LG Technology Ventures

Autonomous and connected technologies shaping the future of the auto industry

Auto Tech

Ridecell develops an internet of things (IoT)-driven automation and mobility platform for fleets. Its cloud-based data platform, launched in April 2021, integrates data from sensors and multiple IT systems to digitize fleet management. Ridecell’s Fleet Transformation Cloud Platform provides a data pipeline and APIs to connect existing IT, fleet management, and connected vehicle systems, which enables turning data insights into triggers for workflow automations. The platform combined with pre-integrated partner solutions enables fleet operators to manage fleet data, automate workflows, digital vehicle control, vehicle access, repairs, and scheduling. Ridecells portfolio of fleet automation solutions include 1) Operations 360, to automate fleet operations and life cycle management for every phase of the vehicle’s life cycle using real-time data; 2) Sustainability, an offering with a sustainability focus (e.g., automatic idle reduction, driver optimization); and 3) Shared; 4) Rental; and 5) Fleet share solutions to cater to different operational models. The company pitches the product toward logistics, rental, motor pool, and shared fleets. Key customers and partnershipsAs of March 2022, the company’s platform was used in fleets in European and North American cities, and its customers include Ferrovial, Groupe Renault, GIG Car Share (powered by AAA NCNU), KINTO by Toyota Sweden, Arval Car Sharing, and Thrifty Car &amp; Van Rental. Ridecell also leverages partnerships with various service providers such as telematics, keyless entry and immobilizers, diagnostics, monetization, insurance, marketing, and cloud platforms to enable fleet automation integrations. The company’s integration partners include Amazon Web Services, Denso, Checkr, Geotab, Salesforce, Hella, Sisense, Stripe, Continental and Jumio.

Toyota and BMW-backed May Mobility develops self-driving technology pitched toward autonomous shuttle services for public transportation. Its proprietary multi-policy decision-making (MPDM) autonomous driving technology comes with a suite of sensors including LiDAR, radar, and cameras to create a 360-degree view of surroundings <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17125">(third-generation system released in March 2023) </a>. The technology can be integrated into multiple platforms such as buses or cars.As of February 2024, May Mobility had active autonomous shuttle services deployed in cities in Michigan, Minnesota, Texas, and&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17972">Arizona,</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21984">California</a>. The company claimed to have completed 350,000+ autonomous rides as of October 2023 (includes now inactive deployments in geographies including Hiroshima [Japan] and Indiana). May Mobility was yet to commence commercial operations as of January 2024, and these rides were offered free of charge to customers, with costs being borne by partnering companies. The company has driverless operations in Sun City, Arizona&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/25063">in (December 2023)</a> and Ann Arbor, Michigan&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/36320">(November 2024).</a>However, <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/26710">in February 2024, </a>May Mobility announced layoffs of roughly 13% of its workforce (about 40 employees), to focus on its main business objectives.Key customers and partnershipsMay Mobility has product development partnerships with companies such as Toyota to retrofit its tech into Toyota’s vehicles <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/26500">(announced plans</a> to launch robotaxi services in Odaiba, Japan by mid 2024, and at Miyata factory in Fukuoka, Japan for employee and guest transportation in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/36762">December 2024);</a> Bridgestone Americas for tire technology (March 2022); and Aeva for LiDAR sensors&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/23631">(November 2023).</a> The company also has partnerships with wheelchair-accessible van manufacturer BraunAbility to modify its fleet of Toyota Sienna vehicles to include wheelchair access (April 2022); SoftBank to obtain 5G network services for deployments in Japan (June 2022); Stantec, a design and engineering company, to develop autonomous micro-transit solutions&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17349">(March 2023);&nbsp;</a>mobility service provider, Moovit to integrate its urban mobility app and on-demand reservation and routing software&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17698">(April 2023)</a>; shared mobility solutions provider Liftango to create demand-responsive autonomous microtransit solutions&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/23073">(October 2023)</a>; and Peachtree Corners, a smart city in Georgia for autonomous vehicle operations (<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/34064">September 2024</a>).&nbsp;The company has partnered with cities and authorities (e.g.,&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/31213">Southwest Transit Commission,</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/30371">City of Detroit Office of Mobility Innovation and the Michigan Mobility Collaborative,</a> City of Arlington, City of Grand Rapids, The Indiana Economic Development Corporation,&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/33594">Contra Costa Transportation Authority),</a> universities (e.g., University of Texas, Arlington), transit tech and ride-hail companies (e.g.,&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17972">Via,</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/35718">Lyft),</a> and nonprofits (e.g., Toyota Mobility Foundation, Energy Systems Network) for its active and past deployments. As announced&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/23570">in November 2023,</a> NTT will have&nbsp;<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/23510">exclusive rights</a> to sell May Mobility's self-driving system in Japan. The companies will also work with Toyota for autonomous vehicle testing in Japan.

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 Aurora Labs is an Israel-based startup that provides AI-powered software intelligence solutions to enhance the development, testing, and certification of automotive software. The company offers three main products: 1) Auto Detect, for detecting faults in software behavior and predicting downtime events; 2)Auto Validate, for validating effects of software updates on interrelated functions, systems, and electronic control units (ECUs); and 3) Auto Update, an over-the-air update solution for ECUs using standard protocols without reprogramming. The company's technology allows the collection of actionable data and provides an understanding of line-of-code software behavior, and streamlining the development process. The software platform can &ldquo;self-heal&rdquo; by using AI and machine learning to continuously monitor the software in the vehicle and detect any anomalies, issues, or cyber threats. As of June 2022, Aurora Labs held 90 patents.&nbsp;
 
 
 
 
 Aurora Labs has offices in Germany, Japan, Sweden, North Macedonia, the UK, and the US, and its products are being used by global automotive and device manufacturers.
 
 
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships
 
 
 Aurora Labs has product partnerships with companies, including IT company NTT Data, to provide OTA updates supported by 5G and AI (January 2023). It is also partnered with semiconductor manufacturer Infineon to jointly develop OTA update capabilities for Infineon&rsquo;s microcontrollers (January 2023) and management consultancy firm Deloitte on processes for software-defined vehicles (April 2023).
 
 
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In July 2022, Aurora Labs raised USD 63 million in Series C funding led by Moore Strategic Ventures to support the development and deployment of its AI-based vehicle software intelligence solutions.
 
 
 
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CerebrumX is an AI-based connected vehicle data services and products provider that works with automakers to generate innovative use cases by tapping into key data-driven insights on vehicle and driver performance. Its Augmented Deep Learning Platform (ADLP) securely collects and consolidates data from partners and other third-party apps and devices to generate insights for automakers and related parties in the ecosystem, including fleet companies, insurance companies, and smart mobility solutions providers. The company has offices across North America, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), and Asia-Pacific regions. The platform has been deployed on over 45 million trips and has captured more than 100 million miles of data, as of April 2023. Key customers and partnershipsAs of November 2023, CerebrumX had 20+ customers including Toyota, Ford, Axiom, Stellantis, Nissan, VOYO, AWS, BlackBerry, ROADZ, Drivetime Metrics, XMotion, Azuga, Rockingham Insurance, and <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/23721">Guidepoint Systems.</a> It has strategic partnerships with Guidepoint Systems, a global provider of vehicle telematics solutions to create a joint solution for fleet and dealership lot management (November 2023) and One Step GPS, a provider of GPS tracking solutions for fleets, to integrate the former’s suite of fleet monitoring tools with CerebrumX’s ADLP for enhanced fleet visibility (January 2024). Funding and financials<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17562">In April 2023, </a>the company received an undisclosed amount of funding from BlackBerry IVY Innovation Fund. The company intended to use the funds to develop embedded in-car synthetic sensors and collect consented data to deliver real-time insights.

Next-gen Displays

Light Field Lab is a Silicon Valley-based company founded in 2017 by Jon Karafin, Brendan Bevensee, and Ed Ibe, who previously worked at Lytro. The company has developed SolidLight, a groundbreaking holographic display technology that creates true 3D images visible without the need for special glasses or headgear. SolidLight uses modular panels containing billions of pixels to generate light fields that form holographic objects appearing to float in mid-air. These holograms are viewable from multiple angles and behave like real objects, responding to focus changes and occlusion.
The SolidLight system comprises three layers: a photonic array of light-emitting nanoparticles, a modulated-amplitude plane, and a static PhaseGuide modulation plane. Together, these components manipulate light to create holographic images with a density of 10 billion pixels per square meter. Light Field Lab's proprietary WaveTracing software enables real-time rendering of holographic content from standard 3D engines like Unity and Unreal. In February 2023, the company demonstrated its Defy interactive experiences, which allow users to engage with responsive holographic characters in real-time.

