Round led by Rally Ventures and including Goodyear Ventures, Proeza Ventures, Automotive Ventures, and key mobility funds

WALTHAM, Mass., Feb. 14, 2023 — Ottometric, an emerging technology leader in the validation of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), has secured a total of $4.9 million in its seed funding round. The round was led by Rally Ventures, with participation from  leading mobility funds including Goodyear Ventures, Proeza Ventures, Automotive Ventures, Trucks VC, Reinforced Ventures and Investor Collaborative.

Ottometric was founded in 2019 by a team of automotive industry veterans from companies like General Motors, Autoliv, NVIDIA, and Optimus Ride who have been instrumental in the evolution of ADAS over the past decade, and have a deep understanding of the artificial intelligence (AI) training and validation processes. Their unique expertise in automotive electronics, AI, computer vision, and big data analytics has enabled the company to develop a breakthrough cloud software platform that automates and streamlines the ADAS development and validation process. Ottometric’s initial customers are market leaders in the ADAS industry and include two of the top ten largest Tier-1 automotive suppliers in the world.

Automotive OEMs and their suppliers spend $ billions every year developing and testing ADAS systems to meet government regulations and improve driver safety and confidence. The development and validation process creates petabytes of data from a myriad of sensors that must be analyzed and validated before the start of vehicle production.  Ottometric helps these companies save $ millions in development and validation costs while significantly reducing time to market versus traditional, painstaking manual annotation and review. Using the Ottometric platform customers can more easily find and fix bugs in ADAS software, enabling shorter development cycles, significant reduction in overall ADAS program costs, and improved system reliability. OEMs and their suppliers can now accelerate the deployment of next-generation ADAS systems to enhance their competitive advantage as well as demonstrate compliance with current and future government regulations. 

Zenas Hutcheson, Venture Partner at Rally Ventures, said “Ottometric offers unique, game-changing technology to automate ADAS testing and validation. Leveraging cloud computing, Ottometric automatically identifies critical events and anomalies that are essential for understanding real-world performance of ADAS solutions.”

Rodolfo Dieck, Managing Partner of Proeza Ventures, said “At a time when Tier-1s and OEMs are under pressure to improve the performance of their ADAS systems, Ottometric’s solution provides a step function improvement in validation efficiency and agility helping to reduce the time to production and avoid costly delays.”

“Improvements in ADAS capabilities will require new, scalable validation technologies that can help enable more reliable mobility,” said Abhijit Ganguly, Managing Director, Goodyear Ventures. “Ottometric is transforming ADAS validation and AV training, and the Goodyear team is excited to learn alongside a leading startup in this area.”

 “The ADAS market is evolving rapidly due to government regulation and consumer demand for more reliable and capable driver assistance systems,” said Joseph Burke, CEO of Ottometric.  “This funding enables us to grow the organization, expand our customer base, and accelerate our transformation of the ADAS development and validation process for the next generation of driver assistance systems.”

About Ottometric
Ottometric is a software company focused on automating and streamlining the validation and training processes for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS).  Founded in 2019 by automotive industry veterans, Ottometric provides its automation solutions to OEMs, Tier-1 and Tier-2 suppliers whose current development and validation methods are manual-intensive, slow, and costly. Ottometric helps these companies save $ millions while significantly improving system performance and reducing time to market. The company is backed by leading venture capital firms including Rally Ventures, Goodyear Ventures, Proeza Ventures and Trucks VC.

Visit www.ottometric.com.

SOURCE Ottometric

NEW YORK, Feb. 14, 2023 — OpenEyes, an insurtech company serving commercial automotive fleets, today emerged from stealth with $18 million in Series A funding led by global software investor Insight Partners and Pitango First, with participation by MoreVC, which led the seed round together with Pitango First. OpenEyes will use the funding to fuel the development of its cutting-edge technology and to hire additional team members to support its increasing US operations. To date, OpenEyes has raised a total of $23 million.

OpenEyes offers commercial automotive insurance to fleets of all kinds at more competitive rates, first and foremost by reducing the frequency and severity of traffic accidents. Using OpenEyes’s innovative technology, fleet managers and safety officers can identify the sources of risk in their fleet, empowering them to implement practices that reduce the frequency of accidents. In addition, OpenEyes enables precise underwriting and streamlines claims handling and prevention. Having rebuilt commercial automotive insurance for fleets from the ground up, OpenEyes offers competitive rates to a commercial automotive insurance market that has been plagued for years by rising costs for carriers and fleets alike.

