Deepchecks is the emerging standard to make machine learning safe and predictable from research  to production

TEL AVIV, Israel, June 15, 2023 — Today Deepchecks announced the general availability of its solution for continuous machine learning validation and $14 million in seed funding led by Alpha Wave Ventures with participation from Hetz Ventures and Grove Ventures.

Machine learning is taking the world by storm, creating a tremendous amount of value. The market is expected to grow from $26 billion in 2023 to $226 billion in 2030 at a CAGR of 36%. But only half of machine learning models make it to production, and the ones that do often end up being over time and budget or failing in spectacular ways. In other words, most machine learning models could use some improvement.

Machine learning is transitioning from long research projects to something organizations expect to regularly deploy to production in software-like development cycles. It took classical software development decades to establish processes and tools to help deliver projects on time and to quality. It took ChatGPT just two months to reach 100 million users. But machine learning has more moving parts and is more opaque, which makes it less safe and predictable in comparison.

The way to move machine learning forward is to apply testing and validation, drawing on lessons learned from software. Deepchecks helps practitioners, developers and other stakeholders go beyond MLOps and gain visibility and confidence every step of the way: from development to deployment and operation in production.

“It makes little sense to deploy and monitor software that has not been thoroughly and systematically tested first. Yet, this is what happens today with machine learning applications. Deepchecks brings a new approach to MLOps, improving models by adding validation to every step of the machine learning lifecycle” said Deepchecks co-founder and CEO Philip Tannor.

“Deepchecks introduces a community-driven MLOps framework that enables people from data scientists and developers to C-level executives to have a clear picture of how machine learning applications behave from research to production”, said Deepchecks co-founder and CTO Shir Chorev.

Tannor and Chorev co-founded Deepchecks three years ago. They were listed in the Forbes 30 under 30 list and have known and worked with each other since they were 18. From the IDF’s Talpiot program to the elite 8200 intelligence unit, they picked up machine learning and got real-world exposure, earning distinctions along the way. They started Deepchecks as a “traditional” MLOps solution, but quickly realized that the way to cater to data scientists and developers at scale, is with an offering that has open source at its core.

Deepchecks offers an open source solution that lets users reuse and tailor components to holistically test machine learning models and datasets. These components were developed leveraging years of collective expertise and have been battle-tested in production.

The solution also includes monitoring and root cause analysis for production environments as well as a comprehensive UI. Deepchecks has over 500K downloads and is used at the likes of AWS, Booking.com, and Wix, as well as in highly regulated industries such as finance and healthcare. The enterprise version includes additional collaboration and security features.

“Quality assurance is often assigned to people who are in the beginning of their careers. In machine learning, however, it’s often the most senior, highest paid person in the room who is tasked with this. That’s because as opposed to other domains QA has not yet been systematized for machine learning, so it remains a dark art. Deepchecks is here to address this, moving machine learning and businesses forward,” said Yuval Rozio, Director of Alpha Wave Ventures.

About Deepchecks

Deepchecks is a rapidly growing next-gen MLOps vendor that is set on becoming the de facto standard to make machine learning safe and predictable from research to production. Headquartered in Israel and the US, Deepchecks is funded by world-renowned investors such as Alpha Wave Global, Hetz Ventures and Grove Ventures. For more information, visit deepchecks.com or get started with Deepchecks’ open source solution at https://github.com/deepchecks/deepchecks

SOURCE Deepchecks

TSURUOKA, Japan, June 15, 2023 — Metagen Therapeutics (President & CEO: Taku Nakahara), a company focusing on drug discovery and development based on intestinal microbiome-based therapeutics for various diseases, has completed its Series A funding in 2 rounds, raising a total of 1.7 billion yen. Sparx Asset Management, Nippon Venture Capital, Mizuho Capital and SMBC Venture Capital have joined the 1^st round investors of JIC Venture Growth Investments, a type of sovereign wealth fund in Japan, JAFCO, Japan’s largest venture capital company, Fast Track Initiative and Keio Innovation Initiative.

With the closing of the 2^nd round, Metagen Therapeutics has raised a total amount of 1.93 billion yen since its inception.

• Purpose of Financing

There has been a growing movement to utilize intestinal bacteria in the medical field in recent years. In countries such as Australia and USA, “Fecal Microbiota Transplantation (FMT)” has been implemented as a medical procedure, and in April 2023, U.S. FDA approved the world’s first stool-derived oral formulation for a microbiome drug.

