The Atlanta-based firm raised capital to accelerate the adoption of its visual website builder that empowers marketers to build and manage websites without engineering intervention.

ALANTA, May 2, 2023 — Makeswift, the visual builder for Next.js websites, has announced that it has raised $3M to empower marketers to build and manage powerful websites without engineering intervention. The funding round was led by Active Capital, with participation from several other investors including Uncommon Capital and Silicon Road Ventures.

Makeswift introduces a new paradigm for the hand-off between engineering and marketing teams. Instead of hardcoded websites that marketers can’t update, engineers can integrate React components into Makeswift’s visual builder to give marketing teams custom building blocks. This means marketers can control website content and layout, untangling the workflow of the two teams.

“Makeswift is extending the power of Next.js and Vercel to combine Enterprise-grade visual building with the powerful frontend cloud of Vercel. We look forward to deepening our partnership with Makeswift to enhance the value we provide to our customers,” says Guillermo Rauch, CEO of Vercel. Rauch, along with Vercel’s CRO, Kevin Van Gundy, and VP of Developer Experience, Lee Robinson, participated in this round of funding.

Companies that adopt Makeswift as a part of their headless or composable stack experience:

• Faster time-to-market by reducing engineering cycles on the marketing roadmap
• Less technical debt by isolating custom code to specific React components that serve as visual building blocks for marketers to use and configure
• The ability to incrementally adopt visual editing on a page-by-page basis rather than waiting on a replatform or full stack overhaul
• Simple, intuitive API that works with existing React components
• Support for SSR and ISR out of the box, ensuring that site performance is not impacted by adding a visual editing layer

“We are thrilled to have raised this round of financing from investors that understand how the CMS market is shifting” said Alan Pledger, CEO and co-founder of Makeswift. “This funding will help us to continue to improve our product’s ability to serve customers with more complex websites. With this funding, we have a solid plan to become profitable in the next year.”

For the first time ever, WordPress’ market share started to decline in 2022 (source). Meanwhile, the global Headless CMS Software is expected to expand at a CAGR of 20.44% between 2022 and 2028 (source). Makeswift integrates into a codebase similar to a headless CMS, but the difference is marketers can get started with Makeswift’s no-code builder and extend later, preventing costly rewrites.

“Makeswift has an impressive vision for the future of enterprise website management” said Pat Matthews, Founder and CEO of Active Capital. “We believe that Makeswift is well-positioned to capitalize on the growing trend of companies moving away from WordPress to frameworks like Next.js for their marketing sites. We are excited to support the company in its next phase of growth.”

The funding round comes as Makeswift continues to see strong demand for its product. The company has already attracted thousands of users, from startups to publicly traded tech companies, who are experiencing significant workflow gains by adopting the product. “Fundamentally, Makeswift changes things for us because it allows our marketing team to maintain a world-class website. It means we’re not fighting with WordPress or fighting with performance issues — and not blocking ourselves from creating custom code — all while still allowing the entire website to be visually editable,” say Hunter Hancock, Lead Solutions Engineer at Recurrency. Recurrency, a YC -backed startup, is one of the many companies that has moved away from WordPress, giving their marketing teams more control of their websites without increasing engineering costs.

About Makeswift

Makeswift unlocks visual editing for marketers who manage sites built on composable architecture using Next.js. By allowing engineers to integrate existing React components into Makeswift’s visual builder, marketers can work autonomously on the marketing sites they’re responsible for, using pre-configured building blocks to quickly spin up new pages or iterate on existing content. Makeswift is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.

About Active Capital

Active Capital is a seed-stage venture firm for ambitious founders building the future of cloud infrastructure and B2B SaaS. The firm is founded and run by former B2B SaaS founders with hands-on experience starting, building, and scaling high growth businesses. Active Capital is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. To learn more, please visit https://www.activecapital.com.

