Starfish Ventures is a venture capital firm. That specializes in seed, start-up, expansion, emerging growth, early venture, mid venture, late venture, growth capital, middle market, and buyouts investments. The company prefers to invests in life sciences, clean technology, materials science, and information technology. Within life sciences, it focuses on biotechnology, medical devices, therapeutics, and drug development. Within clean technology, the firm invests in energy, water, and other environmental technologies. Within information technology, it considers investments in software, mobile, Internet and cloud based enterprise systems, semiconductor, instrumentation, hardware, and telecommunications.  It seeks to exit its investments through mergers and acquisitions, trade sale, or an initial public offer within two to five years. Starfish Ventures was founded by John Dyson and Michael Panaccio in 2001, and is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.

Starfish Ventures

500 Global is a multi-stage venture capital firm with $2.4 billion in assets under management. The firm invests in founders who are building fast-growing technology companies. It focuses on markets where technology, innovation, and capital can generate long-term value and economic growth. 500 Global collaborates with key stakeholders and provides advisory services to governments on fostering entrepreneurial ecosystems to support startups. The firm has invested in over 5,000 founders and more than 2,800 companies across 80+ countries. It has funded over 35 companies valued at more than $1 billion and over 160 companies valued at over $100 million, including those that are private, public, or have exited. The team consists of over 190 members based in more than 25 countries, with experience as entrepreneurs, investors, and operators from leading technology companies.

500 Global

We support the most exceptional founders, operators and investors with best-in-class programs, propelled by a highly trusted mentor-driven community, and backed by the best angels, venture funds and tech startups in the region. Startmate helps technically-focused founders create world-class companies that solve customer problems. It invests AUD $120,000 for a 7.5% equity stake. Startmate’s three-month program offers a $75,000 investment, mentorship from more than 40 successful founders, sage legal counsel, and a one week trip to Silicon Valley. At the conclusion of the program, there are two demo days, one in Sydney and the other in Melbourne, where the chosen startups present in front of early-stage investors. Startmate was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Sydney, Australia.

Startmate

Citrix Startup Accelerator offers seed funding for passionate entrepreneurs who have great ideas for the development of new technologies and business models around cloud, mobile and collaboration.  The Citrix Startup Accelerator offers:     * Seed funding ($250k)     * An entrepreneur-friendly environment with access to the global Citrix ecosystem.     * An open and interactive accelerator facility in Silicon Valley that offers mentoring  from successful entrepreneurs, Citrix executives, and partners.

Citrix Startup Accelerator

Valar Ventures is a venture capital firm backed by Peter Thiel. Valar partners with entrepreneurs globally and believes that an increasing number of transformative technology companies will be started outside of Silicon Valley, and that the founders of those companies will benefit from having a partner that understands their unique challenges and opportunities.

Valar Ventures

Square Peg invests in emerging technology companies across the internet economy in Australia, Singapore and Tel Aviv. The fund supports outstanding entrepreneurs solving big problems in a unique and differentiated way. The company is a group of individuals united by a passion for technology and its potential to change the world. It partners with outstanding entrepreneurs that are building online and technology leaders of tomorrow and support them by leveraging their decades of experience building, investing in, and advising technology businesses, from start-up to multi-billion dollar public enterprises. We focus on Australia and New Zealand, South-East Asia, and Israel.

Square Peg Capital

Pelion Venture Partners helps entrepreneurs and invests in early-stage B2B software-based companies. Since 1986, Pelion Venture Partners has been helping entrepreneurs turn early-stage concepts into tomorrow's industry-leading companies. Pelion invests in early-stage B2B software across the US. With 7 investment team members, Pelion has deep and diverse industry and investment experience. They are hands-on in their approach and work collaboratively with each portfolio company.

