Tesla and GM veteran leads manufacturing software startup helping to bolster U.S. green infrastructure, empower mid-sized factories, and replace outdated manual methods

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 22, 2023 — Pico MES, a software company that is enabling digital transformation for small to medium-sized American factories, today announced a $12.35M Series A investment led by Bosch Ventures and joined by new investors from Counterpart Ventures and Momenta. Existing investors Lemnos, Congruent Ventures, Union Labs, and SE Ventures participated in the round as well. Since its founding in 2019, Pico MES has integrated 10,000 processes into digital data streams from over 700 workstations and connected over 1,900 devices to its platform.

New factory construction spending has more than doubled over the past year in the U.S., due to both a surge of funding and tax incentives from recently enacted laws like the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and CHIPS Act and the need to accelerate our clean energy transition. However, most manufacturers are having trouble meeting increased production demand because they lack transparency in their systems, with a majority of factories still tracking operations via clipboards and spreadsheets. Additionally, 98 percent of U.S. manufacturers are small to medium, with 500 or fewer employees.

“Over 85 percent of our factory floor runs through Pico MES, which has allowed us to scale at the rapid rate needed to meet the growing demand for fast electric vehicle chargers across the country and around the globe,” said Glen Casey, COO of Tritium, a global leader in direct current (DC) fast chargers for electric vehicles. “With Pico MES digitizing our assembly lines, we can track our processes, validate quality control, and quickly implement stations to get DC fast chargers to market before competitors. This is critical for our business as we continue to boost production and maintain our position as a leading manufacturer of universal DC fast chargers in the U.S.”

Founded in Brisbane, Australia more than 20 years ago, Tritium holds the leading market share for universal DC fast chargers in the United States and opened its largest manufacturing facility to date in Tennessee last year. At peak capacity, the company’s Tennessee facility will be capable of producing up to 30,000 units annually.

Pico MES is designed for the average factory worker — connecting the tools and machines with the people who use them, measuring shop-floor processes, and digitizing assembly lines. Additionally, its affordable, no-code platform is exponentially faster than today’s analog methods and has an open API for connection to other critical systems on the shop floor. Pico MES is also fast to deploy, enabling remote installations in just hours.

“Digital manufacturing solutions provide massive efficiency gains for enterprises but have often ignored mid-size factories due to smaller sizes and budgets,” Ryan Kuhlenbeck, co-founder & CEO of Pico MES. “American manufacturing cannot succeed without the supply base of mid-size factories. Pico MES connects these factories with their OEM customers, enabling visibility up and down the supply chain and creating a new level of efficiency gains for all.” 

Digitizing labor-intensive product processes also helps U.S. factories compete with those overseas. The current status quo to track manufacturing processes uses pen and paper – creating errors, inefficiencies, and data silos. With Pico MES, manufacturers can look into any workstream, implement proven solutions to address challenges and maximize production. Factories that are optimized for success also increase career opportunities and boost local economies.

“In order for factories to remain competitive they need to digitize their labor‐intensive production setups,” said Ingo Ramesohl, Managing Director of Bosch Ventures. “Bosch has a large network of suppliers and like many enterprises drives towards increased transparency in the deeper supply chains. Pico MES emerges as the catalytic force and has the potential to set new standards for transparency, collaboration, and operational excellence for all stakeholders within this ecosystem.”

After spending nearly two decades at General Motors, Tesla, and Alta Motors, Kuhlenbeck and his co-founders Geoff Bucks and Zac Nelson started Pico MES because they experienced first-hand the frustrations between supplier and manufacturer. The founding team recognized most inefficiencies were due to poor access to data and created Pico MES as a mid-market manufacturing execution system.

Since its launch in 2019, Pico MES has been deployed in dozens of factories that operate as Tier 1, 2, or Tier 3 suppliers to larger OEMs in the EV, aerospace, and battery industries. This new round of funding will help expand Pico MES’ solution to more factories and advance its vision of creating connected supply chains for American manufacturing.

About Pico MES
Pico MES is digitizing the supply chain, starting with small to medium-sized manufacturers. Over two dozen American factories have migrated from legacy systems to Pico MES to gain visibility into their factory operations for continuous improvements. Pico MES serves American factories in battery manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, and more while also supporting jobs and local economies. The software is designed by end users, for future end users. Pico MES is a 100% remote-based company. Visit www.picomes.com to learn more. 

