Norwest Venture Partners

Membership-based, non-insurance healthcare companies helping maintain a steady state of well being.

Preventive Healthcare

iRhythm Technologies is a digital healthcare company specializing in cardiac monitoring devices, notably the Zio ECG Utilization Software (ZEUS) System. The system includes a wearable sensor, the Zio Patch, for continuous monitoring of heart rhythms like atrial fibrillation (AFib). The company’s approach involves sending a single-use monitoring device to patients, collecting cardiac readings via an app, retrieving the device, and sending analyzed results to physicians. As per a study in&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33163">September 2024</a>, the Zio increased AFib diagnosis by 52% compared to standard care, with diagnosis rates of 5.0% vs. 3.3% over an average 15-month follow-up period.The company received FDA clearances for its ZEUS System, including a 501(k) clearance in&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11820">July 2022</a> and the EU CE mark in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2024/01/03/2803268/0/en/iRhythm-Technologies-Receives-European-Union-s-CE-Marking-Under-Medical-Device-Regulation-EU-MDR-for-its-Zio-monitor-and-ZEUS-System.html">January 2024</a>. In&nbsp;<a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2023/09/26/2749471/0/en/iRhythm-Launches-Next-Generation-Zio-Monitor-and-Enhanced-Zio-Service-Its-Smallest-Lightest-and-Thinnest-Cardiac-Monitor.html">September 2023</a>, it launched the Zio monitor, a small and lightweight prescription-only ECG device for cardiac monitoring in the US. Further in&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/35628">November 2024</a>, it received FDA approval for design modifications and labeling updates to its Zio AT wearable cardiac monitoring system. As of May 2024, it had analyzed data from over 5 million patients.&nbsp;For&nbsp;<a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2024/02/22/2834088/0/en/iRhythm-Technologies-Announces-Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Year-2023-Financial-Results.html">FY2023</a>, iRhythm generated revenue of USD 492.7 million, a 19.9% YoY increase, but reported a net loss of USD 123.4 million, a 5.9% YoY increase.Key customers and partnershipsiRhythm Technologies serves a broad spectrum of healthcare providers, focusing primarily on cardiology offices and hospitals across the US. The company's innovative solutions cater to medical professionals who require reliable and efficient diagnostic tools for cardiac monitoring.The company’s key partnerships include Verily, a subsidiary of Alphabet life science, to enable connectivity with ZEUS and other complementary technology (<a href="https://www.irhythmtech.com/company/press-releases/irhythm-announces-collaboration-with-verily-to-develop-health-management-solutions-for-atrial-fibrillation-patients">September 2019</a>) and Epic to use the Aura platform to streamline access to iRhythm’s Zio services (<a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2024/02/29/2838441/0/en/iRhythm-collaborates-with-Epic-to-streamline-access-to-Zio-service-and-drive-more-seamless-connectivity-between-clinicians-and-patients.html">February 2024</a>).&nbsp;

Omada is a prevention-focused digital therapeutics startup that helps members achieve health goals through lifestyle changes. It offers four evidence-based, virtual prevention programs for managing hypertension, musculoskeletal (MSK) issues, prediabetes, and diabetes.Omada offers real-time data tracking through connected devices (such as wireless scales, blood pressure, and glucose monitors) and access to personalized coaching sessions via a mobile app as part of its prevention program. It also provides an online community of peers with similar health conditions to discuss challenges and provide support. In May 2021, Omada became the first fully-virtual healthcare provider to earn the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s Population Health Program Accreditation for its type 2 diabetes and type 2 diabetes + hypertension programs.Unlike its peers, Omada operates a performance-based business model where it charges clients an enrollment fee based on the number of users and a performance fee based on how much weight their employees lose. In May 2020, the company acquired virtual physical therapy startup Physera.Key customers and partnershipsAs of May 2024, Omada had more than 1 million members from more than 1,900 enterprise clients across all 50 US states. Its B2B employer and health plan client base include key clients such as American Eagle, Kaiser Permanente, Costco Wholesale, 3M, and Marvin. Additionally, the company has partnered with health systems and hospitals such as Intermountain Healthcare to provide its preventive programs as a covered benefit.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15587">January 2023</a>, the company partnered with health service company Castell (a subsidiary of Intermountain Healthcare) to provide its diabetes programs to members from Intermountain Healthcare’s primary care providers in its Utah Medical Group. Further in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25245">January 2024</a>, the company partnered with Amazon to expand access to its cardiometabolic program.

<div>
 
 Health Catalyst is a provider of data and analytics technology and services for healthcare organizations. The company offers a population health management platform that uses analytic insights to predict patient needs and manage patient flow. It identifies populations at risk and takes necessary interventions to prevent and manage chronic diseases.&nbsp;
 
 
 The Population Health Suite includes tools such as Value Optimizer for analyzing cost of care, MeasureAble for regulatory measure, and Pop Analyzer: Stratify for predictive assessment. Furthermore, the cloud-based data platform leverages data from over 100 million patient records encompassing trillions of facts.&nbsp;
 
 
 In 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/30288">
 June 2024
 </a>
 , the company acquired Carevive Systems, an oncology-focused health technology company, to expand its cancer care offerings.&nbsp;
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 As of May 2024, Health Catalyst had served over 250 hospitals and 3,000 clinics in the US.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16801">
 In February 2023
 </a>
 , the company announced a multi-year contract expansion with non-profit healthcare organization Integris Health&nbsp; to enhance the analytics abilities of Integris&rsquo;s health network by increasing access to technology and hiring specialized staff. Furthermore, in July 2022, Ohio-based Akron Children&rsquo;s Hospital partnered with Health Catalyst to implement Health Catalyst&rsquo;s suite of population health solutions.
 
</div>

Crossover Health is a primary care provider which focuses on connecting its members and practitioners for better healthcare outcomes by leveraging data from sources such as electronic health records, insurance claims, and pharmacies. Primarily serving self-insured employers, the company supports its corporate clients to reduce healthcare costs of its employees by taking a proactive approach to healthcare. The company claims to achieve a 30% reduction in healthcare spend by employers on behalf of their employees and 50% less utilization of emergency rooms and specialists.Crossover Health's hybrid care model integrates virtual and in-person care at nearsite health centers and enables members to access services based on their preference. The company offers an interdisciplinary care team that includes primary care, mental health, physical therapy, health coaching, and care navigation services.Key customers and partnershipsThe company’s key clients include Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Comcast, and CVS Health.Also, in January 2022, Crossover Health announced a joint primary care and occupational health solution with Matrix Clinical Solutions, aimed at providing employers with a comprehensive health, safety, and well-being strategy. Further in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19052">November 2022</a>, partnered with health insurance provider Aetna to provide primary care services to patients in Seattle via employers.Funding and FinancialsThe company completed an oversubscribed Series D funding round in March 2021 that brought total funds raised to USD 281.5 million and the proceeds were used to expand its healthcare platform across the US.

Neura Health is an AI-backed virtual neurology care clinic that connects patients with neurologists, offering services for chronic neurological conditions. Its app-based platform provides neurology-specific symptom monitoring and condition-specific diagnostic tests including cognitive exams, psychomotor tests, and standard tests. It claims the symptom tracker enables a shorter discovery cycle of a neurological condition and allows Neura to use predictive analytics for early warning signals and customized treatment recommendations.The company first launched its services with a focus on headaches and migraines, and it plans to expand into other neurological conditions, such as multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, and Parkinson’s Disease in the longer term. The app also offers a headache tracker, insights into triggers, access to a dedicated care team, as well as personalized coaching via video consultations with board-certified neurologists. Additionally, individuals can also receive prescription medication at their homes. As of February 2022, the platform was available across the US on both Android and iPhone platforms. The company offers a membership program priced at USD 28 per month, while video visits are charged separately depending on a patient’s insurance plan.Funding and financialsIn <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18755">May 2023,</a> Neura Health raised USD 8 million in a seed funding round co-led by Koch Disruptive Technologies and Norwest Venture Partners, with participation from other venture capital firms. The raised funds were used to support the company’s go-to-market strategy to treat more patients at scale and expand into the enterprise market. The company announced it would initially focus on employers and health plans.Further in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27027">February 2024</a>, the company received USD 100,000 in funding as recipients of the 2023 ADAPT program awards by UCSF Rosenman Institute.

Artificial intelligence is helping sales teams manage relationships and optimize the customer lifecycle.

Sales Engagement Platforms

Indo-US Mindtickle, originally launched as a gamification startup named “TeraMeraIdea,” pivoted to sales enablement in 2012. Mindtickle is now a leading sales readiness and enablement platform that drives revenue growth by transforming the performance of go-to-market (GTM) teams. Its all-in-one platform includes features for training, content management, digital sales rooms, AI role plays, coaching, call insights, and forecasting.In September 2021, two new features were added to the platform, enhancing its functionality: 1) ‘Asset Hub’, which provides sales representatives a view of all training content and marketing on a single interface; and 2) "Readiness Index," a sales performance tool that calculates readiness scores for sales representatives based on learning patterns and scoring. Additionally, the platform provided <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/14191">new features and services in November 2022 </a>ahead of its online event called "Binge-Worthy Enablement." In August 2023, the firm launched <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21434">Mindtickle Copilot,</a> a generative AI-driven sales enablement and readiness solution. It automates program performance analysis, streamlines call reviews, and delivers valuable insights to boost sales team efficiency. In May 2024, the company introduced <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/29899">AI-driven enablement capabilities</a> aimed at improving the effectiveness of customer-facing teams.&nbsp;In August 2021, Mindtickle was valued at USD 1.2 billion.&nbsp;In May 2023, the firm <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18990">acquired Enable Us,</a> a provider of digital sales room and buyer enablement solutions, to enhance its revenue productivity offerings and enable sales representatives to digitally collaborate with buyers through personalized content experiences.&nbsp;The company claims a 2.5x increase in coaching engagement between sales managers and their teams, a 64% increase in revenue generated by sales reps in their first quarter, and a 50% reduction in onboarding time.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsAs of September 2024, the platform had 1 million+ users across 400+ firms, which include Snowflake, Merck &amp; Co., AppDynamics and Johnson &amp; Johnson. The company catered to several industries including technology, life sciences, financial services, manufacturing and services.In June 2022, the firm partnered with Baker Communications, a professional training company, to improve sales readiness.&nbsp;

Gong is a provider of conversational intelligence solutions designed to improve customer engagement for sales, marketing, and customer success teams. Its Reality platform leverages AI to analyze customer interactions and provide insights that improve sales strategies and coaching.Gong's core offerings include features such as call recording, transcription, and interaction analytics that help teams understand customer behavior and preferences. By capturing and analyzing every conversation, Gong enables sales professionals to identify key trends, buyer signals, and common objections.In addition to its conversational intelligence capabilities, Gong also provides sales intelligence solutions. These include tools for pipeline management, <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11241">revenue forecasting,</a> and comprehensive analytics to support strategic decision-making. The platform has over 100 integrations (as of August 2024), including popular CRM platforms such as HubSpot, Salesforce, and Microsoft Dynamics 365.In June 2021, Gong reported a post-money valuation of USD 7.25 billion. In 2022, the company reported an annual recurring revenue (ARR) of USD 200 million.&nbsp;In September 2020, the company acquired Vayo, an Israel-based data analytics startup, to strengthen its revenue intelligence solution. In June 2022, Gong acquired Yobs, a smart interviewing platform, to further expand its platform capabilities.&nbsp; &nbsp;Gong claims that its optimized speech-to-text transcription model achieves 85%–90% accuracy, significantly higher than the less than 75% accuracy of off-the-shelf models. Key customers and partnerships &nbsp;As of August 2024, the platform served 4,000+ companies, including Morningstar Inc., Paychex, LinkedIn, Shopify, Slack, SproutSocial, Twilio, and Zillow.In January 2020, the firm partnered with Sandler, a sales coaching solution provider, to empower sales professionals. A month later, the company partnered with sales engagement startup InsideOut to provide AI-powered sales playbooks with analytics. In November 2021, Gong expanded its partnership with sales coaching platform <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/245256">Highspot </a>to scale best practices across sales teams. In June 2022, the company partnered with sales intelligence solution providers <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/379260">Apollo.io, </a>Clearbit, and <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/355913">Cognism </a>to strengthen its product capabilities. In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/30877">June 2024,</a> Gong partnered with sales intelligence platform <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/202987">6sense</a> to connect its sales engagement solution <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19832">Gong Engage</a> with 6sense Revenue AI for Sales to increase workflow efficiency.&nbsp;

Qualified is a sales pipeline generation platform for sales teams with a native Salesforce integration. The company was founded by former Salesforce CMO Kraig Swensrud and former Salesforce product SVP Sean Whiteley. The platform aims to identify the most valuable buyers visiting a company’s website and alert revenue teams to engage them in conversation via live chat, chatbots, voice calls, and screen sharing.&nbsp;Key products and features include:Piper the AI SDR: An AI-powered Sales Development Representative that engages visitors, answers questions, captures leads, and books meetings 24/7AI Conversations: Enables real-time sales conversations with website visitors, enhancing customer interaction and engagementAI Meetings: Facilitates easy scheduling of meetings between potential buyers and sales teams with just a few clicksAI Offers: Delivers personalized marketing offers to visitors, helping to convert valuable buyers instantlyAI Signals: Provides insights into account-based buying intent data, helping teams focus on the hottest leadsQualified claims to drive 5x more conversations, book 2x more meetings, and require 50% less effort from SDRs.Key customers and partnerships&nbsp;As of August 2024, Qualified’s clients include B2B brands such as Adobe, Bitly, SurveyMonkey, ThoughtSpot, VMware, Matterport, Poly, Sodexo, Talend, and Tech Data.

Aktana specializes in providing data and intelligence solutions for life sciences industries. Aktana offers the "Contextual Intelligence 360," a modular sales intelligence platform, to scale AI-driven programs that personalize the customer engagement process for life science commercial teams. Its contextual intelligence engine (CIE) uses machine learning (ML) algorithms to plan and arrange multichannel interactions with healthcare providers (HCPs). The platform also features personalized next-best-action recommendations, customer journey mapping tools, automated workflows, a template library, and analytics and reporting. Additionally, it has native integration with customer relationship management (CRM) and marketing automation platforms (MAP) as well as an API for custom integration.The company claims that its solutions improved sales growth by 14% during the indication launch for an innovative oncology drug and a 10% increase in goal attainment for primary care representatives carrying multiple products.In October 2021, The company acquired Ople.AI, a predictive analytics platform, to increase the use and adoption of AI, particularly among developing or mid-market businesses. In November 2023, Aktana acquired Tact.ai, a field engagement and conversational AI platform, to further strengthen its solution.Key customers and partnershipsBy December 2022, it had served 700,000 users across 300+ brands, including over half of the top 20 pharmaceutical firms in the world, such as Pfizer, Janssen, Merck, and Novartis.In September 2022, the company entered into a strategic partnership with Envision Pharma Group, a comprehensive global medical communications group, to provide personalized solutions that blend Envision's scientific expertise and Aktana's intelligence platform for medical affairs teams.

Lavender is an AI-powered email assistant tailored for sales professionals and teams. It uses advanced AI, notably OpenAI's GPT-3, to provide real-time support for crafting engaging and personalized emails. Lavender aims to improve email intelligence by identifying and addressing response-hindering factors, offering personalized intros, real-time scoring to help users write effectively, and optimizing email content through AI. It caters to individuals and teams, empowering managers with email intelligence and a coaching portal to track and improve team performance. The platform is also integrated with popular email platforms (Gmail, Outlook), LinkedIn, and other sales engagement solutions, such as <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/247809">Outreach </a>and <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/68161">Salesloft </a>.The platform claims to enable sellers to create emails in less time, resulting in 2x the response rate through the power of AI while maintaining GDPR and SOC 2 compliance.Key customers and partnershipsAs of April 2024, the platform had served 30,000+users, including companies like Twilio, Segment, Sendoso, Sharebite, and Clari.

Modern tools to train and motivate staff, and bridge emerging skill gaps.

