Bessemer Venture Partners

Tools that streamline software development

DevOps Toolchain

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 PagerDuty is a global leader in digital operations management, offering a comprehensive platform called the PagerDuty Operations Cloud. This platform combines AIOps, Automation, Customer Service Operations, Incident Management and PagerDuty Copilot into a flexible, resilient and scalable solution designed for mission-critical, time-sensitive, high-impact work across IT, DevOps, security and business teams. The company's core product offerings focus on incident management, allowing organizations to detect, diagnose, and resolve IT issues quickly and efficiently.
 
 
 
 
 PagerDuty's incident management solution enables teams to streamline processes for faster resolution with automated workflows that coordinate proactive communication and response orchestration throughout the incident lifecycle. The platform leverages artificial intelligence and automation to guide remediation, providing dynamic guidance and ensuring critical tasks are performed during incidents. In March 2024, PagerDuty launched an enterprise plan for Incident Management, integrating Jeli's capabilities to offer a unified end-to-end solution.
 
 
 
 
 Key features of PagerDuty's platform include on-call management, incident response capabilities, workflow automation, and reliability tracking through advanced metrics and SLO monitoring. The company also offers built-in private and public status pages for transparent communication with internal teams and external stakeholders. PagerDuty's mobile app allows users to handle incidents from anywhere, providing essential information at a glance and even enabling the execution of automated actions directly from mobile devices.
 
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Applitools is a provider of AI-powered test automation solutions for digital experiences. The company's flagship product, the Applitools Intelligent Testing Platform, combines visual AI and generative AI to automate the testing of user interfaces across web and mobile applications. Applitools' technology enables organizations to validate the functionality and visual appearance of their digital assets across multiple screens, browsers, and devices.
The platform includes several key components: Autonomous, a codeless test automation tool that uses natural language processing to allow users to author tests in plain English; Preflight, for building end-to-end tests; Eyes, an AI-powered visual testing engine; ultra-fast Grid for cross-browser testing; and Execution Cloud, a cloud-based testing infrastructure with self-healing capabilities. These tools work together to reduce manual testing efforts, increase test coverage, and accelerate the delivery of digital experiences.
Applitools' technology aims to address common challenges in software testing, such as slow feedback loops, reduced release confidence, and the need for large QA teams. The company claims its platform can increase test creation speed by 90%, grow test coverage by 100 times, and reduce test maintenance by four times. As of February 2024, Applitools reported that its Visual AI had analyzed over 2 billion user interfaces.

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 HashiCorp, founded in 2012 by Mitchell Hashimoto and Armon Dadgar, is a software company that provides multi-cloud infrastructure automation solutions. The company offers a suite of products called The Infrastructure Cloud, powered by the HashiCorp Cloud Platform (HCP), which delivers integrated solutions for Infrastructure lifecycle Management (ILM) and Security lifecycle Management (SLM) across multiple clouds. HashiCorp's products include Terraform, Vault, Consul, Nomad, Packer, Vagrant, Boundary, and Waypoint, which help organizations build, deploy, secure, and manage cloud infrastructure.
 
 
 
 
 The company's tools are designed to address challenges faced by enterprises in adopting and managing cloud environments. HashiCorp's products use infrastructure-as-code workflows, identity-based security, and other automation techniques to streamline cloud operations. As of April 2024, HashiCorp reported having more than 4,300 customers worldwide, including 480 of the Global 2000, across diverse industries such as financial services, retail, and the public sector.
 
 
 
 
 HashiCorp operates on a business model that combines open-source software with paid enterprise offerings. Many of its tools are available as free, open-source versions, while enterprise editions with additional features and support are offered on a commercial basis. The company also provides a managed cloud service called HashiCorp Cloud Platform (HCP) for customers seeking a SaaS solution.
 
 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 
 
 Ubisoft, a global gaming company, uses HashiCorp Vault to enhance security across its platform. Shuichi Sekino, Head of Product at Ubisoft, stated that teams using Vault can automatically manage secrets for their entire studio, significantly reducing the risk of breaches or misconfigurations.
 
 
 
 
 Mercedes-Benz Research &amp; Development has implemented HashiCorp Consul for cloud-based, centralized service discovery. Sriram Govindarajan, Principal Infrastructure Engineer at Mercedes-Benz, noted that Consul has eliminated many service discovery and connectivity obstacles, allowing them to work more quickly and efficiently.
 
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LaunchDarkly is a feature management platform that enables software teams to control the release and rollout of new features. Founded in 2014 by Edith Harbaugh and John Kodumal, LaunchDarkly's core technology revolves around feature flags, which are conditional statements that allow developers to change how code behaves in production after deployment. The platform enables teams to separate code deployments from feature releases, providing greater control over the software development lifecycle. LaunchDarkly's system allows for targeted feature rollouts, A/B testing, and rapid feature toggling, which can significantly reduce the risks associated with new releases. The company's platform is designed to serve various roles within an organization, from developers and product managers to IT operators and system architects. As of February 2021, LaunchDarkly was serving over 1,500 customers globally, including more than 20% of Fortune 100 companies. The platform handles peaks of 20 trillion feature flag evaluations per day, demonstrating its scalability and widespread adoption.
Key customers and partnerships
LaunchDarkly's customer base spans across various industries and includes notable names such as IBM, Atlassian, and HP. The platform has found particular traction in sectors like EdTech, where companies use it to manage weekly code releases for students and teachers. Government agencies have also adopted LaunchDarkly to validate releases in production before public deployment. Large software companies serving over 50 million consumers worldwide utilize the platform to manage feature releases across complex, multi-codebase platforms. In January 2021, LaunchDarkly was recognized on InfoWorld's Technology of the Year list, and it has been named to the Enterprise Tech 30 list multiple times, highlighting its position as a leading enterprise technology provider.

Productboard is a customer-centric product management platform designed to help product teams understand user needs, prioritize features, and align everyone around the product roadmap. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in San Francisco, Productboard enables organizations to collect and consolidate customer feedback from various sources into a single repository. This allows product managers to make data-driven decisions about which features to build next.
The platform offers tools for roadmapping, prioritization, and customer feedback management. Its core functionality includes an insights board for tracking feedback and feature requests, interactive product roadmaps for visualizing strategy, and prioritization matrices for allocating resources to high-impact tasks. Productboard also provides customizable boards, commenting features, and tagging capabilities to foster collaboration among product managers, designers, engineers, and other stakeholders.
As of 2024, Productboard serves over 3,500 organizations worldwide, including notable companies like Microsoft, Zendesk, and UiPath. The platform integrates with popular tools such as Jira, Slack, Intercom, and Zendesk to streamline workflows and enhance its utility across diverse tech ecosystems.
Key customers and partnerships
Productboard has gained traction among product teams in mid-sized to large tech companies. Notable clients include Microsoft, Zendesk, Samsung Next, Avast, and Metromile.
The company has established integrations with various tools commonly used in product development workflows. These include Jira for task tracking, Slack for team communication, Intercom and Zendesk for customer support, and GitHub for code management. These integrations allow Productboard to fit seamlessly into existing tech stacks and facilitate data exchange between different platforms used by product teams.

Cypress.io is an open-source end-to-end testing framework designed for modern web applications. It provides a comprehensive solution for automated testing, addressing key pain points faced by developers and QA engineers. The framework is built on JavaScript and runs on Node.js, leveraging the Mocha testing framework and Chai assertion library. Unlike Selenium, Cypress executes within the browser's run loop, eliminating network lag and improving test reliability. The tool offers features such as time travel debugging, automatic waiting for elements, and network traffic control. Cypress supports testing on major browsers including Chrome, Firefox, and Edge. It also facilitates unit testing, visual testing, and accessibility testing through its plugin ecosystem. In July 2023, Cypress expanded its capabilities to include API automation testing, further enhancing its utility for developers.
Key customers and partnerships
Cypress has gained significant popularity within the open-source community. It has been adopted by developers and QA teams across various industries.

Netlify is a cloud computing and web hosting platform that specializes in deploying and managing Jamstack websites and applications. Founded in 2014, Netlify pioneered the Jamstack architecture, which decouples the frontend web experience from backend business logic and databases. The platform provides developers with tools to build, deploy, and scale modern web projects using Git workflows and serverless functions. Netlify automates the process of building, deploying, and managing websites, handling tasks like continuous integration, continuous deployment, and content delivery network (CDN) distribution.
Netlify's core offering includes Netlify Core for managing workflows, Netlify Connect for accessing content and data sources, and Netlify Create for building applications using JavaScript, APIs, and markup languages. The platform supports a wide range of static site generators and frontend frameworks, including Next.js, Gatsby, and Eleventy. Netlify provides features such as instant rollbacks, split testing, form handling, user authentication, and serverless functions. In October 2023, Netlify launched its Composable Web Platform, aimed at unifying content, data sources, code, and infrastructure for enterprise-scale web development.
Key customers and partnerships
Netlify serves millions of developers and businesses, including Fortune 500 companies like Unilever and Verizon, as well as digital experience companies such as Peloton and Twilio. In February 2023, Netlify acquired Gatsby, one of its former competitors in the Jamstack ecosystem. The company has also invested in several startups through its Jamstack Innovation Fund, including ChiselStrike, Clerk, Clutch, Convex, Deno, Everfund, NuxtLabs, Snaplet, TakeShape, and Tigris Data. Netlify has partnerships with various headless CMS providers and collaborates with framework communities to advance the Jamstack ecosystem.

AI-based solutions for evolving digital threats

Next-gen Cybersecurity

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 Claroty is an industrial cybersecurity company that provides security across operation technology (OT), Internet of Things (IoT), and industrial IoT (IIoT) corporate assets. The platform provides visibility, threat detection, risk and vulnerability management, and secure remote access for corporate digital infrastructure. The company also operates across Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America with deployments across the world in industries such as energy, consumer products, critical manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, and utilities. Claroty is backed by top industrial automation vendors such as Rockwell Automation, Schneider Electric, and Siemens who are both customers and investors.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 Since 2020, Claroty has experienced 110% year-over-year (YoY) growth in new customers and maintained 100% customer retention. The company expects 133% YoY growth in annual recurring revenue between H1 2020 and H1 2021. The company also expanded its partner coverage by 50% over 2020 with the additions of companies such as Deloitte, KPMG, PwC, CrowdStrike, Atos, and Yokogawa.
 
 
 In June 2023, Claroty announced an integration with Siemens Healthineers, incorporating the firm&rsquo;s Medigate platform into Healthineers&rsquo; ActSafe healthcare cybersecurity solution to offer healthcare providers deeper visibility into their networks, along with vulnerability and management insights. 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 Claroty raised USD 400 million in Series E funding, in a round co-led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Schneider Electric, and Bessemer Venture Partners that reportedly valued the company at nearly USD 2 billion. Claroty had earmarked most of the funding for the acquisition of healthcare-focused IoT security startup, Medigate. The new funds were also to be used to support Claroty&rsquo;s product development and international expansion. Medigate provides IoT security solutions, such as anomaly detection, to over 1,000 healthcare facilities. Claroty expects this acquisition to help expand its footprint beyond the industrial and manufacturing spaces. 
 
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Devo Technology is a cloud security information and event management (SIEM) platform that collects petabytes of data, analyzes and visualizes it for users while offering them access to 400 days of hot data for better threat investigation and hunting. Devo ingests data from data sources across on-premises or cloud environments, and provides user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA) and stream-based real-time alerting for users to investigate and detect threats.Devo Exchange is a community-based marketplace that provides a catalog of curated content created by experts. Devo Flow is a visual correlation engine that allows users to process and analyze data in motion. Devo Security Operations allows security teams to continuously monitor, detect, and investigate advanced cyber threats in cloud environments.In April 2022, the company acquired the detection and response startup <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9934">Kognos </a>. Kognos integrates with an organization’s existing security tools for continuous monitoring of suspicious attacks. The platform contextualizes the attack campaign based on real-time forensic questions and findings to execute remediation tasks. Kognos’s product portfolio also includes an EDR platform and an AI-powered triage monitoring platform that ingests alerts from various security products and assists cybersecurity analysts with incident investigations. Kognos provided Devo with an autonomous security operations center (SOC) solution. In September 2022, Devo Technology acquired the security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR) startup <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13279">LogicHub </a>. LogicHub provides extended detection and response (XDR) solutions that automate incident response across the entire threat lifecycle. The company’s AI-based Autonomous Detection and Response Assistant (AuDRA) provides guided no-code playbook creation capabilities to security teams. LogicHub provided Devo with a complete SaaS stack of SOC capabilities required for an autonomous Security Operation Center (SOC).The company had operations in North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific as of June 2022.Key customers and partnershipsNotable customers include Sonos, AT&amp;T, Powerco, Unisys, Ivy Tech Community College, and Oklahoma University.Funding and financialsIn June 2022, Devo <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10903">raised USD 100 million </a>in a Series F funding round led by Eurazeo, bringing the total funding raised to more than USD 500 million. The round valued the company at USD 2 billion, an increase from the USD 1.5 billion sticker price achieved during its raise in October 2021. The funds were expected to be used to accelerate its product innovation and delivery of its autonomous security operations center (SOC), invest in new M&amp;A expansion, and fuel growth in new regions and verticals, primarily in the public sector and the APAC region (such as Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia). Devo Technology also indicated that its Series F could most likely be its last funding round before it looks at going public via an initial public offering over 2023.In 2021, Devo recorded nearly 100% growth in revenue and customer growth and surpassed an employee headcount of 500, which included 91 new hires in 2022 across North America, Europe, and APAC. The company expected to pursue an initial public offering (IPO) during 2023. 60% of Devo’s US sales are generated through the channel and the company plans to grow its international market (outside North America) to 40% (from 20%) of its sales revenue within 2023.

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 Hunters provides an extended detection and response (XDR) platform which uses machine learning to collect and process data from a company's entire network, in order to facilitate real-time threat detection, investigation, and response. The XDR platform logs events and telemetry from various data sources on-premise and in the cloud which include endpoint detection and response tools (EDR), network detection and response tools (NDR), and firewalls. The platform offers a comprehensive summary with insights such as context, path, target, and potential impact. Hunters serves Fortune 500 and Global 2000 organizations, spanning across financial services, technology, retail, manufacturing and media industries. Notable customers include Booking.com, Snowflake, Netgear, Cimpress, TripActions, and Sika. The company&rsquo;s notable integrations with cloud, endpoint security, network and email providers include Microsoft Active Directory, Azure and Office 365, Amazon Web Services, Cisco Systems, CloudFlare, Google Cloud Platform and Workspace, CrowdStrike, Snowflake, and Palo Alto Networks.
 
 
 Hunter Security&rsquo;s annual recurring revenue (ARR) rose by more than 4x, and its employee headcount doubled in size over 2021.
 
 
 In March 2020, Hunters partnered with CrowdStrike to offer XDR capabilities to users of the latter&rsquo;s endpoint protection platform.
 
 
 In January 2022, the company raised USD 68 million in a Series C funding round led by Stripe. The funding was expected to be utilized to further develop the platform and services, strengthen sales and partnership efforts across North America and EMEA regions, and more than double its current headcount of 110 over 2023.
 
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 Netography provides a cloud-native NDR solution to secure what the company calls the &ldquo;atomized network,&rdquo; which comprises cloud, on-premise, and hybrid infrastructure, such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. The company ingests metadata from these disparate systems to enrich each data stream and provides network visibility and threat detection in an easier-to-deploy package than traditional NDR solutions. The company also provides tailored alerts and automated threat remediation in real time. The company&rsquo;s technology serves as an alternative to appliance-based models, which require the deployment of additional virtual or non-virtual sensors or appliances to manage, and deep packet inspection, which does not penetrate encrypted network traffic. Netography has customers in the federal government and defense, aerospace and travel, financial services, utilities, and manufacturing industries.
 
 
 In November 2021, the company raised USD 45 million in a Series A funding round co-led by Bessemer Venture Partners and SYN Ventures. The company plans to use the funds to develop new technology solutions, to invest in market expansion and sales, and to hire around 50 employees, including data scientists as well as machine learning, cloud computing, and security professionals, by the end of 2022.
 
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 Astrix is a Tel Aviv-based startup providing API security solutions for connections with third-party cloud services. The platform monitors third-party connections, authorization tokens, and access usage to provide a holistic view of an organization&rsquo;s software supply chain, generating alerts on activity that may lead to attacks or data breaches, and over-privileged, unnecessary, or malicious connections. The platform also provides automated remediation workflows, allowing security teams to resolve issues via integration with common IT service management tools. Astrix identifies standard behavior of third-party app connections and adjusts security controls whenever a change is detected.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 Astrix Security emerged from stealth in February 2022, raising USD 15 million in a seed funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners. The funds were to be utilized to increase the firm&rsquo;s headcount and to strengthen its go to market operations.
 
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 Eye Security provides platforms for threat monitoring and detection across enterprise systems and cloud environments, along with a team of human security experts for 24/7 incident response. Eye Security also offers cyber insurance policies for companies using its platform. Eye Security offers its platform on a subscription basis and operates through direct and strategic partnerships in Europe. As of November 2022, the company had an employee headcount of 70&nbsp; across offices in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany, with plans to double the headcount over the following 12 months, and served customers in the transport, healthcare, and production sectors.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In November 2022, Eye Security 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/14766">
 raised EUR 17 million
 </a>
 (~USD 17.6 million) in funding led by&nbsp; Bessemer Venture Partners. The company planned to utilize the funds to expand its IT security subscription service in Europe.
 
 
 During the same period, the company reported that it was cash flow positive with a turnover of up to approximately EUR 250 million (~USD 259 million).
 
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Now anyone can become a software developer.

No-code Software

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 Wix operates a cloud-based website development and business application creation platform. The company has introduced a number of core products over the years, including Wix Editor, Wix ADI, Wix eCommerce, and Wix Code. Users can leverage the platform&rsquo;s drag-and-drop interface or choose from a range of 900+ website templates (as of February 2024) to build websites for a range of functions such as online stores, portfolios, blogs, service businesses, and events.&nbsp;
 
 
 Wix also offers a tool named &ldquo;Branded App&rdquo; that provides a no-code interface for business owners to build native mobile apps to complement their websites and domain names. The app set-up integrates tools and features from the Wix sites, and the activity data from both the app and site can be synced with the Wix dashboard.&nbsp;
 
 
 In September 2022, Wix.com launched Wix Portfolio, a solution that provides various customizable layouts for users to create online portfolios. The layouts are based on current visual trends and can be customized for different industries and professions to enable users to match their portfolio with the look of their brand. In February 2023, the company went on to 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16251">
 launch a search engine optimization (SEO) dashboard
 </a>
 , which includes SEO tools, educational materials, and an integration with Google Search Console.
 
 
 Moreover, 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/20196">
 In July 2023,
 </a>
 Wix launched its &quot;AI Site Generator&rdquo; tool that enables users to describe and generate their desired website. The tool uses a combination of in-house AI and ChatGPT to create extensive websites that can include a homepage, inner pages, text, images, and even business-specific sections like events and bookings, depending on the user&rsquo;s requirement.
 
 
 The company has also made a number of acquisitions to expand its product portfolio and capabilities. In May 2021, Wix acquired Rise.ai, a gift card and customer re-engagement solution for online brands. Through the acquisition, merchants on the &ldquo;Wix eCommerce&rdquo; platform in all supported countries and currencies can embed Rise.ai&rsquo;s customer re-engagement offerings to their ecommerce stores. Furthermore, it acquired Modalyst, a marketplace and dropshipping platform in June 2021 to enable merchants to access a marketplace comprising suppliers, manufacturers, and wholesalers, which can be synced directly to their stores.&nbsp;
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships&nbsp;
 
 
 Wix reported 263 million registered users and 6.3 million premium subscriptions in December 2023. It also served large enterprise customers such as Etoro, NTT, Vevo, HelloFresh, Glassdoor, and Intuit.
 
 
 The company actively partners with companies to offer business solutions to its merchants in the form of integrations. These include partnerships with 1) 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9479?industryIds=14">
 DoorDash Drive
 </a>
 (March 2022) to provide Wix Restaurants users access to DoorDash's delivery fleet, 2) Meta (March 2023) to include new integrations to WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger, which enable users to connect business accounts and respond to messages directly from the Wix dashboard, 3) Square (April 2023) to enable restaurant owners to sync their &ldquo;Wix Restaurants&rdquo; site with their Square account and take online orders directly from the Wix platform, 4) 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21863">
 Stripe
 </a>
 (September 2023) to introduce Tap to Pay functionality on Android devices and allow US-based merchants to accept contactless payments using the Wix Owner App, and 5)&nbsp; 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/29637">
 Global-e Online 
 </a>
 (May 2024) to offer its merchants access to Wix&rsquo;s suite of cross-border selling solutions.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In 2023, the company generated USD 1.56 billion in revenue and recorded an operating loss of USD 24.4 million. Notably, the company generates a considerable share of revenue (44%) outside North America. 
 
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 Shopify is a platform for users to create ecommerce websites. Merchants can use the software to design, set up, and manage their stores across multiple sales channels, including social media, marketplaces, brick-and-mortar locations, and pop-up shops. Shopify&rsquo;s platform offers a range of services including marketing, customer engagement, payments, and shipping tools. It also has an application programming interface (API) platform and app store, which allows developers to create applications for Shopify online stores.
 
 
 Shopify acquired Primer, an augmented reality (AR) technology provider, in June 2021. Primer&rsquo;s AR tech lets users view the potential impact of home improvements such as tiles, patterns, wallpaper, and paint on their mobile devices by mimicking the real lighting conditions, textures, and sheens. Through the acquisition, Shopify absorbed Primer&rsquo;s team of eight employees and intended to use Primer to complement its own AR integrations, such as allowing sellers to embed 3D models into their storefronts.&nbsp;
 
 
 In 2023, the company launched a suite of AI-enabled features integrated across the Shopify platform. It included a media editor, which enables users to edit images using word prompts, an AI-enabled commerce assistant that enables merchants to automate workflows, and a ChatGPT-powered shopping assistant that offers more relevant product recommendations. 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/23618">
 During Q3 2023
 </a>
 , Shopify also introduced the &quot;Retail Plan,&quot; a specialized pricing package for in-person sales by brick-and-mortar businesses. Additionally, it introduced the &quot;POS Terminal&quot;&nbsp; for merchants to transform their mobile point-of-sale into a countertop payment device with Wi-Fi and Ethernet support.&nbsp;
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 As of March 2024, the company had a large customer base of &ldquo;millions&rdquo; of merchants across 175 countries. Although the company focuses on small businesses, large enterprises such as Tesla, Red Bull, and Nestle are also among its customers.
 
 
 In May 2021, Shopify announced that its platform would
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/1225">
 integrate with Google
 </a>
 to allow merchants on the platform to reach consumers through Google services, including Search, Maps, Images, Lens, and YouTube. This was an addition to Shopify&rsquo;s integrations with large global platforms, which already included Facebook and TikTok. In addition to this, the company had plans to pilot &ldquo;TikTok Shopping,&rdquo; TikTok&rsquo;s ecommerce service, among particular Shopify merchants across the US, the UK, and Canada.&nbsp;
 
 
 In October 2021, Shopify 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/6204">
 partnered with Microsoft
 </a>
 to bring merchant listings to Microsoft Bing (search engine), Microsoft Edge (browser), and Microsoft Start (news service).
 
 
 In April 2022, Shopify
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9693">
 partnered with Strike
 </a>
 , a digital payments platform, to offer an integration for merchants to receive bitcoin payments from global customers in USD. Shopify further expanded upon its crypto-related solutions for its merchants by 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10612">
 partnering with global cryptocurrency exchange platform Crypto.com
 </a>
 in May 2022 to enable Shopify merchants to integrate &ldquo;Crypto.com Pay&rdquo; on their online storefronts, and 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21276">
 integrating with Solana Pay
 </a>
 on August 2023,, to enable direct settlement with USDC, a cryptocurrency pegged to the US dollar, and offer fee-free transactions.
 
