Lead Investors include Knudsen Capital, H Venture Partners, Imaginary Venture Capital Partners, Babybelly LLC, Redcap Investments LP, as well as the Cerebelly Founders, Core Board Members, and Management Team Investors

NEW YORK, March 9, 2023 — Cerebelly, the first and only science-backed, cognitive development-focused baby food brand, announced today the recent closing of an oversubscribed Series A funding led by previous major investors, management and founders, and joined by strong new investors, all committed to continuing funding the company’s growth.

Cerebelly was founded in 2019 by a practicing neurosurgeon and Stanford PhD, developmental neurobiologist and mom of three children of her own. Cerebelly is the first and only science-backed patented baby food brand developed specifically to support optimal infant neurodevelopment. The company recently secured a patent from the U.S. Patent Office for its food composition and unique use of 16 key nutrients that specifically support this critical developmental benefit. Cerebelly is setting new industry standards, grounded in the marriage of modern nutritional science and the highest levels of neuroscience.

The patent issuance is just one of the latest in a series of industry trailblazing accomplishments since its launch. In just over three years, Cerebelly has managed to set new standards on food safety and quality, setting its own standards for heavy metal and toxin testing in an industry with little regulation. Cerebelly was the first ever shelf-stable children’s food brand to receive The Clean Label Project Purity Award and tests ingredients and finished products continuously.

“We are extremely proud to have been able to raise our next round of investment in this market environment,” says Greg Shearson, CEO of Cerebelly. “Over the past 3 years, we have consistently grown exponentially. And we remain bullish on our share growth and household penetration opportunities. Once the consumer becomes aware of our nutritional advantages, their loyalty, and commitment to our brand is best in class.”  

Responding to the shift in the capital markets, the Cerebelly team committed to operating at a profit as well. Adds Greg Shearson, “we are still experiencing best-in-class growth and have now fully achieved a self-sustainable P&L. This required heavy lifting, Supply Chain innovation, and superior product offering. Our results created a willing investment environment from new and existing partners.” 

Cerebelly took a calculated risk by relying on its science-based approach to set them apart in an industry dominated by household name brands with multi-million-dollar marketing budgets and licensing agreements – and its risk paid off. Beginning at launch, Cerebelly prioritized customer insights to build its DTC business, creating a survey that allows customers to input age and developmental milestones to customize and curate specific nutrition and Cerebelly products for their child. Achieving 10x growth compared to the total baby food category, Cerebelly is now sold, not only at Cerebelly.com, but also at Amazon, Thrive Market, and over 8,200 retail stores nationwide including Whole Foods, Target, Meijer, Kroger, and its most recent launch at Walmart and Walmart.com

Cerebelly’s oversubscribed Series A closure was enabled by its continued investor passion for the nutritional advancement mission of the company to make superior nutrition accessible for children everywhere to get the best start possible. Planned uses of the investment include product development and innovation, brand marketing, expanding digital presence, and retail growth for heightened accessibility globally. This round included major re-investments from the Founders, Management Team members, Core Board Member investors, initial seed investors, and new outside major investors. Knudsen Capital remains the largest shareholder group, with major additional investments from firms including H Venture Partners, Imaginary Venture Capital Partners, Babybelly LLC, and new investor Redcap Investments LP.

“Knudsen Capital is proud to be a partner of Cerebelly, and we have been from the beginning,” says Webb Knudsen, KC’s Managing Partner on the investment. “Cerebelly’s growth and Mission: to provide life-changing nutrition for optimal cognitive development for children everywhere is what we are most excited to help enable,” says Knudsen.

About Cerebelly:  
Cerebelly is the first and only children’s food brand on the market that combines up-to-date child nutrition and developmental neuroscience to offer products such as age-optimized pouches and smart bars with meaningful brain-supporting nutrients that science shows babies’ growing brains need. Founded in 2019 by a practicing neurosurgeon, PhD in developmental neurobiology from Stanford, and mom of three Cerebelly is developed based on decades of research that demonstrated that various regions of the brain grow and peak at different times – each having their own nutrient needs to support seeing, hearing, memory, cause and effect, attention and social awareness. Organic, non-GMO, vegetable-first, dairy-free, gluten-free, with no added sugar, Cerebelly’s brain-supporting pouches and Smart Bars contain 8x the amount of nutrients compared to the 7 top-selling baby food brands. 

Cerebelly is available at cerebelly.com, Amazon, Thrive Market, and at over 8,200 retail stores nationwide including Target, Wegmans, Meijer, Whole Foods Market, Giant Eagle, and now Walmart. 