EdTech: Corporate Learning

Founded by Eren Bali, Gagan Biyani, and Oktay Caglar in 2010, Udemy is a massive open online course (MOOC) provider. Its online learning platform is used by professional adults, students, companies, and governments. Individual learners can access self-paced, on-demand courses for professional development or personal enrichment built by instructors on the Udemy platform. Courses may be free or paid, depending on the instructor. In October 2021, the company reported more than 201 million course enrollments with over 44 million users globally.Udemy for Business offers an employee training and development platform that allows companies to host and distribute their own content and provides subscription access to business-relevant courses and analytics. Udemy Business Pro, launched in September 2021, offers new features like Udemy Paths, skills assessments, workspaces, and hands-on labs across critical skills in information technology, software development, and data and analytics. Udemy for Government offers a customizable learning platform to upskill workers. In June 2022, Udemy Business announced it had expanded its presence in Asia-Pacific, offering 8,000 international courses in 13 local languages. As of June 2022, Udemy for Business offered a library of 16,000 courses (international+custom topics) for over 7,000 enterprise users. .&nbsp;In&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20241022004326/en/Udemy-Launches-Game-Changing-AI-Capabilities-to-Transform-How-Enterprises-Learn-and-Grow">October 2024</a>, Udemy launched a new suite of AI capabilities including an AI Assistant and Skills Mapping features for its enterprise customers.&nbsp;&nbsp;In August 2021, Udemy acquired CorpU, an online leadership development platform, allowing it to expand the number of offerings on its platform to include CorpU’s immersive business leadership training courses, strengthening its position in the upskilling sector.For the <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16426">full-year 2022, </a>the company's revenue grew by 22% YoY to reach USD 629.1 million. However, it also reported an operational loss of USD 151.2 million, which is a significant increase of 94% compared to the previous year. The adjusted EBITDA loss also increased by 74% YoY to USD 48.7 million. However, the non-GAAP loss per share improved to USD 0.48 per share from USD 0.80 per share in 2021. In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/20738">Q2 2023, </a>Udemy made slight adjustments to its revenue target for FY2023E, increasing the lower end of the range to USD 712 million (from USD 702 million) and reducing the upper end to USD 720 million (from USD 730 million). It also revised the estimated EBITDA margin to be 1.0%–0.0% from 3.5%–1.5%.Key customers and partnershipsIn February 2021, Betterworks, a strategy execution enterprise software company, integrated its Objectives &amp; Key Results (OKR) platform with Udemy for Business. The integration allows employees who set an OKR in Betterworks to search and link Udemy for Business courses from within the Betterworks interface and capture learning progress and outcomes.&nbsp;In April 2022, the company entered the South Korean market by partnering with Woongjin ThinkBig, a local AI-based education company, to offer Udemy and Udemy Business to users in the region. In August 2022, Udemy partnered with vocational-education training provider Sanjieke, to expand its market presence in China. As of August 2022, Udemy had more than 8,000 courses in China, with ~600 courses in Mandarin. During the same month, the firm partnered with online education platform FUNiX, to expand its offering to the Vietnamese market.In March 2024, Udemy and Paradiso Solutions, a learning management system, collaborated to integrate an e-learning course catalog into an AI-powered learning management system (LMS) by providing comprehensive learning solutions that cover various aspects of learner education and enhance the existing content analytics and collaboration features.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

<div>
 
 Torch Leadership Labs is a leadership development platform founded by coaches, psychologists, entrepreneurs, and people managers. Torch conducts 360-degree interviews with executives, their direct reports, and peers, and scores them on empathy, visionary thinking, communication, conflict resolution, management, and collaboration. Torch lays out improvement goals and timelines, and arranges video chat sessions with specialized coaches. Sessions remain confidential and only performance goals and metrics are shared with the HR team through a dashboard on the platform. As of April 2020, Torch had worked with more than 10,000 leaders across more than 200 organizations.
 
 
 In April 2020, Torch launched Small Group Coaching, a month-long course that provides personalized coaching to small groups and individuals that also incorporates peer-to-peer learning.
 
 
 Funding and financials 
 
 
 In May 2022, the company raised USD 40 million in a Series C funding round 
 led by 137 Ventures. It planned to use the funds for product development and to scale operations. The round follows its USD 25 million Series B fundraise in February 2021.
 
</div>

<div>
 
 Founded in 2018 by Andrew Powell and Sasha Seymore, Learn To Win is a mobile-first, active learning platform that offers training solutions for athletic teams, enterprises, and defence organizations. The platform offers a library of interactive, short lessons for mobile, a lesson authoring tool for instructors, and analytics on learning outcomes.
 
 
 In January 2021, the company raised USD 4 million in seed funding towards marketing efforts, platform developments, and expansion into new end-user markets such as first responders and healthcare companies.
 
 
 In March 2021, Learn To Win partnered with Clarion Events Fire & Rescue Group—a provider of firefighting and emergency medical service news, education, equipment, and training—to build Fire Drills, an app for firefighters and other first responders that delivers easy-to-consume photos, videos, and interactive lessons based on Clarion’s extensive library of print and digital content. Fire Drills provides general lessons for primary skills as well as lessons in advanced techniques for specific and potentially dangerous situations. 
 More recently, in April 2022, the company partnered with Dr. Deborah Stroman, a racial equity educator, to expand access to race and racism training.
 
</div>

<div>
 
 Founded in 2019 by Elise Smith and Heather Shen, Praxis Labs is the developer of an immersive virtual reality learning platform that aids corporations with training employees on, and measuring, justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI). The simulations depict incidents of bias and discrimination in the workplace from the perspective of an employee who experiences it first-hand or of a coworker who is complicit in the incident. Employees practice their responses to the incident, reflect on it, and provide anonymous feedback on their JEDI experience in their workplace. Praxis Labs uses the data gathered to provide companies with insights on their JEDI practices and interventions to make the workplace more equitable. The platform also provides employees with a dashboard to set goals for behaviors and interventions, revisit certain incidents, and review their progress. Praxis Labs offers 6-month and 12-month program packages containing 30-minute learning modules. The platform was beta tested by eBay, Amazon, Google, Uber, Zoom, and Target, among others.
 
 
 The Praxis Labs platform and its proprietary curriculum, Pivotal Experiences, were launched in February 2021, following a year of beta testing. 
 
 
 Funding and financials 
 
 
 In June 2023, the firm 
 secured an 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19443">
 undisclosed investment
 </a>
 from Accenture Ventures. 
 
</div>

Modal Learning is a specialized platform designed to enhance teams' skills, specifically in data and business. The company identified a significant gap in the advanced data skills required for data teams to understand and drive change within their organizations effectively. The platform operates a business model that emphasizes results over access to training.&nbsp;Modal Learning only charges customers when learners complete their training and demonstrate the acquisition of new skills. This approach aligns the organization's interests with the learner's, ensuring that the training delivered is effective and relevant.In addition, Modal Learning is committed to long-term success and employs dedicated account managers to work with sponsors and learners. This partnership ensures that learning resources are consistently aligned with the skills required in the industry, thus fostering a culture of continuous improvement and skill development. Key customers and partnershipsAs of April 2024, the company reported serving over 100 large enterprises, including Dentaquest and Casey’s.

AI, robotics, and IoT to streamline the flow of goods and information

Logistics Tech

<div>
 
 Acquired by Sweden-based private equity firm EQT in April 2024, Avetta provides a software-as-a-service (SaaS) supply chain risk management platform for managing operational, financial, and reputational risks. The company offers a platform that allows businesses to assess and manage supplier compliance, safety practices, sustainability, and other key performance indicators. Avetta&rsquo;s cloud-based technology enables real-time monitoring and data-driven insights to enhance supply chain transparency and efficiency. It also introduced a 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/26013">
 GenAI-based assistant
 </a>
 to boost contractor compliance and enhance safety measures within supply chains. Its services also include 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/29232">
 &quot;Supplier Analytics,&quot;
 </a>
 designed to aid suppliers and contractors in identifying issues, meeting compliance needs, and improving safety measures via the Avetta platform.
 
 
 Avetta&rsquo;s platform also carries out contractor pre-qualifications for suppliers and offers a network of 130,000+ vetted suppliers to ensure credibility and compliance (April 2024).
 
 
 The company&rsquo;s M&amp;A deals include 1) acquisition of Australia-based developer of worker competency management software Pegasus to accelerate global expansion (July 2021) and 2) a merger with BROWZ, a provider of SaaS-based supply chain risk management software, to expand its global presence (February 2019).
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships&nbsp;
 
 
 As of April 2024, Avetta serves 500+ enterprise clients across 120 countries, including Encino Energy, LafargeHolcim, Yinson, Altafiber, Pacific National, Yancoal, BHP, Ausgrid, Valard, Storm Resouces, QuadReal Property Group, Cemex, Sabre Industries, SBA Communications, Rassaun Services, DECIEM, Universal Pegasus International, EPCOR Utilities, Vertical Limit, and Huntsman Corporation.
 
</div>

Third Wave Automation (TWA) is a developer of high-reach autonomous forklifts designed for warehouse automation. Its “TWA Reach” forklift offers the ability to operate in four different modes: 1) fully autonomous, 2) remote operation, 3) remote assist, and 4) manual operation. The forklift fleet is supported by a fleet management platform powered by machine learning and AI. The platform’s features include remote operation and assistance, intelligent fleet management, and visibility solutions for effective fleet management. The platform can be integrated with existing workflows by leveraging warehouse management systems. The company offers its products using a robots-as-a-service (RaaS) business model.Key customers and partnershipsTWA began pilot testing of its products in February 2023. As of May 2024, its solutions were actively used by customers like C.H. Robinson Worldwide and <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/29410">Holman Logistics.&nbsp;</a>The company has product partnerships with 1) forklift trucks and aftermarket parts manufacturer CLARK Material Handling Company to develop TWA Reach (March 2022) and 2) Toyota Industries to manufacture the forklifts (May 2021).&nbsp;

<div>
 
 Supplier.io develops a platform for managing, optimizing, and scaling supplier diversity and environment, social, and governance (ESG) programs offered on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) basis. The platform lets companies track and understand their current diverse spend, monitor the ESG impact of their programs, and match with Tier 1 and 2 suppliers through Supplier.io&rsquo;s database of more than four million certified diverse suppliers (as of April 2023). The platform&rsquo;s features include data enrichment, benchmarking, diverse analytics and reporting, supplier registration, finding suppliers, Tier 2 spend reporting, and economic impact analysis.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 The company operates on a subscription-based and pay-per-use SaaS business model.
 
 
 
 
 In 2019 Supplier.io acquired the supplier diversity management solution CVM Solutions to further strengthen the company&rsquo;s scope and offerings.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships&nbsp;
 
 
 Supplier.io&rsquo;s customers include Hyatt Hotels, Logitech, and Apollo Global Management.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 Supplier.io&rsquo;s supplier database includes integrations with databases such as B Corp to identify socially responsible suppliers and the US Military Spouse Chamber of Commerce to identify military spouse-owned businesses. 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/23468">
 In November 2023,
 </a>
 the company also partnered with Impak Analytics, a pioneer in ESG and impact intelligence, to provide detailed supplier analysis and meet the rising demand for exhaustive supplier data.
 
 
 
</div>

SourceDay offers a cloud-based software-as-service (SaaS) platform that enables companies to extend their ERP purchasing capabilities to suppliers. Sourceday lets companies manage their entire purchase order (PO) lifecycle from creation to receipt and includes features such as automated purchase order acknowledgments, order changes, digitized supplier invoices, automated three-way matching, side-by-side request for quote (RFQ) comparisons, and supplier key performance indicator (KPI) tracking. The technology also enables real-time communication and also enables companies to manage all their POs in a single dashboard. It also offers an AI-powered <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32088">supply chain risk management platform.</a>Key customers and partnershipsAs of February 2022, SourceDay was used by more than 12,000 global manufacturers and distributors. Its customers include Select Brands, Global Interconnect, Mott Corporation, Hubbardton Forge, rf IDEAS, Progress Rail, Marine Layer, JBT AeroTech, Federal Manufacturing, CMD &amp; CMAFH, SMC Corporation, Winky Lux, Chatsworth Products, DuraMark Technologies, VIRTEX Enterprises, Napoleon Products, Rocore, Edson, and Universal Electric Corporation.SourceDay offers integrations with ERPs such as Oracle NetSuite, Microsoft, SAP, Epicor, <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/28488">Infor, </a>and Acumatica.

ORO Labs develops a smart workflow orchestration platform for procurement. It offers a no-code platform designed to streamline the procurement process for businesses including invoicing, supplier onboarding, supplier bank validation, and risk management. ORO Labs launched its product in November 2021 and offers the service on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) basis. It also introduced GenAI capabilities to its procurement platform in&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/34535">October 2024.</a>The company has employees in the US, Europe, and India.Key customers and partnershipsORO Labs’ customers include companies such as Optimizely and Iovance Biotherapeutics. The company was reportedly working with several Fortune 200 companies, as of November 2023.The company also integrated its platform with multiple SAP products, including SAP Ariba procure-to-pay solution <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/23897">in November 2023, </a>to enable clients to manage spending and supplier relationships across various enterprise systems.Funding and financialsThe company reported over 400% growth in its customer base YoY in November 2023 and generated an annual recurring revenue of between USD 1 million and USD 10 million at the time.&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/23384">In November 2023, </a>ORO Labs raised USD 34 million in a Series B funding round led by Felicis to accelerate the international outreach and expansion of its platform.

Distributed workforces require new solutions for office operations, HR, payment, and more.

Remote Work Infrastructure

Simpplr is an intranet platform built for remote teams to engage and connect with colleagues. The platform provides employees with important organizational announcements, helps them find relevant documents faster, and keeps them socially connected to co-workers. Simpplr’s cloud-based platform is backed by AI, which the company uses to launch an auto-governance engine (November 2019), which ensures content is relevant and up-to-date and creates personalized employee news feeds.In addition, Simpplr uses “adaptive personalization” to publish content based on an employee’s role, department, and location. The platform integrates with popular enterprise tools such as Box, Google Drive, Slack, and Microsoft 365 from which content can be directly posted on the Simpplr interface. The platform operates a subscription pricing model.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/22006">September 2023</a>, Simpplr acquired Socrates.ai, a GenAI-based virtual employee assistant, offering centralized HR and IT information through a conversational interface. The service was integrated into its platform, improving the employee experience.Key customers and partnershipsAs of April 2024, the company had over a million active users across 1,000+ enterprises, notably including Snowflake, Moderna, Eurostar, and The World Economic Forum.Funding and financialsIn <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18178">May 2023</a>, the company raised USD 70 million in Series D funding led by Sapphire Ventures, taking the company's total funding to over USD 131 million. The new funding was set to be invested in the future growth and innovation of the employee experience platform.

Elevate is an employee benefits platform that focuses on consumer-directed benefits, including medical and dental benefit plans, and tax-advantaged accounts for flexible spending and health savings. The platform, which is available on desktop and mobile, provides an interface for employees to view and manage their pre-tax benefits, which are delivered via a single contactless card. Elevate also allows employers to customize plans and is available as a white-label platform for third-party administrators (TPAs), professional employment organizations (PEOs), and small and medium-sized businesses.Key customers and partnershipsThe platform expects to roll out via its distribution partners by Q1 2022 and is projected to reach around 900 employers.Funding and financialsThe company’s latest funding round was in April 2023, where it raised USD 28 million in a growth funding round led by Anthemis. Funding was earmarked to improve the platform’s AI capabilities, its go-to-market strategy and customer acquisition.

Wisq is an AI-powered coaching and career development platform designed to support managers and employees in workplace settings. The platform uses a combination of proprietary algorithms, along with LLMs from OpenAI, Meta, and Anthropic, to deliver personalized guidance and coaching. Available via browser, iOS, Android, desktop, and Slack, Wisq provides real-time guidance, expert advice, and coaching to managers in the flow of work. The platform securely analyzes team feedback, assessments, company content, learning materials, and prior conversations to deliver tailored advice to each user.As of April 2024, Wisq offers features including personalized coaching, automated content ingestion, calendar-aware nudges, actionable insights, workflow integration with Teams and Slack, team feedback capabilities, and company-wide insights for HR teams.&nbsp;The platform<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wisq-launches-first-personalized-ai-guide-for-managers-302113194.html#:~:text=a%20per%2Dseat%20SaaS%20subscription%20basis%20to%20organizations%20of%20any%20size."> operates&nbsp;</a>on a per-seat SaaS subscription basis, making coaching accessible to organizations of all sizes.Key customers and partnershipsWisq's platform has been used by several notable organizations. FICO&nbsp;<a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/wisq-brings-power-of-social-connection-platform-to-companies-of-all-sizes-1031784655#:~:text=%22FICO%20uses%20Wisq%20to%20strengthen%20relationships%20throughout%20our%203%2C500%2Dperson%2C">implemented</a> the platform across their 3,500-person globally distributed company to strengthen relationships and facilitate cross-team connections. Torch&nbsp;<a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/wisq-brings-power-of-social-connection-platform-to-companies-of-all-sizes-1031784655#:~:text=While%20we%20have,People%20Success%2C%20Torch">adopted</a> Wisq to help employees connect beyond their immediate teams.As of<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wisq-launches-first-personalized-ai-guide-for-managers-302113194.html#:~:text=%22-,The%20Xevant,-team%20was%20drawn"> 2024</a>, Xevant has partnered with Wisq to leverage its hyper-personalized coaching capabilities for its management team.&nbsp;

Velocity Global (Velocity) offers a suite of solutions that allows companies to manage a distributed workforce. Its services include US Employer of Record (EoR), international Professional Employer Organization (PEO), global payroll, compliance, and benefits (medical, pensions, flexible offices spaces, etc). The company launched its Global Equity Program (January 2023) offering enterprises a compliant means of providing competitive and comprehensive award packages globally.The company received a USD 100 million investment from FFL partners in April 2021 which it has used to make two key acquisitions. It acquired iWorkGlobal, aprovider of EoR, compliance, and agent of record services, in April 2021. The combined entity was expected to be the largest global provider of EoR services. Velocity Global made a similar acquisition in July 2021, acquiring the global EoR services Shield GEO at an undisclosed value. The acquisition allows Velocity to grow its international footprint. Shield GEO, based in Hong Kong, has a presence in over 90 countries with offices in Australia and the UK. Following the acquisition, Shield GEO’s workforce of 75 was absorbed by Velocity.Key customers and partnershipsAs of March 2023, Velocity Global’s services were available across over 185 countries, serving ~1,500 enterprises across industries such as cybersecurity, SaaS, private equity, and life sciences. Notable brands included Consensys, Crunchbase and Glaukos.Funding and financialsIn its latest funding round in <a href="https://velocityglobal.com/blog/velocity-global-raises-400m-in-series-b-growth-round/">May 2022</a>, Velocity Global raised USD 400 million in a Series B funding round led by Eldridge and Norwest Venture Partners. The round increased its valuation by 7x from the same period last year. The funds were raised to further improve the customer experience for businesses and talent, and make strategic investments in technology, sales and marketing, as well as potential future acquisitions in line with its strategy. As of March 2023, the company was valued at USD 2 billion, and crossed USD 200 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR).

