OKLAHOMA CITY, June 13, 2023 — The first U.S.-based company with promising proof of concept for intranasal/inhaled adenovirus vaccines, Moat Biotechnology Corporation (MoatBio), announces it has raised more than $6.5 million in its first close of funding.

MoatBio holds an exclusive patent license from Mayo Clinic for the novel second generation single-cycle adenovirus vaccine platform (SC-AdVax) to develop vaccines that can elicit and boost both mucosal and systemic immunity for the treatment of infectious diseases, like COVID-19. The novel SC-AdVax platform targets cells in the respiratory tract or GI tract to elicit a strong mucosal immune response by reacting to pathogens at their point of entry, which is a significant advancement over existing vaccine platforms, including mRNAs.

“Respiratory viruses like SARS-CoV-2 enter through the nasal passages, and if the viruses are encountered there, then we can significantly reduce their ability to replicate systemically within the body, where more serious viral morbidities occur,” said Dr. Scott Rollins, CEO and Co-founder of MoatBio. “This first close of funding allows us to continue our important Phase 1 trial research. The ability to vaccinate individuals through needle-free delivery, including intranasal/inhaled or oral administration, not only for COVID-19, but for many pathogens, should be a game changer.”

This first close comes shortly after an initial investment, led by Cortado Ventures, targeting up to $20 million. This funding will expand the ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial of an intranasal or inhaled vaccine boost for COVID-19 and initiate the development of 2nd and 3rd SC-AdVax vaccines for additional mucosal pathogens. Boyd Street Ventures also participated in the initial round of funding.

Taking place in Australia, the Phase 1 clinical trial results have demonstrated not only a mucosal immune response but also a systemic response in a majority of treated subjects. Further clinical testing is planned in the Phase 1 study to fine tune respiratory-based dosing and increase patient exposure. The SC-AdVax technology has also been tested in pre-clinical models of influenza, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), human papillomavirus (HPV), Clostridium difficile, Clostridium jejuni, hepatitis, zika virus, cytomegalovirus (CMV) and ebola virus.

“Our goal is to prevent or reduce the morbidity and mortality for multiple serious infectious diseases that are currently underserved by vaccines and other treatments,” said Russell Rother, President, COO and Co-founder of MoatBio. “Whether it is COVID-19 or another highly infectious disease like influenza or Ebola, we are confident that with the SC-AdVax technology, we can provide a new level of protection against this and future pandemics or epidemics while offering a more palatable and accessible mode of administration.”

Drs. Rollins and Rother have strong track records of success. At Alexion Pharmaceuticals (sold to AstraZeneca in 2021 for $39B), where they served as Co-Founder/Executive Vice President of Drug Development and Chief Scientific Officer, respectively, they were the principal inventors and developers of Soliris with current annual sales of over $5B. In addition, Rollins and Rother served as CEO / COO of Selexys Pharmaceuticals and developed the novel drug ADAKVEO for sickle cell disease, which was approved by the FDA in 2019; Selexys was sold to Novartis for $665M in November 2016. Rollins and Rother are currently serving as CEO / COO of Tetherex Pharmaceuticals, which is developing anti-inflammatory therapies for asthma and other indications. MoatBio was spun out from Tetherex Pharmaceuticals to capitalize the SC-AdVax platform as a separate Company and allow for more rapid and broad development of vaccine candidates.

“This technology arrives at an auspicious time as we look forward to preventing future pandemics,” said Mike Moradi, a General Partner with Cortado Ventures. “A mucosal response to COVID-19, or a multitude of other diseases, lays the foundation for a paradigm shift in the way we fight and prevent disease. This is the caliber of company we invest in — those solving the world’s hardest problems.”

About Moat Biotechnology
Moat Biotechnology is a clinical development stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel intranasal/inhaled and oral vaccines based on the SC-AdVax platform that was exclusively licensed from the Mayo Clinic.

About Cortado Ventures
Cortado Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in ambitious, growth-driven companies, backing a new generation of economic prosperity for Oklahoma and the Midcontinent region. As one of the largest VC funds in Oklahoma, Cortado’s focus is on tech companies bringing innovative solutions to the energy, logistics, life sciences, aerospace and the future of work sectors. For more information, visit cortado.ventures.

