HUDDINGE, Sweden, Oct. 10, 2023 — XNK Therapeutics AB (“XNK”) today announced that it has applied for and been granted funding by Sweden’s innovation agency Vinnova. The grant consists of SME support through the Competence Center for Next-generation NK Cell-based Cancer Immunotherapy (NextGenNK). The competence center is coordinated by the Karolinska Institutet and XNK has been a member since the center’s inception in 2020. The funding amounts to up to 1.7 million SEK over two years and will be used in a specific preclinical program in XNK’s project portfolio.

For more information, please contact:
Johan Liwing, CEO, XNK Therapeutics
Tel: +46 706 70 36 75
E-mail: [email protected]

About XNK Therapeutics AB

XNK Therapeutics is a clinical stage immunotherapy company focused on bringing new and more effective treatments to cancer patients. The company is at the forefront of autologous NK cell-based cell therapy development with a proprietary technology platform and a pipeline spanning both hematological malignancies and solid tumor indications. The most advanced product, evencaleucel, is in phase II studies in combination with the CD38 antibody isatuximab targeting multiple myeloma. Other programs include XNK02 in AML, currently in advanced preclinical studies in collaboration with MD Anderson Cancer Center, XNK03 in bladder cancer, currently in preclinical studies in collaboration with the Karolinska University Hospital and XNK04 in preclinical studies in collaboration with a global pharma. XNK’s efforts are supported by a dedicated team that include world-renowned NK cell experts and by an approved in-house GMP facility. XNK Therapeutics is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. For more info, please visit www.xnktherapeutics.com.

About NextGenNK

NextGenNK is a Competence Center for the development of next generation NK cell-based cancer immunotherapies. The Center is coordinated by Karolinska Institutet and collaborates with the Karolinska University Hospital and prominent national and international industrial partners. The Center was launched in 2020, and is jointly funded by Karolinska Institutet, the Industrial partners, and Vinnova, Sweden’s innovation agency.

The following files are available for download:

SOURCE XNK Therapeutics AB

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 10, 2023 — Saronic, a maritime autonomy company focused on surface vessels, announced today a $55 million Series A funding round led by Caffeinated Capital, with participation from 8VC, U.S. Innovative Technology Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Point72 Ventures, Silent Ventures, Overmatch Ventures, Ensemble VC, and Cubit Capital. This significant investment underscores Saronic’s commitment to addressing critical capability gaps at sea through attritable, autonomous platforms. With this raise, Saronic will accelerate research and development while expanding in-house manufacturing capacity for rapid production.

The need for these autonomous surface vessels is clear. To outpace China, America must start building a large fleet of autonomous vessels today. Saronic provides a state-of-the-art, purpose-built solution for the United States and its allies, seamlessly integrating software and hardware to optimize autonomous missions, enhancing the range, capability, and survivability of the naval fleet and the warfighter.

Saronic is the only company that can deliver this critical technology, filling a gap where shipbuilders, traditionally focused on manufacturing large naval ships, lack the capacity and expertise, while other vendors provide legacy platforms and struggle with production at scale.

“America’s conventional shipbuilding ecosystem lacks the agility to match the threats posed by our adversaries, and many proposed solutions for the fleet aren’t cohesively designed for the mission. Saronic stands apart,” said Dino Mavrookas, the company’s co-founder and CEO. “Saronic has worked closely with the Navy to build a solution that meets their requirements. We’re putting software, autonomy, and mission profiles first, reshaping design for rapid production and deployment, and creating a novel breed of autonomous vessels that can meet current and future threats.”

“Saronic is one of the most timely and ambitious companies we have ever partnered with – its technology will fundamentally transform how the Navy operates over the next century,” said Raymond Tonsing, founder and managing partner of Caffeinated Capital, which led the funding round. “We have been astounded by the speed at which this exceptional team has already begun to bridge the technology gap in naval autonomy.”

The company is currently developing Spyglass, a 6-foot vessel, and Cutlass, a 13-foot vessel, each outfitted with remotely updatable software and capable of carrying diverse payloads in communication-denied and GPS-denied environments. These systems enable real-time, collaborative, and autonomous mission-level decision-making, and are designed to navigate the challenges of maritime environments. Engineered as attritable systems, these vessels offer minimal life-cycle costs and considerable potential for scalability.

