NEW YORK, Aug. 8, 2023 — In an affirming development, zkPass, a pioneer in privacy-preserving solutions, has successfully raised $2.5 million in a seed funding round. The impressive roster of investors includes Binance Labs, Sequoia China, OKX Ventures, dao5, SIG DT Investments — a Susquehanna International Group company — Cypher Capital, Leland Ventures, and Blockchain Founders Fund.
zkPass Secures $2.5 Million in Seed Funding to Safeguard User Privacy and Data
Utilizing an innovative combination of three key technologies: zero-knowledge proofs, multi-party computation, and three-party transport layer security, zkPass empowers users to disclose personal data without exposing or uploading the actual documents. This cutting-edge technology opens up new avenues in areas such as decentralized identity passes, privacy-centric healthcare data marketplaces, and DeFi protocols utilizing off-chain data for credit applications.
The funds will be channeled towards advancing the development of zkPass’s pre-alpha testnet, which has already garnered 190,000 signups on its waitlist. Binance Labs played a crucial role in incubating the project, helping shape its direction and growth.
Aly Madhavji from Blockchain Founders Fund commented, “At a time when personal data security is paramount, zkPass is championing a revolution in privacy preservation. We are thrilled to support their innovative approach that stands to redefine how personal information is managed online. The immense interest in their pre-alpha testnet is a testament to the potential of this technology, and we eagerly anticipate the continued success and innovation from the zkPass team.”
About zkPass zkPass is a privacy-preserving protocol for private data verification. It is built on the foundation of Multi-Party Computation (MPC), Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZKP), and three-party Transport Layer Security (3P-TLS). zkPass provides TransGate, which enables users to selectively and privately validate their data on any HTTPS website to the web3 world. It can cover various data types such as legal identity, financial records, healthcare information, social interactions, work experience, education and skill certifications, etc. All these types of verifications can be done securely and privately without the need to disclose or upload any sensitive personal data to third parties.
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Aug. 8, 2023 — Tenant Inc., a vertical SaaS technology platform company which offers a complete ecosystem tailored to the self storage industry, has recently closed its third seed funding round with $25 million to support its rapid growth and market penetration.
As with the previous two seed funding rounds, this seed round was oversubscribed. Investor confidence in the first two rounds was centered on the need for Tenant, Inc.’s technology products in the self storage industry, as well as trust in Tenant’s leadership. This third seed round was different in that the product delivery and company growth trajectory has demonstrated product market fit and considerable value for investors. Investor confidence was also reinforced by Tenant, Inc.’s recent acquisition of Storelocal, the largest private membership community of independent self-storage operators.
Up to this point, Tenant, Inc. has not relied upon institutional investors, although this remains a consideration going forward.
“We now have over 100 strategic investors in the United States and Internationally, most of which are self storage facility owners who are actively utilizing our products,” said Lance Watkins, Tenant, Inc.’s CEO. “Our investors initially saw the need for a product that would streamline storage facility operations and provide a better tenant experience. Now, those same investors are not only using our products, they are continuing to invest in both our future and theirs.”
The self storage industry is a highly competitive and fragmented market, an estimated 73% of which is owned by independent facility operators (as opposed to large corporations). Tenant, Inc.’s property management platform offers next-level property management efficiency, visibility, automation, and scalability to an industry that has historically lagged behind in terms of technology.
By automating processes for critical tasks such as completing rentals, collecting revenues, and managing delinquencies, self storage companies can capture and conduct more business, allowing them to stay competitive and scale their operations.
Tenant, Inc., will use funds raised to further advance product development, expand customer support and sales, and increase their platform integration.
About Tenant, Inc.
Tenant Inc. offers a cloud-based, all-in-one digital technology platform purpose-built for the Self Storage Industry. Tenant Inc. provides a single platform of software as a service (SaaS) products, self storage website, and technology solutions that give self storage operators everything they need to run their business across point of sale, operations, and online rentals.