Contact: Meridith Tucker
[email protected]com

SOURCE Moat Biotechnology Corporation

Company developing a cardiovascular medical device portfolio for underserved pediatric population

SAN DIEGO, June 13, 2023 — Paul G. Yock has joined the Starlight Cardiovascular Board of Directors. Dr. Yock is the Founder, Director Emeritus, and a Board Member of the Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign. He is the former Martha Meier Weiland Professor of Medicine, founding co-chair of Stanford University’s Department of Bioengineering, and the 2018 recipient of the National Academy of Engineering’s Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education. Yock, who is trained as an interventional cardiologist, is known for his numerous innovative contributions to medical technology, including the Rapid Exchange angioplasty and stenting system, intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), and the Smart Needle.

“We are overjoyed that Paul has joined the Starlight family,” stated Beverly Tang, co-Founder and CEO of Starlight Cardiovascular. “He has already provided us with invaluable insights, and his clinical and strategic innovation expertise will be an important addition to our mission-driven board. We are excited to build this company focused on life-saving treatments for babies born with congenital heart disease together.”

Yock was appointed as an independent director and joins Alf Grunwald, Tom Duerig, and Beverly Tang on the Board of Directors.

“It’s a painful truth that children are severely underserved by health technology innovation because of current market forces,” emphasized Dr. Yock. “Starlight Cardiovascular is taking on this challenge by developing highly novel pediatric technologies — and, equally important, pioneering novel approaches to business execution. This combination has the potential to change the lives of many thousands of children with congenital heart disease. I’m happy to be joining this talented and dedicated team.”

Congenital Heart Disease (CHD) is the most common birth defect and affects approximately 1% of babies born each year.^1,2 Starlight Cardiovascular is developing a portfolio of interventional cardiology devices to address the heterogenous clinical needs in pediatric CHD and provide minimally-invasive alternatives to the standard of care, which is oftentimes open-chest surgery performed on fragile newborns.

About Starlight Cardiovascular

Starlight Cardiovascular is a preclinical stage medical technology company developing a portfolio of devices to address pediatric Congenital Heart Disease. To learn more, please visit www.starlightcardio.com

References

1) Hoffman JL, Kaplan S. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2002;39(12):1890-1900.
2) Reller MD et al. J Pediatr. 2008;153:807-813.

SOURCE Starlight Cardiovascular

NEW YORK, June 13, 2023 — Medivis, a medical technology company with the mission to establish augmented reality as the new standard in surgical navigation, announced a $20 million Series A funding round led by Thrive Capital, with participation from Initialized Capital and Mayo Clinic. Additional investors include Bob Iger, Kevin Durant, Dr. Robert Spetzler, Hugo Barra and Coalition Operators.

Headquartered in New York City, Medivis has partnered with the nation’s leading medical centers including MD Anderson Cancer Center, Providence Health, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Northwell Health and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. The company has also announced an expanded partnership with the Veterans Health Administration, the nation’s largest integrated health system. The fundraise will be used to scale engineering, obtain regulatory clearances and globally commercialize across multiple specialties including neurosurgery, orthopedic surgery, interventional radiology and reconstructive surgery.

“We started Medivis to usher in a new visual era for medicine through augmented reality. Over the last seven years, we have been creating technology to grant clinicians unprecedented visual guidance during surgical procedures. Ultimately, this technology will facilitate safer procedural care for patients around the world. We are thrilled to have the support of these incredible investors as we continue our journey,” said Dr. Osamah Choudhry, Co-Founder and Neurosurgeon.

“The practice of medicine and the outcomes of people under our care, depend on our ability to gather and utilize data,” said Dr. Christopher Morley, Co-Founder and Radiologist. “Spatial computing will change every industry, but none more importantly than healthcare, where it will advance the way we perform a wide range of routine and complex interventions. Our partnerships speak to how far the technology has come, the growing market adoption and the paths we see ahead to profound value creation.”

Kareem Zaki, a general partner at Thrive Capital, added: “From our first meeting, we’ve been impressed by the team’s vision and ambition to revolutionize medical imaging. We believe that Medivis has the potential to set a new standard for surgical navigation and we’re excited to partner with them as they enter their next stage of growth.”

ABOUT MEDIVIS
Medivis is a medical technology company founded in 2016 by physicians and engineers in New York City. The company is dedicated to advancing surgical care with the latest breakthroughs in augmented reality and artificial intelligence.

For more information, please visit http://www.medivis.com.

NOTE
Bob Iger invested prior to his return to Disney. Kevin Durant as part of Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman’s 35V.