Using AI to automate, enhance and optimize marketing activities

Marketing Automation

Act-on is positioned as a complete marketing cloud solution for small and mid-sized firms, catering to both B2B and B2C marketing needs. Its rebranded and revamped growth marketing platform, launched in June 2020, offers a range of solutions covering the entire marketing stack from customer segmentation, landing page creation, personalized marketing automation, social media management, search engine optimization (SEO).&nbsp;In November 2022, the firm introduced a new <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/14890">marketing automation network</a> to enable users to manage multiple marketing requirements including for separate brands, divisions, regions, client accounts, and distributors at scale. In September 2023, the company released <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21612">Act-On AI Predictive Lead Score,</a> a feature that helps marketers prioritize leads with a higher propensity to convert.According to product reviewers, the platform’s stand-out aspects are its ease of use and customer service. This is reflected in the firm being recognized by G2 as a leader in marketing automation software (Fall 2021).Key customers and partnershipsAct-on caters primarily to the banking, finance and insurance industries as well as manufactuiring and marketing agencies. As of December 2021, the firm had 4,000+ customers including SHARP, AutoZone, RSA, and Spandex.The firm also has a partner ecosystem including both sales partnerships as well as product integration partners. As of January 2023, 100+ firms including SimpleView, Marketing Guys, and Goose Digital were part of Act-On’s partner ecosystem.

Button is the developer of PostTap (formerly known as Button Reach), an ad personalization solution for brands to maximize their mobile marketing spend. The mobile app-based patented technology can create personalized consumer experiences to optimize mobile landing pages and optimize campaigns across all mobile marketing channels including apps, SMS, and social media. In October 2021, in partnership with customer engagement platform Twillo, Button launched PostTap SMS, enabling enterprise customers to launch integrated SMS marketing strategies without needing any coding or app development.Button also offers “Tap,” a mobile loyalty program aimed at app developers and publishers. This allowed commerce ads to be placed within a publisher's app to improve the buyer's experience while providing additional monetization opportunities.The firm claims that its platform is the first solution built to monetize commerce activity on mobile for enterprise users. Its PostTap solution reportedly results in a 30% lift to return on paid marketing spend, while its PostTap SMS yields a 29x ROI on marketing campaigns.In March 2022, the firm announced the appointment of a strategic advisory board to support the growth of its new product lines, which experienced triple-digit growth since its launch. At the same time, the firm claimed that its solutions had facilitated more than USD 5 billion in mobile ecommerce transactions.Key customers and partnershipsButton's customers include nine out of 10 of the largest retailers on the Forbes Global 2000 list, all 10 of the leading US ecommerce retailers, and global brands such as Samsung, Expedia, and United Airlines.The firm entered into several strategic partnerships with mobile app developers and marketing automation startups to broaden its product offerings. A case in point was a strategic partnership with mobile marketing analytics platform <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/85286">Adjust </a>to enable users to monitor and measure app traffic resulting from Button’s marketing optimization solutions.Funding and financialsIn June 2019, Button raised USD 30 million in Series C funding led by Icon Ventures. The funding was used to accelerate its product development, grow its strategic partnerships, and expand its geographical presence.

Session AI is an in-session marketing platform that uses patented artificial intelligence to predict purchase intent of website visitors within five clicks. The platform analyzes clickstream data to understand visitor behavior and deliver personalized incentives in real-time, without requiring any personally identifiable information or third-party cookies. The technology can suppress offers for high-intent visitors to improve margins while delivering targeted incentives to those who need them to convert. In March 2024, Session AI launched AI Incentive Optimization, which autonomously deploys, tests, and manages on-site incentives in real-time based on commercial goals set by retailers. The company was formerly known as ZineOne before rebranding to Session AI in March 2023. The platform has demonstrated an average 25% lift in conversions for anonymous visitors and a 29.6% increase in conversions for known visitors on targeted segments. Session AI's in-session marketing capabilities have helped create hundreds of millions of dollars in incremental revenue for customers.
Key customers and partnerships
Session AI's customer base includes major retailers like Kohl's, Men's Wearhouse, KEEN, PacSun, and Advance Auto Parts. In March 2023, the company integrated with Salesforce Commerce Cloud through the Session AI Cartridge for B2C Commerce.

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 tvScientific is a performance advertising platform that specializes in advertising for connected TVs (CTV). Its demand-side ad platform (DSP) provides two ways to purchase ads&mdash;either through managed services or a self-serve platform that allows marketers to manage their own TV ad campaigns. The platform&rsquo;s proprietary attribution technology optimizes campaigns by matching ad exposure to site visitations and other outcomes with a 1:1 deterministic ID match, providing transparency and accuracy for advertisers. Additionally, tvScientific provides targeting tools that allow for digital-like targeting on CTV media through third-party data sources and Web-to-TV retargeting, as well as a real-time reporting dashboard and Google-Analytics-integrated traffic reports.
 
 
 The platform provides direct access to premium CTV inventory and claims to be the industry's first supply path-optimized CTV media buying platform.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships&nbsp;
 
 
 According to the firm, it has access to 95% of ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) streaming apps, including SpotX, Magnite, and OpenX. Additionally, it can deliver campaigns on CTV platforms such as Samsung, Vizio, and Roku. In 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17655">
 2023,
 </a>
 tvScientific collaborated with MetricWorks, an incrementality measurement platform, to optimize and measure CTV performance and improve customer attribution in omnichannel advertising strategies, while also correcting last-touch attribution. 
 The company has also partnered with major mobile measurement partners (MMPs), such as&nbsp; 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/76419">
 AppsFlyer,
 </a>
 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/85286">
 Adjust,
 </a>
 Kochava, and Singular, for CTV integrations. 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In April 2022, the company raised USD 20 million in a Series A funding round led by Norwest Venture Partners. It planned to use the funds to broaden its customer base, bolster the team by hiring additional personnel, and advance product development. The round follows its USD 1.5 million seed funding round in April 2021.
 
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Data Infrastructure & Analytics

InfluxData specializes in time series database technology. Its primary product, InfluxDB, is a purpose-built database designed for handling time-stamped data. The company offers various deployment options for InfluxDB, including cloud-based services (InfluxDB Cloud Serverless and InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated) and self-managed solutions (InfluxDB Clustered and InfluxDB Edge). These products cater to various use cases in observability, real-time analytics, and IoT/IIoT applications.As a storage platform, InfluxDB provides a scalable solution for storing and analyzing time series data. The release of&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33367">InfluxDB 3.0</a> supports unlimited cardinality and can handle metrics, events, and traces in a single data store. It uses the Apache Parquet file format for efficient data compression and storage. InfluxDB offers different pricing tiers based on deployment type. The cloud-based InfluxDB Cloud Serverless operates on a pay-as-you-go model with a free tier, while InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated provides a capacity-based pricing model for larger workloads requiring dedicated infrastructure. The self-managed InfluxDB Clustered option is priced-based on the total CPU/RAM in the configuration, offering enhanced control and security for on-premises or private cloud deployments.Key customers and partnershipsIn June 2024, InfluxData partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to launch Amazon Timestream for InfluxDB. This collaboration aimed to provide a managed service for the open-source InfluxDB time series database on AWS, allowing AWS customers to run InfluxDB natively within the AWS Management Console and offering AWS infrastructure scalability, reliability, and security without the need for self-management.&nbsp;

Dremio is a data lakehouse platform company that provides solutions for self-service analytics and data management. Its platform offers i) Sonar, an SQL engine for open data platforms, and ii) Arctic, an intelligent metastore for Apache Iceberg. The platform also includes features that automatically update materialized views and aggregations when changes occur in the base Iceberg tables. It also speeds up the retrieval process by storing frequently accessed query results and supports seamless data loading from Amazon S3 to Iceberg tables. The company offers its services through a freemium, usage-based model.In December 2023, Dremio <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/24955">launched</a> a GenAI-powered data discovery feature to simplify data contextualization and analytics, building on previously developed text-to-SQL capabilities to provide in-depth business context and minimize manual tasks. The company also announced in parallel that it was expanding its analytics engine for the open-table Apache Iceberg format, allowing users to convert multiple databases into the format with a single click.Key customers and partnershipsAs of September 2024, its key customers included Amazon, Adobe, Bentley, Carter's, and Bose.

VAST Data engages in developing data infrastructure technologies, with a focus on applications in AI. VAST Data offers a range of products for AI and deep learning, including VAST DataStore for scalable unstructured data storage, VAST DataSpace for global cloud data access, VAST DataBase, which combines database, data warehouse, and data lake features, and the upcoming solution, VAST DataEngine, for advanced data computing​​​​​​.The company's approach emphasizes innovation in storage solutions for AI applications with an aim to streamline traditional data management techniques through its technology and services. The company's primary offering, VAST Data Platform, was introduced in 2019, with the first module announced being the VAST DataStore, a scalable unstructured data storage solution, designed to eliminate tiered storage.VAST DataSpace, launched in 2023, offers global data access across various cloud platforms and allows data computation from public, private, or edge cloud platforms, while VAST DataBase combines the features of a traditional database, a data warehouse, and a data lake, offering transactional and analytical performance at large scales. It's built for rapid data capture and quick queries.Key customers and partnershipsAs of September 2024, VAST Data claimed the following notable organizations among its customer base; this included global businesses like Pixar, CoreWeave, Lambda, Zoom, Verizon, NASA, and the US Department of Defense.The company also partnered with certain data infrastructure solution vendors and other technology partners as of November 2023, such as Splunk, Run:AI, Veeam, NVIDIA, and Lenovo, to expand its product’s reach and reliability. Its recent <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/26610">partnership</a> with Run:ai to create a comprehensive solution integrating AI functionality, including computing, storage, and data management for large-scale initiatives.

MotherDuck provides data infrastructure and analytics for both small and big data. The company combines DuckDB's elegance and speed with the collaborative and scalable capabilities of the cloud to offer a serverless, user-friendly analytics platform suitable for both small and large datasets.

Powering digital transformation for businesses

Low-code Platforms

IFTTT (If This Then That) is a web-based automation platform that allows users to create simple conditional statements, called applets, to connect and integrate various web services, apps, and smart devices. Founded in 2010 and launched publicly in 2011, IFTTT has grown to support over 600 different services and applications, including popular platforms like Google, Amazon, Twitter, Facebook, and Dropbox. The platform enables users to automate tasks and create new functionalities without requiring coding knowledge.
IFTTT's core functionality revolves around creating applets that consist of a trigger ("If This") and an action ("Then That"). For example, an applet could be set up to automatically save email attachments to Dropbox or turn on smart lights when the user arrives home. The platform offers both pre-made applets that users can easily activate and the ability to create custom applets tailored to specific needs. IFTTT is available as a website and mobile app for iOS and Android devices, allowing users to manage their automations from anywhere.
In addition to personal use, IFTTT has applications for businesses, helping to streamline workflows, automate social media activities, and improve productivity. The platform offers different pricing tiers, including a free plan with limited features and paid plans starting at USD 3.49 per month for more advanced capabilities. As of 2023, IFTTT has over 20 million registered users and integrates with more than 700 services.

Prodly offers a DevOps suite for application lifecycle management in Salesforce environments. The company's flagship product, AppOps, is designed to streamline change management processes for Salesforce teams. AppOps provides tools for data and metadata migration, deployment automation, and compliance tracking. The solution aims to increase productivity by 80% while reducing risk up to 30% for Salesforce administrators and citizen developers. Prodly's technology maintains complex object relationships across various Salesforce Clouds, including CPQ and Field Service. The platform enables users to deploy metadata up to 14 times faster than traditional methods, with automated accuracy checks to minimize errors. AppOps also offers features for comparing metadata and data across different Salesforce orgs, facilitating sandbox seeding, and providing version control capabilities. As of April 2022, Prodly's solutions were being used by high-growth and Fortune 100 companies across various industries.
Key customers and partnerships
Prodly's customer base includes prominent organizations such as American Express, Expedia, Stanley Black & Decker, Cardinal Health, Nutanix, Johnson & Johnson, Splunk, Verizon, DoorDash, and Snowflake. In April 2022, Toast, an all-in-one platform for restaurants, implemented Prodly AppOps to ensure auditability of metadata and data changes for SOX compliance following its IPO in September 2021. At that time, Toast was serving approximately 57,000 restaurant locations. Young Life, a non-profit organization, also reported improved project completion times and enhanced ROI on Salesforce through the use of Prodly DevOps.

Habu is a data clean room software provider that enables privacy-safe data collaboration for companies. Founded by former Krux and Salesforce executives, Habu's platform allows businesses to leverage distributed data environments without the risk of data leakage. The company's software supports flexible, multi-cloud infrastructure and automated intelligence to help organizations extract value from data collaborations while maintaining privacy and security standards. Habu's solution is designed for both data scientists and business users, offering no-code modules, pre-built queries, and marketer-friendly visualizations. This approach expands the potential use cases, including profile enrichment, journey analysis, measurement, activation, and distributed machine learning. In 2022, Habu reported 800% year-over-year growth, attributed to the increasing demand for solutions that address the fragmented identity ecosystem and distributed data landscape. The company's technology integrates with existing tools and platforms, including major cloud providers and industry-specific clean rooms.
Key customers and partnerships
Habu's client base includes category leaders across various industries such as Automotive, CPG, Financial Services, Media & Entertainment, Retail, and Travel. The company has worked with prominent brands like L'Oreal, JetBlue, Kellogg, NBC, and The New York Times. Habu collaborates with leading platforms for activation, data and identity companies, agencies, consultancies, and major cloud providers to facilitate data collaboration across the ecosystem. In January 2024, LiveRamp, a data collaboration platform, announced its acquisition of Habu in a transaction valued at approximately USD 200 million, aiming to enhance its data clean room capabilities and offer data collaboration at scale across clouds and walled gardens.

Amplication is an open-source backend development platform that automates and streamlines the creation of server-side applications. The platform generates fully functional, human-readable, and editable apps based on TypeScript and Node.js, including components such as NestJS, Prisma, REST API, GraphQL API, React admin UI, authentication, and authorization. Launched in January 2021, Amplication aims to eliminate repetitive coding tasks and improve productivity in the development process while maintaining flexibility and customization options for developers. The platform supports various database systems, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MongoDB. In September 2022, Amplication introduced its Enterprise version, followed by the launch of Amplication Pro Plan in January 2023 for businesses requiring larger scale operations and advanced customization. The company also offers a free version for small projects and individual users within the open-source community.

Leveraging personal data for custom-fit diagnosis and treatment

Precision Medicine

MyOme is a whole-genome sequence analysis startup that provides on-demand health insights on an individual’s risk of developing hereditary diseases and their response to certain medications. The platform generates disease risk scores that are updated based on a patient’s lifestyle changes, genes, and other clinical factors. The firm was founded by individuals experienced in the field of genomics including Matthew Rabinowitz, co-founder of Natera. As of June 2022, MyOme was also conducting research to decipher the genetic code of an embryo created using IVF. This test could calculate an embryo's future risk of cancer, diabetes, and ten other diseases. Such a genetic risk prediction service is being tested in adults, but not in embryos.In June 2022, the firm concluded a USD 23 million oversubscribed funding round led by Healthcare venture partners. The funds were allocated towards the commercialization of its platform and the launch of multiple products that leverage its whole-genome analysis technology.

BillionToOne is a genetic testing and diagnostic company. Their lead product UNITY Fetal Risk Screen is a unique prenatal test that uses fetal cell-free DNA to directly assess fetal risk for aneuploidies and common recessively inherited conditions, such as sickle cell disease, spinal muscular atrophy, and cystic fibrosis, without needing a blood sample from the male partner or amniocentesis. BillionToOne’s oncology liquid biopsy products, Northstar Select and Northstar Response, assist clinicians in selecting appropriate therapies and monitoring treatment responses in late-stage cancer patients. Northstar Select offers a 2-5x lower detection limit compared to other market assays, while Northstar Response is a methylation-based ctDNA assay with 10x the precision of SNV-based assays, validated across various cancer types for evaluating treatment responses in late-stage patients. Over 500,000 patients had received BillionToOne tests as of June 2024.<h3>Key customers and partnerships</h3> In December 2023, BillionToOne entered an agreement with Janssen R&amp;D, a company of Johnson &amp; Johnson, to perform a global clinical trial for severe hemolytic disease. The partnership was expected to leverage BillionToOne's UNITY Fetal Antigen Clinical Trial Assay (CTA) to select suitable participants for its critical Phase III trial in handling severe hemolytic diseases in pregnancy.

<div>
 
 Cytovale is a medical diagnostics company focused on advancing early detection technologies for diagnosing fast-moving and immune-mediated diseases like sepsis. The company has developed the IntelliSep test which uses high-speed imaging to assess cellular host response through deformability cytometry of leukocyte biophysical properties and is designed for use in patients with signs of sepsis or for those that physicians suspect may have infections. The results are used to generate a report that stratifies patients according to their risk of developing sepsis.
 
 
 
 
 IntelliSep is claimed to deliver test results within a mere 10 minutes, making it a fast and valuable resource in emergency departments. It differs from traditional diagnostic methods by evaluating the host's response to infection, simplifying the process by utilizing a standard blood draw. The tool also classifies patients into three distinct categories based on their likelihood of having sepsis. Band 1 denotes a low probability, while Band 3 suggests a high likelihood of sepsis. This categorization enables healthcare providers to quickly assess a patient's condition and make informed decisions. Furthermore, it aids hospitals in aligning with the guidelines set by the Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding timely sepsis treatment, known as SEP-1.
 
 
 
 
 In January 2023, the company received US FDA 510(k) clearance for its IntelliSep test for the ~30 million adult patients with signs and symptoms of infection who present to US emergency departments (ED) each year.
 
