiron’s senior management and broader investment team have created a culture and investment approach based on their lived understanding of the challenges and operational skills needed in building and running successful businesses. In conjunction with the extended Gridiron team, including Operating Partners and our Board of Business Executives, the firm leverages the Gridiron Playbook and its twelve functional Centers of Excellence to instill best practices and form repeatable processes that create long-term value for the firm’s portfolio companies.

Gridiron Capital’s fund formation counsel was Ropes & Gray LLP.

About Gridiron Capital
Gridiron Capital is an investment firm focused on partnering with founders, entrepreneurs, and management teams, and creating value by building middle-market companies into industry-leaders in branded consumer, B2B and B2C services, and niche industrial segments in the United States and Canada. We help transform growing companies by winning together through hard work, partnerships grounded in shared values and a unique culture that comes from hands-on experience building and running businesses. As a team led by former operators and entrepreneurs, we know what it takes to run successful businesses on a day-to-day basis. Additional information is available on the firm’s website: www.gridironcapital.com.

Gridiron Capital Media Contact:
Jon Keehner/Erik Carlson
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
212.355.4449

SOURCE Gridiron Capital, LLC

ABC Supply’s investment underscores the promising future of Roofr’s platform. The strategic relationship aims to drive innovation and value for roofing contractors in North America while providing them with access to the Roofr CRM software that will ultimately make their business faster, stronger, and more streamlined.

“ABC Supply is proud to support Roofr’s Series A+ funding round and the launch of additional features to their platform,” said Kris Kieffer, ABC Supply’s Director of Business Platform & Customer Enablement. “We believe Roofrs’ potential to streamline operations and drive growth will have a significant impact on the lives of roofers”.

Roofr is one of the fastest-growing roofing softwares in North America, famous for their world-class service, $10 measurement reports, powerful estimates and proposals, and easy-to-use platform. Founded by third-generation roofer, Richard Nelson, their team has been dedicated to transforming the roofing industry by building cutting-edge technology to improve efficiency and automate workflows for roofers everywhere.

What exactly will Roofr be doing with this funding, and how will it benefit roofers?

Roofr will be focusing on improving their popular tools like Roofr Measurement Reports, Proposals, and their Instant Estimator while also creating new features based on roofers feedback and their pain points. They recently announced the launch of their highly demanded CRM that includes easy job management such as Workflows, Tasks, Job Boards, an Analytics Dashboard, and much more. Roofr will also be releasing Payments, Material Purchasing, and Customer Communications by the end of 2023 so that roofers can accept payments and offer financing for jobs, send invoices, and sync to their accounting software with ease. Their goal is to use the funding to accelerate development, as they continue creating the all-in-one platform for roofers everywhere.

What are Roofr’s growth plans?

Roofr has continuously been strategic in only hiring the best talent for each role. Since their last round of funding, their team grew from a headcount of 50 to over 100, and filled executive-level positions in Marketing, Product, Talent, and Revenue. With the successful funding round, Roofr plans to expand its team across various functions, including engineering, research, product development, sales, and marketing. This strategic expansion will enable the company to strengthen its capabilities, drive innovation, and meet the evolving needs of its growing customer base.

Roofr’s CEO and third-generation roofer, Richard Nelson, expressed gratitude and excitement about the successful funding round, stating, “Since starting Roofr in 2016, we’ve experienced incredible growth and we’re grateful to our loyal customers for making that possible. Although we are rapidly approaching profitability, adequately capitalized, and weren’t actively fundraising, it was clear that this additional capital would give us the opportunity to be offensive at a time when others are being conservative, and continue to build our end-to-end roofing software even faster. Now that we’re partnered with esteemed partners, such as ABC Supply, that share our vision of transforming the roofing industry, the sky is the limit. This investment will enable us to accelerate our mission and create the category-defining platform in the roofing industry.”