Brelyon is a technology company headquartered in San Mateo, California, that specializes in developing headset-free immersive display technologies. Founded by scientists from MIT and the University of Central Florida, Brelyon introduced its flagship product, Ultra Reality, in January 2022. Ultra Reality is a 120-inch plus curved virtual display that provides panoramic, cinema-scale virtual images with meters of true optical depth, all contained within a small desktop footprint. The technology leverages Brelyon's patented superconic light-field expansion and computational wavefront engineering to create an immersive viewing experience without the need for VR headsets or 3D glasses.
Brelyon's Ultra Reality display features 4K HDR 600 resolution and a 144Hz refresh rate, making it suitable for gaming, e-sports, and productivity applications. The company's approach aims to solve the problem of monocular depth in displays, offering a solution that alleviates eye fatigue and image artifacts for users. In November 2022, Brelyon announced a strategic partnership with ZMicro to develop rugged Ultra Reality displays for deployed military markets, highlighting the technology's potential applications in space-constrained environments like combat vehicles and command centers.
Key customers and partnerships
Brelyon has established partnerships with several prominent companies in various industries. In January 2022, the company announced a collaboration with LG Display to integrate LG's P-OLED technology into Ultra Reality displays, aiming to serve the large-format gaming and productivity sectors. In November 2022, Brelyon partnered with Lockheed Martin to showcase a desktop flight simulator bundle at the I/ITSEC conference, combining Brelyon's Ultra Reality display with Lockheed Martin's F-16 Pilot Training Aid.

OTI Lumionics, founded in 2011 in Toronto, Canada, is a leader in developing production-ready advanced materials for consumer electronics, with a focus on organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays. The company employs quantum simulations, machine learning, and real-world testing in pilot production to create innovative materials for next-generation consumer electronics and automotive applications. OTI's flagship product is its Cathode Patterning Material (CPM), which enables the integration of under-display cameras and sensors in OLED displays, allowing for uninterrupted, full-view displays without notches or cut-outs.
The company's materials discovery process utilizes a proprietary quantum and AI-driven computational platform, incorporating closed-loop feedback from in-house automated pilot production testing and application engineering. This approach allows OTI to design new materials that fit existing production processes, reducing the need for manufacturers to significantly alter their production equipment. OTI's technology has applications beyond displays, including potential use in semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and specialty chemicals.
In October 2022, OTI Lumionics raised USD 55 million in Series B funding to accelerate the adoption of its display materials by multiple leading display manufacturers. The company's CPM materials have been successfully validated by multiple panel makers in OLED display module tests and are being used in the final stages of mass production qualification. OTI Lumionics also collaborates with Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. to optimize the use of evaporation masks for the deposition of CPM material, creating more effective manufacturing solutions for OLED products.
Key customers and partnerships
OTI Lumionics has established strategic partnerships and collaborations with several industry leaders. The company has received investments from LG Technology Ventures, Samsung Venture Investment Corporation, and UDC Ventures, indicating strong interest from major players in the consumer electronics and display industries. OTI has been shipping its second-generation CPM materials to panel makers in Korea and China since the second half of 2020, with materials being tested and integrated by various OEM device makers.
In June 2024, OTI Lumionics announced a strategic partnership with Nord Quantique, a quantum computing company, to work on electronic structure calculations, vibronic spectra, and ab initio molecular dynamics using quantum simulations. This collaboration aims to identify improved efficiencies for the development of advanced materials with potential applications in multiple industries beyond display, including semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and specialty chemicals.
OTI Lumionics also collaborates with academic institutions such as the University of British Columbia and the University of Toronto, as well as quantum computing companies like D-Wave Systems, Rigetti Computing, and Microsoft. These partnerships contribute to the company's research and development efforts in quantum computing applications for materials science.

Technologies bringing about a new reality

Extended Reality

AmazeVR initially focused on developing VR technologies but pivoted to VR concerts in late 2019. The concerts are backed by proprietary 9K cameras and software that automate complex VR concert visual effects that run on more than 100 headsets simultaneously. Users join and hang out with other users as avatars while experiencing VR concerts. It intends to bring VR concerts by major artists to theaters and eventually, homes.AmazeVR rolled out its first commercial VR concert, which will feature 3x Grammy winner Megan Thee Stallion, in 2022. The artist is expected to tour select AMC Theaters across the US. It is also in the final stages of closing deals with its second and third artists. AmazeVR also revealed plans to release weekly content by 2024 in theaters and for at-home viewers.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/20145">July 2023</a>, AmazeVR launched its official AmazeVR Concerts app, featuring an exclusive VR concert from Swedish pop star, Zara Larsson. The app is available on major VR app stores, and the exclusive Zara Larsson VR concert can be accessed for a year at a launch price of USD 6.99. AmazeVR also produces and monetizes VR content on a subscription basis.As of August 2023, the company was in the process of producing and releasing mixed reality concerts by overlaying virtual elements onto live, real-world video.Funding and financialsThe company’s most recent funding was in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13338">September 2022</a>, when it raised USD 17 million in a Series B funding round led by Mirae Asset Capital. The fresh funds were allocated to expand partnerships with artists, artist management companies, labels, publishers, and agencies.

Inworld AI is a developer platform for creating dialog and behavior patterns in AI-powered non-playable characters (NPCs) that mimic the social nature of human interactions and express nuanced emotions within virtual worlds and enterprise applications.The company’s offerings include “Inworld Studio,” a no-code platform that enables writers, creators, and designers to calibrate elements of cognition and behavior for previously developed NPCs, such as goals, motivations, speech patterns, memories, knowledge, and voices using generative AI in the form of text-to-character prompts. Dialog patterns can be tested in the Inworld Arcade and Studio. The platform also features integrations with game engine Unity and Unreal to deploy characters into game environments and a software development kit (SDK) integration with Node.js. In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/29760">May 2024</a>, the company launched “Inworld Voice” which offers latency, rhythm, intonation, pitch variation, and pausing. Users can select from 58 AI-enhanced voices that mimic human speech patterns. Following this, the company added multilingual support for Mandarin, Japanese, and Korean for game localization (<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32112">July 2024</a>).Games built using the platform include Origins, a neo-noir detective game, where players use microphones to question NPCs powered by Inworld AI and solve a case, among others. In January 2023, Inworld planned to launch Roblox as an Inworld integration to allow developers to add AI characters to their own experiences.Inworld AI generates revenue through pay-as-you-go pricing schemes, which charge customers based on API interaction usage.Key customers and partnershipsIn <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/17686">April 2023</a>, Inworld AI partnered with AR software provider Geenee AR to bring the company’s generative AI features in Inworld Studio to the Geenee AR platform.In September 2022, Inworld AI became a Unity Verified Solutions partner, which allowed developers to access Inworld AI through the Unity store. Furthermore, the company offered a grant of up to USD 1 million for creators to build experiences with AI characters.Funding and financialsIn <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/20615">August 2023</a>, the company raised USD 50 million in a funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, bringing the company’s valuation to over USD 500 million. Funds were utilized to bolster R&amp;D efforts, senior headcount expansions, infrastructure investments, and to launch an open-source version of its character engine.Previously, in August 2022, the company raised USD 50 million in a Series A funding round led by Section 32 and Intel Capital. The company was also part of the 2022 Disney Accelerator, Disney’s startup incubator.

Using AI to mimic and understand human language

Natural Language Processing Tools

Allganize is a technology company that specializes in developing artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for businesses. Founded in Silicon Valley in 2017, the company leverages natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning to automate various business workflows. Allganize's flagship product is Alli, an all-in-one platform for enabling large language models (LLMs). The platform includes features such as an AI chatbot, cognitive search, and automation tools designed to streamline customer support, operations, and knowledge extraction.
The company's AI solutions are designed to understand context and extract information from unstructured documents without requiring complex pre-settings or manual tagging. This approach allows for quick implementation and high accuracy in information retrieval. Allganize's technology can process various document formats, including Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF, making it versatile for different business needs. In February 2023, Allganize introduced Alli GPT, an AI solution that integrates OpenAI's GPT-3.5 API to provide improved summaries and overall understanding of information. The company also launched Alli for Invoice, a cloud service that uses AI to automatically extract information from invoices, regardless of their format.
In December 2023, Allganize secured USD 20 million in Series B funding, bringing its total funding to USD 35 million. The company plans to use this investment to expand its corporate-specific LLM app markets and enterprise automation AI in the US, Korea, and Japan. Allganize has set a goal of listing on the Japanese Stock Exchange by 2025. As of 2023, the company operates offices in Houston, Seoul, and Tokyo, serving a global clientele across various industries.
Key customers and partnerships
Allganize's AI solutions have been adopted by over 200 enterprise and public companies globally. Notable clients include Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Nomura Securities, Hitachi, Fujitsu, and KB Securities. In the financial sector, Nomura Securities integrated Allganize's AI chatbot Alli into its OneStock app, improving FAQ response accuracy and reducing operational staff requirements.
The company has also partnered with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) to develop Alli for Green, a service launched in January 2023 that uses AI to streamline data collection for calculating greenhouse gas emissions. Other clients across various industries include Glico, OP.GG, and Mitsubishi Chemical Group, who have reported improvements in employee self-service tools, personalized information delivery, and IT issue resolution times respectively.