SOURCE Pico MES

• Investment follows 6x growth in purchase volume since last funding, showing growing demand for Ramp’s software that helps companies become more financially efficient.
• Series D financing co-led by Thrive Capital and Sands Capital, with participation from General Catalyst, Founders Fund, and other existing investors.
• Capital will accelerate product roadmap and hiring as Ramp moves into new categories such as procurement on the back of recent acquisitions and customer wins.

NEW YORK, Aug. 22, 2023 — Ramp, the finance automation platform designed to help businesses spend less, today announced a $300 million Series D on the back of strong revenue growth, rapidly increasing market share among small and mid-sized businesses, and successful expansion into the enterprise segment over the past year. The company will use this capital to further fuel its industry-leading pace of product development and accelerate its expansion into adjacent categories.

In an uncertain macroeconomic environment, companies of all sizes and across all industries are more focused than ever on their bottom line. As businesses look for modern finance tools that help them operate more efficiently and profitably, Ramp has seen increasing demand for its spend management platform along with its other products, such as accounts payable automation and procurement. Large multinational and public companies such as Anduril, Poshmark, and Virgin Voyages have recently selected Ramp to modernize their spend management.

“We look to partner with generational companies, and Ramp has proven itself as a challenger that is transforming its industry to the benefit of businesses everywhere,” said Ken Chenault, Chairman and Managing Director of General Catalyst, and Former Chairman and CEO of American Express. “We believe Ramp is emerging as an enduring leader in the new category of finance automation. It is setting a new standard for what businesses should expect – transparency, value, efficiency, and tangible time and money savings.”

In the past three months, Ramp has:

• Entered the procurement software category with Ramp Plus, a new paid edition of its platform.
• Launched Ramp Intelligence, which uses natural language to generate insights for finance teams and proactively surface savings opportunities. 
• Acquired Cohere.io, an AI-powered customer support platform, and announced the involvement of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella as an investor and advisor.

“In the last year alone, we’ve expanded Ramp’s offerings to become the only platform in the market that’s designed to save businesses time and money,” said Eric Glyman, CEO, Ramp. “Our mission is to help our customers build healthier businesses and this funding will help us execute against our goal to continue expanding the Ramp platform to better serve customers. At Ramp, we succeed when our customers can run their business more efficiently.”

Thrive Capital, Sands Capital, General Catalyst, Founders Fund, and other existing investors all participated in the financing. This is Thrive Capital’s fourth, Sands Capital’s first, General Catalyst’s second, and Founders Fund’s eighth investment in Ramp, respectively.

“Ramp has a powerful combination of a tenacious team that is fast-executing, and a massive market with strong structural tailwinds,” said Kareem Zaki, Partner at Thrive Capital. “Ramp is giving CFOs and business leaders real-time data at the transaction level that is rapidly changing the way they manage their business. As a result, you’re seeing Ramp get pulled up-market by larger companies and expanding the product to address the changing needs of today’s CFO.”

Ramp has saved customers more than $600 million and over 8.5 million hours of employee time

Bringing together spend management, accounts payable, vendor management and price intelligence, and procurement, Ramp is the most comprehensive finance automation platform. It’s also the only company in the category that measures its success by how much time and money its software has helped customers save.

Barron Martin, Managing Partner at Sands Capital, added, “Ramp has been on our radar for a long time because of its high customer affinity and rapidly expanding platform. Customers continue to engage more deeply with the product and many of them are rearchitecting their financial systems around Ramp. We look for world-class teams attacking large markets and we’ve been impressed by the company’s combination of customer centricity, product velocity and exception execution. We believe this is a recipe for long-term success, and are thrilled to partner.”

To support its ambitious growth plans and growing customer base, Ramp expects to hire significantly in the coming months across all functions. The company will also remain opportunistic when pursuing growth-driving partnerships or acquisitions to solve more of its customers’ needs. Next month, Ramp’s paid edition of the platform, Ramp Plus, will be available to all customers.

About Ramp
Ramp is the ultimate platform for modern finance teams. From spend management and expense management software, to bill payments and vendor management, Ramp’s all-in-one solution is designed to automate finance operations and build healthier businesses. Over 15,000 businesses have switched to Ramp to cut their expenses by an average of 3.5% and close their books 8x faster. Learn more at ramp.com.