Brad Corona, Managing Director at Vertical Venture Partners, was quick to share his excitement stating “VVP is thrilled to lead Roofr’s funding round and continue supporting their approach to modernizing the roofing industry. Since our original investment last year, our belief in Roofr’s potential to disrupt the market, enhance efficiency, and drive sustainability has deepened significantly. With this investment, we are confident in Roofr’s ability to continue to build innovative products, expand its market presence, and become a leader in roofing technology.”

One champion Roofr user, Ben Morrow, owner of ROOF TIGER, shared his thoughts on this funding round. “Roofr has completely elevated the way I approach my roofing projects. Their accurate measurements, custom proposals, and instant estimates have streamlined my business operations and helped me win more jobs. Their CRM is a transformative tool that has further enhanced my productivity. I’m grateful to be a part of Roofr’s user community and excited to see how they continue to innovate and create technologically advanced roofing solutions. Safe to say, Roofr is a game-changer for ROOF TIGER.”

About Roofr: Roofr is a roofing technology startup that aims to revolutionize the industry through innovation and advanced technology. Roofr offers accurate Roof Measurements, custom Proposals, Instant Estimates, CRM, and soon-to-be-released Payment Processing, Integrated Financing, and Material Purchasing. These tools help roofers everywhere to streamline their businesses and win more jobs.

Interested in trying their newly launched CRM? Click HERE to sign up now.

For more information, please visit roofr.com or contact Kate Robertson at [email protected]

SOURCE Roofr Inc.

NEW YORK and LONDON and PARIS, Oct. 18, 2023 — Hivebrite, a leading community and engagement platform, has raised a $37 million Series B funding round. This latest funding highlights the growing demand for Hivebrite’s product and its leadership in the community-building industry. Quadrille Capital led the round, alongside existing investor Insight Partners, and angel investor Edward Filippi. The new capital will fuel Hivebrite’s continued platform innovation and expand its global team to further support its customers.

Convinced of the transformative power of online communities to share knowledge and opportunities, unite around a cause, or build a deeper relationship with stakeholders, Founder and CEO Jean Hamon launched Hivebrite in 2015. With Hivebrite’s all-in-one community engagement platform, organizations across industries can build private, fully-branded communities to achieve their strategic objectives. The SaaS platform offers world-class features and modern APIs to strengthen community engagement.

Fast forward to 2023, over 900 organizations in more than 50 countries trust Hivebrite to power their communities. Hivebrite clients include Boeing, Roche, the Obama Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences, the Aspen Institute, the University of Notre Dame, the U.S. Naval Academy, and U.C. Davis.

Jean Hamon, Hivebrite Founder and CEO, says:
“At Hivebrite, we believe in the transformative power of online communities to drive growth, accelerate change, and generate operational efficiencies. This funding reflects our continued momentum, rapid customer base growth, and the success customers experience using our platform. Our new capital will help us further strengthen our platform, especially in relation to deeper customization possibilities, smart connections between community members, and user experience. We will also expand our global team to bring even more innovation and business value to our customers worldwide.”

Peter Sobiloff, Managing Director at Insight Partners, says:
“Hivebrite’s remarkable growth and impact has enabled deeper customization and automation in community management while further enhancing user experience. The impact Hivebrite has had on global organizations is a testament to the company’s vision and the dedicated team around it. We look forward to our continued partnership with Hivebrite as they grow and scale up.”

Brice Delome, Partner at Quadrille Capital, says:
“Hivebrite is a perfect example of the companies we seek out with Quadrille’s Growth Equity program. An ambitious team, building a leading product and looking to partner with global investors to address global opportunities. We are thrilled to support Hivebrite as they empower communities to thrive and maximize their social impact.”

