đŽ Boston Tops $1B+ in Private Financings Across 14+ Companies
This week, among the funded: an AI analytics solution for amateur sports leagues, an ultra-capacitor that uses hemp-based activated carbon, and an MIT-spinout decarbonizing steel production.
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If youâre new here, Iâm Abigail! A mechanical-engineer-turned-investor at Hyperplane, an AI/ML-focused seed-stage venture capital firm in Boston. Every two weeks, this newsletter lists Bostonâs latest financings and highlights local and macro economic events. Feedback for me? Respond directly to this email!
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đ Happy Tuesday! Polls opened today at 7AM and will close tonight at 8PM for Bostonâs Preliminary Municipal Elections, where voters will be narrowing down City Council candidates before November 7th. A ton of cool companies got funded over the last two weeks, with an emphasis on climate technology companies focusing on alternative energy and sourcing processes. Speaking of climate, it would seem based on the weather weâve been having that it would be a long ways before we see any leaves changing color, but Smoky Mountainsâ Fall Foliage map is predicting that leaves will start changing next week in MA, and that peak foliage will be around October 9th. And finally, consider reading up on the tragedy of three of the most recent climate disasters in Morocco, Libya, and Hong Kong.
đ Iâm incessantly adding things to my âTo Googleâ list. To continue last weekâs trend (see the very bottom of this post for last weekâs findings), Iâm listing some stuff Iâll be looking into this week. Iâm hoping to stimulate conversation and augment my research process with input, so reach out if interested in chatting about any of this!
Interests this week (all of the random stuff Iâll be Googling):
đ History and relevance of the current-day global alliances and their roles in global conflict (didnât get to this one last week), â˘ď¸ Where are we at with nuclear power globally and what new tech stands the front? 𧪠What are the levers driving the flow of funds and medical margins for specialty pharmaceutical drugs? 𧏠How do generative AI tools for biology applications, like AlphaFold and Med-PaLM, compare?
Boston quick hits: The FDA approved the new COVID boosters developed in part by Boston-based Moderna. Klayvioâs founder Andrew Bialecki, holds an impressive 38.1% of the company going into a targeted $8.37B IPO. Patsâ season off to a tough start against the Eagles, but Brady present at Gillette for a ceremony at halftime (that Belichick was notably missing from) definitely lit a fire for them in the second half. Boston-based Accomplice Fund Iâs impressive performance was highlighted by Harry Stebbings on Twitter. Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports recently called Dragon Pizza in Somerville the âworst pizza in Americaâ and shortly after, they sold out of pizza - any press is good press, I guess?
Other quick hits: The Justice Department is set to take on Google today in the start of whatâs expected to be the biggest antitrust case in decades. The iPhone 15 will be unveiled today at 1PM, and weâre all hoping itâs not exactly the same phone with a slightly better camera. Tomorrow, weâll find out the final price for ARM IPO which is set to start trading on Thursday and meanwhile, Instacartâs imminent IPO is also in the works. A look at the IPO market here.
And so, with that, letâs get into it.
Boston Financings of 8/29-9/12
Financings are listed from smallest to largest. Biotech financings over $80M+ are usually not covered.
The total amount of disclosed funding over the last two weeks hit over $1B+
Mellitus | $90K debt | Healthcare (Med Device)
Developer of diabetes detection and monitoring devices, Mellitus, has closed $90K towards a $750K offering in the form of convertible debt. Founded in 2013 by two professors of medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Womenâs, Mellitus is developing an in-vitro diagnostic test for detection of high levels of GCD59, a biomarker known to be significantly elevated in individuals with diabetes. They have largely been funded by grants to date.
Flexxbotics | $1.5M | Manufacturing
Developer of an Industry 4.0-enabling robotic automation platform for manufacturing floors, Flexxbotics, has closed on a $1.5M total offering for their Series A-1 round. Flexxboticsâ works with manufacturers to help aid in the transition to a âsmart factoryâ through digitized workcells, and has developed a platform that connects and coordinates robots with existing factory automation equipment, IT systems and people. Flexxbotics is a resident at MassRobotics and they last raised a $2.9M Series A round led by eCoast Angels in 2022.