 
 
 
 Funding and Financials
 
 
 
 
 In November 2023, Cytovale raised USD 84 million in a Series C funding round, with participation from Norwest Venture Partners, Sands Capital, and Global Health Investment. The funds were expected to be used to expand the use of its IntelliSep prognostic blood-based test to more hospital emergency departments and healthcare systems in the US.&nbsp;
 
 
 
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Simplifying healthcare administration with intuitive tech tools

Hospital Management

Qventus is a leading provider of AI-powered software for automating care operations in hospitals and healthcare systems. Its platform integrates with electronic health records (EHRs) and leverages AI, machine learning, and behavioral science to automate processes across inpatient, perioperative, emergency department, and command center settings.
Qventus offers solutions that streamline discharge planning, optimize operating room (OR) scheduling, enhance system-wide patient flow, and create inpatient bed capacity. By automating these critical aspects of care delivery, Qventus helps healthcare organizations reduce excess days by 30-50%, decrease length of stay by up to one full day, and add over three new surgical cases per operating room per month.
In 2021, Qventus automated access and patient flow for more than 2 million patient encounters across its solutions, eliminating over 200 years of excess days and resulting in a 10x return on investment for its partners. The company's technology has been adopted by leading health systems nationwide, including Allina Health, Boston Medical Center, HonorHealth, M Health Fairview, Mercy, Saint Luke's Health System, and ThedaCare.
In March 2022, Qventus announced a USD 50 million growth investment led by Thomas H. Lee Partners and Premier, Inc., positioning the company to further expand its market presence and technology offerings. In July 2023, Qventus received the highest rating in the inaugural KLAS Capacity Optimization Management report, solidifying its position as the market leader in care operations automation.

Robin healthcare is a company that provides remote medical scribe services to healthcare providers. Their medical scribes are responsible for documenting patient encounters, navigating electronic medical records (EMRs), and providing feedback to improve note-taking systems. Robin healthcare employs scribes on a full-time basis, requiring them to work 35 to 40 hours per week.
The company's remote medical scribes accompany physicians during patient visits, either in-person or virtually. While the physician examines and interacts with the patient, the scribe charts the encounter directly into the EMR in real-time, ensuring accurate and timely documentation of the medical chart.
Robin healthcare recognizes the value of medical scribes in relieving healthcare providers from the burden of documentation, allowing them to focus on patient care. By leveraging remote medical scribes, the company enables healthcare facilities to streamline their operations and optimize the utilization of their resources.

Courier Health is a company that provides a Patient Engagement & Support solution for the biopharma industry. The company offers a purpose-built Patient CRM platform designed specifically for life sciences companies to manage patient data and improve patient outcomes. Courier Health's technology integrates disparate patient data sets to create a comprehensive view of each patient's journey, providing real-time visibility into the end-to-end patient experience from initial awareness and activation through prescription, access, and adherence.
The platform serves as a central command center for commercial organizations to orchestrate the patient journey, enabling teams to visualize, execute, and measure omnichannel workflows. This approach allows for more efficient patient and provider engagement by reducing the need to switch between multiple systems. Courier Health's solution is SOC 2 certified and HIPAA compliant, ensuring secure and compliant coordination across promotional and non-promotional teams within biopharma companies.
One of the key challenges Courier Health addresses is the high drop-off rate of patients from therapies, particularly in rare diseases. The company's platform aims to reduce the number of patients who discontinue therapy due to administrative issues, which can include incomplete patient forms, insurance reimbursement failures, and pharmacy coordination problems. By providing a holistic view of the patient's therapy journey, Courier Health's technology helps patient support teams track, manage, and collaborate more effectively with patients, doctors, insurance providers, and other stakeholders.

Technology to customize and procure furniture

Furniture Tech

Casper Sleep Inc. is an award-winning sleep company known for its design-driven products, unparalleled customer support, and seamless shopping experience. The company has revolutionized the mattress industry by offering a direct-to-consumer model, allowing customers to purchase affordable, high-quality mattresses online and have them delivered in a compact box.
Casper's mattresses are designed with three core principles in mind: cooling, support, and comfort. The company's research and development arm, Casper Labs, obsessively engineers its sleep offerings, including mattresses, pillows, bedding, and furniture. In January 2024, Casper unveiled a new line of mattresses reflecting the most up-to-date needs of customers, set to launch in February 2024.
Casper operates on a subscription-based model, where customers can purchase products directly from their ecommerce platform or through authorized retail partners. The company offers a 100-night risk-free trial, allowing customers to return the mattress if unsatisfied, and has it donated to charity or recycled. As of October 2019, Casper served over 1 million customers across eight countries and generated USD 439 million in revenue for the year.

Modsy was an online interior design service that utilized 3D imaging technology to help customers visualize how their spaces would look with new furniture and decor. Founded in 2015, Modsy developed a visualization engine that allowed users to scan their rooms in 3D and work with designers to virtually redesign their homes. Customers could explore shoppable 3D renderings of their spaces, complete with furniture and decor recommendations from popular retailers.
Modsy's design process began with an interactive style quiz, followed by customers uploading photos and measurements of their rooms. The company's designers would then create 3D design concepts, which users could revise using Modsy's 3D Style Editor tool. Modsy offered different pricing packages, ranging from USD 159 for a single room to USD 499 for a Luxe package with additional design support.
In March 2022, Modsy launched a first-of-its-kind virtual Renovation Design service, enabling customers to visualize home improvements using 3D technology and virtual tours before construction. However, by June 2022, Modsy had ceased providing online interior design services to consumers.
On August 30, 2023, Modsy's intellectual property and team were acquired by homebuilder Lennar. Under Lennar's ownership, Modsy's visualization engine will be used to provide dynamic virtual tours of Lennar's model homes for potential buyers, rather than offering design services to individual consumers.
Key customers and partnerships
Modsy maintained collaborative partnerships with numerous retailers, including Crate & Barrel, West Elm, Wayfair, and Interior Define, among others. This enabled Modsy to offer customers access to a wide range of furniture and decor options from popular brands within its 3D renderings.
Additionally, in 2021, Modsy partnered with Lennar, with the homebuilder taking an investment stake in the company. As part of this partnership, Modsy's technology was initially used to provide virtual tours and design services for Lennar's homebuyers.

Bumblebee Spaces is a San Francisco-based tech startup that has developed a modular ceiling system utilizing robotics and artificial intelligence to optimize living spaces. Founded in 2017 by Prahlad Athreya and Sankarshan Murthy, a former Apple and Tesla engineer, the company aims to counter the housing shortage in urban areas like San Francisco.
Inspired by the efficient organization of space within beehives, Bumblebee Spaces has created a system that stores furniture in the typically unused ceiling space. The system comprises a modular structure that raises and lowers different types of furniture from the ceiling based on the user's needs, controlled through voice commands or the Bumblebee app. The furniture units, including beds, desks, consoles, and workstations, are designed to slide out like Tetris blocks, transforming a single room into a multi-functional space.
Equipped with AI technology, the system learns user behavior and preferences, automatically adjusting the room layout based on routines or voice commands. It also incorporates object recognition to help users locate their belongings stored within the system. Bumblebee Spaces offers custom-fitted modules for various unit layouts, catering to different lifestyles.
While primarily working with real estate developers to integrate its system into existing and new apartments, the company also provides services to individual homeowners. As of June 2022, Bumblebee Spaces had installed its retractable furniture in luxury buildings like the Chorus and The Landing in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Empowering efficiency, visibility and collaboration throughout supply networks

Supply Chain Tech

Headquartered in Caesarea, Israel, Wiliot opeates in the Internet-of-Things (IoT) sector, focusing on bringing connectivity and intelligence to everyday products. The company has developed a platform called the ambient IoT Visibility Platform, which connects the digital and physical worlds through its IoT Pixels. These IoT Pixels are stamp-sized, self-powered compute devices that cost only pennies. They can attach to any product or packaging and transmit real-time item- and case-level information about location, temperature, humidity, and even carbon footprint. The platform allows companies to gain unprecedented visibility into their supply chains, enabling them to improve efficiency, reduce waste, ensure product safety, and optimize operations.Wiliot's IoT Pixels harvest radio frequency energy from surrounding sources like Bluetooth devices and Wi-Fi routers, eliminating the need for batteries. They communicate using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and connect to the internet through existing infrastructure like smartphones, tablets, or bridge devices. The collected data is then processed in Wiliot's Cloud, where advanced algorithms and analytics generate actionable insights.In addition to location and environmental sensing, Wiliot's platform can also detect events like fill levels, dilution, and tampering, making it valuable for industries like pharmaceuticals, food, and retail. The company has successfully deployed its technology for applications such as vaccine vial monitoring, produce freshness tracking, and retail inventory management.In August 2024, the company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32817">introduced</a> WiliBot, a GenAI chatbot that enables natural language conversations with ambient IoT-connected products in supply chains. The solution allows businesses to interact with their products and supply chains by asking questions about shelf life, product journey, stocking recommendations, safety, and carbon footprint. The company is currently piloting WiliBot with key enterprise customers, with a broader rollout planned for late 2024 and into 2025.Key customers and partnershipsWiliot serves a diverse range of industries including consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail, and healthcare. The company works closely with companies like Avery Dennison and Identiv, along with infrastructure providers and system integrators to deliver end-to-end solutions.Wiliot also collaborates with software companies like iFoodDS and Trustwell to integrate its ambient IoT data into their food safety and compliance platforms, enabling automated traceability and adherence to regulations like the FDA's Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) Rule 204.

Avetta provides a software-as-a-service (SaaS) supply chain risk management platform that allows businesses to assess and manage vendor compliance, safety practices, sustainability, and other key performance indicators. The platform carries out pre-qualifications for suppliers and offers a network of 125,000+ vetted suppliers across 130 countries to ensure credibility and compliance across the supply network. In addition, the company’s cloud-based platform enables real-time monitoring and data-driven insights to enhance supply chain transparency and efficiency.In January 2024, Avetta launched “AskAva,” a GenAI-powered assistant to boost contractor compliance and enhance safety measures within supply chains. Key features of AskAva include an interactive prompt system for accessing safety data and recommendations, risk assessment deployment for high-risk tasks, and personalized AI-based safety advice for third-party vendors. The company also works with a technology partner network that includes companies such as SAP, Coupa, Creditsafe, SecurityScorecard, DocuSign, and ZoomInfo Technologies to offer its solutions to customers.In February 2019, Avetta completed a merger with BROWZ, a provider of SaaS-based supply chain risk management software. The merger strengthened the company’s global presence by expanding the company’s global network to over 100 countries. In July 2021, Avetta also acquired the Australia-based developer of worker competency management software Pegasus to accelerate its global growth strategy.In April 2024, Sweden-based private equity firm EQT acquired Avetta from Welsh Carson Anderson &amp; Stowe (WCAS) for an undisclosed sum. At the time, Avetta's estimated value, including debt, was approximately USD 3 billion.In July 2024, Avetta unveiled a series of innovations across its Avetta One platform, which includes products for managing worksite safety, subcontractor management, supplier analytics, and ESG risk and compliance. The new features include AskAva, an AI-powered risk assistant that provides pre-site Safe Work Method Statements (SWMS) and dynamic risk assessment recommendations. The enhanced subcontractor management solution improves supply chain visibility and compliance, supplier analytics dashboards offer insights into completion status, compliance, and variances, and ESG and sustainability tools enable suppliers to reduce carbon footprint, prevent forced labor, and adhere to ethical practices.Key customers and partnershipsAs of October 2023, Avetta served 500+ enterprise clients including companies such as QuadReal Property Group, Pacific National, Mulligan Funding, and NEXT Insurance.In July 2024, Avetta partnered with ReGen Strategic, a leading ESG and impact advisory, to provide companies with solutions for improving supply chain sustainability and ESG performance. The partnership aimed to help companies comply with growing sustainability regulations, map and improve their supply chain sustainability and ESG performance, and deliver positive environmental and social impact.In March 2023, the company also partnered with Sustain.Life, a company that provides a platform to measure and reduce the environmental impact of an organization, to make Sustain.Life's suite of ESG tools available to the company's network of suppliers.

SourceDay offers a cloud-based software-as-service (SaaS) platform that enables companies to extend their ERP purchasing capabilities to suppliers by providing software solutions to manage their entire purchase order lifecycle from creation to receipt.The solutions include features such as automated purchase order acknowledgments, order changes, digitized supplier invoices, automated three-way matching, side-by-side request for quote (RFQ) comparisons, and supplier key performance indicator (KPI) tracking. The technology also enables real-time communication and lets companies manage all their purchase orders on a single dashboard. As of February 2023, the company claimed that it had processed more than USD 124 billion in direct spending for its global customers.SourceDay offers integrations with ERPs such as NetSuite, VISUAL, Syteline, Epicor, Infor LN, and Acumatica.In February 2024, the company launched SourceDay EDI, a platform that offers manufacturers and distributors a real-time view of their entire purchase order (PO) process. The platform is the result of a partnership between SourceDay and SPS Commerce, aiming to streamline supply chain operations and furnish real-time visibility to manufacturers and suppliers. The platform, through a proprietary API connection, enables suppliers and manufacturers to work in their respective business environments while still maintaining cross-collaboration. Later in July 2024, the company also <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32094">launched</a> SourceDay Intelligence, a new AI and machine learning-powered platform designed to enhance buyer decision-making in procurement processes. The platform enables proactive risk management, recommends smarter resolutions, and facilitates scalable automation.Key customers and partnershipsAs of February 2022, the company claimed that its platform was used by more than 12,000 global manufacturers and distributors. Its customer base includes Global Interconnect, Mott Corporation, Hubbardton Forge, rf IDEAS, Progress Rail, Marine Layer, Napoleon Products, JBT AeroTech, Federal Manufacturing, SMC Corporation, Winky Lux, Chatsworth Products, DuraMark Technologies, Global Interconnect, VIRTEX Enterprises, Rocore, and Edson.In April 2024, the company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/28491">partnered</a> with Infor, a business cloud software provider, to improve the management of direct spend PO lifecycles. The collaboration aimed to improve efficiencies by addressing the gap between ERPs and supplier networks in managing direct material POs by integrating SourceDay’s platform with Infor’s manufacturing and distribution ERPs. In the same month, the company also <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/28999">partnered</a> with Medius, a Swedish accounts payable automation and spend management company, to ​​ integrate Medius' AI-driven invoice management solution with its supplier engagement tools to help manufacturers and distributors optimize their Procure-to-Pay (P2P) cycle.

Building future-ready applications in the cloud

Cloud-native Tech

Qubole is a data lake solutions provider that offers a multi-cloud data lake platform. Qubole’s platform offers end-to-end services to streamline the operation and management of data pipelines, streaming analytics, data exploration, ad hoc analytics, and machine-learning workloads in cloud environments. It enables reliable and secure access to data and collaboration between users to reduce cloud data lake costs and improve productivity while simplifying data management, data engineering, and run-time services. The company offers its platform as a consumption-based model. In 2020, Qubole was acquired by Idera to expand its cross-platform data-centric solutions. Qubole operates independently as part of Idera’s Database Tools business unit. Key customers and partnershipsQubole’s key customers are Merkle, Gaia, Oracle, Expedia, Bloomreach, Autodesk, and Auris. The company’s technology partners include Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Looker, Yellowfin, Oracle, and Google Cloud Platform. Funding and financials As of September 2023, Qubole's last funding round was in August 2019, when it raised USD 2.9 million in a Series E round.

Harness is a software delivery platform that provides tools to build, test, deploy, and maintain software and applications. It claims to be the first software delivery platform to use AI to simplify DevOps processes.Harness offers a holistic DevOps platform that simplifies and accelerates the software delivery process. It includes features like continuous verification, feature flags, smart variables, and advanced analytics and supports multi-cloud and hybrid environments. Harness stands out with its machine learning-driven verification, ensuring reliable and high-quality software releases for organizations of all sizes.Harness offers its products as a subscription-based service.In 2023, Harness acquired OverOps, a software analytics company, and Propelo, a provider of real-time engineering metrics. In 2022, Harness acquired ChaosNative, a solutions provider for engineering and cloud-native reliability. The company continues to operate separately. Harness also acquired open-source continuous integration company Drone.io in 2020. Drone.io still operates independently.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25477">January 2024 </a>, Harness acquired the assets of Armory, a continuous delivery platform company, for USD 7 million. Harness plans to integrate some of Armory’s technology into its products.Harness also acquired Split Software in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/29964">May 2024</a> to integrate Split's feature management and experimentation capabilities into its own software delivery platform, offering an integrated solution that allows software teams to build, deploy, test, and refine software features.Key customers and partnershipsHarness has hundreds of customers in industries such as IT, finance, health, service, and SaaS. Customers include Siemens, Kroger, Vodafone, LexisNexis, PicPay, Shipt, Synopsys, Rakuten Card, Ulta Beauty, SquareSpace, Ancestry, The Warehouse Group, and Genentech.Harness’ partners include Google Cloud, Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Insight, Jems, HashiCorp, Ahead, Altoros, Benchmark, Digital Architects Zurich, Grid Dynamics, and Lucernys.

Sedai is an autonomous cloud platform that delivers performance, cloud cost, and availability optimization for cloud applications and infrastructure at scale. The Sedai platform’s capabilities include autonomous optimization, autonomous remediation, release intelligence, and smart SLOs (service level objectives). Sedai allows customers to autonomously manage deployments across multiple clouds and software, including Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Kubernetes. Sedai offers its platform as a subscription-based service. Key customers and partnerships Sedai’s customers operate in industries such as ecommerce, cybersecurity, online travel, and B2B SaaS. These customers include Belcorp, Canopy, and Fabric. Sedai is a software partner of AWS, allowing its customers to autonomously manage ECS (Elastic Container Service), EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service), and AWS Lambda. Sedai has integrations with several tools and platforms, including container management with Azure EKS, cloud platforms like Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Monitoring and APM (Application Performance Monitoring) software like Prometheus, notification providers such as Slack, Information Technology Services Management Systems (ITSM) platforms like Jira, and runbook automation such as StackStorm. Funding and financials Sedai raised USD 15 million in a Series A funding round in March 2022 led by Norwest Venture Partners.

More important now than ever, telehealth will long outlast the pandemic that drove its growth.