Cresta is an end-to-end generative AI platform for contact centers that aims to make every customer interaction excellent. Founded in 2020, the company leverages artificial intelligence to provide real-time intelligence and coaching for contact center agents, managers, and executives. Cresta's platform uses advanced language models and machine learning to analyze conversations, identify effective behaviors, and provide actionable insights to improve performance.
The company's core product offerings include Cresta for Agents, which provides real-time AI-driven assistance and coaching; Cresta for Managers, which offers visibility into agent performance and enables real-time coaching; and Cresta for Business, which delivers executive-level insights on contact center interactions and performance. In April 2024, Cresta introduced new capabilities including Behavior Discovery, Generative AI Intents, and enhanced Hybrid Quality Management & Screen Recording features. These advancements aim to help organizations achieve better business outcomes by identifying and reinforcing effective conversational behaviors.
Cresta's technology integrates with existing contact center systems, allowing for a modular adoption approach rather than requiring a full replacement of current infrastructure. The platform is designed to work across multiple channels, including phone, chat, and email. Cresta's AI models are customized for each client, enabling the software to understand company-specific conversations and provide tailored recommendations.
Key customers and partnerships
Cresta serves a range of enterprise customers across various industries. Notable clients include CarMax, Vivint, Intuit, Porsche, Blue Nile, Earthlink, and Holiday Inn Vacation Club. The company has reported significant improvements for its customers, including a 15% increase in customer satisfaction scores on average, 3X reduced ramp time for new agents, and 3-5 hours saved per week on repetitive tasks for agents.
In terms of partnerships, Cresta has strategic relationships with major players in the contact center industry. In March 2022, the company announced investments from Genesys, Five9, and Zoom as part of its Series C funding round. These partnerships aim to accelerate go-to-market efforts and integrate Cresta's AI capabilities with existing contact center platforms.

Foundation Models

Hume AI is an AI technology research laboratory and startup that specializes in developing conversational AI systems optimized for human well-being and emotional understanding. Hume AI's flagship product is the Empathic Voice Interface (EVI), a conversational AI that can interpret and respond to human emotions. <a href="https://venturebeat.com/ai/who-needs-gpt-4o-voice-mode-humes-evi-2-is-here-with-emotionally-inflected-voice-ai-and-api/">EVI</a> utilizes a proprietary empathic large language model (eLLM) that integrates standard language models with expression measures, allowing it to adjust its language and tone based on the user's emotional expressions.&nbsp;In September 2024, the company <a href="https://www.hume.ai/blog/introducing-evi2">introduced EVI</a> 2, a new foundational voice-to-voice AI model. It is designed to interpret emotional expressions and generate empathetic responses to conversations by integrating transcription, language modeling, and text-to-speech. EVI 2 can engage in conversations with short response times, understand and generate various tones of voice, and adapt to user preferences. EVI 2 uses a proprietary AI model developed through cross-cultural voice recordings matched with self-reported emotional survey results. Additionally, the technology offers features such as customizable voices and in-conversation prompts, allowing the option to adjust to speaking style.&nbsp;As of September 2024, EVI 2 offered over 10 base voices in English, with plans to expand to Spanish, French, and German by the end of the year. EVI is the first model to offer its services through an API, allowing developers and businesses to integrate the technology into their applications or build new ones. Its EVI 1 service is priced at USD 0.102 per minute and EVI 2 service at USD 0.072 per minute, with volume discounts available for enterprise users.

French startup Poolside AI is an AI foundations model developer. The company’s flagship model, “Malibu,” is a foundational model built for software engineering problems. The company's technology is based on a large language model (LLM) that combines code and natural language data to enable users to create applications using natural language commands. The platform is designed to equip individuals without coding experience to build software applications. In its initial phase, Poolside AI assists software developers with tasks like code optimization and bug fixing. The company utilizes GPU training clusters through Scaleway to develop and train its model.Key customers and partnerships&nbsp;In February 2024, Poolside AI partnered with Iris Energy, a cloud service provider, to integrate technologies.

Optimizing the future of energy with software solutions

Energy Optimization & Management Software

Element Energy, founded in 2019 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, is an advanced battery management technology company. The company has developed proprietary hardware and software algorithms to improve the safety, intelligence, and economics of large-format battery systems. Element Energy's core product is an adaptive battery management system (BMS) that provides active monitoring, in-field diagnostics, predictive intelligence, and distributed control of large-scale battery systems. This technology results in improved total system performance, including enhanced energy throughput, system life, and economics, all delivered on a cost-competitive basis with traditional systems.
The company's BMS technology is applicable to both first and second-life batteries, with a focus on improving visualization, battery safety, and efficiency. Element Energy's approach distributes control down to the module level, allowing for the seamless combination of modules with different chemistries and states of health without negatively impacting performance. This technology is being validated on a large scale with a 50 MWh pilot project in the US, expected to be completed in early 2024.
Element Energy has secured over 2.5 GWh of second-life EV batteries for redeployment in utility-scale energy storage applications. The company plans to deploy 100-400 MWh systems starting in 2023, with multi-gigawatt deployments of its secured pipeline beginning the same year. As of November 2023, Element Energy had received and screened nearly two GWh of second-life batteries and was working toward deployment in utility-scale applications.
In addition to its focus on second-life batteries, Element Energy offers its technology solutions broadly across first-life energy storage and electric vehicle applications. The company is also exploring opportunities to apply its technology to electric vehicle batteries and is deploying its software as a service with a leading battery operations and maintenance provider.

ConnectDER specializes in developing innovative meter collar adapters that simplify the integration of distributed energy resources (DERs) into homes. The company's flagship product is a proprietary plug-in adapter that connects to the meter socket, bypassing a home's electrical service panel. This technology enables the installation of electric vehicle (EV) chargers, solar panels, and other DERs without the need for expensive and time-consuming electrical panel upgrades. ConnectDER's solution can reduce installation costs by an estimated 60-80% compared to traditional methods. The company's meter collars create a safe, standardized, and low-cost alternative for home installations, allowing for a simple 15-minute EV charger or solar panel installation process. As of May 2023, ConnectDER had deployed over 15,000 units across 17 states in the US.
Key customers and partnerships
ConnectDER has established strategic partnerships with major industry players. In July 2022, the company announced a collaboration with Siemens to supply a proprietary plug-in adapter for electric vehicle chargers. This adapter, designed and manufactured exclusively for Siemens, allows EV owners to charge their vehicles directly through the meter socket. ConnectDER has also partnered with utilities such as Nebraska Public Power and Omaha Public Power District to provide simple solar integration solutions. In February 2022, the company launched its Solar Collar for new residential solar installations in Nebraska, enabling rapid interconnection of grid-ready residential PV systems throughout Nebraska Public Power and Omaha Public Power District areas.

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

Quantum Computing

SeeQC is a quantum hardware startup spun out from Hypres, a leading developer of superconductor integrated circuits. SeeQC was developing a digital system-on-a-chip design that integrates classical and quantum circuits into a hybrid system in order to overcome quantum computers’ current challenges. This also reduces noise and interference, maintaining high-fidelity quantum operations at scale. The company owns and operates superconducting flux quantum (SFQ) processors, a chip fabrication facility that enables the creation of multi-chip quantum computing systems and provides foundry services for superconducting devices. It also has facilities in London, UK, and Naples, Italy.Through the hybrid approach, SeeQC believes it can reduce the cost of quantum computers by 1/400th, provide greater control, and reduce energy requirements significantly.Key customers and partnershipsIn September 2023, the company entered into a collaboration with NVIDIA to develop the first all-digital chip-to-chip link between quantum computers and graphics processing units (GPU). SeeQC has also partnered with multinational chemical company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16298">BASF </a>in February 2023 to explore quantum computing in simulating chemical reactions.&nbsp;&nbsp;

New data privacy regulations have opened up space for a new wave of compliance-focused startups.