Media Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Makeswift

New strategic investors include Woven Capital and NVIDIA

TEL-AVIV, Israel and SUNNYVALE, Calif., May 2, 2023 — Foretellix, the leading provider of safety-driven verification and validation solutions for Automated Driving Systems and Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), announced today it had raised $43 million in the first closing of its Series C funding round led by 83North, bringing its total raised capital to over $93 million. Woven Capital, the growth fund of Toyota, and NVIDIA joined the financing round, along with Artofin VC. All major existing shareholders participated, including MoreTech, Nationwide, Volvo Group VC, and Jump Capital. Foretellix will use the funding to accelerate the development of its expanding product portfolio and fuel expansion across new geographies.

“We are thrilled to have Woven by Toyota and NVIDIA as strategic partners,” said Ziv Binyamini, Foretellix CEO and Co-Founder. “Foretellix is addressing the largest barrier for safe large-scale deployment of automated driving systems. The new funding will help us to address the growing demand for our solutions, extend our worldwide reach, and accelerate our vision for achieving safe autonomy.”

“At Woven by Toyota, we’re on a mission to deliver the world’s safest, most intelligent, and human-centric mobility solutions,” said George Kellerman, Vice President, Investments and Acquisitions for Woven by Toyota, and Managing Director of Woven Capital. “Verification and validation technology plays a critical role in ensuring the safety and performance of innovative autonomous systems that are accelerating the future of mobility. Foretellix is a leading player in this space, and we are excited to work together to advance automated driving technologies.”

Foretellix’s Safety-Driven Verification & Validation (SDV) Platform – Foretify™ is used by Automotive, Trucking, and Mining customers, including Volvo Group, Torc – a Daimler Truck subsidiary, and many others, to accelerate the development and deployment of their Automated Driving Systems. Foretellix established partnerships with major simulation companies, including IPG, NVIDIA, dSPACE, VIRES, AI Motive, and Cognata, providing its customers with a comprehensive verification and validation (V&V) solution.

The Foretify platform is used by engineers at OEMs, Tier-1 suppliers, and Autonomous Vehicle (AV) stack providers throughout the AV/ADAS development cycle. The platform consists of multiple products:

Foretify Core™ – Hyperscale virtual test generation and execution engine based on Foretellix’s state-of-the-art constrained random test generator, pre-integrated with industry-leading simulators.

Foretify Developer™ – Scenario and test development and debug tool, including a powerful visualizer that helps engineers to view and debug single-run test results, including KPIs, checks, and coverage.

Foretify Manager™ – V&V management and big data analytics tool that enables engineers to create and execute metric-based V&V plans, triage, and analyze test results and coverage across virtual simulation and real-world driving.

Foretify LogIQ™ – Automated drive log analysis tool that identifies scenarios of interest and breaks them down into their sequential building blocks, detects edge cases and anomalies, extracts KPIs and coverage, and provides a powerful log visualization tool.

Foretify V-Suite™ – Ready-to-use V&V libraries, including scenarios, verification plans, maps, coverage metrics, and KPIs, that help accelerate customers’ projects. V-Suites can automatically generate millions of relevant concrete scenarios and easily adapt to customers’ ODD and system requirements.

Foretellix led the ASAM OpenSCENARIO^® 2.0 (OSC2.0) standard development revolutionizing how safety is developed and tested in Automated Driving Systems. Foretellix contributed key syntax and concepts to ASAM, and it continues to lead further enhancements of the standard. The Foretify platform is the industry’s first solution offering native OSC2.0 support.

For more information about Foretellix, visit www.foretelllix.com, or email [email protected]

About Foretellix
Foretellix is the leading provider of safety-driven verification and validation solutions for Automated Driving Systems and ADAS. Foretellix’s Foretify™️ platform helps automotive, trucking, and mining customers to ensure safety, reduce development costs, and accelerate time-to-market. Foretellix is headquartered in Israel, with offices in the US, Europe, and Asia. For more information, visit http://www.foretellix.com

Media Contact:
Scott Fosgard
[email protected]
+1 734-272-7440

Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1977129/Foretellix_Logo.jpg
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2067789/Foretellix.jpg

SOURCE Foretellix

Round positions for profitability, accelerates key growth initiatives

ST. PAUL, Minn., May 2, 2023 — Sentera, an industry-leading provider of ag analytics, announced today a successful expansion of its previously oversubscribed Series C funding round. The round was led by Conti Ventures (a division of Continental Grain Company) and S2G Ventures. Following this round, Sentera forecasts that its capital requirements to achieve profitability and positive cash flow are fully funded.