“Saronic has brought together the top talent from the innovation world, the military, and the defense industry to address the most critical strategic needs for our Navy,” said Joe Lonsdale, the managing partner of 8VC and co-founder of Saronic via the 8VC Build program.

“We are honored to have the backing of seasoned investors who are fully aligned with our mission to deliver top-tier technology to our warfighters as fast as possible,” said Rob Lehman, Saronic’s co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer. “This funding round will enable us to sustain our rapid growth, development, and delivery efforts.”

Saronic is a defense company with a dynamic blend of innovators, seasoned warfighters, and top-tier engineers and technologists from various fields, all dedicated to bringing autonomy to American and allied navies. This investment reflects a strong belief in the team’s capability to rapidly provide autonomous solutions tailored to the modern naval landscape.

Media contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Saronic

AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 9, 2023 — MDisrupt, the leading expert marketplace for the healthtech industry, is excited to announce the successful completion of a $3 million seed funding round to accelerate their pivotal role in reshaping the healthtech innovation landscape. Backed by a powerhouse consortium of investors, this funding round was led by The Venture Collective, with participation from Capita3, 3plus VC, Geek Ventures, Mindshift Capital, The BFM Fund, Zane Venture Fund, Emmeline Ventures, Growth Factory and several other strategic investors in the healthcare and technology sectors. The funding injection will fuel MDisrupt’s plans to expand its client roster and turbocharge the launch of its Expert Marketplace platform, promising on-demand access to a league of top-tier clinicians and seasoned health experts.

MDisrupt’s vision is simple: to provide on-demand access to the most elite clinicians and seasoned health experts in the industry,to enable healthtech companies to build, commercialize and scale their health products responsibly. In an ever-evolving healthcare landscape, having healthcare domain experts at your fingertips is the key to building solutions that can enable widespread adoption and scale.

Ruby Gadelrab, Founder and CEO of MDisrupt, declared, “Healthcare is a complex ecosystem that requires an intricate and unique combination of clinical, commercial and regulatory expertise. We believe that in healthcare, the most important intelligence in healthcare is Human intelligence. For healthtech and life science companies, accessing domain experts at every step of the development and commercialization journey is the key to success in this arena. We are honored to have partnered with this exceptional group of investors who share our commitment to empowering the most impactful companies to bring their health solutions to patients quickly and responsibly.”

Founded in 2020, MDisrupt has built the ultimate healthcare marketplace, a platform that expertly matches professionals with healthtech and life science companies that are seeking specific fractional healthcare expertise on demand. A recent publication in the New England Journal of Medicine authored by Google’s health care leaders underscored the importance of embracing clinical experts – those that have a deep understanding of the healthcare system, and can realize the promise that technology offers to improve health at scale.

With the sector expected to witness a nearly 20% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) over the next decade, MDisrupt is positioned to cement its role as the “go to” for companies seeking top-tier healthcare expertise.

Cat Middleton, General Partner at The Venture Collective (TVC), who is joining the MDisrupt Board of Directors, shared her excitement about the investment, stating, “The future of healthcare innovation finally has the expertise infrastructure it direly needs to help the industry build, commercialize, and scale products. We believe that MDisrupt’s pioneering role in healthcare will set a new standard for innovation, and will ultimately drive better health outcomes.”

In the heart of the healthtech revolution, MDisrupt is not just a marketplace; it’s a catalyst for transformative healthcare change. With this round of funding, MDisrupt is poised to lead the charge, unlocking the doors to a healthier future for us all.

