Expansion in Core Categories & New Product Lines Fuel Growth Strategy

SAN FRANCISCO, July 19, 2023 — Super7, the premier pop-culture design house and producer of lifestyle-oriented collectibles, toys and apparel, today announced an investment of up to $25M from The Newcastle Network. Newcastle made an initial investment of $12M with plans to invest more in support of Super7’s long-term strategy. The announcement is being made in conjunction with the start of San Diego Comic-Con where the collectibles producer will release 18 exclusive toys and launch a crowdfunded ThunderCats’ Cat’s Lair Playset campaign.

Born from the desire to fill a void in the marketplace, Super7 designs and produces collectibles that capture emotional connections to pop culture’s most loved brands and moments. Since launching in 2001, Super7 has achieved success with product genres including 80s & 90s pop culture, from designer vinyl to deluxe action figures inspired by comics, animation, video games, Hollywood, horror, music, monsters and more. With their strategic partnership with The Newcastle Network, Super7 will continue to focus on its core categories while expanding into new categories and developing new product lines unseen in the current market.

“Super7’s goal has always been to deliver the most unique and sought after high-quality toys, products and experiences, while making them available to as many people as possible,” said Brian Flynn, Founder of Super7. “When exploring investment to fuel our growth, the most important thing was that we stayed true to this ethos. The Newcastle Network is an ideal partner to help us achieve our goals for expansion into new categories for our loyal customers and introduce others to the exciting world of collecting across the globe.”

“Super7 provides a unique and unrivaled customer experience in the collectibles sector,” said Chris Casgar, Managing Partner at The Newcastle Network. “As true fans of pop culture and creative stewards of this explosive category, Brian and the Super7 leadership team are poised for continued growth. We’re thrilled to be their strategic partner, leveraging our expertise in data science, creator & social media marketing, innovation and entrepreneurship to help accelerate their ability to achieve these goals with this beloved business.”

Beginning tomorrow at San Diego Comic-Con (booth #2543), attendees will have access to 18 exclusive new toys including ReAction Figures™, Super Cyborg™ and ULTIMATES!™ Super7 is also kicking off an exciting early bird incentive for ThunderCats’ Cat’s Lair at Comic-Con. The goal is to reach 3,000 backers by July 30^th for fans to receive a Key to Thundera with their Cat’s Lair playset. A complete rundown of San Diego Comic-Con exclusives, pop up shops and activities can be found on Super7.com, @Super7 on Instagram / Threads, Super7 on Facebook and @Super7store on Twitter.

About Super7
Founded in 2001, Super7 is the premier pop-culture design house and producer of lifestyle-oriented collectibles, toys and apparel based in San Francisco. Led by designer Brian Flynn, Super7 has harnessed the graphics, aesthetics and energy of his youthful obsession with science fiction, giant monsters, comic books, punk rock, skateboarding, robots and rebellion to build a unique and innovative business that crosses all categories and is not bound by traditional manufacturing boundaries. In addition to its owned branded products, Super7 also designed, manufactured and distributed officially licensed programs for G.I. Joe, Transformers, Disney, Powell-Peralta and Peanuts as well as for music legends Iron Maiden, the Misfits, O.D.B, Beastie Boys, and more. For more information, visit www.super7.com.

About The Newcastle Network
The Newcastle Network is a private equity firm pushing the frontiers of collaboration with its partner companies. We are a passionate group of investors and operators with expertise in data science, creator and social media marketing, innovation, and entrepreneurship that helps companies unlock new levels of growth. Focused on established and performing consumer businesses, we seek to partner with companies where we can provide meaningful value that realizes a team’s most ambitious visions.

SOURCE Super7

The strategic acquisition by ResMed has propelled Somnoware’s expansion in the sleep, respiratory care, and additional healthcare markets, solidifying its position as a key player in transforming chronic respiratory disease healthcare.

COSTA MESA, Calif., July 19, 2023 — CerraCap Ventures, a leading venture capital firm specializing in early-stage investments, is excited to announce the successful exit of their fund’s portfolio company, Somnoware Healthcare Systems Inc., through its acquisition by ResMed, a global leader in sleep and respiratory care. This significant milestone marks a new chapter in Somnoware’s journey as it continues to accelerate its expansion in sleep, respiratory care, and additional healthcare markets.