Press Contact:
Ana Gerst
[email protected]

SOURCE Cerebelly

Cleveland firm attracts a powerhouse team of advisors and managers, including former Cleveland Clinic CEO Dr. Toby Cosgrove and several globally renowned physicians

CLEVELAND, March 9, 2023 — Nirvana Healthcare Ventures (NHCV) has hit the ground running in 2023 with the announcement of its newest advisor, Toby Cosgrove, MD. The former Cleveland Clinic CEO now joins an impressive team dedicated to funding transformational healthcare innovations across the Midwest.

Widely known for his nearly five-decade relationship with the Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Cosgrove is recognized globally as a true healthcare innovator. He served as the Clinic’s President and Chief Executive Officer from 2004 to 2017 and remains an executive advisor to the institution. During his leadership tenure, the Clinic was ranked among the top three hospitals in the nation, growing revenue from $3.7 billion to $8.5 billion while simultaneously launching many new efforts to improve patient outcomes and expand services.

Prior to becoming an executive, Dr. Cosgrove built a successful career as a renowned cardiac surgeon at the Clinic, operating on tens of thousands of patients while filing dozens of patents for new surgical products to aid him in his work.

“Not only is Toby one of the world’s most successful and celebrated healthcare executives, he is also a proven healthcare innovator with front-line experience helping patients,” said Marc Byrnes, NHCV Board Chair and former Chairman and CEO of Oswald Companies. “His invaluable insights and decades of experience will help to round out a powerhouse team of talented physicians, innovators, investors and business leaders.”

This team includes a trio of world-renowned Midwest physicians who are also biomedical engineers, inventors and investors. All are serving as consulting managing partners to the firm and worked with Cosgrove during his tenure at Cleveland Clinic. They are:

• Frank A. Papay, MD, DSc_(HON), FACS, FAAP: a celebrated plastic and reconstructive head, neck and craniofacial surgeon, and lead surgeon of America’s first full facial transplant. Dr. Papay is also an inventor, a CMO or CSO of several startups and co-founder of BrainX.ai. He holds dozens of U.S. patents and has received more than 50 industry honors—including the Cleveland Clinic Sones Centennial Innovation Award and the WebMD Health Hero Award in Science.
• Marc S. Penn, MD, PhD, FACC: a renowned cardiologist who has helped pioneer and commercialize several important innovations in his field, while developing two parallel careers as an inventor and healthcare investor. Dr. Penn is a former Innovator of the Year recipient at Cleveland Clinic and has served as a founder and executive for several successful healthcare startups including the Cleveland HeartLab, which was acquired in 2017 by Quest Diagnostics.
• Raymond R. Rackley, MD: a renowned pelvic reconstructive surgeon, biomedical engineer and life-science industry consultant. Over 32 years, Dr. Rackley has also generated significant returns as an investor, developing strong partnerships and co-investing relationships with some of the region’s most active funders, including First Analysis, Mutual Capital Partners, BlueTree Capital, JumpStart, BioEnterprise, North Coast Ventures, and MI-12 managing partners while holding board and committee roles in several seed-series, early and late-stage medical device and pharmaceutical companies.

“Our work as physicians sparked a pursuit of innovation to improve outcomes for patients,” said Cosgrove of the team. “At the same time, our experiences as executives, investors and inventors have solidified a desire to harness this innovation to build better healthcare companies. I believe this team has the ability to do both.”

Dr. Cosgrove will sit on the NHCV advisory board alongside Byrnes, as well as Stephen McHale (Founder & CEO of UnifyWork and former CEO and Chairman of Explorys); William Seelbach (Senior Advisor at The Riverside Company), and Ira Kaplan (Executive Chairman, Executive Committee Member and former Managing Partner at Benesch Law Firm). 

Dr. Papay, Dr. Penn, and Dr. Rackley join an equally strong leadership team headed by Managing Director, J. Burner Crew. Crew brings more than three decades of capital markets experience to NHCV, having held leadership roles at EF Hutton, McDonald and Company and KeyBank before later founding Nirvana Analytics, a full-service fund management and consulting firm.

This leadership team also includes Managing Partners, Rem Harris and Aaron Kelley. Harris brings more than two decades of experience as an investor and senior executive, including a 13-year tenure at JumpStart Inc., where he managed the organization’s Seed and Series A Venture funds and led investments in more than 100 companies. Kelley adds an additional 15 years of experience in investment consulting, private banking and institutional asset management, during which he raised more than $3.5B in assets from institutional investors across the globe.

“Our team is our greatest asset,” said Crew. “Our combined knowledge, experience and networks separate Nirvana from the pack when it comes to sourcing, funding and fueling breakthrough healthcare startups in the Midwest.”