About MDISRUPT:
MDisrupt is the health technology industry’s leading health expert marketplace with over 1,500 experts from established institutions such as Blue Cross Blue Shield, CVS, Willis Towers Watson, U.S. FDA, Optum, and Cleveland Clinic. We connect healthtech and life science companies with vetted and curated health experts to help them build, commercialize and scale their health products. MDisrupt serves companies across healthtech and life science sectors including startups, scaleup and enterprise giants.
Learn more at www.mdisrupt.com

About TVC:
TVC is a transformational, early-stage venture firm backed by world class entrepreneurs and business leaders. Led by a seasoned team of venture investors, ex-founders, and investment management executives, we invest our capital, time, and network into highly defensible, fast-growing companies with the potential to solve the world’s largest problems.
Learn more at www.theventurecollective.com

Contact:
Ruby Gadelrab
[email protected]
mdisrupt.com

SOURCE MDisrupt

Netherlands-based aquaculture investment fund Aqua-Spark led the round, joined by additional investors The Kitchen Hub, Peregrine Ventures, PICO Venture Partners, MOREVC, and CPT Capital

REHOVOT, Israel , Oct. 9, 2023 — Today, FoodTech start-up Wanda Fish Technologies, Ltd., announces it has secured USD 7 million in seed funding. The round was led by Netherlands-based global aquaculture investment fund Aqua-Spark, with additional funding from returning pre-seed investors The Kitchen Hub by the Strauss Group, Peregrine Ventures, LLC, PICO Venture Partners, MOREVC, and CPT Capital, LLP. Since its inception, Wanda Fish has raised USD 10 million in funding.

Founded in 2021 by The Kitchen Hub and Daphna Heffetz, a leading figure in biotechnology-based innovation, Wanda Fish develops premium quality, cultivated fish outside of the ocean. This new injection of capital will boost Wanda Fish’s ability to accelerate the creation and increase the scale of a cultivated whole-cut filet of bluefin tuna.

These cuts replicate the texture, flavor, and nutritional value of wild-caught bluefin tuna as they comprise the fish’s muscle and fat cells and contain the same native proteins and fatty acids, including omega-3 and other essential nutrients. As a cultivated filet, Wanda Fish’s bluefin tuna has no common ocean pollutants, like mercury, and is produced under non-GMO standards.

“We are excited and feel incredibly fortunate to collaborate with Aqua-Spark in propelling our venture forward,” says Daphna Heffetz, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of Wanda Fish. “We are on a shared mission to improve the global food value chain, creating a tasty, more sustainable future for all. This financial backing by leading global venture funds gives us significant leverage to make sustainably cultivated, cruelty-free, and ocean-friendly bluefin tuna a reality.”

Valued for its nutritional content, texture, and flavor, bluefin tuna is an expensive, sought-after species that is particularly popular with high-end sushi restaurants due to its perfect balance of fat and protein.

Further driving demand is bluefin tuna’s inaccessibility. Overfishing of bluefin tuna has pushed it to the brink of endangerment, leading governments to significantly limit fishing quotas. Meanwhile, tuna is considered unsustainable to farm due to the feed resources, pen size requirements, and difficulty of breeding in captivity. In addition, tuna is one of the oceans’ most polluted fish, often contaminated with plastic debris and extremely high levels of heavy metals such as mercury, intensifying the need for an accessible, stable supply of sustainable alternatives.

Wanda Fish has made rapid progress on key developmental breakthroughs toward achieving a whole-cut bluefin tuna prototype to provide an abundant, premium source of highly nutritious fish that will alleviate strain on the delicate ocean ecosystem. This includes forming a 3D filet structure using bluefin tuna cells, differentiated into both muscle and fat tissues. With its proprietary technique, Wanda Fish can precisely control fat levels in its end products. This enables the creation of a diverse range of filet cuts, including the highly sought-after Toro premium cut.

“In such a burgeoning and innovative sector, we are pleased to welcome Wanda Fish into our portfolio of companies based on the remarkable speed with which they’ve met significant milestones,” asserts Lissy Smit, CEO of Aqua-Spark. “We firmly believe in a future where sustainably farmed and cultivated seafood will work in concert with one another to alleviate the burden of overfishing, especially species like bluefin tuna which are deemed unsustainable to farm.”

“As the start-up’s incubator, we’ve had the privilege of witnessing the immense progress Wanda Fish has made since their inception less than two years ago,” enthuses Jonathan Berger, CEO of The Kitchen FoodTech Hub. “Wanda Fish is transforming visionary ideas into a tangible, cutting-edge product that is just steps away from reaching its prototype. This is credited to a skilled and ambitious multinational team led by Daphna Heffetz that is undoubtedly poised for a resounding success story in the thriving alternative protein space; this spells good news for an overburdened marine ecosystem.”