Media Contact:
[email protected]

SOURCE Ramp

• Oncology care innovator streamlines a notoriously fragmented healthcare system, reducing gaps and barriers to care for chronically under supported patient population
• Built by oncology industry veterans, Thyme Care’s collaborative care model offers a wraparound layer of support for patients; empowers oncologists to focus on high-quality care and enables a distinct shift to proactive care
• Led by Town Hall Ventures and Foresite Capital, initial close of Series B fundraise will fuel the geographic expansion of Thyme Care’s distinctive, value-based cancer care model with health plans, risk-bearing providers, and employers

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Aug. 22, 2023 — Thyme Care, the leading value-based cancer care partner, today announced a $60M Series B fundraise co-led by Town Hall Ventures and Foresite Capital, with participation from current investors Andreessen Horowitz Bio + Health, AlleyCorp, Casdin Capital, and Frist Cressey Ventures. The injection of capital brings Thyme Care’s total capital raised to over $80M. New funds will be used to rapidly accelerate the company’s national network of oncology partners in new markets and expand its comprehensive cancer care support services. David Whelan, co-founder and general partner at Town Hall Ventures, and Elizabeth Canis, executive advisor at Foresite Capital and former Elevance and UnitedHealthcare executive, will join the company’s Board of Directors.

One in three Americans will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. Plagued by shock, disbelief, and uncertainty, cancer patients must quickly get up to speed on new medical information in order to understand their care options. The moment they leave their physician’s office, 80% of the medical information shared is forgotten, and nearly half of the information retained is incorrect. In addition, nearly three quarters of cancer patients are juggling one or more comorbid conditions like heart disease or diabetes. All of these challenges lead to misunderstandings about their disease and treatment plans, as well as confusion about how to coordinate with their many providers. This can result in a poor patient experience, unnecessary hospitalizations, and worse health outcomes. More than 50% of cancer patients are hospitalized during their first six months of chemotherapy treatment. The problems are compounded for those who already face socio-economic barriers to care, and may have difficulty getting transportation to and from their appointments, paying for treatment, or even securing stable housing and access to nutritious meals.

“The US healthcare system is notoriously fragmented, leaving cancer patients hanging in the balance. We invest in companies that are changing the narrative by putting the patient first, and are shifting the industry toward value-based care. Primary care and kidney care have paved the way for this transformation, and after extensively studying the landscape, we firmly believe Thyme Care is the only company with the expertise and technology to enable value-based cancer care. We look forward to helping them accelerate this mission,” said David Whelan, Town Hall Ventures.

Thyme Care’s model combines advanced technology with high-touch patient care to support the lifecycle of a member’s cancer journey. Powered by a team of nurse practitioners, oncology nurses, and resource specialists, Thyme Care helps members understand their diagnosis, proactively manage and address symptoms, and quickly connect them to care. Supported by the company’s purpose-built care management platform, Thyme Box, the Care Team is able to quickly gather context on a member, help manage their comorbidities and coordinate care with their providers, and quickly triage patients to their oncology practice when worrisome symptoms arise. Additional resources and support services for transportation, housing, food, behavioral health, financial assistance, palliative care and more are provided to members and their caregivers to help reduce the barriers to care.

“The best medicine in the world isn’t effective if a patient can’t afford treatment or get a ride to the office. That’s a missed opportunity, and quite honestly it’s inexcusable,” said Dr. Bobby Green, co-founder, president and chief medical officer of Thyme Care. “Thyme Care is built on the belief that we must meaningfully change the standard of cancer care and eradicate the common barriers that exist today. Our latest investment validates our mission to transform cancer care and accelerate the move to value-based oncology care.”

Earlier this year, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) launched its Enhancing Oncology Model (EOM), indicating a paradigm industry shift toward value-based cancer care. The high cost associated with a cancer diagnosis poses a significant burden for patients and payers, highlighting the importance of realigning incentives to prioritize high-quality care and better patient outcomes. Thyme Care has developed a framework in which forward-looking payers are willing to fund the investment to get this done in a way that drives value not only to them but to their members and the physicians taking care of them. Through a rapidly expanding national network of more than 300 oncology partnerships, Thyme Care ensures cancer patients have comprehensive cancer care support.

“Cancer is one of the biggest drivers of healthcare spending, and a cancer diagnosis is devastating to patients and families. The complexity of the disease and expanding set of treatment options leaves patients feeling vulnerable and woefully under supported,” said Elizabeth Canis at Foresite Capital. “Thyme Care’s combination of people and technology have the ability to scale cancer care beyond the clinic, ensuring patients always have access to the care and support they need, when and where they need it.”

