• As Y-Combinator (YC) pulls back from Africa, Baobab doubles down on its early-stage investment strategy across Africa
• New cohorts to receive $100,000 investment each, up from $50,000, with launch of Baobab’s Co-investment Vehicle
• Baobab portfolio now up to 45 startups across 15 countries

NAIROBI, Kenya, LAGOS, Nigeria, and LONDON, Oct. 5, 2023 — Baobab Network (“Baobab”), an early-stage investor and accelerator that backs technology companies across Africa, has this week announced that they intend to invest in 1000 companies between now and 2033.

Having launched their accelerator in 2019, Baobab has consistently been one of the most active investors across Africa, backing locally led companies from day one. The accelerator provides $100,000 in funding for each company, as well as a 12-week accelerator designed to set each business up for scale.

Announcing their latest 5 investments, Toby Hanington (Co-founder, Baobab) said they now have the platform to dramatically scale the number of investments they review and execute across Africa.

Baobab’s new cohort includes Brandrive, PocketFood and Bunce (all Nigeria), as well as Kawu (Uganda) & Alal (Senegal). Each company has received $50,000 directly from Baobab, with another $50,000 investment from their newly launched Co-Investment Vehicle.

YC retreating, and other market dynamics behind Baobab’s bullishness

Africa has not been immune to global market dynamics, but Baobab continues to be one of the most active pre-seed investors in Africa. Baobab Network has already completed 10 deals this year, with another larger cohort expected in Q4.

Additionally, Baobab recently hired Niama El Bassunie as Managing Partner – a YC alumni and one of Africa’s only exited entrepreneurs.

Baobab counts a number of global business leaders, institutions and investors amongst its investor-base, committed to supporting Baobab’s future as a multi-product asset management platform, driving the next generation of technology companies in Africa.

About Baobab Network

Baobab Network is an early-stage investor and accelerator that backs technology companies across Africa. Launched in 2016, and based out of offices in Nairobi, Lagos and London, Baobab is a sector and geographically agnostic investor within Africa, and entrepreneurs that join Baobab’s accelerator receive $100,000 USD in funding as well as access to a global network of partners and co-investors. Baobab’s vision is to build a multi-product investment business, investing in 1000 startups in Africa over the next 10 years.

For more information, media enquiries or to get in touch with the Baobab team, send an email, visit the website or follow on LinkedIn. Email: team@thebaobabnetwork.com

© Baobab Network 2023 | All Rights Reserved

SOURCE Baobab Network

CMCC Global raised USD100m to launch a new venture capital fund that will empower entrepreneurs in Hong Kong and beyond to build innovative Web3 companies.

HONG KONG, Oct. 4, 2023 – Hong Kong’s push towards Blockchain enabled Fintech and Web3 innovation received strong tailwind through a new fund that CMCC Global launched this week. CMCC Global, one of Asia’s earliest venture capital investors to entirely focus on blockchain technology and Web3 innovation, today announced the launch of a new venture fund that will empower entrepreneurs to build companies in the space. The fund, which invests into the equity of blockchain companies as opposed to digital assets, is called Titan Fund and will focus on early-stage start-up investments along the three key verticals of Infrastructure, Fintech, and Consumer applications such as gaming, metaverse and NFTs.

The Titan Fund has reached its fundraising target of USD100m in the first close and is supported by a number of world leading blockchain investors. The anchor investor is Block.one (B1), which committed USD50m to the fund, CMCC Global itself participates with a 15% GP commitment, alongside notable investors such as Richard Li’s Pacific Century Group, Hong Kong’s Jebsen Capital, Winklevoss Capital, alongside personal investments from notable innovators such as Yat Siu from Animoca Brands and other prominent blockchain entrepreneurs.

“CMCC Global has been one of the earliest venture capital investors in the industry and their team has built a strong track record in identifying future winners,” said Brendan Blumer, founder of B1, Bullish and other notable blockchain companies. “At B1, we have developed and innovated on blockchain software solutions, pioneered scaling solutions and incubated new technologies that build trust and increase efficiencies in Web3. The Titan Fund shares these goals and will support a new generation of entrepreneurs as they build the next wave of leading companies in our industry.”

To launch and run the fund, CMCC Global was joined by a new managing partner, Yen Shiau Sin, who joined from his previous role as Director, Strategic Investments at B1. Prior to his role at B1, Yen ran a Fintech fund for CLSA and began his career in investment banking (M&A) at UBS in Hong Kong and New York. The team is further complemented by Investment Principal Jonathan Cheung, who has joined the Titan Fund investment team from Brevan Howard Digital. CMCC Global’s Co-founders Charlie Morris and Martin Baumann are co-managing the fund and sit on the investment committee.