About Nirvana Healthcare Ventures

Nirvana Healthcare Ventures is a Cleveland-based venture capital firm focused on funding high-growth, early-stage Midwest healthcare companies. By leveraging strong relationships with regional healthcare systems, research institutions, startup support organizations and co-investors, the firm seeks to source, invest and scale the most innovative companies in the region while achieving top-tier venture returns for partners and co-investors. For more information, visit: www.nirvanahcventures.com.

SOURCE Nirvana Healthcare Ventures

DURHAM, N.C., March 9, 2023 — Biotechnology startup Tiamat Sciences today announced its $2 million seed-extension financing round led by 8090 Industries with participation from new and existing investors . Using the power of plants, Tiamat provides animal-free recombinant growth factors with a highly flexible technology, at a fraction of their cost and with a reduced carbon footprint. The new funds will accelerate product validation in the cellular agriculture and regenerative medicine markets and establish strategic partnerships with industry leaders.

Along with 8090 Industries, who led this seed-extension round, True ventures, Social impact capital, Cantos, Portfolia, Alexandria, Siddhi Capital, Sara Murray, Seed folio, Sustainable Food Ventures and Exponential Impact also participated in this financing round. This brings the total fund raised by Tiamat Sciences to $5.4M.

This financing round comes as the startup gears up for rapid growth, with recent expansion into new markets and partnerships.

“At 8090 Industries, we help build breakthroughs into category defining industrial juggernauts focused on decarbonizing every sector, which is why we’re incredibly excited to back France and her team at Tiamat – as they pioneer industrial-scale production of growth factors with their proprietary animal-free recombinant proteins that are 10x cheaper than the market today with plans to drive down costs by 1,000x in a few years. With several engagements with leading protein companies already underway while its technology shows further promise for regenerative medicine and pharma, Tiamat is off to a fast start and industry leaders have taken serious notice.” said Rayyan Islam, Co-Founder and General Partner of 8090 Industries.

This comes on the heels of Tiamat Sciences’ recent successes, which include new products in the portfolio, a new patent, and an increase of 1000x of the yield in only 6 months.

As Tiamat Sciences is moving toward new products and markets with this round of funding, the company Tiamat Sciences is preparing for production in March 2023 to commercialize its products to empower the biotechnology revolution of Cellular Agriculture and Regenerative Medicine.

Tiamat is preparing for their next round of funding in 2023 to achieve the site expansion in North Carolina  and Belgium ahead of schedule, continuing to supply the growing demand of growth factors. “Tiamat’s most versatile platform gives the flexibility the nascent markets need to validate and succeed in each stage of development.” said France-Emmanuelle Adil, Founder and CEO of Tiamat Sciences.

Key partner in this journey is Ryan Bethencourt, CEO of Wild Earth, as an advisor and collaborator. These partnerships give Tiamat Sciences access to market expertise as they work to bring their products to market.

About Tiamat Sciences:
Tiamat Sciences is reinventing recombinant proteins to fuel the next generation of biotech companies across cellular agriculture, regenerative medicine, vaccine production, and more. Using the power of plants, Tiamat provides animal-free recombinant proteins at a fraction of their cost with a reduced carbon footprint. The team is on track to become a fast-growing supplier of recombinant proteins.

For more information, please visit www.tiamat-sciences.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

About 8090 Industries:
8090 Industries is an investment firm focused on leading the next industrial revolution. Partnered with over 20 industry leaders, 8090 Industries leverages its collective expertise and strategic assets to invest in and accelerate breakthrough technologies into industrial juggernauts. The firm’s flagship Decarbonization initiative focuses on transforming the industrial complex with breakthrough, zero-carbon technologies and significant economic advantages. Select investments include Cemvita Factory, Infinium, Gold Hydrogen, Addionics, Quaise, Circ and Liberation Labs.

For more information, please visit https://www.8090industries.com

Media Contact:
Rayyan Islam, 8090 Industries, [email protected]
France-Emmanuelle Adil, Tiamat Sciences, [email protected]

SOURCE Tiamat Sciences

EQT Life Sciences, Droia Ventures, and Sanofi Ventures led the round

Financing supports clinical activities for Company’s two lead programs in ALS and pipeline development

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 9, 2023 — QurAlis Corporation, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing breakthrough precision medicines for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative diseases with genetically validated targets, today announced it has closed an oversubscribed $88 million Series B financing, bringing the total funds raised to $143.5 million. The financing was led by EQT Life Sciences, investing from the LSP Dementia Fund, Sanofi Ventures, and Droia Ventures, with participation from the ALS Investment Fund and existing investors LS Polaris Innovation Fund, Mission BioCapital, INKEF Capital, Dementia Discovery Fund, Amgen Ventures, MP Healthcare Venture Management, Mitsui Global Investment, Dolby Family Ventures, Mission Bay Capital, and Sanford Biosciences.