Storelocal is a membership organization created to empower self storage owners and operators to increase their competitive advantage in the marketplace. Storelocal members leverage resources to lower their operational costs and increase their profits through access to best-in-class products and services, in-house technology development, vendor partnerships plus Storelocal Storage brand licensing. Storelocal has more than 1,500 members and a real estate value worth more than $10 billion.
Participants led by Recognize, with Salesforce Ventures and strategic private investors joining
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 8, 2023 — Thunder, a next generation Salesforce and Cloud consulting, implementation and managed services company, announced the closure of its Series A round. The round is led by new investor, Recognize, with existing investor, SalesforceVentures, joining.
“We’re thrilled to add Recognize, a committed partner for driven entrepreneurs building differentiated technology services companies, to our list of investors. Plus, to be backed by Salesforce Ventures for a third time is truly an honor,” explained Carter Wigell, Thunder’s CEO. “We have some real unfinished business in this current and future market to help fulfill the promise of CRM, Data and AI.”
Thunder is executing on its vision to be the most innovative and sought-after cloud consulting company in the ecosystem. This round of investment will support Thunder’s global team expansion and fuel new cloud innovation, IP, accelerators, and programs to help customers go to the next level.
“It’s amazing to see how far Thunder has come in such a short time,” said Jim Steele, President, Global Strategic Customers and Partners at Salesforce. “We believe this recent round will help accelerate Thunder’s ability to support our customers, and we look forward to our continued partnership.”
“Thunder has rapidly scaled into a market leader in the Salesforce consulting space and continues to drive innovative solutions for some of the largest businesses in the world. We look forward to working with Carter and the exceptional team at Thunder to build on their early success and assist in their next phase of growth, which will include significant global expansion, meaningful investments in IP and accelerators, and continued scaling of the go-to-market organization,” said Mike Grady, Partner at Recognize.
The investment comes shortly after Thunder’s recentannouncementof a specialized Generative AI practice, which is just one component of their comprehensive cross-cloud services aimed at fostering advancement and expansion. For a free Generative AI readiness assessment, contact Thunder at www.thundersf.com.
ABOUT RECOGNIZE
Recognize is a technology investment platform exclusively focused on the technology services industry. The firm provides operational expertise, industry insights and strategic capital to innovative companies in this sector. To learn more, visit www.recognize.com.
ABOUT SALESFORCE VENTURES
Salesforce Ventures helps enterprising founders build companies that reinvent the way the world works. Since 2009, we’ve invested in and partnered with more than 400 of the world’s most tenacious enterprise software companies from seed to IPO, including Anthropic, Cohere, Airtable, Databricks, DocuSign, Guild Education, monday.com, nCino, Snowflake, Snyk, Stripe, Tanium, and Zoom. Salesforce Ventures leverages our decades of expertise in the cloud and our long-term relationships with key decision-makers at thousands of businesses around the world to give our portfolio companies an advantage, help them build credibility, and accelerate growth. Salesforce Ventures has invested in more than 25 countries with offices all over the world including in San Francisco, Irvine, New York, London, and Tokyo. Follow @SalesforceVC and learn more at http://www.salesforceventures.com.
ABOUT THUNDER
Thunder is a pureplay Salesforce consulting and implementation partner, proudly backed by Salesforce Ventures. Built by early employees at Salesforce and seasoned Salesforce professionals, Thunder offers services from strategy and design to execution and activation across multiple clouds on the Salesforce platform. The customer-obsessed, partner-enabled company’s mission to make customers love Salesforce, forever.
KIRKLAND, Wash., Aug. 8, 2023 — INRIX, Inc., a leading provider of transportation analytics and connected car services, today announced the successful completion of a $70 million financing round from investment funds managed by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital and Morgan Stanley Tactical Value (together, “Morgan Stanley Investment Management”). The funding will be utilized to fuel the company’s strategic growth initiatives, refinance debt, and further strengthen its position as a key player in the intelligent mobility industry.
For nearly 20 years, INRIX has played a foundational role in shaping the future of transportation by helping cities and businesses take advantage of location-based insights. By leveraging cutting-edge artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies, INRIX has a comprehensive suite of solutions that provides accurate and actionable insights to help make the world move smarter, greener and safer.