With the latest financing, Metagen Therapeutics aims to achieve 3 goals.

The construction and operation of an intestinal microbiota bank, research and development of Microbiota Drug Discovery Programs, and the social implementation of FMT.

By establishing an intestinal microbiota bank in Japan we will be able to connect patients and donors, which in turn will support and promote the social implementation of FMT, and from there help develop internationally competitive microbiome drugs that originates from Japan.

• Use of Funds

1. Development and operation of the intestinal microbiota bank

• Development of registration system for intestinal microbiota donor candidates
• Operation of intestinal microbiota bank (in accordance with institutional guidelines) – Donor recruitment/online interview, donor eligibility evaluation, intake of stool donations, manufacturing/assessment/storage of intestinal microbiota solution
• Establishing process regarding preparation and quality control for intestinal microbiota solution

2. Promotion of basic and clinical research for clinical application of FMT (such as joint research related to immune checkpoint inhibitors)

3. Research and development of intestinal microbiota drug discovery program (including probiotics)

• Message from investors

Sparks Asset Management Co., Ltd.
Mr. Mitsuhiro Ito, Next Generation Growth Investment Division
FMT therapy has recently been studied mainly overseas, and its social implementation is awaited in Japan as a new treatment method for various diseases including ulcerative colitis. We hope that Metagen Therapeutics, with its abundant intestinal microbiota data accumulated through years of clinical research and advanced bioinformatics technology, will lead the promotion of microbiome medicine and drug discovery and serve as gospel for many patients.

Nippon Venture Capital Co.
Ms. Yuko Kitaoka and Ms. Sayuri Okamoto, Investment Division
It is with great pleasure to be here with Metagen Therapeutics, which is engaged in the research and development of innovative medical and pharmaceutical products such as the social implementation of FMT and microbiome drug discovery, as well as with its many investors. We are very much looking forward to seeing the excellent team led by Mr. Nakahara make a significant contribution to further develop microbiome science and the practical application of new medical and pharmaceutical products.

Mizuho Capital Co.,Ltd.
Mr. Keisuke Omori, Investment Manager
Metagen Therapeutics is a bio-venture company with Japan’s leading research and development capabilities in intestinal microbiota transplantation and microbiome drug discovery. With the increasing number of regulatory approvals for microbiome drugs overseas, we expect to see the creation of innovative medicine and pharmaceutical products based on microbiome science originating from Japan. We, together with our excellent management team led by President Nakahara, CMO Ishikawa, and CSO Terauchi, will continue to support this company with all our resources.

SMBC Venture Capital.
Mr. Masakazu Komahashi, Investment Sales Dept.
Microbiomes are believed to be involved in various diseases other than inflammatory bowel disease, and the development of therapies is attracting worldwide attention. It is a new modality, and we expect to face many challenges in its implementation in society, but with the science and enthusiasm of the Metagen Therapeutics team, I believe we will be able to overcome these challenges. As a leading company in microbiome therapy development, we look forward to bringing therapies to patients as soon as possible.

Message from Taku Nakahara, President and CEO, Metagen Therapeutics
June 15th marks the final close of our Series A funding round, raising a total of 1.7 billion yen. We are very grateful for the deep trust and support of our top-tier investors, including FTI, JAFCO, and KII, who have supported us since the Seed and Pre-A rounds, JIC-VGI, who participated in the Series A First Close in April, and SPARX, NVCC, Mizuho Capital, and SMBC Venture Capital, who joined us at this final close.

This funding will provide a powerful boost to expand the impact of microbiome medicine and drug discovery from Japan to the rest of the world, working to fulfill our mission of “Living up to the hopes of patients through microbiome science”. Intestinal microbiome therapy is entering a new phase globally, with the approval of stool-derived oral formulations in the United States. We are determined not to miss this trend and renew our strong determination to bring advanced treatments to patients in Japan as soon as possible.

What is a microbiome?
A microbiome refers to the community of bacteria present throughout the human body including the intestines, skin and mouth. There are known to be approximately 40 trillion* bacterial cells in the human intestine, and in recent years, it has become evident to have significant impact on human health.

What is FMT?