The proceeds from the financing will fund clinical development of QRL-201 and QRL-101, the Company’s lead product candidates in ALS. In addition, the financing will support ongoing and planned research, as well as the advancement of QurAlis’ pipeline with therapeutic candidates that target specific components of ALS and genetically related frontotemporal dementia (FTD) pathology and defined ALS patient populations based on both disease-causing genetic mutation(s) and clinical biomarkers. As part of the Series B financing, Cillian King, Ph.D., managing director at EQT Life Sciences, and Laia Crespo, Ph.D., partner at Sanofi Ventures, will join QurAlis’ board of directors.

“This financing reflects significant investor confidence in the science behind QurAlis’ next-generation precision medicines, world-class team, and commitment to bringing new therapies to patients suffering from ALS and other neurodegenerative diseases,” said Anne C. Whitaker, chair of QurAlis’ board of directors.

“We are fortunate to be funded by this outstanding group of investors who share our commitment to patients with neurodegenerative diseases and our vision to halt disease progression and significantly improve outcomes,” said Kasper Roet, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of QurAlis. “This financing round recognizes our scientific track record and will help us advance the clinical development of our two lead programs in ALS and robust pipeline through near-term value-creating milestones. We are breaking through the barriers of science in our quest to bring much-needed precision therapies to patients.”

“QurAlis stands out as a leader in the field of neurodegenerative diseases with its next-generation precision medicines and genetically validated targets,” said Philip Scheltens, M.D., Ph.D., head, EQT Life Sciences’ LSP Dementia Fund. “We are extremely excited to join this distinguished group of investors supporting this world-class team to advance what we believe could become life-changing treatments for patients and their families.”

QRL-201 is a first-in-class therapeutic product candidate aiming to restore STMN2 expression in ALS patients. STMN2 is a well-validated protein important for neural repair and axonal stability, the expression of which is significantly decreased in nearly all ALS patients. QRL-201 rescues STMN2 loss of function in QurAlis ALS patient-derived motor neuron disease models in the presence of TDP-43 pathology. QRL-201 recently entered the clinic in the first-ever clinical trial to evaluate a therapy that rescues STMN2 in people with ALS (ANQUR; NCT05633459).

QRL-201 is the second program in QurAlis’ pipeline to enter the clinic recently. In December 2022, QurAlis announced the Company initiated dosing of QRL-101 in a first-in-human Phase 1 clinical trial (NCT05667779). QRL-101 is a first-in-class selective Kv7.2/7.3 ion channel opener for the treatment of hyperexcitability-induced disease progression in ALS. 

About QurAlis Corporation
QurAlis is trailblazing the path to conquering amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and other neurodegenerative diseases with genetically validated targets with next-generation precision medicines. QurAlis’ proprietary platforms and unique biomarkers enable the design and development of drugs that act directly on disease-causing genetic alterations. Founded by an internationally recognized team of neurodegenerative biologists from Harvard Medical School and Harvard University, QurAlis is advancing a deep pipeline of antisense oligonucleotides and small molecule programs including addressing sub-forms of ALS that account for the majority of ALS patients. For more information, please visit www.quralis.com or follow us on Twitter @QurAlisCo.

SOURCE QurAlis

CARMEL, Ind., March 8, 2023 — Allegion Ventures – the corporate venture fund of Allegion plc – has added proptech startup Latchel to its investment portfolio, underscoring its commitment to accelerating the growth of innovative companies. This latest portfolio addition comes as Allegion Ventures celebrates its five-year anniversary – the fund launched on March 8, 2018, and has made several focused investments centered on technology that bridges physical and digital security and enhances user experiences.

Latchel, which was founded in 2017, elevates rental experiences using technology to empower property managers to streamline operations – providing their renters better service, more perks and faster maintenance in an efficient and cost-effective way. The Latchel software platform enables property managers to be more responsive, while also creating a new revenue stream so they don’t have to choose between happy residents and a healthy bottom line.

Allegion Ventures Principal John Goodwin said, as a strategic investor, he sees many areas of potential contribution to Latchel’s future success in solving key challenges for property managers and renters, alike.