The Titan Fund is an institutional grade fund with State Street as the fund administrator and EY as the auditor. The fund is managed by Fintech Investment Group Limited, a wholly owned Hong Kong based subsidiary of CMCC Global, which has been granted respective asset management licenses from Hong Kong’s Security and Futures Commission.

“We are excited to have B1 as the anchor investor in our Titan Fund,” said Martin Baumann, co-founder of CMCC Global. “Having worked closely together for several years at various investment deals we have found tight alignment in our investment approach and numerous synergies through shared investments. B1 has been a pioneer in the digital asset space and this strategic investment in the Titan Fund will further our mission to accelerate innovation in blockchain technology and the digital asset ecosystem.”

As part of this strategic investment, B1 will also become a minority shareholder in CMCC Global’s holding entity which is backed by notable investors including Hong Kong tycoon Richard Li and Gemini Trust Co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.

“Having B1 joining CMCC Global’s holding company as part of this transaction will be a valuable addition to the cap table and will unlock strategic potential for both companies down the road,” added Daniel Wong, who oversees the investment into CMCC Global’s holding entity for Pacific Century Group.

“The Titan Fund will accelerate Web3 innovation in Hong Kong and beyond. CMCC Global and their team are known to be conviction driven investors that have identified numerous breakthrough innovators early on,” added Yat Siu, founder of Animoca Brands, who received one of the first investments from the Titan Fund via a warehoused deal into his Mocaverse project. Other warehoused deals include the Hong Kong company Terminal 3, a blockchain-based digital identity company which was founded by Hong Kong entrepreneurs Gary Liu, Malcom Ong and Joey Liu. International deals warehoused for the fund include Informal Systems, founded by crypto veteran and Cosmos Co-founder Ethan Buchman, NFT ecommerce platform KickzMeta and its Mooncourt, as well as a San Francisco based Y-combinator team that has set out to revolutionize the tokenization process for enterprises and assets.

“The Titan Fund will empower great entrepreneurs to build the next wave of Web3 and blockchain powered fintech applications,” added Cameron Winklevoss co-founder of Gemini. “The last five years have seen a set of new unicorn companies emerge, the next five to ten years will see this trend continue to accelerate as mainstream adoption of blockchain technology proliferates.”

“With extremely high internet penetration and a relatively large unbanked population, Asia is primed to experience an explosion in consumer adoption of Web3 applications. Already, a third of global blockchain deals originate out of Asia today and this is a growing trend. Our Titan Fund is well positioned to capture value in the region,” concluded Charlie Morris, who is Co-founder of CMCC Global and runs the North American business.

About CMCC Global

CMCC Global is one of Asia’s first venture capital companies focused solely on blockchain and Web3 investments. CMCC Global has an enviable record of investing early in leading projects such as Ethereum (ETH) at USD7, Solana (SOL) at USD0.20 and Cosmos (ATOM) at USD0.10. CMCC Global has reached assets under management (AUM) of over USD500 million across its funds and is known as a high-conviction investor. Today the company has offices in Asia, North America and Europe and operates several funds with different strategies including the CMCC Global Digital Asset Fund, the Titan Fund and its two funds of quantitative trading hedge funds Crest and SYZCrest.

More information can be found at www.cmcc.vc 

About Titan Fund

Titan Fund offers accredited investors exposure to attractive growth opportunities within the blockchain ecosystem through a traditional equity venture capital investment strategy focusing on seed to series A/B along the key investment verticals of Infrastructure, Fintech and Consumer Applications. The Titan Fund is CMCC Global’s latest fund strategy and complements its Digital Asset Funds, which have been investing directly into protocols and digital assets since 2016, and its Crest family of funds that invests into crypto quant funds.

More information can be found at www.titan.fund

SOURCE CMCC Global

Precision Irrigation Management startup will use funding for R&D, and to accelerate expansion in North America and beyond

TEL AVIV, Israel, Oct. 4, 2023 — Precision Irrigation Management startup Treetoscope has completed its latest seed fundraising round, securing $7 million to aid with R&D, fuel overall growth and accelerate commercial agriculture expansion in North America and beyond.

The round was led by the Champel Capital venture capital fund, a leading European-Israeli fund focusing on impact technology investments, together with other strategic investors that include Leon Recanati’s GlenRock fund, SeedIL, YYM-Ventures, Agrovision, NEOME, GN-Z11 and Earth.vc.

“This is an exciting time for Treetoscope, because it will help our talented team get our groundbreaking technology into the hands of more growers,” said Treetoscope CEO Dotan Eshet. “Our technology is unlike any in the agtech space, and the funding will enable us to expedite our research and to expand, improve, and carry out our mission to provide farmers with the tools they need to grow more with less water and inputs.”