About Wanda Fish 

Wanda Fish is a cutting-edge company spearheading a more sustainable future for ocean seafood. Through disruptive technologies, they produce a variety of whole-cut cultivated premium fish filets outside of the ocean. The company’s first product in development is the whole-cut cultivated bluefin tuna filet composed of the fish’s muscle and fat cells. It bears the authentic texture, flavor, and nutritional richness of wild-caught fish.

The Wanda Fish team comprises a highly skilled multidisciplinary team. Daphna Heffetz, PhD, co-Founder and CEO, brings over 20 years of experience in establishing and growing biotechnology companies. Malkiel Cohen, PhD., VP of R&D at Wanda Fish, is an expert in stem cell technology and genomic engineering, and Yaron Sfadyah, LL.B & B.A., VP of Business Development at Wanda Fish, having 10+ global marketing and business development experience. Under an exclusive licensing and sponsored research agreement with Tufts University in Boston, Wanda Fish also works closely with David Kaplan, PhD, a world-leading academic authority in cellular agriculture.

For more information about Wanda Fish, please visit www.wandafish.com

About Aqua-Spark

Aqua-Spark is a global investment fund, active in 22 countries with investors across 33 countries, building a portfolio of solutions across the aquaculture value chain with the ability to transform the industry into one that is healthier, more sustainable, and more accessible. With just shy of EUR 500 million in assets under management, each investment is chosen for its potential to generate financial returns while also activating positive environmental and social outcomes.

For more information about Aqua-Spark, please visit www.aqua-spark.nl

Press Contacts:

Liat Simha | Wanda Fish: [email protected]  Tel +972-9-9742893
Oona Eager | Aqua-Spark: oona@aqua-spark.nl

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2241865/Wanda_Fish.jpg

SOURCE Wanda Fish Technologies

Marynenko Will Work On Various Artificial Intelligence Projects

GREENWICH, Conn., Oct. 9, 2023 — O’Shaughnessy Ventures LLC (“OSV”), an investment firm that empowers creators, has named Mykhailo Marynenko as its Engineer in Residence.

Marynenko will work on various projects involving artificial intelligence, including a new form of digital assistant that acts as a self-organizing second brain capable of learning from its user.

“I’m excited to welcome Mykhailo to OSV,” said OSV’s founder and CEO, Jim O’Shaughnessy; “the team and I were blown away by his intelligence and technical knowledge and can’t wait to see what he builds for us.”

Marynenko commented: “Joining OSV as an Engineer in Residence is an incredible opportunity to merge my passions for technology, art, and innovation. I am excited to contribute my expertise and collaborate with a diverse team to create groundbreaking solutions and experiences.”

In addition to his new role as Engineer in Residence, Marynenko was previously awarded a $100,000 O’Shaughnessy Fellowship grant, which he will continue to apply towards projects that combine technology with art and human interaction. 

About Marynenko

Marynenko is a software and hardware engineer from Ukraine.

As well as being a keen researcher of security issues, he is passionate about building modern, collaborative, performant and scalable applications.

His interest in engineering began at his father’s phone repair shop in Ukraine. His experience there led him to tinker with every technology, chipset, and circuit board he could lay his hands on. He has since applied this same mindset to complex projects, including advanced, scalable facial recognition systems, autonomous driving systems, and innovative technologies for higher education.

Currently, Marynenko is working on artificial intelligence tools, computational neuroscience research, security research, and new internet standards development.

More information about Marynenko is available via his website.

About O’Shaughnessy Ventures

OSV is a creative investment firm that empowers and inspires creators to bring their ideas to life. Founded by Jim O’Shaughnessy, a pioneer in quantitative investing, founder of O’Shaughnessy Asset Management, and author of four books on investing, OSV aims to provide financial support and to partner in growing the next life-changing creative ideas. 

OSV combines Jim’s deeply rooted interest in all things art, science, investing, and tech with his long-held desire to establish scenarios designed to help promising creators and their inspiring ideas succeed, regardless of age, location, job history, or level of education. For more information, visit https://www.osv.llc/.