“At the core of this investment is our belief in the Latchel team’s ability to not only add value for their direct customers, but also drive a new standard of efficiency and seamless experiences in the broader property management industry,” Goodwin said. “Latchel is solving problems from a unique angle. They care about the bottom line, and they help boost it by putting resident experiences first. We have common ground in our desire to leverage technology to provide better solutions and bridge physical and digital experiences – making this announcement a great way to mark Allegion Ventures’ five-year anniversary.”

Latchel CEO Ethan Lieber said the company’s platform has already proven successful in the single-family rental market, and there’s great potential in the multifamily rental market, too.

“Latchel continues to push services into the multifamily market, and Allegion Ventures’ knowledge of building access in the space is incredibly valuable to our team as we work to make a big difference for property managers looking to operate at the next level,” Lieber said. “I’m excited to tap their expertise and explore the potential of creating a bridge to connect maintenance, concierge services and building access in the future.”

Terms of the Allegion Ventures deal have not been disclosed.

About Allegion Ventures: Allegion Ventures is the corporate venture fund of Allegion. It invests in and accelerates the growth of companies with innovative technology or software that bridge physical and digital security and create seamless user experiences. For more information, please visit www.AllegionVentures.com.

About Latchel: Latchel is a Venture Backed Proptech startup company that was founded in 2017 to help property managers streamline the maintenance operations – the most time and cost consuming aspect of the business. Latchel has since added a myriad of resident benefits and perks to its offerings that further streamline and elevate the rental experience for all parties involved. Latchel now serves over 100k units nationwide. For more information, please visit www.latchel.com.

Contacts
Whitney Moorman
[email protected] / [email protected]
317.810.3241

Courtney Fuller
[email protected]
954.243.9030

SOURCE Latchel

• Se trata de una ronda Serie C de $100 millones liderada por Kindred Ventures, con una participación significativa de SK Networks, Microsoft, LG Technology Ventures, Volvo Cars Tech Fund, Top Tier Capital, Hudson Bay Capital y Socium Ventures e inversores habituales como Tiger Global, Qualcomm Ventures, Valia Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, Lachy Groom y Sam Altman, fundador de OpenAI.
• Entre los socios y colaboradores tecnológicos estratégicos se encuentran Microsoft, OpenAI, SK Networks, LG y Volvo Cars.

SAN FRANCISCO, 8 de marzo de 2023 — Humane Inc. anunció hoy que ha recaudado una ronda Serie C de $100 millones y ha conseguido una lista de importantes inversionistas estratégicos, alianzas y colaboradores nuevos antes de la presentación de la oferta inicial de su producto en primavera.

Humane, fundada en 2018 por Imran Chaudhri y Bethany Bongiorno, exempleados de Apple, está desarrollando una plataforma de software y un dispositivo de consumo, los primeros de su clase, construidos desde cero para la inteligencia artificial (IA). Esta recaudación permitirá que Humane avance más rápido en su misión de hacer realidad la próxima era de la informática móvil personal, que estará impulsada por la IA.

La ronda fue dirigida por Kindred Ventures con la participación de los inversores habituales Tiger Global, Valia Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, Lachy Groom y Sam Altman, fundador de OpenAI.

La ronda también contó con la participación de nuevos inversores y socios estratégicos, como Hico Capital (división de inversiones de SK networks con sede en EE. UU.), Microsoft, Volvo Cars Tech Fund, LG Technology Ventures, Top Tier Capital, Hudson Bay Capital y Socium Ventures.

Además de la inversión, Humane ha conseguido colaboraciones estratégicas con algunas de las empresas tecnológicas más influyentes del mundo:

• Humane se ha asociado con Microsoft para comercializar su plataforma de servicios. Esto hará que Humane aproveche la mejor infraestructura de nube en IA.
• La colaboración con OpenAI integrará su tecnología en el dispositivo Humane y ofrecerá a los consumidores experiencias de OpenAI y Humane AI a gran escala.
• Los futuros planes de expansión global de Humane incluyen una colaboración con SK Networks (que cubre el negocio de distribución de dispositivos TIC en Corea y cuenta con una amplia red global) para aprovechar el espíritu compartido de crear cambios significativos en las tecnologías de consumo.

Si bien el dispositivo inicial de Humane se enfocará en ofrecer la próxima generación de tecnología personal, la empresa está explorando formas de llevar sus soluciones a nuevos dominios personales en el futuro:

• Al colaborar con LG, las empresas trabajarán estrechamente en posibles proyectos de I+D para la siguiente fase de los productos Humane, en la tecnología básica incluida en los futuros dispositivos Humane y en la integración en el espacio de la tecnología doméstica.
• El inversionista estratégico Volvo Cars Tech Fund trabajará con Humane en una posible colaboración futura que sería el primer ejemplo de la aplicación de la oferta de Humane a la industria automotriz. Al igual que Humane, Volvo Cars desarrolla tecnología para simplificar la vida de sus clientes, por lo que la alianza se basa en los valores compartidos de seguridad, confianza y privacidad.