 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/23618">
 Shopify expanded collaborations in Q3 2023
 </a>
 , extending ties with Flexport, incorporating the Buy with Prime app for US Amazon fulfillment network users into Shopify Checkout, enhancing B2B commerce with Faire, and establishing a global product development partnership with WPP.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 Shopify generated revenue of USD 7.1 billion and an operating loss of USD 1.4 billion in 2023 (ended December 31). Moreover, gross merchandise volume (GMV) rose 20.0% YoY and reached USD 235.9 billion in 2023. 
 
 
 
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<div>
 
 CaptivateIQ offers a no-code platform for enterprises to build, preview, and launch customized sales commission plans. The platform collates data from multiple sources, such as invoices and billing systems, and offers real-time analytics for employee commissions management. Any enterprise can use the platform regardless of size and industry; however, it is most commonly used by organizations with more than 25 sales personnel, primarily in the finance, manufacturing, and professional services industries. Moreover, the company claims to offer 60x faster commissions calculations.
 
 
 In September 2023, CaptivateIQ introduced the &ldquo;SmartGrid ELT engine,&rdquo; a real-time data management solution that uses proprietary extract, load, transform (ELT) technology to enable users to&nbsp; import, aggregate, and transform commission data sources. Following on, in November 2023, CaptivateIQ launched an enterprise-focused real-time commission platform that is capable of handling extensive data. The platform facilitates rapid plan adaptation, agile market response, quick commission calculations, assisting&nbsp; sales reps with real-time earnings visibility, and intelligent real-time reporting for varied metrics.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 As of January 2022, its enterprise customers included Affirm, TripActions, Figma, and Udemy.&nbsp;
 
 
 Funding and Financials
 
 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8052">
 In January 2022,
 </a>
 CaptivateIQ raised USD 100 million in a Series C round co-led by ICONIQ Growth, Sequoia, and Accel at a valuation of USD 1.25 billion. The company intended to utilize the funds for further product development and to expand its revenue teams. 
 
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Preql offers a no-code data science platform that automates data transformation for enterprises. The platform can be integrated with a data warehouse (such as Snowflake), to predict which data model is required. Users can then customize metric definitions while the solution compiles that logic and delivers reporting ready datasets. As of May 2022, the platform was still in its beta stages.Funding and financialsIn May 2022, Preql, a no-code data science platform, raised USD 7 million in seed funding, led by Bessemer Venture Partners.

Plobal Apps offers a no-code platform that enables e-commerce merchants to build mobile apps. Merchants using third-party platforms such as <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/30109">Shopify </a>to build ecommerce sites can use the platform to build mobile apps and use the platform’s dedicated team of account managers, growth strategists, and design experts to manage the app and ensure sales generation. The platform also provides a dashboard for users to analyze a shopper’s behavior in real time and use it to send notifications.As of June 2022, Plobal Apps had a reach of almost 2.5 million Shopify merchants.Funding and financialsIn June 2022, Plobal Apps raised USD 8.5 million in funding led by Elevation Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners to build a larger presence in North America, develop its technology, and launch new products.

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

Telehealth

San Francisco-based Hinge Health is a B2B specialized telehealth provider offering physical therapy and behavioral health solutions for back and joint pain (chronic musculoskeletal-MSK) conditions. The company was the <a href="https://www.hingehealth.com/resources/support/the-worlds-first-digital-clinic-for-back-and-joint-pain/">first to launch</a> a Digital MSK Clinic that combines guided one-on-one therapy with wearable motion sensors to provide real-time feedback and allow users to track their progress.Hinge’s product offering covers the full spectrum of MSK care, from prevention to post-surgical recovery, with access to virtual physical therapists and health coaches. Following the acquisition of Canada-based computer vision platform, Wrnch in September 2021, the company will offer a more personalized MSK care offering by motion tracking.In <a href="https://www.hingehealth.com/resources/press-releases/major-advancements-to-womens-pelvic-health/#:~:text=Hinge%20Health%20first%20launched%20the,platform%20for%20all%20MSK%20care.">April 2022</a>, the company launched a new solution for women’s pelvic health during all stages of life including pregnancy, postpartum, and menopause.In <a href="https://www.hingehealth.com/resources/press-releases/house-calls/">January 2023</a>, the company launched a new house-call physical therapy service. The service allows patients to schedule appointments via Hinge Health’s app, securing an at-home visit from a physical therapist between one and two business days. The appointments last for 45 minutes and aim to assess patients’ physical ability, flexibility, strength, and balance. Physical therapists will also carry out fall risk assessments of patients’ homes.In <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2024/04/11/virtual-physical-therapist-hinge-health-lays-off-10-of-its-workforce/">April 2024</a>, the company announced a 10% cut in its workforce. The move was an effort to accelerate the firm's path to profitability, enhance decision-making processes, and optimize investment focus as it braces for an IPO. The layoffs affected roles from various departments, including engineering. Prior to the decision, the company had more than 1,700 employees.As of <a href="https://www.hingehealth.com/for-organizations/employers/">July 2024</a>, the company served over 1,800 enterprise clients and covered 18 million individuals.Key customers and partnershipsIn <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/36901">December 2024</a>, Hinge partnered with Amazon Health Services to make MSK care accessible through Amazon.com for eligible employers and health plan members. Through the collaboration, Amazon customers searching for products for back, joint, or muscle pain would be able to discover and access Hinge Health's programs.&nbsp;In <a href="https://www.sunlife.com/en/newsroom/news-releases/announcement/sun-life-taps-hinge-health-as-preferred-digital-musculoskeletal-solution-for-members/123875/">July 2024</a>, the company partnered with Sun Life, an employee and government benefits organization to allow Sun Life members to access Hinge Health's resources, including health coaches, orthopedic surgeons, physical therapists, and technological tools like surgery decision support and the FDA-cleared Enso wearable device for pain relief.In <a href="https://www.teladochealth.com/newsroom/press/teladoc-health-offers-clients-access-to-musculoskeletal-health-with-hinge-health">October 2023</a>, general telemedicine provider Teladoc Health partnered with Hinge Health to provide Teladoc's clients with access to a range of digital solutions for joint and muscle pain for their employees. Under its partnership with Hinge Health, Teladoc’s clients could access its digital physical therapy program, which aims to reduce MSK pain and minimize the need for opioids and surgery. The program was personalized and supported by a multidisciplinary care team.

K Health is a telehealth provider that allows users to get personalized health information based on the experiences of other patients. Users can check how people with the same symptoms have been diagnosed and treated by doctors free of charge, allowing them to make informed decisions about the next steps in the treatment. K claims that its service is better than Google as K considers personalized information such as age, gender, and medical history in presenting results. The app also allows users to consult a doctor’s opinion at a fee. For unlimited chats with a doctor, K charges USD 9 per month (or USD 19 for a one-off chat). Users can share their free K evaluations with a board-certified doctor, who will pick up after automated results. The doctor will diagnose, prescribe medicine, and advise users. &nbsp;As of <a href="https://khealth.com/primary-care/">July 2024</a>, the company charged users USD 49 per month for access to its healthcare services.The company acquired teletherapy platform Trusst in <a href="https://www.khealth.com/blog/about-k/k-health-acquires-trusst/">August 2021</a> to expand its mental health solutions, allowing K Health users to access on-demand text-based therapy and receive their medication at home, without the need for insurance or scheduling appointments.As of July 2024, the company noted that its platform’s database contains the data of about 2,000 patients, and is available across 48 states.Key customers and partnershipsMost recently, in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33651">September 2024</a>, K Health partnered with Hackensack Meridian Health, New Jersey's largest health network, to launch an AI-driven primary care service. HMH 24/7 began offering patients 24/7 access to Hackensack Meridian Health clinicians for primary care needs through their smartphones. The service integrated virtual and in-person care, using K Health's AI technology to streamline clinical processes and provide clinicians with comprehensive patient health profiles.The company partnered with medical and research center Mayo Clinic in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25160">January 2024</a> to build an AI solution aimed at preventing premature deaths caused by heart disease and stroke. Through the partnership, K Health's proprietary algorithms will be used to create an advanced AI-ECG (AI-enhanced electrocardiography) technology for risk assessment and remote patient monitoring. Mayo Clinic will provide de-identified patient data to refine the AI model used with the AI-ECG. This model will take into account factors such as age, gender, and health history to optimize treatment and predict risks.Prior to this, in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/22600">July 2023</a>, K Health partnered with California-based primary care provider Cedars-Sinai, to incorporate K Health’s technology for virtual and urgent care services into Cedars-Sinai’s operations. Through the partnership, K Health and Cedars-Sinai began developing an app that helps patients connect with K Health’s AI and chat with doctors and nurses. The app, called Cedars-Sinai Connect, was launched in October 2023 for patients in California. Through the app, patients could access Cedars-Sinai experts for sick, chronic, and preventive care with 24/7 availability. The app uses AI technology developed by K Health and patients can pay per session or opt for a subscription fee for unlimited follow-up and remote visits.

Abridge is a Pittsburgh-based startup that develops GenAI tools for medical documentation. The company's core product is an AI-powered platform that converts patient-clinician conversations into structured clinical notes in real time. The technology integrates seamlessly with electronic health record systems, allowing clinicians to review and verify the AI-generated notes before finalizing them. Abridge's solution aims to reduce the administrative burden on healthcare providers, potentially saving them <a href="https://www.abridge.com/">70 hours per month</a> on documentation tasks. The platform supports <a href="https://www.abridge.com/">over 14 languages</a> and more than <a href="https://www.abridge.com/">50 medical specialties</a>.&nbsp;The company's technology is built on a proprietary data set derived from over 1.5 million medical encounters, and it employs advanced natural language processing and machine learning techniques to ensure accuracy and efficiency in clinical documentation.Key customers and partnershipsAs of <a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/ai-and-machine-learning/abridge-clinches-150m-build-out-generative-ai-medical-documentation#:~:text=Around%205%2C000%20doctors%20currently%20use,Rao%2C%20a%20cardiologist%2C%20noted.">February 2024</a>, the company’s solution was being used by around 5,000 clinicians.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/36903">December 2024</a>, Abridge partnered with Corewell Health, a not-for-profit health system, to deploy its enterprise-wide AI platform for automated clinical documentation across Corewell Health's facilities.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/35580">October 2024</a>, Abridge partnered with OpenNotes, a health transparency research organization at BIDMC, to improve patient visit documentation. The partnership, part of BIDMC's new OpenNotes Lab initiative, would evaluate Abridge's AI-generated patient visit summaries through focus groups to enhance their usefulness and accessibility.&nbsp;Also in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/34809">October 2024</a>, the company partnered with Wolters Kluwer Health to integrate UpToDate, a clinical decision support solution, into its platform. Through the partnership, Abridge's AI-generated clinical notes would include links to relevant evidence-based recommendations from UpToDate, providing clinicians with immediate access to the latest clinical information at the point of care.&nbsp;In <a href="https://www.reidhealth.org/press-releases/reid-health-chooses-abridge-generative-ai-solution-to-increase-access-to-care">August 2024</a>, Abridge partnered with Reid Health, a rural healthcare system, to implement AI-powered solutions across Reid's network. Through the partnership, Abridge's AI technology was integrated with Epic's workflow, automating clinical documentation in real-time. The partnership aimed to reduce clinicians' administrative burden, allowing Reid Health to focus more on patient care.In <a href="https://www.abridge.com/press-release/abridge-mayo-epic">July 2024</a>, the company partnered with health IT giant Epic and healthcare system Mayo Clinic to create a GenAI documentation platform. The partnership aimed to integrate Abridge's AI transcription and documentation tools into Epic's EHR workflow for Mayo Clinic's nurses. The GenAI tool utilized Abridge's technology to automatically transcribe and summarize conversations between nurses and patients while leveraging Epic's expertise in EHR integration and Mayo Clinic's knowledge of nursing practices.In <a href="https://www.abridge.com/press-release/uvm-health-network-announcement">June 2024</a>, Abridge partnered with The University of Vermont Health Network to improve clinician well-being. Through the partnership, Abridge's AI-powered platform was deployed across the university’s health network to generate clinical notes from patient-clinician conversations in real-time. The company noted that the enterprise-wide rollout would initially cover primary care and later expand to specialties like cardiology and endocrinology.In <a href="https://www.abridge.com/press-release/abridge-sutter-health">March 2024</a>, Abridge partnered with not-for-profit health system Sutter Health, to implement Abridge’s AI platform for clinical documentation across Sutter's network in California.

Folx Health is a membership-based telehealth platform serving the LGBTQIA+ community through 24/7 virtual consultations and messaging. The company’s service offerings include hormone replacement therapy, erectile dysfunction treatments, primary care, mental health care, therapy, sexual and reproductive health, and fertility and family-building services.&nbsp;In addition, the company’s FOLX Library offers free content on queer and trans-focused health.&nbsp;In <a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/digital-health/folx-health-rolls-out-enterprise-solution-employers-community-platform">June 2022</a>, the company launched an enterprise solution for its LGBTQ+ telehealth offerings. The platform offered end-to-end virtual primary care, gender-affirming care, and care advocacy through employers. Parents of LGBTQ+ youth also have access to these offerings along with additional services such as support groups, educational content, and care referral programs.Key customers and partnershipsAs of <a href="https://www.folxhealth.com/#:~:text=FOLX%20is%20the%20largest%20health,the%20health%20care%20you%20deserve.">August 2024</a>, the company claimed to serve over 50,000 individuals. Additionally, the company has partnered with several health plans to offer its care services as part of in-network options. These health plans include <a href="https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2024/06/10/bluecross-folx-health-partnership-lgbtq.html">Blue Cross</a>, <a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/digital-health/folx-health-announces-payer-partnerships-expand-access-lgbtq-care#:~:text=Folx%20Health%2C%20a%20virtual%20provider,according%20to%20Folx%20Health's%20website.">Cigna, Evernorth and Blue Shield of California, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas and Optum</a>.In <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/folx-health-partners-with-crisis-text-line-to-expand-247-mental-health-support-for-the-lgbtqia-community-302098830.html">March 2024</a>, Folx Health partnered with Crisis Text Line, a global nonprofit organization, to provide FOLX members access to free text-based mental health support services on a round-the-clock basis.In <a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/digital-health/tbd-health-launches-enterprise-offering-works-folx-health-wisp#:~:text=%E2%80%9CAs%20a%20company%20with%20a,said%20in%20a%20press%20release.">January 2024</a>, Folx Health partnered with TBD Health as part of TBD Health's new B2B offering. Through the partnership, Folx Health users gained access to TBD's at-home Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) kits and depend on its labs for next-day results.

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 Clearing is a membership-based platform that connects patients with a clinician to design a personalized, opioid-free treatment plan consisting of a prescription compound cream, home exercises, Cannabidiol cream, and customized supplements. Members will have access to a healthcare provider for follow-ups and the products are delivered directly to a patient&rsquo;s home. 
 
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Democratizing financial technology with a suite of API-based solutions

FinTech Infrastructure

Based in Germany, Mambu offers infrastructure for banks, FinTech startups, financial institutions, and telcos, to embed banking services to their FinTechs. The platform offers over 6,000 financial products including personal lending, digital wallets, and current accounts. Mambu is deployed on the cloud and allows businesses to use integrations to streamline and automate banking services. The platform can also be used to replace legacy banking FinTechs in addition to building new ones. For instance, in April 2021, Mambu’s infrastructure was used to rebuild Tandem Bank’s banking platform.Key customers and partnershipsAs of December 2021, the platform had over 200 enterprise customers, more than 53 million end users, and handled around 130 million API calls daily. Moreover, Mambu had around USD 12 billion in portfolios under management as of March 2021. Its customers include large enterprises such as Western Union, Raiffeisen Bank, ABN AMRO, OakNorth, Orange, and Santander, among others. Mambu noted that its presence spans across more than 65 countries in six continents including operations in the US, Japan, Brazil, Malaysia, and the UK.In February 2021, Mambu partnered with the FinTech software development company TruNorth to create a cost-effective way for regional banks, credit unions, and community banks to digitize their operations. In July 2022, Mambu <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11476?industryIds=53">partnered with Visa </a>to develop an integration with Visa DPS, a debit transaction processor, to provide its customers the ability to offer new card products and services.Funding and financialsThe company raised a total of EUR 345 million (USD 391 million) in two rounds of funding in 2021 (EUR 235 million in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/7277">Series E funding in December </a>and EUR 110 million in January). The company’s valuation reached EUR 4.9 billion (USD 5.5 billion) in December, more than double its valuation in January (EUR 1.7 billion). The funds were earmarked to be invested in accelerating innovation of Mambu’s platform, building on strategic partnerships, as well as expanding its global footprint and customer success.

Alloy offers a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform and unified API service for banks and FinTechs to embed identity and fraud compliance. The platform integrates with over 160 data sources (as of September 2022), and also offers a dashboard for enterprise customers to automate identity and fraud-related decisions. The company also <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/6132">added credit underwriting to its offering in October 2021 </a>, with the intention of building comprehensive views of customers in line with their onboarding and transaction monitoring products.Key customers and partnershipsIn May 2024, the company partnered with Coris, an SMB data intelligence company, to integrate automated SMB onboarding, underwriting, and fraud prevention solutions.<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9794">Alloy partnered </a>with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/492317">Veriff </a>in April 2022 to enhance its know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) solutions for banks and FinTechs. By accessing Veriff’s identity verification solutions, Alloy enables its clients to combat fraud when onboarding customers and when monitoring transactions and credit decisions. Moreover, Alloy’s users can access KYC solutions in over 190 countries.Alloy reportedly served over 300 customers as of September 2022, including Ally Bank, HMBradley, Gemini, Ramp, Brex, and Evolve Bank &amp; Trust.

Lithic (formerly known as Privacy.com) was founded as a B2C platform for customers to generate virtual and temporary debit cards for online use, to protect user identity and payment details from fraud. In H2 2020, the company launched its “Lithic” API to issue and maintain the debit and credit cards. The company continues to offer its B2C platform under the “Privacy.com” brand and has issued over 10 million virtual card numbers as of May 2021. The Lithic platform mainly targets early-stage startup enterprises and FinTechs, unlike peers Marqeta and Galileo, which typically cater to more established businesses. The platform charges a fee per card issued and interchange fees based on the volume of transactions handled by the API. It offers a “Starter” package for developers as well as an “Enterprise” package with advanced features such as, physical cards, advanced know-your-customer (KYC) features, branded digital wallet cards, a dedicated success manager, and higher revenue shares, among others. The infrastructure is pre-integrated with multiple banks, and can be used for a range of use cases, including expense management platforms, online travels, insurance, online marketplaces, etc. Lithic noted that the annual processing volume handled by the platform surpassed USD 1 billion as of July 2021, and that its API developer platform grew 4x over the preceding eight months. In May 2021, the company rebranded to Lithic to highlight its increased focus on the newer, card-issuing platform (B2B business). Alongside the rebranding, Lithic also raised USD 43 million in a Series B funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners to invest in expanding the tools and tech offered for its Lithic platform while also enhancing its Privacy.com offering.Moreover, <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/4556">Lithic subsequently raised USD 60 million in Series C funding </a>in July 2021, led by Stripes. The funds were earmarked for recruitment to meet the demand for its developer platform and may also be used in strategic acquisitions to enhance Lithic’s core offering.

Upvest offers a cloud-based API-based investing infrastructure platform for neobanks, stock brokers, and established banks. The platform offers brokerage and custody infrastructure, which includes account creation and trade execution, across several security types ranging from stocks and ETFs to crypto assets. Accordingly, Upvest enables its clients to offer a range of investment solutions to their end customers, including fractional investments, portfolio management, and savings plans.Upvest is licensed by the German financial regulator BaFin for securities brokerage and custody. Therefore, it can offer its investment infrastructure across Europe. The platform reportedly provides access to over 50,000 securities as of June 2022.Key customers and partnershipsUpvest has partnered with several large banks to deliver its infrastructure. For instance, it partnered with ABN AMRO for payment rails and transaction banking.Funding and financialsIn October 2023, Upvest raised <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/22640">EUR 30 million (~USD 31.9 million) </a>in funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners. The company planned to use the funds to enha

Singapore-based Thunes is a cross-border payment infrastructure platform for banks, mobile money operators, money transfer operators, payment service providers, and enterprise payment platforms. It reduces the cost of cross-border fund transfers by eliminating third parties. The platform charges upto USD 5 for fund transfers and does not charge other fees besides transfer fees.Thunes is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, and has regional offices in the UK, China, the US, Dubai, and Kenya, as well as its Singapore headquarters. The company reportedly had a mobile wallet network of around three billion accounts in June 2023 (from around 720 million in May 2021) and also connected about four billion bank accounts globally. The company further noted that it has processed transactions worth ~USD 50 billion since its inception.Key customers and partnerships Thunes’ platform was used by more than 260 customers and network partners across 110 countries in May 2021. Its customers include Grab, PayPal, M-Pesa, Bank of Dubai, Western Union, and NTUC Income, among others. In January 2022, <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/7670?industryIds=53">the company partnered with WEF </a>to provide its infrastructure to address systemic inequality in accessing financial services. In June/July 2021, Thunes partnered with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/3565">Nepalese payment service provider e-Sewa </a>and <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/4210">Cambodia’s ABA Bank </a>, to enable remittances to the respective countries from overseas (countries in Thunes’s network). It also <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/4399">acquired European payment methods platform Limonetik </a>, to integrate into a single API the 285 local payment methods (such as wallets, installments, QR codes, etc.) Limonetik supports in over 70 countries. Thunes <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10829">subsequently partnered </a>with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/456059">True Layer </a>in June 2022, to enable cross-border open banking payments for its British and European customers. In October 2022, Thunes <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13877?industryIds=53">partnered with “Visa Direct” </a>to add cross-border “send-to-wallet” capabilities to 78 digital wallet providers across the globe (already integrated with Thunes).The company also leverages its investors’ networks to expand its global presence. In May 2021, it aimed to leverage Insight Partners’ operational resources and talent network to expand its operations in North and South America, similar to how it leveraged existing investor Helios to expand to Africa and GGV Capital to widen operations in China.Funding and financialsThunes raised USD 72 million in Series C funding in 2023 ( <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19134">initial raise </a>in June and an <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/20175">extension in July </a>), to invest in scaling its capabilities, launching new solutions, enhancing its network, and deepening its presence in key markets such as China, Latin America, and the Middle East. The round valued the company over USD 900 million.

Data Infrastructure & Analytics

ScyllaDB is the monstrously fast and scalable database for today's terabyte-scale and beyond data intensive applications. ScyllaDB is available as open source and enterprise offerings that can be run anywhere, and ScyllaDB Cloud, a fully-managed Database as a Service (DBaaS) available on AWS and Google Cloud. ScyllaDB supports wide-column NoSQL workloads fully compatible with Apache Cassandra and Amazon DynamoDB. ScyllaDB was founded under the name Cloudius Systems. As Cloudius Systems, the company pioneered the unikernel trend with the development of OSv, designed from the ground up to execute a single application on top of a hypervisor for superior performance and effortless management.