Under the strategic guidance and support of CerraCap Ventures, Somnoware has experienced remarkable growth and expanded its footprint in the respiratory healthcare space. The acquisition by ResMed represents a tremendous opportunity for Somnoware to further advance its mission of assisting physicians in the critical task of chronic care management.

“We are thrilled to announce the successful exit and acknowledge the crucial role played by CerraCap Ventures in accelerating our growth and expanding our presence in the respiratory healthcare sector,” said Subath Kamalasan, CEO of Somnoware. “This acquisition presents an incredible opportunity to continue our mission of improving patient outcomes in chronic care management.”

“We take great pride in being part of Somnoware’s journey and extend our congratulations on their successful exit,” said Saurabh Ranjan, Founder & CEO of CerraCap Ventures. “Somnoware’s visionary approach to respiratory healthcare aligns with our investment philosophy, and we have full confidence that they will continue to significantly improve patient outcomes and transform the industry alongside ResMed.”

CerraCap, as a venture capital firm, offers a structure that empowers early-stage companies to achieve excellence. By providing Sales, Marketing, Talent, and Technology enablement, CerraCap guides & drives companies to accelerate sales, enhance customer acquisition, and optimize scalability. Our model equips companies with tools, best practices, and processes to proactively measure, analyze, and optimize their business performance, enabling them to adapt to market changes and customer demands efficiently.

About CerraCap Ventures:

CerraCap Ventures is an Orange County, California-based early-stage venture capital firm specializing in cyber security, advanced analytics, and health-tech investments. With a focus on B2B enterprise companies, CerraCap Ventures empowers high-growth innovative companies through its unique “Sales & Scale” approach, leveraging partnerships with Fortune 500 companies to drive growth and success.

About Somnoware:

Somnoware is a leading web-based platform transforming respiratory healthcare and revolutionizing chronic care management. By enabling early diagnosis, unifying data, and providing powerful analytics, Somnoware improves patient outcomes and reduces chronic respiratory disease healthcare costs. With a strong focus on seamless patient care, Somnoware is dedicated to transforming the way chronic respiratory diseases are managed.

Media inquiries:
[email protected]
www.CerraCap.com

SOURCE CerraCap Ventures

Generative AI Investments Underscore SAP’s Aim to Create an Open Enterprise AI Ecosystem for the Future

WALLDORF, Germany, July 18, 2023 — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced the next step in its commitment to deliver Business AI that’s relevant, reliable and responsible, making strategic investments in three leading generative AI companies. The investments in Aleph Alpha GmbH, Anthropic PBC and Cohere reinforce SAP’s open ecosystem approach to AI, leveraging the best technology to embed AI across the SAP® portfolio. They build on a series of AI partnerships and enterprise use cases announced in May. They complement a US$1+ billion commitment to invest in AI-powered enterprise technology startups from Sapphire Ventures LLC announced last week.

“We are at a watershed moment, with generative AI poised to fundamentally change how businesses run,” said Sebastian Steinhaeuser, Chief Strategy Officer, SAP SE. “SAP is committed to creating an enterprise AI ecosystem for the future that complements our world-class business applications suite and helps our customers unlock their full potential.”

SAP’s Approach to AI — Built for Business
SAP delivers Business AI that’s relevant, reliable and responsible. The SAP Business AI portfolio is relevant because it’s already embedded into the SAP product portfolio. More than 26,000 customers of cloud solutions from SAP now use SAP Business AI across multiple scenarios and partner solutions. SAP Business AI is relevant because it’s available on day one and built into the mission-critical business processes customers run on SAP software. It’s reliable because it’s built on decades of extensive business data and relevant business content. It’s responsible because it’s delivered with the highest levels of concern for security, privacy, compliance and ethics. This is the AI foundation powered by SAP Business Technology Platform that enables us to innovate and deliver Business AI leveraging SAP’s AI investment and an open ecosystem of AI partners.