Imran Chaudhri, cofundador de Humane, comentó: “Nuestro primer dispositivo permitirá a las personas llevar la IA consigo a todas partes. Es un momento emocionante, y nos hemos enfocado en el desarrollo de la plataforma y el dispositivo para aprovechar plenamente el verdadero poder y el potencial de esta tecnología.

Estamos extremadamente orgullosos de anunciar esta alianza de socios y colaboradores líderes en la industria, y nos entusiasma trabajar en estrecha colaboración con ellos para llevar la visión de Humane al mercado. Estamos al comienzo de la siguiente era de la computación y creemos que juntos podemos abrir el camino para rediseñar fundamentalmente el papel de la tecnología en la vida de las personas”.

Steve Jang, fundador y socio directivo de Kindred, comentó:
“Estamos absolutamente encantados de seguir formando parte del trayecto de Humane desde el nacimiento de su visión de crear una experiencia informática más fluida, potente y adaptada al contexto, tanto para el aprovechamiento como para el desarrollo de la IA. Después de haber sido parte integral del desarrollo de la era de la computación de los teléfonos inteligentes, este increíble equipo se ha enfocado firmemente en habilitar y ampliar ideas, acciones, momentos y modalidades humanas de una manera más creativa y agradable. A medida que ingresamos en esta próxima ola de IA, nos sentimos muy inspirados por la misión de Humane de desarrollar una plataforma de dispositivos y servicios diseñados y construidos desde cero para este nuevo mundo. Les doy la bienvenida a nuestros coinversionistas y socios estratégicos habituales y nuevos en este proceso de transformación”.

Patrick Gates, director de tecnología de Humane, comentó: “Hemos venido haciendo desarrollos desde hace más de cuatro años, pasando de un pequeño grupo alrededor de una mesa de conferencias a un equipo de clase mundial que se prepara para comercializar un producto y una plataforma, junto con algunas de las empresas tecnológicas y de IA más influyentes del mundo. Nuestros productos se basan en una plataforma integrada de dispositivos y en la nube que nos permitirá, a nosotros y a otros, crear experiencias impulsadas por la IA que resulten naturales, divertidas y necesarias”.

Acerca de Humane
Humane es una empresa de experiencias que desarrolla tecnologías y plataformas para la era de la inteligencia. Una computación contextual, impulsada por la IA y desarrollada sobre una base de confianza y privacidad. Humane cree en un futuro tecnológico que resulte familiar, natural y humano.

Para obtener más información sobre Humane, visite https://hu.ma.ne/ y síganos en Twitter @Humane
HUMANE y el logotipo de hu.ma.ne son marcas registradas de Humane Inc.

Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1281254/Humane_Logo.jpg

FUENTE Humane Inc.

SOURCE Humane Inc.

• $100m Series C round led by Kindred Ventures, with significant participation by SK Networks, Microsoft, LG Technology Ventures, Volvo Cars Tech Fund, Top Tier Capital, Hudson Bay Capital, and Socium Ventures and existing investors Tiger Global, Qualcomm Ventures, Valia Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, Lachy Groom, and Sam Altman, Founder of OpenAI
• Strategic technology partners and collaborators include Microsoft, OpenAI, SK Networks, LG, and Volvo Cars

SAN FRANCISCO, March 8, 2023 — Humane Inc. today announced it has raised a $100 million Series C round and secured a roster of significant strategic investors, new partnerships and collaborators ahead of the reveal of its initial product offering this spring.

Humane, founded in 2018 by ex-Apple team Imran Chaudhri and Bethany Bongiorno, is creating a first-of-its-kind software platform and consumer device built from the ground up for artificial intelligence (AI). This raise will enable Humane to accelerate on its mission to deliver the next era of personal mobile computing, which will be one driven by AI.

The round was led by Kindred Ventures with participation from existing investors Tiger Global, Valia Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Forerunner Ventures, Lachy Groom, and Sam Altman, founder of OpenAI.

The round also included participation from new strategic investors and partners including Hico Capital (US based investment arm of SK networks), Microsoft, Volvo Cars Tech Fund, LG Technology Ventures, Top Tier Capital, Hudson Bay Capital, and Socium Ventures.