Founded in 2021 in Tel Aviv, Israel, Treetoscope’s plant-based irrigation management platform helps growers make more precise irrigation decisions thanks to real-time sap and water uptake data from the crop itself. Rather than using soil sensors, that don’t tap into the plant, or tree trunk sensors that are limited to measuring tree circumference, Treetoscope’s in-tree/plant sensors directly measure water uptake in real-time. Combined with AI, integrated weather data, satellite imagery and other remote data, Treetoscope’s irrigation management system provides growers with a more accurate data set to easily schedule irrigations, cut-back water and other input costs, and ensure optimal crop health and production.

Treetoscope’s sensors are easy to install by the grower, and are more cost effective than many other service-heavy soil sensor solutions, providing higher-resolution data across the field, vineyard or orchard.

“Treetoscope has developed a unique solution to one of the most painful problems in the worldwide food chain, where water is becoming a rare, expensive commodity,” said Amir Weitman, managing partner at Champel-Capital. “We are proud to partner with such a company that provides solutions to farmers to save significant amounts of water and create a genuine impact in the world.” 

Treetoscope’s field data is pushed seamlessly into its user-friendly irrigation management platform that can be accessed via computer or a dedicated mobile app, where growers can make more informed irrigation decisions. This ensures their crop receives just the right amount of water required for optimal growth.

“By understanding when their crops truly need water the most and tailoring irrigation accordingly,”Eshet concluded, “farmers can maximize yields while using less water.”

Building on Existing, Global Partners

Treetoscope has commercially collaborated with some of the world’s leading agri-businesses, as well as renowned research institutes around the globe:

• In North America, The Toro Company, has partnered with Treetoscope and co-branded the innovative technology (Transpira). This collaboration has led to the successful launch of sales in the U.S. and Mexico, marking a significant milestone for the global expansion of the company.
• Netafim, a global leader in sustainable agricultural-irrigation solutions, has rigorously validated Treetoscope technology over three years, paving the way for global commercialization partnership.

To date, Treetoscope has secured more than $10 million in total investments, which includes grants from the Israel Innovation Authority and Bird Foundation, a joint Israel-U.S. government fund.

In its second year of sales, Treetoscope has tripled revenue versus the previous year and is on target to meet sales objectives for the current financial year ending December 2023.

Along with a recent expansion into the U.S., hiring a General Manager in the Sacramento Area earlier this year and currently expanding its team in California’s Central Valley, Treetoscope is preparing for expansion into Mexico for the 2024 season.

For more information on Treetoscope’s technology, investment opportunities or to learn how you can partner with the company, visit www.treetoscope.com or email Eshet-[email protected].

About Treetoscope,

Established in 2021, Treetoscope has developed a breakthrough technology for direct plant-monitoring. The company offers its innovative services to farmers in North America, Europe, and the Middle East, helping them reduce production costs, increase yield, and optimizing water use. Treetoscope is currently expanding its technology into new territories and crops. Visit www.treetoscope.com to learn more.

About Champel Capital 

Champel-Capital is a venture capital fund that invests in Israeli startups in the realms of foodtech, agritech, medtech, industry 4.0, fintech and traffic. To date, the fund has made 21 investments, yielding 4 exits and 1 unicorn- Lemonade. Champel-Capital is headed by partners Amir Weitman and Arié Benguigui, who have been investing in the Israeli venture capital scene since 2017. The Fund’s advisory committee consists of serial entrepreneurs, investors, educators and leading individuals in the ecosystem: Eyal Waldman, Prof. Omer Moav, Prof. Raoul Bino, Eyal Orion and Hillel Fuld.

SOURCE Treetoscope

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 4, 2023 — Today Cove announced the closing of its latest funding round, which will allow it to supply its biodegradable materials and packaging technologies to consumer-packaged goods companies that are trying to reduce the use of plastic in the industry. 

Cove’s packaging is biodegradable, home-compostable, naturally occurring and completely free of synthetic plastics or microplastics.

Cove commercialized biodegradable water bottles in December 2022, with a test launch in California through premium grocer Erewhon. Many high-profile influencers and celebrities celebrated the launch online, attracting attention and interest from many of the largest consumer brands. 

Following the launch, Cove was inundated by requests from retailers and brands that wanted to use the packaging technology and materials for their own products.

“We’re very excited about working with the most iconic brands in the world to adopt our technology and move away from conventional plastics that contribute to plastic pollution. We feel we can achieve maximum reach with our technology through partnerships with these brands,” said Alex Totterman, Cove’s CEO and founder. 

Cove is in discussions with many of the largest global consumer brands. It took Cove four years to develop the packaging and the bottles. Of particular interest is Cove’s proprietary AI development tools, which will enable accelerated material formulation for difficult applications.

Cove’s latest round, led by its long-time lead investor Valor Siren Ventures, (whose corporate backers include Nestle, Starbucks and Marriott,) was oversubscribed. The majority of Cove’s existing investors, including Lupa Systems, Litani Ventures and a number of high-profile celebrities, participated in this funding round as well.