Built by oncology industry veterans, Thyme Care deeply understands the needs of oncology patients and the preventable barriers to care that many experience. Thyme Care leverages the experiences and insights from co-founders Robin Shah and Dr. Bobby Green, following two successful exits of venture and private equity-backed oncology companies–Flatiron Health, which sold to Roche, and OneOncology, which was acquired by TPG and AmerisourceBergen. Last year, the company recruited primary care physician and former CMMI advisor Dr. Brad Diephuis as chief business officer, further bolstering its health policy expertise at the executive level. With the Series B, the company plans to broaden its bench of oncology and healthcare experts, expand to new markets, and announce additional partnerships in the coming months.

About Thyme Care

Thyme Care is the leading value-based care partner, collaborating with payers and providers to transform the experience and outcomes for individuals living with cancer. The company partners with health plans, employers and risk-bearing providers to assume accountability for enhanced care quality, improved health outcomes, and reduced total cost of care. Thyme Care’s approach combines a technology-enabled Care Team and seamless integration with providers, creating a hybrid collaborative care delivery model that guides and supports the entire patient journey. Thyme Care empowers over 300 oncologists nationwide through purpose-built tech, advanced data analytics, and virtual patient engagement, driving better care and outcomes in value-based arrangements. Thyme Care is a founding member of CancerX, and is backed by leading investors. To learn more about how Thyme Care is enabling the shift to value-based care in oncology, visit www.thymecare.com.

Contact 
Kimberly Dreisinger
Thyme Care Communications
[email protected] 

SOURCE Thyme Care

WELLESLEY, Mass., Aug. 22, 2023 — Synthpop is pleased to announce its recent product launch – a new connected system of AI assistants for Healthcare workflow automation. Synthpop’s current customers are utilizing its AI assistants in a variety of tedious tasks, including data entry into complex EMR schemas, connecting patient charts to clinical guidelines and payor policies in real time, responding to denials and record requests, and providing real-time feedback and summarization during patient visits. Synthpop’s AI assistants are fine-tuned using existing medical data: this solution is HIPAA-compliant, and exceptionally accurate out-of-the-box, eliminating the need for lengthy integrations.

“Our team has decades of experience delivering care and building healthcare solutions. With our deep understanding of provider needs, we were able to create effective AI solutions that clinicians and administrators actually benefit from using. Synthpop provides much-needed relief to healthcare workers by performing tasks that are tedious and time consuming,” shared Drew Copeland, Director of Clinical Operations. Drew has over 20 years of healthcare experience and managed Mount Sinai’s Sleep Medicine program. 

Jan Jannink, CTO and Co-Founder shares, “We developed a unique method to de-identify medical records, which enables us to fine-tune large language models without risking exposure. Privacy and security are paramount, and we make sure that our methods adhere to the strictest standards.” Jan is an experienced start-up founder and a lecturer at Stanford University, where he is set to teach a class on Developing Applications with Large Language Models in the upcoming school year.

“After a decade in the healthcare space, I’ve seen first hand how difficult it is to optimize workflows in health systems. We are on a mission to change that. Using the right data to fine tune models, we are able to overcome complex barriers to efficiency. Our goal is to make our healthcare system faster, more efficient, and eventually, more patient-centric,” shared Elad Ferber, CEO and Co-Founder. Elad previously co-founded Spry Health (acquired in 2021), and was the Vice-President of Remote Patient Monitoring at ZOLL-Itamar until last December.

This initiative was made possible with a $2.6M seed investment from Zelda Ventures, OVO Fund, Page One Ventures, Newfund, Think+ Ventures, AI Operators Fund, Flexcap, and Captra Capital.

For inquiries and press kit, please contact Teresa Power, [email protected]
www.synthpop.ai

SOURCE Synthpop

Milestone achieved as company announces successful enrollment of ten patients in its First-In-Human (FIH) Trial, ADVANCE-DCB

LOS GATOS, Calif., Aug. 22, 2023 — Advanced NanoTherapies Inc. (ANT), a clinical-stage medical device company committed to solving the most significant challenges in vascular disease through the creative applications of nanotechnology, today announced a $4M Series A extension from a prominent undisclosed strategic medical device company. Additionally, ANT successfully treated the first cohort of study participants in its ADVANCE-DCB first-in-human (FIH) trial, demonstrating initial short-term safety data for the next-generation SirPlux Duo Drug-Coated Balloon (DCB). The trial is evaluating the safety and performance of the SirPlux Duo DCB in de novo coronary artery disease (CAD).

