Andreessen Horowitz

KIKI World Announces $7M Funding Round Led by a16z crypto and The Estée Lauder Companies' NIV

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, April 9, 2024
Crypto, Entrepreneurship, ELC, General partnership, Beauty, Brand.com, Social media, Internet, KIKI, Senior, NFC, Andreessen Horowitz, Heart, Creativity, API, NIV, Cryptocurrency

The investment from a16z crypto follows KIKI's participation in its spring 2023 Crypto Startup Accelerator program.

Key Points: 
  • The investment from a16z crypto follows KIKI's participation in its spring 2023 Crypto Startup Accelerator program.
  • NIV invested in November 2022 at KIKI's concept stages prior to launch.
  • KIKI World's initial launch featured connected beauty products co-created by the KIKI World community.
  • "Consumers are at the heart of what we do at The Estée Lauder Companies," says Shana Randhava, Senior Vice President, NIV, The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC).

Tally Launches Credit Card Debt Management Platform For Partners

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, April 3, 2024
Professional Services, Technology, Finance, Software, Fintech, Personal Finance, Shasta Ventures, General partnership, Line of credit, Andreessen Horowitz, Bank

Tally, a fintech startup known for helping people diligently pay down their credit card debt, today announced the release of its white labeled credit card debt management software, a B2B offering that scales Tally’s mission to give consumers a better path to debt management.

Key Points: 
  • Tally, a fintech startup known for helping people diligently pay down their credit card debt, today announced the release of its white labeled credit card debt management software, a B2B offering that scales Tally’s mission to give consumers a better path to debt management.
  • Unlike any other credit card debt management tools available today, Tally’s software smartly facilitates money movement, directly paying the consumer’s credit cards on their behalf.
  • With the launch of Tally’s credit card debt management platform, Tally will sunset its direct-to-consumer loan portfolio; the Tally Line of Credit will now be offered through its partner network.
  • “We’re proud to continue our critical work together as Tally partners with financial institutions to help solve the growing credit card debt crisis.”

Micron Appoints Robert Swan to its Board of Directors

Retrieved on: 
Monday, March 11, 2024
CFO, Buffalo, Nike (company), Intel, GE Transportation, DXC Technology, General Electric, State, GE Lighting, State university system, Flexport, Applied Materials, Skype, University, Memory, Micron Technology, Andreessen Horowitz, Organization, EBay, TRW Inc., Micrometre, Management

BOISE, Idaho, March 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU), an industry leader in innovative memory and storage solutions, today announced the appointment of Robert (Bob) Swan to its board of directors.

Key Points: 
  • BOISE, Idaho, March 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Micron Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: MU), an industry leader in innovative memory and storage solutions, today announced the appointment of Robert (Bob) Swan to its board of directors.
  • Prior to joining Intel, as CFO of eBay, Swan played a significant role in driving the company’s global expansion strategy.
  • “We are thrilled to welcome Bob to our board and look forward to his contributions to our strategic direction and long-term success.”
    In addition to his new position at Micron, Swan is on the boards of several organizations, including the board of directors for Nike, Inc., Flexport and the board of commissioners of GoTo Group.
  • He previously served on the board of directors for eBay, Applied Materials, Intel and Skype.

Rocket Companies Appoints AI and Fintech Expert Alex Rampell to Board of Directors

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, February 1, 2024
Internet, Loft, TrialPay, Andreessen Horowitz, Intelligence, Frustration, Knowledge, Point, AI, Harvard University, Innovation system, Mathematics, Computer science, Mercury, Investment, Fintech, Artificial intelligence, General partnership, Rocket Mortgage, Visa, Software, North, Management

DETROIT, Feb. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Rocket Companies (NYSE: RKT), the Detroit-based fintech platform company including mortgage, real estate and other financial services businesses, today announced that Alex Rampell has been appointed as an independent director to the Company's Board of Directors.

Key Points: 
  • DETROIT, Feb. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Rocket Companies (NYSE: RKT), the Detroit-based fintech platform company including mortgage, real estate and other financial services businesses, today announced that Alex Rampell has been appointed as an independent director to the Company's Board of Directors.
  • Most recently, Rampell has been an advocate of the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI), forecasting that generative AI will usher in significant transformation and disruption in the financial services space.
  • Varun Krishna, Rocket Companies CEO, also joined the Board of Directors in December 2023.
  • Now, combined with the addition of Alex Rampell, Rocket Companies has significantly bolstered its product and fintech expertise to complement the skills and experience of the existing Board.