“We are thrilled to partner with Morgan Stanley Investment Management as INRIX continues to transform the way people and goods move around the world,” said Bryan Mistele, CEO of INRIX. “This financing round shows their confidence in our vision and ability to drive significant growth in the industry.”
Nick Nocito, Executive Director of Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital, commented, “We recognize the transformative impact INRIX has on the transportation industry and are excited to partner with INRIX and support their mission of creating safer, more efficient transportation systems. INRIX’s dedication to innovation and commitment to excellence is well-known in the industry, and we look forward to the future growth and success of the company.”
Kevin Lin, Executive Director of Morgan Stanley Tactical Value, commented, “INRIX provides mission-critical insights to both private-sector and public-sector clients. Best-in-class organizations in the transportation sector are a focus area for Morgan Stanley Tactical Value, and we are excited to partner with INRIX as they aim to deliver on their mission of driving intelligence in transportation.”
With partners and solutions spanning across the entire mobility ecosystem, INRIX is uniquely positioned to help make mobility intelligent – whether it’s planning a future roadway, reducing emissions by improving traffic signal timing, developing a safety action plan, or optimizing last-mile delivery.
With this latest financing, INRIX is well-positioned to drive innovation, expand its customer base, and further solidify its position as a global leader in the connected car and traffic intelligence market.
About INRIX Founded in 2004, INRIX pioneered intelligent mobility solutions by transforming big data from connected devices and vehicles into mobility insights. This revolutionary approach enabled INRIX to become one of the leading providers of data and analytics into how people move. By empowering cities, businesses, and people with valuable insights, INRIX is helping to make the world smarter, safer, and greener. With partners and solutions spanning across the entire mobility ecosystem, INRIX is uniquely positioned at the intersection of technology and transportation – whether its keeping road users safe, improving traffic signal timing to reduce delay and greenhouse gasses, optimizing last-mile delivery, or helping uncover market insights. Learn more at INRIX.com.
About Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital is the growth-focused private investment platform within Morgan Stanley Investment Management. Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital targets growth equity and credit investments within technology, healthcare, consumer, digital media and other high-growth sectors. For over three decades, Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital has successfully pursued growth investment opportunities and has completed investments in over 200 companies, leveraging the global brand and network of Morgan Stanley.
About Morgan Stanley Tactical Value Morgan Stanley Tactical Value is the flexible, non-control private equity and credit investment platform within Morgan Stanley Investment Management. With a broad mandate to invest across asset classes, sectors and geographies, Morgan Stanley Tactical Value is able to tailor bespoke solutions for companies to meet their unique strategic and financial objectives. The team’s expertise, including deep structuring experience, is complemented by Morgan Stanley’s extensive network and global capabilities to drive differentiated capital solutions for companies, founders, sponsors, and stakeholders. For more information, please visit www.morganstanley.com/im/tacticalvalue.
Company continues commercialization of innovative electrolyzer technology, providing green hydrogen at industrial scale to drive decarbonization of heavy industry
MOSS LANDING, Calif., Aug. 8, 2023 — Verdagy, a pioneer in scaling electrolyzer technologies for industrial markets, today announced the closing of a $73-million Series B funding round. Temasek and Shell Ventures co-led the Series B round, with participation from new global investors Bidra Innovation Ventures, BlueScope, Galp, Samsung Venture Investment, Toppan Ventures, Tupras Ventures, Yara Growth Ventures and Zeon Ventures.
Verdagy is nearing completion of its 2MW electrolyzer at its pilot plant in Moss Landing, California.
The new funding will enable Verdagy to accelerate the launch and commercialization of its eDynamic® 20 megawatt (MW) electrolyzer module, which will serve as a fundamental unit to future systems at the 200MW scale and beyond. Following initial commercial unit deployments with existing partners, Verdagy will expand deployment of its novel eDynamic electrolyzer technology to additional customers in heavy industries such as oil and gas, ammonia, steel and e-fuels to support global industrial decarbonization.