FMT refers to the transplantation of intestinal microbiota from the stool of healthy individuals into the intestines of patients using a colonoscope. This is a medical technology and procedure that improves the imbalance of the microbiota, or dysbiosis. Clinical research began in 2014, and Juntendo University has accumulated a track record of FMT in more than 200 patients** with ulcerative colitis, publishing research papers and case studies internationally in a number of top journals.

What is the Intestinal Microbiota Bank?

The intestinal microbiota bank is a system that recruits and screens potential intestinal microbiota donors, prepares intestinal microflora solution to be transplanted into patients when performing FMT, and delivers solutions to medical institutions. The intestinal microbiota bank also serves as a foundation for research and development of pharmaceuticals using intestinal bacteria.

About Metagen Therapeutics

Metagen Therapeutics (MGTx) is a biotech startup founded by researchers of Juntendo University, Keio University and Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2020 with the mission of “Living up to the hopes of patients through microbiome science”. MGTx has been accelerating its drug discovery and development work on intestinal microbiome-based therapeutics for various diseases such as cancer, ulcerative colitis, and Parkinson’s disease. It aims for social impact through medical care and drug discovery.

For more information, go to https://www.metagentx.com or follow us on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/metagentx/.

For press inquiries or investor inquiries, please email: [email protected]

Company Profile
Company name: Metagen Therapeutics Inc. (MGTx)
Head office location: 246-2 Minakami, Kakuganji, Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture
Tokyo Office: Toranomon Hills Business Tower 15th Floor, 1-17-1 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Taku Nakahara, President and CEO
Date of establishment: January 17, 2020
Company description: Drug discovery and medical business through microbiota therapeutics

SOURCE Metagen Therapeutics Inc.

RESTON, Va., June 14, 2023 — Elastio’s unique, cloud native recovery assurance platform bridges the gap between data protection and cybersecurity in the cloud. The solution mitigates the risks left by threats that evade perimeter security tools and the inability of backups to recover due to the presence of ransomware, malware, or corruption. At a time when many organizations are focused on cloud cost optimization, Elastio customers are pleased to note that not only does Elastio improve their security posture, but they are also realizing up to an 80% reduction in storage costs, often rendering the Elastio platform as budget positive in as little as 90 days.

“The level of confidence we have in knowing we can recover by deploying Elastio made it a no-brainer decision,” says TJ Schoessow, SVP of Technology & Business Systems at CARET. “There is not another AWS native product providing the level of protection that Elastio is. It took less than 15 minutes to deploy and another hour or two to configure. We’re seeing savings due to the global deduplication and compression capabilities, but more importantly, we’re all sleeping better at night.”

Elastio today announced an oversubscribed $18 million Series A investment led by Venture Guides, new investors Capri Ventures, and Alumni Ventures, with strong participation from existing investors Bain Capital Ventures and Uncorrelated Ventures.   

“There is a fundamental shift in the market ensuring data integrity, cyber protection, and continuous recoverability for customers’ cloud operations,” says Ben Nye Managing Partner at Venture Guides. “Elastio has built a game-changing cloud native complement for AWS customers recognizing that backing up data and deploying perimeter security tools is no longer enough to ensure uninterrupted business operations.”

“This significant investment validates our mission to revolutionize cyber recovery in the cloud and protect our customers from the massive implications of not being able to recover their data,” said Najaf Husain, CEO of Elastio. The latest funding will fuel Elastio’s aggressive customer growth plans, including ramping up the number of AWS services it protects, introducing new data integrity features, and enhancing customer workflows with generative AI.

Elastio’s cloud native technology has already garnered significant attention within the industry, attracting a diverse range of customers, including Fortune 500 companies and innovative startups. The company’s unique approach to cloud data security is disrupting traditional cloud data security practices and enabling businesses to limit financial risk, data loss, downtime, and brand risk caused by compromised data. Elastio does this by identifying, remediating, and recovering data infected with ransomware, malware, or corruption.

About Elastio: 
Elastio’s recovery assurance platform protects data from threats evading perimeter defenses and mitigates downtime, data loss, and reputational harm for businesses. Engineered for the cloud with agentless architecture, Elastio continuously monitors mission critical data to detect compromises that impact recoverability. Elastio deploys in fifteen minutes, provides best-in-class application protection and recovery, and delivers immediate time-to-value.