Streamforge | $1.2M | Marketing Tech
Technically based in Montreal but with a founder in Boston, Streamforge has raised a $1.2M Seed round led by Triptyq Capital for its platform that aims to manage influencer marketing for brands and video game studios. Streamforge provides a platform that uses AI to help brands and publishers identify the content creators and audiences that best align. The algorithms consider factors such as the target audience, preferred content, and campaign objectives.
Florrent | $2.1M | Climate Tech
Developer of high-energy density ultracapacitor technology, Florrent, has raised $2.1M in pre-seed funding led by MassVentures. A Greentown Labs member, Florrentâs ultracapacitor uses hemp-based activated carbon and outperforms conventional materials that rely on coconut husks and face mounting supply chain disruptions. Florrent manufactures their product in Amherst, MA from regenerative hemp biomass, grown domestically in the US by Black and Indigenous farmers.
Givezy | $2.1M | Fintech
Providers of a solution to better manage multi-year pledges from donors, Givezy, has raised a $2.1M Seed round from Oyster Fund and York IE, among others. Givezyâs Gift Documentation Platform digitizes and automates the creation and collection of multi-year pledges from nonprofit donors, helping to manage and scale Major Gift donor pipelines. The companyâs solution targets industries like higher education, healthcare, and nonprofits with fundraising reliances.
SportsVisio | $3M | Sports Tech (Hyperplane PortCo!)
AI analytics for sports games, SportsVisio, has raised $3M in Seed funding from Sapphire Venturesâ new Sport Fund. Focused on amateur sports, from youth through college, SportsVisio adds augmented reality graphics with automated statistics on top of video collected from smartphones, which can be streamed live or clipped into highlights. It is starting with basketball with an eye toward expanding into other sports.
Amplified Industries (formerly Acoustic Wells) | $10M | Industrial IoT
An IoT solution for monitoring onshore oil and gas equipment and operations, Amplified Industries, has raised a $10M Seed round led by Schooner Capital with participation from CEAS. Founded by Sebastien Mannai of MIT in 2019, the company provides oil fields with wireless sensors that can be installed in less than 30 minutes along with an AI software platform, empowering operators to track surface and downhole issues on wells, tanks and valves.
Lydian Labs | $12M | Climate Tech
Provider of sustainable, CO2-derived fuels and chemicals, Lydian Labs has raised a $12M Seed round led by Congruent Ventures and Galvanize Climate Solutions with participation from Voyager Ventures and Union Square Ventures, among others. Lydian Labs recycles waste carbon from industrial plants, landfills, or directly from the air into jet fuel, or sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) using a high-temperature electric reactor. Lydian is producing small quantities of e-fuel today.
Druid AI USA | $21.5M | AI Infra
A company enabling enterprise-scale conversational AI, Druid AI, has closed $21.5M of a $24M offering in a Series B round reportedly led by TQ Investors with participation from Verve Ventures and Endeavor, among others. Originally founded in 2019 as a company giving RPA robots conversational abilities, Druid AI is now a no-code Conversational AI platform for enterprises to design and deploy generative AI experiences to customers or employees. They last raised a $15M Series A in 2022. The company is based in Romania while building out their US presence.
Better Life Partners | $26.5M | Behavioral Healthcare
Provider of a behavioral healthcare platform for substance abuse disorders offering a range of care services, Better Life Partners, has raised $26.5M Series B round co-led by aMoon and F-Prime Capital with participation from existing investor .406 Ventures. Founded in 2018 by Adam Groff MD and Steve Kelly, and now led by Juliana Ekong, MD, a public psychiatrist and the CEO of Better Life Partners, the company offers a range of services to its members including specialty SUD treatment, mental and physical health care and care coordination, and is expanding into population health management.
BlueWave | $91M debt + equity | Climate Tech
Solar developer, owner, and operator, BlueWave has raised $91M inclusive of a $64M debt raise from KeyBank and a $24M equity raise from U.S. Bancorp Impact Finance for the construction and long-term financing of five projects in Massachusetts. The projects will deliver enough clean energy to the grid to power 2,570 households in Massachusetts, in turn offsetting the carbon emissions from 2,500 cars or what 540,000 mature trees could absorb.
Beta Bionics | $200M | Healthcare
Developer of a system that automates the insulin delivery process by adjusting insulin doses based on real-time glucose levels, Beta Bionics, has raised a $200M Series D round led by Sands Capital and Omega Funds. Founded by Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Boston University, Ed Damiano in 2015, Beta Bionicsâ platform, iLet Bionic Pancreas, is designed to use control algorithms in conjunction with continuous glucose monitoring to administer doses of insulin and/or glucagon.