Alongside investment, Humane has secured strategic collaborations with some of the most influential technology companies in the world:

• Humane has partnered with Microsoft to bring its services platform to market. This will see Humane leverage the best cloud infrastructure in AI
• A collaboration with OpenAI will integrate its technology into the Humane device and deliver OpenAI and Humane AI experiences at scale to consumers
• Humane’s future global expansion plans include a collaboration with SK Networks (which covers the ICT device distribution business in Korea and has an extensive global network) to build on the shared ethos of creating meaningful change in consumer technologies

While the initial Humane device will be focused on delivering the next generation of personal technology, the company is exploring ways to bring its solutions into new personal domains in the future:

• A collaboration with LG will see the companies working closely on potential R&D projects for the next phase of Humane products, on the core technology included in future Humane devices and on integration into the home technology space
• Strategic investor Volvo Cars Tech Fund will work with Humane on a potential future collaboration which would be the first example of Humane’s offering being applied to the automotive industry. Like Humane, Volvo Cars develops technology to simplify life for its customers and the partnership is built on the shared values of safety, trust and privacy

Imran Chaudhri, Co-Founder of Humane, commented: “Our first device will enable people to bring AI with them everywhere. It’s an exciting time, and we’ve been focused on how to build the platform and device that can fully harness the true power and potential of this technology.

We are extremely proud to announce this industry leading line-up of partners and collaborators, and we are thrilled to work closely with them to bring Humane’s vision to market. We are at the beginning of the next era of compute, and believe that together we can begin the journey to fundamentally reshape the role of technology in people’s lives.”

Steve Jang, Founder and Managing Partner of Kindred, commented:
“We’re absolutely thrilled to continue to be a part of Humane’s journey since the seed of their vision to create a more fluid, powerful, and contextual computing experience for both leveraging and developing AI. After serving in their past lives as an integral part of building the smartphone era of computing, this incredible team has been laser focused on enabling and amplifying human ideas, actions, moments, and modalities in a more creative and delightful way. As we enter into this next wave of AI, we’re so inspired by Humane’s mission to develop a device and services platform designed and built from ground up for this new world, and we welcome our existing and new co-investors and strategic partners to this transformational journey.”

Patrick Gates, CTO of Humane, commented: “We’ve been building for over four years now, going from a small group around a conference table to a world class team getting ready to ship a product and platform, along with some of the most influential technology and AI companies in the world. Our products are built on an integrated device and cloud platform that will allow us, and others, to create AI-driven experiences that feel natural, fun, and needed.”

About Humane
Humane is an experience company that creates the technologies and platforms for the intelligence age. Contextual computing, powered by AI, built on a foundation of trust and privacy. Humane believes in a future of technology that feels familiar, natural, and human.

To learn more about Humane please visit https://hu.ma.ne/ and follow us on Twitter @Humane
HUMANE and the hu.ma.ne logo are registered trademarks of Humane Inc.

SOURCE Humane Inc.

PARIS, March 8, 2023 — Centurion Invest, the global ecosystem for financial and Payment solutions, has announced that GEM Digital Limited (GEM), a Bahamas-based digital asset investment firm that sources, structures and invests in utility tokens listed on over 30 CEXs and DEXs globally, has agreed to an investment commitment of US$25 million into the European-based company through a structured token subscription agreement. 

Centurion Invest has secured $25M in Token Subscription from the infamous NYC based Venture Capital, GEM Digital Limited, through its $CIX Token. $CIX is an ERC20 deflationary token which powers the overall CIEx ecosystem, with utilities and benefits across payments, financial services, loyalty rewards, referral bonuses, airdrops, staking, trading and fees reductions, priority launchpad access, cashbacks, merchant rebates, Visa crypto debit card, to name just a few.

This funding round will allow Centurion Invest to execute its global expansion plans by enhancing the products, services and invest in developing Web3 ecosystem, crypto and digital assets mass adoption to B2C and B2B users worldwide. The company will allocate a fair amount of the funding in onboarding industry experts and skilled talent in Europe, North America and strategic locations in southeast Asia.

This news comes also while Centurion is in the final stages of securing an acquisition to add other investment instruments such as Forex and Stocks, while pursuing its commitment to enhance the User Experience across all products and aligning with core vision to accelerate the transition from money to digital and financial inclusion. 

About Centurion Invest :

Centurion Invest is currently Headquartered in Estonia & Lithuania  with operations in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and expansion plans to Canada, Southeast Asia and LATAM. At Centurion Invest, the core mission is to enable the mass adoption of Cryptocurrency & Blockchain. The Infrastructure supports an ecosystem consisting of but not limited to CI Exchange, CIX Crypto VISA Card, CI360 (Corp. solution), CI Academy, CI Launchpad, CI Earn, CI NFT, CI Pay, and coming soon CI Forex, CI Stocks, and CI eBanking.