About Venture Guides: 
Venture Guides is an early-stage firm offering a unique investing and operating approach that helps startups with product management and commercialization strategies in the infrastructure software domain. The firm’s transparent and team-based approach delivers entrepreneurs consistent yield and strong profit performance. Forbes Midas List and Inc. 5000 rankings have recognized the performance-driven achievement of Venture Guides’ partners multiple times. “We are guides for growth.”

Kathie Clark
Elastio
1-833-435-2784
[email protected]

SOURCE Elastio

New funds to be used to accelerate commercial development plans in the US 

SYDNEY, June 14, 2023 — Sicona Battery Technologies (“Sicona”) today announced it has raised AU$22 million in Series A funding which will be used to further the company’s development plans both in Australia and the United States.

The $22 million investment was led by India’s Himadri Speciality Chemical Ltd, leading Australian venture capital investor Artesian, and Electrification & Decarbonization AIE LP, a fund managed by Waratah Capital. Riverstone Ventures, Chaos Ventures, Investible Climate Tech Fund LP and Club Investible also participated in the funding round.

Sicona develops low cost, scalable next-generation battery materials technology used in lithium-ion (“Li-ion”) batteries that enable electric-mobility and storage of renewable energy.

Sicona’s current generation silicon-composite anode technology delivers a remarkable 50-100% higher capacity than conventional graphite anodes and its anode materials can deliver more than 50% higher cell energy density than current Li-ion batteries. 

The company, which has its headquarters and pilot plant based in Wollongong, just south of Sydney, is advancing engineering studies, site selection and customer qualification for a 20ktpa (~200 GWh) silicon-carbon production plant starting with 5kpta (~50 GWh) in phase 1. This commercial scale plant will be built in the south eastern United States to serve customers in the US market with Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) compliant materials supply. Funds raised in this round will provide significant growth capacity in the US over 2023-24 where demand for anode materials is estimated to exceed 1,200GWh by 2030.

“Sicona’s core product is an innovative silicon metal based silicon-composite battery anode technology enabling more than 50% increase in energy density of existing Li-ion batteries,” Sicona CEO and cofounder Christiaan Jordaan said.

“By using silicon metal (and not expensive, supply chain constrained and dangerous silane gas like our competitors) Sicona can offer low-cost silicon anode materials at large automotive scale locally in major markets.

“Welcoming one of the leading global speciality chemical companies as a strategic investor in our Series A round allows us to accelerate our mission of becoming a major producer of cost-effective silicon composite anode materials. Himadri has a multi-decade track record of manufacturing materials at scale and their expertise and inputs will be a major asset to us in the next phases of our growth plans.

“Our silicon metal-based technology decouples us from the major bottlenecks and cost implications of silane gas-based technologies and provides our customers the confidence that we can deliver a silicon-carbon anode material at a capital intensity and $/kg price which is feasible for mass-automotive market adoption.”

In announcing their investment in Sicona to the National Stock Exchange of India, Himadri Speciality Chemical Ltd chairman and managing director Anurag Choudhary said Sicona was a “strategic fit” for his company.

“We are delighted to make this investment in Sicona. Sicona’s ground-breaking research and cost-effective and highly scalable approach to silicon anode manufacturing perfectly complements our strategic objectives,” Mr Choudhary said.

“We are extremely confident of Sicona’s team and technology and its ability to consistently innovate in the rapidly evolving battery technology landscape.”

Mr Jordaan said Sicona’s mission was clear.

“Our mission is to deliver enabling technologies that persistently tear up the envelope on battery and battery materials performance and innovation,” he said.

“Producing best in class materials in a scalable, cost-effective way to power a sustainable future.”

*Sicona was advised by Pantek Securities and Addisons in this transaction.

Sicona Investment Overview: 

HIMADRI: Himadri Speciality Chemical Ltd is a global speciality chemical conglomerate with a strong focus on research and development (R&D), innovation and sustainability. As pioneer in the production of lithium-ion battery anode material in India, it continuously develops and innovates raw materials of lithium-ion battery value chain.

ARTESIAN: Artesian invests in remarkable startups, building transformational technology, unlocking solutions to the world’s critical challenges. Artesian is one of the Asia Pacific region’s most active early-stage venture capital investors, with a portfolio of over 625 startups (pre-seed to Series A) focused on climate, agrifood, health, artificial intelligence & robotics, education, and gender equality.