Pelion Venture Partners

August Capital is an early stage venture capital fund focused on investing in companies differentiated by technical innovation and entrepreneurial excellence. Today, August Capital's six active investment professionals -- David Hornik, Eric Carlborg, Howard Hartenbaum, Tripp Jones, Villi Iltchev, and Lisa Marrone -- have more than a century of combined venture and operational experience. Together they manage $2.5 billion and have invested in hundreds of companies across the technology spectrum. From its inception, August Capital has funded an extraordinary group of entrepreneurs who have built significant, long-term value across the full range of information technologies. The companies that August Capital's partners have backed represent an aggregate market capitalization of well over $250 billion, generate in excess of $75 billion in annual revenue and employ a quarter of a million people around the world. This success is a testament to the entrepreneurs themselves, as well as the fundamental technologies they have created. They are proud to have supported these entrepreneurs and their companies as they have grown and prospered.

August Capital

Fenwick & West provides legal advisory services focusing on high technology and life sciences industries. The firm's practice areas include antitrust and unfair competition, appellate, complex business litigation, copyright, corporate and securities, employment and labor, executive compensation and benefits, intellectual property, and IP litigation. Additionally, it offers legal advisory services in areas such as mergers and acquisitions, patent prosecution, privacy, and information security, securities litigation, start-ups, and venture capital, domestic and international tax, tax controversies, technology transactions, and trademarks. The firm's clientele includes Blue Sky Research, Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., ICTV, Inc., Siemens Technology, Inc., Sunrise Telecom, Inc., Ubicom, Inc., Apple Computer, Inc., Fujitsu Ltd., Adforce, Inc., Netscape Communications Corp., and Exodus Communications, Inc.

Fenwick & West

Cicada Innovations is the home of deep tech in Australia, with a twenty year track record of developing deep tech ventures focused on the world’s most pressing problems and promising opportunities. We support our deep tech ventures and innovators with cutting-edge labs, access to mentors and experts, commercialisation training, and a cohort of ambitious peers. By connecting a growing community of entrepreneurs, policymakers, researchers and the public, our mission is to make Australia a leader in deep technology.

Cicada Innovations

Insurance Australia Group is an insurance company. Their businesses provide a wide range of general insurance products to protect the homes, lifestyles, and businesses of their customers.

Insurance Australia Group

IAG Firemark Ventures is a corporate venture capital and incubation firm of Insurance Australia Group that began operation in October 2016, with its headquarters in Sydney in Australia and offices in Surry Hills in Australia and Singapore. It seeks to make minority seed, early-stage, and late-stage investments. It prefers to invest in companies from the insurance, financial technology, insurance technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data, cybersecurity, and internet of things sectors in Australia and Singapore.

IAG Firemark Ventures

IAG Capital Partners is an investment firm that sole source of financing and investment rounds with other debt and equity investors.

IAG Capital Partners

UpGuard

UpGuard's proprietary technology tests an organization's IT infrastructure both internally and externally and calculates the potential risk for future intrusions and outages. Upon evaluating the ongoing configuration state of every server and network device, companies are given an easy-to-understand score called CSTAR — a single number which indicates to IT staff as well as their executives their risk level for data breaches. An organization's CSTAR score can even be used by corporate insurers in creating a cybersecurity insurance policy. Thousands of companies, including ADP, E*TRADE, and Cisco Systems, use UpGuard to validate infrastructure, continuously detect risks, and procure cybersecurity insurance.  UpGuard is headquartered in Mountain View, California with offices in Portland, Oregon.

<div>UpGuard is a cybersecurity company that provides software solutions for third-party risk and attack surface management. The company offers a platform that combines third-party security ratings, security assessment questionnaires, and threat intelligence capabilities to provide its users with a comprehensive view of their risk surface, providing insights to improve their security posture. The platform is also equipped with proprietary security ratings, data leak detection capabilities, and powerful remediation workflows to proactively identify security exposures of companies.&nbsp;</div>

Empowering efficiency, visibility and collaboration throughout supply networks

Supply Chain Tech

UpGuard Announces Automated Scanning Enhancements And Executive Appointments to Further Support Security Teams With Cybersecurity Challenges