Media Contact:
Ena Gong
O’Shaughnessy Ventures LLC
(917) 355-7420
366580@email4pr.com

SOURCE O’Shaughnessy Ventures LLC

Industrifonden and Navigare Ventures fund $7.3 million round

STOCKHOLM, Oct. 9, 2023 — Pixelgen Technologies^®, a leader in spatial proteomics for single cells, announced today that it has closed a Series A financing of approximately $7.3 million. The round was led by new investor Industrifonden, Sweden’s venture capital fund, and Navigare Ventures, an investor in Pixelgen’s Seed round. Proceeds from the financing will support the commercial expansion of Pixelgen’s recently launched spatial proteomics tool for analyzing cell surface proteins on single cells to transform drug discovery and basic science. 

“Pixelgen has made great progress since we emerged from stealth less than a year ago. Last month we shipped our first product to advance drug development and research in immunology, and we’ve expanded our team with top talent,” said Pixelgen CEO Simon Fredriksson, Ph.D. “As we enter this next phase of growth, we are grateful and honored to have the support and expertise of Industrifonden and Navigare Ventures and look forward to their contributions.”

In conjunction with the financing, Industrifonden Senior Investment Director Patrik Sobocki, Ph.D., will join Pixelgen’s board of directors. Sobocki brings decades of experience in healthcare, technology, and entrepreneurship to the board, in addition to his background in international research and development and commercial leadership roles in global pharmaceutical companies.

“We are extremely excited to back Pixelgen. Its team of strong serial entrepreneurs with unicorn outcomes and a unique technology foundation combining advanced molecular research and computational innovation fit perfectly with Industrifonden’s deep tech investment strategy and expertise in computational biology. We are honored to support Simon and his team to become a category leader within spatial proteomics in the coming decade,” said Sobocki. 

“With category-defining technology and applications in rapidly expanding markets, Pixelgen is well positioned for growth,” added Navigare Ventures Investment Manager Alex Basu, Ph.D., a Pixelgen board member. “We look forward to continuing to support Pixelgen as it expands and builds its portfolio of products for drug research and development.”

About Pixelgen Technologies

Pixelgen Technologies AB was founded in 2020 by a team of passionate, experienced innovators and entrepreneurs with a vision to bring a new spatial understanding to biology by mapping cell surface proteins and their spatial inter-relationships. The company has developed Molecular Pixelation, a DNA-based visualization technology for analyzing cell surface proteins, to gain novel insights into cellular activity that will advance better medicines and diagnostics. Pixelgen is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.

Contacts

Corporate:
Annika Branting
[email protected] 
+46 762-69 68 46

Media:
Susan Thomas
[email protected]
+1 (619) 540-9195

SOURCE Pixelgen Technologies

• Lottie is a free service that helps families understand, find and fund later life care  
• Rated the UK’s best eldercare search service, Lottie provides care seekers with access to 4,000+ UK-wide care homes, home care services and retirement living communities
• Company brings transparency to the industry by ensuring all listings are clear about pricing and service availability 
• Lottie already has 500,000+ monthly users and recorded 300% customer growth in last 12 months

LONDON, Oct. 9, 2023 — Lottie, the free online marketplace that connects care seekers and retirees to UK care homes, home care services, and retirement living communities, today announces that it has raised a $21M (£16.35M) Series A funding round led by Accel, with participation from previous investor General Catalyst. This brings the total amount raised by the company to $31M (£25M). Lottie will use the investment to confront the growing social care crisis and elevate the standard of later living by further investing in its suite of technology products that significantly improves the care seeker experience. The company will expand its 50-strong team based in London, with the aim of doubling headcount in 2024. 

Across the UK, care home availability has reached its lowest point in over a decade, amid a backdrop of an ageing population and stagnant state funding: new government data suggests there is a £2.3bn shortfall in England’s care home funding. Moreover, the experience for care seekers is complicated, stressful and time consuming, with people contacting an average of six services before finding a provider that fits their personal care needs. Most have no real sense of how much care should cost, little up-to-date information on services, and no support throughout what can be a distressing time. 