Sentera’s data science ecosystem is an industry leader by combining aerial data collection with machine learning engines that deliver more accurate plant-level measurements and insights. Its customers, which include agriscience leaders in research and product development, are empowered to advance their work by getting essential data to validate outcomes, augment product development, and support sustainability initiatives.

“We believe Sentera has unlocked value for its enterprise customers and partners with differentiated technology illustrated by its accelerated growth and blue-chip customer list,” said Chris Abbott, co-head, Conti Ventures. “In an environment where current capital markets continue to put stress on AgTech fundraising, we believe this funding is a strong statement about the durability, momentum, and outstanding potential of this business.”

“We’re proud to support the business in reaching the significant milestone of profitability at scale,” said Cristina Rohr, managing director, S2G Ventures. “This opens up avenues for further expansion through strategic M&A, positioning the company as a customer-focused agronomic data platform.”

Sentera serves customers in more than 45 countries. The company most recently reported 40% year-over-year growth, with key growth drivers in its innovative data capture technology, advanced machine learning, digital phenotyping, and localized data model segments.

“We’re experiencing exceptional growth by leveraging a comprehensive data capture, analytics, and modeling suite that allows our enterprise agriscience customers to bring new solutions to market faster, and with greater efficiency,” said Brian Wenngatz, chief executive officer, Sentera. “Our data science ecosystem gives us unique tools and flexibility that our customers need to drive innovation through their product development roadmaps – whether it’s developing the next-best biological, using precision data to transform product application, or unlocking precision weed chemistry with a solution that benefits everyone in the value chain.”

Sentera’s data science ecosystem features an advanced geospatial data platform powered by deep learning and agronomic machine learning that deliver comprehensive phenotyping and product performance insights. Insights scale from plant-level tracking and modeling to regional estimates of yield, nutrient uptake, and attributes of crop quality. The company integrates public and customer-proprietary data to deliver high-accuracy insights efficiently and quickly.

“Our platform catalyzes our customers’ ability to transform pools of data into the insights that inform their most critical decisions,” said Eric Taipale, chief technology officer and co-founder, Sentera. “We can deliver tailored – and therefore more accurate – tools more quickly and more cost-effectively because of the capabilities we’ve built. This forms the basis for strong partnerships that translate into meaningful competitive advantages for our customers.”

“Part of our success comes from supporting our customers with augmentation of a more tenured product with Sentera digital technology, or what we like to refer to as a digital wrapper,” continued Wenngatz. “Putting this technology in the hands of our customers has transformed how they are able to bring new products to market or differentiate those that face significant competitive pressure.”

For Sentera, one of the most impactful use cases at the forefront of this digital technology focuses on optimizing weed management strategies, given challenges with herbicide resistance and changes to weed growth patterns. Leveraging its suite of products, from its ultra-high-resolution aerial sensor and georeferencing system to its data science ecosystem, Sentera’s technology showcases a promising future for using remote sensing drone technology for identifying weed species in the field and quickly generating precision prescription maps to support variable-rate treatment applicators.

“Selective, targeted application, in this case for herbicide, serves as one example of how we use our technology. Paired with the expertise of industry leaders, we deliver solutions that solve the biggest issues at hand,” continued Taipale. “This isn’t limited to the weeds problem – it’s how we as a company approach the industry’s toughest challenges and focus on delivering technology that delivers proven value.”

For more information about Sentera, visit https://www.sentera.com.

About Sentera

Sentera helps agronomic leaders maximize every season as the industry-leading provider of ag analytics. With its data science ecosystem, powered by machine learning, Sentera delivers more reliable and scalable plant-level measurements to maximize performance outcomes, which can be informed by aerial imagery captured by Sentera’s drone technology solutions or services. Operating in more than 45 countries, Sentera works with hundreds of customers focused on research, product development, and in-field product validation. For more information, visit https://www.sentera.com.