SAP’s AI strategy includes direct investments, a significant increase in research and development for additional AI use cases and third-party partnerships, such as those with Microsoft, Google Cloud and IBM announced in May. With the investments announced today, SAP deepens its commitment to generative AI built responsibly and designed to help businesses run better. SAP also accelerates AI innovation by integrating startups into SAP’s partner ecosystem through the SAP.iO Foundries program, its in-house accelerator. Sapphire Ventures, a global software venture capital firm, is backed by SAP and is dedicating over US$1 billion to fund AI-powered enterprise technology startups.

Investment in generative AI innovators
Aleph Alpha, Anthropic and Cohere are generative AI market leaders with unique potential to transform entire industries.

Aleph Alpha GmbH is a Germany-based company that has built a sovereign, full-stack, generative AI solution focused on complex and critical enterprise use cases. Aleph Alpha was the first company to offer multimodal, next-generation large language models and achieve state-of-the-art results with a model trained equally on several European languages. The company focuses on interoperability, data privacy and security, offering both AI as a service as well as multi-cloud and on-premise installation. SAP previously announced Aleph Alpha as an SAP partner participating in the SAP PartnerEdge® program on the “Build” track.

Anthropic PBC is a San Francisco-based AI safety and research company developing AI systems that are helpful, honest and harmless. Anthropic’s AI assistant, Claude, uses a “constitutional” approach – it interacts with users based on a set of Anthropic-designed principles centered on reliability and safety. Claude helps users with a range of tasks, including generating answers, coding, automating workflows and processing text – from editing and rewriting to summarizing, classifying and more – within the context of natural conversations. Anthropic is focused on ensuring technology such as Claude benefits society.

Cohere is a leading enterprise AI company headquartered in San Francisco and Toronto, with a key research center in London. Its world-class technology is tailored for business needs, with a focus on ease of use, accessibility, security and data privacy. The technology unlocks a more intuitive way to generate, search and summarize information. Cohere’s platform is cloud-agnostic to give companies choice in cloud providers, is accessible through API as a managed service and can be deployed on virtual private clouds or on site to meet companies where their data resides.

Sapphire Ventures
SAP-backed Sapphire Ventures LLC is a global software venture capital firm that partners with visionary teams and venture funds to build companies of consequence. As a limited partner in Sapphire Ventures, SAP customers benefit from early access to innovations from the startup ecosystem. Last week, Sapphire Ventures announced a commitment of over US$1 billion to invest in the next generation of AI-powered enterprise technology startups in addition to existing investments in AI-powered enterprise startups like Clari Inc., DataRobot Inc., MoveWORK International and ThoughtSpot Inc.

Visit the SAP News Center. Follow SAP on Twitter at @SAPNews.

About SAP

SAP’s strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent, sustainable enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: SAP customers generate 87% of total global commerce. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers’ businesses into intelligent enterprises. SAP helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want – without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improve people’s lives. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

This document contains forward-looking statements, which are predictions, projections, or other statements about future events. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to materially differ. Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the risk factors section of SAP’s 2022 Annual Report on Form 20-F.

© 2023 SAP SE. All rights reserved.
SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see https://www.sap.com/copyright for additional trademark information and notices.

For customers interested in learning more about SAP products:
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United States Only: 1 (800) 872-1SAP (1-800-872-1727)

Please consider our privacy policy. If you received this press release in your e-mail and you wish to unsubscribe to our mailing list please contact [email protected] and write Unsubscribe in the subject line.

SOURCE SAP SE

Maryland-based business offers financial modeling software

COLUMBIA, Md., July 18, 2023 — TEDCO, Maryland’s economic engine for technology companies, announced a recent State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI) investment of $1 million into Cerebro Capital, Inc.

“As a former banker, I knew how tedious the traditional process is to access debt capital; this results in too many companies not getting the capital they need to grow. I know that everyone can name the top five commercial banks, but no one can name the top non-bank lending institutions,” said Matthew Bjonerud, founder and CEO of Cerebro Capital, Inc. “Through Cerebro Capital, we have used technology and data to make accessing debt capital easier, faster, and more equitable.”