Firebolt is a cloud data warehouse platform that enables organizations to analyze large datasets with sub-second query performance. The platform leverages a proprietary SQL query engine that separates computing and storage resources, allowing users to create multiple isolated resources on the same database. Through its Triple F file format and sparse indexing technology, Firebolt can reduce the amount of data scanned during queries, resulting in faster performance and lower costs compared to traditional data warehouses. The platform is PostgreSQL-compliant and runs on Amazon Web Services (AWS), with users charged based on compute, storage and networking resources used plus an annual subscription fee. As of September 2024, Firebolt's architecture enables organizations to run queries up to 182 times faster than alternative solutions while reducing storage costs by up to 77%. The platform handles both structured and semi-structured data analytics, supporting functionalities like data integration, migration, replication, and workflow management through standard SQL.
Key customers and partnerships
Similarweb uses Firebolt to process over one petabyte of data while ingesting five terabytes daily to analyze website audience interactions. Bigabid leverages the platform to analyze one million ad auctions per second, achieving 400x faster performance compared to MySQL. The Dealer Trade Network (DTN) utilizes Firebolt to process billions of records for their dealer-to-dealer car trading network, enabling 60x faster queries. Other notable customers include VRIO, which reduced infrastructure costs by 30% while achieving 58x faster query speeds, Lurkit, which analyzes data from millions of gaming channels, and Agritask, which runs complex SQL queries over billions of records. The platform integrates with business intelligence tools including Looker, Tableau and Sisense.

Imply is a data infrastructure company that focuses on real-time analytics applications, specifically known for its solutions for Apache Druid, a popular database for real-time analytics. Imply's products include the fully-managed DBaaS (Imply Polaris), hybrid-managed software (Imply Enterprise Hybrid), and self-managed software (Imply Enterprise).&nbsp;Imply provides a comprehensive package that includes a cloud-native service, up-to-date Druid distribution, visualization UI, management, and performance monitoring software, as well as 24/7 support and professional services. Key features include sub-second query responses at any scale, high concurrency with lower costs, and simplified data operations. Imply's solutions cater to both real-time and historical data insights and claim significant cost savings for users.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsImply's customers included notable companies, such as Sift which used Imply for fraud detection and real-time data ingestion, and GameAnalytics, leveraging Imply for mobile gaming analytics. Another key customer was Reddit, utilizing Imply’s technology for ad monetization. Other customers included Confluent, Target, Netflix, Atlassian, Poshmark, and PayTM. Imply also partnered with Paytm, assisting in building a petabyte-scale analytics application, resulting in significant infrastructure savings.The company's partner ecosystem includes industry-leading technology companies, cloud platforms, consulting firms, and systems integrators, emphasizing a collaborative approach to delivering value in big data analytics. As of November 2023, a key partner of Imply was Amazon Web Services (AWS); the company was also part of the AWS independent software vendor (ISV) partner network.

DataDistillr operates an enterprise platform aimed at standardizing data discovery across organizations, allowing data to be read, transformed, and analyzed at the source location without requiring any movement of data. The unified platform integrates with a large number of data sources and operates using standard SQL regardless of the data source and structure of data being accessed. Users can also create shareable charts and visualizations within the DataDistillr platform for an end-to-end data analytics experience with inbuilt collaboration tools.

Coactive AI is a visual data analytics platform that enables companies to derive insights from unstructured image and video data. It helps enterprises generate structure for their unstructured visual content and integrate it into existing data tools and workflows. Coactive's platform utilizes machine learning models to index and embed raw visual files, allowing users to search, query, and analyze this content at scale. Its proprietary active learning system enables customers to define domain-specific concepts with minimal manual effort, overcoming the limitations of traditional computer vision models.&nbsp;The platform works by allowing enterprises to upload raw images or videos through an API or secure data lake connection, after which it automatically embeds and indexes the data with limited manual supervision. Coactive's image search API and SQL interface enable users to query and analyze the indexed data. The platform uses active learning techniques to define domain-specific concepts with fewer labels, potentially reducing the time and effort required for data annotation and classification. Coactive's visual analytics features assist analysts in identifying patterns and extracting insights from large datasets, while the UI SDK supports the conversion of visual data insights into actionable information. The platform's API and Python SDKs allow users to monitor and interpret their visual data continuously.In July 2024, the company launched a beta version of Dynamic Tags, a feature that uses multimodal AI to automatically categorize and classify video content. Dynamic Tags, which are customizable labels for moods, activities, and more, work by analyzing video snapshots and matching them with user-defined tags. Coactive highlights the benefits of rapid classification without manual tagging, no-code model tuning, and the flexibility to tailor tags to specific needs. Potential uses include creating cut sheets, assigning advertisement tags, personalizing content recommendations, and enhancing metadata for better search and asset management.

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.

Nym is a company that provides autonomous medical coding solutions for healthcare providers across the US. Their flagship product is an autonomous medical coding engine that leverages clinical language understanding (CLU) technology to translate provider notes within patient charts into accurate billing codes in seconds without any human intervention. Nym's engine combines clinical expertise, computational linguistics, and explainable AI to decipher physician notes and assign compliant ICD-10 and CPT codes for medical billing.
As of October 2023, Nym's engine supports medical coding for emergency medicine, urgent care, outpatient surgery, outpatient visits, and radiology departments. It maintains over 96% coding accuracy and provides audit-ready, traceable documentation for every code generated, ensuring compliance with the latest guidelines. Nym's solution seamlessly integrates into existing coding workflows, running in the background and sending successfully coded charts directly to billing.
By automating medical coding, Nym helps healthcare providers reduce coding costs by up to 35%, decrease accounts receivable time by five days, and lower denial rates to less than 0.15%. As of April 2022, Nym's engine was powering revenue cycle management for Ochsner Health's emergency departments, processing over 5.5 million charts annually across more than 275 healthcare facilities in the US

Abridge is a pioneering healthcare technology company that has developed an AI-powered platform to transform medical conversations into structured clinical notes in real-time. The company's proprietary technology leverages machine learning and natural language processing to accurately transcribe and summarize patient-clinician interactions, extracting key medical information and mapping it to relevant codes and ontologies.
Abridge's core offering is an enterprise-grade documentation solution that seamlessly integrates with electronic health record (EHR) systems like Epic. During a medical encounter, the platform records the conversation and generates a draft clinical note, capturing details such as the patient's medical history, diagnoses, treatments, and follow-up instructions. This automated process significantly reduces the administrative burden on healthcare providers, saving them an average of two hours per day on documentation tasks.
The company's technology has been extensively trained on a proprietary dataset derived from over 1.5 million medical encounters, enabling it to perform accurately across a wide range of specialties and support multiple languages. Abridge's platform includes a "Linked Evidence" feature that maps AI-generated summaries to the corresponding sections in the source transcript, allowing providers to quickly verify the accuracy of the information.
Since its founding in 2018, Abridge has rapidly gained traction among healthcare providers and systems. As of March 2024, the company's solutions were being used by around 5,000 doctors across various health systems.
In February 2024, Abridge announced a strategic partnership with Epic, enabling seamless integration of its generative AI for clinical documentation into Epic's EHR workflow. This collaboration has facilitated rapid deployments across multiple healthcare systems, with full implementation often achieved within two weeks.
Key customers and partnerships
Abridge has established notable partnerships with several leading healthcare organizations and technology companies, including:
- Sutter Health
- Yale New Haven Health System
- UCI Health
- Emory healthcare
- The University of Kansas Health System and UPMC
- Epic
- Nvidia

Plenful is a company that offers an artificial intelligence (AI) workflow automation platform designed to streamline pharmacy and healthcare operations. The company's software is a no-code solution that integrates with various data sources, including structured and unstructured formats like PDFs, flat files, APIs, HL7, SFTPs, and databases. Plenful's platform automates manual and administrative workflows, allowing pharmacy technicians and healthcare teams to focus on top-of-license tasks and human-centered processes.
Plenful's technology leverages AI and machine learning to address key pain points in the industry, driving revenue growth and reducing time and costs for its customers. The platform provides several use cases, such as 340 billion auditing, financial reporting, referral management, pharmacy revenue cycle management, and intelligent document data entry automation. Plenful's solution can optimize inventory planning, detect rate discrepancies to maximize revenue capture, proactively monitor and alert for shortages and waste, and forecast inventory demand.
Plenful's platform is highly configurable, allowing for customization to meet specific requirements and disparate data feeds of individual customers. The company's software has been designed to handle 100% of compliance volume auditing, financial reporting, and identify missed savings opportunities.
Plenful claims its solutions can reduce manual work by up to 97% and identify millions of dollars in savings opportunities for customers. The company serves over 25 customers, including health systems like Tampa General Hospital, Renown Health, Salinas Valley Health, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and other innovative healthcare teams.
Key customers and partnerships
Plenful serves a wide range of customers across the healthcare value chain, including health system pharmacies, specialty pharmacies, long-term care pharmacies, compounding pharmacies, specialty providers, and manufacturers. Notable customers mentioned in the sources include Tampa General Hospital, Renown Health, Salinas Valley Health, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Medication Management Partners, and dozens of other innovative healthcare teams.

SmarterDx is a healthcare technology company that leverages proprietary clinical AI to improve revenue integrity and quality of care for hospitals and health systems. The company's AI solution analyzes over 30,000 data points per patient encounter, including lab results, radiology reports, medications, vital signs, and clinical notes. It then identifies any remaining gaps or inaccuracies in the documentation and coding process, enabling hospitals to safeguard millions in potential revenue leakage and ensure accurate representation of care quality.
SmarterDx's technology is designed to complement existing clinical documentation integrity (CDI) and coding teams, rather than replacing them. By automating the tedious and error-prone tasks of scouring through vast amounts of clinical data, the company's AI presents recommendations and supporting evidence to CDI teams, allowing them to focus on higher-level tasks and leverage their clinical expertise more effectively.
SmarterDx operates on a contingency-based business model, where the company is paid a percentage of the cost savings or new revenue generated for hospitals. On average, SmarterDx identifies USD 2 million in net new annual revenue per 10,000 patient discharges for its clients, which include some of the largest hospitals and health systems across the US. With a 100% client retention rate, a 5:1 return on investment (ROI), and a KLAS client satisfaction score of 98, SmarterDx has rapidly emerged as a leader in the healthcare revenue cycle solutions market.
In May 2024, SmarterDx secured USD 50 million in Series B funding, led by Transformation Capital, with continued investments from Bessemer Venture Partners, Flare Capital Partners, and Floodgate Fund, bringing the company's total funding to USD 71 million. The investment will drive product innovation, new clinical and financial data integrations, and support the company's expansion and scale.

Building future-ready applications in the cloud

Cloud-native Tech

HashiCorp, Inc. is a leading player in multi-cloud infrastructure automation software.The company specializes in tools and commercial products that help organizations automate multi-cloud infrastructure, encompassing areas such as infrastructure provisioning, security, networking, and application deployment. HashiCorp's extensive software suite for cloud-native development includes Packer™, Terraform®, Vault™, Consul®, and Nomad™. These products are available in community, enterprise, and managed cloud service formats.The company focuses on creating solutions that address real-world IT problems in multi-cloud environments, rather than focusing solely on technology. This approach, along with their commitment to open-source principles, has garnered them widespread recognition and a substantial user base.Key customers and partnershipsHashiCorp has developed a robust ecosystem, catering to many industries including financial services, healthcare, telecom, media &amp; entertainment, public sector, technology, retail, and manufacturing. Notable customers include Hulu, GM, Novartis, 3M, Anaplan, and ADB.Hashicorp’s partners include Microsoft Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, Cisco, Datadog, Red Hat, GitHub, Palo Alto, and MongoDB.Funding and financialsHashiCorp’s latest funding round was in March 2020, when it raised USD 175 million in Series E funding at a valuation of USD 5.1 billion. This round was led by Franklin Templeton with participation from T. Rowe Price Associates, Geodesic Capital, and others.For FY 2024, the company reported a revenue of USD 583.1 million (a 22.5% YoY increase) and a non-GAAP operating loss of USD 79.4 million (a 36.5% YoY decrease).

ScyllaDB is a database company that specializes in high-performance NoSQL database management systems.ScyllaDB is a NoSQL database technology known for its architectural advantages, offering high-throughput and low-latency performance, capable of handling millions of operations per second with single-digit millisecond latency. It operates across various cloud platforms, hybrid cloud setups, or on-premises deployments, while also providing automatic I/O and CPU performance optimization and workload prioritization to co-locate tasks within a single server cluster. ScyllaDB's design is tailored for agile and rapidly growing teams, empowering them to deliver fast user experiences at an extreme scale. Its technology finds applications in ad serving, AI, recommendation engines, fraud detection, and IoT data analysis.ScyllaDB offers a variety of licensing options, including an open-source community edition and enterprise-grade licenses.In 2017, ScyllaDB acquired Seastar, a database-as-a-service company to support the rising demand for ScyllaDB's Cassandra-compatible database on cloud platforms.Key customers and partnershipsScyllaDB’s customers operate in various industries and sectors such as AdTech, transportation, e-commerce and retail, media, security, travel and leisure, and social media. Some notable customers are Discord, Strava, Comcast, Rakuten, Zillow, Expedia, and Ola.ScyllaDB supports cloud storage integrations with AWS, Azure, Oracle Cloud, and Google Cloud.

Portainer is a container management software that simplifies the deployment, management, and scaling of containerized applications. The company is based in New Zealand.Portainer carries an intuitive interface that enables users to manage their containers without advanced technical skills. The platform includes container management, image management, user management, access control, and health checks and supports both Docker and Kubernetes environments.Portainer has a free version and a paid enterprise edition that offers additional features such as multi-team support, centralized authentication, and role-based access control. The enterprise edition also includes 24/7 support from the Portainer team.Portainer focuses on simplicity, which makes it accessible to both technical and non-technical users. Additionally, Portainer supports a wide range of environments, including Docker Swarm, Kubernetes, and Azure ACI, making it a solution for managing containerized applications across different platforms.Key customers and partnershipsPortainer’s target industries include software development, financial services, healthcare, retail, and education.

Prefect is an open-source workflow management and automation platform designed to simplify and streamline data engineering and data operations.Prefect Cloud is a cloud-based platform offered by Prefect, which complements its open-source workflow management system. Prefect Cloud offers several notable features and benefits, including centralized and scalable infrastructure for managing workflows, making it easier to deploy, monitor, and control workflows across multiple environments.Prefect's sales model combines a direct sales approach with a self-service option, enabling customers to choose the most suitable subscription plan for their workflow management needs while receiving the necessary support and guidance from the Prefect team.Key customers and partnershipsPrefect serves a broad range of customers across a variety of industries. Some of its key customers include Anaconda, Jellyfish, Quilt.ai, and Dyvenia.Prefect collaborates with leading cloud providers to integrate their solutions. These partners include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Microsoft Azure. Prefect also has dozens of pre-built integrations with partners such as Slack, Google Big Query, Databricks, and Snowflake.

Teleport is a technology company providing a modern security gateway for managing access to infrastructure across cloud and on-premises environments.Teleport's flagship product, also named “Teleport,” offers a unified access control plane that simplifies the management of access privileges and ensures compliance with security policies. It allows users to securely access resources through SSH, Kubernetes, and web-based interfaces while providing granular control over permissions and visibility into user activity.One of Teleport's key features is its ability to provide secure access to dynamic infrastructure, allowing organizations to easily manage access to cloud instances, containers, and micro-services. It also offers features like session recording, audit logs, and multi-factor authentication to enhance security and compliance.Teleport's sales model combines direct sales for personalized engagement with enterprise customers and a subscription-based model.Key customers and partnershipsKey customers of Teleport include organizations across various industries, such as technology, finance, and healthcare. The platform is used by companies of all sizes, from startups to large enterprises. Key customers include Nasdaq, Flywheel, Tiger Graph, Gladly, and Jasper.

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

Remote Work Infrastructure

Hibob provides an end-to-end HR software platform which provides tools for onboarding, measuring employee engagement and performance, payroll reports, workforce planning, talent acquisition, third-party software integrations, among other HR-related features.&nbsp;In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/35426">October 2024</a>, HiBob launched Bob Learning, an integrated learning and development module within its HCM platform Bob.&nbsp;In February 2024, HiBob acquired payroll automation platform Pento, broadening the company’s suite of payroll processing solutions. Previously, in June 2021, the company announced that it had acquired the people analytics platform Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia is an AI-based startup that provides relationship analytics to help remote and hybrid teams improve communication and collaboration.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsAs of April 2024, over 2,500 multinational organizations used HiBob’s platform. Notable enterprises using the platform included VaynerMedia, Fiverr and OnePlus, among others.In September 2023, HiBob entered into a partnership with Papaya Global to integrate their respective HR and payroll platforms and streamline data synchronization for multinational companies. Previously, in September 2022, the company partnered with global consulting firm Mercer to make its Compensation and Benchmark data available through its platform, providing data-driven insights for compensation planning and budgetary planning.&nbsp;

Papaya Global is an automated platform for global payroll and workforce management. The platform offers end-to-end solutions that allow businesses to grow their teams globally by hiring from anywhere in the world as the employer of record (EoR). The platform simplifies the onboarding and management process with guidance in local compliance laws and allows cross-border payments with coverage in more than 160 countries, as of April 2024. Additionally the company offers global equity management (managing employee stock purchase plans, stock options, etc.) and contractor management.In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/36367">November&nbsp; 2024</a>, Papaya Global launched a new suite of AI-powered solutions for global workforce management. Previously in&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21897">September 2023</a>, the company launched ‘made to measure’, an AI-backed solution&nbsp; designed to help organizations navigate complex US payroll regulations. Other notable product updates included the launch of Papaya Global Payroll Payments (<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16965">March 2023</a>), a first-of-its-kind, fully automated, embedded payments platform for global payroll and mass payments to employees and other beneficiaries, with payments arriving within 72 hours.Papaya Global has undertaken a series of acquisitons to expand its product offerings; Mensch (an Israeli human resource information platform) in July 2021, to complement its end-to-end offering and feature employee management; NickNack, a remote work connectivity platform, in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/6767">November 2021</a> to enhance its technology solution to support clients onboard employees to remote teams with asynchronous activities by providing a platform to improve employee engagement and connectivity; Azimo, a UK-based online remittance service, in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9416">March 2022</a> to help Papaya Global expand its geographical footprint using Azimo’s payment licenses and network spanning 190+ countries.The company generates revenue through monthly subscriptions on a per employee basis, based on the product offered. As of April 2024, this included payroll (USD 15-25), EoR (USD 500), contractors (USD 30) and agent of record (USD 200). Additionally, the company generates revenue from cross-border payments (USD 2.5 per transaction).As of April 2024, the company had over USD 7 billion in total payroll under management. In March 2021, the company claimed that in the past three years it has experienced 300% revenue growth YoY.Key customers and partnershipsAs of April 2024, the company served over 2,000 enterprises, with 35% of its customer base being Global Fortune 500 firms. Notable enterprises using the platform included Toyota, Shopify, Canva and Wix.In September 2023, the company partnered with HiBob to connect its HR data to Papaya's payments and payroll platform, reducing administrative burden. Previously in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9612">April 2022</a>, the company launched a corporate payment and expense management solution for remote employees in partnership with Mesh Payments, a corporate payment and spend management solution provider.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Leena AI, a graduate of YCombinator’s Summer 2018 accelerator, offers an employee experience platform for human resources. Leena AI integrates with HR systems like Workday and communication platforms like Teams and Slack to automate simple and repetitive HR tasks. The platform offers the following features:1) Employee onboarding: Automates onboarding processes for new hires, engages new employees using a virtual agent chatbot, and provides dropout predictions and engagement analytics2) HR service delivery: Answers routine queries like remaining vacation time or insurance, provides access to personal data and documents like pay slips and tax information, acts as a document management system, automates knowledge base management, and provides centralized analytics3) Employee engagement: A virtual agent platform for conversational employee feedback, smart surveys, and automated action planning tools, provides employee sentiment analytics, attrition predictions, and engagement trends4) Employee relationship management: A unified employee information and interaction platformLeena AI leverages several underlying AI models, including OpenAI’s GPT-3, for its query response and workflow automation.The company launched a new proprietary large language model (LLM) called “WorkLM” in May 2023, which is based on 2 TB of curated proprietary data acquired by Leena AI over seven years.Notably, the company claims that its GenAI assistant is able to help enterprises reduce 70% of employee tickets across functions like HR, IT, and finance by centralizing knowledge and automating actions across enterprise applications.Key customers and partnershipsAs of April 2024, the company’s platform was used by over 10 million employees across 400+ organizations, with notable brands including The Coca-Cola Company, Airbnb and Puma, among others.Funding and financialsLeena raised external funding in a USD 30 million Series B held in September 2021 led by Bessemer Venture Partners. The then-new capital was utilized to fund product innovation and expand its offering to additional verticals including finance, IT, and sales.

Wrapbook offers employer-of-record (EoR) payroll, union compliance and insurance for media production companies in the entertainment industry. In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9537?industryIds=15">April 2022</a>, the company also released a mobile app that enables production crews and staff to complete onboarding processes, submit timecards, and track payroll payments, secured by touch and face ID.&nbsp;Additionally, in July 2023, the company launched a new suite of cost management and accounting tools to streamline expense tracking. Wrapbook also offers API integrations with third party software for budgeting, accounting and payment processing.The company generated revenue through a USD 249 one-time signup fee, and a 0.75% commission on wages paid through the platform.Key customers and partnershipsNotable customers using the platform included Red Arrow Industries, SixTwentySix and The Arridia Group.Funding and financialsIn November 2021, Wrapbook raised USD 100 million in a Series B funding round led by Tiger Global Management with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, and other investors, valuing the company at USD 1 billion. Funds were earmarked to expand its platform and team to service major studios, networks, and production companies in television, film, commercials, and live events. Further, the company claimed that its revenue grew sevenfold in 2020.Competitors: None under coverage. (Wrapbook specifically tailors its services to media production companies within the entertainment industry.)

Remote learning is driving an education technology revolution.

EdTech: K-12

Instructure’s portfolio of offerings complements Canvas: MasteryConnect is the company’s student assessment platform acquired in 2019, while MasterView Assessments, a tool that allows teachers to evaluate and close students’ learning gaps due to the Covid-19 pandemic was launched in April 2021. In October 2020, it launched the Canvas Certified Educator program for K-12 and higher education. The company introduced "Impact by Instructure" in July 2021, following the acquisition of Amsterdam-based EesySoft, a technology adoption vendor that assists teachers and students with using EdTech products including Canvas. It also launched the Edtech Collective, a community of companies and educators where members gain access to new capabilities and perks. Later, in November 2021, Instructure offered “Elevate Data Sync,” which allows the secure syncing of data between applications and student information systems (SIS), through the acquisition of Kimono, a cloud-based data integration platform. In December 2022, the firm&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15446">acquired LearnPlatform,&nbsp;</a>a developer of a SaaS EdTech effectiveness system for educators and administrators to help them organize, streamline, and analyze EdTech tools. In November 2023, Instructure&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/24593">acquired Parchment,&nbsp;</a>a leader in digital education records, to provide a verifiable, comprehensive digital passport for learners. In<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32231"> July 2024</a>, Instructure acquired Scribbles, a company specializing in credentialing and records management for K-12 school districts in the US, to expand its credentialing network.&nbsp;In February 2021, the company sold Bridge, its corporate LMS for mid-enterprise organizations launched in 2015, to UK-based Learning Technologies Group, and exited the corporate learning market to refocus on the K-12 and higher ed markets.Key customers and partnerships&nbsp; In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/35492">October 2024</a>, Instructure partnered with Microsoft to integrate Microsoft Reflect into its Canvas LMS, enhancing mental wellness support for students and educators in K-12 and higher education.&nbsp;

Founded in 2013 by Cristobal Viedma, the Lingokids platform was launched in 2016 and is designed for children aged two to eight, and initially focused on English language learning. It now provides a more project-based learning curriculum in English and promotes self-learning, where children interact with the platform independently. The platform helps children improve their vocabulary, literacy, and STEM skills and develop social and emotional skills. The platform also provides content for parents in the form of Play-Together activities. More recently, in March 2022, the company partnered with existing investor Ravensburger to launch its first physical solution “Lingokids Memory,” a board game that uses the characters in the app to support the process of learning basic vocabulary for children aged 3+. As of September 2022, the platform was used by more than 50 million families.&nbsp;In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/35488">October 2024</a>, Lingokids launched the animated series Baby Bot's Backyard Tales.Lingokids reported a planned headcount of 100 by the end of 2020. The new content developed after the funds raised in June 2021 will include audiobooks and audio exercises covering topics such as mental health, mindfulness, and meditation. Funds will also be allocated to increase headcount and expand internationally.