“Large numbers of accidents and high costs of claims in commercial fleets are leading to ever-increasing premiums on commercial auto insurance, making it difficult for fleet to afford coverage and maintain operational efficiency. In addition, insurance companies have been losing money for years paying out accident claims, and little or nothing is being done to address and reduce the core risks. Instead, carriers raise premiums each year to cover the ever-increasing costs of accidents,” said Yoav Oron, Co-Founder and CEO of OpenEyes. “This broken market dynamic is particularly difficult in a recessionary environment and, moreover, it disregards the human cost and impact of these accidents.  Truckers and bus drivers are the essential workers that power the American economy, and without proper insurance that leverages technology to reduce accident frequency and severity, their families can suffer dearly after an accident.”

Co-founded by Yoav Oron (CEO), Dr. Omry Sendik (CTO) and Dan Charash (Chairman), OpenEyes is committed to reducing accidents while reducing the cost of insurance. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimated that the number of people who died in motor vehicle traffic crashes in 2021 increased by 10.5% from 2020—the highest numbers of fatalities since 2005 and the largest annual percentage increase in history. In addition, studies by NHTSA show that large truck crashes are roughly three times more likely to result in injuries when compared to passenger vehicles.

OpenEyes is already being used by fleets driving millions of miles nationwide. The independently validated results demonstrate that OpenEyes has helped reduce the frequency of accidents by over 25.5%, and the severity of claims by over 30%.

“Since our launch two years ago, we have witnessed first-hand how OpenEyes’ solution lowers the insurable risk and the cost of claims, but more importantly, we have seen accidents reduced and lives saved,” continued Oron. “We look forward to using the proceeds of our recent round to bring this to more customers in the North American market.”

“We set out to turn the tables on insurance losses by equipping fleets, insurance partners and ourselves with a pair of eyes. Our goal is to become the first insurance company that is actively reducing accidents and saving lives while saving money,” said co-founder and CTO Sendik.

In addition to the specialized backgrounds of its co-founders and R&D team in both engineering and actuarial science, OpenEyes is partnering with leading insurance veterans and driving safety professionals to ensure it provides the best possible product. “We are proud of our achievements so far, and together with our outstanding team, we are looking forward to bringing a massive positive change to this critical industry,” said the founders.

“OpenEyes provides a novel one-stop-shop solution that enables fleets to truly understand their source of risk, from both the fleets’ as well as the insurers’ perspective. This precise understanding allows OpenEyes to power their underwriting, driver coaching and prevention, and claims handling,” said Daniel Aronovitz, Principal at Insight Partners. “We look forward to partnering with OpenEyes as the company continues to grow.”

“OpenEyes leverages cutting edge full stack technological solution to fundamentally alter the risk model of commercial fleets insurance. The integration between In-vehicle technology and insurance creates a new experience for fleet owners,” said Eyal Niv, Managing Partner at Pitango First, which co-led OpenEyes’ seed round. “In the intersection between technology and InsureTech-play, the company’s proprietary solution increases driver safety and collision avoidance while providing a faster and more accurate claim management process.”

“When we met the OpenEyes founders in the dark days of the Covid pandemic in February of 2020, we knew that they had the core values and product direction to bring light and relief to one of the largest insurance markets in the world,” said Jack Levy at MoreVC.  “We are incredibly proud to have led their seed round, and excited to continue to support their mission driven approach that has already saved many lives and brought much needed financial relief and a better experience to their customers.”

About OpenEyes
To learn more about OpenEyes visit www.openeyes.com.

About Insight Partners
Insight Partners is a global software investor partnering with high-growth technology, software, and Internet startup and ScaleUp companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. As of June 30, 2022, the firm has over $80B in regulatory assets under management. Insight Partners has invested in more than 700 companies worldwide and has seen over 55 portfolio companies achieve an IPO. Headquartered in New York City, Insight has offices in London, Tel Aviv, and Palo Alto. Insight’s mission is to find, fund, and work successfully with visionary executives, providing them with right-sized, right-time practical, hands-on software expertise along their growth journey, from their first investment to IPO. For more information on Insight and all its investments, visit insightpartners.com or follow us on Twitter @insightpartners.

SOURCE OpenEyes

Seed round was led by Blockchange Ventures and AARP

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 14, 2023 — Dentity, the secure digital credentials and ID verification platform providing safe, trusted interactions for consumers, announced today that it has closed a seed round led by Blockchange Ventures and AARP.  In an era that has seen a record number of scams, frauds and identity thefts against consumers, Dentity is a leading identity verification platform where consumers can safely store the most important parts of both their private lives and public personas — from government IDs and memberships to professional accomplishments and brand loyalties — securely in one digital wallet.