ModernFi Raises $18.7M Series A to Power Deposit Growth at Community and Regional Banks

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 23, 2024
Professional Services, Technology, Finance, Software, Fintech, Banking, Entrepreneurship, Huntington Bancshares, Wealth management, DeVita, Face, API, Citigroup, Insurance, Organizational founder, Bertolotti, Andreessen Horowitz, Behavior, MIT, First Horizon Bank, Doctor of Philosophy, Columbia University, General partnership, Friction, Transformation

Faced with higher interest rates and stress in the sector, banks have been seeking new, innovative options that can drive deposits.

Key Points: 
  • Faced with higher interest rates and stress in the sector, banks have been seeking new, innovative options that can drive deposits.
  • Faced with a rapidly evolving deposit landscape, banks across the country have turned to ModernFi to help manage their funding.
  • "In the face of unprecedented deposit outflows and extraordinary banking events, ModernFi's deposit network delivers critical stability and control over deposit management.
  • With their strategic position and track record, we're confident ModernFi will further catalyze growth and provide crucial support to American banks."

McCourt Global Welcomes Tomicah Tillemann as President of Project Liberty

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, January 10, 2024
Stanford University, Democracy, Social media, Senate, Frank McCourt (executive), Sciences Po, Tillemann, Georgetown University, McCourt, Andreessen Horowitz, Government, Senior advisor, Executive, New America, Big Tech, Project Liberty, Yale University, Interim, Human, Internet, DSNP, Cryptocurrency

NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Frank McCourt, Executive Chairman of McCourt Global and Founder of Project Liberty, today announced the appointment of Dr. Tomicah Tillemann as the first president of Project Liberty, a far-reaching effort to build an internet where individuals have more control over their data, a voice in how digital platforms operate, and more access to the economic benefits of innovation. Project Liberty is supported by a $500-million commitment by McCourt and encompasses the work of the Project Liberty Foundation – a 501(c)(3) with an international partner network that includes Georgetown University, Stanford University, Sciences Po, and other leading academic institutions and civic organizations – and Amplica Labs, a technology business launched by McCourt Global that is focused on developing the next generation of digital infrastructure. Tillemann's hire marks an important step by McCourt to strengthen Project Liberty's technology, policy and governance expertise and further its mission to build a better web and better world.

Key Points: 
  • NEW YORK, Jan. 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Frank McCourt, Executive Chairman of McCourt Global and Founder of Project Liberty, today announced the appointment of Dr. Tomicah Tillemann as the first president of Project Liberty, a far-reaching effort to build an internet where individuals have more control over their data, a voice in how digital platforms operate, and more access to the economic benefits of innovation.
  • "Never in my lifetime have we faced a more consequential inflection point for the future of democracy, technology and society," said McCourt.
  • Tillemann will also serve as Interim CEO of the Project Liberty Foundation, as its inaugural CEO, Martina Larkin, departs the organization this month.
  • McCourt Global initiated and incubated the Project Liberty Foundation, which publicly launched as "Project Liberty" in June 2021.

Distributional Raises $11M Seed Round led by Andreessen Horowitz to Make AI Safe, Secure and Reliable

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, December 14, 2023
Data Management, Security, Technology, Other Technology, Software, Artificial Intelligence, Andreessen Horowitz, Entrepreneurship, Risk, Hallucination, Yelp, Investment, Seed, Artificial intelligence, General partnership, Intel, Machine learning, Ron Conway, Distributed artificial intelligence, Bloomberg, Deep learning, HPC, AI, Instability, Meta, Slack, Medical device, Sales

The Seed round was led by Andreessen Horowitz with participation from Operator Stack, Point72 Ventures, SV Angel, Two Sigma, Willowtree Investments and dozens of AI leaders as angel investors.