ELECTRIFICATION & DECARBONISATION AIE LP: The Electrification and Decarbonization AIE LP Fund is a 100%-owned subsidiary of Toronto-based Waratah Capital Advisers.

RIVERSTONE VENTURES: Riverstone Ventures II is a venture capital fund based in New York and managed by Riverstone Holdings. Founded in 2000, Riverstone Holdings LLC is an asset management firm that invests in the private markets primarily within energy, power and infrastructure.

CHAOS VENTURES: Chaos Ventures is a community of technology entrepreneurs, industry executives, and professional athletes. Chaos Ventures bring a diverse and curated base of investors to entrepreneurs and strives to find ways to plug strategic limited partners directly into the information flows of its portfolio companies.

INVESTIBLE CLIMATE TECH FUND LP: The Investible Climate Tech Fund is an early-stage venture capital fund investing in founders who are creating high-growth technology enabled companies with a positive climate impact.

CLUB INVESTIBLE: Club Investible is a unique platform for investors inspired by the opportunity to invest in and support early-stage technology companies and founders globally.

For more information, interview requests or images please contact Julian O’Brien, Sicona PR and Comms manager, 0419 155 376 or [email protected]

SOURCE Sicona Battery Technologies

MENLO PARK, Calif., June 14, 2023 — Peakview Capital, a technology focused hybrid venture capital fund and investor in many of the top U.S venture capital firms, has closed its latest fund, bringing total AUM to more than $500M. The firm will aim to invest a majority of the new capital in a constructed portfolio of top-tier VC managers’ funds along with select inflection-stage direct investments. The fund has already backed several of the industry’s leading venture capital funds.

“We are delighted to announce the launch of our newest investment vehicle, focused on providing optimal risk-adjusted returns with our concentrated strategy across what we view as best of the best venture capital funds,” said Erik Lassila, Managing Partner of Peakview Capital. “With the go-forward era of lower valuations, we look forward to putting our capital to work..”

“As active investors in technology’s startup ecosystem over a number of decades, we draw upon our venture experience and network of personal relationships to provide our LPs with curated access to compelling funds. We also have the expertise to hand-select direct investments that we identify as the best growth opportunities.”

Peakview Capital has also recently added Tyler Hartsock and Kevin McQuillan as Partners, positioning the firm for increased investment growth and reach. Hartsock has been a VC fund of funds veteran since 2009 when he served as an early employee of Greenspring Associates. More recently he was a partner at Next Play Capital, where he served on the investment committee and led its fund partnership investment practice and emerging manager strategy. Prior to Next Play, Hartsock co-led Northgate Capital’s flagship VC fund of funds. Hartsock will help manage the firm’s investment practices and fundraising initiatives.

McQuillan has been an active VC investor for decades, co-founding two VC firms. He was Co-Founder and General Partner at Focus Ventures, whose first fund was the 7th highest IRR fund of all time (Preqin). McQuillan brings his experience and expertise to help inform Peakview’s fund and direct investments.

Peakview has also added Nicole de Moulpied as Director of Marketing. De Moulpied has held various sales and marketing positions at Ansys, Inc., Clearstone Venture Partners and several international startups, and heads the firm’s marketing initiatives.

The fund aims to deliver strong returns for its investors with a specialized and concentrated portfolio of investments. Peakview draws on decades of experience to inform its strategy for sourcing and selecting the strongest investment opportunities, backed by deep qualitative and quantitative analysis. This approach aims to enable the firm to provide investors with optimized exposure to the venture capital asset class with strong opportunities for high risk adjusted returns.

About Peakview Capital
Based in Menlo Park, California and founded in 2015, Peakview specializes in investing and deploying capital in concentrated portfolios of top performing VC firms and makes direct investments in fast-growing transformative technology startups across various industries. Peakview believes in the power of venture capital as fuel to drive innovation and growth, providing value beyond financial returns. For more information, please visit: https://www.peakview.capital/

SOURCE Peakview Capital

HOUSTON, June 14, 2023 — Venus Aerospace, a Houston-based hypersonic startup enabling cost-effective one-hour global transport, welcomes the new addition of Airbus Ventures to its team of investors.

“Venus has developed the world’s first liquid-propellant rotating detonation rocket engine (RDRE) with a double-digit percentage increase in efficiency over standard regular engines, making the hypersonic economy possible,” remarks Venus Aerospace CEO and co-founder Sassie Duggleby, who goes on to say, “We’re delighted to bring Airbus Ventures into the Venus family and look forward to growing our collaboration as we harness the future of hypersonic flight.”