Digital Privacy Tools

Duality Technologies offers the Duality SecurePlus platform, a suite of privacy-enhanced data collaboration applications for businesses that leverage homomorphic encryption (HE) and data science to facilitate secure data sharing while complying with data privacy regulations. Duality SecurePlus keeps sensitive data such as Personally Identifiable Information (PII) encrypted while running computations on file contents to generate detailed insights without exposing data.Key customers and partnershipsThe company offers its solutions to regulated sectors such as financial services, healthcare, marketing, insurance, and government and counts notable clients and partners, including, as of September 2024, AWS, Azure, Google, Deloitte, IBM, Intel, Oracle, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). The company was awarded a USD 14.5 million deal from DARPA in February 2021 to develop a hardware accelerator for fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) computations.Duality partnered with Oracle in April 2021 to jointly provide privacy-preserving anti-money-laundering (AML) information-sharing solutions for financial institutions. The company also collaborated with Intel in June 2021 to enhance the performance of AI/ML applications for privacy-enhanced data collaboration.

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

EdTech: Corporate Learning

<div>
 
 Founded in 2018 by Dr. Sam Zheng, Wei-Liang Kao, and Patrik Matos da Silva, DeepHow offers a workforce training platform powered by AI that uses natural language processing (NLP), computer vision, and knowledge mapping to capture, digitize, and organize knowledge in the form of how-to videos. Primarily targeting manufacturing, field service, construction, and equipment maintenance sectors, the company serves large enterprise customers such as DeWalt, Stanley Black &amp; Decker, and Siemens with over 20 sites deployed across 4 different global zones.
 
 
 Funding and financials 
 
 
 In April 2023, the company raised 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18074">
 USD 14 million in a Series A funding
 </a>
 round led by Owl Ventures. The funds will be used toward go-to-market initiatives and advancing its product, engineering, and generative AI innovation. The round follows its USD 9 million in 
 a pre-Series A funding round led by Sierra Ventures in September 2021.
 
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AI-based solutions for evolving digital threats

Next-gen Cybersecurity

<div>
 
 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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Reinforcing recycling, rerouting refuse, and reducing wasteflows

Waste Recovery & Management Tech

Li Industries is a developer of lithium-ion (li-ion) battery sorting and recycling technologies using machine learning and automation. The company offers two solutions: Smart Battery Sorting (SBS), and Direct Li-ion Battery Recycled (DLBR) technologies.The SBS solution is the company’s proprietary sorting method which uses machine learning to identify different kinds of battery chemistries and automates the process, allowing battery chemistries to be sorted and separated for recycling. The DLBR solution looks at safely discharging li-ion batteries, and separating battery components using its proprietary sorting method, after which it can regenerate cathode and anode waste to produce commercial-grade battery materials.&nbsp;As of August 2022, Li Industries planned to build a commercial battery sorting and recycling facility in the US, scheduled to open in 2023.Key customers and partnershipsIn April 2022, the company partnered with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates?industryIds=54">Call2Recycle</a>, a nonprofit organization operating recycling programs, to set up a lithium-ion battery recycling process using Li Industries’ technology, with plans to commercialize it in 2023.Funding and financialsIn August 2022, Li Industries had raised USD 7 million in a <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/12021">Series A </a>funding round led by Khosla Ventures to bring its battery sorting and recycling technology and operation to full scale.

Tech solutions for achieving global anti-wastage targets

Food Waste

Based in Israel, 3PLW produces pure “polymer grade” lactic acid from food waste.&nbsp;As of October 2024, the company had developed a proprietary biochemical production process based on Anaerobic Digestion Technology involving hydrolysis and fermentation. The lactic acid is then sold to food and beverage businesses as well as into industrial and personal care markets.&nbsp;As of October 2024, the company was operating in the US, Israel, and Belgium.Key customers and partnerships&nbsp;3PLW has also formed partnerships with “Innovation Nation” (an R&amp;D project to produce bioplastics from waste ) and “closing the loop” (upcycling scrap and bioproducts), which have contributed to 3PLW’s growth.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Using AI to automate, enhance and optimize marketing activities

Marketing Automation

<div>
 
 Moloco is a suite of machine-learning (ML)-powered performance advertising solutions for marketing teams. Its product offering consists of 1) Moloco Cloud demand-side ad platform (DSP), a programmatic ad solution for mobile apps that leverages first-party data to drive growth through performance-driven advertising, offering real-time reporting, creative tools, broad reach, and exclusive access to in-app impressions, 2)&nbsp; Moloco Retail Media, which enables eCommerce platforms to launch ad businesses by offering personalized ads, and self-serve campaign scaling tools, and 3) Moloco Monetization for Streaming and over-the-top (OTT), empowering content publishers to scale ad businesses, optimize ROI with first-party data, deliver relevant ads, expand audience reach, and maximize monetization, all while ensuring accuracy, privacy compliance, and continual improvements through machine learning (ML). ​​Additionally, Moloco offers a range of advertising solutions tailored to specific industries, such as gaming and fintech, providing specialized tools and features to meet the unique needs of each industry. As of June 2023, its customers included Playrix, Fetch, Bumble, DraftKings, and FunPlus.&nbsp;&nbsp;
 
 
 The platform&rsquo;s Retail Media solution claims to offer a margin of 75%+ on ad revenue, generate up to 5% of GMV in ad revenue, and achieve an advertiser ad ROAS (return on advertising spend) of 800% or higher. Meanwhile, its streaming media monetization solution claims to have scaled infrastructure that captures value within 90 days, with features such as: 400+ billion daily bid requests, run-rate ad spend of more than USD 1 billion, and a presence in 240+ countries.
 
 
 In October 2022, the company acquired Tauk, which provides a unified platform for diagnosing, resolving, and communicating the issues that arise during testing apps.&nbsp;
 
 
 Key customers and partnerships&nbsp;
 
 
 In May 2023, Moloco was recognized as a Google Cloud Premier Partner, leveraging Google Cloud's integrated infrastructure to power its operational ML solutions.&nbsp;
 
 
 Funding and financials&nbsp;
 
 
 In June 2023, the company raised a 
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/19797">
 secondary funding round
 </a>
 led by Fidelity Management and Research Company and EDBI, with a post-money valuation of USD 2+ billion, which is more than a 40% increase compared to the USD 1.5 billion valuation it received at its Series C funding round in 2021. It planned to use the funds to support Moloco's expansion and develop new products. The company also reported that its revenue surpassed USD 200 million in 2022, a more than 5x growth from 2020 to 2022 and had maintained profitability for 12 consecutive quarters.
 
</div>

Electrifying passenger and commercial travel

EV Economy

<div>
 
 SolidEnergy Systems (SES) is a lithium-metal battery developer and manufacturer of battery cells for EVs. SES hybrid Li-metal batteries replace the graphite anode with lithium-metal to improve energy density (to around 400 Wh/kg). SES also uses a hybrid electrolyte&mdash;the battery has a solid protective coating on the lithium-metal anode and a liquid in the cathode, unlike some solid-state batteries (Solid Power and QuantumScape) that are all-solid and free of any liquid. The company&rsquo;s battery is expected to enable a longer driving range (around 500&ndash;600 miles) and is also capable of reaching an 80% charge in under 15 minutes. In 2021, SES was the first company to introduce 100Ah Li-metal cells, globally.
 
 
 SES&rsquo; large format Li-metal EV and eVTOL cells known as &ldquo;Apollo&rdquo; can be customized for different OEM requests. As such, the company has begun pilot-scale manufacturing of 50Ah to 100Ah Li-Metal cells with GM, Hyundai, and Honda at their Shanghai (China) and Chungju (Korea) battery manufacturing facilities. The company aims to commercialize its batteries by 2025. SES 
 <a href="https://investors.ses.ai/news/news-details/2023/SES-to-Host-Battery-World-2023-and-Announce-Worlds-First-Automotive-B-sample-JDA-for-Li-Metal/default.aspx">
 expects
 </a>
 to establish the world&rsquo;s first B-sample Joint Development Agreement (JDA) with an automotive OEM in December 2023.
 