Media Contact: Lora Osborn
[email protected] 
952.491.9835

SOURCE Sentera

New venture studio reduces risk of building new ventures by combining financial capital, human capital, and analytical rigor.

NASHVILLE, Tenn., May 2, 2023 — OtherLeft Ventures, a healthcare-focused venture studio, launched in Nashville early this year. OtherLeft Ventures is a cofounding platform that provides seed capital as well as product development expertise for SaaS startups in the healthcare technology space. OtherLeft Ventures was founded by long-time entrepreneurs Rodney Hamilton, M.D., Blaine Anderson, and Peter Marcum, who saw a need for a more hands-on approach to building startups. In addition to the founders, Blattner Technologies is a co-founding investor in the studio.

Unlike accelerators, incubators, angel groups and traditional VC, OtherLeft Ventures acts as a both a cofounder with talented entrepreneurs as well as an investor. Venture studios are unique in that they engage with concepts as early as the problem-identification stage, on through scaling, providing both seed capital as well as an initial team and process.

OtherLeft Ventures reduces risk of building new ventures by combining financial capital, human capital, and analytical rigor. “Our aim is to mitigate typical failure points one often encounters as an entrepreneur creating a startup in a complicated industry such as healthcare” explains Hamilton. “We have brought together a proven ecosystem of top talent in the areas of healthcare domain expertise, human-centered design, product management, software development, sales, marketing and legal/financial services”.

“We are looking for driven problem-solvers who are serving the healthcare industry. We are focused on innovators at the earliest stages, even idea-only, though we will consider companies who are further along.” says Anderson. “We are seeking founders or companies with innovative ideas that can really benefit from adding an experienced cofounder with a solid process and methodology.”

The new studio has closed its first investment and is actively looking for additional seed stage opportunities that fit with their investment process and thesis. 

OtherLeft Ventures is Nashville based healthcare-focused venture studio co-creating new B2B software businesses with driven entrepreneurs and innovators.

Email us at [email protected] or visit our website at www.otherleftventures.com

Contact Information:
OtherLeft Ventures, LLC
Blaine Anderson
256.337.8255
[email protected]

SOURCE OtherLeft, LLC

Athian’s livestock carbon credit marketplace completes latest round of funding thanks to the investment by California Dairies, Inc. and DSM Venturing

INDIANAPOLIS, May 1, 2023 — Athian (athian.ai) announces the completion of their seed funding round with investments from two strategic partners: DSM Venturing, the corporate venture arm of Royal DSM, a global, purpose-led company in Health, Nutrition & Bioscience, and California Dairies, Inc. (CDI), the largest dairy farmer-owned cooperative in California and second largest in the United States. Athian, the world’s first carbon marketplace for the livestock sector, advances the global acceptance of its novel transactional carbon credit inset program with this investment from DSM Venturing and CDI, along with previous investors, Elanco Animal Health Incorporated (NYSE: ELAN), Tyson Ventures and Newtrient LLC.

This game-changing innovation provides livestock producers with economic incentives for on-farm sustainability practices, while helping improve global food system sustainability and reducing climate warming. “CDI’s membership has been leading the way in sustainable dairy farming investments, and we continue to move as fast as technology and on-farm economics allow,” said Simon Vander Woude, chairman of the board at CDI. “This is an opportunity to showcase that hard work while doubling down to drive innovation and further improve our environmental footprint, ensuring that our farms produce some of the most sustainable milk in the world, across all the various pillars of sustainability.”

“We are excited by CDI and DSM Venturing’s enthusiasm for our innovative carbon marketplace platform. The groundswell of support has been tremendous” said Paul Myer, CEO of Athian. “This announcement not only expedites our reach into international markets but also accelerates practical environmental solutions that give farmers new revenue streams and helps companies deliver on their sustainability commitments throughout the value chain.”

Athian’s carbon credit insetting platform will enable livestock farmers who implement sustainable practices the ability to earn revenue to fund those initiatives. Athian’s key mission is to help the beef and dairy value chains capture and claim carbon credits earned through sustainability efforts. Athian aggregates, validates, and certifies, greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions, and monetizes those reductions through the sale of carbon credits which offer value to the supply chain as important carbon assets related to Scope 3 emissions.