Media Contact:
Katerina Miras
Head of Marketing and Strategic Partnerships
Medivis, Inc.
[email protected]com

SOURCE Medivis

NEW YORK, June 13, 2023 — Lalo, one of the fastest-growing baby and toddler brands on the market, announces the successful completion of a $10.1 million Series A fundraising round, led by Spin Master Ventures, with additional participation from Babylist, Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman’s 35V and ILIA Beauty Founder Sasha Plavsic’s Untold Holdings.

The funding will be used to fuel Lalo’s growth, driving product innovation, increasing brand reach and further enhancing the customer experience. The company plans to unveil several new products in the coming year and expand its footprint in both domestic and international markets.

Since its inception in 2019, Lalo has distinguished itself in the crowded baby and toddler space with its design-forward, multifunctional products that grow with families, a strategy that has resulted in significant consumer love and recognition.

“We’re thrilled to be at this exciting inflection point in our business. We can’t wait to build deeper connections with families as we continue to launch more products and challenge the status quo of the juvenile products industry,” said Greg Davidson, Co-Founder & CEO of Lalo.

“We created Spin Ventures to get closer to our start-up roots while also helping other entrepreneurs scale their businesses,” said Anton Rabie, Spin Master Co-Founder. “Greg and Michael embody the entrepreneurial traits that are essential to driving business growth and we are so pumped to be a part of their journey.”

The raised capital underscores a deep confidence in Lalo’s unique approach to the baby and toddler market and its commitment to supporting parents and caregivers everywhere with high-quality and thoughtfully designed products, and unparalleled service.

For more information about Lalo, visit meetlalo.com or follow Lalo on Instagram @Lalo.

About Lalo

Lalo is a leading innovator in the baby and toddler industry, committed to designing smart, functional, and stylish products for modern families. By focusing on quality, adaptability, and aesthetic appeal, Lalo provides a fresh and sophisticated approach to the everyday parenting journey.

SOURCE Lalo

Seismic Initiating First Round of Investments, Sees Game Cloud Network’s Model of Connecting Brands, Consumers and Influencers through Games as Perfect Fit for Seismic Portfolio

LOS ANGELES, June 13, 2023 — Seismic Capital Company (“Seismic”) today announced its commitment to invest $10 million in Game Cloud Network (“GCN”) to accelerate GCN’s mission to build the world’s largest brand engagement network to connect brands, consumers and influencers through games.

In addition to capital, Seismic will provide administrative services, including human resources, benefits, accounting and legal support, enabling GCN to focus on accelerating technology and product development, launching new partnerships and customer acquisition. Founded in 2019, GCN is the first company in Seismic’s portfolio, which is open to all investors. (Click here to learn more about investing with Seismic.)

“Unlike the philosophy behind traditional VC investments, Seismic offers our portfolio companies what we call ‘patient capital,’ which means rather than wasting time in the up-and-down cycles of funding rounds, we are in it for the long run,” said Eric White, President and Chief Investment Officer at Seismic Capital Company. “Game Cloud Network meets every aspect of our investment criteria; we see it as a paradigm-shifting startup primed to shake up the gaming industry. GCN’s leadership team consists of proven innovators and disruptors with decades of experience across gaming, media and telecommunications.”

THE OPPORTUNITY: According to research firm Statista, global games revenue is expected to reach $365.6 billion in 2023, growing to $482.3 billion by 2027. Gaming has become the preferred media format for Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers, yet brands have not been successful at authentically engaging at scale. GCN’s unique technology solves that problem by transforming online games into robust media ecosystems.

“Game Cloud Network is building a true ecosystem connecting game publishers and developers with brands, influencers and IP holders in innovative new ways. We chose to partner with Seismic as we saw a clear alignment with the management team and their innovative new model,” said Aaron Baker, CEO at Game Cloud Network. “Access to a long-term commitment of capital and administrative resources from day one made this partnership a perfect fit – allowing us to significantly accelerate our growth.”

About Seismic Capital Company

Seismic Capital Company (“Seismic”) is changing the way venture capital is done to the benefit of founders, startups and investors. It is committed to identifying, guiding and nurturing companies seeking to meaningfully disrupt their industries.

Seismic seeks to support impactful companies across digital and emerging technologies, sustainability, education, and others, all of whom comply with the highest standards of integrity and accountability, protecting the environment and our communities.