“Plastic pollution is in need of real solutions,” said Jon Shulkin, Partner and Co-President of Valor Equity Partners. “We are extremely grateful to have partnered with Cove and led multiple financing rounds to support the Company’s vision of creating a sustainable material world. We believe Cove has the potential to bring meaningful change to the consumer packaging sector.” 

About Cove
Cove is a material science company re-engineering the products most polluting the world by helping global brands transition to sustainable materials. Using their proprietary AI development tools Cove creates sustainable biomaterials and packaging that are fully biodegradable, bio-based and renewable, to replace plastics. Cove is based in Southern California and backed by a group of notable investors and celebrities including Valor Equity, Marc Benioff, James Murdoch, Tony Robbins and Peter Rahal. Cove was named the Plastic-Free Innovation of The Year by Dieline. To learn more, go to www.cove.co.

SOURCE Cove

Global Hands-On VC starts its mission to provide hands-on support to help startups go global.

TOKYO, Oct. 4, 2023 — Global Hands-On VC (“GHOVC”) has co-led a $20 million financing round in EdgeCortix, a Japan-based edge artificial intelligence (AI) fabless semiconductor development and design company. The investment was made from its first fund, GHOVC Fund I Investment Limited Partnership (“GHOVC Fund I”) managed by GHOVC. Funds managed by SBI Investment Corporation (co-lead investor) and Renesas Electronics Corporation also participated in this round. GHOVC will provide not only financial support, it will also provide management support to help accelerate EdgCortix’s growth as it expands its business within Japan and globally.

EdgeCortix was founded by Dr. Sakyasingha Dasgupta on the groundbreaking idea of creating a high-speed yet very low-power, flexible edge AI-focused processor with a radical software-first approach. Today, the company’s suite of proprietary software and AI chip products accelerate AI inference tasks for computer vision, natural language processing and generative AI applications, at very low power, low latency and best-in-class energy-efficiency, across the complex world of systems operating outside of typical data centers, colloquially called “the edge”.

Shri Dodani, Founder & Managing Partner of GHOVC, will join EdgeCortix’s Board of Directors and provide hands-on support to help the company expand sales of its products and services into global markets. Shri is a serial entrepreneur who has started and led six successful technology companies in Silicon Valley.

“We are delighted to welcome both the GHOVC investment as well as their experienced team to the EdgeCortix family, we are also very pleased to have industry veteran Shri Dodani join the Board of Directors of EdgeCortix.”, said Sakyasingha Dasgupta, CEO and Founder of EdgeCortix, “We anticipate that given GHOVC’s deep collective history in the semiconductor space that they are well positioned to deliver significant value to EdgeCortix as we look to expand our sales, marketing and operational efforts on a global scale.”

“I am very pleased that GHOVC Fund I has decided to make its first investment in EdgeCortix. We have seen the boom and excitement in AI technology a few times, and each previous time, it has ended mainly at the laboratory level or as an experiment that was far from being put to practical use. With the release of Chat GPT last year, AI has now quickly been recognized as a technology that has immediate potential for solving practical, current business problems across numerous industries.” said Shri Dodani, Founder and Managing Partner of GHOVC.  “This new generation of AI is still in its infancy, there is significant opportunity for innovation in terms of energy efficiency, cost effectiveness, and ease of use at each end point. Accelerator Processing Units that implement ELMs (Efficient Language Models™)^[1], i.e., low-power and low-cost AI processors that can support the latest frameworks in AI will shortly be required to perform outside the datacenter where the information is created and captured – at the ‘edge. EdgeCortix has the intellectual property, technology, team and know-how to bring innovative developments in this area and deliver value to businesses looking to leverage AI. I look forward to contributing to EdgeCortix’s corporate development through my own experience in the semiconductor industry and GHOVC’s hands-on support capabilities.”

^[1] Efficient Language Model is a registered trademark of EdgeCortix and its group companies.

About EdgeCortix:

Pioneering the future of the connected intelligent edge, EdgeCortix was founded in 2019 as a fabless semiconductor company focused on energy-efficient AI processing. In September of the same year, it established its R&D headquarters in Tokyo. Taking a software-first approach, EdgeCortix patented its “hardware and software co-exploration,” system, using it to design an artificial intelligence specific runtime reconfigurable processor from the ground up. Shipping its software and hardware products to customers globally, the company is geared towards positively disrupting the rapidly growing edge AI hardware space across defense, aerospace, smart cities, industry 4.0, autonomous vehicles and robotics.

For more information visit: www.edgecortix.com

About Global Hands-On VC:

GHOVC is a VC founded by two Japanese and three Americans to provide hands-on support for “Japanese technology startups” to go global. GHOVC’s team is comprised of people who have experience starting and managing startups overseas, people who have helped startups expand overseas, and people who have developed global standard products. GHOVC provide hands-on support for the overseas expansion of Japanese technology startups by working closely with the entrepreneurs.