 
 &nbsp;
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In February 2023, SES received an undisclosed amount of cash grants from the South Korean Central Government. Prior to this in April 2021, the company raised USD 139 million in a Series D funding round led by General Motors, while in July 2021, it raised USD 100 million from Hyundai.&nbsp;
 
 
 SES was listed on NYSE through a SPAC merger in February 2022. The deal raised USD 275 million at a valuation of USD 3.6 billion. The proceeds were to be used to accelerate growth and fund key development initiatives.&nbsp;
 
 
 
</div>

Riding together toward a sustainable future

Shared Mobility

Ridecell is a global fleet automation and mobility solutions provider. The company offers a fleet automation and mobility platform that modernizes and monetizes fleets by combining data insights with digital vehicle control, transforming manual processes into automated workflows. Ridecell's platform enables seamless user experiences, providing customers with flexibility in services, daily operations, and structural needs. It offers decentralized and convenient booking systems, allowing employees to use vehicles without relying on fleet managers. The platform also automates fleet operations, providing insights to ensure optimal fleet condition and tools for achieving sustainability and compliance goals.
In January 2022, Ridecell partnered with Arval, a European leader in full-service leasing and new mobility solutions, to accelerate the development of end-to-end mobility solutions. Through this partnership, Ridecell's platform powers Arval's car-sharing platform, offering coverage across Europe with plans to expand globally, growing the car-sharing fleet by 50% annually.

Technology to customize and procure furniture

Furniture Tech

Oliver Space is a technology-enabled furniture company that has reimagined the home furnishing experience through a circular model. The company offers a curated selection of furniture pieces, available as new or refurbished items across four condition tiers - Brand New, Like New, Very Good, and Age-Worn. Customers can purchase items at varying price points based on the condition, receiving discounts of up to 20-50% on refurbished pieces.
Oliver Space's innovative model aims to address the broken cycle of furniture consumption by providing a seamless process from purchase to trade-in. Customers can schedule fast delivery within three days, with free assembly and placement included. When ready for a change, they can trade in their Oliver products for credit toward future orders, with the company handling free pickup, refurbishment, and resale.
Oliver Space's refurbishment process involves meticulously cleaning, repairing, and restoring returned items to meet stringent quality standards before listing them for resale. This circular approach helps extend the lifespan of furniture while minimizing waste. As of June 2022, the company had furnished over 10,000 homes across six cities - San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Diego, Austin, and Dallas.
In August 2022, Oliver Space raised USD 36 million in funding to further scale its operations. The financing round was led by Union Grove Venture Partners, with participation from investors like Mayfield Fund and USVP. Despite economic challenges like inflation and supply chain disruptions impacting the furniture industry, Oliver Space's revenue grew nearly fivefold in the previous year, indicating strong demand for its sustainable and affordable solution.

A decentralized version of the web powered by the blockchain

Web3 Ecosystem

QuickNode offers APIs, dedicated nodes, and analytics tools that allow users to build, launch, and scale decentralized applications and integrate with infrastructure across several blockchains. As of July 2022, the platform supported 19 blockchain networks including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, xDai, Polygon, Polygon zkEVM, and BNB Chain.The company is a Y Combinator graduate and has a global presence across four continents where the company’s low-latency infrastructure is located. Its customers include Web3-related companies such as OpenSea and Coinbase and even traditional organizations such as Adobe and PayPal. The company also reported that as of July 2022, over 50% of the projects within the Solana network were powered by its tools.QuickNode acquired NFT analytics platform and API provider icy.tools in May 2022. The company aimed to integrate the icy.tools API into its existing platform to offer its NFT customers analytics, pricing data, and node infrastructure in a multichain environment.Funding and financialsIn January 2023, QuickNode raised <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15880?industryIds=144">USD 60 million in a Series B </a>funding round at a valuation of USD 800 million. The round was led by 10T Holdings with participation from Tiger Global, Seven Seven Six, and Protocol Labs, among others. It aimed to utilize the funds to accelerate its global expansion and help developers transition from Web2 to Web3 by providing them with education and tools.The company reported that its revenue grew more than 300% over the past year (as of January 2023), while its user base also increased more than 400% to over 50,000 developers. It also claimed that the platform handled over 200 billion API requests monthly.

A new generation of building blocks for emerging tech

Next-gen Semiconductors

SEEQC (Superconducting Energy-Efficient Quantum Computing) is a digital quantum computing company founded in 2019 and headquartered in Elmsford, New York. The company is developing a full-stack quantum computing platform that integrates classical and quantum technologies to address efficiency, stability, and cost issues in quantum computing systems. SEEQC's approach combines classical and quantum technology through digital readout and control technology and a unique chip-scale architecture.
At the core of SEEQC's innovation is its family of high-speed, energy-efficient Single Flux Quantum (SFQ) digital chips capable of running all core qubit controller functions of a quantum computer at the same cryogenic temperature as the qubits. These chips operate at speeds up to 40 GHz and implement classical qubit control, measurement, multiplexing, and data processing. The company's scalable SFQ-based computing architecture incorporates digital multiplexing, which solves critical input/output issues by sending multiple signals over a single line, greatly reducing cost and complexity for large-scale quantum systems.
In March 2023, SEEQC unveiled its first-generation reference class quantum computer system, SEEQC System Red. This system achieved average 2-qubit gate speeds of 39ns and average gate fidelities of 98.4%, which are among the best of publicly available quantum systems operating over the cloud. SEEQC manufactures its digital SFQ chips in its world-class multilayer superconductive chip foundry in Elmsford, NY, with design and testing teams in London and Naples.

Exploring the limitless possibilities of AI

Generative AI Applications

Inworld is a no-code developer platform that enables the creation of AI characters for games, virtual worlds, metaverse, and brand experiences. The company’s characters are intended to mimic the personalities, memories, and behaviors of real humans, enabling more immersive interactions with non-player characters (NPCs) and computer-controlled inhabitants of virtual worlds. Inworld focuses on the personalities or “brains” of these AI characters as it aims to be compatible with any character models or visuals, integrating with various game engines to generate avatars. Inworld’s AI characters are suitable for several use cases, including:1) Gaming: For more immersive non-player characters, capable of unscripted interaction, contextual awareness, and human emotion2) Brands: To power virtual brand ambassadors, mascots, chatbots, and customer service assistants, allowing more engaging interactions with customers3) Training: Versatile AI teachers with customizable knowledge bases and a variety of teaching stylesUsers can input the character’s desired personality, knowledge, and behavior as text fields. Inworld also allows the fine-tuning of all its AI characters to ensure they remain on-brand and within the context of a game or virtual world, providing safety measures such as profanity, hate speech, and sexual content filters. The AI characters are powered by 20 distinct machine-learning models, including OpenAI’s GPT-3 large language model (LLM) for speech content, alongside multimodal models, including an AI character engine and “contextual mesh” for character behavior, personality, expressions, gestures, and voice synthesis. In May 2024, it launched Inworld Voice, a new service that offers AI-generated, expressive voices designed primarily for use in video games, audiobooks, and voice assistants. It offers several features, including latency, rhythm, intonation, pitch variation, and pausing. In July 2024, the company introduced <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32111">multilingual</a> support for Mandarin (simplified Chinese), Japanese, and Korean, allowing game creators to localize their games.The company was a part of the 2022 Disney Accelerator, Disney’s startup incubator.Key customers and partnershipsIn November 2023, Mictrosoft’s Xbox <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/23541">partnered</a> with Inworld AI to develop AI dialogue and narrative tools for video games. In September 2022, the company partnered with Unity Verified, an integrated software solution, to make its solutions available in the Unity asset store after being verified as a game developer tool.In June 2024, Inworld partnered with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/30009">NVIDIA</a> to develop Covert Protocol, an application aimed at facilitating advanced social simulation capabilities within gaming environments.