“Global climate change requires all of us working together. And now, Athian can deliver on our goal of connecting the whole value chain,” said Myer. “By joining forces with investors like CDI, DSM Venturing and others throughout the livestock industry, we have a unique opportunity, with all the voices at the table, to support sustainability practice changes through carbon incentives. Together we can move the needle on climate change.”

In connection with these investments, Scott Horner, Regional Managing Director North America at DSM Venturing, and Darrin Montiero, Vice President of Sustainability at CDI, will join the Athian Board of Directors in an observer capacity.

About Athian
At Athian, we are technology experts with farming in our genes. We enable environmental sustainability for animal agriculture because we believe in being good stewards of the earth’s resources for generations to come. We use software to aggregate, certify, and fund greenhouse gas reductions throughout the entire livestock value chain. Athian’s platform is an industry-based analytics tool that enables the livestock industry to improve sustainability by providing carbon credits. Athian’s carbon credit marketplace provides quality greenhouse gas credits that fund livestock producers’ sustainability measures. Athian is a High Alpha Innovation company based in Indianapolis, Ind. Learn how to join us in this effort at www.Athian.ai.

About California Dairies, Inc.
California Dairies, Inc. is the largest member-owned milk marketing and processing cooperative in California, producing approximately 40 percent of California’s milk. Co-owned by over 300 dairy producers who ship nearly 17 billion pounds of Real California Milk annually, California Dairies, Inc. is a manufacturer of quality butter, fluid milk products and milk powders. In addition, California Dairies, Inc. is the home of two leading and well-respected brands of butter – Challenge and Danish Creamery. California Dairies, Inc.’s quality dairy products are available in all 50 United States and in more than 50 foreign countries. For additional information on California Dairies, Inc., visit www.CaliforniaDairies.com.

About DSM Venturing
DSM Venturing is the corporate venture arm of Royal DSM a global, purpose-led company in health, nutrition and bioscience, applying science to improve the health of people, animals and the planet. DSM’s purpose is to create brighter lives for all. DSM’s products and solutions address some of the world’s biggest challenges while simultaneously creating economic, environmental, and societal value for all its stakeholders – customers, employees, shareholders, and society at large. The company was founded in 1902 and is listed on Euronext Amsterdam.

SOURCE Athian

NEW YORK, May 1, 2023 — Entendre Finance has raised $4M in seed financing to launch the first fully automated end-to-end accounting and bookkeeping solution for businesses operating in Web3. Led by Basis Set and with participation from Valhalla, Caffeinated, Moonpay, Alumni, MDig and Alpine, Entendre has built a platform that modern finance teams can use to put blockchain financial operations on autopilot.

With recent news stories clouding the crypto industry, businesses need proper financial controls for on-chain activities. Entendre’s mission is to accelerate Web3 by automating on-chain financial operations and reducing operational costs so businesses can focus on innovation. The platform is ready for scale, easy to use, and customizable for any business looking to introduce blockchain transactions into their ecosystem.

Entendre provides an automated double-entry accounting solution powered by AI that can record entries for any blockchain transaction. The platform supports multiple blockchains, integrates with leading accounting platforms and different Web3 applications. The customer base includes industry disruptors like Hedgey, Lava, Anima, and more.

CEO and founder of Entendre, Kareem Khattab, said, “The next 12-24 months will be critical for the longevity of blockchain companies and adopters. They must implement better systems and internal controls. Our focus is on onboarding as many businesses as possible, so that their accounting costs are inverse with their continued growth.”

General Partner at Basis Set, Lan Xuezhao, said, “We at Basis Set Ventures are delighted to lead the investment round for Entendre, a company that brings much-needed transparency and accountability to the world of blockchain transactions. Their comprehensive solutions cater to businesses of all kinds, ensuring robust financial controls for on-chain activities. As we prepare for the growing impact of Web3 use cases, Entendre’s work, led by Kareem and his team, positions them at the forefront of this critical evolution in the crypto landscape.”

To learn more, visit entendre.finance, or Twitter. For partnerships, contact [email protected].