Boston Metal | $262M | Climate Tech
MIT-spinout decarbonizing steel production, Boston Metal has officially closed a $262M Series C from Aramco Ventures, Goehring & Rozencwajg, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Microsoftâs Climate Innovation Fund, and BHP Ventures, among others. Boston Metal has developed a method called Molten Oxide Electrolysis (MOE) to make low- or no-carbon steel using electricity. The process works for ferro-alloys, but the next step will be to show it can turn iron ore into steel for the traditional steelmaking process at scale.
Ascend Elements | $460M | Climate Tech
Manufacturer of sustainable battery materials for electric vehicles, Ascend Elements has raised $460M Series D led by Decarbonization Partners, Temasek, and Qatar Investment Authority. Ascend Elements produces commodity metals and employs particle engineering to recycle used Li-ion batteries and scrap into highly engineered precursor (pCAM) and cathode active materials (CAM) for electric vehicles, resulting in lower costs and less emissions.
ExtrasâŚ
Agrinam intends to merge with agriculture tech company creating sustainable farming systems, Freight Farms. Financial terms not disclosed.Â
Meazure Learning acquired online proctoring platform for assessment providers, Examity, from Great Hill Partners. Financial terms not disclosed.Â
Conair acquired home and outdoor products maker, The Fulham Group. Financial terms not disclosed.Â
Gesund AI | $ Unknown | Healthcare IT
Developer of a platform for clinicians and companies to test, train, and augment medical AI, Gesund AI raised an unknown amount of equity financing from Invest 101, a fund established in partnership with the Turkish Development Fund. Gesundâs platform audits and validates medical AI solutions for safety and efficacy. They last raised Seed funding from 500 Global, M Ventures of Merck, and Northpond in 2021.
All for now!
Your Macro Briefing + Headlines đ
Covering the upcoming numbers to watch for (đ)Â , the relevant numbers of last week (đ), and the tech headlines of the last two weeks (đ).
đ Economy watch this week:
đ˘ Number releases to watch:
Tomorrow 9/13, weâll get US Consumer Price Index (CPI), a core inflation measure used by the Fed to guide monetary policy.
Primer: The monthly inflation rate in the US was steady at 0.2% in July, and analysts expect an increase of 0.5% in the upcoming CPI.
Thursday 9/14, weâll get US Producer Price Index (PPI), the US Retail Trade Report, and the European Central Bankâs (ECB) interest rate decision that could see ripple effects in the US if they hike it again.
Primer: Producer prices in the US rose 0.3% in July, the biggest increase since January, and analysts expect a 0.4% increase. US retail sales were up 0.7% in July, the fourth consecutive rise, and analysts expect a further increase of 0.2%. The ECB raised its key interest rates by 25 bps to 4.25% in July, analysts expect they wonât raise it again.
đŁ Other things to watch this week:
First Republic Bank earnings today. Also today, Senate's SEC Gensler hearing for insights into crypto's future. And Friday, ~146,000 US auto workers are set to go on strike this week if General Motors, Ford and Stellantis fail to meet their demands.
đ Economy watch last two weeks:
đ Data released on August 30th showed US real GDP increased 2.1% in the second quarter, higher than the previous quarterâs rate of 2%. Of note: less business spending, more consumer spending, decreased imports.
đź Jobs: Last week, the August jobs report revealed that the labor force grew by 736,000, causing the unemployment rate to rise to 3.8% in August. Initial weekly jobless claims were reported at 216,000, below the projected 230,000.
Watching the jobs market closely as slowing job creation is a key indicator the Fed watches as a sign that inflation is loosening up.
âď¸US Business pace: The U.S. services sector (which accounts for 2/3 of the economy) unexpectedly hit a 6 month high, although US businesses said theyâre paying higher prices for the same inputs.
đ Random: Orange juice futures are skyrocketing amidst hurricane season.
đ Global economy
Global growth slowed in Q2, largely because of significant slowdown in China as a result of a weak property sector undermining confidence, growth prospects in China have diminished.
In Europe, strength in the service sector supported growth, offsetting an ongoing contraction in manufacturing.
In Canada, interest rates stayed at 5% because economic growth has slowed as was seen in Q2 - a result of less consumer spending, a decline in housing activity, and the wildfires.