<div>
 
 Founded by Dave Vasen in 2014, Brightwheel is the developer of a software-as-a-service platform for preschools, childcare providers, camps, and afterschool programs that supports administrators with managing their operations, teachers with managing their classrooms, and parents with teacher communication. In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the company built solutions to help early learning institutions operate under pandemic restrictions such as health and safety checks, digital communications, and touchless sign-in systems. In 2016, Brightwheel acquired MyChild, a parent engagement tool, to add parent communication and student assessment features to its platform.
 
 
 In February 2021, Brightwheel raised USD 55 million in Series C funding for product development and to expand its offices in San Francisco, Austin, and Denver, and its remote team.
 
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<div>
 
 Founded in 2020 by Felix Ruano, Michael Vilardo, and Jon Quiros, Subject (formerly Emile Learning) provides a one-on-one blended learning platform (launched in October 2020) that is designed to offer classes for credit, test prep, and supplementary classes, allowing families to organize their own curriculum. It also offers a full-time, virtual middle and high school. Initially helping students prepare for advanced placement (AP) exams, the company added accredited high school classes in mid-2021. The company charges an annual fee ranging from USD 100 - 200 to use its platform but plans to eventually establish government contracts with public high schools. As of May 2021, Emile Learning hosts more than 20 classes on its platform with plans to increase the number to 30 by September and reports that more than 50,000 students have used its platform.
 
 
 In March 2022, the company rebranded to Subject, as it believes it reinforces its commitment to provide access to opportunities. Subject also raised 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9346">
 USD 29.4 million in a Series A funding
 </a>
 round led by Owl Ventures, and will use the funds for product development and market expansion. The round follows its 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/2080">
 USD 3 million seed round in May 2021.
 </a>
 
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New data privacy regulations have opened up space for a new wave of compliance-focused startups.

Digital Privacy Tools

Virtru provides a range of data protection products that offer email encryption, secure sharing, access controls, etc. for customers who need to meet privacy and compliance requirements. Virtru offers the Trusted Data Format (TDF) to secure data, a wrapper that encrypts and holds the underlying data for secure sharing. The company was co-founded by Will Ackerly, a former staffer of the National Security Agency (NSA) who invented the TDF during his tenure at the NSA.&nbsp;The products offered by Virtru can also be leveraged to transfer data across the organization in line with privacy regulations such as GDPR, CCPA, and others, by encrypting and preventing unauthorized access to sensitive information (for instance, sharing data to fulfill a data subject rights request).&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsAs of September 2024, the company’s platform was used by 6,700+ organizations, including Verizon, Netflix, Salesforce, and Brown University.

BigID provides a platform that leverages advanced machine learning tools to help enterprises protect their data and comply with regulations such as GDPR, CCPA, etc. on a large scale. The company launched its patented Discovery-in-Depth technology during January 2020 to automatically discover different types and sources of data across an enterprise’s entire IT infrastructure. It expanded this technology in August 2020 by launching Hyperscan, a machine-learning-based scanning solution for large volumes of data that minimizes scanning time by 95%. The company also provides <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13382">native data deletion features</a> that allow organizations to delete personal and sensitive data across their data stores effectively. The feature allows organizations to purge duplicate and redundant data, minimize data before a cloud migration, initiate data deletion workflows based on data retention policies, and automatically address policy violations.In March 2023, BigID <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17433">released a native data privacy suite</a> that allows enterprises to automate California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) compliance requirements across data inventory and mapping, privacy impact assessment, self-service privacy rights portal, automated DSAR fulfillment, and regulatory reporting by leveraging holistic privacy management.In April of the same year<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18004"> launched “BigAI”</a>, a large language model (LLM) designed to scan and classify data, leveraging machine learning and generative AI to organize data into tables, columns, and categories. The BigAI platform also includes a generative AI chatbot named “BigChat”, which provides data compliance advice through conversational Q&amp;A. The company also <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/24136">launched</a> a new AI-powered tool in November 2023 designed to automatically generate remediation instructions for data security and reduce the burden on security teams.Additionally, it provides solutions concerning data subject rights management, consent management, privacy data protection impact assessments, third-party risk management, incident response, reporting, and monitoring.Key customers and partnershipsBigID has partnerships with companies such as TrustArc and IBM, among others, to deliver comprehensive compliance solutions.In April 2023, BigID announced a technology partnership with French tech company Thales to integrate its data discovery and classification capabilities with Thales’ CipherTrust encryption platform to identify and anonymize sensitive data for business use while maintaining individual privacy. In the same month, BigID collaborated with SPHERE to develop an identity hygiene risk management solution. In June 2023 the company announced an integration with Databricks to automate data discovery, classification, and governance.

Okera provides the Okera Active Data Access Platform (ODAP), which features data governance and protection solutions that enable secure access to data at a large scale for companies.Okera’s platform enables companies to comply with privacy regulations through its machine-learning-driven data discovery platform, allowing automation in responding to data subject rights requests. Furthermore, the platform includes data governance features to protect sensitive data. In May 2020, the company released a no-code visual policy builder to create and manage access controls and privacy functions.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsAs of September 2024, Okera’s customers included Levi’s, JP Morgan Chase, Finra, Capital One, LinkedIn, American Century, and Yotpo.

Sentra is a cloud data security platform that leverages algorithms and contextual data, including access patterns and metadata, to protect sensitive data, including PII and passwords, against vulnerabilities across public cloud environments. It provides users with complete visibility and control of data in the cloud. The company’s agentless platform automatically discovers and classifies sensitive data in the cloud based on its sensitivity and offers remediation plans to users. The company continuously analyzes the data security posture of its clients and automates risk assessment to prioritize threats based on the data’s sensitivity and policy guidelines.Sentra’s platform tracks and assesses data and its security through the entire life cycle. By providing automatic visibility, risk assessment, and access analysis for cloud data, Sentra ensures that sensitive data is always secured - regardless of where it travels in the organization’s cloud. Using machine learning and metadata clustering, Sentra’s platform automatically classifies data in different categories such as PII, PCI, PHI, and developer secrets. The platform automatically labels proprietary data, including customer data, HR data, or intellectual property.The company gives the team direct visibility into its data security and compliance violations with integrations with tools such as Slack, Teams, Wiz, and Torq. The company also provides a multi-cloud data security platform that works across IaaS, SaaS and DBaaS, including AWS, Azure, GCP, Oracle Cloud, Snowflake, and Databricks.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsThe company serves the financial services, healthcare, and retail industries. Sentra’s customers as of September 2024 included Monday, SoFi, Papaya Global, and Stackline.Sentra entered a partnership with cloud security provider Wiz in September 2022 to help eliminate data risk and secure data in the cloud. The company also partnered with Check Point in May 2024, integrating the latter’s ThreatCloud and CloudGuard solutions to leverage its malware detection and enriched data context to enhance threat prevention and ensure data privacy.

Using AI to automate, enhance and optimize marketing activities

Marketing Automation

Criteo is a digital advertising firm based in France, providing solutions to marketers, brands, and retailers for creating awareness and driving sales. The firm offers an 1) AI-powered self-serve ad platform for managing and analyzing advertising campaigns across a variety of channels, 2) a retail media ad platform, a demand-side ad platform (DSP), and 3) an AI engine for ad personalization.&nbsp;Criteo specializes in commerce media, leveraging commerce data to target customers through their shopping journeys. Its dynamic ad retargeting product can analyze customer activity and provide targeted product recommendations in real time and accounted for 72% of the firm’s revenue in Q3 2021. However, in recent years, given the growing challenges due to privacy concerns over the use of third-party cookies, the firm has been transitioning its clients towards its retail media platform. The platform contributed to the growth in its retail media solutions, which experienced a 58% YoY revenue growth in 2021 and added new clients during the year, including Lowe’s, Walmart Canada, Best Buy, Target, and Nordstrom.In line with this, the firm has made a number of acquisitions in order to further develop its retail media ad platform, including 1) <a href="https://sp-edge.com/sectors/work/updates/7300">IPONWEB </a>(ad marketplace platform) purchased for USD 380 million (December 2021) and 2) Mabaya (ad monetization tool for retailers) acquired in May 2021. Leveraging on its acquisition of IPONWEB, the firm unveiled a specialized <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13190">demand-side ad platform (DSP)</a> for enterprise marketers in the retail media sector, while also introducing <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19517">Commerce Grid,</a> a dedicated supply-side platform (SSP) designed to serve agencies and publishers. In March 2023, the firm acquired <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16908">Brandcrush, </a>an Australian platform that facilitates the purchase and sale of omnichannel retail media.Key customers and partnershipsAs of September 2024, 18,000+ firms and 100+ global retailers were using Criteo’s services across a variety of industries including the top five holding companies as well as ~50% of the top 25 retailers in the US and EMEA which include brands such as Bloomingdale’s, Deliveroo, and Lowe’s Canada.The firm also <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8258">partnered with Bluecore</a>, a retail-specific marketing campaign automation platform to allow Sitecore’s users to leverage Bluecore’s customer predictive models (February 2022). In July 2024, Criteo <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/31511">partnered with Microsoft Advertising</a> to address fragmentation in the retail media industry by providing a simplified ad management platform.

Yotpo is an Israeli-founded ecommerce marketing platform that allows brands to personalize customer experiences when visiting their brand’s ecommerce websites in order to increase consumer spending and minimize the incidence of abandoned carts. The solutions include AI-powered systems for collecting reviews and ratings that allow for customer segmentation. It also provides targeted ads by displaying user-generated content (UGC) dynamically on the brand’s ecommerce site and enticing customers with customer loyalty and referral schemes to help drive sales.&nbsp;With Yotpo’s acquisition in January 2020 of SMSBump, a full-service SMS marketing solution, the firm claimed to be the only ecommerce marketing platform offering multichannel customer engagement solutions within a single platform. The firm claimed that since the acquisition, it had more than doubled its growth.The firm also accelerated its focus in the ecommerce space and launched <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9844">“Click-to-Buy,”</a> a first-of-its-kind SMS feature in April 2022 that allows brands the ability to send individualized product recommendations via SMS, a <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11225">digital wallet pass</a> for customer loyalty services, as well as a <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11023">Subscription commerce app</a> for Shopify Merchants introduced in June 2022. In May 2023, the firm launched the <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18471">Yotpo eCommerce Retention Marketing Platform</a> to help ecommerce brands improve customer retention. Another key strength of Yotpo is the number of integrations to leading ecommerce platforms and apps (171 integrations or more by August 2024).Yotpo had gone beyond the USD 100 million annual recurring revenue (ARR) threshold as of March 2021.&nbsp;Key customers and partnerships&nbsp;As of August 2024, the platform served 30,000 customers, including UNTUCKit, Chubbies, Soludos, DIME, and Andie.

ManyChat is a chatbot creator for social media and SMS, purpose-built for marketing and sales functions. ManyChat allows customers to have automated, interactive two-way conversations with their audience via Instagram direct message and Facebook messenger. ManyChat’s platform has a drag and drop interface to create chatbots with no coding experience required. The chatbots can be used to automatically capture client information such as emails and phone numbers, and connect with customers via SMS and email. The platform can also be integrated with technology tools, such as Mailchimp, Hubspot, and Shopify. The platform is available for free for customers to engage with up to 1,000 contacts as well as a paid “pro” subscription option that scales with the number of contacts and offers additional features.&nbsp;According to the firm, its customers have experienced, on average, an 80% open rate by using its platform and reduced the incidence of abandoned carts by recovering on average USD 154 per cart.In April 2020, the firm acquired Convalytics, an analytics tracking company for ecommerce, for an undisclosed amount, and has been fully integrated into ManyChat’s platform.&nbsp;Key customers and partnerships&nbsp;As of May 2022, the platform is used by 1.5 million customers, resulting in more than one billion conversations every year.In October 2020, the firm announced its partnership with Whatsapp, further extending its reach across channels to drive sales and respond to customer queries. Building on this partnership, the firm launched a <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10368">whatsapp marketing automation solution</a> in May 2022.

Canada-based Jasper is an AI-powered platform for marketing teams that can generate text and image content for blog posts, articles, social media, emails, and marketing copy, so content output can be scaled. Jasper can be operated via a conversational interface called “Jasper Chat,” simplifying interactions with the AI. As of May 2024, Jasper could generate content in over 30 languages. As of October 2022, the company was valued at USD 1.5 billion and reported over 100% YoY ARR growth in 2022.Jasper produces content using natural language and follow-up prompts to modify content, including expanding specific sections, rewriting in different styles, summarizing, and generating counterarguments. Jasper’s AI can be trained on a specific writing style, tone, and content to generate content fitting within a brand’s themes. Common use cases for Jasper include:1) Social media: Generating captions for social media posts, scripts for videos, and articles for blogs. Content can be generated directly on social media using Jasper’s Google Chrome browser extension.2) Advertising: Providing advertising ideas, insights into consumer wants, and common pain points3) Articles: Long-form text content on any topic. It also offers built-in plagiarism detection and search engine optimization with Jasper’s SEO partner, “Surfer.”4) Emails: Generating email subject lines and personalized messages, including images5) Websites: Creating headlines, product descriptions, FAQs, and optimization for search engines. The Chrome extension allows content creation directly within website platforms.6) Art: Generating high-quality images for advertising, blog posts, or websites from simple language descriptions.The platform can also draw on recent Google data for up-to-date content and news. Grammar, spell checking, and plagiarism detection, combined with SEO optimization and ranking tools, are integrated to enhance outputs and reduce effort and time spent.Jasper introduced a marketing campaign creation platform in June 2023, which can transform a brief campaign description into a comprehensive compilation of content and assets that align with the specified campaign concept. In November 2023, the company launched the <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/24518">Solutions Partner Program</a> designed to incorporate AI functionalities into marketing agency approaches.The company claims to achieve an 80% time reduction on first drafts, a 10x increase in output, and 400% ROI.Jasper acquired AI grammar and style checker Outwrite in December 2022. It also acquired AI image creation and editing platform <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/26898">Clipdrop</a> from Stability AI in February 2024 to expand marketing capabilities.Key customers and partnershipsJasper reported over 100,000 paying customers in August 2023, including enterprise clients Zoom, HelloFresh, Docusign, WalkMe, Zendesk, Intel, SentinelOne, Outdoorsy, Sports Illustrated, Canva, Strata, Robin Hood, and IBM.

Promises increased productivity, cost-efficiency, and competitiveness in the legal industry

LegalTech

Clio is a cloud-based legal practice management software designed to streamline and automate law firm operations. It serves as a comprehensive platform to manage various aspects of a law firm, including case management, time tracking, billing, calendaring, document management, and reporting. Clio's key features encompass matter tracking with timeline and status views, precise billable and non-billable time recording, customized invoice generation, online payment acceptance, appointment scheduling, secure cloud-based document storage and collaboration, and actionable insights through interactive dashboards and custom reports.
Clio's core strength lies in its intuitive and user-friendly interface, enabling seamless adoption across law firms of all sizes. The software excels at essential functions like creating new clients, generating invoices, and scheduling deadlines, ensuring a frictionless experience for legal professionals.
Furthermore, Clio has established a vast network of integrations, allowing firms to extend its capabilities by integrating with specialized tools tailored to their practice areas or general-purpose applications like Office 365, QuickBooks, DocuSign, and more. This integration ecosystem effectively positions Clio as the central operating system for law firms, enabling them to build a customized legal technology stack.
Clio continually enhances its offerings with new features and improvements. Notably, the upcoming Clio Duo, a proprietary generative AI technology, aims to provide personalized recommendations, task reminders, document summarization, and business performance insights. Additionally, Clio has formed partnerships with Google to facilitate the management of Google My Business accounts and Local Services Ads directly within the Clio platform.

<div>
 
 DISCO provides a cloud-native, artificial intelligence-powered legal solution that simplifies ediscovery, legal document review, legal hold, and case management for enterprises, law firms, legal services providers, and governments. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, DISCO's platform leverages advanced AI and machine learning to automate complex and error-prone tasks in the legal discovery process.
 
 
 
 
 DISCO's core ediscovery platform offers end-to-end capabilities including data collection, processing, review, and production. The company's AI-enabled technology aims to improve accuracy and speed in legal document review compared to traditional manual methods. DISCO's cloud-based architecture allows for scalability and enables legal teams to centralize data into a single solution, improving security and collaboration.
 
 
 
 
 In February 2022, DISCO expanded its product portfolio by acquiring legal hold and workflow technology assets from Congruity 360. This acquisition added capabilities for legal hold management and compliance with preservation obligations. DISCO has continued to stack additional services on top of its ediscovery platform, including tools for trial preparation and other legal workflows.
 
 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 
 
 
 DISCO serves a range of customers including corporations, law firms, legal service providers, and government agencies. The company reports that one out of every five of America's top 200 law firms uses DISCO's solutions. In June 2022, DISCO was selected as the preferred eDiscovery partner for LexFusion, a legal technology cooperative that curates solutions for law firms and legal departments.
 
 
 
 
 DISCO has seen strong adoption of its cloud-based offerings, with off-premise software expected to grow from 68% of the market in 2023 to 73% by 2028. The company's software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions are projected to account for 65% of its cloud revenue by 2028. This growth reflects the legal industry's increasing comfort with cloud security and desire for scalable, flexible eDiscovery tools.
 
 
 
 
 In April 2024, DISCO appointed Eric Friedrichsen as its new CEO to lead the company's next phase of growth and expansion. The company continues to invest in enhancing its AI capabilities and expanding its end-to-end technology platform to handle the complexities of modern legal discovery and case management.
 
 
 
</div>

EvenUp is an AI-powered platform that specializes in automating and optimizing personal injury legal workflows. The company's flagship product uses AI to accurately review documents, extract relevant medical information and bills, and summarize data into case narratives for demand letters. EvenUp's proprietary database informs its analysis of a case's true merit and value. This technology enables personal injury attorneys to generate high-quality, customized demand packages in minutes rather than hours, leading to faster settlements and potentially higher payouts for clients. As of June 2023, EvenUp was processing over 1,000 demands per month and had helped lawyers and victims claim more than USD 350 million in damages. The company reports that its approach achieves 30% higher claims on average and accelerates settlements.Key customers and partnershipsEvenUp has rapidly gained traction in the legal industry, with over 200 law firms utilizing its platform as of June 2023. The company has established partnerships with key players in the legal technology space, including an integration with Litify, a legal practice operating platform. This integration allows personal injury attorneys using Litify to request AI-generated demand packages directly from their dashboard. EvenUp has also attracted investment from notable entities in the legal and technology sectors. In June 2023, the company raised USD 50.5 million in a Series B funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from Bain Capital Ventures and Clio Ventures, among others. This investment reflects the growing interest in AI-powered legal solutions and EvenUp's position as a leader in this emerging field.

Litify is an end-to-end legal operating platform built on Salesforce, offering tailored solutions for law firms, in-house legal teams, government agencies, and nonprofits. It streamlines and automates various legal operations such as matter and task management, document generation, timekeeping, billing, and client communications. As of February 2024, Litify serves over 45,000 legal professionals globally, including iconic clients like Salesforce and Morgan & Morgan, America's largest injury law firm.
The platform provides comprehensive features for matter management, document management, collaboration tools, time tracking, billing, real-time analytics, and integrations with third-party applications. It enables law firms to standardize processes, enhance efficiency, and improve financial performance through data-driven insights. Litify's extensible architecture allows customization and scalability to meet unique business needs across diverse practice areas, including personal injury, insurance defense, and immigration law.
In February 2023, Bessemer Venture Partners acquired a majority stake in Litify as the company achieved profitability, further fueling its growth and market positioning. Litify aims to bolster its unique market position as the only secure and open platform built to centralize legal business operations for growth-minded firms and corporate legal departments.

Creating affordable content for the digital age

Content Creation Tools

Vidyard is a video platform that helps businesses create, host, and share videos to enhance sales, marketing, and corporate communication workflows. The platform provides tools for video creation, hosting, personalization, and analytics. It also lets users record videos using webcams, screens, or both, and share them with prospects, customers, and colleagues.&nbsp;Vidyard's core offerings include video messaging, video hosting, and AI-powered video creation capabilities. The video messaging feature allows users to record and send personalized videos to boost response rates and generate more pipelines. For hosting, Vidyard provides a customizable video player that can be embedded in websites and blogs. The platform also offers analytics features that provide insights into video performance, viewer behavior, and engagement metrics. In April 2024, Vidyard&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240416565871/en/Vidyard-Unveils-Industry-First-Hyper-Realistic-Personalized-AI-Avatars-to-Scale-Sales-and-Marketing-Video-Communications">launched AI Avatars</a>, which leverages AI to generate videos from text prompts that look and sound like the user, allowing for scalable and personalized video creation.As of September 2024, Vidyard integrated with 48 platforms including notable CRM and sales engagement tools such as Salesforce, HubSpot, and Outreach.Key customers and partnershipsAs of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vidyard.com/press-releases/vidyards-customer-base-surpasses-250000-companies-as-business-adoption-of-video-messaging-accelerates/">February 2022</a>, Vidyard served more than 12.5 million users across notable companies including Microsoft, LinkedIn, HubSpot, S&amp;P Global, Salesforce, and others. The platform also&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vidyard.com/press-releases/vidyards-customer-base-surpasses-250000-companies-as-business-adoption-of-video-messaging-accelerates/#:~:text=As%20Vidyard%20continues%20to%20accelerate%20coming%20out%20of%20the%20pandemic%20and%20the%20global%20reopening%20of%20the%20economy%2C%20the%20company%20saw%20its%20customer%20base%20expand%20by%20more%20than%20300%25%20annually.%20The%20company%20now%20sees%20a%20record%20number%20of%20daily%20user%20sign%2Dups%20of%20more%20than%204%2C500%20people%20per%20day%2C%20a%2060%25%20increase%20year%20over%20year">reported</a> more than 300% annual growth in users and recorded a 60% YoY growth in daily user sign-ups to more than 4,500 users per day, as of the same time.The company also has an&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vidyard.com/partners-directory/">agency partner program</a> to help its customers transition to virtual sales, implement Vidyard, or create videos. Its notable partners include Digital 22, Impact, Six and Flow, Revenue River, Smart Bug, and Next Sales, among others.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Sydney-based Canva is an online graphic design platform that allows users without extensive design experience to create designs for social media, marketing materials, presentations, and more. It also provides tools for creating static graphics, presentations, videos, websites, and printed materials.The platform’s free version provides access to over 250,000 templates and a library of fonts, stock photography, illustrations, and graphics. Canva's paid plans offer additional features such as more storage, premium templates, and collaboration tools. In August 2024, Canva introduced&nbsp;<a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240808572035/en/Canva-Unveils-Refreshed-Brand-System-Designed-For-Work">a refreshed brand system</a> signaling its shift in focus to help organizations improve their visual communication, as businesses scale their operations globally.In March 2023, Canva introduced AI-powered tools that enable users to search for design elements, get recommendations for graphics and styles, and access AI-powered design tools such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.canva.com/magic-design/">Magic Write,</a> Magic Design, Magic Edit, and Beat Sync. The platform also introduced new features such as draw, layouts, styles, layers, and alt text support based on user requests. Previously, the company launched&nbsp;<a href="https://www.computerworld.com/article/1612736/canva-launches-whiteboards-for-graphic-designers-predesign-process.html">“Canva Whiteboards”&nbsp;</a>(August 2022), which allows users to brainstorm and collaborate with colleagues within the platform by integrating with Canva presentations.In July 2024, Canva&nbsp;<a href="https://techcrunch.com/2024/07/29/canva-acquires-leonardo-ai-to-boost-its-generative-ai-efforts/">acquired Leonardo.ai</a>, a provider of GenAI content and research, to expand its AI tools portfolio, and in April 2024, it acquired creative software company&nbsp;<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/26/24112277/canva-affinity-acquisition-design-software-suite-adobe-rival">Affinity</a> to make professional design tools more accessible. Other notable acquisitions included&nbsp;<a href="https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/flourish/">Flourish,</a> a data visualization tool (February 2022);<a href="https://www.kaleido.ai/b/kaleido-is-joining-the-canva-family"> Kaleido,</a> a visual AI platform (February 2021); and Zeetings, a presentation platform (April 2018).Key customers and partnershipsAs of September 2024, Canva served various notable companies including Expedia Group, Hubspot, Sony Music, Reddit, and Marriott International, and had over 135 million monthly active users globally.Canva&nbsp;<a href="https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/getty-ai-partnership/">expanded its partnership</a> with Getty Images in August 2024 to integrate Getty's vast library of stock photos directly into the Canva platform, providing users with access to millions of premium images.&nbsp;

Peppercontent offers an integrated offering consisting of a content marketing platform, video generation capabilities, content generation and management, translating and subtitles services, a talent marketplace, and consulting services. Its flagship solution is a content marketing platform (CMP) to strategize, create, and analyze content across blogs, articles, and social media posts. The company also provides GenAI content generation solutions in 100+ languages, an organic marketing stack for content creation and analytics, and Content OS for content management. Furthermore, Peppercontent also offers tools like peppertype ai, a content idea lab, a content editor, content audit, content ROI and analytics, and a content grader.As of September 2024, the company integrated with tools like Shopify, WordPress, SEMrush, Google Analytics, and Grammarly to automate content distribution and eliminate formatting issues.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsAs of September 2024, Peppercontent had delivered 1 million+ content and had served 2,500+ businesses including Amazon, Uber, Google, McKinsey and Company, Flipkart, Instacart, RVshare, Adobe, P and G, Unilever, HDFC Bank, and Disney. The company caters to the B2B SaaS, banking, financial services and insurance, healthcare, FMCG, and consumer tech industries.