Through a democratized capital structure, Seismic opens its doors to investors of all income levels, allowing everyone to own a stake in these disruptive companies of tomorrow at the ground-floor level. For more information, please visit https://seismic.company/, subscribe to our newsletter https://seismic.company/newsletter/ and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Media Contact:
Laura Simpson
JConnelly for Seismic Capital Company
973.713.8834
[email protected] 

SOURCE Seismic Capital Company

The Seed Funding Round is Backed by Celesta Capital, First Spark, and Micron Ventures

NEW YORK, June 13, 2023 — Normal Computing, the startup building full-stack probabilistic compute infrastructure enabling artificial intelligence (AI) for the most critical and complex applications, announced today that it has raised $8.5M in a Seed funding round led by Celesta Capital and First Spark Ventures, with participation from Micron Ventures. The funding will advance Normal Computing’s commitment to helping large companies use technologies like Generative Artificial Intelligence (“Generative AI”) in intricate and high-stakes real-world contexts. It will also support the research and development of Normal Computing’s application development platform and Probabilistic AI technology.

Despite reliability issues like unpredictable factual errors or “hallucinations”, large general-purpose models like OpenAI’s GPT-4 continue to fascinate the globe. While these limitations are acceptable for early consumer applications, according to Faris Sbahi, the CEO and Co-Founder at Normal Computing, they pose key challenges for advancing core enterprise workflows where AI’s transformative value creation potential has yet to be unlocked.

Normal Computing’s Probabilistic AI is a paradigm that may solve these and other roadblocks by giving unprecedented control over reliability, adaptivity, and auditability to AI models powered by its customers’ private data. Forged through their work in the largest-scale and the most critical AI workflows at Alphabet, Normal is supporting use-cases where risk has been a central barrier to AI adoption. These systems encompass a wide range of applications. They include automating complex underwriting processes, where policies may involve numerous locations with specific guidelines. Additionally, they can enable autonomous workflows for generating and validating specialized code that adheres to mission-critical constraints and unique idioms for custom and confidential codebases. Moreover, they can assist in mitigating risks in an airline’s supply network, even in dynamic and ever-changing conditions.

In response to a question like “What recommendations would you provide for my client thinking to save for their kid’s college?,” a typical Large Language Model (LLM) deployed to assist a financial advisor by synthesizing across various data portals and policies might make up or provide out-of-date or impersonal details that are critically relevant to decision-making. As well, it may fail to provide transparent reasoning that would be needed for audit. In contrast, with Probabilistic AI, models can detect when they synthesize inaccurately by also generating probable, auditable explanations of how they reached a conclusion, and even revise themselves by adaptively making an additional query to a datastore or human-in-the-loop.

“Artificial Intelligence has the potential to address some of the greatest human challenges of our time. But in order to do so, it must be reliable, transparent, and able to comprehend the limits of its own reasoning so that it knows how best to engage and explain to humans in the loop,” said Nicholas Brathwaite, Founding Managing Partner at Celesta Capital. “We are excited to support the Normal Computing team as they develop their cutting-edge Probabilistic AI, which will help to develop AI that can be trusted for use in critical public and private applications.”

Probabilistic AI can enhance promising models like LLMs and Diffusion Models, as well as enable new architectures. Normal says that integrating these large models into composed workflows with their Probabilistic AI technology – in addition to specialized models, enterprise-specific plugins, and domain-specific processes – has the ability to solve complex real-world problems. Normal’s technology is designed to deploy these large AI systems reliably, detecting and fixing failures like hallucinations and predictably adapting and learning in real-time to private data and changing conditions.

Faris also explained Normal’s commitment to working collaboratively with its clients to enable applications that routinely involve multiple stakeholders, a complex data landscape, and sophisticated security policies. “Amongst major AI innovations – like scaling transformer models with GPUs – there often remains a significant gap between these new capabilities and the requirements for real-world production use cases where information is incomplete and noisy, and constantly changing,” said Faris. “Furthermore, successful resolutions are typically rich and limited to the largest tech companies like Alphabet and Meta.”

Faris emphasized, “AI has the potential to improve essentially everything we value, but we’ve seen a trend of doubling down on certain architectures and approaches because they work with today’s held conventional tools and infrastructure, not because they are as trustworthy or understandable as we can achieve.”

“The solution is to redesign AI systems from the ground up,” said Faris. “This contrasts other more surface-level approaches like prompt engineering and retrieval-based methods which alone aren’t enough, especially for mission-critical enterprise problems. The Normal team is thrilled to have the support of our investors in this Seed round of funding to confront this challenge head-on and continue to enable and advance principled systems for our partners.”