“Verdagy is rising to the challenge to accelerate the green hydrogen economy and decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors such as steel and ammonia production,” said Vikas Gupta, Partner at Shell Ventures. “The management team has a successful track record in scaling climate technologies from megawatts to gigawatts and they are committed to achieving the same at Verdagy.”
Green hydrogen is defined as splitting water using renewable energy, like solar and wind. Verdagy’s technology enables deep decarbonization of heavy industries by incorporating green hydrogen at a very large scale. Their technology drives down the investment with the low operating cost of their eDynamic 20MW electrolyzers coupled with flexible operating capabilities and single-element architecture SmartCells, allowing the large (3m2) cells to operate at higher current densities. This translates directly into more hydrogen production per cell with real-time performance monitoring and predictive maintenance built in.
The team behind this next generation of green hydrogen production is led by industry veterans in the hydrogen, solar and battery sectors. Verdagy CEO Marty Neese brings decades of executive experience across companies like SunPower and Ballard; COO Peter Cousins draws on his past work scaling Tesla’s gigafactories; and Founder, Board Member Dr. Ryan Gilliam is a serial entrepreneur, and founder of industrial decarbonization
companies Fortera, and Chemetry. With this strong team, Verdagy has assembled a wealth of knowledge on producing hydrogen at-scale and delivering winning solutions to customers with urgent decarbonization needs.
“By leveraging our patented large electrochemical cells, using membranes and enabling high current density operations and a wide dynamic range, Verdagy has dramatically lowered the CAPEX of an electrolyzer,” said Neese. “We have shown that our core technology works and Verdagy is ready to scale globally.”
“Yara is taking the lead on driving the use of electrolyzers in the ammonia and fertilizer industry. We see a strong need for cost competitive, clean hydrogen to be able to decarbonize and drive the movement towards a more environmentally friendly industry” says Stian Nygaard, Investment Director in Yara Growth Ventures. “Electrolyzers are a technology requiring a lot of innovation and product development. We are really impressed by how Verdagy is taking on this challenge and want to take part in this adventure. The world needs them.”
“Verdagy’s potential to demonstrate high-current density over a wide dynamic range across large-area cells led us to incubate and write the first check into the company in early 2020,” said Rajesh Swaminathan, Partner Khosla Ventures. “Since then, the team has made significant progress in validating key performance and cost targets, getting them closer to building out a green hydrogen economy.”
“Verdagy is at an inflection point – going from proven technology to commercialization stage,” said Amar Singh, Head of Group, Bidra Innovation Ventures. “We believe Verdagy can further compound Morocco’s unique advantages, such as low cost solar and wind energy, captive demand and proximity to customers in Europe.”
“We are more than doubling down in this round on Verdagy, we are witnessing how they have gone from a valuable technology to a defensible business,” said Anil Achyuta, Managing Director at TDK Ventures.
About Verdagy
Verdagy is innovating water electrolysis technology for the large-scale production of green hydrogen. Its industry-leading solution reduces both upfront capital costs and ongoing operating expenses, to achieve the industry’s lowest levelized cost of hydrogen. Verdagy operates its laboratory and highly automated commercial pilot plants in Moss Landing, California where it continues to advance its cutting-edge technology. For more information, visit: www.verdagy.com.
Company allows hybrid, multi-cloud workload portability to simplify disaster recovery and cloud migration with 10-minute SLA guarantee
PUNE, India, Aug. 8, 2023 — Datamotive, a company that provides cloud workload portability for worldwide organizations, announced today that it has raised $3.8 million in a Pre-Series A funding round led by the Dubai-based VC firm Morphosis with participation from 3one4 Capital, YourNest Venture Capital and Patni Group. The new funding round will accelerate the delivery of Datamotive’s products that enable organizations to seamlessly and securely scale, migrate and recover data and workloads across public and private clouds with a guaranteed 10-minute recovery service level agreement (SLA) regardless of cloud and workload size.