Telehealth

TigerConnect is a healthcare technology company that provides a clinical collaboration platform to improve communication and workflows in healthcare organizations. Founded in 2010, TigerConnect offers a suite of cloud-native solutions, including clinical communication, patient engagement, physician scheduling, and alarm management. Its patient engagement functions allow healthcare providers to communicate with patients and their family members via text, call, and video.&nbsp;As of <a href="https://tigerconnect.com/healthcare-organizations/">July 2024</a>, TigerConnect's solutions were used by over 7,000 healthcare organizations and 700,000 care team members. The platform facilitates more than <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/tigerconnect">10 million</a> messages daily. Key features include secure messaging, voice and video calls, nurse call integration, and the ability to receive and respond to alerts from various clinical systems. TigerConnect also offers a physician scheduling solution that allows users to build schedules, distribute call assignments, and swap shifts.TigerConnect's technology is designed to integrate with existing hospital systems and can route alerts and alarms from clinical systems like EHRs, critical labs, and smart beds to the appropriate caregivers in near real time.

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 New York-based Neura Health is a specialist telemedicine provider offering care for patients with headaches, migraines, and their subtypes. The platform offers its users access to one-on-one coaching, personalized treatment plans, consultations with specialist neurologists, and prescriptions and referral services.&nbsp;
 
 
 The platform offers both video consultations and doctor-patient messaging services, along with patient monitoring services to measure the effectiveness of both medicinal and non-medicinal prescribed treatments. Neura Health operates on both a subscription service and fee-per-service model, where patients are charged a monthly subscription for access to the platform while also paying for individual services such as video consultations.
 
 
 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 In May 2023, Neura Health partnered with Switchboard Health to join Switchboard&rsquo;s health benefits platform and care network of specialty clinics. Through the partnership, Neura Health&rsquo;s services were made available as a care option for Switchboard Health&rsquo;s members.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In May 2023, Neura Health raised USD 8 million in a seed funding round co-led by Koch Disruptive Technologies and Norwest Venture Partners, with participation from other venture capital firms. The raised funds were used to support the company&rsquo;s go-to-market strategy to treat more patients at scale and expand into the enterprise market. The&nbsp; company announced it would initially focus on employers and health plans.&nbsp; 
 
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Property owners and real estate companies are able to handle larger portfolios while offering faster and cheaper services.

Residential PropTech

<div>
 
 Opendoor is a platform that facilitates the buying and selling of residential properties. The platform also offers an iBuyer facility that allows sellers to sell their homes directly to Opendoor without having to list the property for sale. Opendoor provides home financing services that help home buyers to pre-qualify and make home offers backed by Opendoor. The company charges 5% service fees on homes sold to Opendoor and 5% commission on sales made through listing homes with Opendoor. It also charges 1% closing fees for transactions closed through the Opendoor platform.&nbsp;
 
 
 Opendoor acquired Open Listings, a platform that facilitates home buying through automation and provides listing services, in September 2018. The following year, Opendoor acquired OS National, a title and escrow service provider. The company continued its acquisition spree by acquiring Pro.com, a home improvement service provider and Skylight, another home improvement service provider, in September 2021. Through the acquisition of both companies, Opendoor will shut down Pro.com&rsquo;s and Skylight&rsquo;s platform and utilize their talent and technology to scale up Opendoor&rsquo;s iBuyer operations.&nbsp;
 
 
 In December 2020, Opendoor raised close to USD 1 billion by going public through a merger with a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. Following this SPAC merger, the new company will be named as Opendoor Technologies and will be listed on the Nasdaq exchange under its new ticker symbol &ldquo;OPEN.&rdquo; Through this transaction, the company planned to utilize the funding to support business growth, market expansion, develop new product offerings, and build its platform&rsquo;s technology.&nbsp;
 
 
 Opendoor reported a 55% YoY decline in total revenue to USD 6.9 billion for FY2023, from USD 15.6 billion recorded for FY2022. The company reported a net loss of USD 275 million for FY2023, compared to a net loss of USD 1.4 billion for FY2022. Opendoor reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of USD 627 million (translating to an adjusted EBITDA margin of -9.0%) for FY2023, compared to an adjusted EBITDA loss of USD 168 million (translating to an adjusted EBITDA margin of -1.1%) recorded in FY2022.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 As of July 2024, the company had 250,000+ customers and over 2+ million homeowners had requested an offer from Opendoor&rsquo;s platform.&nbsp;
 
 
 In September 2021, Opendoor partnered with Builders Digital Experience, a provider of listings of newly constructed homes through its New Home Source platform. Through this partnership, Opendoor will leverage newly built home listings available on the New Home Source platform to provide its clients seeking home trade-in with a wide range of home choice. In August 2022, Opendoor 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/12149">
 partnered
 </a>
 with 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/270059">
 Zillow Group
 </a>
 to bundle product offerings, allowing users of Opendoor to access Zillow&rsquo;s Premier Agent to connect with a potential buyer.&nbsp;&nbsp;
 
 
 In October 2023, Opendoor partnered with eXp Realty to integrate its cash offer solution into eXp's ExpressOffers platform, enabling nearly 90,000 eXp agents to request cash offers directly. This collaboration aimed to streamline the home-selling process by providing clients with an Opendoor cash offer and the option to list on the market. Additionally, eXp agents can earn extra commissions through Opendoor for Agents rewards programs.
 
 
 In June 2024, Opendoor partnered with My State MLS to integrate cash offer estimates on eligible properties. This partnership expands Opendoor's reach to over 60,000 agents across all its markets, increasing its potential customer base. Opendoor benefits by streamlining transactions and enhancing its Agent Access loyalty program, incentivizing agents to close more deals through their platform.
 
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FlyHomes is a platform that aims to help clients in their home buying and selling process, from brokerage to mortgaging, by operating a marketplace connecting buyers and sellers of residential properties. As of June 2024, its services were available in 28 states and Washington D.C., with plans to expand further.The company also offers a cash offer program, where FlyHomes purchases a home on behalf of its buyer. This enables the client to move into the property with FlyHomes compensated through rental payments during this period of stay. Clients choosing this option are given sufficient time to secure financing options to buy back the property from FlyHomes. However, if a client's financing options fail, Flyhomes claims to provide a guarantee to purchase the property, which gives a higher level of assurance to the client that the transaction will eventually close.In June 2024, the company launched Flyhomes AI, an AI-powered home search portal available in the US. This tool uses data from nearly 1,000 sources to answer detailed questions about properties and neighborhoods, including value comparisons and mobile network coverage. Flyhomes AI aimed to help buyers access important information before working with an agent and provide a valuable resource for agents to better assist their clients.Furthermore, FlyHomes introduced a Buy Before You Sell program targeted at its real estate selling clientele. This structured program enables homeowners to access their equity tied up in their current home in order to purchase their desired home. The platform claims the homeowner is given a guaranteed price on the current home as FlyHomes adds it to sale listings and will purchase it if not sold within 90 days. FlyHomes will charge half of the commission taken by the buyer’s broker, which accounts for nearly 2%–3% of the purchase price.In September 2023, Flyhomes entered into a definitive agreement to <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21823">acquire certain assets from Home Sale Assured</a> (i.e., Innovative Holdings LLC), a buy-before-you-sell platform for properties, for an undisclosed sum. Through this acquisition, the company planned to expand its platform’s offerings by leveraging the guaranteed backup contract of Home Sale Assured to its customers and onboarded Eric Meadow (Founder of Home Sale Assured) into a senior executive role to utilize his mortgage industry expertise and network of relationships.Key customers and partnershipsAs of June 2021, the company claimed that it had bought and sold over USD 2.6 billion worth of homes since launching, having worked with over 2,700 customers.

AI-based solutions for evolving digital threats

Next-gen Cybersecurity

<div>
 
 Exabeam offers a platform that integrates with security tools like Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASBs), endpoint protection platforms, and endpoint detection and response (EDR) platforms. Through these integrations, the company applies automated behavioral analytics and machine learning to support security teams in detecting, investigating, and responding to advanced threats. Exabeam&rsquo;s solutions are used by companies across financial services, healthcare, government, and manufacturing. In November 2020, Exabeam was ranked 44th in Deloitte&rsquo;s &ldquo;Technology Fast 500&rdquo; list, which tracks the fastest-growing technology companies in North America. Exabeam recorded revenue growth of 3,873% between 2016 and 2019.
 
 
 In July 2021, Exabeam partnered with Exclusive Networks, a cybersecurity and cloud solutions specialist, to distribute Exabeam&rsquo;s cybersecurity products in New Zealand.
 
 
 In June 2021, the company raised USD 200 million in Series F funding, at a valuation of USD 2.4 billion, in a round led by the Owl Rock Division of Blue Owl Capital for product development, scaling up its product, and expanding its leadership team.
 
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<div>
 
 Uptycs offers a platform allowing organizations to coordinate their endpoint and cloud security from a single dashboard. The platform can also be used for extended detection and response (XDR), cloud work protection, and cloud security posture management. It collects and analyzes telemetry and transforms it into dashboards, reports, and alerts using structured query language (SQL). The platform combines the open-source endpoint agent osquery with a security analytics framework to identify and detect intrusions across Linux, macOS, Windows, containers, and cloud workloads. As of May 2021, the company claimed to have experienced consecutive years of triple-digit revenue growth and counted various Fortune 500 companies among its clients, such as Comcast Security, Flexport, and Lookout.
 
 
 
 
 In May 2021, Uptycs raised USD 50 million in a Series C funding round led by Norwest Ventures for product development and to expand its geographical footprint.
 
</div>

Revolutionizing construction with sustainable practices to build faster

Prefab Tech

<div>
 
 Abodu is a manufacturer of prefab accessory dwelling units (ADUs). The company offers three pre-designed and approved models: a 340-square-foot studio, a 500-square-foot one-bedroom house, and a 610-square-foot two-bedroom house, with prices starting at USD 190,000. The company reports that it can deliver a completed unit within 30 to 90 days depending on the approvals required in different cities.&nbsp;
 
 
 Abodu incorporates sustainable features to its ADUs such as insulating walls, ceilings, and subfloors with sustainable material, building units to run totally on electricity (no gas connections required), using energy-efficient appliances, and providing options to incorporate third-party solar panels. Abodu adopts a unique operating model which uses a network of factory partners, within its operational areas, who build Abodu units depending on their capacities. The company also entered into a partnership with Intero, a provider of real estate services based in Morgan Hill, California, to offer Abodu ADUs for Intero clients. 
 
 
 The company operates in Northern California, Southern California, and the 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/12699?industryIds=60">
 Pacific Northwest.
 </a>
 In July 2021, the company raised USD 20 million in Series A funding led by Norwest Venture Partners with participation from several previous investors. The company also planned to enter the San Diego market.
 
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<div>
 
 ICON specializes in constructing high-performance homes using 3D-printed technology. Its homes feature designs that prioritize sustainability and resilience, taking advantage of the possibilities offered by additive construction. Using its Vulcan robotic construction systems, advanced materials, and software, ICON claims to be able to deliver homes quickly and efficiently while reducing waste and resulting in energy-efficient homes.&nbsp;
 
 
 &nbsp;The Vulcan construction system combines hardware, materials, and software to construct homes and large-scale structures. It comprises the Vulcan printer and Magma portable mixing unit, responsible for preparing ICON's proprietary building material, Lavacrete, for printing. The entire process is managed by the BuildOS software suite, which generates and prepares architectural designs and controls the on-site robotic hardware. Notably, the system is designed to be weather and environmentally conscious. The Magma unit adjusts and mixes ICON's Lavacrete material in real-time, ensuring optimal material performance during 3D printing for resilient and sustainable structures. 
 &nbsp;
 
 
 ICON's Lavacrete, a type of high-strength concrete, demonstrates a compressive strength, ranging from 2,000 to 3,500 lbs per square inch (psi). Notably, in rigorous structural tests, ICON's wall system surpassed the minimum requirements set by building codes by over 350%.&nbsp;
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/20362">
 ICON and Lennar collaborated
 </a>
 to build a community of 100 3D-printed homes in Texas Hill Country, co-designed with BIG-Bjarke Ingels Group, an architectural firm.&nbsp;
 
 
 ICON also initiated &ldquo;Initiative 99,&rdquo; a global architecture competition supported by AIA, Austin, de zeen, and ArchDaily. The competition's aim was to create accessible, aesthetically pleasing, and dignified 3D-printed homes that could be constructed for under USD 99,000.&nbsp;
 
 
 In March 2023, ICON collaborated with hospitality expert Liz Lambert and architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) to build the world's first hotel constructed using 3D-printing technology, El Cosmico, which was set to open in Texas, US, in 2024.&nbsp;
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In February 2022, ICON raised USD 185 million in a Series B funding round led by Tiger Global Management. The funding was planned to be used to build more homes with its 3D-printing technology.
 
 
 
</div>

Pushing the envelope in MedTech with emerging technologies

Next-gen Medical Devices

Neocis is developing technology for dental surgery using advanced robotics. It manufactures and markets Yomi, the first robotic surgical system in dentistry cleared by the FDA. Yomi is a computerized robotic navigational system designed to assist in the planning and execution phases of dental implant surgery. This robotic assistance helps reduce procedure time, pain, recovery time, and the chances of complications, offering significant benefits to dentists and patients undergoing dental implant surgery.The advanced platform has received 16 FDA clearances, including full-arch rehabilitation and guided bone reduction procedures.Key customers and partnershipsNeocis primarily provides its solutions to dental clinics and surgical centers. As of January 2024, over 40,000 dental implants were placed using the Yomi system and new implants are placed robotically approximately every six minutes. Notable dentist practices using the Yomi system include Artaza Dental and Veranda Dentistry.

Route 92 Medical is a MedTech company focused on improving outcomes for patients undergoing neurovascular interventions. Its core focus is on developing solutions for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke, the most common type of stroke.The company’s proprietary Monopoint Operating Platform is designed to streamline endovascular thrombectomy procedures by enabling the delivery of large-bore and super-bore catheters without a microcatheter and with reduced use of a guidewire. This approach aims to enhance procedural efficiency, reduce procedure time and cost, and improve patient outcomes.In April 2024, Route 92 Medical received FDA clearance for its FreeClimb 54 reperfusion system, which includes the FreeClimb 54 aspiration catheter paired with a Tenzing five-delivery catheter. Additionally, the company's HiPoint 88 super-bore catheter, part of the Monopoint Platform, has demonstrated promising results. A multicenter study showed 82% first-pass efficacy and 100% success in reaching intracranial occlusions with the HiPoint 88 catheter, with a mean groin-to-clot contact time of 14 minutes and no serious adverse events.Further in January 2024, Route 92 Medical announced its 100th globally issued patent.Key customers and partnershipsRoute 92 Medical primarily targets healthcare providers involved in treating acute ischemic stroke.

Automation to improve business efficiency

Workflow Automation Platforms

FloQast offers an end-to-end workflow automation platform for finance, accounting, and internal audit teams. The platform enables users to collaborate on the management of month-end close tasks and automate workflows relating to accounting operations, reconciliation management, financial reporting, payroll, and information requests. Furthermore, the platform offers a dashboard that provides users with visibility into compliance, financial planning and analysis (FP&amp;A), and reporting workflows, as well as insights on maximizing process efficiency.In May 2023, the company expanded its platform by launching a compliance management solution that enables users to manage and integrate compliance into business processes, such as payroll processing and financial reporting. Furthermore, the company leverages GenAI to enable users to perform variances analysis, generate relevant descriptions and recommended actions for variances, automate information requests via auto-generate emails and intelligent response reviews, and automate reconciliation management.Key customers and partnershipsIn August 2022, FloQast extended its partnership with Microsoft to offer Microsoft’s global network of enterprise customers access to its accounting automation solutions via the Microsoft Business Applications ISV Connect program. The company also launched a number of apps on Microsoft AppSource.FloQast also provides a number of pre-built integrations with spreadsheet platforms, ERP systems, team messaging platforms, and email and cloud storage providers such as SAP, Oracle, Quickbooks, Dropbox, and Slack.As of October 2023, the company served over 2,500 global customers, including Shopify, Revolut, Kodiak, Zoom, Snowflake, DocuSign, and Okta.Funding and financialsIn April 2024, FloQast <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/28418">secured USD 100 million in Series E funding</a> led by ICONIQ Growth, at a valuation of USD 1.6 billion. The company planned to utilize the funding to support its research and development efforts (with a focus on AI), and global expansion. In February 2022, the company reported a 97% YoY growth in its annual recurring revenue (ARR) for the quarter, as well as a 153% YoY growth in net new ARR for 2021.

Workato offers a cloud-based platform that enables citizen and professional developers to integrate a range of data and apps and create end-to-end automations across several business functions, including finance, HR, sales, IT, and marketing. The platform suite of solutions includes robotic process automation (RPA), integration platform-as-a-service, business process automation, and chatbots. Users can publish APIs, build data integrations, and create customized apps and bots from scratch via the platform's low-code interface or use over 500,000 community-built automation templates (called “recipes”).Moreover, the platform enables users to build tailored solutions for each business function, including automations for 1) accounting teams: Wuote-to-cash, accounts payable, and reporting, 2) sales and marketing teams: Campaign operations and lead management, 3) HR teams: Talent acquisition, onboarding, and collaboration, and 4) IT teams: Incident management and end-user support.The platform also provides software infrastructure, named “Common Workato Runtime” (CWR), which handles capacity planning, load balancing, fault-tolerance, and run-time optimization. In September 2023, the company launched “Workflow Apps,” a no-code tool that enables users to build end-to-end workflow automation applications.In November 2021, the company acquired RailsData, an Indian integration platform, for an undisclosed amount. Workato leveraged the company’s technology to power its own automation solutions and enable large customers to deploy services via application programming interfaces (APIs).Key customers and partnershipsAs of November 2023, served over 17,000 businesses across a number of industries, including financial services, retail, logistics, and healthcare. Its clientele includes large enterprise clients, such as Atlassian, AT&amp;T, Adobe, Autodesk, Box, Stitch Fix, GitLab, NYU, Nokia, and Broadcom.The company also offers integrations with over 1,000 third-party applications and databases (as of December 2023), including Salesforce, Slack, Marketo, NetSuite, ServiceNow, and Workday.The company also partners with a number of systems integrators and technology service providers such as Trianz, Cognizant, Cloud9 Consulting, <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32627">Reltio,</a> and <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32626">Deloitte.</a>In June 2023, the company partnered with OpenAI, to integrate the company’s large language model (LLM) technology with its automation platform, and develop a new GenAI-driven solution. Named AI@Work, the solution will feature a number of tools including: 1) Workato Copilot, which enables users to convert natural language prompts into powerful Workato recipes, 2) Workato AI Connect, which enables users to create personalized content, and 3) WorkbotGPT, which enables users to interact with enterprise applications such as Slack and Microsoft Teams in a conversational manner.