About Entendre Finance:

Founded in 2023, Entendre Finance gives companies the competitive edge in Web3 by reducing their operational costs and human capital by being the system of record of their on-chain activity and financial statements. Through its platform, businesses can focus on building innovative Web3 solutions to help drive further adoption of blockchain technology.  Entendre is headquartered in NYC, with employees from Coinbase, CloudKitchens, Hulu, Amazon, and WeWork. Learn more at entendre.finance.

SOURCE Entendre Finance

Company raises $6.4M in seed funding to fuel innovation and scale capacity

SAN FRANCISCO, May 1, 2023 — Frontline Wildfire Defense, the leading wildfire defense company for homes and commercial structures, today introduced Frontline Defense System 2, the next-generation of its patented fire defense solution that combines wildfire tracking software, satellite connectivity, and onsite sprinkler hardware to protect any building from wildfire. In addition, the company announced it has raised $6.4M in seed funding led by Echelon to scale its capacity on the West Coast and fuel future product innovation.

“The realities of fire fighting have changed, and we need better tools to adjust to our new normal of year-round fire season,” said Harry Statter, CEO and founder of Frontline Wildfire Defense. “Just like we consider basic features like indoor smoke detectors, solid roofing, and door locks as necessary, Frontline’s external wildfire defense technology is a non-negotiable to any building’s security.”

Defense System 2 offers the first-of-its-kind fire ember threat detection and tracking, providing Frontline customers with early fire warnings and automatic system activation. Ninety percent of homes lost in wildfires are ignited by windborne embers, which can travel seven miles or more from the location of a wildfire, putting structures even in urban environments at risk.

Key Features of Frontline Defense System 2:

• Auto-activation software powers on when a blaze is within seven miles- more than 100x faster than other traditional sensor-based systems that only detect fire within 200 to 300 feet
• Outdoor structural sprinkler system saturates an entire structure and everything within 30 feet, making it too wet to burn
• Satellite connectivity for when power is no longer available at the structure
• Class-A Firefighting Foam provides additional protection, and is the same non-toxic, biodegradable foam used by firefighters
• Precise water application provides optimal protection while balancing water usage and if water pressure drops automatically switches to a secondary water source, such as a pool or tank

The Frontline Wildfire app is also available to anyone with an iOS or Android device. The free app is one of the most downloaded real-time wildfire maps that alerts customized to users’ locations, preparation checklists, and evacuation planning.

“We see a massive opportunity for Frontline’s innovative tools to have a positive impact on home and business owners forced to protect their structures from wildfires,” said Joel Moxley, managing partner of Echelon. “Firefighters are struggling to scale and environments are changing too quickly for many insurance providers to operate, leaving many property owners on their own. Innovation and adaptation are the only ways property owners, insurance providers, and firefighters will be able to operate safely.”

Since launching in 2017, Frontline has protected over $2B in real estate value and is used by summer camps, wineries, commercial buildings, and homes. Frontline Wildfire Defense System 2 is available now for property owners in California and will be available soon in thirteen western states. To learn more about Frontline, visit www.frontlinewildfire.com.

About Frontline Wildfire Defense
Founded in 2017 by Harry Statter, a veteran landscape ecologist and fire mitigation expert, Frontline Wildfire Defense is committed to protecting homes, families, and communities from wildfire disaster. The Frontline Wildfire Defense System empowers homeowners to prepare for wildfire, monitor fires near their home, and protect their home during a wildfire event with Frontline’s exterior sprinkler solution. The Frontline Mobile App, available for free on iOS and Android, provides comprehensive wildfire safety information and immediate evacuation notifications.

SOURCE Frontline Wildfire Defense

Survey Highlights Technology and VC Ecosystem Expectations Amid Economic Uncertainty

SEATTLE, May 1, 2023 — PitchBook, the premier data provider for the private and public equity markets, today released the findings from a new survey conducted by PitchBook’s Institutional Research Group. The H1 2023 VC Tech Survey was administered to 58 venture capital (VC) investors across various industries and a wide range of fund sizes. The survey coincided with two significant events that are likely to have profound impacts on the VC industry – the frenetic adoption of ChatGPT and the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). PitchBook’s survey indicates that the VC community is very bullish on the impacts of artificial intelligence (AI); anticipates further declines in VC funding, partly because of SVB’s collapse; and expects valuations to become more attractive over the next year.