“Today, we celebrate two remarkable accomplishments for ANT and SirPlux Duo DCB,” said Marwan Berrada, Co-Founder and CEO of ANT. “I welcome the participation of a new strategic partner as this additional investment will bolster ANT’s clinical programs and accelerate the path toward U.S. IDE approval for the SirPlux Duo DCB. I also thank the entire clinical team and ANT’s scientific advisory board for their efforts and expertise to reach these important milestones for the company.”

The SirPlux Duo DCB combines the synergistic power of sirolimus and paclitaxel to create a next-generation, front-line therapy engineered to provide stent-like patency and restenosis prevention while leaving no implant behind. The DCB delivers low-dose, long-term release of both compounds to inhibit cell growth, resulting in maximum potency exceeding other DCBs or drug-eluting stents.¹ The ANT nanoparticle drug-encapsulation and delivery platform is designed to provide safe, reliable, and sustained bioavailability of the two synergistic drugs in tissue. 

“I am pleased to be part of the initial cases of ANT’s novel technology,” says Investigator Rishi Puri MD, PhD, a Coronary and Structural Heart Interventional Cardiologist at the Cleveland Clinic’s Heart, Vascular and Thoracic Institute. “This technology will allow me to offer a safe and prolonged therapy for preventing coronary restenosis without leaving a permanent implant behind.”

“The SirPlux Duo DCB could have an immense impact on how we approach coronary interventions,” commented Investigator Dr. Jith Somaratne, Interventional Cardiologist at Auckland City Hospital and The Heart Group in Auckland, New Zealand. “Combining two potent antiproliferative drugs in a reliable nanoparticle platform may be the key to simultaneously reducing adverse events and maintaining patency. This study provides a critical step in proving the safety and clinical performance of next-generation DCBs.” 

The Company plans to share angiographic data from its ADVANCE-DCB FIH trial in early 2024.

About Advanced NanoTherapies
Advanced NanoTherapies, Inc. is a highly specialized medical device company developing a nanoparticle technology-based platform for drug delivery. The company focuses on minimally invasive cardiovascular applications to bring a safer therapeutic option to patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) or peripheral artery disease (PAD). The company’s first product is the SirPlux Duo DCB, a next-generation CAD and PAD front-line therapy. To learn more about Advanced NanoTherapies, visit www.advancednanotherapies.com.

References
1.    Data on file at ANT.

SOURCE Advanced NanoTherapies

Fast-growing venture capital firm hires data-driven executive to support portfolio companies’ growth

BROOKLYN, N.Y., Aug. 22, 2023 — Left Lane Capital, a global venture capital and growth equity firm investing in technology and internet companies, has appointed Chris Taylor as its Chief Growth Officer. With an impressive track record of exponential growth within companies, Taylor joins Left Lane’s Accelerate team and will play a pivotal role in adding strategic and operational value to portfolio companies as they scale.

With over 20 years of experience, Chris Taylor’s career blends marketing and strategy consulting. He started his career at Mars & Co before transitioning to marketing at E*TRADE. Since then, Taylor has led marketing teams at 1800Flowers, Automattic (WordPress.com), and most recently, SmartAsset, where he steered the company’s revenue to surpass $100 million.

“I am thrilled to join the team at Left Lane on this new journey,” said Chris. “Many of the growth challenges I’ve seen leading marketing at consumer and SMB brands are the same ones facing our portfolio of 65-plus companies. I’m excited to use this shared experience to support management teams as they scale post-investment.” Taylor will also help Left Lane in evaluating the marketing capabilities of potential investment targets.

Left Lane has been expanding its platform team, also referred to as “Accelerate”, to support its growing portfolio with value-add resources. Two additional key members are Erica Amatori, VP of Platform, and Alex Wu, VP of Talent. Erica Amatori has spearheaded Left Lane’s US and International Fast Growth Summits, which have had 500+ attendees and featured key functional leaders on panels around current growth topics. She has also established Dispatch, Left Lane’s private network for portfolio executives and organizes Left Lane’s CEO Summits. Alex Wu brings deep experience from True Search and VMG to lead executive placements and organizational structuring throughout Left Lane’s portfolio. As an example of the Accelerate team’s recent impact, Wu recruited and placed the US Managing Director for Left Lane portfolio company Blank Street Coffee, among many other hires.

Left Lane Capital’s team continues to grow since its founding in 2019. In 2023 alone, the team hired 27.5% of its current headcount. Notable hires in 2023 include Elizabeth Donovan in Investor Relations, Alice Inchauspé in Platform, Julia Knutson in Talent, and five new investors across the Brooklyn and London offices. Gomathi Ramalingam was also hired as Head of Data Engineering, underscoring Left Lane’s dedication toward leveraging data in its sourcing, underwriting, and portfolio support capacities. 