Platforms to make the most of cloud infrastructure

Cloud Optimization Tools

Harness is a cloud-based end-to-end software delivery platform that provides cloud cost management (CCM), among other modules.Harness CCM offers a holistic set of features to facilitate cost optimization of the development pipeline. It provides a single customizable dashboard to unify data and insights across multiple departments and cloud vendors. Further, it delivers automated anomaly detection and resource allocation to optimize continuous delivery (CD) workflows and allows for seamless integration with existing monitoring tools for an overview of cloud spend.In <a href="http://v">January 2024</a>, Harness acquired Armory, a continuous delivery platform company, for USD 7 million, with plans to integrate some of Armory’s technology into its products. Furthermore, in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/29964">May 2024</a>, it acquired Split Software, a company specializing in feature management and experimentation, for an undisclosed sum. Harness aimed to integrate Split's feature management and experimentation capabilities into its software delivery platform to offer a comprehensively integrated solution that allows software teams to build, deploy, test, and refine software features efficiently and effectively.Harness operates a consumption-based sales model with pricing based on the annual cloud spend.Key customers and partnershipsHarness CCM’s clientele ranges from individuals to large-scale enterprises across various industries, including healthcare, IT, finance, service, and SaaS. Notable customers include Synopsys, Relativity, Discover Dollar, and Carvana.Harness collaborates with many industry leaders to ensure wide service provision and integrations with various tools and platforms. Some of its key technology partners are HashiCorp, Benchmark, and Insight.

Sedai is an autonomous cloud-based platform that provides continuous optimization solutions for cloud applications and infrastructure at scale.Sedai’s platform leverages AI to analyze workloads and apply horizontal and vertical scaling of containers at the pod/task level to deploy the lowest cost configurations. Further, Sedai’s machine-learning capabilities detect patterns and evaluate infrastructure to provide container rightsizing and predictive autoscaling to optimize cloud spend, remediate peak usage issues, improve customer experience, and reduce failed customer interactions.Sedai operates a subscription-based sales model.Key customers and partnershipsSedai serves customers in various industries, including ecommerce, cybersecurity, online travel, and B2B SaaS such as KnowBe4, PaloAlto Networks, Belcorp, Campspot, and Canopy.Sedai has a software partnership with AWS, allowing AWS customers to utilize the Sedai platform for optimizing AWS Lambda, EKS, and ECS deployments. It also provides integrations with Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, and Kubernetes.

Tools that streamline software development

DevOps Toolchain

InfluxData is the creator of InfluxDB, a leading time series platform for storing and analyzing time-stamped data. InfluxDB is designed to handle high write and query loads, making it suitable for various use cases including IoT sensor data, DevOps monitoring, and real-time analytics. The platform offers features like high-speed data ingestion, real-time querying, and flexible data retention policies. In April 2023, InfluxData announced InfluxDB 3.0, a major update rebuilt as a columnar database leveraging Apache Arrow. This version promises significant performance improvements, including 100x faster queries against high cardinality data and 10x higher ingest performance. InfluxDB 3.0 also introduced SQL language support alongside its existing InfluxQL time-based functions.
InfluxData offers multiple product options to cater to different deployment needs. These include InfluxDB Cloud Serverless, a fully-managed elastic service, and InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated, which provides dedicated cloud infrastructure for large-scale workloads. For self-managed deployments, InfluxData offers InfluxDB Clustered for on-premises or private cloud use, and InfluxDB Edge for local or edge deployments.

Harness is a software delivery platform that provides continuous integration and continuous delivery (CI/CD) solutions for enterprises. Founded in 2017 by Jyoti Bansal, the company offers a suite of tools designed to automate and streamline the software development lifecycle. Harness's platform includes modules for CI, CD, feature flags, security testing orchestration, service reliability management, and chaos engineering. The platform leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to detect deployment quality and automatically roll back failed deployments. Harness aims to simplify the DevOps process by reducing the need for custom scripting and manual oversight in software delivery pipelines. The company's CD solution allows developers to deploy code changes within minutes of a pull request being merged, with necessary tests and scans run during the pipeline. Harness also provides cloud cost management capabilities, offering visibility into cloud resource consumption with hourly granularity. In January 2024, Harness reported surpassing USD 100 million in annual recurring revenue and serving over 600 enterprise customers. The platform facilitated over 44 million code deployments for customers in 2023, more than double the previous year's figure.
Key customers and partnerships
Harness counts some of the world's largest retailers and banks among its customers. Notable clients include Ancestry, which reported an 80-to-1 reduction in developer effort for implementing new features across pipelines. Ulta Beauty credited Harness with saving months of time in bringing their ecommerce platform to market. Other key customers include Citi Bank, National Australia Bank, Booking.com, United Airlines, and Yum! Brands. In February 2023, Harness announced its acceptance into Platform One, the US Air Force's DevSecOps platform, making its CI, CD, and Security Testing Orchestration modules available to US government agencies. This certification enables government agencies to increase speed-to-mission and reduce the burden on developer teams. In January 2024, Harness acquired Armory Inc., a competitor focused on automating continuous deployment workflows, in an all-cash deal valued at approximately USD 7 million.

New products and new technologies are bringing high-end gym workouts to the home.

Connected Fitness

<div>
 
 Tempo (formerly known as Pivot) is a startup that develops fitness devices that assist in strength training and other exercises. Prior to the introduction of Tempo, the company launched SmartSpot in 2015 to focus on power gyms. SmartSpot was a predecessor to Tempo with a similar motion-tracking application to correct the form and technique in strength training. Similar to SmartSpot, Tempo is equipped with a large screen that has built-in 3D motion sensors and artificial intelligence (AI) to capture movement patterns and range and make suggestions in a manner similar to that of a human trainer.  Tempo devices can also be integrated with Apple Watch. Besides the device, Tempo includes a kettlebell system, a barbell, and two dumbbells that can be adjusted in weight. Its devices are available in three packages: Tempo “Starter,” “Plus,” and “Pro,” with varying prices that range between USD 2,495 and USD 3,995 based on added weights and equipment. Besides strength training, users can take high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and mobility classes on-demand or live, available for USD 39 per month. 
 
 
 In November 2021, Tempo introduced 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/6366">
 “Tempo Move,”
 </a>
 a cheaper modular home gym solution that can be connected with iPhones and home TVs for a connected fitness experience. Tempo Move consists of a two-foot-high storage container that comes with 50 lbs of weight plates and dumbbells (additional weights can be purchased separately). It uses technology in the iPhone to count reps and provide form feedback during workouts. Users can access live and on-demand workout content including strength, yoga, meditation, cardio, and HIIT exercises.
 
 
 In August 2022, Tempo introduced an 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/12067">
 all-access membership program
 </a>
 with one-on-one online fitness coaching priced at USD 59 per month, which also includes its Tempo Move home gym. 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 Tempo reported 10x sales growth and zero subscriber churn in 2020. In April 2021, the company raised USD 220 million in a Series C funding round led by Softbank Vision Fund 2, bringing the total raised to almost USD 300 million to date. Tempo will use the new capital for the continued enhancement of its AI and 3D sensor technology.
 
 
 
 
 
</div>

New technologies are opening up mental health services to previously overbooked and underserved populations.

Mental Health Tech

<div>
 
 Talkspace provides virtual mental health services through its digital platform. The company offers therapy for individuals, couples, and teens, as well as psychiatric treatment and medication management for adults. Talkspace connects users with licensed therapists and psychiatrists for video, audio, and text-based therapy sessions. Similar to traditional treatments, Talkspace healthcare providers can treat mental health conditions, such as schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, bipolar disorders, and depression, including through prescription medication and management.&nbsp;
 
 
 The company initially launched as a B2C business comprising individuals who subscribe directly to the platform and later ventured into the B2B2C market consisting of large enterprise clients such as Google and Expedia as well as health plans and employee assistance programs such as Aetna, Cigna, Humana, and Optum. The B2C service includes online therapy, psychiatric medication and evaluation, couples therapy, and teen therapy, covering a range of conditions. Talkspace&rsquo;s personalized text-based sessions are available under five different plans costing between USD 260&ndash;396 per month.
 
 
 Talkspace began trading on the Nasdaq in June 2021, following the special purpose acquisition company merger with Hudson Executive Investment Corp. For 
 <a href="https://investors.talkspace.com/news-releases/news-release-details/talkspace-announces-fourth-quarter-and-full-year-2023-results">
 FY2023
 </a>
 , the company&rsquo;s net loss improved 76% YoY to USD 19.2 million, while its annual top-line revenue grew 25% YoY to USD 150 million, driven by a 99% YoY increase in B2B revenue.&nbsp;
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 As of September 2024, Talkspace had connected individuals with a network of 5,300 licensed mental health providers, covering more than 150 specializations through virtual counseling, psychotherapy, and psychiatry. Furthermore, it covered 151 million lives (September 2024) via its B2B2C channels and 11,700 members (FY2023) via its D2C channel.
 
 
 Talkspace has key partners, including 1) 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21398">
 ŌURA
 </a>
 , to allow members to share sleep and activity data from the OURA ring with their therapists (August 2023), 2) 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/24871">
 Evernow
 </a>
 , to utilize each other's services for expansion purposes (December 2023), 3) 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/26851">
 Wheel
 </a>
 , to integrate solutions to offer comprehensive virtual healthcare in US (February 2024), 4) 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/28892">
 Thirty Madison
 </a>
 , to bring mental health care to the Thirty Madison&rsquo;s members using its Nurx and Cove platforms (April 2024), and 5) 
 <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240917657389/en/Talkspace-Partners-With-Amazon-Health-Services-to-Help-Millions-Discover-Mental-Health-Benefits">
 Amazon Health Services
 </a>
 , to increase awareness and discoverability of its mental health services on Amazon.com (September 2024).
 
</div>

Pet ownership is at an all time high in the United States and the pet care economy is booming.

Pet Care Tech

Petabyte Technology (Petabyte) operates a SaaS-based veterinary services platform that provides practice management solutions for veterinarians. It covers a gamut of use cases within veterinary practices such as billing, inventory, and prescriptions. Its solutions also include an analytics platform, which can be used as a standalone tool or in conjunction with its practice management product (“Rhapsody”), and a mobile client companion app that facilitates appointment scheduling and virtual check-ins (“Boop”). The app also provides access to medical records and wellness plans.The company announced the Petabyte Consortium in August 2021, with participation from veterinary groups including the National Veterinary Associates (NVA), easyvet, and the EU-based UNAVETS. The consortium was formed to build software and set a global standard in handling data and workflows for veterinary practices.In December 2023, the company was acquired by Chewy, a provider of pet products and services, to strengthen its pet healthcare offerings.Key customers and partnershipsPetabyte entered a partnership with National Veterinary Associates (NVA), an operator of more than 1,000 veterinary hospitals and pet resorts across North America, Australia, and Singapore, in August 2021. As part of the arrangement, the two companies revealed plans to collaborate on the development of cloud-based software for veterinary practices.&nbsp;

Old CRMs were complicated, expensive, and limited. Simpler, cheaper CRMs targeting SMEs have arrived.

SME CRM

Formerly known as ProsperWorks, Copper is a CRM platform built with Google Workspace integration, which helps users make notes, follow up, and close sales directly from their Gmail accounts. Copper became the recommended CRM on the Google Workspace Marketplace in 2015 and was named Google’s Partner of the Year in 2016.The company was rebranded Copper after five years of operation in July 2018. Along with the name change, the company simplified its product and enhanced its Google Workspace partnership.Copper claims that its clients on average have experienced a 30% improvement in sales reporting, a 35% decrease in the sales cycle period, and 36% better response time to customers. As of Q3 2018, Forbes noted that Copper was winning over Salesforce customers in the SME market segment, driven by its affordable price and ease of installation.In February 2021, Copper acquired Sherlock, an engagement analytics and scoring platform (deal value undisclosed). Copper plans to integrate Sherlock into its current platform to help customers identify the best times for sales conversion, ensure lasting revenue, and build stronger relationships. The merger is expected to fill the growing demand for CRM systems to provide insights that drive meaningful actions. In addition, the firm has entered into product integrations to extend the use case of its product offerings, culminating in the lauch of its <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13559">integration marketplace </a>in October 2022, providing users with access to 70+ integrations covering a variety of use cases including customer support, meeting scheduling, project management, and website tracking.Key customers and partnershipsAs of August 2022, Copper counted more than 30,000 paid customers in 100+ countries and supported nine languages. Apart from SME users, In 2019, Copper was found to be the number one CRM for small to medium sized advertising agencies, with more than 900 agency customers.Apart from its longstanding partnership with Google, Copper has its own partner program which it revamped alongside its rebranding to include higher margins (up to 30%) for resellers, focusing particularly on top-tier Google Workspace resellers to SMEs.Funding and financialsIn May 2019, the company raised USD 15 million in a Series C funding round, which it plans to use to further expand its market share in Europe, the Middle East, and African regions, where it currently generates around 30% of total revenue.

The tools that power remote work are define the next generation of enterprise software.

Remote Work Tools

Xembly is a conversational AI platform that aims to automate admin tasks that slow employees down and allow them to focus on high-value tasks. It leverages algorithms and AI to automate and combine scheduling, to-do lists, meeting notes and feedback, and action items under one platform.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13545">October 2022 </a>, the company raised USD 15 million in a Series A funding round led by Norwest Venture Partners. The round came within a year of its seed funding round. The funds were raised to improve the platform’s natural language processing and machine learning capabilities and acquire new customers.

The innovative cost dynamics of serverless computing allow more customers onto the cloud without breaking the bank.

Serverless Computing

MotherDuck provides a serverless analytics platform built on DuckDB, an open-source in-process database for analytics workloads. The platform combines local computing power with cloud capabilities through a hybrid execution model that enables users to analyze data regardless of its location. The technology allows seamless joining of local and cloud-based data, with the system automatically routing query execution to optimal locations. MotherDuck's platform includes features such as a web notebook interface, SQL auto-complete, database sharing capabilities, and hybrid query planning. The system caches query results locally to improve performance for repeated analyses. The company moved out of beta and launched general availability in June 2024. As of September 2023, the platform had approximately 2,000 users.
Key customers and partnerships
MotherDuck has established partnerships with over 50 technology providers across the modern data stack. Notable partners include Tableau, PowerBI, Fivetran, Monte Carlo, Hex, Astronomer, dbt Core, and LangChain. The company's technology is being used by organizations such as Dexibit and SaaSWorks. In June 2023, MotherDuck announced integrations with several companies including Cube, dltHub, Evidence, GoodData, Kestra, Metabase, InfinyOn, LlamaIndex, Sling, Streamlit, and Voltron Data. Major technology companies including Google, Facebook, and Airbnb have adopted the underlying DuckDB technology.

A new industry proving that digital connectivity and mental health can co-exist.

Digital Wellness

Lumosity, developed by Lumos Labs, provides an online tool to improve cognitive abilities. It focuses on improving memory, attention, mental flexibility, and problem solving. Users initially go through three tests evaluating their math, flexibility, and memory skills. The company has also formed partnerships with several universities to develop its content. As of February 2024, individual plans are priced at USD 14.95 per month, or USD 79.95 per year. Premium users are able to track their progress, access over 60 training games, and receive personalized feedback and recommendations. Lumosity offers family plans as well.As of 2024, the company's programs were available in 182 countries and seven languages, popular among individuals looking to enhance their cognitive skills, as well as educational and healthcare institutions that integrate its tools into their programs. Key customers and partnershipsAs of 2024, Lumos Labs was claimed to have over 100 million users globally, who had collectively completed over 7 billion cognitive training exercises.In <a href="https://wyss.harvard.edu/news/wyss-institute-and-lumos-labs-launch-research-collaboration-on-memory-of-high-performing-individuals/">March 2017</a>, Lumos Labs partnered with Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and Harvard Medical School's (HMS) Personal Genome Project (PGP) to investigate the relationship between genetics and memory, attention, and reaction speed.