Cerebro Capital, Inc., based in Baltimore, Md., is a business that offers a marketplace for commercial borrowers and lenders allowing for a faster, more efficient process of finding and closing loans. Through their patented software platform, Cerebro Capital, Inc. is unleashing debt capital by removing the limitations of personal networks so corporate borrowers have a data-drive perspective on the market, allowing them to make informed decisions.

“Cerebro Capital is helping businesses stay open through their innovative thinking,” said Katherine Hill Ritchie, TEDCO’s senior director, Venture Funds. “It’s exciting to see companies working to support other entrepreneurs and businesses in Maryland—together, we can create a better, more diverse entrepreneurial ecosystem.”

TEDCO’s SSBCI funds are divided into four programs—the Venture Equity Fund, the Social Impact Equity Fund, the Seed Equity Fund program, and the Venture Capital Limited Partnership Equity program. For more information about our funding opportunities, visit https://www.tedcomd.com/funding.

This SSBCI investment was provided through TEDCO’s evergreen Venture Funds. These funds are dedicated to funding and growing the next generation of venture-backed businesses in the State. Entrepreneurs in the technology and life sciences sectors looking for more information about TEDCO’s funding opportunities should visit https://www.tedcomd.com/funding.

About TEDCO
TEDCO, the Maryland Technology Development Corporation, enhances economic empowerment growth through the fostering of an inclusive entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem. TEDCO identifies, invests in, and helps grow technology and life science-based companies in Maryland. Learn more at www.tedcomd.com.

Media Contact
Tammi Thomas, Chief Development & Marketing Officer, TEDCO, [email protected]

SOURCE TEDCO

Learn more about the startup taking on the exploding “team retreats” niche in the $500B corporate travel market

NEW YORK, July 18, 2023 — Offsite, the marketplace and tech-enabled services provider saving time, money, and stress for remote and hybrid companies planning team retreats, today announced it has raised $3 million to help create more connected workforces through in-person experiences.

Since launching in 2021, Offsite has planned hundreds of team retreats in over 15 countries for clients ranging from hospitals to hedge funds, focused primarily on supporting startups such as LinkSquares, Airbyte, Metabase, 15Five, mParticle, Flex, and Rattle, as well as communities like Hampton, YPO, and LifeLabs Learning, and venture capital firms such as Greylock.

Offsites and team retreats are an exploding niche in a corporate travel market expected to surpass $500 billion by 2030. Demand for venues that can host all-hands meetings, department-level meetings, executive team retreats, sales kickoffs, and other types of “offsites” continues to rise. Offsite is uniquely positioned to serve a wide range of organizers who plan company events with their mix of end-to-end service and software.

Leading investors to-date include Forum Ventures and Automattic, with significant contributions from Right Side Capital, Integral, Splash Capital, and Genius Ventures. Over 60 angel investors have also participated including co-founders and CEOs from Remote, Vendr, Convene, 15Five, Gainsight, and ChartMogul, as well as domain experts like top executives from Airbnb, HubSpot, and Pendo.

Jared Kleinert, Offsite’s Founder and CEO, was one of the first ten employees at 15Five, one of the leading employee engagement and retention platforms. Kleinert later became an award-winning author, TED speaker, and organizer of quarterly summits for New York Times bestselling authors, VC-backed startup founders, and other successful small business owners. As a result of these various experiences Kleinert found himself attending, speaking at, and facilitating offsites around the world over a decade leading up to the pandemic.

Kleinert shared, “During the pandemic, I was betting the decades-long shift to more decentralized workforces would accelerate, meaning the number of offsites planned by remote and hybrid teams in particular would grow exponentially (and the importance of those offsites would increase dramatically as a result). To-date, no one has developed a true ‘one stop shop’ experience to solve the logistical challenges of planning offsites or team retreats. After a couple years, we’ve developed a growing community of clients, partners, team members, and investors who believe in our vision for what a successful marketplace and platform could become in this space – which is both humbling and exciting!” 