“Left Lane has a deep specialization in internet and technology companies with a consumer orientation, which allows us to leverage our collective expertise, resources, and domain-specific advisor network across our portfolio. Chris and the Accelerate team are primed to support portfolio companies in an ever-evolving market for growth,” said Harley Miller, CEO & Managing Partner at Left Lane Capital. 

About Left Lane Capital
Founded in 2019, Left Lane Capital is a New York-based global venture capital and growth equity firm investing in internet and technology companies with a consumer orientation. Left Lane’s mission is to partner with extraordinary entrepreneurs who create category-defining companies across growth sectors of the economy, including software, healthcare, e-commerce, consumer, fintech, edtech, and other industries. Today, Left Lane Capital has invested in more than 65 companies worldwide. Select investments include GoStudent, M1 Finance, Wayflyer, Bilt, Masterworks, Blank Street, Talkiatry, Tovala, and more. For more information, please visit: https://www.leftlane.com

Media Contact
[email protected]

SOURCE Left Lane

Michalski, an Amazon alum, and Fergus, ex-CEO of 4Catalyzer, will lead the company creation platform building AI applications in healthcare.

NEW YORK, Aug. 22, 2023 — Ascertain, a healthcare AI company creation platform, today announced the formation of its leadership team with the appointment of CEO Mark Michalski, M.D. and Executive Chairman, Gregg Fergus. Michalski and Fergus will lead Ascertain in its mission to merge deep technical, operational, and clinical expertise to deliver high-quality, equitable, and affordable healthcare.

Michalski brings two decades of executive leadership experience to Ascertain. Prior to Ascertain, Michalski led strategic development for healthcare and life sciences at Amazon, was Founding Executive Director at Mass General Brigham/Harvard’s Center for Clinical Data Science, and served as President and CMO of two publicly traded companies – Butterfly Network and Hyperfine Research. He is a board-certified radiologist and completed his medical training at Yale and Stanford.

Fergus and Michalski met and collaborated closely at the venture studio 4Catalyzer where Fergus was CEO, launching several leading healthcare companies including Butterfly Network, Hyperfine Research, AI Therapeutics, and Quantum Si. Prior to joining 4Catalyzer, Fergus served as President and COO of the DNA sequencing company, Ion Torrent. Products from these market-leading companies have wide-ranging applications, including cancer research, medical imaging, and point-of-care diagnostics.

“Health systems are facing unrelenting financial pressures and an unprecedented workforce crisis. It is challenging to watch the impacts on my provider colleagues and their patients,” said Dr. Michalski. “I’ve seen what is possible when you bring best-in-field technologists together with deep clinical know-how. We have an opportunity to re-engineer the experience of healthcare, equitably, and for all patients.”

“When I started my career, scientists had just mapped the human genome, unlocking a new era of innovation in medicine. I expect AI will do even more to transform the healthcare system,” said Fergus. “We have a unique opportunity with Northwell Health to create innovative companies and solve the hard problems in healthcare. Now is the time to deliver the promise of AI and meaningfully impact the healthcare industry.”

Recent breakthroughs in generative AI and large language models have unprecedented potential to address the highly variable and manual tasks that dominate healthcare. These AI tools have the unique potential to automate the administrative tasks that plague providers and cause growing workforce burnout. Ascertain was launched by Northwell Holdings and Aegis Ventures to seize this opportunity: the company’s partnership with Northwell Health provides deep access to the diverse insights and large datasets necessary to build, launch, and scale AI-enabled solutions.

“As our collaboration with Ascertain moves forward, we see tremendous opportunity to develop and implement AI solutions which improve operational efficiencies and ease the administrative burden placed on healthcare providers, giving them back precious time with their patients,” said Mark Solazzo, President of Strategic Initiatives and Chief Operating Officer of Northwell Health. “This is a pivotal moment in healthcare and we are excited to lead efforts to advance this work.”

“Ascertain will play a central role in the Aegis ecosystem, building the technology that enables more affordable and equitable systems of care,” said John Beadle, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Aegis Ventures. “Under Mark and Gregg’s leadership, we are more confident than ever that Ascertain will become the platform partner of choice for health systems as they move towards an AI-enabled future.”

This expansion of its leadership team is part of Ascertain’s ongoing efforts to build a world-class, interdisciplinary AI team to create and support its portfolio companies. Earlier this year, Ascertain announced a $12M seed funding round to launch Optain, an AI company that enables early identification and disease prevention through retinal imaging.

