Spark Capital

Profluent Secures $35M in Additional Funding and Key Industry Experts to Scale Foundational AI Models for Biomedicine and Tackle First Vertical in Gene Editing

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, March 21, 2024
Other Health, Software, Research, Pharmaceutical, Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Genetics, Health Technology, Science, Biotechnology, Other Science, Health, AIX, Cas9, OpenAI, Gene editing, Insight Partners, Growth, Spotlight, General partnership, Salesforce, Nature Biotechnology, Gene, Spark Capital, AI, University, Tome, Nature, Protein engineering, Biology, Microbiology, CRISPR, De novo, ChatGPT, Therapy, Machine learning, Probability, Management

Profluent, an AI-first protein design company, today announced the close of additional funding to bring the total raised to $44M.

Key Points: 
  • Profluent, an AI-first protein design company, today announced the close of additional funding to bring the total raised to $44M.
  • “Our research at the forefront of AI has enabled Profluent to create large language models that begin to learn the blueprint of nature,” said Ali Madani, Profluent co-founder and Chief Executive Officer.
  • By first applying its platform to gene editing, the company showcases AI as the ideal interface for engineering complex biological systems.
  • Just as ChatGPT can write compelling essays and emails, Profluent has developed AI that designs entirely new and functional proteins.

Polar Signals Announces Strategic Milestones: Secures $10.8M in Funding, Expands Board, and Launches AI-Driven Performance Optimizations

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
Data Management, Security, Technology, Software, Networks, Artificial Intelligence, Cloud, Signal, Alpha, Vercel, GV, Denial-of-service attack, TLS, Spark Capital, Software engineering, Growth, Observability, Management

This financial achievement reflects the strong confidence investors and, crucially, customers have in Polar Signals’ vision and mission.

Key Points: 
  • This financial achievement reflects the strong confidence investors and, crucially, customers have in Polar Signals’ vision and mission.
  • In addition to the financial boost, Polar Signals is announcing the strategic expansion of its board.
  • Polar Signals also shares that Vercel has chosen Polar Signals Cloud as their continuous profiling platform.
  • Lastly, a significant innovation from Polar Signals is the introduction of AI-driven Performance Optimizations.

Abridge Emerges as a Healthcare AI Leader, Raising $150M to Accelerate R&D

Retrieved on: 
Friday, February 23, 2024
Health, Technology, Hospitals, Health Technology, Software, General Health, Artificial Intelligence, EMR, Caregiver, Spark Capital, Artificial intelligence in healthcare, Multimedia, AI, Investment, Computer, Redpoint Ventures, Massachusetts General Hospital, Nuance Communications, Documentation, Series, Lightspeed Venture Partners, IVP, Associate, Patient, Speech, Union Square Ventures, Carnegie Mellon University, Research, Medical device

This raise comes just 4 months after their $30M Series B , and is one of the largest funding rounds made to date in generative AI for healthcare.

Key Points: 
  • This raise comes just 4 months after their $30M Series B , and is one of the largest funding rounds made to date in generative AI for healthcare.
  • Today, Abridge also announced a new enterprise agreement with the Yale New Haven Health System, the largest and most comprehensive healthcare system in Connecticut, that will give thousands of clinicians access to Abridge for clinical documentation.
  • Yale New Haven Health has selected Abridge as their generative AI partner in this area of ambient listening.
  • CTO Zack Lipton , a widely cited Associate Professor at Carnegie Mellon and pioneer in responsible AI research, has assembled the strongest research team in healthcare AI.

Higharc Announces $53M Series B for its Connected Homebuilding Cloud

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, February 15, 2024
Pillar, Cloud, Schneider Electric, Spark Capital, PSP, General partnership, Starwood Capital Group, Growth, CBRE, Sale, RXR Realty, The Home Depot, Lux Capital, Autodesk, Column, Software

DURHAM, N.C., Feb. 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Higharc, the connected cloud platform for homebuilding operations, announced today a $53 million Series B funding round powered by over 18 industry leaders from construction, building products manufacturing, and distribution.