Key Points: 
  • The Seed round was led by Andreessen Horowitz with participation from Operator Stack, Point72 Ventures, SV Angel, Two Sigma, Willowtree Investments and dozens of AI leaders as angel investors.
  • Whether due to hallucinations, instability, inaccuracy, or dozens of other potential challenges, it can be hard to identify, understand and address AI risk.
  • "Lack of reliability in AI systems is one of the biggest barriers to widespread enterprise adoption,” says Martin Casado, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz.
  • Scott previously co-founded the pioneering AI startup SigOpt, which was funded by Andreessen Horowitz in 2016 and acquired by Intel in 2020.

Tenet Healthcare Appoints Vineeta Agarwala to Board of Directors

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, December 13, 2023
Managed Care, Hospitals, Health, Practice Management, Andreessen Horowitz, Biophysics, Genetics, Research, Broad Institute, NYSE, Quality, THC, Investment, Tenet Healthcare, Internal medicine, Computational biology, Doctor of Philosophy, General partnership, Intelligence, Stanford University, Ethics committee, Harvard Medical School, Drug development, Management, Tenet

Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: THC) today announced the appointment of Vineeta Agarwala, M.D., PhD, to its Board of Directors, effective immediately.

Key Points: 
  • Tenet Healthcare Corporation (NYSE: THC) today announced the appointment of Vineeta Agarwala, M.D., PhD, to its Board of Directors, effective immediately.
  • Dr. Agarwala will serve as a member of the Quality, Compliance, and Ethics Committee, as well as the Human Resources Committee, increasing the size of the Board to 13 directors.
  • “We are pleased to welcome Dr. Vineeta Agarwala to the Tenet Board,” said Saum Sutaria, M.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Tenet.
  • “Vineeta is a leader in healthcare in her own right.

Isovalent Recognized as One of Cybersecurity's Fastest-Growing Companies in Fortune Cyber 60

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, December 14, 2023
Andreessen Horowitz, CNCF, Adobe, Policy, IKEA, EBPF, Bell Canada, Sky, Capital One, DNS, General partnership, CPU, TLS, Software-defined networking, Linux, HTTP, Nicira, VMware, Telemetry, Video game, Quadrilateral, Palantir, Kubernetes, Isovalent hybridization, Cilium

The award recognizes "the most important venture-backed startups that offer enterprise-grade cybersecurity solutions" and places Isovalent in the "Early-growth-stage companies" category.

Key Points: 
  • The award recognizes "the most important venture-backed startups that offer enterprise-grade cybersecurity solutions" and places Isovalent in the "Early-growth-stage companies" category.
  • Isovalent's founding team includes the creators and maintainers for Cilium and eBPF, two open source projects that are taking cloud native networking and security by storm.
  • Isovalent is the creator of the Cilium project and provider of Isovalent Cilium Enterprise.
  • Isovalent is uniquely well-positioned to be the leading company for this critical new layer."

Kong Tops $100 Million in Annual Recurring Revenue

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, December 13, 2023
Cloud, Andreessen Horowitz, SAN, Internet of things, Organization, Kong Inc., General partnership, Global 2000, API, Growth, Central nervous system, AI, Web3, Video game, Blockchain

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Kong Inc., a leading developer of cloud API technologies, today announced it has surpassed $100 million in annual recurring revenue. The company's success is the result of a commitment to product excellence, a laser-focus on the user and customer experience, and the growing popularity of Kong Konnect, its unified cloud API platform, which helps organizations unleash developer productivity and accelerate time to market. Moreover, a significant tailwind to the company's growth has been a decade-long shift in how enterprise software systems are built and deployed, from traditional monolithic applications to modern, distributed cloud native microservices architectures. Additional drivers include mobile apps, Internet of Things (IoT), as well as the adoption and proliferation of Blockchain, Web 3 and a new generation of AI technologies. This transition from "monolithic" software systems, along with the rapid adoption of these new innovations, aligns well with Kong's mission, which is to enable every company to become API-first.

Key Points: 
  • SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Kong Inc., a leading developer of cloud API technologies, today announced it has surpassed $100 million in annual recurring revenue.
  • So while surpassing $100 million represents an enormous milestone for our business, that vision is just starting to come to pass.
  • Most recently, Kong also launched a joint venture with Japan Cloud to support the growing adoption of its platform in Japan, the world's third-largest economy.
  • "We're quite happy to have been early investors and partners to the Kong founding team.