Harnessing tech to provide exceptional customer experiences

Customer Service Platforms

Cresta offers AI-powered solutions for business contact centers, including virtual agents, AI assistants for human agents, agent coaching, and analytics tools. Cresta’s solutions are applicable in sales, collections, customer retention, and remote workforce management use cases, across automotive, retail, finance, telecom, insurance, and airline industries.Cresta’s main products are;1) Agent Assist: an AI powered assistant for human agents, offering automated note-taking and summaries, generative AI and analytics powered response suggestion, and autocomplete.2) Director: A call center management tool offering quality assurance tools, agent coaching, performance insights, and functionality allowing managers to monitor and assist their agents in real time.3) Insights: an analytics tool which monitors interactions, leveraging generative AI to produce insights into customer behavior.4) Virtual Agent: a chatbot powered by generative AI. Virtual Agent analyzes support history to identify which conversations require automation, builds chatbot content, and automates to independently resolve simpler customer queries.The individual products are integrated in a unified platform, allowing insights and analytics from one product to be immediately actioned in another. Cresta offers these solutions in bundles with features tailored for revenue growth, customer care, and post call workstreams.As of April 2023, Cresta’s solutions are available for integration with several contact center platforms including; Five9, Genesis, AWS Connect, Twilio, Salesforce, and Liveperson.Cresta’s solutions leverage the “Real Time Intelligence Platform”, the firm’s underlying AI which integrates large language models (LLMs) and natural language understanding (NLU). The AI platform enables Cresta to deliver bespoke solutions to each customer without requiring customers to train AI, fine-tune language models, or build workflows. Cresta also provides a no-code platform to allow customers to modify the AI.Key customers and partnershipsAs of April 2023, Cresta counts Aptive, Blue Nile, Carmax, COX, Porsche, Earthlink, Hulton, Holiday Inn, Intuit, and Verizon as customers.

Empowering Tomorrow's Innovations with Generative AI Infrastructure

Generative AI Infrastructure

Japan-based Allganize offers an "all-in-one” LLM enabler for enterprises. The company's solution includes 1) The LLM App Builder, which is a no-code platform that enables enterprises to create applications powered by LLMs. It has integration capabilities for databases like Notion, Google, and Salesforce; 2) The LLM App Market, which offers pre-built templates for standard workflows, such as chatbots and document FAQs, and allows customization for various job functions; and 3) Alli Answer, which is an AI-driven automated response tool designed to provide answers derived from internal documents, serving as a knowledge search base for enterprises seeking streamlined information retrieval and response automation.Key customers and partnershipsAs of May 2024, the company had over 200 enterprise and public sector clients using its platform. Notable enterprises using the platform included Mitsubishi Chemical Group, Nomura, and Alli.

Imbuing emotion into human-digital interactions

Digital Humans

Inworld AI is a developer platform for creating AI-driven virtual characters for gaming, metaverse, and interactive experiences. Founded in July 2021 by Ilya Gelfenbeyn, Michael Ermolenko, and Kylan Gibbs, the company offers a Character Engine that uses advanced AI to build generative characters with personalities, thoughts, memories, and behaviors designed to mimic human interaction. Inworld's no-code studio allows writers, designers, and creators to easily develop AI characters that can be integrated into popular game engines like Unreal and Unity.
The company's technology goes beyond existing large language models and chatbots, orchestrating multiple machine learning models to enable multimodal character expression. Inworld's AI characters can learn, adapt, navigate relationships with emotional intelligence, have memory and recall, and autonomously initiate goals and actions. This allows for more dynamic and immersive experiences compared to traditional scripted non-player characters (NPCs) in games and virtual worlds. As of August 2023, Inworld AI had raised approximately USD 120 million in funding and was valued at over USD 500 million. The company plans to launch an open-source version of its Character Engine to further innovation in the gaming industry.
Key customers and partnerships
Inworld AI has worked with several notable companies and projects to implement its AI character technology. The company has created AI-driven NPC experiences for Team Miaozi (NetEase Games), Niantic 8th Wall, LG UPlus, and Alpine Electronics. Inworld's technology has also been used in community-created mods for popular games like Skyrim, Stardew Valley, and Grand Theft Auto V. In 2022, as part of the Disney Accelerator program, Inworld demonstrated a 'Droid Maker' prototype created in collaboration with ILM Immersive. The company's Character Engine is featured in Unity's AI Marketplace as a Unity Verified Solution, and Inworld has received an Epic MegaGrant from Epic Games. Additionally, Inworld AI has integrated its technology with Unreal Engine's MetaHumans to enhance character creation capabilities.

ConnectDER is a solar technology company developing meter collars to connect distributed energy resources to the home and the grid. The company specializes in resilient home energy technology and improves distributed energy resources (DERs) by turning an electricity meter socket into an interconnection point for solar, battery storage, electric vehicle charging, directly benefiting the user, the grid, and the environment.

Cresta uses artificial intelligence to assist sales and service agents with customer service tasks. it provides tools for managing inquiries. Cresta focuses on facilitating communication between agents and customers.

UNIGRID develops sustainable and affordable sodium-based batteries using abundant materials. They aim to put a battery into every home, the grid, and other distributed energy storage applications. They use dense Na-alloy and a non-flammable electrolyte, which led to high energy density and improved safety.

Liminal operates as a battery manufacturing intelligence provider that utilizes data and analytics. Its mission is to make electric vehicles the default option for any driver.  The company was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Emeryville, California.

Poolside is an artificial intelligence platform that offers foundation concepts and infrastructure. It aims to unlock humanity's potential by pursuing AGI for software creation, with the fundamental belief that the transitional path for humanity to AGI is by building specific capabilities instead of a general-purpose approach. It also helps users utilize the power of software creation and understand future systems.

Autify is an AI-focused company that offers software testing solutions to address the challenges associated with automation testing. The company's flagship product, Autify No Code, empowers anyone to create automated end-to-end tests for their applications. Additionally, Autify's new product, Zenes, aims to simplify the process of creating new software tests through AI, allowing customers to work directly with the company's AI agent to generate tests from product documents.

The Sandbox is a decentralized, community-driven platform, where creators can make voxel assets and gaming experiences and monetize them on the blockchain. It features 3 main components: an NFT builder, a Marketplace, and Game Maker.

Li Industries is a start-up company focusing on developing the next generation of lithium-ion battery recycling technologies.  Li Industries focuses on recycling lithium-ion batteries from electric vehicles, consumer electronics, and other energy storage systems. The company specializes in recovering valuable materials such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and other essential metals used in battery production. By efficiently extracting these resources, Li Industries helps reduce environmental waste and supports the creation of new batteries from recycled components, contributing to a more sustainable battery supply chain.

Aardvark Therapeutics specializes in small molecule therapeutics for obesity and rare genetic metabolic disorders. Aardvark Therapeutics was founded by Tien Lee in 2017.

Hume AI provides the AI toolkit to measure, understand, and improve how technology affects human emotion. Use Hume’s science-backed API to measure human expressive behavior in images, videos, audio, and text and build applications that better predict users’ intents, preferences, experiences, and outcomes.  Hume AI was founded in 2021 and is based in New York.

Eatron is a fast-growing technology company dedicated to unlocking the full potential of batteries with intelligent software for all vehicle and battery manufacturers worldwide. We develop AI-powered edge-to-cloud connected software platform for better, safer, durable and greener batteries in automotive, mobility and beyond. Each Eatron software function at the edge (i.e. in the BMS), such as advanced SoX or RUL, is designed to have a cloud counterpart with integrated connectivity and analytics. These enable OTA updates to unlock regular software improvements to achieve superior performance, safety and reliability over the lifetime of the batteries and EVs.

Element Energy, a startup with technology that significantly improves the performance, lifetime, reliability and cost of large battery packs used in a wide range of applications including stationary and renewable energy storage and hybrid and electric vehicles.

QuickNode is a comprehensive blockchain development platform. Its fast, reliable APIs, time-saving tools, and customer support enable developers & businesses to execute their Web3 ideas and strategies. Founded in Miami in 2017.

Allganize provides Natural Language Understanding API and conversational AI for enterprises. It also helps businesses automate workflows by natural language understanding AI. It provides insight into what your teammates are working on, as well as overarching work patterns/trends in your team.  Allganize leverages deep learning-based, high-performance NLU technology to enable companies of all sizes to apply AI technology to develop their own AI systems and services. The company provides real-time customer and project related information.  Allganize was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Oakland, California, USA.

South 8 Technologies, Inc. develops, manufactures and licenses LiGas®, the liquefied gas electrolyte for advanced lithium-ion batteries that solves lithium-ion’s “fire and ice™” problems. South 8’s patented LiGas electrolyte reduces fire risk and operates across a wide temperature range, from -60 to 60 °C. LiGas cells enable clean battery power to benefit more applications, environments, and people. LiGas is also compatible with common battery materials, increases energy, supports fast charging, and is cost effective for battery manufacturers. Headquartered in San Diego, South 8 has introduced its first in a family of LiGas battery cells, Arctic™ LiGas 18650, with new form factors and additional battery chemistries in development. Customers for South 8 products include cell manufacturers through end-users including electric vehicle OEMs, energy storage providers and a host of other applications from the defense industry to aerospace. South 8 has been granted 23 patents across seven countries and jurisdictions. South 8 investors include Anzu Partners, LG Technology Ventures, Shell Ventures, Foothill Ventures, Taiyo Nippon Sanso, Porsche Ventures, and Lockheed Martin Ventures. Learn more: www.south8.com

Inworld AI is a character engine for powering AI-driven characters in gaming, entertainment, and interactive experiences. Inworld is funded by VCs including Kleiner Perkins, CRV, Bitkraft, Founders Fund, Section 32, M12, Intel Capital, and Meta, as well as a team of all-star angels including corporate executives, top VC funds' partners, scouts, and industry veterans.