đ Headlines
𤨠âIt sure looks like it didâ: Representative Michael McCaul said about the prospect of Chinaâs Huawei Technologies violating US sanctions in making their new phone that uses a breakthrough 7-nanometer processor despite efforts by the US to block China from entering the 5G race. The U.S. Commerce Department has initiated an official investigation.
â˝ď¸ Influencer marketing: Lionel Messi signed a revenue-sharing agreement with Apple TV and Adidas, and âMLS Season Passâ subscriptions have since doubled. Single game tickets are up more than 1,700% to see Messi play for Inter Miami CF.
đŤ Working smarter, not harder: Four million fewer teenagers enrolled at a college in 2022 than in 2012. Insider has more on Gen-Zers college thoughts.
đşđŚ Ukraine update: The Ukrainian military said it had recaptured strategic gas and oil drilling platforms from Russia in the Black Sea and claimed additional gains in occupied areas.
Britainâs BAE Systems has reportedly won ÂŁ130m from the British government for munitions. Britain is a key defense supplier for Ukraine.
Tensions are high as itâs been reported that North Koreaâs Kim Jong-un is in Russia for a formal visit this week. International powers are urging North Korea to hold up its agreement to not sell or provide arms to Russia.
đŽđł Trying for a new identity: India is trying to change its name to Bharat after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said âIndiaâ symbolizes colonial slavery. India, technically, is officially known by two names, India and Bharat.
đŹ Risky: The UK is taking an $18.7M shot at using AI for one of the more high-risk applications: air traffic automation.
đ° Strategic: US-Vietnam relations are increasingly important because of Vietnamâs sources of critical metals. During Bidenâs visit to the country last week, notable tech deals and partnerships were announced across several sectors in and effort to cultivate relationships with Vietnamese companies.
đ¤ Truce?: Shopify merchants will now be able to use Amazonâs âBuy with Primeâ button, a significant shift in the competitive relationship between the two e-commerce conglomerates.
đ¤ Truce pt2?: Despite a long-lasting history of resistance to a dependence on Qualcomm for parts in the iPhone, Apple has announced it will continue to use Qualcommâs parts, specifically their 5G modems, through 2026.
đ DraftKings bad look: The company offered users a 9/11-themed promotion that required three New York-based teams to win their games, and theyâre apologizing for the insensitivity.
Local Features
Events
đ§âđź Tech and Biz
September 11th-15th: Startup Boston Week 2023! Grab your free tickets here. (And check out Rags Gupta of Hyperplane and myself on an investor panel on Friday!)
Tuesday, September 12th, 4:30PM: Greentown Labs hosts Climate Tech Career Fair at their Boston location in Somerville.
đ¤ Other
Wednesday, September 13th: MITâs Ignite: Generative AI Entrepreneurship Competition with submissions open to all MIT students and postdocs.
Saturday, September 16th: South Bostonâs Street Fest showcasing over 100 participating Boston businesses, performances, and artists.
Tuesday, September 19th: MassRoboticsâ Demo Day hosted at their Seaport office.
Findings from Last Weekâs Googling
Quick hits from my âTo Googleâ list of last week:
𧪠Pharmaceutical budgets and how theyâre spent
What I found: The Flow of Money Through the Pharmaceutical Distribution System, an interesting overview of how the pharmaceutical margins work in relation to specialty prescription drugs.
đĽ Why do remote patient monitoring companies with hardware components struggle to scale?
What I found: working on a deliverable here⌠but an interesting take I read was that the RPM business model has failed to expand beyond small pilot programs with health systems due to the high cost structure, making it difficult for healthcare organizations to break even on the investment. A study by an Australian university that finds 49% of 91 total studied RPM pilot programs were successful in decreasing acute care needs.
đĽ Optimal nutrition and protein intake during marathon training
What I found: Oh, I went deep here. A couple studies: Nutritional considerations for single-stage ultra-marathon training and racing and Supplement intake in half-marathon, (ultra-)marathon and 10-km runners.
đ´ Republican presidential candidates and platforms
What I found: This is one of those topics that is necessary to look through multiple sources with an emphasis on the diversity of reporting. Started with Politico and then to NBCâs crash course, went over to BBC for more on the debate, and then Guardian for stances on the big issues.
đ¸ VC firm LLC structures and why LLCs result in tax advantages.
What I found: Carta gave a great rundown about this.