About Hivebrite
Hivebrite is an all-in-one community management and engagement platform. It empowers organizations to launch, manage, and grow fully branded private communities. Hivebrite is completely customizable and provides all the tools needed to strengthen community engagement. Over 900 organizations worldwide use Hivebrite to build and engage vibrant communities, including Boeing, Roche, the Obama Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences, the Aspen Institute, the University of Notre Dame, the U.S. Naval Academy, and U.C. Davis. For more information on Hivebrite, visit www.hivebrite.com 

About Insight Partners
Insight Partners is a global software investor partnering with high-growth technology, software, and Internet startup and ScaleUp companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. As of June 30, 2023, the firm has over $80B in regulatory assets under management. Insight Partners has invested in more than 800 companies worldwide and has seen over 55 portfolio companies achieve an IPO. Headquartered in New York City, Insight has offices in London, Tel Aviv, and Palo Alto. Insight’s mission is to find, fund, and work successfully with visionary executives, providing them with tailored, hands-on software expertise along their growth journey, from their first investment to IPO. For more information on Insight and all its investments, visit insightpartners.com.

About Quadrille Capital
Founded in 2001, Quadrille is an independent investment manager providing global coverage of Venture Capital and Growth Equity. Quadrille has supported high-growth companies in Europe, the United States and Asia for more than 20 years. Quadrille currently manages €1.6Bn out of Paris and San Francisco on behalf of institutions and families, primarily in Europe, the United Kingdom and Middle East. Learn more at https://www.quadrillecapital.com.

Press contact
Logan Sachon
[email protected]
https://hivebrite.com

SOURCE Hivebrite

BARCELONA, Spain, Oct. 18, 2023 — Flanks, an API for automated wealth services, has secured $ 8m in a Series A round led by Earlybird Venture Capital, and followed by the existing investors JME Ventures and 4Founders Capital. Raffaele Terrone, Co-Founder of the Italian FinTech unicorn Scalapay, and Martin Kassing, Co-Founder and CEO of Upvest, supported the round as angels.

By digitizing and aggregating global wealth data across custodians into a single API, Flanks redefines the way financial information is shared within the global wealth management market. Flanks has built a fully automated data stream to hundreds of custodians globally, allowing a 360° view of one’s investment portfolio in real-time. Based on the powerful API layer for global wealth data, Flanks helps its clients to improve wealth services at scale.

The startup plans to tap into further parts of the wealth management value chain, i.e. through automating manual processes (from profiling, reporting, to investment memorandums), and by adding algorithms for intelligent alerts and investment decisions. Flanks empowers wealth managers and advisors of all kinds — including banks, family offices, asset managers and financial advisors. By helping to create better user experiences for their investor base, Flanks ultimately democratizes wealth services to reach the broader masses of affluent investors.

The team around two software engineers, Joaquim de la Cruz and Sergi Lao, and joined by the private banking executive Álvaro Morales, envisions making Flanks the standard for wealth services, and leveraging their global data layer for intelligent investment decisions.

This vision will be fueled by a regulatory shift where Europe is at the forefront. Following the trend of Open Banking (PSD2 and the proposed PSD3 regulation), the EU put forward a framework for Open Finance more broadly (FIDA regulation), establishing clear rights and obligations to manage financial data access beyond payment accounts. Customers maintain full control over who accesses their data and for what purpose (in line with GDPR), while financial institutions are obliged to make customer data available. Moreover, MiFID III will likely come into force, intensifying the need for financial advisors to know the global investment position of their clients.

The Barcelona-based company became the market leader in Spain and France, growing its revenues by over 4x over the past twelve months. The Series A funding will help the team further internationalize and boost their product vision.

Joaquim de la Cruz, CEO of Flanks, shared his excitement: “This funding round will allow Flanks to accelerate the disruption process already underway in the wealth management sector. We have an exceptional team, and are excited about the opportunities that the future holds.”

Álvaro Morales, Chief Strategy Officer of Flanks and former Global Head of  Private Banking of Banco Santander, added: “Up until now, many financial advisors did their job without knowing the global asset allocation of their customers. The upcoming MiFID III regulation will likely require more detailed attention to the investor’s pre-existing wealth prior to giving financial advice. The technology offered by Flanks, powered by this funding round, is going to transform the interaction between financial advisors and customers.”