Venus has been awarded contracts with NASA and US Defense Agencies to accelerate the development and transition of its RDRE technology to enhance existing government missions. The company’s advancements can also enable more efficient travel in and through space.

“We are thrilled to welcome Sassie, Andrew, and the entire Venus team into the Airbus Ventures portfolio. In the world of RDREs, their pioneering approach – designing, building, and demonstrating the first liquid, storable-propellant fueled rotating detonation rocket engine – unlocks advanced aircraft capabilities and opens new vistas on our whole planetary system,” praises Airbus Ventures Managing Partner Thomas d’Halluin. “Venus’ compact, low mass, high efficiency engine capability will have an immediate impact on lunar and martian landers, space mobility and logistics, and deep space mission proposals. Here on Earth today, we will see unprecedented performance gains for drones of all kinds, and more practical and faster-than-anticipated opportunities for ultra-high-speed passenger and cargo rocket plane flights.”

“With the strong support of Airbus Ventures now joining our investor syndicate, our next round will let Venus take the final step from lab to prototype as we fly our drone to Mach 3 under RDRE power, says Dr. Andrew Duggleby, CTO and co-founder. “This will include long-duration engine runs this summer at Spaceport Houston, as well as the design, build, and flight of our drone with the broader Venus team and our incredible partners.”

In Spring 2022, the company raised its $20M Series A, led by Prime Movers Lab, to fund engine development and subscale initial flight testing for building its Mach 9 hypersonic drone and Mach 9 spacecraft, both capable of one-hour global travel.

About Venus Aerospace

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, Venus Aerospace is a startup aerospace company focused on engineering the future of hypersonic flight. An expert team of PhD’s, rocket scientists, and engineers taking on the biggest challenges in aerospace at Mach 9 speed, Venus is making one-hour global transport possible to connect the world and make it safer.

About Airbus Ventures

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, with offices in Toulouse and Tokyo, Airbus Ventures is a fast-moving, early-stage venture capital company that independently funds and supports startups set to shift both the aerospace industry and our planetary system to a sustainable future. Airbus Ventures has helped aspiring innovators reach new dimensions of achievement since 2015.

Media Contacts

For Venus Aerospace:

Stephanie Gracia   
Director of Communications
[email protected]

For Airbus Ventures:

Orli Robin
Head of Strategy and Communication
[email protected]

SOURCE Venus Aerospace

Two-day inaugural event will convene tech startups and venture capital investors in Cleveland Oct. 11 – 12, 2023

CLEVELAND, June 14, 2023 — JumpStart Ventures is introducing Ohio VC Fest, a multi-faceted event bringing together tech founders, investors, corporate leaders and entrepreneurs to amplify tech-based innovation across Ohio. The two-day event will be held at the Marriot Key Tower Downtown Cleveland on Oct. 11-12, 2023.

The summit aims to establish valuable connections between investors, entrepreneurs and potential clients to attract capital, create partnerships and accelerate economic growth throughout Ohio. The summit will highlight key technologies and industries, critical to Ohio’s economic vitality including enterprise SaaS, healthcare, fintech and manufacturing.

“Ohio’s venture capital and startup ecosystems have grown substantially over the past decade,” said JumpStart Ventures CEO Ray Leach. “We look forward to showcasing and accelerating this momentum by hosting an annual event where VCs and entrepreneurs can come together to learn, establish connections and discover new partnership opportunities. We’re excited about the potential to increase collaboration across the state and elevate Ohio as a formidable technology hub.”

Attendees will have the opportunity learn from industry leaders and cutting-edge startup companies while participating in inspiring sessions and engaging networking opportunities. The summit will also feature exclusive one-on-one meetups curated to establish a strong match between investors and founders.

The event, presented by JumpStart Ventures, is hosted in partnership with other Ohio-based venture investors including Rev1 Ventures and CincyTech. The event is made possible thanks to sponsors including KeyBank, Thompson Hine LLP and other organizations committed to advancing innovation throughout the region.

The vision for future Ohio VC Fests is to travel annually to various cities throughout the state, celebrating the unique attributes Ohio’s diverse urban and rural ecosystems. The inaugural Ohio VC Fest, held in Cleveland on Oct. 11 – 12, will leverage shared and collaborative opportunities with the Forbes 30 Under 30 event taking place Oct. 8 – 11 throughout Cleveland.