Offsite currently offers two main ways to plan your team retreat. Event organizers can:

• Search a curated, Airbnb-style marketplace with hundreds of offsite venues around the world or
• Purchase end-to-end retreat planning services for an affordable, per-person flat fee.

Offsite’s marketplace has pre-negotiated discounts with properties on room blocks, meeting spaces, food and beverage, and more. Through the marketplace, event organizers can consolidate weeks of venue searching into a few clicks, and save 20% or more on some of the biggest budget line items for any offsite.

Offsite’s end-to-end planning services include everything from flight-booking to venue selection, negotiating, and contracting, agenda creation, budget management, procuring travel visas, making restaurant reservations, and managing vendors such as activity providers, photographers, videographers, outside speakers and facilitators, ground transportation providers, event production staff, and more!

While the debate rages on about remote versus in-office work, it is undeniable that most companies are increasingly distributed, with ongoing needs for employees to intentionally connect for strategic planning, teambuilding, creative brainstorming, problem-solving, engaging customers, and more.

Mike Cardamone, CEO & Managing Partner at Forum Ventures, who is also joining Offsite’s Board of Directors, added, “We think hybrid and more flexible work is here to stay for many industries, which will cause a decrease in spend for office space and an increase in the need for offsites, retreats and in person get togethers for teams to collaborate. As those dollars shift, we believe Offsite is well positioned to build a very big business providing world class experiences for these companies.”

To learn more and begin planning your next team retreat, visit www.offsite.com

Contact: 
[email protected]com 

SOURCE Offsite Experiences Inc.

CDC estimates 12.1 million people in the United States will have Atrial Fibrillation by 2030

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, July 18, 2023 — CathVision, a medical technology company developing innovative electrophysiology solutions designed to support clinical decision making in the EP lab, today announced its most recent financing round of $9 million from investors.

The financing will help advance commercial operations driving adoption of the ECGenius™ System, the company’s innovative EP recording technology, and support the continued development of artificial intelligence-powered analytic modules to provide electrophysiologists with unprecedented levels of automated analysis during cardiac ablation procedures.¹ This includes expansion of the company’s sales team and U.S. presence, and further development of the CARDIALYTICS™ suite of artificial intelligence-powered analytics. This newest round of funding brings the total raised to date by CathVision to nearly $30 million.²

“Despite challenging times in the financial markets, CathVision remains a confident investment for stakeholders because we are achieving critical milestones that validate the need for our technology, revenue generation through successful commercialization, and our commitment to ongoing R&D,” said Mads Matthiesen, CEO, CathVision. “This investment round will support the acceleration of commercial adoption through 2024 as we position CathVision to significantly impact how, throughout the United States, we help physicians treat cardiac arrhythmias more effectively.”

The ECGenius System includes a proprietary hardware amplifier capable of acquiring high-fidelity, low-noise cardiac electrograms. The technology represents a crucial progression in the quality of cardiac signal acquisition, the accuracy of electrogram interpretation, and the advancement of therapy support to help electrophysiologists improve the overall diagnosis and treatment of complex atrial arrhythmias, including atrial fibrillation (AF), which increases the risk of stroke and heart failure. The ECGenius System received FDA 510(k) clearance in May 2022 and is currently available.

CathVision has achieved several key milestones since the announcement of its last funding round in August 2022, including:

• The initiation of a clinical study with NYU Health Langone evaluating the Signal Complexity™ algorithm³
• An expanded number of hospitals utilizing the ECGenius System
• The completion of three clinical studies that met their primary endpoints
• A strengthened intellectual property (IP) portfolio
• Expanded industry recognition with seven scientific abstracts featuring CathVision technology presented at the 2023 Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) conference

The ECGenius System is commercially available in the United States. For more information about the ECGenius System, please visit www.cathvision.com/ep-recording-enhanced or email [email protected].

About CathVision
CathVision is a medical technology company that develops electrophysiology solutions centered around an innovative EP recording system and AI algorithm platform – the ECGenius System. Committed to empowering physicians to make more informed clinical decisions in the EP lab, CathVision is redefining the necessity of exceptional cardiac electrical signals to diagnose, characterize, and treat the most common heart rhythm disorders. CathVision was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Denmark with a U.S. office in Minnesota.