“Verifiable credentials are the modern standard in personal digital identification, and we’re thrilled to be leading this movement by enabling millions of consumers to have a more secure, verified digital identity. Dentity prioritizes providing consumers with complete control – allowing them to own their identity and identifiable information and share it – or not – with the people, companies and organizations they interact with online. This capital infusion will further support our efforts to bring the most advanced, modern, comprehensive standard for privacy and security to consumers – for free,” said Jeffrey Schwartz, Founder and CEO of Dentity.

Since launching in 2021, Dentity has taken the anxiety and guesswork out of peer-to-peer interactions by giving users full control over how they share their information with the people, companies and brands they meet online.  At a time when social media, marketplaces, and dating sites are swarming with fake accounts and anonymous profiles, Dentity enables users to know exactly who they’re dealing with and feel safe transacting and interacting online.

“We got to know Dentity during their participation in the AARP Innovation Labs’ Accelerator Program and share their vision of making the internet a safer place for people of all ages and backgrounds. Online marketplaces, social media, and sharing economy apps are increasingly targeted by fraudsters, and the fallout can be financial, psychological, and sometimes physical. Dentity is easy to navigate and helps fight scammers that specifically target the aging,” said Andy Miller, SVP of Innovation and Product Marketing, AARP.

Dentity leverages powerful web3 technology, including the blockchain, to ensure consumers’ privacy when verifying and storing their identity information. Use of web3 privacy technology enables consumers to reclaim control of their digital information at a time when millions of identities are for sale on the internet and, according to the FTC, identity theft and imposter scams have reached an all-time high, with the number of reported cases more than doubling in recent years.

“It’s rare to find a company that is already leveraging all of the advancements of the blockchain to deliver tangible solutions to widespread, real world problems. Consumers don’t have to understand blockchain technology to benefit from its advanced encryption and data-keeping capabilities. We’ve been impressed by Dentity’s ability to seamlessly, with efficiency, offer all the security and encryption benefits of the blockchain without impeding the experience of consumers and the organizations that serve them,” said Ken Seiff, Managing Partner, Blockchange Ventures.

The Dentity web-app is free to consumers and currently features identity verification for a number of use cases, including bank-level KYC, social account verification, financial account verification, and professional credential verifications. Consumers can learn more at: https://www.dentity.com/.

About Dentity
Dentity is on a mission to make the internet a safer place by giving the power of identity back to consumers. By using verifiable digital credentials and leveraging blockchain technologies, Dentity enables trusted peer-to-peer interactions and serves as a self-service platform for credential issuers and verifiers. Used by thousands of consumers and large national organizations, the Dentity web-app features a mobile wallet that holds a variety of shareable ID credentials that protect the privacy and security of personal information.  Dentity is based in Los Angeles, CA.  For more information, please visit https://www.dentity.com/.

About AARP
AARP is the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to empowering people 50 and older to choose how they live as they age. With a nationwide presence and nearly 38 million members, AARP strengthens communities and advocates for what matters most to families: health security, financial stability and personal fulfillment. AARP also produces the nation’s largest circulation publications: AARP The Magazine and the AARP Bulletin. To learn more, visit aarp.org and aarp.org/espanol, or follow @AARP, @AARPenEspanol and @AARPadvocates, @AliadosAdelante on social media.

About Blockchange Ventures
Blockchange Ventures is a fund that invests in early-stage blockchain companies, protocols, and applications with visions as big and bold as the Blockchain itself. Visit blockchange.vc for more information.

Media Contact:
Power Digital Marketing
[email protected]

SOURCE Dentity

NEW YORK, Feb. 14, 2023 — Betty, an entertainment company innovating at the intersection of real money online casino (iCasino) and casual mobile gaming, announced today that it has raised a $5M seed round led by Karlani Capital.

Also participating in the round are CEAS Investments, Courtside Ventures, Gaingels, OCA Ventures, Subversive Capital, and 305 Ventures. Betty previously raised a $1.8M pre-seed in March 2022.

Betty has identified a large audience of casual iCasino customers, particularly women slot players, who are underserved by existing brands which, at their core, are sportsbooks. Betty’s mission is to maximize the entertainment value of iCasino for these casual players by creating an environment that is safe, social, and inclusive.

Gaingels, a LGBTQIA+/Allies private investment syndicate, commented: “Sports betting and casinos have historically been marketed to men. In reality, women make up more than half of the market. We love Betty’s mission to make the category more inclusive.”