Ticket prices will range from $49 – $199 and will be available for purchase soon. Speakers, keynotes and sponsorships are being finalized, attendees can learn more and sign up for the most up-to-date information at the official event website: OhioVCFest.com.

About JumpStart Ventures

JumpStart Ventures is a division of JumpStart Inc. investing in Seed and Series A-stage technology startups throughout Ohio and beyond. With four investment funds under management, the organization provides a continuum of capital to startup founders as they move through critical growth phases. Financial returns generated by JumpStart Ventures help strengthen the competitiveness of Ohio’s VC ecosystem, increasing capital access and resource connections for early-stage companies. As one of Ohio’s most active seed-stage investors, the organization’s investment activities have generated 2.5X+ returns-to-date via nationally recognized exits. To learn more, visit JumpStart.VC.

SOURCE JumpStart Ventures

Connext is building the HTTP of Web3, allowing developers to build applications that are accessible by any user, on any chain, using any token.

SAN FRANCISCO , June 14, 2023 — Connext, the pioneering blockchain interoperability protocol, today announced the closure of its strategic fundraising round of $7.5 million at a $250 million valuation. The latest round brings Connext’s total funding to $23.2 million. This capital will fund the setup and operation of the Connext Foundation. The foundation will play a critical role in the success of Connext, stewarding the development of the protocol and ensuring robust long-term growth of the ecosystem through development grants and funding of community-led initiatives.

The strategic round saw participation from Polychain Capital, NGC Ventures, Polygon Ventures, IOSG Ventures, Fenbushi Capital, KXVC, a_capital, No Limit Holdings, Factor, and Dokia Capital. Other Connext investors include Coinbase Ventures, Ethereal Ventures, 1k(x), #Hashed, and Scalar Capital.

Similar to how HTTP enabled the creation of the interconnected web that is widely used today, Connext makes it possible for developers to build interchain applications that can be accessed from any network and interact with funds and data on every blockchain, all at once. The underlying technology acts as a communication layer on top of existing, battle-tested infrastructure, giving users the best possible security, regardless of the chain they are on.

“In 2020, we realized that the future of web3 was going to look a lot like the internet does today: thousands of independent blockchain networks communicating with one another to create a single interconnected experience,” said Connext founder Arjun Bhuptani. “We pivoted our focus towards building this future as a public good. Today, Connext enables a new era of decentralized applications that, similar to applications on the web, can interact with users, data, and funds on many blockchains all at once.”

To date, over 1.2 million crosschain transactions have gone through Connext’s network. Since the launch of its V2 in late February 2023, the network has grown rapidly, adding over 20,000 new users in the last month, and 35 companies actively building on top of the protocol, including Metamask, Planet IX, and DODO.

Since its formation in 2017, Connext Labs has had a long history of pioneering critical blockchain infrastructure. In 2018, Connext built the first payment-focused Layer-2 scalability system on Ethereum, used by Metamask, The Graph, and others. In 2019, the team helped create one of the first widely used DAO frameworks, MolochDAO, which garnered support from Vitalik Buterin and Joe Lubin, among others. MolochDAO has since been used as the framework for hundreds of DAOs, governing millions of dollars in value.

“The Connext protocol not only revolutionizes how developers build Web3 applications but also addresses one of the most pressing issues in the blockchain landscape – security across chains,” said Joseph Lubin, Chairman at Ethereal Ventures and ConsenSys Mesh. “We firmly believe in Connext’s vision and are confident they have the right team and technology to create an interconnected future for all blockchain networks.”

For more information, please visit: https://connext.network/

About Connext

Connext is the HTTP of Web3.

Users of decentralized applications currently face a complex and fragmented experience. To use Web3, they need the knowledge and skills necessary to connect to, bridge funds, and move data between different blockchain networks. This process is completely opaque for users and, as we’ve seen from over $1.5B in crosschain bridge hacks in the past two years, exposes them to unprecedented security risks.

As a public good, Connext aims to build an open and accessible future where users can reap the benefits of blockchains without specialized knowledge, or exposure to unnecessary risk. The Connext protocol paves the way for developers to easily create entirely new classes of blockchain applications that look and feel just like Instagram, Wikipedia, or other applications we use today.