For more information visit:  www.ghovc.com

Related News Releases:

2023.07.19 Japan x Silicon Valley Investment Specialists Combine All Their Efforts to Create Unicorn Companies in Japan

https://forbesjapan.com/articles/detail/64468 

List of Global Hands-On VC Inc. press releases https://prtimes.jp/main/html/searchrlp/company_id/112281

For inquiries from the press regarding this matter, please contact Global Hands-On VC, Inc.

Email: [email protected]
Phone: +81 50-1742-5386

SOURCE Global Hands-On VC

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 4, 2023 — CropX Technologies, a global leader in digital solutions for agronomic farm management, is thrilled to announce that Newtree Impact has joined the CropX Series C funding round. Newtree Impact is a Brussels-based impact investment firm that is dedicated to fighting climate change by investing in revolutionary agri-food technologies.

Newtree’s participation in CropX’s Series C underscores the global impact of CropX-enabled efficient farming that reduces unnecessary irrigation and chemical use while protecting yields. CropX is the only farm management technology in the Newtree portfolio.

CropX offers a suite of connected digital technologies designed to enhance crop yield, optimize irrigation, and promote resource-efficient farming practices, while providing visibility and tracking of sustainability practices. Its technology leverages data-driven insights, sensors, and advanced analytics to provide farmers with real-time information and agronomic advice about soil conditions, moisture levels, and crop health, and offers custom APIs and enhanced connections to supply chain partners.

CropX first closed $30 million in Series C funding in April 2023 in a round led by Aliaxis that included Edaphon, Finistere Ventures, NTT Finance Corporation, OurCrowd, Reinke Irrigation, Yair Shamir, and Victrix. CropX reopened the round to include Newtree Impact.

Newtree Impact’s investment in CropX reflects a shared vision for the future of agriculture that prioritizes sustainable practices and responsible resource management to fight climate change.

“We are delighted to welcome Newtree Impact as a strategic investor in our Series C funding round,” said Tomer Tzach, CEO of CropX Technologies. “Newtree Impact invests in companies that productively disrupt agriculture for the greater good of the climate and people. CropX is a perfect fit for their portfolio with our mission to transform agriculture through data-driven innovations. This partnership will enable us to empower farmers and improve food production worldwide for the greater good of the planet.”

“We are excited to support CropX Technologies in their mission to drive sustainable agriculture forward,” said Benoît de Bruyn, founder and CEO at Newtree Impact. “Their innovative approach to agronomic farm management aligns perfectly with our commitment to rapidly create a more sustainable future. We believe that this partnership will drive positive change in the agriculture industry and ultimately make agriculture a part of the climate solution.”

With this investment, CropX will be able to accelerate its efforts in making precision agriculture accessible to farmers worldwide, ultimately leading to more efficient resource use, increased crop yields, and a healthier planet.

About CropX Technologies: 

CropX Technologies is one of the fastest growing providers of agribusiness farm management solutions in the world, deployed in over 50 countries and across all arable continents. Our flagship product, the CropX agronomic farm management system synthesizes data from soil to sky to offer advanced soil and crop intelligence and a suite of digital agronomic decision and planning tools, all on an easy-to-use app capable of tracking multiple farms and fields. CropX Technologies is backed by the world’s leading agribusinesses and VCs, who recognize that CropX’s precision-ag technologies set new standards of best practices for environmental sustainability and greater farm productivity.

About NewTree Impact: 

Newtree Impact is a Belgian impact holding dedicated to fighting climate change by investing in revolutionary agri-food technologies. Newtree Impact has invested, among others, in Fable Food (a mushroom-based alternative to meat); EvodiaBio (producer of natural flavors); Algama (producer of food ingredients from microalgae); Protix (the world leader in insect ingredients); and Proteon Pharmaceuticals (bacterial phages to combat growing antibiotic resistance).

www.newtreeimpact.com

For media inquiries or further information please contact:

Hanna Day-Woodruff
Communications Specialist
[email protected]

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2238063/CropX.jpg
Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2057928/4320869/CropX_Logo.jpg

SOURCE CropX

Learn more about Hummingbird AI: https://www.opsera.io/hummingbird–ai

The Opsera Unified DevOps Platform, powered by Hummingbird AI, includes AI-driven unified insights to help improve developer experience and productivity, help identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies and provide remediations with the click of a button. Another feature within Hummingbird AI will empower enterprise developers to accelerate innovation by deploying large language models (LLM) across multiple clouds seamlessly using a templated approach. Hummingbird AI will bring compliance around security and quality assurance with bias scoring and cost management within LLMs.