The proceeds of the round will fund Betty’s operations in Ontario. Betty was issued a gaming license by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario on January 24th. The company anticipates a soft launch in February followed by a full-scale go-to-market in Q2. The seed funding will also go towards continued development of Betty’s proprietary iCasino platform that is tailor-made for the North American customer.

Betty’s founding team previously built a US sports betting media platform, QL Gaming Group (acquired by Audacy), and collectively have 50+ years of iCasino tech experience.

To learn more, visit Betty’s website, LinkedIn or careers page.

About Betty
Betty is an entertainment company innovating at the intersection of real money online casino (iCasino) and casual mobile gaming. The company is headquartered in New York and has a R&D office in Bulgaria.

SOURCE Betty Gaming Inc

• Series B led by Credit Suisse includes participation from three other major financial institutions, Deutsche Bank, Pictet Group and Arab Bank Switzerland, as well as stock-listed real-estate group Investis.
• Taurus will continue to invest in its platform to service the world’s largest banks on any type of digital assets: crypto-currencies, tokenized securities and digital currencies.
• Taurus will accelerate its technology sales expansion with new offices in Europe, UAE, and soon after in the Americas and South-East Asia to get closer to its clients.

GENEVA, Feb. 14, 2023 — Taurus SA (“Taurus”), the leading digital asset infrastructure provider for financial institutions in Europe, is pleased to announce a USD 65 million Series B capital raise from strategic investors.

Taurus’ Series B round is led by Credit Suisse and includes participation from new institutional investors such as Deutsche Bank, Pictet Group, Cedar Mundi Ventures, as well as from Series A investors, Arab Bank Switzerland and Investis, a stock-listed real-estate group. Taurus co-founders, Lamine Brahimi, Sébastien Dessimoz, Oren-Olivier Puder and Dr. Jean-Philippe Aumasson, remain the largest shareholders of Taurus and at the helm of the Company. The transaction was approved by the Swiss regulator, FINMA.

The funds will be used to support Taurus’ growth strategy across three main priorities: (1) hire top engineering talent to further develop what is considered as the most complete platform in the industry; (2) get closer to clients and expand the sales and customer success organization of its infrastructure solutions with new offices Europe, UAE and soon after in the Americas and South-East Asia, and (3) maintain the most stringent security, risk and compliance requirements across product lines, processes and organizations.

The preferred platform for Tier 1 banks. Expanding client footprint with large consumer brands

Taurus already works with more than 25 financial institutions and corporate clients in eight countries and three continents, including systemically important financial institutions, retail and online banks, private banks, crypto-banks, investment banks, and broker-dealers. Amongst its clients are banks such as Arab Bank Switzerland, CACEIS, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Pictet, Swissquote, Vontobel. These achievements allowed Taurus to establish itself as the #1 digital asset infrastructure provider for Tier 1 banks in Europe.

Lamine Brahimi, co-founder and Managing Partner of Taurus, said: “Raising USD 65mn in the current market environment tells a lot about the quality of Taurus’ people and products. We are proud to welcome such high-profile investors and benefit from their expertise to further develop one of the richest platforms in the industry, covering any type of digital assets, way beyond cryptocurrencies.“

André Helfenstein, CEO, Credit Suisse (Switzerland) Ltd., commented: “The strategic partnership with Taurus is a cornerstone of the Swiss Bank division’s digital assets strategy with the ambition to become the leading Swiss bank in that space. We continue to embrace new and innovative technologies and expect to soon launch several digital asset services for clients both on the issuing and the investment side.“

Sabih Behzad, Head of Digital Assets and Currencies Transformation, Deutsche Bank, concluded: “We will integrate Taurus’ technology in our own IT environment. This will form a key part of our digital asset custody platform and will make it easier for us to develop and roll out our digital asset custody offering. Through this investment, Deutsche Bank is delighted to partner on the development of the market for digital assets.“

The most complete platform in the industry: custody, tokenization, regulated marketplace

Since its inception in 2018, Taurus has continuously invested in its proprietary technology to build the most complete platform in the industry, allowing clients to manage any digital assets. Concretely:

1. Custody: Taurus-PROTECT provides ultra-secure storage and transfer of hundreds of digital assets including support for staking, decentralized finance (DeFi), tokenized securities, and digital currencies;
2. Tokenization: Taurus-CAPITAL provides issuance, deployment, and lifecycle management of any type of tokenized assets (equity, debt, structured products, physical assets, NFTs);
3. Regulated marketplace: Trading of tokenized securities on Taurus’ T-DX platform, one of the first regulated marketplaces in the world.