Making meat sustainable over the long term

Cell-cultured Meat

UPSIDE Foods (formerly known as Memphis Meats) is a food technology startup developing cell-cultured meat. In 2016, UPSIDE Foods introduced the world’s first cell-based meatball, followed by the world's first cell-based poultry in March 2017.In May 2021, UPSIDE Foods launched its first consumer product, “UPSIDE Chicken,” which received a <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/14682">“no questions” letter</a> from the FDA in November 2022, making UPSIDE the first company to achieve this milestone. In June 2023, it received <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19421">label approval</a> and <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19588">grant of inspection</a> for EPIC (Engineering, Production, and Innovation Center) from the USDA, allowing the company to begin sale of its cultivated chicken in the US.The company develops products at EPIC in Emeryville, California. This houses custom-made, patented cultivators capable of producing over 50,000 lbs of cell-cultured meat per year, with a future capacity of over 400,000 lbs per year.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21874">September 2023</a>, the company announced the build-out of Rubicon, a new 187,000 sq ft commercial-scale manufacturing plant in Glenview, Illinois. According to the company, the new facility can produce 30 million lbs of cultivated meat products annually and will house 100,000-liter cultivators.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8038">January 2022</a>, UPSIDE acquired cultivated seafood company Cultured Decadence, thereby expanding into cell-cultured seafood, including cell-cultured lobster production. Both UPSIDE Foods’ and Cultured Decadence’s product and species portfolio was to be produced at the EPIC facility.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/31126">July 2024</a>, the company laid off 26 employees as part of a restructuring to address political, regulatory and macroeconomic challenges and prioritize the delivery of delayed milestones.&nbsp;

New insurance models are disrupting a centuries-old industry with a focus on personalization and convenience

InsurTech: Personal Lines

Policygenius offers a platform for customers to compare and purchase insurance policies from top insurance carriers, get expert advice, and manage their insurance portfolios. The company’s proprietary technology platform integrates life, home, auto, disability, and renters insurance carriers to provide an online digital experience for both consumers and carriers. The company earns its revenue through commissions, which are already built into the price of each policy.In February 2022, the company launched Policygenius Pro, a turnkey partnerships (B2B) platform that helps independent agents and financial advisors accelerate and streamline life insurance sales. It claims the platform has reduced the average time an advisor spends on an application from 2.5 hours to 15–20 minutes.In April 2023, Policygenius was <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18012">acquired by Zinnia (previously SE2) </a>, a developer of insurance software solutions. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Post acquisition, Policygenius will continue to operate under its own brand and offer its full range of online services. The combined entity will service more than 60 carriers, 50 distribution partners, and over 2 million policyholders.Key customers and partnershipsIn June 2022, Policygenius partnered with Impact Partnership to bring the Policygenius Pro platform to Impact’s network of financial advisors consisting of over 200 constituent firms and 2,000 advisors.Funding and financialsIn March 2022, the company raised USD 125 million in Series E funding. The company aimed to use the new funds to support the growth of its core business. Between 2014 to March 2024, Policygenius claims to have sold over USD 200 billion in insurance coverage.

A concentration of wealth and a willingness to adopt age-in-place technologies present new opportunities.

Age Tech

Monogram Health provides access to in-home and virtual physician and nurse practitioner visits for patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD).Monogram’s managed services platform establishes partnerships with health plans (e.g., Humana, WellCare Health Plans) to bring disease management, utilization management, and medication therapy management to its patients. Monogram’s team of nurses, nephrologists, dieticians, pharmacists, and social workers coordinate with the patient’s care network to manage their care requirements. The company uses technology to remotely monitor patient biometrics and predictive analytics to identify patients at high risk of progression, medication errors, and care gaps.According to the company, it has tripled the rates of home dialysis to 28% (national average 10%), doubled planned dialysis transitions to 45% (national average 20%), and reduced readmission rates by half to 18% (national average 35%).As of January 2024, the company noted that company’s plan partners, which include Cigna, Humana, Aetna, and the US Department of Veterans Affairs, have seen significant improvements, including doubled dialysis transitions and reduced readmission rates.Key customers and partnershipsIn March 2021, Monogram partnered with Medicare Advantage (MA), a healthcare and insurance coverage plan under Cigna, a multinational US-based insurance company. The partnership entails access to Cigna’s customers in 18 states, including Florida, Texas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, and the District of Columbia.In January 2024, Monogram partnered with health insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (AZ Blue), to enhance kidney disease care. Through the partnership, Monogram extended its in-home care services and benefit management services to AZ Blue's nearly two million members. Monogram also assumed financial responsibility for some AZ Blue members with kidney disease, giving patients access to a wide range of services, including complex disease management and medication therapy management.Most recently, in June 2024, the company partnered with Memorial Hermann Health System, a major not-for-profit health system in Southeast Texas, to improve outcomes for patients diagnosed with polychronic conditions. The partnership aimed to leverage the organizations' clinical expertise to deliver high-quality, in-home care to patients in Southeast Texas living with complex chronic conditions, particularly chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). Monogram's evidence-based care model and benefit management services was combined with Memorial Hermann's medical staff and physicians to slow the progression of CKD and ESKD, improve patient outcomes, and enhance quality of life while reducing medical costs.

Helping employers provide personalized, high-touch, and holistic financial wellness tools to their entire workforce.

Financial Wellness Tools

Goodly provides a platform for employers to offer student loan repayments as an employee benefit. Goodly’s platform integrates with existing payroll systems to automatically process contributions, and provides a portal for employees to track progress and manage their loan accounts. Goodly’s platform is provided under a subscription model, starting at USD 6 per month per participating employee.

The latest line of defense against rising cyber attacks

Cyber Insurance

Boost provides digital insurance infrastructure for insurance startups and other companies. It allows clients to develop, launch, and manage their own digital insurance products, underwritten by Boost. The company offers off-the-shelf solutions for renters insurance, security deposit replacements, pet insurance, and cyber insurance. It also works individually with clients to develop bespoke products. Its notable clients include Hippo Insurance, Wagmo, and Cowbell Cyber.The company’s cyber insurance product is targeted toward companies with up to USD 100 million in revenue. It provides coverage against factors such as business interruption, response costs, extortion, and penalties due to cyber incidents.In May 2021, Boost raised USD 20 million in Series B funding led by RRE Ventures. The company intended to use the funds for product development, supporting its platform growth, and enhancing partner marketing. The funding was to also contribute to doubling its team by 2022.

Democratizing financial technology with a suite of API-based solutions

FinTech Infrastructure

Plaid offers white-label and full-stack FinTech infrastructure for financial institutions, wealth managers, and other enterprises to embed banking, payment, financial advice, and lending solutions to their FinTechs. Its core product is a screen scraper that accesses user bank account data (after login credentials are provided), scrapes it, and enables data querying through APIs. Accordingly, its APIs support onboarding, information, money movement, payroll, and fraud prevention, among others.The platform initially focused on white-label account linking services, but eventually transitioned to a consumer brand, with its logo residing inside FinTech apps in the bank linking experience. Plaid has a three-sided network, comprising ~500 million customers (accounts), 11,000 banks, and 2,600 FinTechs (as of May 2022).The company continues to expand its FinTech infrastructure product range. It <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11674?industryIds=53">added several crypto exchanges </a>, including Binance.US, Gemini, Robinhood, and SoFi, to its network in July 2022, to allow developers to access and incorporate cryptocurrency asset data. This followed <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/6166">the “pay-by-bank” </a>solution launching in October 2021, to enable the US and European merchants to accept payments directly from user bank accounts. In February/March 2021, the company also launched income verification product “Simply Income,” along with “Deposit Switch,” which enables users to switch direct deposits to a different bank account.Plaid also launched a biometric identity verification tool in May 2022, to prevent fraud by leveraging KYC and AML capabilities. This came just four months after Plaid acquired the <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/7948">identity verification and compliance platform Cognito </a>for USD 250 million. The solution can reportedly verify identities in less than 30 seconds, and can also analyze email, phone, IP addresses, and device IDs.As of July 2022, its infrastructure connected enterprises to over 12,000 financial institutions (FIs) across the US, Canada, the UK, and Europe. Although Plaid connects user bank accounts with the FinTech apps, it is not directly involved in transferring money from the bank accounts. Instead, it has signed up more than 50 partners across the US and Europe (such as Square, Stripe, Silicon Valley Bank, and Galileo) to do so.Plaid charges its users in three main methods: 1) a per-request fee for transactions through Plaid, 2) a one-time fee when apps utilize Plaid to access customer bank accounts, and 3) a monthly subscription fee.Key customers and partnershipsThe company noted that its customer base grew by around 60% year-over-year (YoY) in 2020 and reached over 5,500 clients as of January 2022, including PayPal, Robinhood, Google, and Microsoft.Plaid announced that it aims to commit 75% of its traffic to APIs by the end of 2021, and in line with that has entered a series of open banking partnerships with leading FIs including Capital One (in June 2021) and <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/3557">US Bank </a>(in May 2021). Through these partnerships, the FIs customers can connect their accounts to third-party apps on Plaid’s network.Funding and financialsPlaid forecast its revenue to total USD 225 million in 2021. The company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/4785">agreed to pay USD 58 million </a>in a class action lawsuit settlement in August 2021, over claims the company used banking login credentials to share data to third-party firms without prior consent.In January 2020, Visa attempted to acquire Plaid for USD 5.3 billion; however, the deal was called off in January 2021, due to a potentially long and complex litigation process. In April 2021, Plaid raised USD 425 million Series D funding at a USD 13.5 billion valuation which was supported by pandemic-led user growth (up 44% YoY over March-May 2020).The company also received an <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/4943">undisclosed amount of funds </a>from JP Morgan Private Capital Growth Equity Partners and Amex Ventures, in August 2021, as an extension to its Series D round. Plaid intends to invest the funds in expanding globally, developing new products and tools, increasing its workforce by 50% in 2021, and scaling its platform to meet increased demand from FinTechs.

Tech solutions for achieving global anti-wastage targets

Food Waste

Based in Israel, Wiliot provides self-powered sensor tags that look like stickers and can be attached to medicine, food, or agricultural products. These tags provide the manufacturer or retailer with product information such as location, humidity, and freshness. The information is stored on a cloud that users can access via the Wiliot platform and receive real-time transparency updates.&nbsp;As of October 2024, Wiliot claimed&nbsp;that its sensing stickers can reduce food waste by 40%.&nbsp;The company operates a Sensing-as-a-Service business targeting food brands and retailers. The first version of the sensor tag, called Wiliot V1.0, was launched in 2019. In 2020, the tags were further developed to integrate with Bluetooth devices and improve the ability to access information from devices that have Bluetooth connectivity. In November 2021, the V2.0 upgraded version of the tag was unveiled, which enhanced the versatility and accuracy of the product.&nbsp;The company&nbsp;planned to provide the tags at a cost of USD 500 per developer kit and is working with large retail companies to commercialize its product and&nbsp;expected to mass produce by the end of 2021. In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15615">January 2023</a>, Wiliot announced the launch of its Innovation Kit, which helps to track the location and temperature of a range of goods.&nbsp;

Buy Now, Pay Later

Scratchpay offers BNPL financing for veterinary and human healthcare, dubbed “care now, pay later.” The company initially offered financing for veterinary care providers and expanded to support human elective medical providers including dental, optical, and chiropractic care services in 2020. The company also planned to expand into car financing. Customers have the option of paying back over 5–24 months. There is no interest charge on the five-month plan, while the 12 and 24-month plans charge interest based on factors including the customers’ credit history. The merchant fees stand at 5% (veterinary), 7% (dental, vision, medical), and 15% (addiction treatment). Scratchpay expects to process more than USD 1 billion in volume across 10,000 practices globally by the end of 2022. The company has partnerships with one in three veterinary services across the US and Canada.Funding and financialsIn <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13194">September 2022 </a>, the company raised USD 35 million in a Series C funding round led by Norwest Venture Partners. The proceeds were allocated to round out its offering for healthcare providers, which includes solutions to manage the end-to-end patient experience.

Making banking work, without the paperwork

Neobanks

<div>
 
 Dave provides banking products via a mobile app. The company was initially founded to offer micro-lending products such as overdraft protection but has since branched out to offer other banking services. The company does not charge overdraft fees (for amounts up to USD 500), minimum balance fees, or ATM fees. It also offers credit in the form of cash advances for amounts up to USD 100. In addition, the company has partnered with LevelCredit, a credit builder, to enable customers to improve their credit scores by reporting rent payments directly to credit bureaus. The app also provides Personal Finance Management (PFM) tools that help customers monitor their spending habits and create budgets for future expenses.&nbsp;
 
 
 In 2020, the company launched Dave Banking, a spending account that includes a debit card with no monthly fees. Dave offers its spending account free of charge. Customers also have the option to connect their external bank accounts to the Dave app at a cost of USD 1 per month. Aside from its banking products, the app provides a &ldquo;Side Hustle&rdquo; facility, which enables existing customers to find new employment opportunities outside full-time employment.&nbsp;
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 As of March 2024, the company served around 10.8 million customers (up 24% YoY).
 
 
 In February 2024, the company joined the American Fintech Council to advance innovation in FinTech, with an emphasis on developing inclusive digital banking products and services for customers who are not well-served by traditional banks.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 &nbsp;In June 2021, the company announced plans to go public via a merger with a Special-Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) at a post-money valuation of USD 4 billion and expected to raise cash proceeds of over USD 375 million. The merger was finalized in January 2022.&nbsp;
 
 
 In 2023, Dave reported a revenue of USD 259 million (up 26.4% YoY), while its net loss fell to USD 48.5 million compared with USD 128.9 million in the prior year.
 
</div>

Disrupting the traditional financial system using blockchain

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

<div>
 
 Exponential offers a platform that enables users to find and compare yield-generating lending pools across a number of digital assets and blockchains. The platform leverages an institutional-grade risk assessment system named &ldquo;rate my wallet&rdquo; to analyze each investment for potential risks in the underlying protocols, assets, and blockchains. The company also planned to allow users to invest directly in DeFi projects through its platform. As of October 2022, the platform had assessed over 100 protocols across 20 blockchains.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 Funding and financials&nbsp;
 
 
 
 In October 2022, Exponential raised 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13493">
 USD 14 million
 </a>
 in seed funding led by Paradigm.
 
</div>

Reinventing gene therapies with next-generation technologies

Human Gene Editing

<div>
 
 Spun out of Temple University's Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Excision BioTherapeutics develops novel CRISPR-based gene editing therapeutics to treat viral infectious diseases by leveraging its drug discovery platform. It uses dual guide ribonucleic acid (gRNAs) to eradicate viral DNA and eliminate the chances of viral genes to reproduce. This would enable infected patients to stop taking antiretroviral therapies&mdash;therapies that prevent disease-causing genes from reproducing; however, they do not eliminate the disease from the body&mdash;that require patients to receive ongoing treatment.&nbsp;
 
 
 As of 2024, the company had four programs in its pipeline including its in vivo (gene editing done inside the body) lead candidate EBT-101 for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which entered Phase I/II clinical trials in January 2022, after proving its effectiveness in curing HIV in mice. The Cas9-based therapy was licensed from the researchers at Temple University and the University of Nebraska Medical Center to be advanced into clinical trials. The remaining three programs were in the preclinical stages.&nbsp;
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 In 2017, Excision obtained exclusive licenses from 
 <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/excision-biotherapeutics-exclusively-licenses-new-crispr-cas-gene-editors-from-uc-berkeley-to-be-used-for-viral-infections-300554368.html">
 University of California
 </a>
 (UC) Berkeley to leverage the latter&rsquo;s new CRISPR gene editors.&nbsp;
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In September 2022, Excision BioTherapeutics received a grant for USD 6.85 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). The grant was awarded to Excision to support ongoing Phase 1/2 trial evaluating EBT-101 as a potential cure for HIV. 
 
</div>

Autonomous and connected technologies shaping the future of the auto industry

Auto Tech

<div>
 
 Revvo offers a sensor-enabled machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI)-based software platform (called &ldquo;TireIQ&rdquo;) that can monitor vehicle tires. It collects data from connected vehicle fleets and its proprietary IoT-enabled tire-mounted sensors and provides visibility and predictive analytics on tire life, while also notifying the user of tire damages in real time. Other key features include providing tire maintenance recommendations, real-time tire status, and insights into driver behavior (e.g., impact of aggressive driving on tires).&nbsp;
 
 
 Revvo pitches its product toward autonomous vehicles, rental cars, trucks and trailers, fleet companies, retailers, and distributors. The company claims to have collected data from over 200 million miles as of February 2024.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 In January 2021, Revvo partnered with the South Korean tire manufacturer Hankook Tire and the North American junk hauling company Junk King to pilot Hankook&rsquo;s SmartFlex tires integrated with Revvo&rsquo;s tire technology for 30% of Junk King&rsquo;s vehicles operating in California. In March 2022, Revvo partnered with vehicle fleet management company 
 <a href="https://www.revvo.ai/press-releases/revvo-technologies-pilots-smart-tire-platform-with-dc-water-fleet/">
 DC Water
 </a>
 to pilot its smart tire platform for a variety of fleet vehicles.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 Revvo has integrations with fleet management systems such as Geotab, Lytx, Platform Science, ARI&mdash;a Holman Enterprise, Fleetio, and Zapier.
 
 
 
 
 Funding and Financials
 
 
 In May 2022, Revvo raised USD 6 million in seed funding led by Cercano Management to expand its market reach and partners. Previously, in December 2021, the company raised an undisclosed amount in seed funding from Norwest Venture Partners.
 
 
 
 
 Key competitors: None comparable 
 (Revvo is the only startup offering a platform to monitor vehicle tires)
 
 
 
</div>

Alternative Living

Bumblebee Spaces is a San Francisco-based tech startup that has developed an innovative robotic furniture system to optimize living spaces. Founded in 2017 by Prahlad Athreya and Sankarshan Murthy, a former Apple and Tesla engineer, the company aims to address the housing shortage and space constraints faced by urban dwellers.
The core product offered by Bumblebee Spaces is a modular ceiling system that stores various types of furniture, such as beds, desks, and storage units, within the typically unused ceiling space. Through voice commands, a dedicated app, or pre-set routines, users can summon the desired furniture from the ceiling, transforming a single room into a multi-functional space. For instance, a bedroom can instantly become a living room or an office by lowering or raising the appropriate furniture modules.
Bumblebee's system leverages artificial intelligence and object recognition technology to learn users' preferences and behaviors, enabling seamless adaptation of the room's layout. Additionally, it incorporates safety features like depth sensors to prevent accidents during furniture movements.
The company's business model primarily focuses on partnerships with real estate developers, integrating its system into existing or new apartment units. However, Bumblebee Spaces also offers its services to individual homeowners seeking to maximize their living spaces.
Key customers and partnerships
By 2023, Bumblebee Spaces had installed its robotic furniture systems in over 30 buildings worldwide, including nine in New York City. Notable customers include apartments at the Smile rental building in East Harlem, where studio units under 650 square feet can function as one-bedroom spaces with the help of Bumblebee's technology.
Furthermore, the company has partnerships with real estate developers to outfit units with its electromechanical solutions. Approximately 70% of Bumblebee's business stemmed from such partnerships as of 2023.
Additionally, Ashton Kutcher, an investor in the company, has installed Bumblebee's furniture in his personal residence, highlighting its appeal among affluent customers seeking customized and modernized living spaces.