Airalo is an eSIM store for travelers to access eSIMs for 190+ countries and regions at the most affordable, local rates from around the world, all via eSIM-compatible smartphone, tablet, or PC. Airalo offers users both connectivity and freedom - they’ll never have to carry multiple SIM cards or change their number again, no matter where they are in the world.

DeepHow develops an AI-powered learning platform for manufacturing, service, and repair. Wei-Liang Kao, Patrik Matos da Silva, and Samuel Zheng founded it in 2018, with its headquarters in New York City.

Venti Technologies is an autonomous vehicles developer company that develops autonomous logistics systems for moving goods and people. The company has created a proprietary collection of autonomy technologies, including a suite of special-purpose logistics algorithms, using rigorous mathematical modeling, deep learning, and theoretically-grounded algorithms. Its deep technology, supported by top-tier MIT talent, provides the safest and fastest goods transportation, as well as assisting customers in achieving unprecedented vehicle and cost efficiencies that contribute to a greener planet. Venti's mission is to provide the world's safest and fastest goods transportation while also cleaning the planet and lowering costs. It was launched in 2018 and is based in Suzhou, China, and Weston, Massachusetts.

Humane is a platform that creates and sells consumer hardware, software, and services that feel familiar, natural, and humane. The company is dedicated to creating cutting-edge technology that is both human and natural-feeling.

TripleW upcycles food waste into high-demand, high-value lactic acid, the building block of PLA bioplastics. Lactic acid, currently made from food crops, is used in multiple industries and expected to grow to $16b in the next decade. TripleW's technology will further decarbonize waste on a massive scale, by circulating PLA food and beverage packaging waste back into the process to produce more lactic acid.

A mobile app born from the desire to combine tech and kitchen know-how to help everyone feel more confident in the kitchen. SideChef makes cooking easier by providing step-by-step photo and video guided instructions for over 15,000 Smart Recipes. Allowing our users to always feel confident in the kitchen, even when trying something new. With over 300 food blogging and 7 Smart Kitchen Technology partners our content and technology allows us to connect with users directly in their kitchens, empowering them to create recipes for every occasion and become part of their everyday cooking routine. With key features such as grocery list generation, grocery ordering through our partners AmazonFresh and JD.com, Smart Kitchen Connection and automation, Scheduling, Dietary Specifications and many more, we at SideChef believe cooking great food for ourselves and the ones we love is key to a life better lived. Proud to have been awarded Best App by Google in 2017. Founded in 2013 by Kevin Yu, and officially launched in 2014, SideChef has engaged with users in 170 countries, and has been downloaded over 900,000 times.

Light Field Lab is a breakthrough technology startup that builds an innovative holographic ecosystem. It re-creates what optical physics calls a real image for off-screen projected objects by generating a massive number of viewing angles that correctly change with the point of view and location just like in the real world. They enable entirely new business opportunities across consumer and enterprise markets. The company was founded in 2017 by Jon Karafin, Brendan Bevensee, and Ed Ibe, with the single mission to enable a holographic future by building upon the founders’ collective expertise of light field technology innovation. Based in San Jose, CA, Light Field Lab is backed by top-tier venture firms including Khosla Ventures.

BIGC is a technology company that offers digital marketing, content creation, and advertising services.

They are a small company in the heart of Toronto, Canada working to unlock the full potential of OLED technology.  OTI Lumionics Inc. was founded in 2011 by an award winning team of researchers and engineers from the Department of Materials Science & Engineering at the University of Toronto.

AmazeVR is a virtual concert platform for VR content creation and mass distribution using proprietary technologies. The company provides an end-to-end solution for a radical new way to experience immersive music content with their proprietary technologies—from ultra-high-resolution custom cameras to cloud-based creation tools, to intuitive social interactions with friends as avatars. As vertically integrated distribution channels, artists will reach a broad audience with AmazeVR through offline distribution (Amaze Tour) complying with the COVID-19 safety measures and online distribution. AmazeVR was founded in 2015 by the founders and former executives of Kakao, a $27B market cap mobile platform company.

Oliver Space is a home furnishing company that makes living spaces easy and affordable.  The company offers a flexible payment structure that customers can try before they buy at 0% interest. Oliver Space was established in 2018 in San Francisco, California by Chan Park.

May Mobility specializes in autonomous vehicle technology development and deployment. The company's technology studies the city's traffic and commuter flow, identifying bottlenecks and gaps in the current public transit schema to design the optimal routes for communities. The company also offers a fleet operation service and provides daily transit by deploying autonomous shuttles to reduce human error in driving, reduce pollution, and create greater economic benefit for communities and riders, enabling public transportation systems to create a safer, greener, more efficient environment.

JADU is a multiplayer augmented reality (AR) mobile game, showcasing the next gen of immersive & spatial gameplay.  Jadu AR Inc, the game studio behind JADU, has raised $42M from investors including Bain, General Catalyst, LG Tech Ventures and Com2Us. Jadu’s international team of 40+ designers, engineers and creatives are on a mission to make AR games that redefine the relationship between a new generation of gamers and their real world spaces. Jadu AR Inc. was founded in 2019 with a fascination for what virtual characters interacting with physical spaces can do for culture. Over the years the team has collaborated with Elton John, GRIMES, Lewis Hamilton, Lil Nas X, Michael Bay, Serena Williams & Snoop Dogg. JADU is a culmination of this work and already accounts for 250K+ installs. The current game can be downloaded on the AppStore and PlayStore.

Brelyon is a deep tech startup realizing headset-less solutions for immersion in enterprise and metaverse applications. Breylon is introducing the world's first headset free virtual monitor. The experience is like looking through a window at a large IMAX screen on your desk. This allows replacing multi-monitor setups and having to wear headsets in a variety of enterprise and consumer applications.

SolidEnergy manufactures rechargeable cells at a pilot scale for prototype demonstration and specialized aerospace markets.  But their real future lies in the materials they supply—anodes and electrolyte—for mainstream markets such as consumer electronics and electric vehicles. They supply these to large Li-ion cell manufacturers to be integrated with a separator and cathode into full cells which can be customized for different applications including drones, consumer electronics, and electric vehicles. Because their anode and electrolyte materials are compatible with existing Li-ion cell manufacturing processes, they can achieve scalability by using existing infrastructure. This eliminates the need for costly infrastructure investment. It’s all part of their open ecosystem. It means a more seamless end-user experience, faster prototyping, and no limits to growth.

Duality is the leader in privacy preserving data collaboration empowering organizations worldwide to maximize the value of their data without compromising on privacy or regulatory compliance.  Founded and led by world-renowned cryptographers and data scientists, Duality operationalizes privacy enhancing technologies (PETs) to accelerate data insights by enabling analysis and AI on encrypted data, while preserving data privacy, compliance and protecting valuable IP. A Gartner Cool Vendor, Duality was recently named a Tech Pioneer 2021 by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and listed on Fast Company's 2020 Most Innovative Companies.

Claroty is an industrial cybersecurity company that helps customers reveal, protect, and manage OT, IoT, and IIoT assets. The company provides a platform that connects seamlessly with customers' existing infrastructure and programs while offering a full range of industrial cybersecurity controls for visibility, threat detection, risk, and vulnerability management, and secure remote access with a significantly reduced total cost of ownership.

Arcellx is a clinical-stage biotechnology company reimagining cell therapy by engineering innovative immunotherapies for patients with cancer and other incurable diseases. Arcellx believes that cell therapies are one of the forward pillars of medicine and Arcellx’s mission is to advance humanity by developing cell therapies that are safer, more effective, and more broadly accessible. Arcellx’s lead product candidate, CART-ddBCMA, is being developed for the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (r/r MM) in an ongoing Phase 1 study. CART-ddBCMA has been granted Fast Track, Orphan Drug, and Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy designations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Arcellx is also advancing its dosable and controllable CAR-T therapy, ARC-SparX, into the clinic through two programs: ACLX-001 in r/r MM and ACLX-002 in relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia.