Looking forward: support issuers on the digitization of private asset
Taurus believes that the digitization of private assets represents the next trillion-dollar opportunity for the digital asset industry to grow to USD 10+ trillions. Taurus has been involved in tokenizing 15 deals with Swiss-based and EU-based issuers including banks and asset managers as well as SMEs and start-ups. Taurus was also recently selected by a stock-listed insurance company to tokenize real-assets. Clients that have entered or are exploring tokenization of assets benefit from:

1. Taurus’ end-to-end infrastructure that goes way beyond basic custody of crypto-assets. Taurus’ clients are able to create any type of tokenized products^[1] in two clicks and service them with automated workflows and zero lines of code. These capabilities are unrivaled worldwide;
2. Taurus’ regulated infrastructure. In April 2021, Taurus obtained a FINMA license as a securities firm and operator of an organized trading facility. In June 2021, Taurus launched https://t-dx.com/, the first regulated marketplace for tokenized assets. Clients can benefit from a flexible and compliant marketplace to provide secondary market solutions to their end-clients.

Media Relations

Barbara Mahe         
French-speaking Switzerland, France       
+41 78 683 89 38           
[email protected]                                         

Judith Huss
German-speaking Switzerland, Germany
+49 172 705 5282
[email protected] 

Nazli Ekim
United States, United Kingdom and the Middle East
+44 07384 220 223
+1 917 355 9650
[email protected]

About Taurus
Taurus SA is a Swiss company, founded in April 2018, that provides enterprise-grade infrastructure to issue, custody and trade any digital assets: cryptocurrencies including staking, tokenized assets and digital currencies. With more than 60% market share in Switzerland, it is also the European leader in the banking segment, entrusted by the full spectrum of financial institutions: systemic banks, universal banks, online banks, crypto-banks, private banks, and broker-dealers. Taurus also operates a regulated marketplace for private assets and tokenized securities. For further information on Taurus: please visit www.taurushq.com

^[1] Equity, debt, structured products, real-assets, NFTs, digital currencies, etc.

SOURCE Taurus

SAN LEANDRO, Calif., Feb. 13, 2023   — Quino Energy, a startup commercializing a water-based organic flow battery technology licensed from Harvard University, announced that it has closed an additional $1.25M of funding to augment its recent Series Seed raise of $3.3M led by ANRI, one of the most active seed and early stage VC firms in Japan. This Series Seed Expansion brings the total raised in the investment round to $4.55M. This funding augments $1.0M previously raised in pre-seed funding and $4.6M awarded to the company in a non-dilutive grant from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The funding group includes new investors Energy Revolution Ventures and Doral Energy Tech Ventures, while TechEnergy Ventures increased the size of their earlier investment. They join ANRI, TechEnergy Ventures, and another confidential strategic investor as major Series Seed investors.

“Quino Energy has developed a revolutionary battery that will shape the future of grid-scale energy storage. We are incredibly impressed with Eugene Beh and his team’s technology, which delivers significant improvements in battery cost, lifetime, and safety,” says Peter Robson, Managing Director of Energy Revolution Ventures. “We believe Quino will play a vital role in the new Age of Electrochemical Power and are excited to support Eugene and his team on their journey.”

“At Doral, we align closely with Quino’s mission of developing a cheap, clean, and efficient flow battery, relying on affordable organic materials,” adds Guy Yavin, Investment Director at Doral Energy Tech Ventures. “The shortage of precious minerals and metals has held back the scale-up of new battery technologies and deep adoption of storage technologies to be embedded within renewable energy projects. Quino’s multi-hour battery has the potential to increase the reliance on renewable energy electricity, and we are looking forward to supporting the team in this venture.”

The new funding will augment Quino Energy’s push to further scale and demonstrate its in situ, zero-waste battery electrolyte production process that turns dyestuff chemicals made from coal tar into high-performance, long lifetime battery reactants using the flow battery system itself as the chemical reactor. Demonstrations are envisioned at commercially relevant scales at external sites in addition to an onsite microgrid at the company’s lab in San Leandro, California. Formed by combining a commercial rooftop solar system with one of the company’s prototypes, the onsite microgrid will enable Quino Energy to move its office operations off-grid while simultaneously collecting real-world field testing data.