<div>
 
 UpGuard is a cybersecurity company that provides software solutions for third-party risk and attack surface management. The company offers a platform that combines third-party security ratings, security assessment questionnaires, and threat intelligence capabilities to provide its users with a comprehensive view of their risk surface, providing insights to improve their security posture. The platform is also equipped with proprietary security ratings, data leak detection capabilities, and powerful remediation workflows to proactively identify security exposures of companies.&nbsp;
 
 
 The company&rsquo;s solutions are catered to financial services, IT, and healthcare industries.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 As of October 2023, the company&rsquo;s customer base included leading companies such as Built Technologies, dorSavi, Tech Mahindra, Open-Xchange, Rimi Baltic, and ALI Group.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In June 2021, the company raised USD 19 million in a Series B-1 funding round. The round saw the participation of existing investors including IAG Firemark Ventures, the corporate venture capital unit of IAG, Pelion Venture Partners, Square Peg Capital, and August Capital. The proceeds were intended to be channeled for product development and global expansion initiatives.
 
 
 
</div>

Project44 is a technology company that specializes in supply chain visibility and logistics connectivity solutions. The company’s platform “Movement” connects shippers, carriers, and logistics service providers to provide real-time visibility of the location and status of shipments. It also offers insights and connectivity across borders, helping businesses manage complex, multi-country logistics. This enables businesses to track and manage the movement of goods and shipments from the point of origin to the final destination.Since its inception, the company has expanded globally by acquiring visibility providers such as GateHouse Logistics, Ocean Insights, ClearMetal, and Convey. It has also built a carrier network with over 238,000 carriers, as of October 2023. In May 2023, the company reported that its platform tracked more than 1 billion unique shipments annually for over 1,300 brands, which included companies from industries such as manufacturing, automotive, retail, life sciences, and chemical and gas.In April 2023, Project44 launched “Movement GPT,” a generative AI assistant for supply chain. This feature allows users to interact within the Movement platform in natural language to track shipments and identify supply chain risks.In August 2024, project44 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32957">launched</a> Emissions Monitoring, a new feature within its Movement platform. This tool helps shippers, carriers, and logistics service providers measure and report Scope 3 emissions across all transportation modes to improve sustainability and compliance. Earlier In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/31195">July 2024</a>, it introduced enhanced electronic bill of lading capabilities across LTL industry. Also, in the same month it <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/31686">launched</a> expanded capabilities and reach for its Appointment Management product to offer a centralized view of facility appointments, enabling shippers to monitor trailer ETAs against scheduled appointments in real-time and proactively manage exceptions.In 2021, Project44 reported an annual recurring revenue of more than USD 100 million. In November 2022, the company was valued at USD 2.7 billion. In September 2024, it also <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33426">opened</a> a new office in Bengaluru, India, which will support its global expansion and serve as one of the company's Centers of Excellence.Key customers and partnershipsAs of October 2023, the company's customers included leading brands such as Nestlé, Convoy, DHL, Uber Freight, and Bayer.In July 2024, project44 expanded its presence in China by launching its Movement platform in the market, making the advanced user interface available to all users in China. The expansion leveraged a new partnership with Baidu, a China-based multinational tech leader, to enhance visibility for customers operating in China. As part of the partnership, project44's over-the-road (OTR) maps in China will be powered by Baidu, improving the company's ability to provide real-time, transparent information to customers.In May 2023, the company entered into a partnership with asset intelligence company, Nexxiot, to enable the delivery of real-time network insights and IoT-centric conditional and location monitoring. Further, in January 2024, the company partnered with Lenzing Group, a specialty fiber producer, to enhance Lenzing Group's ocean shipment visibility with a focus on carbon emissions monitoring. The collaboration involves the creation of an updated real-time shipment visibility tool that collects carbon emissions data at the shipment and container levels.

Project44

Supertrace offers a web-based platform to enable transparency and traceability across supply chains. The company assigns digital identities for physical commodities—a digital code that can be scanned using iOS or Android phones—and stores them in a blockchain database to make them connected and verifiable. This lets users obtain end-to-end visibility of product movements and enables them to manage fraud, ​​identify inefficiencies, and authenticate products in the supply chain while building trust with connected stakeholders.The platform features both software and hardware components and comes as a “plug-and-play” solution that can easily be integrated with existing ERP solutions and third-party systems. As of October 2023, the company claimed that the platform had the capacity to track over 300 million products per year.Key customers and partnershipsAs of October 2023, the company’s platform was used by over 60 companies across the world.