Lottie was founded in 2021 by Will and Chris Donnelly, who experienced firsthand the struggles of finding affordable care services for family members. The brothers launched Lottie with the goal of elevating later life for the older generation, modernising the process of finding care, and ensuring that standards of care are improved across the whole sector. Lottie will become the UK’s first end-to-end marketplace experience for finding care, simplifying the search process so anyone can seamlessly book care online in a similar way to reserving a hotel room via Booking.com or Expedia. With Lottie, care seekers can find, compare and enquire directly with more than 4,000 high-quality care, home care and retirement living services, as well as having the support of Lottie’s team of care experts through each stage of the search process. Lottie also grants full transparency of pricing and service availability, an industry first that means care seekers can see exactly how much their care will cost and whether the service is accepting new clients. 

Beyond its core marketplace, Lottie has developed Found by Lottie – a suite of technology tools it acquired in 2022, designed to upgrade the outdated services offered within care homes themselves. Found offers care providers powerful tools to effectively manage enquiries, customer relationships, networking, occupancy, finance and billing, and to show real-time bed availability. By working towards “instant bed bookings”, Found has the potential to massively relieve the winter pressures on the NHS, where discharge nurses and social workers still have to manually find care homes for patients ready to be discharged. This leads to expensive rates and an inefficient process, as well as a ‘bed-blocking’ crisis in which patients who could be discharged remain in hospital.

Lottie has already matched tens of thousands of families with care and retirement service providers. The London based start-up recorded a 300% growth in customers and revenue over the last 12 months, with more than 500,000 monthly users. Lottie also recently added home care as a new category to its marketplace, including its Direct to Carer solution, which allows families to find and book a high-quality carer without having to go through an agency, giving them more choice and control of the carer selection process. 

The fresh investment will be used to expand Lottie’s marketplace coverage in the UK and to continue developing the platform’s innovative software offerings for care homes. The company will also invest in artificial intelligence and has plans to develop a data insight tool aimed at helping the industry’s key stakeholders make better informed decisions and to help the sector become sustainable in the long-term. 

Will Donnelly, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Lottie, said: “We set out to build Lottie after experiencing firsthand the fundamental issues in the UK social care sector: namely a lack of high quality affordable care and an outdated, emotionally taxing process for individuals and families urgently looking to find care for their loved ones. Everyone deserves the best possible quality of life in their later years, and Lottie is helping to drive real change in the care search process, while supporting our provider partners in delivering better health outcomes for residents, improved operational efficiencies and huge cost savings via our software products. Our goal for Lottie is to become the trusted adviser to care seekers throughout the world – helping families best understand, find and fund later life care. Over 500,000 Britons now visit Lottie every month, and we’re incredibly excited to have Accel join General Catalyst and Kindred on our journey, helping to fuel our next stage of growth and continue in our mission to elevate later life for everybody.” 

Sonali De Rycker, Partner at Accel, said: “Digital marketplaces have transformed our lives. We expect glossy, transparent, low-touch experiences when booking holidays, buying groceries and doing everything in-between. For some reason, eldercare has been left behind. Will and Chris are on a mission to level up an industry stuck in the dark ages. Lottie offers consumers the modern discovery and booking experience they deserve when finding help for loved ones. In parallel, they offer care providers a suite of tools to shift online and upgrade their operations. Meeting Will and Chris is an experience you don’t forget: they’re an ambitious, high integrity team chasing a significant and important opportunity. We’re excited to be part of their journey.”

Chris Bischoff, Managing Director at General Catalyst, said: “We believe the Lottie team has made great strides in their mission to provide transparency and support for families searching for quality care. They have demonstrated the ability to collaborate with care partners who share their commitment to modernising home care with sustainability, safety, and quality of life in mind. These values align with our Health Assurance thesis and we are excited to participate in their positive impact and continued growth.”

About Lottie

Lottie is a digital marketplace that connects care seekers to the UK’s best care homes at a fair price. Blending smart technology with market leading human expertise, Lottie makes finding the perfect care home for yourself or for a loved one less stressful, quicker and more affordable. The company is leading the global transformation to a modern and sustainable care sector and has raised capital from investors including Accel, General Catalyst and Tom Blomfield. Choose a Lottie care home today via: www.lottie.org

About Accel

Accel is a global venture capital firm that is the first partner to exceptional teams everywhere, from inception through all phases of private company growth. Atlassian, Bumble, Celonis, CrowdStrike, Deliveroo, Fiverr, Freshworks, Miro, Qualtrics, Scale, Segment, Slack, Spotify, Supercell, and UiPath are among the companies Accel has backed over the past 40+ years. We help ambitious entrepreneurs build iconic global businesses. For more, visit www.accel.com or www.twitter.com/accel.