“Our technology enables a 100% domestic supply chain without any reliance on critical minerals, saves jobs by developing a major new use for coal that doesn’t involve burning it, and accelerates the decarbonization of our economy all at once,” explains Eugene Beh, co-founder and CEO of Quino Energy. “This investment is a strong mandate to make rapid progress on commercializing organic flow battery systems that manufacture their own active materials through our process. We think that we can rapidly bring down the cost of mid-duration (8-40 hour) battery storage by leveraging existing supply chains of battery hardware. We’re grateful to our investors and the Department of Energy for sharing and supporting our vision for the future of grid energy storage.”

About Quino Energy

Formed in 2021, Quino Energy is a start-up company that is developing water-based flow batteries that store electrical energy in organic molecules called quinones, for commercial and grid applications. These batteries are predicted to enjoy a unique combination of low capital cost, true fire safety, rapid scalability, and local manufacturability. This is made possible by a number of technological breakthroughs, some of which were first discovered at Harvard University and later licensed by Quino Energy. Please visit quinoenergy.com for more details on the team and the technology.

About Energy Revolution Ventures

Energy Revolution Ventures has established itself as one of the premier venture capital investors in the field of investing in pre-Seed, Seed and Series A+ start-ups, developing scalable technologies around the electrochemical ecosystem. It is leveraging years of experience of its shareholders turning energy and battery technologies into successful, publicly traded businesses. ERV has a deep understanding of the fundamental technology behind innovations as well as risks to scale and commercialization. ERV is an active investor, supporting founders and innovators functionally and at the board level. For more information, visit www.erv.io.

About Doral Energy Tech Ventures

Doral Energy-Tech Ventures is the innovation and investment arm of the Doral Group, a global renewable energy and environmental infrastructure developer. Doral-Tech partners with inspiring entrepreneurs to build breakthrough companies taking on major global sustainability challenges. Doral-Tech invests in promising energy innovators, providing the expertise, capital and strategic support to bring to market groundbreaking technologies in a range of renewable energy and clean-tech related fields. For more information, visit www.doral-tech.com.

SOURCE Quino Energy

Strong demand for Via’s software drives rapid growth

NEW YORK, Feb. 13, 2023 — Via, the global leader in TransitTech, today announces it has closed a financing round led by 83North, with participation from new and existing investors including Exor N.V., Pitango, Janus Henderson, CF Private Equity, Planven Entrepreneur Ventures, Riverpark Ventures, and ION Crossover Partners. The round values Via at $3.5B, at the same price per share as the company’s previous financing in November of 2021. Via intends to use the funding to expand its product suite and further its vision of providing the end-to-end digital infrastructure for public mobility.

The funding comes on the heels of a year of strong performance for Via, as cities and transit agencies across the globe increasingly turned to digital solutions to improve the efficiency of their transportation systems. The company ended 2022 ahead of plan, with annualized revenue run-rate surpassing $200M, more than doubling since the previous financing round.

Via’s TransitTech products are used by more than 600 communities around the globe to expand access to efficient, equitable, and sustainable public transportation. The company’s technology enables customers to plan transit networks that are responsive and resilient to rapidly changing needs, to operate smart multi-modal transportation systems, and to use data to optimize performance — all in one software platform.

“We have known Daniel, Oren, and the Via team for many years now. Their ability to maintain rapid growth year over year, and to continue to innovate and deliver for their customers is unique,” said Arnon Dinur, Partner at 83North. “We believe in the company and the category, and are delighted to support Via in the future opportunities this funding will bring.”

“Via is a rare combination of a company that has a profound impact on the communities it serves while also generating attractive unit economics at scale,” said John Elkann, CEO of Exor N.V. “Daniel and his team are building a great company and as a major shareholder we are committed to supporting the company in this next stage of growth.”

“This financing is an exciting milestone for Via and a reflection of the power that technology has to transform transit in communities around the world,” said Via co-founder and CEO Daniel Ramot. “Access to transit improves health, education, and economic outcomes, and all of us at Via are inspired every day to see the positive impact our customers have achieved by adding technology to their transit networks. The growth of the TransitTech market in recent years has been truly remarkable, and we are proud of the contributions we have made to create and expand the category”

In support of its vision to be the operating system for every aspect of public mobility, Via plans to use the funding to accelerate expansion into new markets and verticals, and to continue to invest in product innovation.