Normal asserts that AI system transparency and openness are frequently required for adoption. This means that Normal provides AI systems backed by customizable open source models, similar to Stanford University’s Alpaca, which allow for full auditability. This further contrasts closed systems like OpenAI’s GPT-series whose internals remain hidden. Normal’s system is designed so that a company’s proprietary information remains private, with no uncertainty how its data is being used. This is one way in which these systems can more auditably uphold a business’s ground truth. Normal itself is committed to being an active contributor to the open source, having made available some of its developer tools for reliable Generative AI workflows.

“It may be the case, reasonably soon, that AI systems are able to accomplish fundamental breakthroughs like discovering new kinds of materials, nanotechnology, biology, and medicine. Ensuring that these things are not misused, and are reliable and auditable enough to be a net benefit, is something we should all be thinking about. Normal’s team is working thoughtfully to enable this kind of responsible and high-potential technology,” said Manish Kothari, Founding Managing Partner at First Spark Ventures.

Normal Computing was founded by former members of the Google Brain Team, Palantir, and X Engineers who built core AI production systems for Alphabet, as well as industry leading ML frameworks for Probabilistic and Quantum AI. Today, the innovative startup is partnered with frontier AI companies in the United States. Normal is initiating pilots with Fortune 500 across multiple verticals, now targeting key sectors like semiconductor manufacturing, supply chain management, banking and government agencies.

About Normal Computing
Normal Computing is a New York-based deep tech startup founded by former Google Brain, Alphabet X, and Palantir engineers, teamed with leaders and engineers from Meta Probability, HuggingFace, Los Alamos National Laboratory, and Aesara Probability. Normal builds full-stack infrastructure to solve the most critical applications for enterprise and government, backed by its Probabilistic AI technology.

Media Contact
Jack Buttacavoli
[email protected]

SOURCE Normal Computing

MILWAUKEE, June 13, 2023 — SpotHopper, a leading provider of restaurant marketing and operations technology, has announced a Series B funding round with $12 million raised.

The funding came from existing investor TVC Capital, a software-focused growth equity firm based in San Diego. The investment will be used to accelerate the enhancement of the company’s AI-based autonomous sales and marketing solutions for the restaurant industry. The new investment brings the company’s total capital raised to $26 million to date.

SpotHopper is the fastest growing restaurant software technology company in the U.S. with thousands of customers. The company has grown in excess of 100% per year for the last five years. SpotHopper is already the industry leader in automated marketing tools for restaurants and plans on using the investment to supercharge its platform with new generative artificial intelligence technologies, as well as a fleet of additional features that will help even further streamline restaurant operations.

“This new funding will allow SpotHopper to invest into all of our functional teams, delivering marketing workflows that have proven to accelerate revenues at lower cost with superior outcomes for independent restaurants and hospitality groups,” said SpotHopper’s Co-Founder and CEO, Aleksandar Ivanovic.

Founded in 2015, SpotHopper is based in Milwaukee, WI with offices across the United States and development and operations offices in Serbia.

About SpotHopper
SpotHopper’s all-in-one marketing and operations technology helps independent restaurants tackle the challenges they face online from one easy-to-use platform, saving them time and money. The industry-leading solution enables operators to elevate their online image, increase exposure, bring in more customers, attract more qualified employees, and keep up with national chains. For more information, visit www.spothopperapp.com.

About TVC Capital
TVC Capital is an operator led growth equity firm based in San Diego, CA. We are focused on investments in and acquisitions of mission critical B2B software companies across a wide spectrum of industries and verticals that are poised for growth and consolidation. We partner with exceptional management teams to accelerate growth and maximize value. For more information, visit www.tvccapital.com.

SOURCE TVC CAPITAL; SpotHopper

Proven Digital Marketing and Technology Leaders Paul Filsinger and Giancarlo Maniaci Get Behind Procure IT as Investors & Advisors

CARROLLTON, Texas, June 13, 2023 — Procure IT, a game-changing data-driven IT procurement and management company, announced today that it raised $3.5 million in a new round of funding, bringing the total initial funding to $4.8 million. The company promises to combine people, processes and software to create an industry-first platform for IT procurement, spend, performance and risk management.