Exploring the limitless possibilities of AI

Generative AI Applications

Leena AI offers a platform to improve employee experiences across various corporate functions including HR, IT, sales, operations and supply chain, legal, and finance through its AI assistant. This AI assistant helps enterprises by automating responses to employee inquiries, thereby reducing the need for manual ticketing systems. The platform integrates with existing corporate systems to provide a range of services.Its use cases include employee onboarding, workflow automation, document management, knowledge management, employee query automation, identity and access management, enterprise search, analytics and reporting, IT service and knowledge management, endpoint management, HR help desk, and AI action planning.Leena AI leverages several underlying AI models, including OpenAI’s GPT-4, for its query response and workflow automation. The company launched a new proprietary large language model (LLM) called “WorkLM” in May 2023, which is based on 2 TB of curated proprietary data acquired by Leena AI over seven years.Key customers and partnershipsAs of April 2024, Leena was used by over 10 million employees from more than 400 organizations, including Coca-Cola, BCG, Samsung, Nestlé, Dentsu, Puma, and GE Healthcare.Leena AI has entered several collaborations to offer integrated products and services with OnGrid, Vantage Circle, and Haptik.Funding and financialsLeena raised external funding in a USD 30 million Series B held in September 2021 led by Bessemer Venture Partners. The then-new capital was utilized to fund product innovation and expand its offering to additional verticals including finance, IT, and sales.

Perplexity AI is a company offering a conversational search engine platform that utilizes large language models (LLMs).Perplexity offers a free trial of its conversational AI-powered answer engine and paid plans for businesses and organizations that require more advanced features and capabilities. Moreover, users have the option to specify search sources, including Reddit, academic papers, YouTube, and the entirety of the internet. Additionally, its&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/34993">Internal Knowledge Search</a> feature enables users to upload and search through their own files, including Excel sheets, Word documents, and PDFs. In April 2024, it launched Enterprise Pro, a service tailored for business use with enhanced security and privacy features, priced at USD 40 per month.Perplexity’s paid version is equipped with models like OpenAI’s GPT-4, Anthropic’s Claude-3, and Meta’s Llama-3. In August 2023, Perplexity added <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21329">enhancements</a> to its Copilot feature, incorporating OpenAI's GPT-3.5 Turbo, fine-tuning from OpenAI, and introducing Meta’s Code Llama to Perplexity's LLaMa Chat. With this, users gained additional capabilities, including uploading PDF files, refining search results based on specific sources, and setting up personalized AI profiles for tailored search outcomes. Further, Code LLaMA integrates Meta AI's coding LLM to enhance responses to technical questions. Users can utilize the open-source LLM to generate code functions or clarify code sections. It also offers <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/30008">"Pages",</a> a feature that formulates a customizable web page based on users' requests, and a&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/industry/163">shopping</a> feature that displays visual cards containing product details, pricing, seller information, descriptions, and pros and cons.In November 2023, the company launched its <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/24517">own LLMs, </a>pplx-7b-online and pplx-70b-online offering real-time access to updated information and a conversational chatbot style interface. The models are enhanced versions of open source offerings by Mistral and Meta.Perplexity&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/37472">acquired Carbon</a> which specializes in connecting AI systems to external data sources in December 2024, to develop enterprise search products.Key customers and partnerships As of April 2024, Perplexity had 10 million monthly active users (MAUs). Some of its notable enterprise customers included Copy.ai, Stripe, Zoom, Bridgewater, Snowflake, The Cleveland Cavaliers, Universal McCann, Thrive Global, Databricks, Paytm, ElevenLabs, HP, Vercel, and Replit.In January 2024, Rabbit, an AI gadget manufacturer, announced a <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25694">collaboration</a> with Perplexity, to integrate Perplexity's technology into Rabbit's R1 device. In April 2024, the company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/28720">partnered</a> with Japan's SoftBank Corp. and Germany's Deutsche Telekom AG to extend the company’s reach by marketing Perplexity's capabilities to consumer and business customers. Perplexity has also partnered with Yelp Data (March 2024) to integrate its data directly into the Perplexity platform and provide users with comprehensive and reliable information on local businesses, particularly restaurants and cafes, ElevenLabs (February 2024) to launch a short-form podcast, "Discover Daily," which publishes content on innovation, science, and culture to its listeners, and <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/31442">AWS</a> (July 2024) to launch its Enterprise Pro solution.The company&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/36926">partnered</a> with LA Times, Adweek, Mexico News Daily, and several other news publishers in December 2024 to expand its publisher program.&nbsp;

Anthropic is a generative AI company building natural language chatbots with a focus on AI safety research.The company’s flagship product is a large language model and virtual assistant called “Claude.” Claude can edit, rewrite, summarize, and extract information from large volumes of text, answer questions across a broad range of topics, and automate simple tasks—all via a natural language conversation. Claude is useful in the following areas:1) Customer service: Handles simple customer queries and workflows and hands off customers to human agents2) Legal: Extracts information from legal documents3) Coaching: Guides users through personal growth or career development tasks4) Search: Allows web search and private search via natural language queries5) Back-office: Classifies, summarizes, and organizes information from multiple sources6) Sales: Acts as a sales representative that is capable of answering customer questions while remaining on-brandAnthropic uses “constitutional training” to tune its Claude model, which is a method that utilizes a combination of reinforcement and supervised learning by leveraging feedback from trained and tuned AI models to ensure Claude behaves in the desired manner. The company aims to develop AIs that can help train new AI models, ensuring they are helpful, honest, and harmless, and aligned with people’s interests.Claude chatbot is based on&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27259">Claude 3</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/37269">3.5 models</a> with multimodal capabilities. In September 2023, Anthropic launched a paid version of Claude. The new offering, <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21660">Claude Pro,</a> was available in the US, UK, and <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/29378">Europe</a> in private beta.In April 2024, the company launched an iOS app and a paid plan targeting businesses, particularly those in regulated sectors such as healthcare, finance, and legal. Named as Team, the plan is priced at USD 30 per user per month, with a minimum of five seats. In September it launched <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33272">Claude Enterprise,</a> a subscription plan aimed at enterprise customers. In May 2024, the company introduced a new feature termed <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/30005">Tool Use</a> for its AI assistant Claude, to autonomously interact with external data sources, APIs, and tools. It also launched several new features including a&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/35506">desktop app,</a> dictation feature, and&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/35290">JavaScript&nbsp;</a>code analysis tool in October 2024, followed by the&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/36578">‘styles'</a> feature to customize responses and&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/36536">Model Context Protocol (MCP)</a> to connect Claude to data systems in November 2024.&nbsp; Key customers and partnershipsIn February 2023, Anthropic selected Google Cloud as its preferred cloud provider. In May 2023, the company partnered with Zoom to integrate Claude into Zoom’s platform, starting with Zoom Contact Center.&nbsp;

Founded in 2022, Rohirrim offers “Rohan,” which leverages patented AI technology to assist with the proposal and grant writing processes. This platform retrieves data from the enterprise's domain, providing accurate responses to requests for proposals (RFPs) and helping organizations streamline business development. Rohan is also used to generate technical content, grant applications, and white papers​.Key customers and partnershipsAs reported in December 2023, Rohirrim has served several Fortune 100 enterprises, including IBM in various industries, like defense and aerospace, commercial real estate, energy, higher education, insurance, research laboratories, and engineering firms.Competitors: None under coverage. (Rohirrim offers GenAI solutions to specifically assist with proposal and grant writing processes.)

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

SME CRM

Pipedrive is an activity-based CRM platform built around scheduling, tracking, and completing activities. It includes tools built specifically to analyze sales, generate leads, automatically schedule follow-ups, and help close deals efficiently at each stage of growth. The platform also integrates with more than 275 third-party apps and includes some of its internally developed add-ons such as LeadBooster—which is a lead generation tool containing a database of around 400 million lead profiles, 10 million company profiles, and Web Visitors—which helps enterprises analyze customer activity in their websites. In June 2022, the company expanded its suite of products with the addition of <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10898?industryIds=8">campaign management tools, </a>Additionally, in September 2022, the firm announced the beta launch of a <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13458?industryIds=8">workflow automation feature </a>under its “Campaigns by Pipedrive” solution. In May 2023, the firm launched a developer hub, a centralized online app development platform to enable its technology partners and developers to build new app integrations for Pipedrive’s marketplace.In .April 2024, it introduced <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/28961">Pipedrive AI </a>, a suite of AI tools including an AI-powered sales assistant, AI-generated email writing, AI email summarization, AI smart app recommendations, and an AI-powered Marketplace search.Pipedrive has four standard plans (Essential, Advanced, Professional, and Enterprise), allowing users to subscribe to customizable plans based on individual requirements for specific features. In May 2023, the firm also launched a “Power best value plan” to enable SMEs to meet the specific requirements needed to scale their business operations. As of March 2023, Pipedrive has more than 100,000 SME customers worldwide, with an employee headcount of over 800. Key customers and partnershipsIn August 2023, Pipedrive <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21407">partnered with RapidVerify </a>to integrate the firm's identify verification solution to Pipedrive’s CRM platform. The new integration is expected to provide real-time verification and help mitigate potential risks of fraud.Funding and financialsIn November 2020, Pipedrive received a majority investment from private equity firm Vista Equity Partners. While the amount of investment was not disclosed, it has resulted in Pipedrive achieving unicorn status, with an estimated valuation of USD 1.5 billion. The acquisition is expected to boost Pipedrive’s expansion capabilities outside of the US and Europe, the most recent of which was China in mid-2020. Pipedrive would continue to operate as a separate entity from Vista. However, this partnership would help Pipedrive optimize its product portfolio and expand its customer base by continually investing in the company’s go-to-Market engine.

ServiceTitan is a cloud-based software platform designed to power trades businesses, particularly in industries like HVAC, plumbing, electrical, pest control, and landscaping. The company offers an end-to-end solution that helps contractors manage various aspects of their operations, from scheduling and dispatching to invoicing and marketing. The platform's <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d0xXRal3mT5o59vNeHsgM_ctSQHYUWE13hFQdNIE5hg/edit">core features</a> include a visual scheduling calendar with drag-and-drop functionality, route optimization for technicians, integrated phone systems for appointment booking, work order management, and contract management. ServiceTitan also provides integrated marketing tools, allowing businesses to monitor campaigns, generate leads through review requests and paid ads, and analyze performance. The platform also includes reporting capabilities to offer data-driven insights on metrics such as booking rates, revenue, and customer satisfaction to facilitate informed decision-making.In&nbsp;<a href="https://www.servicetitan.com/blog/titan-intelligence-2023">September 2023</a>, ServiceTitan introduced&nbsp;<a href="https://www.servicetitan.com/features/titan-intelligence">Titan Intelligence</a>, a suite of AI-powered features aimed at improving efficiency for service-based businesses. These features include tools for optimizing digital ads, automating customer review responses, generating tailored email content, and detecting risky driver behaviors. In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/35554">October 2024</a>, the firm introduced additional AI-powered solutions (Contact Center Pro, Sales Pro, and TI Assist) for trade businesses. The firm claims that the enhancements have resulted in a 75% reduction in accident risk, 2x increase in dispatcher capacity, and 37% uplift to un-converted callers.&nbsp;&nbsp;In <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240402146750/en/ServiceTitan-Supercharges-Commercial-Capabilities-with-Acquisition-of-Convex">April 2024</a>, the company acquired Convex, a sales and marketing platform for the commercial services industry, to enhance its offerings in the commercial sector. The platform also integrates with various third-party applications, including QuickBooks for accounting, Nexstar for HVAC management, ReviewBuzz for reputation management, and <a href="https://www.destinationcrm.com/Articles/CRM-News/CRM-Across-the-Wire/Thumbtack-Partners-with-ServiceTitan-163151.aspx">Thumbtack</a> for booking requests.Key customers and partnershipsThe firm has entered into several partnerships including with Lennox, a developer of residential climate HVAC solutions, to become their field service management provider and to enable Lennox dealers to use ServiceTitan’s functions within its software (<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lennox-and-servicetitan-announce-field-service-management-partnership-with-enhanced-support-302072495.html">February 2024</a>). It also partnered with Synchrony, a consumer finance firm, to offer financing options for home improvement projects within ServiceTitan’s contractor management system (<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/synchrony-and-servicetitan-join-forces-to-streamline-home-improvement-financing-302130261.html">April 2024</a>). The firm also has a partner network and has entered into multi-year partnerships with firms including BDR, a training and business coaching firm, to become a “titanium-level” partner and collaborate on developing content such as podcasts, webinars, and conference sessions for contractors.As of August 2024, the platform catered to 100,000+ contractors across a range of service industries, with key customers spanning HVAC providers, plumbing companies, electrical contractors, and pest control firms including Albuquerque Plumbing and ProSkill Services. In June 2024, ServiceTitan partnered with <a href="https://labusinessjournal.com/technology/servicetitan-and-southland-partner-up/">Southland Industries</a>, a leading commercial mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) contracting firm, further expanding its presence in the commercial sector.

Weave is a cloud-based CRM platform focused on facilitating customer communication and engagement for SMEs. Founded in 2011, Weave initially offered integrated phone, email, and texting solutions for dental practices. Since then, Weave has expanded its service to other industries by adding new capabilities to facilitate appointment scheduling, client review management, email marketing, payments, forms, multi-location functionality, and analytics to the platform.&nbsp;With every paid subscription, the company also provides several free phones, which are connected to the Weave platform. For users who opt out of the additional paid subscription associated with the free phones, Weave offers a “software-only” service package. The company’s product offering also includes tools to support team collaboration, receive customer insights based on past interactions, and web assistant services.The firm has broadened its product offerings across industries including an&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11575">insurance verification solution</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/35555">email marketing tool</a> for the healthcare services industry, a&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17475">bulk texting feature</a> for sending personalized messages, a&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32131">multi-location platform</a> for managing healthcare practices and medical groups, and an online payment suite.&nbsp;The firm also launched a number of AI-powered solutions including Response Assistant (July 2023), which can draft responses to patient reviews, and&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21407">Email Assistant</a> (August 2023), an email marketing automation solution for healthcare providers. Weave also&nbsp; introduced Payment Reminders (<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33071">August 2024</a>) to help healthcare practices collect outstanding balances and integrated with eClinicalWorks (<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33072">July 2024</a>), a cloud-based EHR software to automate workflows for healthcare providers.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsAs of November 2021, Weave had over 130,000 users across industries such as healthcare, home services, and professional services.The firm has entered into a number of partnerships to broaden its product offerings in healthcare services which is a core area of focus. This includes a partnership with&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/402750">Sunbit</a> to launch a&nbsp; <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11974">buy now pay later (BNPL) solution</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/14329">OD Link</a> to expand its solutions for vision care professionals,&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15192">Patterson Veterinary</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/28962">Shepherd</a>, and&nbsp; other providers of&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17475">veterinary practice management systems</a> to expand its solutions for Veterinary services,&nbsp; <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16668">Dolphin cloud</a>, to enhance its solutions for dental practices,&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/28964)">DrChrono</a>, and&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/28023">Athenahealth</a> to improve patient experiences, and&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/29886">InfiniteVT</a> to enhance patient care in optometry and vision therapy.&nbsp;In March 2023, the firm deepened its&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17475">multi-year partnership with Stripe</a> the payment infrastructure platform to integrate Strip Central, an embedded finance option to Weave’s platform.

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

Preventive Healthcare

Hinge Health is a digital musculoskeletal (MSK) care company that provides a holistic platform to manage chronic pain and musculoskeletal conditions. Its technology combines teleconsultations with physical therapists, mobile app-based exercise therapy programs, and educational resources tailored to each patient's needs. The company was the first to launch a Digital MSK Clinic that combines guided one-on-one therapy with wearable motion sensors to provide real-time feedback and allow users to track their progress.&nbsp;Hinge’s product offering covers the full spectrum of MSK care, from prevention to post-surgical recovery, with access to virtual and <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15611">house-call</a> physical therapists and health coaches. The company includes solutions for women’s pelvic health as well. In September 2024, the company introduced Enso 3, an FDA-cleared wireless device that leverages electrical nerve stimulation to provide non-invasive, non-addictive pain relief within minutesIn September 2021, the company acquired Canada-based computer vision platform, Wrnch to offer personalized MSK care offering by motion tracking.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsAs of May 2024, its services were available to 18 million covered lives via its partnerships with over 1,700 employers and over 45 insurance providers.In <a href="https://www.hingehealth.com/resources/press-releases/hinge-health-creates-strategic-solutions-alliance/">May 2024</a>, the company launched a Strategic Solutions Alliance to expand MSK care. Initial partners of the alliance include<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/22550">Teladoc Health</a>, Springbuk, Quantum Health, Personify Health, Lyra, Included Health, Children’s Hospital Association, Employer Direct Healthcare, Accolade, Alight, apree health, and Carrum Health.&nbsp;&nbsp;Further, in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/30546">June 2024</a>, the company partnered with Upswing Health, a virtual orthopedic care company, to provide an integrated care experience for clients using both services. In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33024">August 2024</a>, the company partnered with Midi Health to provide its members access to menopause care in Midi Health's virtual care clinic. In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/36902">December 2024,</a> partnered with Amazon Health Services to make MSK care accessible through Amazon.com for eligible employers and health plan members.

Thyme Care is an oncology care management company that provides high-touch, technology-enabled care navigation. Thyme Care guides cancer patients and their caregivers by providing personalized resources, support, and quick access to high-value care.&nbsp;Thyme Care’s platform Thyme Box enables care teams to gather patient context, manage comorbidities, and coordinate care with other providers. The tech-enabled model generates insights that allow doctors to identify at-risk members earlier and facilitate quick access to quality resources and value care.&nbsp;Thyme Care is a healthcare service focused on offering continuous 24/7 support to guide patients in accessing the necessary care and support for their health needs. Thyme Care serves patients by acting as an intermediary between the patients and their healthcare teams, offering support and coordination of care within and outside the hospital. Thyme Care also provided additional support services such as transportation, housing, and financial assistance to reduce barriers to care. In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/29085">May 2024</a>, the company launched a virtual palliative care program for members and caregivers.Key customers and partnershipsAs of May 2024, the company had over 500,000 members across 31 states in the US.&nbsp;In March 2024, Thyme Care launched the Thyme Care Oncology Partners (TCOP), a platform for oncology practices. Over 800 oncologists across 25 states have joined TCOP, collaborating with Thyme Care to design and implement value-based care programs for patients covered by participating risk-bearing entities and government-sponsored programs.

Oshi Health is a virtual gastrointestinal (GI) care clinic that connects patients with its network of healthcare professionals. The company provides access to gastroenterologists, registered dieticians, mental health providers, and health coaches to create personalized care plans and help manage GI conditions such as Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), gastroesophageal reflux disease, and celiac disease. It also facilitates local labs or at-home tests, provides health monitoring tools to track symptoms, and offers in-person services for patients in need. The company claims its all-in-one mobile app is the first for managing IBD.&nbsp;Oshi Health’s 3 to 6 month whole-person program identifies the root causes of GI symptoms, prescribes medication, and helps members implement changes in diet, sleep, and stress. Members have access to a dedicated health coach and remote monitoring services that allow healthcare providers to make recommendations before symptoms escalate. It charges USD 20 per virtual visit.&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsThe company partners with employers and health insurance companies to access their employees and members as a covered benefit. Oshi Health is available across all US states.The company’s key partners include 1) CuraLinc Healthcare to&nbsp; expand its Partner Network for employee wellbeing programs.(<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/35776">November 2024</a>), 2) Collective Health to provide employers access to GI care through its Partner Collective hub (<a href="https://oshihealth.com/oshi-health-joins-collective-healths-digital-health-hub-to-offer-effective-digestive-health-for-employers/">June 2024</a>), 3) American College of Gastroenterology and the American Gastroenterological Association to develop more rapid and scalable virtual treatment courses for GI practices (<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19353">June 2023</a>), 4) CVS Health-owned insurer Aetna to provide in-network access to specialized treatment (<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17587">April 2023</a>), and 5) Firefly Healthcare to provide Firefly members access to Oshi’s specialty care network (<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9146">March 2022</a>).&nbsp;

Giving creators the power of content monetization and audience engagement.

Creator Economy

Pearpop is a social collaboration marketplace, facilitating brand and creator partnerships across multiple social media platforms. The platform offers advanced tools for discovering creators, streamlining content review and collaboration, and tracking campaign progress in real-time to ensure transparency of influencer marketing initiatives. Pearpop allows brands to activate relevant influencers, compensating them based on verified views and engagements rather than just their follower count. All creators on Pearpop undergo verification, and their content submissions undergo continuous monitoring to uphold brand safety standards. In February 2022, Pearpop introduced Pearproof, a Web3 app enabling creators to mint NFTs of their social media posts, with NFT values increasing as the post gains more social engagement. In July 2023, the firm launched <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/20143">"Boost Mode," </a>allowing brands to turn creator content into high-performing paid ads. In September 2024, the company has launched <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/34066">PAIR,</a> an AI-powered creator review platform for brands.Key customers and partnershipsAs of July 2023, Pearpop had catered to 200,000+ creators, attracting prominent brands like Amazon, Netflix, Chipotle, and Universal Pictures as well as celebrities such as Madonna, The Weeknd, and Post Malone to its customer base.