Centurion has positioned itself through CI PAY and CI 360 ( Payment as a Service) as a cutting-edge blockchain based platform to provide specialized services, such as card issuing, payments clearing, cross-border payments, disbursements, and e-commerce gateways. A Global Multi asset Solution provider for retailers in the blockchain space. 

 Centurioninvest.com  – https://linktr.ee/centurion_invest

About GEM Digital Limited 

GEM Digital Limited is a digital asset investment firm. Based in The Bahamas, the firm actively sources, structures, and invests in utility tokens listed on over 30 CEXs and DEXs globally. Global Emerging Markets (“GEM”) is a $3.4 billion alternative investment group with offices in Paris, New York, and the Bahamas. GEM manages a diverse set of investment vehicles focused on emerging markets and has completed over 530 transactions in seventy-two countries. Each investment vehicle has a different degree of operational control, risk-adjusted return, and liquidity profile. The family of funds and investment vehicles provides GEM and its partners with exposure to Small-Mid Cap Management Buyouts, Private Investments in Public Equities, and select venture investments.

http://www.gemny.com

CONTACT: [email protected], +33176430365

Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1926289/Centurion_Invest.jpg

SOURCE Centurion Invest

Seed-stage Portland and Virginia-based Venture Fund Run by Women of Color Leadership Team
Focused on Black Founders to Advance Economic Equity Across Multiple Verticals Within the United
States; Current Portfolio includes Start-ups from Serena Williams, Allyson Felix, and HBO’s ‘Insecure’

PORTLAND, Ore., March 8, 2023 — The BFM Fund (Black Founders Matter), a Portland-based, seed-stage venture fund focused on Black and innovative founders, is slated to receive investment from Bank of America. Led by a full women of color leadership team, The BFM Fund will allocate Bank of America’s investment into Black founders across various verticals within the United States. Current companies within The BFM Fund’s portfolio include Saysh, Allyson Felix’s footwear and apparel brand; Hued, a healthcare startup in partnership with Serena Williams and Glow Up Games, a mobile-game companion to HBO’s hit television series, “Insecure.” While the total investment amount is not disclosed, Bank of America became a significant investor in The BFM Fund’s first close.

“I’ve been so energized to work with such an outstanding team at Bank of America over the last few months,” said BFM Fund’s Managing Director, Himalaya Rao-Potlapally. “It’s been so encouraging to see global financial institutions like Bank of America having such passion and follow through in their commitment to creating economic equity within venture capital. I’m excited to see other financial institutions take Bank of America’s lead in supporting the next generation of diverse fund managers, who are more representative of the broad spectrum of startup founders that exist. When global organizations like Bank of America remain steadfast in their mission to create economic equity through capital redistribution and supporting diverse fund managers, other financial institutions, venture capital firms and potential investors will follow suit. That cannot be understated.”

“Bank of America’s equity investment in The BFM Fund underpins our commitment to scale positive change and drive economic opportunity by addressing pervasive funding gaps for minority-owned and led businesses, entrepreneurs and innovators,” said Roger Hinshaw, Bank of America Oregon and Southwest President. “By providing growth capital and support to diverse entrepreneurs, The BFM Fund will open new doors to greater economic growth and wealth creation within an underserved segment of the economy.”

The extensive process required a comprehensive review of BFM Fund’s legal, financial, thesis documentation and standing. The BFM Fund joins an impressive and growing roster of more than 100 BIPOC, women-owned and LGBTQ+ funds hand-selected by Bank of America since 2022.

“Funder representation is a critical piece to facilitating systemic change in capital allocation,” stated Rao-Potlapally. “We’re here to do the work that needs to be done and we’re grateful for Bank of America’s belief, support, and commitment to creating more equitable outcomes.”

About The Black Founders Matter Fund

The BFM Fund functions as a seed-stage venture investment fund, routinely investing in Black and innovative founders who create startups based in the United States. The fund is returns-focused and seeks scalable ventures across multiple verticals and industries between the Series Seed and Series A life-stage. Beyond capital, the BFM Fund partners with industry-specific lead firms in the Series Seed to Series C stage to help its portfolio companies scale efficiently.

To learn more about The BFM Fund, please visit www.bfm.fund or connect with us on Linkedin (@bfmfund). Any inquiries can be sent to [email protected].

About Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the world’s leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 67 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 3,900 retail financial centers, approximately 16,000 ATM and award-winning digital banking with approximately 56 million verified digital users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 3 million small business households through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and approximately 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

SOURCE The BFM Fund (Black Founders Matter Fund)