About Via:
Founded in 2012, Via pioneered the TransitTech category by using new technologies to develop public mobility systems — optimizing networks of buses, shuttles, wheelchair accessible vehicles, school buses, autonomous vehicles, and electric vehicles around the globe. Building the world’s most efficient, equitable, and sustainable transportation network for all riders — including those with limited mobility, those without smartphones, and unbanked populations — Via works with its partners to lower the costs of public transit while providing transportation options that rival the convenience of a personal car while reducing the environmental impact. At the intersection of transportation and technology, Via is a visionary market leader that combines software innovation with sophisticated service design and operational expertise to fundamentally improve the way the world moves, providing technology in 600 communities and more than 35 countries and counting.

SOURCE Via

Founded in 1984, the firm, which has approximately $625 million in assets under management and three offices in Massachusetts, provides full-service wealth management to individuals and families

CHICAGO, Feb. 13, 2023 — Hightower today announced it has made a strategic investment in Bickling Financial Services, Inc., a Lexington, Massachusetts-based registered investment advisor (RIA) with approximately $625 million in assets under management and three offices across the state.

Founded in 1984, Bickling Financial Services, Inc. (BFS) is a family-owned business. The firm’s founder, Dorothy Bickling, Ed. D., was one of the first 600 people—and one of the first women—to earn the Certified Financial Planner (CFP^®) designation. Dorothy’s two sons, Spencer Betts and Andrew Betts, joined the firm in 2000 and 2007, respectively. Since joining the firm, Spencer and Andrew, now co-Managing Principals of BFS, helped BFS transition the practice to an independent RIA and have since led the firm’s evolution to become an institutionalized business.

“As a firm, we have experienced tremendous growth over the past few years,” said Spencer Betts, CFP^®, who, along with his brother, Andrew Betts, MBA, CFP^®, oversees the family-owned business. “To continue achieving our growth goals, we knew we needed a strategic partner that could help us scale the business and invest in its future. After speaking with several options in the marketplace, we concluded that Hightower has the right combination of resources and value-added services that will allow us to both serve clients and take the business to new heights.”

With 14 employees, including five advisors, Bickling Financial Services provides full-service wealth management and financial planning services designed to help clients achieve their long-term personal and financial goals.

“When it came to choosing a partner, we knew we wanted a firm that would add resources and expertise, but also give us the freedom to implement our strategic vision,” Andrew Betts said. “With Hightower, we have a partner who appreciates our vision and can provide the right level of support to help us follow through on our growth plan in an accelerated fashion. We see this as the next evolution of our business.”

Bickling Financial Services has strong ties to communities in New England and throughout the Northeast. Throughout its history, the firm has largely served affluent and high-net-worth client households.

“Spencer and Andy are young leaders who have ushered in tremendous growth over the past several years,” said Hightower Chairman and CEO Bob Oros. “We look forward to helping them achieve their ambitious growth goals, both organically and through talent acquisition, scale their operations, and develop the next-generation of leaders through programs like our Hightower Center for Leadership.”

Hightower offers its 132 advisory businesses in 34 states and the District of Columbia a range of services designed to catalyze and accelerate organic growth, including business development consulting, leadership and team development, talent acquisition, marketing support, technology, investment management resources, compliance, accounting, payroll and human resources. Inorganic growth services include sourcing, valuation, deal structuring, due diligence, legal and regulatory, pre- and post-close integration, and capital resources for M&A transactions. Advisory groups that partner with Hightower also gain access to economies of scale, deep industry relationships and a nationwide advisor community.

As of December 31, 2022, Hightower’s assets under administration were approximately $144.3 billion, and assets under management (AUM) were $113.7 billion, an increase from $106.1 billion as of September 30, 2022.

About Hightower
Hightower is a wealth management firm that provides investment, financial and retirement planning services to individuals, foundations and family offices, as well as 401(k) consulting and cash management services to corporations. Hightower’s capital solutions, operational support services, size and scale empower its vibrant community of independent-minded wealth advisors to grow their businesses and help their clients achieve their vision of “well-th. rebalanced.” Based in Chicago with advisors across the U.S., the firm operates as a registered investment advisor (RIA). Learn more about Hightower’s collaborative business model at www.hightoweradvisors.com.

Securities offered through Hightower Securities, LLC member FINRA/SIPC. Hightower Advisors, LLC is a SEC registered investment advisor.

Media Contact:
Siobhan Nolan
JConnelly
(862) 217-9585
[email protected] 

SOURCE Hightower

CaPow’s autonomous, battery-free and high-power energy eco-system eliminates robots’ dependency on costly, hazardous, Lithium-Ion batteries. The company’s patented technology dramatically reduces CapEx, OpEx and carbon footprint, while keeping optimal operational continuity as there is no robot downtime due to charging.