<div>
 
 MakersPlace is an NFT marketplace for discovering, buying, and selling authentic NFTs from digital creators. The platform focuses on photography, digital art, 3D art, animation, illustration, and AI art.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 The digital creations sold on the platform are considered unique and rare finds in the NFT space and require proof of authenticity from the creator. The platform focuses on protecting creators' rights, offering them a secure environment to mint and sell NFTs while providing monetization tools for their digital art.
 
 
 
 
 The platform is powered by Ethereum blockchain technology, which is the primary cryptocurrency for making purchases.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 As of April 2024, the platform had a community of more than 100,000 collectors who sell their digital creations globally.
 
 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In August 2021, MakersPlace raised USD 30 million in a Series A funding round co-led by Bessemer Venture Partners and Pantera Capital. The funding was earmarked to acquire additional talent and expand the business. 
 
 
 
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<div>
 
 Pepper Content connects vetted creators with enterprises for content marketing needs. Services provided include content writing, graphic design, and language services. The content writing services offered by the company include cover letters and research case studies. The graphic design services are intended to cater to high-quality design needs of customers. The language services provided by the company offer editing, translating, and subtitling in over 30 languages.
 
 
 The company offers two monthly pricing plans; Premium (USD 699) and Enterprise (custom pricing)
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 As of June 2022, the platform has over 100,000 creators and over 2,500 customers, which included global brands such as Google, Meta, Amazon, and Adobe, and startups such as CRED and Groww.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10994">
 
 June 2022
 </a>
 , the company raised USD 14.3 million in Series A funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners.
 
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Platforms, apps, and cards to keep the corporate wallet in check

Business Expense Management

<div>
 
 Melio is a B2B domestic and cross-border payout platform for small businesses to transfer and receive payments. Users can upload and settle invoices through the platform, using several payment methods including bank transfers and credit cards (including virtual cards). It also helps users avoid late payment costs and makes the payout process more efficient and effective by setting policies and permissions to approve spending.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 Melio can also be used to split one bill into multiple payments and even to pay several bills at once. In August 2023, the company
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/20571">
 launched &ldquo;Pay Over Time&rdquo;
 </a>
 , a buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) solution. This enables small businesses to settle their suppliers immediately and in full through Melio, and subsequently pay Melio in monthly installments (up to 12 equal monthly installments).&nbsp;&nbsp;
 
 
 
 As of October 2023, the platform gave access to over 7,000 popular vendors which were part of its network, including AT&amp;T, Amex, and First Progress. Melio charges on a pay-per-use basis for credit card and cross border transactions. 
 
 
 The company also operates an R&amp;D center based in Tel Aviv, Israel, to complement its New York headquarters. Melio appointed former Meta and PayPal executive Tomer Barel as its COO in February 2022 to lead its strategy executions and business scaling.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 
 
 The company has entered several partnerships to boost its platform. It partnered with Shopify in April 2023 to enable US merchants to pay and manage bills through their Shopify admin. In June 2021, it partnered with Capital One (a diversified banking company) to allow small businesses to access a wider gamut of accounts payable and receivable cash flow management tools. It also partnered with leading accounting software QuickBooks in 2020 to launch &ldquo;Bill Pay,&rdquo; which allows QuickBooks users to make payments and automate data entry and insights through the platform.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 The platform has seen strong growth, with its monthly payment processing volumes rising about 5,000% in the 18 months leading to September 2021.
 
 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 
 
 Melio raised USD 250 million in Series D funding in September 2021, co-led by Thrive Capital and General Catalyst, at a USD 4 billion valuation (around 3x its January 2021 valuation). The funds were earmarked to accelerate the company&rsquo;s expansion through partnerships with financial institutions, software companies, and marketplaces.&nbsp; 
 
</div>

Founded in 2020, Coast offers an expense management platform and fuel and virtual business cards tailored specifically for fleet-operating businesses and their employees across industries such as trucking companies, plumbers, HVAC businesses, and last-mile delivery companies. The platform provides detailed visibility into employee spending at the line-item level, allowing businesses to track information like fuel-grade purchases and vehicle-specific expenses.Coast integrates with vehicle telematics and fleet management software, including Verizon Connect, Fleetio, Samsara, and Onestep GPS, to provide real-time data on vehicle status and location. It also offers features like SMS-based mobile sign-in and data collection for improved security and convenience.Coast generates revenue through interchange fees from merchant transactions and users, charging a flat monthly subscription fee per actively used card.The firm claims its smart fleet fuel cards offer greater security by preventing misuse, insights with automatic capture of fuel transaction data, cost savings that reduce customer bills by an average of 10%, and monthly time savings of ~16 hours on operations and accounting functions. Key customers and partnerships As of July 2024, the firm claimed to serve 1,000+ firms of all sizes ranging from SMEs to fleet operators, including Texas Solar Outfitters, Giillette, and Tristate.Coast has partnered with 17,000+ fuel stations and retailers like 7-Eleven, Speedway, RaceTrac, Discount Tire, and Casey's, offering cash rebates on fuel purchases, where it offers 1% cashback and saving of upto 10 cents per gallon.In March 2024, Coast partnered with digital payments leader Visa to expand its financial tools offered to fleet management firms.Key competitors: None comparable (Coast is the only firm we have identified that provides specialized expense management solutions for businesses operating vehicle fleets.)

Based in the UK, Apron offers a business payout management platform for small businesses to make payments to suppliers and employees (payroll payments). The platform covers the accounts payable (AP) process from sorting invoices and getting approvals to tracking changes and making payments. Apron enables payments directly from bank accounts (leveraging open banking and bank transfers) or credit cards (even if suppliers do not accept credit cards) and can handle batch payments for multiple suppliers/employees simultaneously. Apron can also be integrated with accounting platforms such as Xero and QuickBooks for automatic payment reconciliation. The platform reportedly supports all UK banks and covers payments across 150+ countries and more than 30 currencies (as of June 2023). Apron follows a subscription-based business model, with charges starting at GBP 29 (~USD 37) per month. The monthly subscription varies based on the number of supplier payments as well as value-added features such as global payouts, number of approvers, and bill payment through third party apps. Funding and financialsApron <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/22258">raised USD 15 million </a>in a Series A round in September 2023, led by Index Ventures, to invest in expanding its team, product, and business reach.

Technology to explore opportunities beyond Earth

Space Travel and Exploration Tech

California-based space company Rocket Lab focuses on launch services, spacecraft design, and manufacturing. Its Electron rocket, a reusable small orbital launch vehicle, was the second-most frequently launched US rocket and the fourth globally in 2021. Electron's Rutherford engine is the first 3D-printed, electric-pump-fed rocket engine. The rocket is used for national security, scientific research, Earth observation, climate monitoring, and communications. Rocket Lab is working toward making Electron the first reusable small orbital rocket, having tested&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17841">pre-flown engines</a> in 2023.In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15905">January 2023</a>, Rocket Lab conducted its first Electron launch from US soil, deploying satellites for HawkEye 360. In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/28751">April 2024</a>, the company launched a South Korean Earth observation satellite and NASA's ACS3 solar sail system. Rocket Lab also manufactures the Photon satellite platform, which supports NASA's lunar and Martian missions.The Neutron rocket, whic was under development as of December 2024 for mega constellations and deep space missions, undergoes engine testing at the&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/14322">Stennis Space Center</a> in Mississippi. Rocket Lab has three launch pads: two in New Zealand and one in Virginia. In 2022, the company acquired SolAero Holdings and Planetary Systems and formed its subsidiary, Rocket Lab&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15023">National Security LLC</a>. In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17739">April 2023</a>, Rocket Lab introduced the HASTE rocket for hypersonic testing, and, in&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33854">September 2024</a>, the company launched five satellites for Kinéis on Electron, as part of a series of five launches secured by Kinéis in 2021. Later, in&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/36523">November 2024</a>, Rocket Lab completed two launches from two hemispheres within 24 hours.&nbsp;&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsRocket Lab serves a diverse customer base, including the US Department of Defense, NASA, DARPA, the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), and various commercial operators such as Blacksky Holdings, Canon, Kinéis, Capella Space, Planet, OHB Group, and Synspective. The company also secured a contract for an orbital debris removal demonstration mission with Astroscale in&nbsp;<a href="https://astroscale.com/astroscales-adras-j-ready-for-launch-from-rocket-lab-launch-complex-1-on-sunday-february-18/">February 2024</a>.Rocket Lab has been involved in key government partnerships. In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13798">October 2022,</a> the company was selected by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) to supply solar panels for NASA’s mobile robots under the CADRE program. The&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/14868">following month</a>, NASA again chose Rocket Lab to launch TROPICS satellites, tasked with observing precipitation structure and storm intensity. In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/34644">October 2024</a>, the company received a Mars Sample Return mission contract from NASA, which aimed to deliver a simplified mission concept before 2040.Rocket Lab has built strong commercial relationships. In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16777">February 2023</a>, it secured a multi-launch agreement with Capella Space to deploy Earth-imaging satellites. In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19628">June 2023</a>, Rocket Lab signed a contract with Spire Global to launch space situational awareness satellites for NorthStar Earth &amp; Space. In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/35960">November 2024</a>, it entered a multi-launch deal with an undisclosed satellite operator for the Neutron rocket.As of December 2024, Rocket Lab was continuing to expand its operational infrastructure. In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32442">August 2024</a>, it partnered with Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT) to establish a new global ground station, focused on enhancing communications for Electron and Neutron missions.

ANYbotics is a Swiss company and a spin-off from ETH Zurich, which develops four-legged robots for a wide variety of industrial applications. The company’s autonomous robots are developed to handle and navigate complex terrains while enhancing the safety and productivity of industrial operations through robotic applications of advanced mobility and autonomy requirements.&nbsp;ANYbotics’ arsenal of autonomous robots include StarlETH, ANYmal Beth, ANYmal C, ALoF, ANYmal Alph, and ANYmal B. The ANYmal robot–which has been adapted to the lunar environment by the company–was used in the Legged Exploration of the Aristarchus Plateau (LEAP) mission concept study performed with the support of European Space Agency (ESA). The legged robot is capable of performing tasks and tackling terrains that a traditional rover is unable to by using a variety of movements such as jumping and moving in different walking gaits to cover more surface area.Key customers and partnershipsTo expand its global presence to the UAE and Norway, ANYbotics partnered with resellers Sigma Enterprise in September 2023 and Adeptor in January 2024.&nbsp;In September 2020, the company partnered with Maxon to receive actuators for its autonomous four-legged ANYmal robot. ANYbotics also partnered with Energy Robotics in June 2024 to combine Energy Robotics’s fleet management solutions with ANYbotics’ robotic systems for data-driven decision-making and robot and drone inspection operations.

The Exploration Company develops modular and reusable space vehicles. As its first product, as of September 2023, the company was developing the Nyx space capsule–that uses green propellants and an open-source operating system–for purposes such as payload carrying, resupply missions, and eventually space transportation for humans. According to the company, Nyx was slated to be the first privately funded space capsule. It was also slated to operate its first demonstration mission in 2024, with a full-sized launch planned for 2026. The full sized version is able to transport up to 4,000 kg to space, spend 6 months in orbit, and bring back payloads of up to 2,000 kg at EUR 20,000 (~USD 22,000) per kg. In June 2024, The Exploration Company completed the development of a Nyx Moon variant prototype for lunar missions. This could transport up to 5,000 kg to the Gateway space station and return payloads of up to 2,000 kg at a cost of USD 400 million per mission.Key customers and partnershipsThe company booked a slot with the SpaceX Falcon 9 mission to launch in 2023, carrying a 1,600 kg demonstration capsule that would showcase propulsion and parachute-aided re-entry while carrying payloads for clients including the ESA. The company also signed agreements with Axiom Space, Starlab Space, and Vast in September 2023 and May and June 2024, respectively, for three Starlab and one Vast cargo service mission for launch in 2028.

Taking commercial activities to new heights

Commercial Drone Tech

DroneDeploy is a leading cloud software platform for commercial drones, offering a suite of tools to streamline the collection, management, and analysis of aerial data. Its flagship solution enables businesses across industries like construction, agriculture, energy, and mining to plan automated drone flights, capture high-resolution imagery, and generate precise 2D orthomosaic maps, 3D models, point clouds, and real-time visualizations.
DroneDeploy's software leverages advanced photogrammetry algorithms to transform aerial photos into survey-grade outputs like topographic models, digital surface models (DSMs), digital terrain models (DTMs), and textured 3D reconstructions. It provides measurement tools to extract valuable insights such as distances, areas, volumes, and contours from the processed data. The platform is designed to streamline workflows, with automated flight planning, real-time mapping during flights, and cloud-based processing that eliminates the need for specialized hardware.
A key differentiator is DroneDeploy's capability to seamlessly integrate drone data into existing GIS and project management systems through APIs and partnerships. In February 2024, the company announced an integration with Trimble's Applanix POSPac Cloud, enabling users to achieve centimeter-level accuracy in their drone maps by leveraging post-processed kinematic (PPK) corrections without the need for ground control points.
DroneDeploy has made strategic acquisitions to bolster its offerings. In August 2023, it acquired a drone inspection software company, expanding its capabilities in asset inspection and management for industries like energy and telecommunications.
Key customers and partnerships
DroneDeploy has forged partnerships with industry leaders like Skydio and Esri to enhance its platform's capabilities and integration with existing enterprise systems. Its collaboration with Skydio, announced in April 2022, enables automated media transfer between Skydio's drones and the DroneDeploy cloud, streamlining data analysis workflows.
The company's key customers span diverse sectors, including agriculture, construction, renewable energy, mining, and utilities. Construction firms leverage DroneDeploy for site documentation, progress monitoring, and sub-contractor oversight. Energy companies use it for remote inspections of power lines, wind turbines, and oil rigs, improving worker safety. Agricultural businesses rely on its crop health analysis tools to optimize yields and resource allocation.
As of January 2022, DroneDeploy served over 5,000 customers across 180 countries, processing terabytes of drone data daily on its secure cloud infrastructure.

Iris Automation is a pioneer in developing collision avoidance technology for drones and aircraft. The company's flagship product, Casia, is a detect-and-avoid (DAA) system that enables uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) to detect and avoid other aircraft, both cooperative (transmitting their location) and non-cooperative. Casia uses AI-based computer vision technology to provide real-time airspace awareness, allowing drones to safely navigate increasingly congested airspaces.
Iris Automation offers Casia in two configurations - an onboard system that runs on the aircraft and a ground-based system called Casia G. The onboard Casia provides a 360-degree radial field of view, while Casia G establishes a zone of monitored airspace ideal for operations from fixed or temporary locations. Both versions integrate with autopilot systems to enable automated avoidance maneuvers.
In March 2022, Iris Automation received an FAA waiver allowing autonomous beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone flights using only Casia for air risk mitigation, without requiring visual observers. This marked a significant milestone in advancing BVLOS drone operations.
In October 2023, Iris Automation was acquired by uAvionix, a leading provider of communications, navigation, and surveillance solutions for crewed and uncrewed aircraft. The acquisition combined Iris's optical DAA capabilities with uAvionix's expertise in cooperative aircraft tracking, creating a multi-layered safety architecture for UAS integration into the National Airspace System.

Vayu Aerospace Corporation is a subsidiary of Alpine four Holdings (ALPP), a Nasdaq-traded conglomerate. Vayu specializes in developing and manufacturing autonomous drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for various applications. The company has several drone models, including the US-1, US-2, and G1.
Vayu's flagship product is the G1 MKIII Fixed Wing UAV, capable of carrying payloads for surveillance, analysis, and aerial monitoring in industries like agriculture, energy, and defense. In February 2022, Vayu integrated ElecJet's solid-state battery into the G1, dubbed the "Vayu A4M1 Power System," enhancing the drone's flight capabilities with heavier payloads and improved safety features like fire resistance and puncture tolerance. The battery also enables fast charging at a 4C rate, allowing a 15-minute charge time.
In March 2022, Vayu entered a procurement agreement with ENSCO, a provider of engineering and technology solutions for defense, security, and aerospace sectors, to supply the US-1 drone. By July 2023, Vayu received its first USD 5.25 million purchase order from All American Contracting Solutions, a US government contractor, as part of a USD 100 million supply agreement for ten G1 MKIII drones. The order included warranties, pilot training, and delivery scheduled for Q4 2023 and Q1 2024.
Key customers and partnerships
In March 2022, Vayu partnered with DRONEDEK, a company specializing in smart mailboxes for autonomous drone deliveries. The partnership aimed to create a new ecosystem for safer and more secure last-mile drone package delivery. Vayu's US-1 drone successfully delivered to DRONEDEK's smart mailbox during a demonstration.

Educational technology plays a pivotal role in driving and enabling the revolution in post-secondary learning

Higher EdTech

<div>
 
 2U, Inc. is a global education technology company that partners with universities to deliver online degree programs. Founded in 2008, 2U provides services to help universities develop and operate online programs, including marketing, student recruitment, and technology platforms. The company works with over 230 colleges, universities, and companies to offer more than 4,000 digital education offerings, ranging from free courses to full degrees. 2U's flagship product is its online degree program management service, where it shares tuition revenue with partner universities in exchange for providing technology and support services.
 
 
 
 
 As of 2024, 2U powers over 100 online degree programs across 30 university partners, with tuition costs ranging from USD 20,000 to over USD 200,000. The company's most prominent university partners include Syracuse University, Pepperdine University, and the University of Southern California (USC). 2U's business model has faced scrutiny in recent years over issues of cost, quality, and transparency. In late 2023, USC ended its partnership with 2U for most of its online programs after more than a decade, dealing a significant blow to the company. 2U has also faced lawsuits from students alleging misrepresentation of program quality and rankings.
 
 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 
 
 
 2U's key university partners include Syracuse University, Pepperdine University, USC, University of Dayton, and American University. As of 2024, Syracuse offers the most 2U-powered degrees at 18, followed by Pepperdine with 10 and USC with 9. Other notable partners include Georgetown University, New York University, and Yale University.
 
 
 
 
 In 2021, 2U acquired edX, a nonprofit online learning platform founded by Harvard and MIT, for USD 800 million. Through edX, 2U reports reaching over 46 million learners globally as of 2024. The company has also expanded into non-degree offerings like professional certificates and boot camps.
 
</div>

Instructure is a leading educational technology company best known for its flagship product Canvas, a popular learning management system (LMS) used by millions of students and educators worldwide. Founded in 2008 by Brian Whitmer and Devlin Daley, Instructure has grown rapidly to become a major player in the edtech industry. The company's core mission is to elevate student success, amplify the power of teaching, and inspire collaborative learning.
Canvas LMS forms the foundation of Instructure's broader learning platform, which includes a suite of integrated tools for assessment, video learning, analytics, and digital credentials. As of 2020, Canvas had over 30 million K-12 and university users globally. The platform is known for its user-friendly interface and cloud-based architecture, which set it apart from competitors when it was first introduced. Instructure has expanded its product offerings through both internal development and strategic acquisitions, including MasteryConnect for assessment, Portfolium for e-portfolios, and Badgr for digital credentials.
Instructure has experienced strong financial growth, with revenue reaching USD 464.9 million to USD 468.9 million in 2022. The company went public in 2015, was briefly taken private in 2020 after being acquired by Thoma Bravo for USD 2 billion, and then returned to the public markets in 2021. Instructure's growth strategy focuses on expanding internationally, enhancing its product ecosystem, and leveraging data and analytics to improve learning outcomes.
Key customers and partnerships
Instructure's Canvas LMS has been adopted by many leading educational institutions globally. In the Philippines, four of the country's top-rated universities - Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, University of the Philippines, and University of Santo Tomas - use Canvas as their preferred learning platform. In the US, all of the top 10 ranked universities, including Duke University, have implemented Canvas LMS.
The company has also made inroads in the K-12 sector. Notable implementations include Poway Unified School District in California, which uses Canvas to streamline content delivery and communication with students and families. Southern University and A&M College System, the only historically black university system in the US, selected Canvas to support its four campuses and over 11,000 students. Instructure has established partnerships with various educational organizations and technology providers to enhance its offerings. For example, the company expanded its partnership with Tech Data to serve the Indian market, aiming to provide high levels of support to Instructure partners in the region.

Piazza is an educational technology platform designed to facilitate interactive learning and collaboration between students, teaching assistants (TAs), and professors. The platform serves as an intuitive Q&A forum where students can pose and answer questions, fostering a collaborative learning environment. Piazza's wiki-style editing feature allows students to collaboratively refine questions and answers, creating a single high-quality resource for each topic. The platform supports various features to enhance the learning experience, including LaTeX editing, code blocking, syntax highlighting, and runnable code snippets. Instructors can endorse student responses, conduct online polls, and access participation statistics to adapt their teaching strategies. Piazza is accessible across devices, with iOS and Android mobile apps available for on-the-go use. The platform prioritizes privacy and data protection, offering options for scheduled post locking and private questioning. To ensure inclusivity, Piazza provides an anonymous posting function and accessibility options for assistive technologies.
Key customers and partnerships
The platform is utilized by various educational institutions, including the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the University of Toronto, which have integrated Piazza into their learning management systems. These institutions have provided guidance to their faculty on implementing Piazza in their courses, highlighting its benefits in reducing administrative workload and encouraging student engagement.

Threat Prevention Toolchain

Axonius is a cybersecurity asset management company founded in 2017 by Dean Sysman, Ofri Shur, and Avidor Bartov. The company offers a platform designed to help organizations identify and secure devices on their networks by leveraging existing security and management tools. Axonius' solution integrates with over 300 security and management solutions to provide customers with a comprehensive asset inventory, uncover security gaps, and automatically validate and enforce security policies. The platform covers hardware, software, SaaS applications, cloud services, and user identities.
Axonius' approach focuses on correlating asset data from a customer's existing infrastructure and controls rather than deploying new agents or sensors. This allows for quick deployment, often within minutes, and provides immediate value by creating an up-to-date inventory of assets. The platform helps organizations mitigate threats, navigate risks, decrease incident response time, and eliminate manual, repetitive tasks.
In 2023, Axonius crossed the USD 100 million mark in annual recurring revenue. The company's growth has been rapid, with Amit Karp of Bessemer Venture Partners noting that Axonius took less than 15 months to grow from USD 1 million ARR to USD 10 million ARR, making it one of the fastest-growing companies in BVP's history. As of March 2024, Axonius has raised nearly USD 600 million in funding and is valued at USD 2.6 billion.
Key customers and partnerships
Axonius has built a significant customer base that includes more than a dozen Fortune 500 and global organizations. Notable customers include Schneider Electric, News Corp, Anheuser-Busch InBev, The New York Times, and Cimpress. The company also supports four of the five major US Department of Defense service agencies.
In February 2020, Axonius appointed Mark Daggett as Vice President of Channels and Alliances to expand its partner program and meet increasing customer demand. The company has partnerships with various channel programs and professional services partners, including 443 Technologies, Alta Technologia, Artha Mitra Interdata, Ascent Global, ePlus, CloverIT, Ignition Technology, and Netpoleon. Axonius has also formed strategic alliances with major technology providers such as CISCO, Okta, AWS, and ServiceNow.
In March 2024, Axonius announced a partnership with Claroty to bring enterprise attack surface management to cyber-physical systems (CPS) environments. This collaboration aims to provide organizations with a unified view of assets across various environments, extending from cloud to on-premises infrastructure.