Key Points: 
  • DURHAM, N.C., Feb. 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Higharc , the connected cloud platform for homebuilding operations, announced today a $53 million Series B funding round powered by over 18 industry leaders from construction, building products manufacturing, and distribution.
  • The new financing follows the company's rapid growth and customer demand in 2023, as it has emerged as the next-generation cloud software leader in the $350 billion US homebuilding industry.
  • "This additional capital reinforces Higharc's long-term commitment to the success of our customers and to unlocking digital transformation for the entire homebuilding industry."
  • Higharc's Homebuilding Cloud replaces the "pen and paper" processes and software solutions that dominate the industry.

Abridge Announces “Abridge Inside” with Epic Integration from Haiku to Hyperdrive

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, February 13, 2024
Health, Technology, Health Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Software, Pillar, Hospital, Spark Capital, ViVe, Multimedia, MD, Scan Group, University, HIMSS, Physician, Thought, Workshop, Bed, Emory Healthcare, UPMC, Life, Documentation, UC, Mayo Clinic, American College, Patient, University of California, Burnout, Union Square Ventures, Electronic health record, Investment, Research, Workflow, Nursing

Abridge, the leader in evidence-based generative AI for clinical documentation, today announced Abridge Inside—a new offering embedded inside standard Epic workflows.

Key Points: 
  • Abridge, the leader in evidence-based generative AI for clinical documentation, today announced Abridge Inside—a new offering embedded inside standard Epic workflows.
  • From recording patient conversations in Haiku to embedding AI-generated notes within the patient chart in Hyperdrive, clinicians will be able to harness the power of Abridge from start to finish without ever leaving Epic.
  • Both Abridge and Epic see ambient listening as a core component of a broader push to help providers improve the care experience with generative AI.
  • Abridge, led by a practicing cardiologist—Shiv Rao (CEO, co-founder)—will bring its purpose-built AI technology directly inside Epic.

Teamshares Increases Acquisition Capacity By 50%, Funding Growth To 150+ Employee-Owned Small Businesses

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, February 1, 2024
Khosla Ventures, Small business, Union Square Ventures, Spark Capital, Neobank, Acquisition, Management

NEW YORK, Feb. 1, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Teamshares Inc., the market leader for small business employee ownership, has announced a cumulative $225 million in debt financing, including a just-closed $75 million debt facility with Sound Point Capital and a previously unreported $150 million debt facility with i80 Group. The new financing will enable Teamshares to expand from 89 to 150+ businesses, while continuing to build financial and employee ownership products to support its growing network of employee-owned companies and the people who power them.

Key Points: 
  • "Adding Sound Point Capital to Teamshares' lender base significantly accelerates our progress in scaling small business employee ownership," said Michael Sutherland Brown, Cofounder and CEO of Teamshares.
  • Since completing its Series D, Teamshares has continued to expand its employee ownership model to small businesses across the U.S., and launched four network-exclusive products, including a neobank, charge cards, business insurance, and health insurance.
  • We're proud to play a part in expanding employee ownership with Teamshares in the small business landscape," said Philip Bartow, Managing Director, Sound Point Capital.
  • Founded in 2019, Teamshares is an employee ownership platform for small business.

Qdrant Raises $28M to Advance Massive-Scale AI Applications

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 23, 2024
Data Management, Technology, Apps, Applications, Artificial Intelligence, Software, Cloud, Privacy, Database, Series, Microsoft, Partnership, Software as a service, Spark Capital, AWS, Fortune 500, Machine learning, Google Cloud, General partnership, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Microsoft Azure, Azure, Cryptocurrency

Qdrant excels in managing and searching high-dimensional data and in handling billions of vectors with unmatched efficiency and scale, making it indispensable in modern AI and machine learning applications across industries.