About Ascertain
Ascertain is a healthcare AI company creation platform, focused on merging deep technical and clinical expertise to deliver high-quality, equitable, and affordable healthcare. Launched by Northwell Holdings, the for-profit investment arm of Northwell Health, and Aegis Ventures, Ascertain brings Northwell’s deep clinical and operational expertise together with experienced technologists to solve healthcare’s most challenging problems. In 2023, Ascertain launched Optain, an AI-enabled preventive health company to noninvasively diagnose eye and systemic health conditions in real time. To learn more about Ascertain, visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn.

About Aegis Ventures
Aegis Ventures is a next-generation startup studio that partners with entrepreneurs and industry leaders to originate, launch, and scale transformative companies. The Aegis platform brings together market-shaping ideas, permanent growth capital, and ambitious individuals driven to solve major societal problems. Aegis aims to build companies with the capacity for vast impact, with an initial focus on artificial intelligence and digital health. Within these verticals, Aegis targets the creation of companies that leverage technology to better optimize tradeoffs between quality, access, and cost, focusing on innovations that promote seamless continuity of care, patient empowerment, and better-informed clinical decision-making. To learn more about Aegis, visit our website and follow us on LinkedIn.

About Northwell Holdings
Northwell Holdings (“Holdings”), a fully owned, for-profit subsidiary of Northwell Health, creates value for the health system by investing in early-stage companies, establishing commercial joint ventures, cultivating internally-developed ideas and bringing them to market, and advancing data collaborations that drive innovation in patient care, health diagnostics, and deep technology. We invest in companies that are aligned with Northwell’s mission, promote better health outcomes, improve patient experience, and increase efficiencies in care delivery and services. Through strategic collaborations, Holdings leverages the health system’s robust enterprise data assets to develop AI-enabled solutions that address healthcare inequities. We combine Northwell Health’s clinical and healthcare business expertise and entrepreneurial spirit to bring concepts to life. Northwell Health is New York’s largest healthcare system. To learn more, visit us here and follow us on LinkedIn.

Press Contact:
Jill O’Brien
Ascertain and Aegis Ventures
[email protected]

Sandy Dell
Northwell Holdings
212-582-1185
sdell@northwell.edu

SOURCE Ascertain; Aegis Venture Partners LLC

TEL AVIV, Israel, Aug. 22, 2023 — myElla, the world’s first autonomous Virtual Marketing Agent (VMA) for SMB’s, is thrilled to announce its recent achievement of the prestigious Stevie IBA Bronze Award in the “Tech Startup of the Year” category.

As a company committed to helping SMB’s accelerate growth through the power of AI, myElla empowers businesses with expert-level skills, at platform-level cost & speed, and this recognition stands as a testament to myElla’s dedication to innovation, excellence, and the outstanding collective performance of its team.

At its core, myElla is committed to reshaping the landscape of marketing with the power of AI. Anchored by its groundbreaking AI-Based Virtual Marketing Agent, myElla introduces a paradigm shift in the way businesses approach marketing strategy. By seamlessly handling critical aspects such as market research, content creation, trend analysis, and real-time insights, myElla serves as a catalyst for business growth.

“This award underscores our commitment to pushing the boundaries of generative AI,” commented Naama Manova-Twito, Co-Founder & CEO of myElla. “Our vision has always been to provide businesses with a revolutionary tool, as close as possible to having a skilled marketing manager on their team. This achievement fuels our determination to continually innovate and harness AI’s potential for the benefit of SMB’s.”

For small and medium-sized businesses, myElla plays a role that goes beyond technology — it becomes an invaluable asset. By delegating intricate marketing tasks to myElla, businesses can concentrate their efforts on core operations, leading to improved efficiency and better results. This approach reduces their dependency on costly marketing resources, while enhancing their confidence and skills in independently fostering business growth.

“Our commitment remains steadfast as we continue to redefine marketing through innovation,” added Naama Manova-Twito. “This recognition truly belongs to our incredible team, our valued clients, trusted partners, and forward-looking investors. As we celebrate this milestone, we are more motivated than ever to leverage technology for the betterment of businesses worldwide.”

For further insights into myElla and to try out the platform’s capabilities, please visit myElla.ai.

About myElla: myElla (aka: Marktrix), is a leading AI-Based Virtual Marketing Agent committed to empowering businesses through data-driven insights, content creation, and real-time marketing management. With an unwavering dedication to innovation, myElla continues to redefine the marketing landscape by harnessing the power of AI technology, on its mission to empower every business with great marketing to successfully grow.