Datamotive allows organizations to build a hybrid cloud blueprint that supports freedom of choice for any cloud service provider and offers them the ability to run workloads anywhere on any cloud. Its patented replication and recovery engine enables online, agentless replication of entire workloads (OS, platform, application, and its data), while the recovery engine provides a flat-line recovery time (RTO/CTO) of 10 minutes with zero impact on workload performance. The RTO/CTO applies irrespective of the application, its size, or the cloud platform. The company’s strengths lie in enabling cross-hypervisor replication and recovering the workloads using the target native infrastructure.
“We are proud of what we’ve accomplished so far. This funding will enable us to continue the innovation cycle with our DR and cloud migration products, and, of course, accelerate our geographic expansion,” said Yogesh Anyapanawar, co-founder of Datamotive.
“By enabling workload portability, Datamotive accelerates the adoption of hybrid, multi-cloud computing for organizations. This allows businesses to innovate and operate without the fear of vendor lock-in,” added Sameer Zaveri, co-founder of Datamotive.
“We are pleased to collaborate with Datamotive and support the team’s visionary approach in the workload portability market,” said Amit Zutshi, managing partner and founder of Morphosis. “With its innovative, unparalleled cost-to-value ratio, best-in-class SLAs, and exceptional performance, Datamotive.io is poised to lead the way in hybrid cloud workload portability and transform multi-cloud management in the business continuity market.”
About Datamotive
Datamotive is an enterprise workload mobility company that enables the seamless movement of workloads in a hybrid multi-cloud environment with a guaranteed SLA of 10 minutes. Its patented solution protects organizations from data losses caused by cloud security misconfigurations, data breaches, or the corruption of corporate networks. For more information, go to https://www.datamotive.io/.
About YourNest
YourNest, established in 2011 as a technology-focused Pre-Series A fund house has pioneered deep tech investing and IP-led product innovation in enterprise-driven (B2B) startups (IoT, AI/ML, Robotics, Cloud, Automation, etc). YourNest Innovative Products VC Fund III recorded its first close in Sept ’21 and has NIIF as its anchor investor. In its first Fund, YourNest has provided a DPI of 1.47 with four exits. Its second Fund, fully invested with a maiden exit, features amongst the best performing AIFs in the latest CRISIL AIF Benchmark Report of Sept ’22 with 34.62% net IRR as of March 31 2023, where the peer benchmark stands at 23.68% net IRR.
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 8, 2023 — Scrum Studio Inc. announced the selection of 12 companies that will join the second year of its Well-BeingX open innovation program. Held in partnership with leading Japanese corporations, including Sumitomo Life Insurance Company,Tokyo Tatemono Co., Japan Tobacco Inc., Hakuhodo Inc., and Lion Corp., the program helps create and grow new business opportunities with startups developing products and solutions that enhance well-being.
This year’s program focuses on products and solutions that address key areas of health and wellness with a particular focus on Women’s Health, Nutrition and FoodTech, and Senior Care and Inclusive Tech.
Among the 12 companies chosen for the program are Canada-based Tuktu, an AI platform that provides family-like support to seniors and individuals needing assistance and Japan’sCroix Co., which has also been selected for its healing sound treatments that promote sleep, meditation, and relaxation through music, nature sounds and video content.
“Scrum Studio is thrilled to welcome this innovative and diverse set of startups for this second year of Well-BeingX” said Michael Proman with Scrum Studio. “Individual well-being has become one of the most important issues of our time and through this program, we’ve already worked with more than 37 startups that are addressing the most pressing issues impacting well-being worldwide. We are particularly excited about launching this second-year program with new startups that are reimagining how to support well-being.”
Starting today, selected companies will begin working with Japanese partner companies, supporter companies, and observer municipalities on business co-creation initiatives – culminating in a “Demo Day” held in December of 2023.
About Scrum Studio, Inc. Scrum Studio, Inc. is an open innovation platform formed to bridge the gap between iconic Japanese corporations and startups from around the world. The platform focuses on three pillars to create new business opportunities: acceleration, incubation, and connection. Its vertical studio programs include SmartCityX, and Food Tech Studio – Bites! Learn more at https://scrum.vc/studio/.