The latest funding round includes investments from two proven digital marketing and technology leaders Paul Filsinger and Giancarlo Maniaci, who also will serve as advisors to Procure IT’s leadership team.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Paul Filsinger and Giancarlo Maniaci as Procure IT investors and advisors,” said Randy Jeter, Procure IT Managing Partner and former CEO of RapidScale. “Both leaders are highly experienced at building and growing forward-looking technology-powered companies by leveraging innovative product strategy and the latest advances in data-driven digital marketing. Their investments validate our vision to transform how IT is sourced and managed; their active guidance will help us achieve it.”

Procure IT’s managing partners, along with current and future investors, plan to raise additional capital before seeking private equity funding in 12-24 months, Jeter added.

About Procure IT’s Investor-Advisors
Filsinger is a technology leader with 30 years of experience in software, IT, media and digital advertising. Over three decades, he has been an entrepreneur/owner/founder and President of System1, a $1 billion public company. Filsinger sold his business to System1 and then spent more than five years scaling teams, revenue and profitability, culminating in a public offering on NYSE (SST). As president, he was responsible for digital brands, including MapQuest, StartPage, HowStuffWorks, Answers.com, CouponFollow, Info.com, Infospace, WebCrawler, Dogpile and more.

Following a long career as a business builder, Filsinger has become an angel investor in companies aligned with his technology interests. Recent investments include MadisonAve.ai, a startup using generative AI to create advertising.

Filsinger’s investment in Procure IT is grounded in his experience building technology-enabled companies.

“At System 1, for example, we made huge investments in cloud-based technologies,” said Filsinger. “Procure IT helps companies better manage their technology investments by monitoring and analyzing it to realize and optimize its value. As an entrepreneur, founder and former public company CEO, I know that’s a brilliant idea that’s long overdue. Ironically, advancements in technology finally make it possible to achieve. I’m all in on helping Procure IT to get this into the hands of business owners and IT leaders everywhere.”

Maniaci is a serial entrepreneur and one of the world’s foremost experts in digital product marketing. Presently, he is CEO of eJam Inc., a performance-based online advertising and marketing company. Maniaci was the CEO and co-founder of TapIt!, a mobile advertising platform that sold to Phunware for $23 million in 2013. Earlier in his career, he was Managing Partner for iDials, a hosted PBX, predictive and autodialing platform that was sold in 2010.

The entrepreneur actively provides seed investment and incubation to technology and digital media startups. Among his present and past investments are Estimote, creators of the SpaceTimeOS for smart workplace applications, and PayDivvy, the first and only social bill-paying platform.

Maniaci’s investment in Procure IT will leverage his interests and experience in technology and digital media.

“Procure IT hits the sweet spot for me – using technology to disrupt traditional ways of doing things and creating incredible value for business customers,” said Maniaci. “I’m excited to back its mission of transforming IT procurement and management. And I’m eager to help tell the Procure IT story using the latest digital marketing platforms and techniques to ensure every business hears about a better way to source and manage their critical technology investments.”

More Information
To learn more about leveraging the Procure IT platform to simplify and optimize your company’s IT environment, visit www.procureit.com. To speak to a Procure IT sourcing expert, visit  www.procureit.com/contact or [email protected].

Suppliers interested in becoming part of the Procure IT platform can connect with the supplier management team by emailing [email protected].

About Procure IT
Procure IT, the data-driven IT procurement and management company, simplifies IT sourcing and expense, performance and risk management for businesses of all sizes – from small and medium businesses (SMBs) to global enterprises. Procure IT leverages decades of expertise in technology sourcing, relationships with more than 350 IT suppliers, proven processes and a proprietary CX software platform to help business clients save time and money while ensuring they have the technology they need to succeed in a competitive marketplace. Procure IT advises more than 3,000 businesses nationwide, speeding sourcing by 5X and reducing spending by 25 percent. For more information, visit www.procureit.com or engage with us on LinkedIn.

Media Contact
Khali Henderson
BuzzTheory (for Procure IT)
480.848.6726
[email protected]

SOURCE Procure IT

Funding led by Blockchange Ventures with participation from GFR Fund, Peter Thiel, Blockwall Capital, private investors & industry advisors 

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., June 13, 2023 — Collectibles.com, with a focus on connecting, inspiring, and better serving the diverse interests of all collectors, today announced its $5 million seed round, led by Blockchange Ventures. Collectibles.com is building the world’s first Web3 community and marketplace — powered by the Collectibles Protocol™ and blockchain integration — to drive innovation in the estimated $500 billion global collectibles market. By combining advanced technology and unique consumer rewards with the shared values that drive the passion and motivations for collectors everywhere, Collectibles.com will offer an exciting new experience for all levels of expertise and interests.