Contact:
[email protected] 

SOURCE myElla

Investment Led by Two Sigma Ventures with Significant Participation from Outpost Ventures

ALAMEDA, Calif., Aug. 22, 2023 — Cerby, the comprehensive access management platform for nonstandard applications, today announced that the company has raised $17 million in Series A funding. Two Sigma Ventures led the round with significant participation from Outpost Ventures, an investment platform of Neuberger Berman. Participating investors include Ridge Ventures, Founders Fund, Bowery Capital, AV8, Salesforce Ventures, Tau Ventures, Okta Ventures, Incubate Fund, and Ben Johnson, co-founder of Obsidian Security and Carbon Black.

Cerby received significant inbound interest and preemptive terms sheets due to the unique risk they address in the identity and access management (IAM) market – nonstandard applications. These applications do not support common identity and security standards like APIs, Single Sign-on (SSO), and protocols for automating employee onboarding and offboarding from critical applications.

A recent study by the Ponemon Institute found that 52% of organizations have experienced a cybersecurity incident caused by their inability to secure nonstandard applications, posing an increasingly challenging risk in every business. This spotlights the growing need for a fully connected identity mesh that works for all applications: on-premises, OT, legacy, and cloud – not just those supporting standards.

“We’re honored and deeply grateful for the support from our customers and investors. Their dedication to Cerby is dwarfed only by our commitment to close the growing identity gap that is fueled by the decentralization of work and technology spending,” said Belsasar (Bel) Lepe, CEO and co-founder of Cerby. “Our platform is the only one that addresses nonstandard application risk across all deployment scenarios, including cloud, privately hosted, and on-premises. All of which are unsupported by traditional identity and security tools. Cerby’s patent-pending access orchestration engine is the first and only to make passwordless authentication an immediate reality for nonstandard applications.”

This latest round brings the company’s total funding to $32.5 million. The funds will be used to scale Cerby’s go-to-market efforts, including expanding sales and marketing efforts; accelerating innovation of Cerby’s access management solution for nonstandard applications; further building on customer momentum and industry research; continued investment in generative AI to enhance development speed and maintenance of integrations; and reinforcing international teams and customers with additional support.

Founded in 2020, Cerby has evolved from its inception with a focus on managing access to applications for marketing teams to expand its reach to sales, product, financial services, and healthcare applications, catering to public SaaS and privately hosted applications. The investment highlights Cerby’s need in the financial services sector, which is often heavily dependent on nonstandard applications. Recent achievements in addition to fundraising include the company becoming Okta partner-approved and filing two patents to advance its IP strategy.

“We are excited to be investing in the exceptional Cerby team. This financing round will help the company further expand its innovative, secure, and user-friendly platform to revolutionize how businesses manage and protect nonstandard and disconnected applications, and further capitalize on the strong momentum and growing interest from customers,” said Villi Iltchev, Partner at Two Sigma Ventures. “We look forward to supporting Cerby on their mission to transform how businesses secure and manage access to their critical business applications and infrastructure.”

“Companies that challenge the status quo are very attractive to us,” said David Dubick, Partner at Outpost Ventures. “Cerby stands at the forefront of a transformation in identity management for nonstandard applications, a domain often overlooked yet critically vital. We’re thrilled to partner with the passionate team at Cerby and confident in the tremendous impact they’re poised to make.”

About Cerby
Cerby provides identity teams with the only comprehensive access management platform for nonstandard applications. Harnessing the power of identity providers, Cerby removes the need for manual tools and compensating controls (like enterprise password managers) by automating everyday human security tasks based on single sign-on and lifecycle management cues from upstream identity providers. This allows Cerby to protect any application independent of standards support. Cerby’s patent-pending access orchestration engine is the first and only one to make passwordless authentication an immediate reality for nonstandard applications. Cerby saves time and money by automating manual tasks, like offboarding and 2FA enrollment, and providing IAM professionals with deep visibility and control of employee-onboarded applications. With Cerby, identity teams can extend access, minimize risk, and lower costs.

Since we released our offering in 2022, Cerby’s platform has enabled clients like L’Oréal, Fox, Colgate-Palmolive, Dentsu, and Televisa to detect nonstandard apps and guide business users to more secure alternatives, all while keeping everything under the umbrella of their identity provider. Visit us at Cerby.com and follow us on social at @CerbyHQ.

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SOURCE Cerby