Resources:
Website: https://connext.network/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/connextnetwork
Blog: https://blog.connext.network/

Media Contact:
[email protected]

SOURCE Connext

Tracer doubles its Series A target, co-led by Progress Ventures and Bertelsmann’s BDMI with participation from S4S Ventures and Arbour Way Investors

NEW YORK, June 14, 2023 — Tracer, the leading data intelligence platform, announced today the appointment of Obele Brown-West to President of Tracer. With her award-winning experience and expertise in integrated marketing, Brown-West will spearhead Tracer’s strategic growth initiatives, further solidifying the company’s position as a revolutionary force in the industry.

Brown-West brings 20 years of experience in leading domestic and global initiatives to Tracer where she will oversee all revenue and operations activities. As she assumes the role of President, Tracer is set to scale new heights under her leadership. The company closes its Series A round co-led by Progress Ventures and BDMI, part of Bertelsmann’s corporate venture arm Bertelsmann Investments, with participation from S4S Ventures, the venture capital firm investing in early-stage companies focused on transforming the marketing and advertising sector through digital innovation, and Arbour Way Investors. Along with the Series A leads, Sanja Partalo of S4S Ventures is joining the Board of Directors.

“I was impressed by Tracer’s ability to drive value and insights regardless of where a business is on its data journey by harnessing the power of data,” said Brown-West. “Throughout my career, I have come across numerous solutions, but Tracer stands out as the only one effectively addressing the technical complexities that brands encounter in today’s reporting ecosystem.”

Tracer is backed by Alex Rodriguez and Marc Lore’s VCP Ventures, Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman’s Thirty Five Ventures, Stephen Ross and Matt Higgins’ RSE Ventures, and Gary Vaynerchuk. Tracer was initially incubated within VaynerX, the umbrella company led by Vaynerchuk, until its launch in 2018.

“We at VCP Ventures are proud to see other investors recognize Tracer’s opportunity to become a billion-dollar company and congratulate them on completing their Series A round,” said Rodriguez.

“Over the past two years, Tracer’s value has only grown more evident as the company continues to grow its client base, scale its team and innovate the product. We perceive an unparalleled investment opportunity with Tracer through our persistent trust in the capabilities of this world-class team and the relentless pursuit of their vision,” said Lore.  

As it becomes increasingly more difficult to effectively leverage data, the Tracer product solves both the technical and business complexities that companies face. Tracer empowers brands to analyze performance within the context of what actually matters, while removing the friction to answer questions through data.

The technology seamlessly integrates and contextualizes cross-platform data. The solution’s differentiation lies in its flexible product design, user interface and the ability to create automated reporting and analytics across any data source without unnecessary overhead. Automated rules configure how data sources talk to each other and data is organized into constructs relevant to each business. Tracer’s use of data strategy elements – people, process, product – make its approach to data aggregation unique and results more significant.

Tracer’s Co-Founders CEO Jeff Nicholson and CTO Leighton Welch remain steadfast in their commitment to scaling the company. 

“Obele’s hiring and the caliber of talent she represents marks the beginning of an exciting growth phase for Tracer,” said Nicholson. “We’re extremely humbled by the group of partners that have participated in our Series A and the level of interest we’ve received. We are thankful for the continued support of our past investors who helped make this opportunity possible.”

Since its initial seed funding in 2021, Tracer has doubled its team and added to its impressive client roster which includes Condé Nast, Headspace, January Digital, Media.Monks, Sanofi, and VaynerMedia.

“Data is the new oil in all new technologies and there is no data intelligence platform like Tracer,” said S4S Investment Committee member and Executive Chairman of S4Capital Sir Martin Sorrell of the decision to back the business. “Media.Monks is a client and it’s been invaluable to us to have Tracer as a single source of truth on client accounts. Investing was a natural next step.”

With a comprehensive suite of agnostic technology, Tracer offers unparalleled transparency into business performance and provides brands customized answers to specific needs.

ABOUT TRACER
Tracer is a data intelligence platform that revolutionizes modern data stack management by eliminating technical complexity. Tracer empowers global brands, data partners and agencies to make strategic decisions by seamlessly consolidating data sources and enriching it with business insights. By leveraging its comprehensive and flexible suite of technologies, Tracer provides unparalleled transparency into business performance and delivers a centralized source of truth.

SOURCE Tracer