About General Catalyst

General Catalyst is a venture capital firm that invests in powerful, positive change that endures — for our entrepreneurs, our investors, our people, and society. We support founders with a long-term view who challenge the status quo, partnering with them from seed to growth stage and beyond to build companies that withstand the test of time. With offices in San Francisco, Palo Alto, New York City, London, and Boston, the firm has helped support the growth of businesses such as: Airbnb, Deliveroo, Guild, Gusto, Hubspot, Illumio, Lemonade, Livongo, Oscar, Samsara, Snap, Stripe, and Warby Parker. For more: www.generalcatalyst.com

SOURCE Lottie

The funds will be used to help address social and political justice and boost wealth creation through entrepreneurism for the Black Community

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2023 — The Executive Leadership Council announced today that it will launch a $1M community impact investment geared towards boosting entrepreneurship and addressing social and economic justice. Recipients include the Russell Innovation Center for Entrepreneurs, Legal Defense Fund, and the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies.

The announcement was made during the organization’s annual recognition gala, a celebration that wraps up ELC Week, an energizing and enriching week of programming geared towards fostering growth and prosperity for the next generation of Black business leaders through programs like its CEO GameChanger Conference and Mid-level Managers Symposium.

This year’s event hosted nearly 4000 guests, including corporate CEOs, executives and up-and-coming business leaders from the largest global corporations at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center Oct. 3 – 6. The closing event featured a star performance from R&B legends Boyz II Men and honored Black leaders in Corporate America including Ariel Investments Co-CEO Mellody Hobson, independent board member and corporate executive Arlene Isaacs-Lowe and Synchrony.

Click to download photos from Imagine Photography.

A focal point of the week for attendees was the The ELC Scholars Annual Honors Symposium which provided a record-breaking $3M in scholarships and brought together 138 collegiates from 67 academic institutions, including 40 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). During the symposium, scholars had the opportunity to receive professional development and participate in workshops hosted by corporate sponsors including “Executive Presence: Gravitas Like a Boss,” hosted by Bank of America, “Your Network is Your Net Worth – Leveraging Sponsors & Mentors,” hosted by Amazon, and “Navigating The Interview & Cultivating a Confident You,” hosted by Synchrony, among others.

This year’s scholarships were made possible by 3M, ADM, Amazon, Bank of America, Bristol Myers Squibb, Brunswick, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Hewlett-Packard, HSBC, Johnson & Johnson, Lowe’s, Moody’s, Nationwide, Otis, Otsuka, Raytheon, Synchrony, The Coca-Cola Foundation, and UnitedHealth Group.

ABOUT THE ELC:
The Executive Leadership Council opens channels of opportunity for the development of Black executives to positively impact business and our communities. An independent non-profit 501(c)(3) founded in 1986, The ELC is the pre-eminent membership organization committed to increasing the number of global Black executives in C-suites, on corporate boards and in global enterprises. Comprising more than 800 current and former Black CEOs, senior executives and board directors at Fortune 1000 and Global 500 companies and entrepreneurs at top-tier firms, its members work to build an inclusive business leadership pipeline that empowers global Black leaders to make impactful contributions to the marketplace and the global communities they serve. For more information, please visit www.elcinfo.com.

SOURCE The Executive Leadership Council

Funding arrives on the heels of Glydways and its partners being awarded both San Jose Mineta Airport – Diridon Station Connector and Contra Costa Transportation Authority/Tri Delta Transit’s Dynamic Personal Micro Transit projects

Glydways total funding to date now exceeds $70 million

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Oct. 6, 2023 — Glydways, a leader in developing on-demand Personal Rapid Transit (PRT), today announced it’s $56 million Series B round, including the conversion of notes valued at more than $28 million and led by New Science Ventures with participation from The ACS Group and Gates Frontier. Khosla Ventures, Glydways first investor, is also participating in this latest round. The company has raised more than $70 million to date.