Torq is a security hyperautomation platform that enables organizations to automate complex security workflows and processes across their entire infrastructure. Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Portland, Oregon, Torq offers a no-code/low-code solution that allows security teams to create and deploy sophisticated workflows without extensive coding knowledge. The platform integrates with existing security tools and infrastructure, enabling users to connect various systems and automate tasks related to threat detection, incident response, and security operations.
Torq's platform features a visual interface for creating automated workflows that can be triggered by alerts, schedules, or on-demand. It supports integration with a wide range of security and IT tools, allowing users to orchestrate processes across cloud, on-premise, and hybrid environments. The company's solution goes beyond traditional Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR) capabilities, offering flexibility to automate any security process, from user provisioning to device policy management.
In April 2023, Torq introduced an enterprise-grade security hyperautomation platform capable of automating complex security infrastructures at scale. This platform includes GPT AI-based analytics for analyzing cybersecurity incidents and informing defensive measures. Torq claims its customers rely on the platform for more than 3 million daily security automations.
Key customers and partnerships
Torq has attracted a diverse customer base, including Fortune 100 companies and smaller enterprises across various industries. Notable customers include Blackstone, Chipotle, Rivian, Lemonade, Fiverr, NS1, eToro, Armis, and Healthy.io. The company has also partnered with major cybersecurity vendors such as Wiz, Abnormal Security, Armis, and SentinelOne.
In June 2022, Torq launched the Torq Automation Alliance, a global partner program for value-added resellers, distributors, system integrators, managed security service providers, and managed detection and response providers. This program aims to provide partners with access to Torq's platform, enablement resources, and marketing materials to better serve their customers.
As of August 2022, Torq reported having over 100 technology integration partners, including Orca and Wiz, further expanding its ecosystem and capabilities. The company has experienced significant growth, with a reported 385% increase in its customer base and a 360% revenue increase over three quarters in 2022.

Legit Security is a cybersecurity company that focuses on protecting software supply chains. Founded in 2020 by Roni Fuchs, Liav Caspi, and Lior Barak, the company offers a SaaS-based platform designed to secure applications at scale by safeguarding software releases from code to cloud. Legit Security's solution automatically discovers and analyzes software development lifecycle (SDLC) assets, dependencies, and pipeline flows, providing visibility across complex development environments. The platform combines automated discovery capabilities with hundreds of security policies to detect vulnerabilities, score risks, and assist in remediation efforts.
The company's approach goes beyond traditional code scanning, addressing the complexities of modern software development which involves a diverse array of tools, processes, and dependencies. Legit Security's platform supports both cloud and on-premises resources, offering a centralized application security control plane for security, governance, and risk management. Key features include auto-discovery of SDLC assets, visualization of complete inventory, detection of other security products, and enforcement of best-practice security policies.
Legit Security's technology aims to help organizations maintain visibility and control over their software supply chain, which has become an increasingly attractive target for cyberattacks. The platform is designed to work without installing software agents, allowing for quick onboarding and immediate value realization for customers.

Ensuring the right people access the right resources at the right time

Identity & Access Management

<div>
 
 Dashlane is a password manager that provides secure and convenient access to all online accounts for individuals and businesses. It uses zero-knowledge architecture and patented encryption to safeguard user data, ensuring that only the account owner can access their information. Dashlane's core offerings include password generation, auto-filling credentials, secure storage for notes and IDs, and seamless password sharing.
 
 
 The platform offers a range of robust security features, such as two-factor authentication with biometric support, dark web monitoring, and real-time phishing alerts. Additionally, Dashlane provides a built-in virtual private network (VPN) for secure browsing. This VPN uses 256-bit AES encryption and maintains a strict no-logs policy.
 
 
 Dashlane streamlines workforce access by integrating with existing security stacks and allowing for immediate, reliable account logins through auto-fill functionality and single sign-on (SSO) integration. The platform also proactively protects organizations against breaches through continuous monitoring, automatic alerts for compromised passwords, and built-in phishing resistance.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 As of May 2024, Dashlane served over 23,000 companies and 19+ million users across various industries, including healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and logistics.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In May 2019, Dashlane secured USD 110 million in a Series D funding round from Sequoia Capital for product development.
 
 
 
</div>

Alloy operates an identity decisioning platform that helps banks and fintech companies verify customer identities, prevent fraud, and maintain regulatory compliance. The platform connects to over 160 data sources through a single API to automate identity decisions during account origination and monitor them on an ongoing basis. Alloy's technology combines information captured during onboarding with ongoing transaction and account activity to create evolving customer risk profiles. The platform enables companies to pull together data sources and policies to compile a centralized view of customer risk, allowing them to automate and customize KYC, KYB, AML and fraud checks. As of September 2022, Alloy processed over a million decisions per day and had doubled its annual recurring revenue over the previous year. The company's clients are able to reduce fraud by 50% and automate 98% of customer onboarding decisions, while increasing good customer conversions by 30%.
Key customers and partnerships
Alloy serves over 300 customers including major financial institutions like Ally Bank, Brex, Gemini, Ramp, Evolve Bank & Trust, HMBradley, and Petal. In April 2022, Alloy partnered with Veriff to provide additional identity verification capabilities and KYC solutions for client onboarding across 190+ countries. The company also established partnerships with IDology in July 2020 to enable access to identity verification and authentication services, and with Prove in March 2022 to enhance customer onboarding through phone-centric identity solutions.

Teleport is the easiest, most secure way to access infrastructure. The open-source Teleport Access Plane consolidates connectivity, authentication, authorization, and audit into a single platform. By consolidating all aspects of access for engineers and the software they write, Teleport reduces attack surface area, cuts operational overhead, easilyenforces compliance, and improves productivity. Teleport is the Access Plane of choice among leading companies, including Elastic, Samsung, NASDAQ, and IBM. We are backed by Kleiner Perkins, Y Combinator and S28 Capital. Teleport is a pioneer in environment-free computing. Headquartered in Oakland, California, we embrace a remote-first work culture. For more information, visit us at https://goteleport.com/ or on Twitter @goteleport

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

Remote Work Tools

Canva is an Australian graphic design company that facilitates project collaboration by providing tools to design presentations, social media graphics, posters, and logos. In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17289">March 2023</a>, Canva introduced a suite of new features including AI-powered tools and a Brand Hub. The new assistant tool enables users to search for design elements, get recommendations for graphics and styles, and access AI-powered design tools such as Magic Write, Magic Design, Magic Edit, and Beat Sync. The platform also introduced new features such as draw, layouts, styles, layers, and alt text support based on user requests. The new Brand Hub included tools that help users create brand templates, folders, and design guidelines.Canva launched several product updates which includes,1)<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/12496">August 2022</a>- “Canva Whiteboards” which allows users to brainstorm and collaborate with colleagues within the platform by integrating with Canva presentations.2)<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13009">September 2022-&nbsp;</a>new suite of digital workplace products including Canva Docs, Canva Websites, Canva Whiteboards, and Data Visualization in an attempt to transform itself into a productivity management software.3)<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32535">August 2024</a> -&nbsp; new brand system designed to help organizations improve their visual communication as businesses scale their operations globally.4)In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/34223">September 2024-</a> expanded its developer platform to offer new APIs and monetization options to help developers scale their businesses.&nbsp;5)In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/35130">October 2024</a> - Dream Lab, a new feature powered by Leonardo.ai. Dream Lab is a hub for text-to-image and graphic generation needs.In&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33203">September 2024,</a>Canva significantly increased prices for its Teams product.The company attributed this price increase to its growing suite of generative AI tools, including Magic Studio.&nbsp;However, in&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/34711">October 2024</a>, Canva extended discontinued pricing for early Teams adopters and launched new pricing promise.In April 2024, Canva acquired Affinity, a creative software company, to make professional design tools more accessible. In February 2022, Canva acquired Flourish, a data visualization tool. Other notable acquisitions included that of Kaleido (february 2021), Smartmockups (February 2021), Pixabay (May 2019), Pexels (May 2019), and Zeetings (April 2018).&nbsp;&nbsp;Key customers and partnershipsAs of June 2024, the platform operated in more than 190 countries with a customer base of over 130 million monthly users including companies like Zoom, Sony Music, Salesforce, and Upworthy.Canva has partnered with companies like FedEx, Hubspot, Office Depot,&nbsp;Getty Images,&nbsp;and Officeworks.In&nbsp;<a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aidium-announces-new-partnership-with-canva-elevating-mortgage-marketing-with-ai-powered-design-tools-302257776.html">September 2024</a>, Canva partnered with Aidium to enhance mortgage marketing with AI-powered design tools.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Friday acts as a tech layer above existing productivity and collaboration tools. The platform automates routine procedures, provides templates for retrospective meetings and standups, permits goal-setting and tracking capabilities, and offers insights on team productivity and morale. Furthermore, it provides a daily planner that brings together meeting appointments from Google Calendar and tasks from Asana or Trello into a single space.The product was launched in beta in early 2020 and is used by companies such as LinkedIn, Twitter, EA, and Red Hat. Friday operates a subscription model that includes a freemium version, while premium features for additional functionality are available starting at USD 6 per user per month.Friday raised USD 2.1 million in seed funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners. The round includes participation from Active Capital, Underscore, El Cap Holdings, TLC Collective, and New York Venture Partners. The fresh capital will be used to double its team (currently four full-time members) over the next 10 months.

Artificial intelligence is identifying and testing new therapies faster than ever.

AI Drug Discovery

<div>
 
 Peptone claims to have built the world&rsquo;s first protein engineering operating system using AI and quantum computing to develop and engineer proteins by studying the past failures of protein research on a large scale. It focuses on drug discovery against intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs)&mdash;proteins that lack a fixed or stable 3D structure under physiological conditions, making them flexible and capable of adopting multiple conformations. The company employs cutting-edge structural analysis techniques, such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and hydrogen-exchange mass spectrometry (HDX-MS), alongside its proprietary supercomputing capabilities, to simulate and refine potential drug candidates.&nbsp;
 
 
 Peptone's operations are strategically split between its protein biophysics research facility in Bellinzona, Switzerland, and its corporate headquarters in London, UK, utilizing a supercomputer based in Keflavik, Iceland, that runs entirely on renewable energy​​.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 Peptone has forged a partnership with the 
 <a href="https://www.usi.ch/en/feeds/26628">
 The Institute of Oncology Research
 </a>
 (IOR) in December 2023 to accelerate R&amp;D on treatments for prostate cancer. Prior to that, the company partnered with 
 <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/peptone-announces-a-collaboration-with-nvidia-and-verne-global-to-scale-its-ai-driven-protein-engineering-system-301258885.html">
 NVIDIA and Verne Global
 </a>
 in March 2021 to further enhance its AI drug discovery platform.
 
 
 The company also participated in the Accenture HealthTech Innovation Challenge in November 2017 and secured a partnership with 
 <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/accenture-selects-peptone-present-ai-driven-system-san-heberling/">
 Accenture
 </a>
 to gain access to the latter's pharmaceutical clients.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 Peptone secured USD 40 million in a 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11032">
 Series A
 </a>
 funding round led by F-Prime Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners in June 2022 to fuel the construction of a research facility in Bellinzona, Switzerland.
 
</div>

<div>
 
 Seismic Therapeutics is a biotechnology company that integrates machine learning across the entire biologics discovery process to accelerate immunology drug developments. The company&rsquo;s proprietary IMPACT enables the analysis of vast numbers of proteins and protein modifications in parallel, optimizing biologic function and developability.
 
 
 The company focuses on developing biologics that target dysregulated adaptive immunity, which is the root cause of many autoimmune diseases. The company covers two drug product areas in its pipeline: One targets Ig (immunoglobulin)-mediated autoimmunity, while the other targets cell-mediated autoimmunity. Seismic&rsquo;s pipeline includes immunoglobulin sculpting (IgSc) enzyme therapeutics and ddual-cell bidirectional (DcB) antibody therapeutic programs modulated for humoral and cell-mediated immunity, respectively.&nbsp;
 
 
 Seismic&rsquo;s lead IgSc program is engineered pan-IgG protease, suitable for the treatment of acute and chronic autoantibody-mediated diseases, which is undergoing investigational new drug (IND)-enabling studies as of March 2024.&nbsp;
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/24621">
 December 2023
 </a>
 , Seismic Therapeutic secured USD 121 million in a Series B funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from Amgen Ventures and others. The funds were channeled to progress Phase I proof-of-mechanism trials with S-1117 and S-4321 and to support the expansion of the company's IMPACT platform by developing additional methods. 
 
</div>

Quantum information processing is slowly becoming a reality, ushering in a new technological era.

Quantum Computing

<div>
 
 Rigetti is an end-to-end provider of general-purpose quantum computers. The company&rsquo;s approach to developing computers is based on superconducting qubit technology, similar to Google and IBM. Since 2017, the company has operated a cloud-based quantum platform that allows developers to either create applications or use Rigetti&rsquo;s virtual machine.&nbsp;
 
 
 Rigetti is well-positioned to compete with incumbents as well as startups because of its advancements in hardware, which is currently used by 14 other companies (mostly other quantum software startups). Rigetti introduced the world&rsquo;s first multi-chip quantum processor, in June 2021, that physically connects multiple chips with their own qubits in a single functional processor, which is expected to improve scalability. It also launched its first commercially available 80-qubit quantum system in February 2022, which exceeds the qubit count of any other startup, but is lower than that of IBM.&nbsp;
 
 
 In June 2022, the company expanded its geographical presence with the launch of its 32-qubit, cloud-based 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11308">
 Aspen system in the UK
 </a>
 market. It also strengthened its position in the software segment via the acquisition of QxBranch (a Washington-based quantum computing software company) in 2019. In December 2023, the company launched its first 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/24731">
 Quantum Processing Unit (QPU)
 </a>
 , Novera, which is based on its fourth-gen Ankaa-class architecture. The price of the QPU starts from USD 900,000.
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 In July 2021, the company partnered with Astex Pharmaceuticals to apply quantum technology to drug discovery. This partnership was a stepping stone for Rigetti to commercially apply quantum computing to the pharmaceutical industry. Additionally, as part of an InnovateUK grant, the company partnered with 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11334">
 Riverlane
 </a>
 in June 2022 to explore and develop error correction solutions. In October 2023, the company was awarded with a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/22419">
 (DARPA) 
 </a>
 contract as part of the Imagining Practical Applications for a Quantum Tomorrow (IMPAQT) program to advance quantum algorithms for solving combinatorial optimization problems. In January 2024, the company collaborated with 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25242">
 Moody&rsquo;s Analytics
 </a>
 to enhance machine-learning methods for the financial sector using quantum computing abilities. In February 2024, Rigetti Computing and Riverlane joined a project led by the 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27062">
 Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)
 </a>
 , a part of the US Department of Energy (DOE), to explore the possibility of integrating a quantum computer and high-performance computing (HPC) systems.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 Rigetti 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8880">
 went public
 </a>
 on Nasdaq under the ticker &ldquo;RGTI,&rdquo; in March 2022 via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger. The IPO raised USD 261.8 million and made Rigetti the second publicly traded pure-play quantum computing company, following IonQ. 
 
</div>

Xanadu is a Canadian end-to-end provider of quantum solutions and is the world’s first quantum computing company to prove the viability of the photonic approach. Quantum computers built using this approach can operate at room temperature and are easier to scale as they use existing fiber-optic-based telecommunication infrastructure. The company achieved <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10839">quantum computational advantage </a>in June 2022 when it unveiled a new photonic quantum computer, “Borealis,” with 216 squeezed-state qubits. Borealis is publicly available on the cloud.The company provides cloud access to its quantum processors consisting of 8, 12, and 24 qubits (yet to launch) configurations. It also operates cloud-based platforms for its software products —PennyLane (for quantum machine learning) and Strawberry Fields (for photonic algorithms). Xanadu says that its in-house team of dedicated scientists is globally recognized in quantum machine learning.The company has received two grants (amounts undisclosed) from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The first was in November 2019 to undertake a comprehensive investigation of the performance of quantum machine-learning algorithms on available quantum computing hardware, and then in July 2021 to develop a novel general-purpose "circuit-cutting" compiler for near-term quantum computers.Key customers and partnershipsXanadu partnered with various organizations, which included1) <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates?companyIds=461354">South Carolina Quantum</a> (SC Quantum) (April 2024) to develop quantum educational materials and promote a quantum-based workforce in South Carolina2) <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27477">Riverlane and Rolls-Royce</a> (March 2024) to leverage quantum computing for modeling airflow in jet engines3) <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13866">Volkswagen</a> (October 2022) to develop materials for electric vehicle (EV) batteries4) <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8250">Multiverse Computing</a> (February 2022) and <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/6585">Agnostiq</a> (November 2021) to build quantum finance solutions5) <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8956">GlobalFoundries</a> (March 2022) and <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/4980">IMEC</a> (August 2021) for photonic chip fabrication&nbsp;6) Quantum Algorithms Institute (March 2022) to build a quantum-ready workforce7) <a href="https://www.xanadu.ai/press/menten-ai-partners-with-xanadu-to-develop-quantum-machine-learning-for-protein-based-drug-discovery">Menten AI</a> (January 2022), a quantum biotech company, to design novel drug moleculesFunding and financialsIn February 2024, Xanadu secured <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/26936">repayable funding </a>of CAD 3.75 million (USD 2.78 million) from the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) via the Regional Quantum Initiative (RQI). The proceeds were earmarked to accelerate the development of Xanadu’s open-source software framework PennyLane.

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

Serverless Computing

Creators of “Jamstack,” a web development architecture based on JavaScript, APIs, and Markup (JAM), Netlify offers a platform for developers to build applications, websites, and ecommerce stores. The platform unites a number of modern web frameworks, serverless functions and edge computing into one platform. The company entered the serverless market in 2018 with the launch of serverless functions to enable developers to deploy front-end code and backend functions using a single repo and workflow.The company provides “Netlify Edge Functions,” a tool that enables developers to build apps and create content on the edge of networks to public beta on its Netlify platform. The new tool offers a full-fledged runtime that can be used for edge rendering and a full runtime environment that enables developers to run serverless JavaScript/TypeScript functions and manage applications.In January 2022, Netlify acquired Quirrel, an open source platform for managing and scheduling serverless functions for an undisclosed amount, to utilize Quirrel’s technology to add a “Scheduled Functions” feature to its platform’s serverless capabilities.In February 2023, the company went on to <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16304?industryIds=25">acquire its competitor Gatsby</a>, the creator of the “GatsbyJS” open-source framework for creating websites, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition enabled Netlify to integrate Gatsby’s “Valhalla Content Hub”, a centralized data layer, into its own platform so users can access various data sources via a unified GraphQL application programming interface (API). Additionally, the company planned to invest in the Gatsby framework, and integrate many of the Gatsby Cloud features into the Netlify platform.In June 2023, Netlify acquired Stackbit, a no-code platform to build and manage websites, for an undisclosed amount. The acquisition served to expand Netlify’s product portfolio and enable the company to offer Stackbit’s range of no-code tools and features for web development.Key customers and partnershipsAs of November 2021, the company served over 2 million developers and its customer base included large corporations such as Adyen, Affirm, AutoDesk, Box, H&amp;R Block, Klépierre, Okta, ServiceNow, Twilio, Unilever, and VMware.

Gadget is a Canadian company co-founded by former Shopify executives Harry Brundage and Mohammed Hashemi. It provides a platform for ecommerce developers to build and deploy their apps serverlessly. The platform offers custom building blocks to set up and manage the back-end infrastructure of the ecommerce app. Its solutions include managed databases, ecommerce platform integrations, bundled tools, libraries, and APIs, among others.

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

Sales Engagement Platforms

Intercom is an integrated solution provider that offers a customer communication platform to support the buyer’s journey for sales, marketing, and customer support teams. The platform provides “Business Messenger,” a unified interface that displays information from multiple communication channels (email, social media messaging, live chat). It is powered by customer management tools, including team inbox, chatbots, and rule-based automated workflows. It also has an AI-powered customer data platform that facilitates personalized engagement.In March 2023, Intercom beta-launched an AI chatbot called "Fin," powered by OpenAI's GPT-4 model, which engages in natural conversations and delivers responses by leveraging a business's help center content. Fin employs "agent assist" capabilities, merging automated answers with human collaboration in customer support, including AI-suggested recommendations, and utilizes Resolution Bot for tailored replies. Upcoming enhancements for Fin include customization of tone, tailored options based on subscription tiers, and improved reporting functionality.As of August 2024, Intercom had more than 450 integrations, making it the largest tech-integrated player on our list of disruptors. The company also claimed that through its tech ecosystem, it increased productivity by 20% across departments. Intercom users like CRM platform ProsperWorks claimed Intercom’s solutions generated 25% more leads as well as created 19 new opportunities and USD 36,000 in annual recurring revenue (ARR).Key customers and partnershipsThe platform caters to a range of industries including ecommerce, financial services, education, and healthcare. As of May 2022, it had served more than 25,000 customers, including Amazon, Shopify, Facebook, Microsoft, Udemy, and Unity.&nbsp;

Databook is an AI-powered sales platform designed to improve B2B sales strategies by providing real-time, data-driven insights. Its technology leverages AI to deliver <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17465">Strategic Relationship Management (SRM) </a>that helps sales teams understand the unique needs of individual buyers and tailor their approach accordingly. Databook's key offerings include account planning, territory management, and sales engagement tools that automate and streamline sales workflows, enabling salespeople to create personalized, high-impact messages. The platform integrates with existing sales tools, such as DatabookGPT, and serves as an AI sales advisor, increasing productivity and pipeline generation while ensuring data accuracy and compliance with enterprise security standards. As of February 2022, Databook consists of global data assets of 44,000 public and private enterprises.&nbsp;The company claims to help achieve up to 300% more pipeline, 200% larger deals, and 150% faster cycle times.

Retail investors demanding sophisticated passive investment strategies are looking for an edge.

Retail Trading Infrastructure

Betterment is a robo-advisory platform that offers both digital-only and hybrid investment management services for individuals and businesses. For individuals, the company offers automated investing services through ETFs linked to stocks and bonds based on preferences and risk appetite. The platform also offers cryptocurrency portfolios for retail investors, along with individual retirement accounts and banking products such as high-yield savings and checking accounts, pursuant to a license from FDIC member bank&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/companies/608331">nbkc</a>.Betterment’s platform for businesses and employers allows them to provide and manage 401(k) benefits, investment services, and student loan management services. In addition, the company has a platform for investment advisors to build and manage custom portfolios on the back of Betterment’s automated trading features.&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19833">In June 2023</a>, the company launched Betterment for Advisors product offering which includes tax optimization, streamlined client onboarding, customizable drift thresholds tools to support advisors with offering customized tax-efficient investment management services at scale.Betterment offers four main services: Investing, Cash Reserve, Checking, and Premium. The Investing plan charges either USD 4 monthly or 0.25% annually, with no minimum balance required. It includes features like multiple portfolio options, tax-saving tools, and automated rebalancing. Cash Reserve and Checking accounts have no fees, with Cash Reserve offering a 4.50% variable APY and FDIC insurance up to USD 2 million. The Premium plan requires a minimum USD 100,000 investing balance and charges a 0.65% annual management fee. This higher-tier plan provides personalized financial advice, access to Certified Financial Planners, an exclusive US-only portfolio, and additional benefits like a 0.25% Preferred Cash Reserve Rate boost and discounted estate planning services.&nbsp;Betterment&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/28758">agreed to acquire</a> Marcus Invest's digital investing accounts from Goldman Sachs in April 2024. It planned to strengthen its position in the digital investing space by transitioning the acquired accounts to its platform, providing customers with automated investing, diversified portfolios, tax-smart tools, and access to human advisors. The company acquired the US clientele of Toronto-based Wealthsimple in March 2021 for an undisclosed amount. In February 2022, the company also announced the&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/8337">acquisition of cryptocurrency robo-advisor Makara</a> for an undisclosed sum which was to be used as a foundation of its own cryptocurrency investment offerings.Key customers and partnershipAs of October 2024, the company had over 900,000 customers with over USD 50 billion worth of assets under management.<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19833">In June 2023</a>, Betterment partnered with Ascensus, a financial tech solutions provider, to introduce employee wellness offerings that include 401(k), student loan management, personal retirement and investing, financial coaching, and educational savings. In September 2022, Betterment announced a&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13357">partnership with Gemini</a>, a crypto exchange and custodian, to offer curated crypto portfolios with listed digital assets on Gemini’s exchange. It also planned to use Gemini’s custodian services to allow its users to invest in cryptocurrencies and digital assets.In July 2024, the company partnered with Goldman Sachs to launch the Goldman Sachs Tax-Smart Bonds portfolio, aimed at generating after-tax yield for investors in higher tax brackets. The portfolio personalizes bond allocations based on individual tax situations and adapts to market conditions to potentially achieve higher after-tax yields.