Embedding environmental, social, and corporate governance factors into investments

Sustainable Finance

Classy is a cloud-based fundraising platform offering a comprehensive suite of tools to help nonprofits create engaging online donation experiences and manage fundraising campaigns effectively. Its key features include customizable donation pages, peer-to-peer fundraising capabilities, crowdfunding campaigns, event ticketing, and integration with popular CRM systems like Salesforce.
Classy's platform provides nonprofits with the ability to design branded, mobile-responsive donation forms and fundraising pages. Organizations can accept one-time and recurring donations, as well as process payments through multiple gateways, including PayPal, Venmo, and credit cards. The platform's peer-to-peer fundraising tools empower supporters to create personal fundraising pages and share them across social media platforms, fostering a sense of community and friendly competition through features like fundraising leaderboards and team fundraising goals.
For events, Classy offers event registration, ticketing, and attendee management functionalities, streamlining the process of organizing and promoting fundraising events. The platform also supports crowdfunding campaigns, enabling nonprofits to tap into this popular form of online giving.
Classy's pricing model consists of an annual subscription fee and transaction fees for each donation processed through the platform. As of May 2024, the transaction fees stand at 2.4% + USD 0.30 for credit cards and 2.5% + USD 0.30 for PayPal/Venmo.
Key customers and partnerships
Classy has been widely adopted by nonprofits of various sizes and causes, facilitating the raising of tens of thousands of dollars for their missions. The platform has garnered praise for its user-friendly interface, robust features, and seamless integration capabilities with popular tools like Salesforce and Facebook.
Classy's partnership with Facebook has been particularly noteworthy, enabling nonprofits to leverage the social media platform's reach for peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns. This integration has streamlined the process for volunteers and supporters to raise funds on behalf of the organizations they support.

Technology to explore opportunities beyond Earth

Space Travel and Exploration Tech

Arizona-based World View Enterprises designs and manufactures stratospheric balloons through which it takes high-resolution photos of Earth for scientific, government, and commercial organizations. Its World View Stratollite is a remotely operated stratospheric vehicle with new control capabilities that carries commercial, scientific, and government payloads to the near-space environment. It also utilizes the advantages of geostationary satellites, low-earth orbit satellites, and high-altitude drones to provide the optimum combination of resolution, precision, and long-term surveillance of vital targets.The startup announced its plans to enter the space tourism and exploration market in October 2021 with its rocketless spacecraft. The spacecraft, known as the World View Explorer, consists of a football ground sized zero-pressure helium balloon, which will ascend at 10–12 miles per hour, carrying passengers in a capsule beneath it in first-class luxury complete with a bathroom and Wi-Ffi. The vessel would glide passengers 100,000 feet into the stratosphere on a 6–12 hour journey (vs. Virgin Galactic's 90-minute flight time) and would cost USD 50,000 per passenger (vs. USD 450,000 for Virgin Galactic). Its competitive pricing is attributed to the use of a natural resource (helium) instead of jet fuel. The company planned to have space ports at iconic locations such as The Grand Canyon (US), Amazonia (Brazil), Aurora Borealis (Norway), Giza pyramids (Egypt), Serengeti (Kenya), Great wall of China, and Great Barrier Reef (Australia). The company planned to have 28 spacecraft (each can carry 8 passengers and 2 crew members) to fly four flights a day at each of the 7 sites. The first rides are scheduled for 2023 and the first passengers for 2024. Pre-sale tickets are available for purchase.Key customers and partnershipsIn <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15704">January 2023</a>, World View entered a definitive business combination deal with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Leo Holdings as it geared up to go public with this transaction valuing the combined company at an estimated USD 350 million. However, later in 2023, it renounced its plans to go public by terminating the SPAC merger.&nbsp;The company’s key customers include NASA, NOAA, the US Department of Defense, the US Air Force, and Sierra Nevada Corporation.

Enabling the health systems to seamlessly connect, exchange, and interpret shared data

Hospital Interoperability

<div>
 
 Health Catalyst is a leading provider of data and analytics technology and services to healthcare organizations. Its cloud-based data platform is powered by data from over 100 million patient records, encompassing trillions of facts. The platform combines best-in-class technologies, healthcare-specific data models, self-service tools, and industry expertise in a modern environment. In May 2024, Health Catalyst launched Ignite, a next-generation healthcare data and analytics ecosystem designed to address challenges faced by health systems.
 
 
 
 
 Ignite enables seamless integration and workflows, provides enhanced transparency and control over data management, and facilitates predictive insights through machine learning and AI. It streamlines data ingestion, centralizes data governance, democratizes analytics, reduces storage and management costs, and offers widespread access to refined healthcare data. Ignite is built for simplicity and utility, integrating clinical, financial, and operational data to support healthcare's most crucial use cases.
 
 
 
 
 Health Catalyst's technology empowers healthcare organizations to make data-informed decisions, driving measurable clinical, financial, and operational improvements. Its solutions shorten time to analytics, strengthen accuracy and trust, empower self-service analytics, and future-proof the analytics engine through continuous integration of new technologies and an adaptable data model.
 
 
 
 
 In February 2023, Health Catalyst announced a comprehensive, multi-year strategic partnership with Deaconess Health System. Through this five-year partnership, Deaconess will leverage Health Catalyst's enterprise analytics and outcomes improvement expertise to transform its clinical, operational, and financial domains.
 
</div>

Eliminating financial intermediaries by directly connecting individuals and businesses

P2P Financial Platforms

<div>
 
 Lending Club is an online financial service that connects borrowers with personal loans, debt consolidation loans, and other loan products catered to their needs. It was founded in 2007 and has facilitated over USD 85 billion in loans as of 2018. Lending Club operates as a digital lending platform, allowing borrowers to apply and receive funds entirely online within a matter of days.
 
 
 
 
 Their personal loan offerings range from USD 1,000 to USD 40,000 with terms of 36 or 60 months. Interest rates vary from 9.57% to 35.89% based on the borrower's credit profile. Lending Club charges an origination fee of 3-6% deducted from the loan proceeds. They cater to borrowers with credit scores as low as 600, with the average borrower having a credit score of 699 and an annual income of USD 74,414 as of 2020.
 
 
 
 
 In addition to personal loans, Lending Club provides business loans up to USD 300,000, medical loans for healthcare expenses, and auto refinancing options. Their loan approval process involves a soft credit pull, income verification, and debt-to-income assessment. Approved borrowers are then matched with investors funding their loans.
 
 
 
 
 As of 2024, Lending Club has expanded into offering checking and savings accounts, establishing itself as a major online bank with 4.7 million members. Although it transitioned from its initial peer-to-peer lending model, Lending Club continues to focus on providing digital loan products tailored to borrowers' financial needs.
 
</div>

Empowering the digital revolution in retail

Digital Retail Enhancement Platforms

Bluecore provides a subscription-based platform that integrates shopper identification, behavioral data, and product catalog information to build comprehensive customer profiles. These profiles feed into predictive models that analyze factors like category affinity, purchase likelihood, and at-risk buyers to trigger personalized communications tailored to each shopper's preferences and intent signals. The platform automates the audience segmentation, message content, and channel selection process, reducing manual workflows by up to 80%.
Bluecore's patented technology combines real-time shopper activity with live product data at the SKU level, including stock status, pricing, size, and color variations. This three-pronged dataset fuels over 20 predictive models that drive personalized product recommendations, targeted promotions, and timely messaging across the customer lifecycle. The platform has processed 300 billion behaviors, cataloged 500 million products, and driven over USD 11 billion in revenue for clients as of 2023.

Marketplaces and related solutions for selling goods and services online

Ecommerce Platforms

Faire is an online wholesale marketplace that connects independent retailers with brands and makers worldwide. The platform uses machine learning to match local retailers with products that uniquely fit their stores. The company offers a wide range of products, including clothing, home decor, gifts, and food items. Faire's business model is based on commissions, charging brands 25% on opening orders and 15% on subsequent reorders. The platform provides retailers with features like free returns on first orders with a brand and net 60-day payment terms, previously only available to large retailers. Faire also offers inventory credit to help small businesses open new stores or launch online sites. The company achieved unicorn status in 2019, and, as of May 2022, Faire was valued at USD 12.59 billion. Key customers and partnershipsAs of 2024, Faire offered over 100,000 brands in 50,000 cities across North America, Europe, and Australia. As of June 2023, the company had over 700,000 independent retailers on its marketplace. In September 2023, Faire announced a partnership with ecommerce giant Shopify, which invested in the company. As part of this deal, Faire became the recommended wholesale marketplace for Shopify merchants.

Incorporating technology to improve efficiency and success rate of clinical trials

Clinical Trial Technology

Elligo Health Research is a clinical trial technology company offering a modular clinical trial management system, along with research support services and tools. The company primarily focuses on tailoring the clinical trial process to improve site recruitment and the patient journey, including wider patient diversity. The company's proprietary modules include 1) Intelligo Research Stack, which connects the company’s patient and research database with the system, 2) DataAI Connect, which includes three programs (Research Connect, Records Connect, and Protocol Connect) for different trial operating stages, 3) Root, a digital buddy for patient support and reminders, and 4) IntElliGO, an engagement platform for trial placement. Key customers and partnershipsIn May 2022, the company announced a collaboration with Cerner Corporation and Freenome, to enable a cancer screening clinical trial through Cerner’s Learning Health Network platform.More recently, in December 2023, the company partnered with contract research organization Catawba Research to expand access to clinical trials and simplify clinical research participation. Through the partnership, all of Catawba’s clinical studies were made available through Elligo’s 'Study Marketplace' platform to drive participation and increase efficiencies for research sites and sponsors.Funding and financialsThe company raised USD 135 million in Series E funding in Series A funding in September 2021, led by Morgan Stanley and Ally Bridge. The proceeds are to be used to fund the acquisition of ClinEdge and invest in development of the technology and data platform.

Digital Wallets

Citcon is a leading global payment gateway and service provider, offering innovative solutions that enable businesses to accept payments from consumers using various mobile wallets, payment apps, and methods. The company's technology empowers merchants to expand their customer base and streamline the payment process, enhancing the overall shopping experience. Citcon's platform allows merchants to securely process millions of payment transactions daily from over 200 payment methods, including popular digital wallets like Alipay, WeChat Pay, PayPal, and Venmo.
Founded in 2015, Citcon pioneered as the first authorized US merchant acquirer for WeChat Pay and Alipay, two of the most widely used mobile wallet providers in China. Over the years, the company has expanded its partnerships to include more than 20 global wallet providers, reaching over 2 billion mobile wallet users worldwide. Citcon's technology integrates seamlessly with various point-of-sale (POS) and ecommerce systems, making it accessible to merchants across diverse industries.
Citcon's solutions cater to the needs of businesses of all sizes, from Fortune 1000 companies like L'Oréal, Hermes, and Nordstrom to major retailers such as Macy's, Caesars Entertainment, MGM Resorts, and Revolve. Its platform is deployed at over 30,000 merchant sites and locations globally.
In October 2021, Citcon closed a USD 30 million Series C funding round, backed by leading global investors such as Norwest Venture Partners, Cota Capital, Sierra Ventures, Sonae, and East-West Bank. The company has expanded its presence with regional offices in the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia to serve its global clientele better.
Citcon has also diversified its offerings to include cryptocurrency payments. In May 2021, the company partnered with Flexa, a leading pure-digital payments network, enabling merchants worldwide to accept cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Dogecoin as payment options.

Proactive security solutions for the physical world

Smart Security Tech

Wyze Labs is a technology company based in Seattle that specializes in producing affordable smart home devices and services. Its core product offerings are centered around home security systems and cameras. In December 2020, Wyze shook up the home security market by launching an inexpensive professional monitoring service for its home security system. For just USD 60 per year or USD five per month, customers receive 24/7 professional monitoring from a third-party provider called Noonlight. This undercuts competitor pricing significantly, such as Ring's monitoring fees.
The Wyze Home Monitoring Core Starter Kit includes a hub, keypad, entry sensors, and motion sensor that can trigger recording on Wyze cameras and smart lights/plugs to turn on. The system has home/away modes, and the hub contains an 82dB siren. Components communicate using 915MHz radio for long range. Wyze plans to expand the system with water leak and temperature sensors.
In addition to home security, Wyze is known for its affordable smart home cameras like the Wyze Cam launched in 2017. The cameras integrate with the security system and provide AI detection through the Cam Plus subscription service. Wyze's product ecosystem extends to smart bulbs, locks and other IoT devices controllable through its app and voice assistants.
Wyze has rapidly grown its product line since being founded in 2017 by former Amazon employees in Seattle. Its mission is to create accessible smart home technology by keeping costs low. While Wyze's affordable products are manufactured in China through partnerships, the company stores all user data securely in the US and emphasizes strong data privacy practices.

Travel Tech

Sojern offers a digital marketing platform specifically designed for the travel industry. It uses AI and user intent data to drive multichannel marketing strategies, aiming to stimulate direct demand.The platform's key features include:1) Sojern Traveler Ecosystem: Aggregates and analyzes global travel intent signals, providing traveler insights, audience targeting, multichannel activation, and optimization for a connected guest experience.2) Real-time Travel Data Insights Dashboard: Offers daily travel insights to assist hotels, attractions, and tourism boards in understanding travel behavior.3) AI Smart Concierge: Enhances guest experience by promptly addressing needs, scheduling services, upselling attractions, and optimizing sales. It includes over 1,000 automated responses to FAQs and improves resource allocation and operational efficiency.4) Reputation Manager: Facilitates feedback generation from guests and instant responses to in-stay and online reviews. Features include customizable in-stay surveys, automatic issue escalation, and access to OTA reviews.5) Guest Marketing Suite: Engages guests pre-, mid-, and post-stay via email, SMS, and chat. Includes communication tools, promotional templates, data management for guest profiling, automation for segment updates and communications, and configurable reporting and insights.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/20010">July 2023 </a>, Sojern acquired VenueLytics, enhancing its travel marketing platform, with the addition of an AI-powered virtual concierge, real-time feedback tools, and a marketing suite. This acquisition not only expands Sojern's North American presence but also provides VenueLytics access to Sojern's global clientele, aligning with Sojern's goal to lead in travel marketing. The financial details of the deal remain undisclosed.Key customers and partnershipsAs of July 2023, Sojern’s platform was used by over 10,000 entities, including hotels, attractions, tourism boards, and travel marketers.Key hotel customers include Best Western Hotels, Accor Hotels, and Hospes Hotel; key airlines include Spirit Airlines, Singapore Airlines, and American Airlines; and key experience operators include Portland Paddle, The Tour at NBC Studios.

HR Tech

Simpplr is a provider of employee experience software that aims to connect and align employees within organizations. The company's flagship product, Simpplr One, is a comprehensive platform that brings together various tools and resources employees need to perform their best work from any location. This solution addresses the challenges posed by disjointed and fragmented tools that often hinder employee productivity and engagement. Simpplr's technology facilitates effective internal communication, measures employee alignment and sentiment in real-time, and promotes a more positive work environment. The platform is designed to be user-friendly for both end-users and IT teams, offering simple yet powerful features. Simpplr's approach, which they call Live EX, helps companies communicate more effectively in a distributed work environment. The software is particularly beneficial for organizations seeking to increase employee engagement, retention, and overall business performance. As of March 2022, Simpplr's client base included notable brands such as DocuSign, Eurostar, and AAA.
Key customers and partnerships
Simpplr's customer base spans various industries, with the company serving prominent organizations such as DocuSign, Eurostar, and AAA as of March 2022. The company has also established partnerships with industry leaders and thought leaders in the employee experience sector. In October 2022, Simpplr organized its second annual conference, Cohesion 2022, which brought together employee experience professionals, executives, and industry experts to discuss best practices and innovative strategies in the field. This event provided a platform for networking and knowledge sharing among peers in the employee experience industry.

Deriving insights from uncommon data streams

Alternative Data

1010data is a leading provider of enterprise analytics solutions that enable companies to gain actionable insights from their data. The company's core offering is the 1010data Insights Platform, a comprehensive platform that combines market intelligence, data management, granular enterprise analytics, and collaboration capabilities. This platform empowers businesses to make data-driven decisions and optimize their outcomes across various industries, including retail, consumer packaged goods (CPG), and capital markets.
The 1010data Insights Platform is built on five key pillars: unified data, data lineage, data quality, embedded analytics, and collaboration. It allows businesses to integrate large and disparate datasets, extend the reach of their data, and confidently identify signals faster for prompt action. The platform leverages machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to provide advanced analytics, such as exception management, proactive notifications, and aligned decision-making.
In the retail sector, 1010data's solutions enable retailers to respond rapidly to shifts in consumer demand and market conditions. The company's Retail Analytics Suite, launched in April 2022, offers intuitive dashboarding, exception management, and AI-driven prescriptive actions to optimize sales performance, store execution, inventory management, and promotional effectiveness.
For consumer brands, 1010data's solutions facilitate the analysis of a broad range of datasets, empowering brands to identify trends, anticipate shopper needs, and drive sales. In the capital markets, the company's platform helps firms integrate and navigate massive datasets, stay ahead of the market, and gain a competitive edge.
1010data was acquired by SymphonyAI, a leader in high-value enterprise AI SaaS for strategic industries, in June 2023. As part of this acquisition, SymphonyAI aims to enrich 1010data's product excellence with its breakthrough predictive and generative AI innovations.

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