Follow CathVision on: LinkedIn and Twitter

¹ ECGenius System is cleared for sale in the US. Not approved for sale in the rest of the world.
² CARDIALYTICS is not cleared for sales.
³ Signal Complexity is not cleared for sales.

SOURCE CathVision

WASHINGTON, July 18, 2023 — VentureCount Services, LLC and partnered entities (including RTA Group, California Business Solutions, Govcon Accountants and AdminAssist) (“VentureCount”), supported by Everlane Equity Partners (“Everlane”), today announced a strategic partnership with Tarsus CFO Services, LLC (“Tarsus” collectively with VentureCount, the “Company”). The Company provides full-spectrum finance, accounting, back-office, and Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) services to clients nationwide.

Kansas City, Missouri-based Tarsus provides emerging and lower middle market companies with flexible CFO, mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”), corporate development, and Controller services on fractional and interim bases. Tarsus was established in 2002 by co-founders Paul Bertrand and Paul Burns, who will continue to lead the business. Additional information can be found at https://tarsuscfo.com/.

“The addition of Tarsus cements our CFO service line for utilization throughout the U.S. and, in combination with our existing offerings, allows us to provide top to bottom coverage from the CFO level down to daily bookkeeping with numerous industries of expertise,” said Alex Diaz-Asper, Co-Founder and Partner of VentureCount. Mr. Burns emphasized Tarsus’ commitment to staying close to its regional market, while adding that “partnering with the existing VentureCount platform allows us to expand nationally, bring our C-level financial expertise to new markets, and bolster our ability to provide comprehensive financial services as we continue to scale.” Mr. Bertrand added, “we are thrilled to be joining VentureCount’s growing platform and look forward to the opportunity this represents for our professionals, clients, and the Tarsus brand.”

“We see Tarsus as the CFO cornerstone of the VentureCount platform and are pleased to welcome talented and experienced partners who have successfully built their business from the ground up and share our vision of bringing together well-positioned outsourced finance, accounting and other back-office support firms to create a leading provider in the industry,” said Evan Horton, Managing Partner at Everlane. Harry Banks, Operating Partner at Everlane noted, “not only does Tarsus give the platform a new presence in the Midwest market, but represents a move upstream to larger clients, especially those with private equity or other external financial backing. The VentureCount platform now has depth of expertise from basic bookkeeping and accounting at early-stage growth companies to CFO and strategic M&A guidance in the middle market, allowing us to grow with our clients.”

About VentureCount:
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., VentureCount provides outsourced finance, accounting and other back-office support services to clients nationwide, including bookkeeping, payroll, and financial forecasting and analysis, as well as strategic Chief Financial Officer services. With teams in Washington, D.C., Sacramento/San Diego, CA, Midvale, UT and Bangalore, India, VentureCount offers high-caliber talent and around-the-clock customer service capabilities.

About Everlane:
Everlane is a Boston-based private capital provider focused on equity investments in high-quality companies that are well-positioned for future growth. Everlane uses its fully committed capital base and experience investing in small capitalization and middle market companies to accelerate value creation alongside management teams that have meaningful go-forward financial participation in their businesses. Everlane is flexible in its approach, structuring both majority and minority partnerships across primarily services industries such as business, consumer, financial, healthcare, industrial, and IT services.

SOURCE Everlane Equity Partners I, LP

ROUND LED BY 10T HOLDINGS, WITH PARTICIPATION FROM RIPPLE
FOLLOWS FUTUREVERSE’S ROLL-UP OF 11 WEB3 COMPANIES TO CREATE OPEN METAVERSE

LOS ANGELES, July 18, 2023 — Futureverse, a leading AI and metaverse technology and content company, today announced the close of its $54 million Series A funding round. The round was led by 10T Holdings, LLC (“10T”) and included participation from Ripple.