The recent seed round drew support from respected venture funds including: Blockchange Ventures, GFR Fund, Peter Thiel and Blockwall Capital, along with select private investors, advisors & industry strategics. Notable investors also include serial entrepreneurs and technologists: Adam Jackson, CEO Braintrust; Sean Cohan, former Chief Growth Officer, Nielsen; Trevor Traina, CEO Kresus & respected collector; Vinny Lingham, CEO Waitroom, Shark Tank SA; and Hollywood actor & collector, Orlando Bloom.

As the category-defining brand domain, Collectibles.com is poised to become the leading destination for the currently fragmented world of collecting, by providing practical tools, technology & resources that put the needs and preferences of collectors front and center. Unlike most existing apps, websites & legacy marketplaces that are strictly transactional, Collectibles.com will feature a robust, connected community to unite global collectors through their common interests and passions, with several unique features:

• Beneficial user rewards for contributions to the community and platform 
• Powerful collection management application to organize, manage and value all collectibles
• AI and ML technologies to offer most accurate & comprehensive collectibles data
• Proprietary Collectibles Protocol™ and blockchain integration to deliver a new, more efficient & transparent marketplace experience
• Data-driven, market-based asset valuation for collectibles based on over 30 sources of historical sales/transactions
• Community social profiles to display collections and foster engagement 
• Personalization, recommendations and community connections based on preferences 
• Category-specific discussion groups, curated content and educational resources

“Our work to date has demonstrated the value of — and demand for — innovation by collectors, making the expansion into other collectibles verticals a natural next step,” said Collectibles.com Co-Founder and CEO Alex Ivanov. “By combining the power of the collectibles community with the promising capabilities of Web3 technology, we can fundamentally rethink how people buy, sell, trade and manage anything they collect.”

Since launching as a proof-of-concept in 2021, offering a collection management application focused only on trading cards and reaching over 250,000 registered users, collectors are now adding tens of thousands of items per day, currently valued at over $2B of cards under management. The upcoming launch of Collectibles.com will expand into several new verticals, including comic books, coins, stamps, memorabilia and more.

“For most, the hobby of collecting is much more than just buying and selling or making an investment — it represents a greater passion and personal motivation, something that connects them to a larger community and often passed from generation-to-generation, whether it’s comic books, sports cards and memorabilia, or even vintage lunch boxes,” said Dietrich von Behren, Co-Founder and Chief Business & Strategy Officer at Collectibles.com. “With our new round of funding and strategic partners, we’ll bring a series of industry-changing innovations to the global collectibles industry, from casual hobbyists to sellers and major brand partners.”

Launching in the fall of 2023 and building the ecosystem for what shall become a decentralized secondary market, the Collectibles.com community and marketplace is being developed with blockchain integration and smart contracts for advanced functionality and commerce optimization, and will offer a unique customer loyalty rewards system to incentivize adoption while driving significant innovation across the massive collectibles industry. 

“We believe that blockchain technology will radically alter how marketplaces will grow in the future—especially those with pre-existing communities,” states Ken Seiff, Managing Partner of Blockchange Ventures. “Adding the economic layer of a blockchain to a social network will catalyze growth & commerce in new and novel ways. In the case of Collectibles.com, we expect it will better serve the collectors globally that represent a multi hundred billion dollar asset class.”

About Collectibles.com
At Collectibles.com, we’re Powered by Passion™— building a premium destination and resource for the passionate community of collectors worldwide, where enthusiasts of all levels can share expertise and experiences centered around their common interest in collectibles—from Mickey Mantle to Mickey Mouse and everything in between. Building the world’s first Web3 community and marketplace for collectors, we’re developing a more engaging, integrated and trusted consumer experience, across all verticals. By offering collection management tools combined with community, content and commerce, Collectibles.com is creating a powerful platform for all current collectors and the next generation. To pre-register and reserve your custom username & profile, visit www.collectibles.com For additional Collectibles.com news & information, visit blog.collectibles.com.

Collectibles.com Media Contact:
Lucas Mast
Director, Marketing + Communications
415-218-7204
[email protected]

Collectibles.com Partnership Opportunities
Dietrich von Behren
Co-Founder, Chief Business + Strategy Officer
[email protected]

SOURCE Collectibles.com