Tim Rehder, Partner at Earlybird, says: “The opportunity for Open Wealth is building the foundation for automation and intelligence in the wealth management sector. Flanks is perfectly positioned to become the de facto standard for various B2B partners who transact with the implied customer data. We were impressed by the current impact that Flanks has on its customers, as well as by the founders’ deep industry knowledge, technical depth, and vision. We can’t wait to work with the entire Flanks team!”

About Flanks

The Open Wealth Platform Flanks was founded out of Barcelona in 2019, by the two software engineers Joaquim de la Cruz and Sergi Lao, joined by the private banking executive Álvaro Morales.  Flanks is actively present in ten countries. The company serves clients from large financial institutions to family offices and independent financial advisors.

Flanks is compatible with more than 300 banks internationally and aggregates more than half a million investment portfolios monthly. The company has developed embedded and customizable solutions covering the entire value chain of the wealth management industry.

For more information on Flanks, please visit their website on the following link.

About Earlybird

Earlybird Venture Capital focuses on European technology companies. Founded in 1997, Earlybird identifies and backs exceptional early-stage companies on a pan-European basis and supports them through their growth and development phases – providing financial resources, strategic support, plus access to an international network and capital markets. Earlybird invests out of a family of independently-managed funds. Flagship funds with early-stage focus include Digital West (Western Europe), Digital East (Emerging Europe), and Health. Newer funds Earlybird-X (pre-seed in Western Europe & university spinoffs) and Growth Opportunities (a pan-Earlybird growth fund) offer even more agility. With EUR 2 billion under management across all fund streams, 9 IPOs, and 31 trade sales, Earlybird is one of Europe’s most established and active venture capital firms.

More information on www.earlybird.com, LinkedIn and Twitter.

SOURCE Flanks

AUSTIN, Texas and ASHLAND, Ore., Oct. 17, 2023 — Parhelia Biosciences, the leader in sample preparation for tissue staining and spatial analysis, is pleased to announce the successful completion of its Series A financing round. This milestone is a testament to the company’s ongoing commitment to providing a single, modular solution for spatial biology sample preparation. 

The Series A round saw participation from Rabbit Run Partners, Thielsen Capital, and prominent industry angels. This infusion of capital will accelerate the company’s growth, allowing Parhelia Biosciences to expand its robust menu of spatial offerings, scale its support and commercial efforts, and pursue strategic collaborations.

“We’re incredibly grateful for the confidence our customers, partners and investors have shown in our vision and our team. This funding will enable us to accelerate the execution of our go-to-market strategy,” said Dr. Nikolay Samuisk, Co-founder and CEO of Parhelia Biosciences.

Parhelia Biosciences has made significant strides since its inception, with placements across leading academic institutions and biopharma. 

The Series A funding underscores the market’s confidence in Parhelia Biosciences’ potential to transform and expand sample preparation for a wide menu of spatial protocols including those already supported – Phenocycler (formerly CODEX) and Phenoptics (formerly Opal), immunohistochemistry (IHC), hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining, RNAScope, immunofluorescence (including CYCIF), and imaging mass cytometry (IMC).

About Parhelia Biosciences:
Parhelia Biosciences is dedicated to providing auto-staining devices that are compact, affordable, flexible, and easy to use for staining automation. Parhelia’s co-founders have been part of the Spatial Biology field since its inception and founded the company in 2019 to accelerate the adoption of spatial biology techniques through push-button automation while reducing reagent waste and assay variability.

For more information, visit https://parhelia.bio/ or contact Brandy Lee [email protected].

