Plus: Proprio expects FDA approval for AR platform in H1 2023
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Three biomed startups — Cerevast Medical, Novokera, and Aegeria Soft Tissue — merged to form a new entity called Longevity Biomedical. The new company is looking to raise $30M through a public listing via a SPAC merger with blank cheque company Denali Capital Acquisition Corp, formed by investment bank U.S. Tiger Securities. More: - The firm expects to raise an additional $30M through PIPE funding.
- The Bothell, Wash.-based firm will use the proceeds to accelerate clinical trials and preclinical studies of therapeutics and grow its team size.
- Longevity is poised to achieve a $236.2M valuation at the public listing.
- With the merger, Longevity's product portfolio includes stroke and retinal vein occlusion treatment, soft-tissue reconstruction, and a preclinical product for corneal blindness.
- Cerevast's CEO, Bradford Zakes, will lead the newly merged entity as its CEO and president.
- Zakes was formerly the CEO at ImaRx Therapeutics, which was acquired by Cerevast.
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Radical Ventures, a VC fund that supports AI startups, has secured over half its targeted amount of $550M for its newly launched venture fund. The leading investors were Fei-Fei Li, creator of the ImageNet project, and Geoffrey Hinton, a member of the Google Brain team. More: - Radical has already invested in Cohere, a rival of OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT.
- The VC fund has supported You.com, an AI-powered search engine, and Reka.
- Despite the challenging outlook in the tech sector, investment in AI has grown significantly.
- PitchBook estimates that $1.4B was invested in the sector in 2022.
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Twitter and Medium co-founder Biz Stone joined audiovisual entertainment startup Chroma's board of directors. The company aims to tap into his design, product development, and brand-building expertise. Stone was previously an angel investor in Chroma. More: - Chroma was founded in 2021 by Andreas Pihlström, who also leads the firm as its CEO.
- Pihlström had previously led the design and prototyping at Pinterest, Beats Music, and VSCO.
- Stone outlined that the firm must narrow its scope considering the small team size.
- Stone expects to hold several meetings with the startup every month.
- Chroma previously raised €1.6M ($1.7M) in pre-seed funding, followed by €5.1M ($5.4M) in seed funding from VCs Singular and Adjacent.
- The firm is backed by Pinterest co-founders Evan Sharp and Ben Silbermann and Berlin's angel syndicate SpotiAngels.
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The Seattle-based medtech startup Proprio expects the Food and Drug Administration to approve its AR-platform Paradigm in H1 2023. The six-year-old startup's Paradigm technology can improve surgery outcomes by helping surgeons identify where to insert incisions and place hardware. More: - Following its approval, the company plans to commercially launch the program.
- Paradigm uses high-def imaging technology to capture the operating room from above.
- It then uses AI and augmented reality to combine those images with pre-surgery 3D imaging.
- These images then guide the doctor through surgery.
- Proprio has several technology partners, including Intel, HTC, NVIDIA, Samsung, and the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science at the University of Washington.
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Inscribe raised $25M for AI-powered financial fraud protection services. The startup's product reviews onboarding documents from new bank customers without requiring manual human checks or compromising risk. More: - The invested capital was part of a Series B funding round led by Threshold Ventures.
- Inscribe's value proposition is in increasing the speed at which banks or fintech bring on new customers and approve loans.
- The startup gathers customers' information and automatically gives out an individualized risk profile.
- Similar anti-fraud startups have received capital during 2021. Resistant AI raised $16.6M, and Smile Identity raised $7M.
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The Web3 wearables startup Spatial Labs raised a $10M Seed. The company plans to use the funds to further expand its secondary marketplace LNQ and enter into new partnerships to showcase its technologies in different industries. More: - The startup developed a chip that connects physical items to in-person or virtual experiences.
- In Oct. 2022, Spatial Labs opened LNQ, a secondary resale market where users can buy and sell Web3 wearables, personalize them, and link items to social profiles.
- At just 25 years old, founder Iddris Sandu is the first black founder to raise eight figures before the age of 30.
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- New Enterprise Associates received $6.2B worth of capital commitments for two funds for early-stage and venture-growth-stage investing.
- Connecticut's quasi-public venture capital arm, Connecticut Innovations, established a $50M fund to invest in early-stage startups led by underrepresented founders.
- Wexford Science & Technology inaugurated Connect Labs, a facility that provides office and laboratory space for biotech startups.
- HR startup Velocity Global laid off 10% of its staff, or 84 employees, according to sources close to Business Insider. Last May, the firm nabbed $400M in Series B funding.
- POSaBIT will acquire MJ Platform, Leaf Data Systems, and Ample Organics for $4M from Akerna. The firm will finance the acquisition from the $11M debt and equity financing it raised from Perga Capital.
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 |  | Karan Chafekar is a Management Consultant, Business enthusiast, and Licensed Pilot.
Courtney Rawlings is an Inside Research Analyst living in Los Angeles, California. She has returned to her hometown of LA after spending several years working at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where she is completing a Ph.D. in Art and Architectural History.
Martin Ruiz-Cantu is a Business Researcher at Inside.com. He has a Master's in Global Business and Finance from Georgetown University. He previously worked at HSBC and the World Bank. He is passionate about finance, startups and tech.
| | | | Editor | Vibha Chapparike is a Freelance Writer & Editor at Inside.com. With her post-graduation in Management and Finance completed, Vibha is expanding her knowledge in venture capital, business, startups, and technology. She has had a career in public relations and communications. An ardent reader and writer currently residing in Singapore, you can follow Vibha on Twitter @VChapparike. | |
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