Futureverse was founded to empower developers and users to create and engage with interoperable content and applications previously unavailable within the metaverse. The company’s technology platform includes a robust suite of proprietary AI content generation tools designed to enhance the music, objects, characters and animations that make up the metaverse. By rolling up 11 metaverse infrastructure and content companies into one collaborative ecosystem, Futureverse delivers the essential components for constructing any metaverse application, while forming one of the world’s largest metaverse communities powered by digital collectibles. Futureverse has also become a leader in an entirely new frontier of AI gaming. In the past year, Futureverse has launched AI-powered consumer game “AI League” in cooperation with FIFA on iOS and Android and has partnered with ABG, IP Rights holders of the Muhammad Ali Enterprises, to release the first AI-powered boxing game, “Muhammad Ali – The Next Legends.“ 

Futureverse will use the proceeds from the funding round to continue developing the company’s comprehensive technology, including its Futureverse Platform featuring “Powered By Futureverse” tools and products and The Root Network, a blockchain and suite of protocols with ready-made runtimes for building next-generation metaverse apps, games and experiences. Futureverse’s previously announced partnership with Ripple has The Root Network integrated with XRPL and supports the use of XRP as a GAS token as well as the XLS-20 NFT standard.

Metaverse pioneer Aaron McDonald, tech and entertainment investor/operator Shara Senderoff and seasoned technology and information security expert Marco Brondani co-founded Futureverse along with business operator Dan Gillespie.

“The metaverse has the potential to transform the way humans engage and collaborate with one another and improve our experiences across a number of different spheres, including gaming, payments, asset management, and more. In order to reach this potential, the metaverse requires open, scalable, and interoperable infrastructure,” said Aaron McDonald and Shara Senderoff, Co-Founders of Futureverse. “Futureverse combines next-level technological infrastructure and AI-driven content to create the open metaverse we all envision. With the help of our tremendous partners 10T and Ripple, we are excited to take the metaverse from an abstract idea to a tangible, accessible, and interactive destination.”

Futureverse’s Series A funding round continues the company’s recent momentum. In April, the company announced a strategic partnership with blue-chip NFT collection Cool Cats, integrating Cool Cats’ iconic brand with Futureverse’s cutting-edge technology and bringing Cool Cats NFT holders into the Futureverse ecosystem.

In the last year, Futureverse has formed global strategic partnerships with renowned organizations including FIFA, Authentic Brands Group (ABG), Mastercard, Wimbledon, Death Row Records, Wētā Workshop, Snoop Dogg, Timbaland, Keanu Reeves and Alexandra Grant. 

“Futureverse has developed an immersive and vertically-integrated metaverse platform that acts as an AI technology provider, metaverse infrastructure builder, layer 1 architect, creative studio, and digital community all-in-one,” said Dan Tapiero, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of 10T. “We look forward to supporting Aaron and his experienced team as they continue to achieve significant real-world commercial traction and scale Futureverse’s capabilities and offerings.”

“We are excited to continue to support the Futureverse vision and celebrate the Root Network’s integration with the XRP Ledger. While we’re at the earliest stages of what a project like this — and really the larger concept of the metaverse — can achieve, we at Ripple are thrilled to contribute to the foundational infrastructure layer and provide real utility to the end users of the open metaverse,” said Monica Long, President of Ripple.

Developers and users interested in joining the Futureverse community can learn more by visiting www.futureverse.com.

About Futureverse:
Futureverse is a leader in revolutionary AI and metaverse technologies that enable open, scalable, and interoperable apps, games and experiences. Futureverse maintains one of the largest digital collectible communities in the world and has amassed an expansive cultural footprint within the metaverse space and beyond through strategic partnerships with the world’s leading IP and brands. For more information, visit futureverse.com.

download hi-res assets here

PRESS CONTACT:
Chelsey Northern
Cory Councill (The Untold)
[email protected]com

SOURCE Futureverse

High school entrepreneurs share $20,000 in seed funding for two winning startups

CHICAGO, July 18, 2023 — Uncharted Learning, a national nonprofit working to foster entrepreneurship amongst students across the country, congratulates two winning teams, Notifeye from Westlake High School in Austin, Texas, and Sticks & Stones, from Brewster High School in Putnam County, New York, as well as the other three finalist teams that competed in the 2023 INCubatoredu National Student Pitch Competition.