“Today’s enterprise software organizations are constantly looking for ways to improve their time to value,” said Huang Lee, Managing Partner of Taiwania Capital. “The Opsera Unified DevOps Platform gives engineering teams the flexibility and control they need while assuring quality and security standards are strictly met. We are excited to support Opsera as it continues to scale quickly and leverage AI technology, including LLMs, to revolutionize the way software is developed and deployed.”

“Congratulations to the Opsera team on their latest funding round,” said Wesley Chan, co-founder and Managing Partner of FPV Ventures. “We recognized Opsera’s unwavering commitment to helping engineering teams work better and deliver value faster. We’re excited to see Hummingbird AI added to Opsera’s Unified DevOps Platform as it will continue to help increase cost-efficiency, free up valuable engineering time, and offer unparalleled insights into the DevOps lifecycle.”

“As one of the original early-stage investors of Opsera, we are proud to see the company continue to scale at an impressive rate,” said Rajeev Madhavan, co-founder and Partner of Clear Ventures. “Now, more than ever, leading global organizations are looking to tap the most value out of their current technology investments. With the introduction of Hummingbird AI, Opsera Unified DevOps platform empowers organizations to build high-performance engineering teams, reach new levels of productivity gains, and efficiencies and be equipped to tackle the complex challenges of today’s digital landscape.” 

“Today marks a major milestone for Opsera and our customers as we continue to chart new strategies to help enterprise customers gain the most value out of their technology investments and innovations,” said Kumar Chivukula, co-founder and CEO of Opsera.

“With the Opsera Unified DevOps Platform, our users release 80% faster and improve security and quality posture by 60%,” continued Chivukula. “Now with Hummingbird AI, users from across the organization will be able to improve efficiency, security and quality even more and have critical insights right at their fingertips with a 100% shift-left approach. With the support of Taiwania Capital and all of our investment partners, we will continue to accelerate how we help customers along their DevOps and DevSecOps journeys.”

The new Hummingbird AI capabilities within Opsera’s DevOps platform combine generative AI and MLOps technology to allow engineers to:

• Improve Organizational Efficiency, Security, and Quality through prompt-based recommendations, analysis, remediations and insights driven by the entire organization’s software development lifecycle data and toolchain.
• Leverage the Best-in-Class Opsera Platform Capabilities for MLOps Orchestration, making deployments faster, smarter and more secure across multi-cloud solutions. Gain visibility across efficacy scoring and bias detection.
• Embrace Holistic Security and Observability with security score cards, remediation efforts and recommendations to improve the organization’s overall security and quality posture.
• Gain AI-powered Critical Intelligence and Actionable Insights including DORA metrics, developer productivity and experience insights, and security and quality metrics.
• Launch Developer-Friendly, Automated Workflows across SDLC, SaaS, IaC, and COTS applications.
• Pipeline Summary and Remediations for each pipeline to improve the process and recover from the failures with reduced Mean Time to identification for issues/anomalies.

Today’s DevOps requires performance at scale across the organization, all while empowering developers to do their best work.

“DevOps teams are under pressure to support more critical apps across more clouds, and pipelines, data, security, and architecture are becoming more complex and harder to manage,” said Dan Turchin, CEO of PeopleReign and host of the popular podcast AI and the Future of Work. “Teams need to invest in automation and AI to detect issues that can lead to expensive outages. Only Opsera and Hummingbird AI combine the ease of use and conversational fluency expected from LLM-first applications with the flexibility to observe pipelines across workloads.”

With new funding and capabilities, Opsera empowers engineers to positively impact the entire software development lifecycle in a few clicks. With Hummingbird AI, Opsera is creating a unified, high-performing, intuitive DevOps experience driven by the latest AI innovations to help customers achieve their own innovations faster.

“Hummingbird AI will become the new standard for monitoring DevOps pipelines,” says Turchin, “This isn’t just another LLM parlor trick!”

About Opsera
Opsera is built for today’s modern DevOps organizations. From the comprehensive orchestration for CI/CD pipeline creation and management to a robust marketplace of pre-built integrations and complete analytic and reporting capabilities with actionable intelligence, organizations achieve faster release cycles, maintain and improve quality, and increase efficiency using data-driven within their software development processes. Top Fortune 100 companies are speeding up their time to market by building, testing, deploying, reporting, and monitoring their applications with Opsera’s leading DevOps platform.

Contact:
Olivia Heel
Catapult PR
[email protected]

SOURCE Opsera

Company’s round, which also includes participation from fin-tech investor Bolt by QED, provides restaurants with an all-new way to get to know their diners and incentivize them to return again and again

NEW YORK, Oct. 4, 2023 — Today, Blackbird Labs, a hospitality technology company whose platform helps restaurants directly connect and reward their guests, as well as incentivize these customers to return, announced it has raised a $24 Million Series A round. The round was led by a16z, with participation from Amex Ventures and Bolt by QED, as well as the company’s previous seed investors like Union Square Ventures, Shine, Variant, plus leading restaurant groups: Quality Branded, Rustic Canyon Family, Souvla and Brooks Reitz. The new funding will help Blackbird scale operations as it meets an ever growing need from leading restaurants across the country for an all new solution that will help them drive customer loyalty and create new revenue streams.