CerebrumX, headquartered in Princeton, NJ, USA and with offices across NA, EMEA and APAC, provides a ubiquitous AI-powered data management platform spread across the Edge and Core Network to our partners (OEMs, Media, Insurers, Fleet Companies, Smart Cities/Municipalities etc.) to enable the activation of connected vehicle data that is yet un-utilized to any significant level due to the absence to the right Automotive Ecosystem.  Our proprietary Advanced Deep Learning Platform (ADLP) unlocks the true power of connected vehicle data from millions of connected vehicles in real time, to generate AI-driven insights that support business innovation. A trusted and neutral source of data-based insights augmented with Social, Location, Weather and Mobility data, ADLP drives future-defining business decisions in today’s dynamic ecosystem. With easy-to-use Development Interface though open APIs and seamless cloud integration, CerebrumX allows Consumers to build their customized business use cases by leveraging the power and scope of vehicle data.  ADLP provides a plug-in to manage and maintain Data Privacy, Anonymization and Consent Management at the source, to ensure that any personal information is treated based on the user consent. CerebrumX takes pride in bringing privacy to everything it does, going beyond just compliance with its white-label app and web solution, CerebrumX Secure Consent. By giving the control back to the drivers, over the sharing of their connected vehicle data, CerebrumX Secure Consent maintains transparent, ethical as well as GDPR and CCPA complaint data sharing.  Auto businesses utilize AI-powered insights from CerebrumX to redefine fleet management, auto insurance, develop future-proof maintenance and warranty solutions. They innovate value-driven solutions to aid traffic management, parking solutions and make way for a greener, electrified and sustainable future.

Edgybees’ pioneering platform delivers real-time, high-speed augmented reality experiences to anything that moves. Using sensors and streaming data, AR application developers can now deliver overlays that keep up with a three-dimensional human experience of high-speed motion. The Edgybees platform contains a set of unique, patent-pending capabilities packaged in the form of a developer SDK coupled with its back-end SaaS services. This ability opens the door to exciting new consumer and commercial applications of high-speed AR on a wide range of devices. Edgybees was co-founded in 2016 by Menashe Haskin, former manager of the Amazon Prime Air Israeli development office, the company’s Chief Technology Officer, together with CEO Adam Kaplan and Vice President for Research and Development Nitay Megides.

Ridecell Inc. is the way in the digital transformation of fleet businesses and operations. Our Fleet IoT (Internet of Things) Automation solutions modernize and monetize fleets by combining data insights with digital vehicle control to turn today’s manual processes into automated workflows. The result is unmatched levels of efficiency and control for shared services, motorpools, rental, and logistic fleets. Today Ridecell powers some of the most successful fleet businesses in cities across Europe and North America, including Ferrovial, Groupe Renault, Gig Car Share from AAA, and Toyota Sweden. Ridecell is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Madrid, Paris, Berlin, and Pune India.

Zebra Medical Vision’s imaging analytics platform allows healthcare institutions to identify patients at risk of disease and offer improved preventative treatment pathways to advance patient care. The company is funded by Khosla Ventures, Marc Benioff, Intermountain Investment Fund, OurCrowd Qure, Aurum, aMoon, Nvidia, J&J, and Dolby Ventures. Zebra Medical Vision has raised $52 million in funding to date and was named a Fast Company Top-5 AI and Machine Learning company. Zebra-Med leads the way in AI FDA cleared products, and is installed in hospitals globally, from Australia to India, Europe to the U.S, and the LATAM region.

Moloco offers programmatic advertising solutions to help optimize the client's acquisition, retention, and monetization campaigns. The company's focus is on delivering quality and scale to its advertisers and publishers has been recognized by the industry. The company is heavily tech-driven with top talents from Google, Amazon, Twitter, and Goldman Sachs. Founded in 2013 with a vision to empower mobile businesses to thrive.

Syte develops a product discovery platform designed to transform the way people search and shop online. It is a provider of visual AI technology that aims to improve retailers’ site navigation, product discovery, and user experience by powering solutions that engage and convert shoppers. The B2B enterprise's solution includes camera search, augmented site search, personalization engines, and smart in-store tools, empower shoppers to discover and purchase products instantly. Their camera solution enables shoppers to take a picture of a product that inspires them and search for visually similar products within a retailer’s site. Up to date, Syte has raised $71 million from investors including Viola Ventures, LG Tech Ventures, NHN Ventures, Kreos Capital, Naver Corporation, Commerce Ventures, Storm Ventures, Axess Ventures, La Maison, MizMaa Ventures, Magma, Naver Corporation, Line Corporation, Reimage Ventures, North Base Media, and KDC Ventures. In 2014, Helge Voss, Idan Pinto, Lihi Pinto Fryman, and Ofer Fryman established Syte in Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv.

Aurora Labs is pioneering the use of AI and Software Intelligence to solve the challenge of automotive software development. Aurora Labs brings AI-based Vehicle Software Intelligence to the entire lifecycle of a vehicle from software development to testing, integration, quality control, continuous certification and on-the-road over-the-air software updates. Aurora Labs focuses on the embedded systems that are key to the development of the software-defined vehicle and enables automotive manufacturers to more efficiently manage software costs and the resources required to develop and manage new vehicle features and mobility services. The Company’s products have been adopted on customer platforms around the world, and with a commitment to conform and meet ISO-26262/ASIL-D and ASPICE-L2, will be in vehicles in coming car models. Aurora Labs, founded in 2016, has raised approximately $100m and has been granted 90 patents. The Company is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, with offices in Germany, North Macedonia, the US, and Japan.

SeeQC is a semiconductor company developing commercially viable application-specific quantum computing systems for global businesses. The company combines classical and quantum technologies to address the efficiency, stability, and cost issues endemic to quantum computing systems. It integrates superconducting qubit chips, proprietary Single Flux Quantum (SFQ), SFQ-based 10-40 GHz superconductive classical co-processors, and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). SeeQC delivers a commercially scalable and cost-effective quantum computing solution, classical readout, control, error correction, and data processing functions must be integrated with a quantum processor. It applies classical and quantum technology through digital readout and control technology and through a unique chip-scale architecture. The company's quantum system provides the energy- and cost-efficiency, speed, and digital control required to make quantum computing useful and bring the first commercially-scalable, problem-specific quantum computing applications to market. SeeQC was established in 2018 and is headquartered in Elmsford, N.Y, USA, and also has facilities in London, UK, and Naples, Italy.

MakinaRocks is a global AI software startup specializing in analytics and performance management with machine intelligence. MakinaRocks offers enterprise MLOps (Runway) for the development and operation of AI models, as well as AI solutions such as anomaly detection and operational optimization to improve industrial productivity. The company was founded in 2017 and is based in Seoul, South Korea.

Forge Nano is a materials science company that uses nanocoating technology in manufacturing innovation and transforming product performance. It was previously known as PneumatiCoat Technologies. Forge Nano’s proprietary technology and manufacturing processes make angstrom-thick coatings fast, affordable, and commercially viable for various materials, applications, and industries including Lithium-Ion batteries, powders, flats, and objects.

eyecandylab enables content creators to build engaging and interactive AR-experiences on video, driving user engagement and monetize it by uniting all devices into one seamless experience.  The company offers a revolutionary AR solution for broadcasters and content producers to add an interactive component to their video content. By pointing AR-enabled smartphones or tablets at any video screen, the interaction layer is overlaid on the core content, harmonizing them into a singular, seamless experience.

4DReplay provides time-slicing videos that showcase any-time, any-angle highlights with an unprecedented level of detail. They specialized in developing a 4D video solution, comprised of a set of 4K cameras and video editing software. 4dReplay is a highly advanced and easy-to-use four-dimensional time slice video production system.

Optodot scientists continually seek to innovate in the commercialization of products based on nanoporous membranes.

Lygos is providing biotechnology solutions for today’s renewable chemical challenges. They engineer microbes to convert sugars into high-value, industrial chemicals, targeting compounds where biological production is cost-advantaged over petrochemical production. The company's throughput screening and strain construction facilitate the rapid optimization of pathways to convert cheap and renewable feedstock to high-value chemicals. Founded in 2011, Lygos is headquartered in Berkeley, California.

LG Technology Ventures was established in 2018 and is the venture capital investment arm of the LG Group of South Korea. The LG Technology Ventures team consists of experienced investors, entrepreneurs, technologists, and industry domain experts. Currently, LG Technology Ventures is managing over $400 million of fund assets and invests in early-stage information technology, automotive, manufacturing, life sciences, energy, and advanced materials companies. They strive to create value for their portfolio companies by helping them develop strategic partnerships with various LG Companies.

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