“Through the National Pitch event, we are able to witness the brilliance and originality of student entrepreneurs from all corners of the country,” said Margarita Geleske, Chief Evangelist at Uncharted Learning, “This event highlights the immense value of entrepreneurship education, empowering students to develop and present creative solutions to real-world problems. As these students venture into the world beyond high school, their ability to innovate and create meaningful impact will positively benefit us all.”

Five high school teams from Illinois, Florida, New York, and Texas competed for $20,000 in seed funding at the competition, presenting their startups to a panel of investors and industry leaders. The judging panel included Maria Flynn, founder and CEO of Ambiologix, Bruno Rodrigues, a member of the strategic growth team at Google, Neal Sales-Griffin, managing director of Techstars Chicago, Michael Miles, co-founder of Uncharted Learning, and Josh James, co-founder of Allergenius, INCubatoredu alum, and past National Pitch winner. The teams, all participants in the INCubatoredu entrepreneurship program, were selected from a pool of high school student team submissions from across the United States.

Notifeye from Westlake High School in Austin, Texas, will receive $15,000 to continue the development of their dashboard camera alert system, which combats the climbing death rates and accidents related to distracted and drowsy driving by monitoring driving behavior to anticipate and alert drivers of signs of distractedness and drowsiness on the road before a crash happens.

The Sticks & Stones team from Brewster High School in Putnam County, New York also received $5,000 in funding for their solution for an all-natural, environmentally friendly, and effective genital deodorant for physically active men. 

Rounding out the competition of finalists in this year’s National Pitch Competition were SafeSip, of Mundelein High School in Illinois, DotekiBrush, of Barrington High School in Illinois, and Faer for Everyone, of Lorenzo Walker Technical High School in Florida.

Uncharted Leaning’s National Pitch Competition was launched as a continuation of the INCubatoredu high school course and the culminating event at the 8th annual Uncharted Learning Summit.

“Having the opportunity to pitch for real funding is an experience of a lifetime for my students. The skills they learn in this class are relevant no matter what they do after high school,” said Jeff Nixon, Westlake teacher who taught team Notifeye, “We’re incredibly proud of these students. They worked hard, persevered, and are ready to take their business to the next level.”

Congratulations to the participating team members and their INCubatoredu teachers and mentors (listed below):

Notifeye
Westlake High School
Eanes Independent School District, Austin, TX
Teachers: Lindsey Stokes & Jeff Nixon
Mentor: Julie Jumonville, Founding Partner, Geyser Group

Sticks & Stones
Brewster High School
Brewster Central School District, Brewster, NY
Teacher: Ed Schmidt
Mentors: Dawn Ruggiero, Director of Marketing, Fincadia Tax Services; Dr. Lori Wagner, Clinical Psychologist, Mind Body Soul – Psychology and Consulting Group, LLC

SafeSip
Mundelein High School
District 120, Mundelein, IL
Teacher:  Michelle Sherwin-Petrucci
Mentor: Mario Feijoo, Founder & Executive Director, Future Entrepreneurs USA

DotekiBrush
Barrington High School
District 220, Barrington, IL
Teacher: Hagop Soulakian
Mentor: Eric Hochstein, Founder, Highstone Associates, Inc.

Faer for Everyone
Lorenzo Walker Technical High School 
Collier County Public Schools, Naples, FL
Teachers: Ted Coine
Mentor: Mathew Dunham, Director of Innovation, Linstol

About Uncharted Learning
Uncharted Learning, a non-profit organization, aims to empower students with real-world skills, setting them on a path towards lifelong success. Through its programs, Uncharted Learning provides authentic and challenging entrepreneurial experiences to students in 350 schools across the United States, Australia, Spain, and Switzerland. By assisting students in identifying their interests, enhancing their abilities, and shaping their own destinies, the organization enables them to thrive. Uncharted Learning’s INCubatoredu program, operating since 2013, equips students with the necessary tools to excel in an ever-evolving global economy.

SOURCE Uncharted Learning