“We’ve just experienced two decades of declining margins and eroding direct customer relationships in the restaurant industry,”  said Ben Leventhal, founder and CEO of Blackbird. “I love this industry, but it is time to face industry economic challenges head-on and make bold changes. Loyalty and connectivity are the next frontier and we’re excited to be leading on this path forward. Adding incredible investors like a16z, Amex Ventures and Bolt by QED will be crucial to us achieving our goals.”

In just a few short months, Blackbird has struck a chord with over 80 leading restaurants in the industry, with 22 restaurants already live. This set includes New York restaurants like: Anton’s, Corner Bar, Crown Shy, Di An Di, Ensenada, Ernesto’s, estela, Fish Cheeks, Freeman’s, Francie, gertrude’s, Hanoi House, Joseph Leonard, Momofuku, Nami Nori, Principe, Overstory, and SAGA; Jon & Vinny’s (LA), Souvla (San Francisco), Daytrip (Oakland), Little Jack’s Tavern (Charleston), The Daily (Charleston), Melfi’s (Charleston), Razza Pizza (Jersey City). All of these restaurants have chosen the platform for its ease of use and ability to help them better understand their customers. 

With Blackbird’s advanced platform, restaurants can seamlessly gather insights, including their diners’ likes and dislikes, where they prefer to sit, and how many times they’ve visited the establishment. As today’s dining landscape becomes increasingly fragmented, with little direct connectivity between guests and restaurants, Blackbird’s technology helps restaurants get to really know their patrons. Operators can consistently surprise and delight their customers, while giving them the special feeling that they are very important and appreciated regulars, sparking increased and ongoing loyalty to the restaurant.

“We are excited about adding Blackbird into our restaurants,” said Jon Shook of Jon & Vinny’s. “This impressive technology will actively help us serve and engage our great customers on an even deeper level, and, in turn, allow them to further invest in their relationships with our restaurants. It’s a journey we’re thrilled to take together.”

For diners, Blackbird is also incredibly easy to use. When customers arrive at a restaurant, they simply tap their phone on a Blackbird NFC reader and enter their phone number to create their membership. From there they start leveling up their regular status with each subsequent tap-in, thus unlocking benefits and insider perks like surprise off menu items and even a direct SMS concierge. They also earn $FLY, Blackbird’s non-transferable native token, which opens up a world of possibility. Diners can use their $FLY to power up for specific items they might want or they can also use them for membership rewards with a specific restaurant. Blackbird users also don’t need to have a pre-existing web3 wallet. The company works with Privy to provide embedded wallets, so users who simply sign in with their phone number get a self-custodial wallet for use. Users are able to manage their memberships, view $FLY balance, monitor recent activity and message restaurants all through the Blackbird app.

“Web3 enables a powerful, new way for restaurants and guests to connect, making each dining experience unique and more meaningful,” said Arianna Simpson, General Partner at a16z crypto. “Blackbird’s platform is easy, fun, and delightful to use. With just a few taps, diners can unlock new loyalty programs that only web3 technology can provide. We believe the first wave of restaurants and experiences powered by Blackbird are only the beginning of what’s possible. Given his expertise building Eater and Resy, Ben Leventhal is the perfect entrepreneur to lead Blackbird to that future, and we’re thrilled to partner with him and his team as they take the hospitality industry to new levels.”

With its new funding, Blackbird also has plans to rapidly expand its offering into new markets, as it continues to roll out new features like: $FLY Redemption, which empowers consumers to use their accumulated $FLY points to “power up” and redeem perks either in the moment or in a future planned visit at participating Blackbird restaurants. The company will also be introducing an all-new referral program, giving diners the ability to text their friend a link to become members at a specific restaurant, where they will gain access to an entirely new and exclusive slate of offerings. Diners will also be able to opt into global data sharing, where restaurants will gain visibility into their full dining history and any associated insights, in exchange for providing more $FLY on regular dining activity like tap-ins.

“Blackbird offers a compelling new platform with the potential to evolve how restaurants deliver on loyalty and supercharge the insights they need to thrive,” said Matt Sueoka, Global Head of Amex Ventures. “We are thrilled to back Blackbird as they explore how to leverage web3 technology to positively transform the dining experience for consumers and the restaurant industry.”

For more information on Blackbird, please visit https://www.blackbird.xyz/.