“The timing of this survey has allowed us to see investors perspectives on the effects SVB’s undoing has had, which is likely to have lasting ripple effects on startups seeking capital,” said Paul Condra, lead emerging tech analyst at PitchBook. “It’s also notable the extent to which our survey participants view generative AI as a disruptive force, a trend that could spark more deal-making as investors seek more exposure to AI-related opportunities.”

To download the survey findings, click here. Key findings include:

Technology Expectations

• Over the next 12 months, survey respondents were the most bullish on AI being the largest driver of innovation (31.6%) and growth opportunities (36.1%). Over two-thirds of investors surveyed (70.7%) also believe it’s likely that generative AI will spawn a new wave of technology unicorns over the next five years. PitchBook’s recent 2023 Generative AI Vertical Snapshot expects the global generative AI market to reach $42.6 billion in 2023.
• Following AI, climate tech and biotech were also considered significant sources of innovation, with 20.4% and 12.5% of investors expecting the most innovation in the next 12 months, respectively.
• Respondents identified enterprise technology (30.8%), fintech (21.7%) and e-commerce (20.8%) as areas likely to experience disruptive and competitive pressures from startups over the next 12 months.
• When considering the ‘Tech Wreck’ of 2022, respondents were split down the middle in how they viewed its impact on the pace of technological innovation, with 49.1% viewing the impact as positive and 50.9% viewing it as negative.

VC Ecosystem Expectations

• When asked how VC funding will change over the next 12 months, nearly half of respondents (43.1%) said they expect either a moderate or strong decrease in VC funding, while 32.8% said they expect funding levels to remain the same.
• Nearly two-thirds of participants (61.6%) said they believe SVB’s failure would contribute to reduced funding over the next year.
• Over three-fourths of respondents (77.6%) said they expect valuations to get more attractive over the next year, indicating the group still sees some downside to the market. Despite lower valuations, 63.8% of respondents said they are largely still acquiring similar size stakes in VC rounds.
• Investors signaled a marginal degree of optimism related to fundraising, with most saying fundraising plans have not changed (41.3%) and indicating they expect 2023 to be a strong vintage year for fund performance (43.1%). The group noted that targeted tech funds are easier to raise relative than generalist funds, and largely agreed that in the current environment, a startups’ path to profitability was the most important factor in determining whether to invest.

For more information about PitchBook, click here.

About PitchBook
PitchBook is a financial data and software company that provides transparency into the capital markets to help professionals discover and execute opportunities with confidence and efficiency. PitchBook collects and analyzes detailed data on the entire venture capital, private equity and M&A landscape—including public and private companies, investors, funds, investments, exits and people. The company’s data and analysis are available through the PitchBook Platform, industry news and in-depth reports. Founded in 2007, PitchBook has offices in Seattle, San Francisco, New York, London, Hong Kong and Singapore and serves more than 90,000 professionals around the world. In 2016, Morningstar acquired PitchBook, which now operates as an independent subsidiary.

SOURCE PitchBook

Initial was created to take on undruggable disease-causing proteins by discriminately intercepting their translation in the exit tunnel of the ribosome

Initial’s platform brings together scientific breakthroughs from the labs of Jamie H.D. Cate, Brian Paegel, and Kevan Shokat

Company’s novel approach seeks to halt serious diseases in initial stages

NEW YORK and SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, May 1, 2023 — Apple Tree Partners (ATP), a leader in life sciences venture capital, today announced the launch of Initial Therapeutics, a biotechnology company created to make medicines that block notoriously difficult-to-drug protein targets with a new mode of action: selective termination of protein synthesis (STOPS). Initial developed its proprietary STOPS platform to discover new therapeutics based on the recently demonstrated scientific premise that translation of a specific protein can be selectively interrupted at the moment in which its linear sequence is first produced in the exit tunnel of the ribosome.