About Scrum Ventures Scrum Ventures is an early-stage venture firm based in San Francisco with a growing Tokyo office. With entrepreneurial expertise and a strong network in Japan, we actively support portfolio global growth and success. Learn more at Scrum Ventures.
DUBAI, UAE, Aug. 8, 2023 — Beond, the world’s first premium leisure airline, is pleased to announce the successful completion of over US$17M Seed Round from a group of esteemed investors. The round was oversubscribed, reflecting the strong confidence and belief in Beond’s vision and potential.
Participants included family offices, angel investors, and strategic partners, signalling a vote of confidence in the company’s ground-breaking approach to leisure travel and promising market potential.
Beond’s Chairman and CEO, Tero Taskila, expressed gratitude towards the investors and partners who believe in the company’s vision for a new and exciting approach to premium leisure air travel. “This funding round marks a significant milestone for Beond,” Taskila said.
“We are humbled and excited to have the support of such remarkable investors who share our passion for innovation and believe in our mission. The investment will empower Beond to realise its full potential and deliver on the promise of both this ground-breaking business model in the airline industry and pioneering experience for passengers. Beond will operate a premium leisure experience for customers while bringing to bear the benefits of a lightweight, low-cost operation based on the collective decades of experience of our team.”
The investment will fuel Beond’s ambitious growth plans, including:
Expanding the team: Strengthening the core team with top-tier talent to accelerate product development and innovation, hiring pilots and cabin crew to build the network.
Scaling marketing and sales efforts: Increasing brand visibility and market reach to capture a broader customer base.
Securing more capacity: Investing in aircraft and latest technologies in full lie-flat premium seats to deliver a unforgettable customer experience.
Beond will begin operations in the fall of 2023, with Maldives as its first hub, pending regulatory approval. The airline intends to fly a fleet of state-of-the-art Airbus A320-family aircraft in a unique luxury, lay-flat configuration, bringing passengers to Maldives from Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific.
About Beond Beond is the world’s first premium leisure airline offering unique and tailored experiences for today’s modern travellers. Beond will initiate flights from a variety of destinations with the latest aviation and luxury travel innovations.
DELFT, Netherlands, Aug. 8, 2023 — Meatable, the industry-leading food tech company, announced today it has raised $35 million in new funding to bring the company’s total funding so far to $95 million. Led by Agronomics, the successful close saw Invest-NL, a Dutch impact fund, coming on board as a new investor. The round also drew significant renewed support from existing investors, including BlueYard, Bridford, MilkyWay, DSM Venturing and Taavet Hinrikus.
Introducing Meatable’s Pork Sausages: Meatable’s Founders CTO Daan Luining (L) and CEO Krijn de Nood (R)
The funding will be used to further scale its processes and accelerate commercial launch of its cultivated meat products. The scale up and process optimization reduce the production costs to become cost competitive with traditional meat and reach production to commercial volumes. Starting in Singapore, Meatable is launching in selected restaurants and retailers from 2024. The company is also making solid progress on expanding to the United States and beyond, boosted by recent regulatory developments.
Krijn de Nood, co-founder and CEO of Meatable, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome Invest-NL on board and to have renewed support from our existing investors. Both the regulatory landscape and the continued investments are aligning to show demonstrated momentum. This is a huge sign of confidence in the incredible quality, taste, and proven scalability of our product, especially in the current investment climate. We look forward to working closely with our investors as we enter our next growth phase and cement our position as global leaders in the cultivated meat industry.”
To make its cultivated pork, Meatable takes one sample of cells from an animal without harming it and replicates the natural growth process of the cells using patented opti-ox™ technology combined with pluripotent stem cells. This technology makes it possible for Meatable to produce real muscle and fat cells in only eight days. This efficiency will enable the company to scale cultivated meat production quickly and affordably.
About Meatable: Meatable is an innovative, Dutch food company, aiming to deliver, at scale, cultivated meat that looks like, tastes like, and has the nutritional profile of traditional meat. The proprietary opti-ox™ technology enables Meatable to produce meat rapidly, sustainably, and without harming animals.