Key Points: 
  • Qdrant excels in managing and searching high-dimensional data and in handling billions of vectors with unmatched efficiency and scale, making it indispensable in modern AI and machine learning applications across industries.
  • Qdrant recently also expanded its managed cloud offering through collaborations with AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.
  • Committed to privacy and security, crucial for modern AI applications, Qdrant now also offers on-premise and hybrid SaaS solutions, meeting diverse enterprise needs in a data-sensitive world.
  • Qdrant is the leading, high-performance, scalable, open-source vector database and search engine, essential for building the next generation of AI/ML applications.

Leading K-12 Teletherapy Platform Parallel Secures New Round of Funding & Adds Five Key Hires to Leadership Team to Further Scale and Expand Services

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, January 9, 2024
Entrepreneurship, Student, Learning, Thought, GoHealth, Senior counsel, Function (mathematics), Customer success, Anatomical pathology, AI, Behavior, Growth, Spark Capital, Education, News, Heel, SPED, K-12, Data analysis, Institute of Management Accountants, SVP, Management

NEW YORK, Jan. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Parallel, the K-12 teletherapy platform that provides a new way to test, diagnose, and empower K-12 students with learning and thinking differences, is proud to announce five new hires to its growing team.

Key Points: 
  • ● Monica Maspons is joining as VP of Strategic Operations after previously serving as the SVP of Strategic Growth at Acorn Health.
  • These new hires will join an existing talented leadership team at Parallel.
  • This funding round is a supplement to their Series A funding, boosting their expansion into new territories and product investments.
  • With Parallel, students can receive special education support with virtual services, assessments, counseling, and instruction.

Air Space Intelligence Secures $34M Series B Financing Led by a16z

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, December 7, 2023
NAS, Spark Capital, Government, Software, Bloomberg Beta, National Airspace System, Alaska Airlines, Business development, Traction, General partnership, ASI, Airline

WASHINGTON, Dec. 07, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Air Space Intelligence (ASI), a modern aerospace company addressing the software crisis across commercial and government sectors, announces the completion of a $34 million Series B funding round.

Key Points: 
  • WASHINGTON, Dec. 07, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Air Space Intelligence (ASI), a modern aerospace company addressing the software crisis across commercial and government sectors, announces the completion of a $34 million Series B funding round.
  • This significant financial injection, achieved in less than three weeks, reflects strong support from new investor Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and existing investors, including Bloomberg Beta, Renegade Partners, and Spark Capital.
  • The allocated funds will strategically support the company's continuous growth, foster innovation, and solidify its presence in the government sector.
  • “Over the past three years, ASI has made significant progress by deploying their software to some of the most complex and critical air operations,” stated David Ulevitch, General Partner at a16z.

Base Operations Secures a $9.1M Series A to Revolutionize Global Threat Intelligence

Retrieved on: 
Friday, December 22, 2023
Union Square Ventures, Database, Forecasting, Spark Capital, Software as a service, Uncertainty, Go, Knowledge, Traction, Operation, Organization, Intelligence, Risk management

WASHINGTON, Dec. 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ --Base Operations, leader in SaaS-based global threat intelligence for physical security, is thrilled to announce the successful close of a $9.1M Series A led by Grotech Ventures and Spero Ventures with notable contributions from Vela Partners, Good Growth Capital, Mindset Ventures, Alliance Holdings, and Gaingels.

Key Points: 
  • Defying the gloomy statistics around early stage startup fundraising, Base Operations Series A is an "up round," reflecting the incredible traction achieved under difficult market conditions.
  • In a time of uncertainty and geopolitical instability, Base Operations offers its customers actionable intelligence and tailored insights.
  • In November 2023, Base Operations launched an Enterprise offering, enhancing the world's largest database of global threat patterns into a tailored platform.
  • Base Operations is committed to leading in global threat intelligence, providing unparalleled solutions that fortify businesses against evolving security challenges.