Supertrace

Exiger provides software and tech-enabled tools to manage supply chains through AI-powered solutions. These solutions focus on providing visibility across supply chains and mitigating risks in strictly regulated industries, critical infrastructure companies, defense contractors, financial institutions, and government agencies. They also aim to monitor regulatory compliance and combat financial crime.The company's product portfolio includes solutions such as Supply Chain Explorer, SDX, ExploreRx, and PAC, which are developed to provide visibility across supply networks. Also, its products, such as DDIQ, Screen IQ, and Insight 3PM, are aimed at facilitating risk-screening processes and managing business relationships. In May 2023, the company acquired Ion Channel, adding a platform to its product portfolio to facilitate supply chain risk management.In September 2023, Exiger launched 1Exiger, its new supply chain platform that integrates and provides access to Exiger's products—DDIQ, Insight 3PM, Ion Channel, SDX, and Supply Chain Explorer. The company planned to scale up the platform over the following decade and developed a long-term roadmap to introduce new capabilities.The company operates in the US, Canada, London, Bucharest, Singapore, and Australia. As of October 2023, the company had more than 800 employees across its global offices.In August 2024, the Exiger <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32429">acquired</a> XSB, a logistics intelligence platform with a database of over 100 million parts and 400 million parts attributes, for an undisclosed sum. Through this acquisition, Exiger aimed to enhance its capabilities in depot maintenance, category management, parts obsolescence, parts alternatives, price defensibility, and supply chain optimization. In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/31249">July 2024</a>, Exiger also acquired Versed AI, a company specializing in product breakdown technology, to enhance AI-driven supply chain visibility. Also, in the same month the company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32093">acquired</a> aDolus Technology Inc., a software supply chain risk visibility platform, for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition allowed Exiger to integrate aDolus' ability to generate software bills of material (SBOMs) and analyze binary for software provenance. This will extend Exiger's Ion Channel platform for SBOM analysis to binaries without SBOMs, device firmware, operational technology (OT), and IoT, addressing the urgent need for organizations to verify and secure operational technology and software providers in an increased cyber threat environment. In 2021, it was reported that Exiger had achieved in excess of 100% compound annual growth in software license revenue worldwide over the previous four years.Key customers and partnershipsAs of October 2023, Exiger was providing its services to 550 Global customers across the world, including 150 companies featured in the Fortune 500 list and over 50 government agencies.In May 2024, Exiger partnered with Kharon, a leader in risk analytics, to enhance global supply chain security efforts. As part of the collaboration, Exiger’s AI-powered supply chain management platform will be combined with Kharon’s insight into supply chain risk to provide a robust and dynamic risk analysis framework.Earlier in March 2024, Exiger entered a strategic partnership with aDolus Technology Inc., an authority in software intelligence for critical infrastructure. The partnership enables Exiger to incorporate aDolus' software into its supply chain platform. This integration will allow for the analysis of firmware and industrial control software for potential vulnerabilities. This collaboration allows both companies to offer improved visibility and risk assessment capabilities in operational technology to their Federal Government and corporate clients.

Exiger

<div>
 
 Chain.io offers a cloud-based integration platform that connects shippers and freight companies across the global supply chain. The company&rsquo;s pre-built adaptors enable shippers and freight companies to integrate their legacy systems with modern API-based SaaS tools to provide them with visibility across their supply networks to efficiently manage freight.
 
 
 
 
 Beyond mere integration, the platform automates freight operations with pre-configured plugins built to expedite the booking, moving, and delivery of freight. This includes automation focused on PO management, securing freight insurance, sending advanced shipment notices (ASN), and invoice processing as well as improving the overall efficiencies in agent, carrier, and customs operations. The platform also enables advanced insights through the aggregation of data from multiple sources into a centralized database. The platform feeds this information into internal reporting and is populated in external dashboards to provide visibility on key operational metrics and environmental impacts.
 