Initial was created by ATP with $75 million in Series A funding and co-founders Jamie H.D. Cate, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology at the University of California (UC) Berkeley; Brian Paegel, Ph.D., Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chemistry, and Biomedical Engineering at UC Irvine; and Kevan Shokat, Ph.D., Professor of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology at UC San Francisco (UCSF) and Chemistry at UC Berkeley.

“Initial grew out of conversations between Jamie, Kevan, Brian, and me about work we had each been doing in these intersecting areas of protein synthesis kinetics, ribosome profiling, rapid chemistry, etc., and how we could collaborate to build something new to expand on the idea of selectively modulating protein translation, which we all saw as potentially transformative,” said Spiros Liras, Ph.D., founding CEO of Initial Therapeutics and a venture partner at ATP. “The resulting combination of unmatched expertise and technologies brought by our founders grants Initial unique abilities to prosecute this new approach, and we are very excited about its promise to fight certain cancers and other serious illnesses.”

Groundbreaking structural biology work from the Cate Lab has revealed how protein synthesis can be affected selectively in any phase of translation by interactions of small molecules with a complex that includes the ribosome and the nascent peptide chain of a target protein. Within Initial, this work has been industrialized with custom ribosomal assays scaled to ultra-large library screening using miniaturized microfluidics technology from the Paegel Lab.

“We started Initial Therapeutics to go after therapeutically important proteins that no one has been able to target successfully. I’m thrilled to see the amazing progress the Initial team has made on that front, with profound implications for the treatment of life-threatening diseases,” Dr. Cate said.

Initial designs small molecule therapeutics to modulate the cellular synthesis of known, well-validated, high-value targets. Unlike interventions that work with mature proteins, such as targeted protein stabilization and protein degradation, Initial’s strategy circumvents the need to accommodate the cellular activity of the fully formed protein or to structurally solve for docking. Moreover, preventing protein synthesis may stave off aggregate formations and other disease-related molecular pathologies that are difficult to reverse, and in that regard Initial’s approach may offer therapeutic benefit.

“Where other drug modalities involve recognition of the three-dimensional shape of the protein, Initial’s modality recognizes the primary linear sequence. I see that as a game-changer,” said Dr. Shokat. “Some proteins don’t have ligandable pockets, but a linear sequence, that’s in everything. Initial’s bespoke platform allows us to go into the ribosome, the machinery of mRNA translation, in a selective way that has never before been technically possible.”

“When the therapeutic approach doesn’t concern mature proteins, the rules of drug discovery change and the universe of what is ‘druggable’ expands significantly,” Dr. Paegel said.

About Initial Therapeutics

Initial Therapeutics discovers and develops new small molecule treatments focused on known, rationally selected targets that play key roles in cancer and other serious illnesses. Initial interdicts high-value protein targets with its STOPS (selective termination of protein synthesis) platform. Selectively modulating translation of pathogenic proteins in the exit tunnel of the ribosome, when the proteins are in their linear sequence stage and before they are fully formed, makes possible a new kind of therapeutic with the potential to stop disease processes in their initial, earliest stages.

Located in South San Francisco, Initial Therapeutics was founded by life sciences venture capital firm Apple Tree Partners and a team of prominent, veteran biotechnology entrepreneurs who have pioneered advances in ribosome biochemistry, proteomics, medicinal chemistry, DNA-encoded library technology, and chemical genetics. Initial’s proprietary platform brings together technologies from its founders into uniquely enabling combinations of expertise and capabilities. For more information, visit www.initialtx.com.

About ATP

Founded in 1999, Apple Tree Partners (ATP) is a leader in life sciences venture capital, with $2.65 billion in committed capital and offices in New York, London, San Francisco, and Cambridge, MA. ATP creates companies starting at various stages, from pre-IP ideas to asset spinouts, investing in them from seed stage through IPO and beyond. The core of ATP’s strategy is providing flexible capital and access to a world-class team of venture partners and EIRs, to build sustainable, research-driven enterprises that deliver therapeutics to improve human lives. For more information, visit www.appletreepartners.com.

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SOURCE Initial Therapeutics