In addition to this recent funding, Glydways has been selected by Contra Costa Transportation Authority and Tri Delta Transit (Authorities) for the initial, vital segment of the Dynamic Personal Micro Transit project to increase public transit accessibility for the fast-growing communities of Pittsburg, Antioch, Oakley and Brentwood. The Project will be jointly administered by the Authorities and is designed to complement, enhance and expand existing public transportation options to create a meaningful multi-modal system. This is the second significant project Glydways has been awarded already this year, with the first being the City of San Jose’s project connecting San Jose Mineta International Airport to the City’s downtown Diridon Station, both located in California.

“We are thrilled and grateful to welcome this brilliant group of investors to the Glydways team,” said Gokul Hemmady, CEO of Glydways. “Investing in a new form of public mobility requires both vision and a belief in the future we are building together with our customers and their communities. These three partners, along with Khosla Ventures, understand the complex dynamics around public transit and are the perfect team to help guide us as we develop and refine our technology to revolutionize urban mass transit.”    

Somu Subramaniam, NSV Managing Partner added, “Glydways is leading a revolution in urban mass transit. We are very impressed with the company’s momentum and the technologies they have developed. We’re believers in Glydways’ compelling value proposition to enable their solution to become a new mode of transit for city planners across the world.”

Nuria Haltiwanger, CEO for ACS Infrastructure also added “As a world leading infrastructure business, we can see the strategic value of Glydways and how it will transform public transit for the benefit of the communities it will serve.”

There are 4,037 cities around the world that have the population density whereby mass transit systems are needed and can be supported. Yet, only 194 (4.8%) of them actually have a rail or metro system. Glydways has developed a revolutionary approach to urban mass transit that is much more affordable and accessible for the 95% of cities around the world that have no solution – a Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system of on-demand, personal, autonomous, battery-operated electric vehicles traveling on small, dedicated rights of way that can be built at-grade, elevated, or tunneled and integrates with any public transportation options. 

The vehicles, called Glydcars, exclusively use these lanes with no crossings and no other vehicles which means Glydcars travel unimpeded with no stops or slowdowns. The system can move up to 10,000 people per hour per lane/direction, which means larger numbers of riders will move more comfortably, sustainably and affordably than ever before, all for the cost of a transit fare. This approach offers net-new capacity, which means vehicle trips are removed from city streets, thus reducing overall traffic congestion. The CAPEX requirements for the Glydways system is a fraction of the cost to build rail or bus lanes, and because the system is on-demand, its OPEX is also significantly smaller too. The Glydways system generates zero emissions. Each car is electric battery powered and bi-directional.  We have thoughtfully designed the Glydcar to optimize its range (weight, resistance, features), which makes Glydways one of the most climate-friendly mobility systems in the world.

New Science Ventures, LLC (NSV) is a leading venture capital firm focused on building companies that leverage breakthrough science to create extraordinary value. NSV invests in companies using science-based innovations to address market needs in the life sciences and information technology sectors.

The ACS Group is a strategic infrastructure partner to Glydways and is focused on building a better future through the development and operation of infrastructure that helps the economic and social progress of the countries where they operate.

About Glydways
Glydways was founded in 2016 by Mark Seeger and its mission is to revolutionize urban mobility and provide more equitable access to affordable housing, jobs, education, healthcare, and community.  We accomplish this via our innovative approach of a closed-road, fully autonomous, high capacity personal rapid transit system. Closed-road means dedicated lanes, with no traffic or congestion. This allows Glydcars to perform a service on demand, anytime 24/7, continuously moving with no slowing or stopping until the passenger reaches their destination, all with no emissions. Dedicated lanes also mean an easier and faster certification path than Level 5 open road autonomy. Additionally, unlike autonomous automobiles, our vehicles never share the road with human-driven vehicles, which is actually proving to increase congestion, drive times, and accident rates, not decrease them. Our customer experience is like ride hailing, but at public transit prices.

Contacts:

Craig Berman, Glydways
Corporate Communictions
[email protected]
(425) 829-1767

Lindy Johnson
Director of External Affairs Contra Costa Transportation Authority
[email protected]
(925) 256-4702

SOURCE Glydways