 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 
 
 As of October 2023, Chain.io&rsquo;s platform was used by leading brands such as Ex Works, Janel Group, John S Conner, Magnate Worldwide, OIA Global, and Jaguar Freight Services. As of June 2022, the company claimed that 10 of the 15 world&rsquo;s largest freight forwarders were also using its platform.
 
 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 
 
 In June 2022, the company raised USD 11 million in a Series A funding round co-led by Fontinalis Partners and High Alpha. The funding was aimed at expanding the company&rsquo;s network of native integrations to the industry&rsquo;s supply chain technology platforms and to expand its geographical reach across North America, Europe, and Asia.
 
 
 
</div>

Chain.io

<div>
 
 Overhaul offers a device-agnostic supply chain visibility and risk monitoring solution to monitor and manage in-transit shipments. The company&rsquo;s technology-driven platform provides real-time visibility into the transportation of high-value cargo and critical shipments, ensuring the integrity of the supply chain. In addition, the platform provides insights using AI-powered predictive analytics for risk monitoring, enabling its users to mitigate potential risks, such as theft, damage, or disruptions. The platform also offers solutions to simplify compliance and documentation processes and assist in managing regulatory requirements, inspections, and certifications in the transportation industry.
 
 
 
 
 Overhaul&rsquo;s products and solutions are geared toward global industries such as pharmaceutical and healthcare, technology, logistics, and food and beverage. According to the company, in 2023, it is expected to track more than USD 1 trillion in shipments in transit.
 
 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 
 
 As of October 2023, the company was offering its products to leading brands such as Microsoft, Dyson, GoPro, Bristol Myers Squibb, and J.B. Hunt.
 
 
 
 
 In April 2023, the company partnered with MCA Connect to offer a comprehensive set of integrated solutions aimed at helping organizations achieve end-to-end supply chain visibility and automate processes.
 
 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 
 
 In March 2023, the company raised USD 73 million as new growth capital. The funding consisted of USD 38 million in equity and USD 35 million in non-dilutive debt. The round was led by growth equity investor Edison Partners. The proceeds were expected to be used for global expansion, product development initiatives, and to fund the acquisition of security services provider SensiGuard.
 
 
 
</div>

Overhaul

Platforms that provide real-time visibility into the movement, location, condition of products, and environment as they move through the supply chain.

Information sharing and collaborative planning platforms that enable communication, coordination, and collaboration among supply chain partners.

Platforms that facilitate the tracing and verification of products or components throughout the supply chain, from origin to consumer.

Platforms that provide vendor risk intelligence to facilitate vendor due diligence and onboarding, compliance monitoring, contract management, and cybersecurity assessments.

Platforms that help organizations optimize supply chain processes through demand, supply, operations, and scenario planning.

Supply chain tech is frequently depedent on IoT for connecting different links of the supply chain

Supply chain tech contributes towards sustainability through efforts to reduce waste, loss and emissions through improving supply chain operations and accuracy.

Uses blockchain to create transparent, and secure records of transactions and product movements

The platforms facilitate tracing and tracking of products through the supply chain

ANALYST_QUICK_TAKE

PROMINENT_CATEGORY

<div>
 Cybersecurity risk management firm, UpGuard, has launched two new AI solutions, Managed Vendor Assessments and Trust Exchange. These mark the start of a new growth and expansion phase for the company. UpGuard's CEO, Mike Baukes, mentions that while the features of these solutions remain undisclosed, they will greatly aid customers in comprehending and navigating the intricate cybersecurity landscape. 
</div> Analyst QuickTake: 
 The adoption of AI has become a common use case to streamline business operations and increase efficiencies. Earlier this year, <a href="https: 
//sp-edge.com/updates/26014"> Avetta </a> and <a href="https: 
//sp-edge.com/updates/26223"> Bitvore </a> , who also operate in this space, introduced new AI-powered solutions to enhance their risk management offerings.

UpGuard

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