SOURCE Parhelia Biosciences

Seed Extension Round Led by JAM FINTOP Brings the Total Raised to $8M, Enabling Further Push for its Flagship Anonybit Genie Product into Key Enterprise Market Segments

With More Than 422 Million Victims of Identity Theft Last Year, Global Cybercrime Costs Are Expected to Reach $10.5 Trillion Per Year by 2025, Signifying Urgency for New Approaches to Authenticate Users, Combat Data Breaches and Account Takeover Attacks

NEW YORK and TEL AVIV, Israel, Oct. 17, 2023 — Anonybit, an innovator in decentralized biometric authentication and data protection, has secured an additional $3 million funding round led by JAM FINTOP with participation from Connecticut Innovations and 4S Bay Partners, the family office of Jessica Sarowitz and Steve Sarowitz, increasing its total funds raised to $8 million. This additional investment will accelerate Anonybit’s mission to provide privacy-by-design identity management solutions to enterprises that are looking for new ways to authenticate users in order to avoid account takeover attacks and data breaches.

Anonybit’s patent-pending technology enables the distributed storage and processing of biometrics and other personal data. The company’s flagship product, the Anonybit Genie, unifies the identity lifecycle, connecting digital onboarding to authentication and account recovery through the use of decentralized biometrics along the user journey. This innovative approach can prevent synthetic identity fraud and account takeovers, supporting a wide range of enterprise use cases.

“Anonybit’s unique, enterprise-grade technology enables banks and other enterprises to safely and compliantly leverage biometric data to authenticate users. With cybercrime a persistent and growing threat, we believe deploying enhanced methods of authentication will become table stakes for banks,” said Ryan Zacharia, Managing Partner at JAM FINTOP. “We have been impressed by the Anonybit team’s deep industry experience, as well as the company’s traction with identity verification providers and other industry partners that service banks.”

The team is led by Frances Zelazny, Co-Founder & CEO, a recognized digital identity expert and market strategist with nearly 25 years of experience in biometrics, fraud prevention and payments, and Yaron Azizi, Co-Founder & Chief Architect, alumni of the prestigious 8200 unit within the Israel Defense Force and initial architect of the BioCatch and Tapingo (acquired by Grubhub) platforms.

“We all read the headlines and continue to be alarmed by the rapid pace of increased fraud, which suggests that existing solutions are mere bandaids,” said Frances Zelazny, Anonybit Co-Founder and CEO. “When thinking about the root cause, it boils down to two things. Personal data is stored in central honeypots that are impossible to protect and we allow the use of this data to authenticate ourselves. It’s a never-ending cycle. Many players in the industry aim to expand their offerings to address more comprehensive use cases in identity, but only Anonybit can get us out of the current paradigm by making it safe to store biometrics. This key differentiator is crucial for account recovery and eliminates the need to fall back on inferior, knowledge-based authenticators, passwords and more, whether online, in a branch, at a call center or in a chat channel.”

Zelazny adds, “This funding round validates our vision and gives us the resources to propel the next stage of our growth and deliver on the promise of privacy and security with no tradeoffs.”

Alongside the funding, joining the team as Chief Revenue Officer is another industry veteran with significant cryptography, cybersecurity and startup experience, Limor Elbaz, best known for her sales leadership at Imperva and Peerlyst; and joining as a new member of the Advisory Board is Cybercrime and Fraud Expert Al Pascual, former industry analyst at Javelin Research and co-founder of Breach Clarity that was recently acquired by TransUnion.

“Having dedicated a substantial portion of my career to the field of fraud and identity, I’ve witnessed numerous solutions that often feel like reactionary fixes,” said Al Pascual. “Anonybit, however, stands out as a pioneering solution that gets to the root cause of the problem, helping to ensure that people really are who they claim to be across the user journey, eliminating the gaps that attackers exploit. I am excited to be joining a team with a proven track record in this industry and I am eager to leverage my expertise to help promote this pioneering technology so it is adopted as quickly as possible.”

For more information about Anonybit and its innovative privacy-centric identity management solutions, please visit Anonybit’s website.

Media Contact:
Mike Paffmann
[email protected]

SOURCE Anonybit