About Blackbird Labs
Blackbird is a loyalty and membership company, focused on leveraging the power of direct connectivity between restaurants and their guests. Blackbird offers a fully customizable loyalty programming platform for restaurants and a consumer app designed to make every guest feel like a bonafide VIP no matter where they dine.

Blackbird was founded in 2022 by Ben Leventhal, co-founder of Eater and Resy, two companies that have transformed the restaurant industry (Eater was acquired by Vox in 2013; Resy by American Express in 2019). Blackbird’s investors and partners include a16z, Union Square Ventures, Amex Ventures, Shine Capital, Variant Fund, Multicoin Capital, IAC, Vayner Fund, Circle Ventures, Mischief, and Tribute Labs plus leading restaurant groups: Quality Branded, Rustic Canyon Family, Souvla and Brooks Reitz.

The Blackbird app acts as a user’s wallet where they can manage their memberships, view $FLY balance, monitor recent activity and message restaurants in one place. The app is free and available for download on iOS.

Media Contact:
Rachel Rogers
310-770-4917
[email protected] 

SOURCE Blackbird

Transactions and New Invoice Funding Product Mark Transformation at Clearco to Better Serve E-Commerce Customers

TORONTO, Oct. 4, 2023 — Toronto-based fintech Clearco announced today the completion of multiple actions to recapitalize its business and solidify its position as the leading provider of growth capital to e-commerce businesses. The transactions include a $60M equity raise from existing investors and a new asset-backed financing facility, which provides up to $100M in financing capacity, and is expected to support $850M of Clearco originations over the next two years. These accomplishments herald a new era at Clearco and mark the culmination of over 12 months of transformational change spanning technology, product and management.

The $60M USD Series D round was led by longtime Clearco investors Inovia Capital and Founders Circle Capital. Alongside the fundraise, Clearco announces the closing of a new committed asset-backed facility from Pollen Street Capital (“Pollen Street”), a leading global alternative asset management firm.  The Pollen Street facility will be used to fund revenue-based advances to e-commerce businesses that have been approved for funding through Clearco’s AI-backed underwriting model. 

“We are thrilled to announce this new round of funding and the launch of a new asset-backed facility as part of a broad recapitalization, which substantially delevers the company and creates a new and improved Clearco,” said Andrew Curtis, CEO of Clearco. “All of these actions allow us to continue to support the growth of e-commerce businesses during a time of funding challenges for many companies. We are firm believers in the continued resilience and growth of e-commerce as an industry, and are committed to providing the capital and resources these businesses need to succeed.”

In the last 12 months, Clearco has pivoted its product to focus on a streamlined capital solution, Invoice Funding, with predictable payment amounts and terms that are easy and hassle-free. Clearco uses AI and proprietary machine learning-based technology to underwrite businesses and help customers fund inventory and marketing invoices. The company has funded over 10,000 e-commerce businesses to date, advancing over $2.5B to help facilitate growth.

Clearco customers can access between $10,000 and $2M in Invoice Funding with predictable payment amounts over periods typically ranging from 4-6 months and no hidden fees. Clearco’s Invoice Funding product provides a stable source of working capital for companies looking to scale their operations and unlock cash flow, helping those merchants to grow in a market where lenders continue to retract from providing capital.

“We are excited to reinvest in Clearco not only because of the company’s success in revolutionizing the way small businesses access capital but also because of the significant transformation the company has made in the last 12+ months. Clearco has retooled and re-established itself as a valuable partner for e-commerce businesses,” said Karamdeep Nijjar, Partner at Inovia Capital. “We’re bullish about Clearco’s future and are confident the operational changes and newfound discipline and focus will create continued success for Clearco and 10,000+ customers.”

“Pollen Street is proud to support Clearco’s mission to expand access to capital to e-commerce business,” said Dan Khouri, Partner at Pollen Street.  “Clearco was one of the first platforms to provide financing solutions to entrepreneurs and we’re excited to play a key role in accelerating their growth.”  

Clearco’s recapitalization comes at a pivotal time when startups and specifically e-commerce businesses are facing multiple challenges, including reduced access to capital. Venture capital funding fell 48% in the first half of 2023, the lowest levels since pre-pandemic, and banks continue to tighten lending to small businesses. With limited access to capital, global economic uncertainty and rapidly rising interest rates, many businesses have been forced to slow their growth, underscoring Clearco’s indispensable role in small business financing markets.

About Clearco

Founded as Clearbanc in 2015, Clearco provides business-friendly capital for e-commerce companies to grow their businesses. Clearco makes it easier for entrepreneurs to grow their business without equity dilution, hidden fees, or compounding cost of capital. The leader in growth capital, Clearco has advanced over $2.5B, financing over 10,000 companies to date. For more information and to learn more about funding for your business, visit clear.co

Media Contact
Clearco
Nick Rosen-Wachs
[email protected]

SOURCE Clearco