Domain Money is a digital investment platform that facilitates stocks and cryptocurrency trading. The company facilitates both self-trading of securities and offers actively managed portfolios that are overseen by a group of human advisors. The platform offers four kinds of investment portfolios for investors to choose from, which are differentiated by the ratio of stocks and cryptocurrencies included under each portfolio. Through the platform, investors can also access data-driven insights, expert ratings, key financial metrics, and other relevant news. In addition, the platform also provides real-time market intelligence and access to live customer agents.Domain Money offers three financial planning packages: One Page, Strategic, and Comprehensive. The One Page plan costs USD 2,800, the Strategic plan is priced at USD 4,800, and the Comprehensive plan is USD 7,800. Each plan is a one-time flat fee and caters to different client needs. The One Page plan is designed for singles or couples starting their lives together or DIY finance experts seeking a second opinion. The Strategic plan targets parents, homeowners, self-employed individuals, or business owners with specific financial questions. The Comprehensive plan is for clients with multiple investment accounts and complex financial situations. Higher-tier plans offer more extensive services, including longer financial plans, more detailed action plans, and extended engagement periods. The Comprehensive plan includes additional coaching sessions and a longer period of phone access. All plans provide unlimited email access and offer the option to add on annual plan updates for an additional fee.In January 2022, Domain Money launched its platform for stocks and cryptocurrency trading on Apple’s App Store, but was yet to be released on Google’s Play Store. The platform claims to help its customers to accumulate wealth from actively managed portfolios with an investment management team of ex-investment bankers from Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Bridgewater Associates.As of January 2022, Domain Money was yet to launch its crypto-based credit card and rewards system. It had opened its waitlist for users to register and the credit card was to be issued by WebBank. The company also planned to venture into lending, allowing customers to borrow up to 40% of their invested portfolios in the form of loans.

Tech solutions for achieving global anti-wastage targets

Food Waste

Based in Sweden, Karma is an online app that sells discount surplus food. The business involves identifying surplus food (uploaded via&nbsp;its&nbsp;app) which is then marketed to users to customize their orders. Karma claims that its customers can expect an additional revenue of GBP 30 - 40,000 (USD 42,420 - 56,569) per year.&nbsp;Karma&nbsp;was founded in Stockholm and,&nbsp;as of October 2024,&nbsp;planned to expand city-by-city starting in Sweden ahead of a European and eventual US expansion. As of&nbsp;October&nbsp;2024, the company’s app was used in Sweden, the UK, and France.Karma targets midsize restaurants as well as large grocery stores. The service has no upfront costs with Karma receiving a 25% commission on items sold with its app. As of&nbsp;October&nbsp;2024, the company had over 4,300 outlets selling excess food via its app in Sweden and around 1,800 outlets in the UK and 1,000 in France for a total of 350,000 Karma users.&nbsp;As of October 2024, Karma was also used in over 7,000 restaurants across Sweden, the UK, and France.

Based in Berlin, Choco is an&nbsp;AI-powered&nbsp;ordering platform that connects restaurants and suppliers. Choco’s app and web platform digitizes the ordering process of ingredients and increases communication to avoid ordering too much and reduces food waste. The Choco app can be used free of charge by both restaurants and suppliers but a premium is charged to suppliers if they wish to integrate the app into their enterprise resource planning systems.&nbsp;As of October 2024, the company had over 10,000 active restaurants and suppliers on its platform across the US, Germany, France, Spain, Austria, and Belgium. Choco also expected to expand its services to new markets such as Latin America, the Middle East, and Asia.&nbsp;As of October 2024, Choco had worked with over 10,000 distributors and 15,000 chefs and processed over 500,000 orders per month.Key customers and partnerships&nbsp;Choco partnered with Dot Foods to streamline its supply chain using AI technology in April 2024. Following this, Choco partnered with Unipro to offer AI-driven order management technology to over 450 Unipro members in July 2024.

Incorporating technology to improve efficiency and success rate of clinical trials

Clinical Trial Technology

Florence Healthcare offers a platform for clinical trial management. It has four key components: 1) SiteLink to start-up and monitor remote clinical sites, 2) eBinders to digitize and store research binders, 3) eConsent to simplify and digitize the consent process, and 4) Electronic Trial Master File to digitize the storage and transfer of files between sites and research sponsors. The platform is compliant with standard industry requirements including HIPAA, 21 C.F.R Part 11, ICF/GCP, and GDPR.Key customers and partnershipsAs of June 2024, Florence supported over 18,000 research sites, across 55+ countries, with key customers including Pfizer. The usage of the company’s software tripled in 2020, driven by an industry shift toward digitalization as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. In February 2022, the company was ranked as the best clinical trial platform out of a group of 190 for ease of setup, ease of use, and customer support.Florence partnered with Greenphire, a company focusing on patient convenience and financial management for clinical trials, in Janauary 2024. Through the partnership, Florence's platform will be integrated with Greenphire's to improve payment systems within clinical trials. Benefits of the partnership included reduced manual work for sites, faster payments, and better visibility of site activity for sponsors and Contract Research Organizations (CROs). Funding and financialsThe company raised USD 80 million in Series C funding in May 2021 led by Insight Partners. The proceeds were to be used to scale up its sales and marketing teams and improve the value proposition of the platform by reducing the time required by customers to implement and manage clinical trials.

Mural Health offers the Mural Link platform, which provides functions to help ease the burden of participating in clinical trials and improve participant retention. These functions include payment technology, transportation, communication, and data collection functionalities.Mural Link’s payment technology functions include offering digital reimbursement and stipend payments for participants, with participants being able to choose how they want to receive their money. Its transport functions include providing centralized travel solutions for participants, incorporating Uber Health for complimentary in-app bookings. Mural’s platform additionally has secure chats with trial staff enabling participants to ask questions, receive reminders, and get support from the site staff throughout the trial. Mural’s app also collects feedback from participants about their trial experience giving trial operators insights for trial design and execution.The company noted that, as of June 2024, its members had led 4,000+ trials across 75+ countries, overseen over 4 million payments, and facilitated over 20 million payments. Additionally, as of the same date, the company noted that it was working with 4 out of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies and 3 out of the top 10 contract research organizations. Funding and financialsThe company raised USD 8 million in a seed funding round in September 2023, led by Bessemer Venture Partners, along with participation from other venture capital firms. Mural planned to use the funds to expand its Mural Link platform.

Tools for streamlining or improving one or more aspects of contractual agreements

Contract Management Tools

GetAccept is a digital sales room (DSR) platform that enables revenue teams to increase their win rates by providing a one-stop solution for managing and optimizing the buying and selling process. It combines features like dynamic proposal creation, document tracking, live chat, video messaging, e-signatures, and CPQ integration to streamline sales workflows and improve engagement throughout the sales cycle.
At its core, GetAccept aims to facilitate real-time collaboration between buyers and sellers within a shared digital environment. Sales reps can use the platform to create visually appealing, customized proposals that accurately reflect their brand and offerings. Proposals can include multimedia elements, pricing tables pulled directly from the company's CPQ system or Salesforce data, and personalized video messages.
Once shared, GetAccept provides granular analytics on how prospects interact with the content, including views, time spent on specific sections, and document forwarding. This insight helps reps identify the right stakeholders, understand pain points, and tailor their approach. The integrated chat functionality further enhances collaboration by enabling real-time communication between all parties involved in the deal.
A key distinguishing factor of GetAccept is its native integration with Salesforce, allowing seamless data synchronization and process automation through pre-built Flows. Deal stages, activity logging, and even e-signature statuses can be automatically updated within the CRM, increasing user adoption and optimizing sales operations.
Founded in 2015 by Swedish entrepreneurs and Y Combinator alumni, GetAccept has rapidly expanded its global presence. As of 2024, the company serves over 40,000 users across 4,000 enterprises in more than 60 countries, with offices throughout Europe and the US.

Contractbook is a contract management software that aims to streamline the entire lifecycle of contracts for businesses. The platform utilizes artificial intelligence (AI) to automate various processes, making it more efficient and reducing manual errors. Contractbook's key offerings include:
1. Contract Import and Extraction: Users can import legacy contracts and static PDFs into a centralized library. Contractbook's AI extracts essential data from these contracts, such as legal, financial, or other relevant information, eliminating the need for manual data entry.
2. Deadline and Renewal Tracking: The software automatically tracks contract deadlines and renewal dates, sending proactive reminders to users. This feature enables businesses to start renegotiations faster, leading to better deals and cost savings.
3. AI-powered Data Extraction: Contractbook's AI technology can automatically extract specific data fields from contracts, such as names, dates, or clauses. Users can filter and analyze this data, saving time and enabling quicker decision-making.
4. Workflow Automation: The platform allows companies to automate their contract workflows across departments, fostering better collaboration and decision-making based on smart analytics derived from the contract data.
In June 2022, Contractbook secured USD 30 million in Series B funding led by Tiger Global, with participation from existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, byFounders, and Gradient Ventures (Google's AI fund). This investment aimed to fuel the company's expansion into the US market.
Contractbook claims to have over 100,000 active users across more than 2,000 customers as of December 2020, managing their contract workflows on the platform.

Harnessing the power of social influence to fuel online sales

Social Commerce

Yotpo is an ecommerce retention marketing platform that provides a suite of integrated solutions to help brands strengthen their relationships with customers. Its core offerings include reviews and ratings, SMS marketing, loyalty and referral programs, visual user-generated content (UGC), and subscriptions management.
The platform's reviews and ratings solution allows brands to collect authentic customer feedback through automated email and SMS requests. An AI engine analyzes reviews to provide smart prompts, guiding customers to submit informative feedback. Review widgets and highlights are displayed across the customer journey, including at checkout, influencing purchase decisions through social proof. Yotpo syndicates reviews to Google Shopping Ads, Google organic search results, Facebook, and Instagram, amplifying their reach.
Yotpo's SMS marketing tool, SMSBump, enables brands to create automated SMS campaigns, collect subscriber data, and engage in one-on-one conversations with customers. The loyalty and referral programs incentivize customers to make repeat purchases and refer new shoppers through customizable rewards and promotions.
The Visual UGC solution curates user-generated photos and videos into shoppable galleries on the brand's website and social media channels, creating additional touchpoints for engagement and conversion.
For merchants seeking recurring revenue streams, Yotpo Subscriptions allows for the easy launch and management of subscription offerings, designed to boost customer retention and lifetime value.
In March 2022, Yotpo partnered with Shopify to release a native subscription app, enabling Shopify merchants to quickly set up subscription programs with minimal upfront costs.

ManyChat is a cloud-based chatbot solution designed to help businesses create and launch conversational marketing campaigns across various channels, including social media platforms and text messaging. The platform empowers companies to engage with prospects, collect contact information (names, email addresses, phone numbers), and segment audience groups based on their activities and interactions.
ManyChat offers a user-friendly interface with features like Basic Builder and Flow Builder that enable users to create and organize chatbot flows and messages efficiently. The Basic Builder presents chatbot content and messages in a structured, linear manner, while the Flow Builder provides a visual, drag-and-drop interface for connecting messages and actions.
The platform supports multiple channels, including Facebook Messenger, Instagram, SMS, and email, allowing businesses to deliver an omnichannel chatbot experience to their customers. Users can automate conversations, acquire new customers through various growth tools, segment contacts using custom fields and tags, and track performance with analytics tools.
ManyChat integrates directly with Shopify, enabling businesses to recover abandoned carts, notify customers about orders and shipment updates, collect reviews, and generate repeat purchases. It also offers integrations with payment gateways like Stripe and PayPal, allowing customers to make payments directly within the chatbot.
Key customers and partnerships
ManyChat has been widely adopted by businesses and individuals across various industries. As of April 2022, over 2 million businesses in 170 countries had tried ManyChat's products and services, making it the number one chat marketing platform globally.
ManyChat has partnered with several leading brands and influencers, including Nike Football, where it collaborated with UNIT9 to create a chatbot experience for the "Nike Football x Lil M'bappe" campaign. Digital marketing expert Jenna Kutcher, with over 1 million followers, praised ManyChat for its ability to deliver direct results from social media and serve followers on a new level.
Theresa Dihn, a Notion Ambassador with 22,000 followers, highlighted ManyChat's comment automation feature, which helped her generate sales and engagement. Entrepreneur Kahlea Wade, with 24,400 followers, credited ManyChat for driving over USD 70,000 in course sales within three weeks and tripling her return on investment.

Automation to improve business efficiency

Workflow Automation Platforms

Zapier offers a no-code platform that enables users to automate routine tasks and connect SaaS applications that aren’t natively integrated via a drag-and-drop interface. Users can build out automated workflows named “Zaps,” which can perform up to 100 actions per flow and add webhooks to receive data from a service or send requests to a URL. The platform enables users to incorporate custom if/then logic, conditions, and filters as well as add security features such as app restrictions, single sign-on, and custom data retention.The platform also provides several pre-built templates that enable users to deploy solutions for lead management, marketing campaigns, project management, employee onboarding, and productivity. The company also planned to launch several features that are still in the beta phase, as of November 2023. These include a form- and web-page-building tool, a process visualization tool, and a database-building tool.In March 2024, Zapier l<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27915">aunched a new AI-powered tool</a> that enables users to create customer-facing chatbots that can undertake a range of tasks such as answering questions, resolving issues, and managing leads. Users can train these AI chatbots on their own knowledge and brand, and share and embed them on business websites and applications.In March 2021, the company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/1198">acquired no-code education service and community provider Makerpad </a>for an undisclosed amount. The company noted that Makerpad would operate as a standalone entity, continuing its vision to educate people on building no-code projects and workflows. In March 2024, the company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27378">acquired the development team behind Vowel</a>, a video conferencing tool, for an undisclosed sum. Zapier leveraged the team’s expertise in AI-powered video conferencing, for the development of a new offering, Zapier Central. The solution provides users with a collaborative workspace that enables them to create AI bots for automating tasks across over 6,000 apps.Key customers and partnershipsAs of November 2023, the platform served over 1.8 million businesses, which includes large and small enterprises, such as Spotify, Adobe, Fox, Dropbox, and BuzzFeed.Additionally, the platform provides integrations with 7,000+ apps (as of July 2024) and enables users to also build integrations. Notably, its integration with OpenAI enables users to combine their data with the GPT3.5 AI model to build chatbots that can generate on-brand responses and be embedded directly into their websites.

<div>
 
 Built on top of Salesforce, Sweep enables users to create and update sales funnels via a drag-and-drop interface. Users can visualize, create, and manage their customer relationship management (CRM) processes, rules, and automations while the platform builds the backend infrastructure. Sweep also maintains a record of the processes created and generates reports for all the elements in a funnel that can be used for business intelligence purposes.
 
 
 Additionally, the platform provides several pre-built workflow templates for users to streamline, document, and operationalize their Salesforce processes. These include templates for SaaS sales, lead management, and customer success.&nbsp;
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 As of November 2023, Sweep served several customers including Empathy.com, Passport, Pave, Sorbet, Eleos, and Demostack.&nbsp;
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In December 2022, Sweep 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15380?industryIds=14">
 raised USD 28 million
 </a>
 in equity financing from Bessemer Venture Partners and Insight Partners.
 
</div>

Using AI to mimic and understand human language

Natural Language Processing Tools

Dashbot is a conversational AI and data platform that helps businesses build, analyze, and optimize chatbots and interactive voice response systems. Founded in 2016, the company provides tools to turn unstructured conversational data into actionable insights. Dashbot's key offering is its proprietary Conversational Data Cloud, which centralizes and processes data from various communication channels including chatbot transcripts, support tickets, emails, and voice calls. The platform uses machine learning algorithms to decipher thousands of daily conversations, group similar messages and topics, and identify areas for improvement in chatbot performance.
Dashbot's solution addresses common challenges in chatbot development, such as high failure rates and the need for continuous optimization. The platform's features include a Transcript Transformer for searching and categorizing transcripts, DashbotML for topic modeling and phrase clustering, and Automated Training Data export to optimize natural language processing models. By leveraging these tools, businesses can reduce chatbot failure rates by up to 35% and escalation rates by up to 57%.
Key customers and partnerships
Dashbot works with leading enterprises across various industries. Some of its notable customers include Intuit, Expedia, Geico, Google, and Travelers. The company has also integrated its analytics capabilities with Amazon Lex, enhancing the tools available to developers working with Lex-powered conversational interfaces. This partnership aims to improve the analytical capabilities for those building chatbots on Amazon's platform.

DeepL is a German AI-powered language translation company founded in 2017. The company's core product is its neural machine translation service, which uses artificial intelligence and deep learning algorithms to provide highly accurate translations across 33 languages. DeepL's translation technology was originally developed as part of Linguee, an online dictionary and translation database. The company's proprietary neural network architecture is trained on a vast corpus of bilingual and monolingual text, allowing it to produce more natural-sounding and contextually accurate translations compared to traditional statistical machine translation methods.
DeepL offers its translation services through various interfaces including a web translator, desktop and mobile apps, and an API for developers. The company's translation quality has been praised for its ability to handle idioms, slang, and complex sentences more effectively than competitors. DeepL's technology is used by over 100,000 businesses, governments, and organizations worldwide across industries like legal, retail, healthcare, technology and manufacturing. The company claims its translations are preferred by language experts 1.3 times more often than Google Translate and 1.7 times more often than ChatGPT-4.
In addition to its core translation service, DeepL has expanded its offerings to include DeepL Write, an AI-powered writing assistant launched in early 2023. The company has also developed specialized large language models for improved translation accuracy. DeepL's technology aims to reduce translation time by 90% while driving a 50% reduction in workload for enterprises.

Giving firms greater control over their SaaS stack

B2B SaaS Management Platforms

Zylo is a leading enterprise SaaS management and optimization platform that helps organizations gain visibility and control over their rapidly growing SaaS portfolios. The company's platform leverages AI to analyze an organization's SaaS spend and usage in real-time, creating a comprehensive system of record. It provides insights into license utilization, overlaps, and potential cost savings opportunities, enabling IT, finance, and procurement teams to make data-driven decisions.
As of August 2022, Zylo had over 30 million SaaS licenses and USD 25 billion in SaaS spend under management. The platform's key features include discovery of an organization's entire SaaS footprint, tracking of spend, usage, and adoption trends, analysis of user activity and license utilization, and departmental visibility into adoption. Zylo's platform empowers organizations to optimize SaaS renewals, eliminate waste, and drive cost savings while improving employee productivity.
Prominent customers leveraging Zylo's solutions include Adobe, Atlassian, Coupa, DoorDash, Intuit, Slack, Salesforce, and Yahoo. In March 2023, Zylo launched App Overview, a feature that centralizes app spend, usage, adoption trends, and insights on a single screen, enabling quick identification of underutilized licenses and redundant applications.

Vertice is a SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) purchasing platform that helps companies save on their annual software expenditure. It streamlines the entire software purchasing process, providing finance, IT, and procurement teams with visibility into their SaaS stack. This enables them to make strategic purchasing decisions and optimize their software spend.
Vertice's solution is tech-enabled, utilizing extensive data intelligence covering thousands of SaaS transactions to negotiate contracts on behalf of clients and secure better pricing on renewals and new purchases. Additionally, Vertice offers a Cloud Cost Optimization offering, making it the only platform globally that tackles both SaaS and cloud spending.
The platform connects to clients' cloud environments via secure read-only roles and analyzes them for inefficiencies and potential optimizations, delivering insights and realizable cost savings from day one. In 2023, Vertice also rolled out detailed spending breakdowns, usage analytics, and procurement workflows to automate, track, and audit software purchases.
As of January 2024, Vertice manages over USD 1.1 billion in software and cloud spend for hundreds of companies across more than 30 countries and various sectors. The company achieved a 7x growth in annual recurring revenue (ARR) in 2023 and estimates it helps finance and procurement leaders save up to 25% on their SaaS and cloud spend.
Vertice was founded in 2021 by serial entrepreneurs Roy and Eldar Tuvey, who have two decades of experience running enterprise SaaS companies, including ScanSafe and Wandera, which were acquired for USD 200 million (Cisco) and USD 400 million (JAMF), respectively.

A decentralized version of the web powered by the blockchain

Web3 Ecosystem

Based in France, Sorare is a developer of its namesake blockchain-based fantasy football and baseball game. It operates on the Ethereum blockchain and can be played through a web browser or mobile app. Users participate by buying, selling, and trading officially licensed digital player cards in the form of NFTs to manage a virtual team.Sorare is a play-to-earn game, where users are rewarded with ETH or Sorare cards for competing in virtual tournaments. Sorare NFTs can also be used as collectibles or can be transferred to another platform to be used in-game or for trading. Its cryptocurrency SOR (an ERC20 token) can be used to buy and sell Sorare NFTs or for staking. The Sorare wallet can be funded by transferring ETH from wallets such as MetaMask or purchasing the cryptocurrency directly with fiat currency.Key customers and partnershipsSorare inked a multi-year deal with the Premier League in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16023">January 2023 </a>, to allow gamers to collect and trade players of the league’s 20 clubs. In addition, it partnered with Major League Baseball in May 2022 to expand the game to include baseball. As of January 2023, it had partnered with 50 leagues including Bundesliga, Copa America, Ligue 1, and La Liga and had licenses with 315 clubs.The company also partnered with Ramp and MoonPay to enable users to fund the Sorare wallets by purchasing the cryptocurrency directly with fiat currency.Funding and financialsIn September 2021, Sorare raised USD 680 million in Series B funding led by Softbank at a valuation of USD 4.3 billion. The company aimed to use the funds to increase staff, expand its portfolio to include more sports, and on marketing. It also planned to open its first US office and invest in startups in the Sorare ecosystem.

Cubist offers an open-sourced, modular, security-focused SDK for developers to design, test, and deploy multi- and cross-chain dApps. It also allows developers to create custom rollups for their dApps as well as the ability to change networks or bridge providers using a single line of configuration. As of March 2023, its SDK was open for early access.Cubist also offers wallet and credential management and security audit services for existing smart contracts. Its <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17779">non-custodial key management platform </a>helps developer teams secure and manage their secret keys programmatically and prevent hackers from executing malicious withdrawals. It securely stores secret keys for blockchains, staking providers, and validators, using secure hardware and short-lived revocable privileges to sign transactions and validation messages programmatically. Users also have the option to specify access control rules and custom key usage policies, which further enhances the protection of private keys.Funding and financialsThe company raised <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17014">USD 7 million in a seed funding </a>round in March 2023, led by Polychain Capital. It had earmarked the funds for recruitment, accelerating product development, and scaling its technological capabilities.

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