| Hey Insiders, Today we are taking a look at AI startups' latest funding rounds, including Simbe Robotics, EchoNous, and Tangibly. Scroll down for some quick hits, and let us know what other content you'd like to see in future issues. Nicolas
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| 1 | | Simbe, the developer of robots for retail, announced it raised a $28M Series B led by Eclipse. In 2020, the startup launched its autonomous inventory robot, Tally 3.0. More: - The company added custom capabilities for BJ's Wholesale Club this year in preparation for nationwide deployment.
- The company also has deals with Carrefour, SpartanNash, Schnuck Markets, and Wakefern, among others.
- Simbe had its $26M Series A led by Venrock in September 2019. It previously graduated from SOSV's HAX accelerator for hard tech startups.
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| 2 | | EchoNous, the developer of an AI-assisted portable ultrasound machine, raised $7M. The startup's Kosmos point-of-care ultrasound system is able to image the heart and calculate its ejection fraction. More: - The Kosmos ultrasound was rated second highest for overall image quality, behind Philips Healthcare's Lumify, in a study of portable ultrasound machines published by the University of Texas, San Antonio researchers in The Ultrasound Journal.
- EchoNous partnered with 19Labs, which focuses on telemedicine, to teach ultrasound technology to users in real-time.
- The new round is led by recurring investor Kennedy Lewis Investment Management, which led its last two rounds for $57M in September 2022 and $60M in June 2021.
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| 3 | | Tangibly, a Seattle-based startup that uses AI to protect intellectual property, raised a $6.5M Seed round. The company develops the Patent X-Ray, which identifies information during the patent drafting process. More: - The round was led by Madrona Venture Group, with participation from MVP Ventures, Spike Ventures, Holt Ventures, Incisive Ventures, and law firm Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati's investment arm WS Investment Company.
- Founded in 2021, the startup was started by a former executive at Intellectual Ventures and founder of Wavefront Venture Labs, Tim Londergan; CEO of AI Patents, Lit Belinson; and director at Inflection Point Technologies, Christopher Buntel.
- Tangibly previously raised a $1.3M pre-seed round in August 2022, with participation from PatentVest, Brainstorm Ventures, and angel investors Jack Newton, Mark Britton, and Dave Rosenberg, among others.
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| 4 | | Spline, a no-code design tool, has secured $15M in a seed funding round led by Gradient Ventures with participation from First Round Capital, NXTP, Chapter One, Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch, Y Combinator, Webflow CEO Vlad Magdalin, and Backend Capital. The funds will primarily be used for R&D and team expansion, as the company aims to further develop its product and capabilities. More: - Alejandro Leon, co-founder and CEO of Spline, introduced it in 2020, intending to simplify and streamline the 3D design process.
- Platform users can produce 3D objects, modify and animate them, work together on assets, and export them using a web browser.
- Since its debut, Spline has attracted over a million creators, and it recently expanded its toolkit by including AI-style transfer and AI texture capabilities.
- The business views AI as a crucial element in democratizing 3D creation and has ambitions to investigate generative AI and content creation with big language models.
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| 5 | | A $30M Series A fundraising round has been secured by RADAR, a technology platform that combines RFID and computer vision, bringing its total capital to $63M. They announced that the funds would be used to expand their customer base, speed up product innovation, and hire more engineers, salespeople, and product developers. More: - The inventory tracking platform from RADAR, powered by AI, offers 99% accurate location data and real-time visibility for in-store goods.
- Retail brands can use the platform to improve customer satisfaction, increase operational effectiveness, and make data-driven inventory decisions.
- Ben Bryce, Managing Partner, Align Ventures, stated, "Spencer and RADAR have successfully demonstrated their cost-effective inventory-tracking technology, which has led to a significant increase in sales (12%) and the elimination of overstocks, helping retailers and brands efficiently manage inventory, increase revenue, and enhance customer service."
- American Eagle Outfitters are introducing the inventory-tracking system from RADAR in about 500 stores, and the company is also testing its platform with two additional Fortune 500 companies.
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| 6 | | London-based business Causaly raised $60M in a Series B fundraising round organized by ICONIQ Growth, with participation from previous backers Index Ventures, Marathon Venture Capital, the EBRD, Pentech Ventures, and Visionaries Club. The business's AI platform for drug discovery and biomedical research, used by 12 significant pharmaceutical firms and agencies like Gilead, Novo Nordisk, and the FDA, promises to speed up the discovery and testing of new drugs for researchers. More: - The platform developed by Causaly shortens the time it takes to create new pharmaceuticals from 10-15 years to "several" years, saving a large amount of money.
- The platform seeks to lower the 90% high failure rate and $1B to $2B per drug expense of medical development.
- The company has raised $93M and plans to use that money for R&D and staff growth.
- Instead of creating its treatments, Causaly differentiates itself by giving biomedical teams access to tools.
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- Rad Power Bikes announces its exit from Europe and a new round of layoffs.
- Stability AI, the company behind Stable Diffusion, is releasing a new service that turns sketches into images.
- Learning platform for application security Secure Code Warrior raised a €45M (~$50.4M) Series C.
- Scholastic sports management software Aktivate raised a $3.7M Series A led by Will Ventures, Tal Ventures, and Benson Oak Ventures.
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INSIDE STARTUPS LEADERBOARD (7 DAYS) |
 | Sr. Analyst | | Nicolas S. is a Sr. Analyst at Inside, covering transportation and startup trends. He is an avid map maker and data nerd. Nicolas has worked in the shared-scooter space, as well as advised e-bike and moped startups. Follow him at @MobilityNerd. _____
Shriram Jeevakumar is a freelance writer at Inside.com. He is pursuing Master’s in Business with Marketing. He worked as a Senior Consultant in Tech and Political Consultancies before his Masters. He is passionate about Tech, Marketing, Strategy, Anthropology and Politics. | | This newsletter was edited by Vibha Chapparike | |
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