BE’ER SHEVA, Israel, Feb. 13, 2023 — CaPow, a perpetual power solution provider, today announced it raised a $7.5 million Seed round to scale up the commercialization of its battery-free, wireless, energy delivery eco-system for autonomous robotics. This solution provides continuous power for automated robotic environments while eliminating robot downtime due to charging. The round was led by IL Ventures, a VC fund focused on disruptive technologies for legacy industries, with co-investment from Mobilion VC, Payton Planar Magnetics, Doral Energy-Tech Ventures, Mobilitech Capital, and Mr. Ray Nissan, a prominent angel investor.

Today, many automated solutions rely on batteries for power supply. This dependency leads to several inherent inefficiencies such as charging downtime and rampant costs due to the need for additional robots to replace ones that are being charged. Moreover, traditional batteries have a negative environmental impact, as they create safety hazards and are an operational “headache” since they require dedicated procurement strategy, special shipping, handling, storage and recycling.

CaPow addresses the primary bottleneck for automation: the challenge of providing reliable, cost-effective, and non-pollutive energy. By offering consistent power flow for mobile robots, CaPow’s energy delivery eco-system allows automated robotic solutions to continuously operate with no energy depletion downtime, while ending the concept of reliance on legacy batteries. CaPow’s “battery-free”, paradigm-shifting solution is being well received along the logistics value chain, as it is validated to cut down the size of the required robot fleet, enhance throughput and improve the ROI of automation.

CaPow’s proprietary solution facilitates optimal power transfer with wide and dynamic capabilities. It accommodates multiple users, as well as the presence of metal and debris in and around the energy transfer field. In addition, it supports large distances between the transmitting and receiving ends, as well as wide spatial coverage. This provides substantial power levels with optimal end-to-end efficiency. The value of CaPow’s technology further expands to the wider mobility market with a wide range of applications. 

Mr. Amir Fishelov joins CaPow’s Board of Directors as Chairman of the Board, leveraging his two decades of experience as Co-Founder of SolarEdge (Nasdaq: SEDG), a pioneer and global leader in smart energy technology. At SolarEdge, a $17B company, Mr. Fishelov served as Chief Architect as well as VP Strategy and Corporate Development, leading large-scale and complex energy management projects.

“With the backing of our investors and strategic partners, CaPow is challenging robot manufacturers, automation solution providers, and facility operators to change their definition of operational efficiency”, says Prof. Mor Peretz, Co-Founder & CEO at CaPow. “We look forward to accelerating our product development to meet strong market demand for our innovative and proven technology. The company will use the proceeds from the investment round to expedite business growth in markets around the world.”

“At IL Ventures, we align closely with CaPow’s mission of creating a sustainable, battery-free power supply for the industry,” says Yoni Heilbronn, Managing Partner at IL Ventures. “We are excited to invest in an exceptional and proven technology, which is a game changer for the entire robotic power landscape.”

“I am very proud BGN Technologies took part in bringing CaPow’s revolutionary technology to the market,” says Zafrir Levi, VP Exact Sciences at BGN, the commercialization arm of the Ben-Gurion University. “We wholeheartedly believe in CaPow’s Perpetual Power solution, and this investment is proof of the company’s superior technology and for the massive potential for disrupting the industry in which it operates”.

About CaPow

CaPow is a pioneer in the field of continuous power delivery, facilitating a revolutionary perpetual power sourcing solution that drives a change in the way automation solutions are designed and deployed. This enables customers to achieve maximal efficiency while dramatically reducing overall expenses. CaPow’s Genesis system allows robotic fleets to reach round-the-clock, constant, 100% throughput by eliminating charging downtime.

Based on nearly two decades of research and backed up by extensive patent portfolio, CaPow’s technology significantly improves automated fleets power delivery strategy, simplifies infrastructure installation, and establishes eco-friendly deployments.   

CaPow’s roadmap, guided by innovative spirt, is supported by leading investors and distinguished members in the industry. Former Amazon Robotics leaders Vikas Enti and Nils Alstad serve as strategic advisors to the company. Visit capow.energy or follow us on LinkedIn.

About IL Ventures

IL Ventures invests in disruptive yet tangible technologies that offer deep, actionable insights which drive better business decisions. The fund combines capital with incredibly deep operational experience and an unparalleled global network that helps founders rapidly scale and go global. Backed by top-tier global investors and partners, its team of company builders and industry executives is poised to unlock the full potential Israel’s most promising startups. For further information visit www.il-ventures.com.

For further information, please contact:
Noam Geffen
VP Business Development
[email protected] 
+972544448467

SOURCE CaPow