<div>
  <ul>
    <li>
      <p>
        IntelyCare, a healthcare staffing platform, has raised USD 115 million in a Series C funding round led by Janus Henderson Investors, with participation from investors including Longitude Capital, Leeds Illuminate, Endeavour Vision, and Revelation Partners. The round values IntelyCare at USD 1.1 billion and brings its total funding to USD 170.8 million.
      </p>
    </li>
    <li>
      <p>
        The fresh funding will be used to expand operations to new states and invest in its AI-based platform and data science technology.&nbsp;
      </p>
    </li>
    <li>
      <p>
        Since its Series B round in February 2020, the company&rsquo;s revenue grew by over 850%. In 2021, the number of nursing professionals on the platform more than doubled and the client demand for nursing professionals nearly tripled compared to 2020.
      </p>
    </li>
  </ul>
  <p>
  </p>
</div>


<div>
  <p>
    <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220406005201/en/IntelyCare-Secures-115-Million-Series-C-Financing-Led-by-Janus-Henderson-Investors">
      Press release
    </a>
  </p>
  <p>
    <a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/health-tech/nurse-staffing-startup-intelycare-hits-unicorn-status-115m-series-c">
      FIERCE Healthcare
    </a>
  </p>
  <p>
    <a href="https://www2.staffingindustry.com/Editorial/Daily-News/Nurse-talent-platform-IntelyCare-announces-115-million-funding-round-valuation-at-1-billion-61223">
      Staffing Industry Analysts
    </a>
  </p>
  <p>
  </p>
</div>


Online Freelancing Platforms

Healthcare staffing platform IntelyCare raises USD 115 million in Series C funding

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

Logistics Tech

ANALYST_QUICK_TAKE

INCUMBENTS_PRESENT

PROMINENT_CATEGORY

<div>
 <p>Amazon inaugurated a new warehouse equipped with 3,600+ transport robots to streamline the packing process in Erfurt, Germany. Reported as one of the company's highest-advanced facilities in Europe, the robots are currently aiding 300 workers.</p>
 <p>Eventually, these robots will help a 2,000-strong workforce in handling 26 million products and delivering over 500,000 parcels daily across an expansive area of 660,000+ square feet.</p>
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
</b> Amazon has always been actively involved in automating its warehouse operations, with one of the most recent additions being its robotic-equipped 4 million sq ft warehouse in <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/28328"> North Andover, Massachusetts. </a></p>

Amazon opens new robotic-powered warehouse center in Germany

Foundation Models

Alibaba launches latest version of Tongyi Qianwen model 'Qwen2.5' with improved capabilities

<div>
 
 <p>Stable AI has launched Stable Artisan, a media generation tool for Discord users. The tool incorporates Stable AI’s image and video models, namely Stable Diffusion 3, Stable Video Diffusion, and Stable Image Core. It has a range of features including search and replace, background removal, creative upscale, outpaint, control sketch, control structure, and video. Additionally, Stable Artisan is capable of sketching initial ideas into a fully formed video.</p>
 <p>During its initial launch, Stable Artisan will be available on the Stable Diffusion Discord Server.</p>
 
</div>

Stable AI introduces Stable Artisan, a media generation tool for Discord

Travel Tech

<div>

<p>Vacasa, a rental management company, has announced it is laying off approximately 800 employees, constituting 13% of its workforce. The layoff is due to a sharp 18% decrease in booking value in comparison to the previous year's first quarter. </p>
<p>Deteriorating economic conditions impacting the short-term rental industry have prompted the company to restructure. </p>
<p>Approximately 40% of roles in Vacasa's corporate and central operations will be affected by these layoffs. </p>
 
</div>

Vacasa lays off 13% of staff amidst 18% drop in rental bookings

Empowering Tomorrow's Innovations with Generative AI Infrastructure

Generative AI Infrastructure

<div>
 
 <p>DEEPXhas succeeded in securing approximately USD 80 million (KRW 108.5 billion) in a Series C funding round. The investors in this round include prominent names such as SkyLake Equity Partners, BNW Investments, AJU IB, and Timefolio Asset Management.</p>
 <p>DEEPX intends to utilize the investment to commence mass production of their upcoming products: DX-V1, DX-V3, DX-M1, and DX-H1. Main product launch is anticipated to occur by the end of 2024, with global distribution in view. Apart from this, the funding will fuel the progress and release of DEEPX's future on-device LLM solutions.</p>
 <p>DeepX is an international tech firm that concentrates on engineering AI solutions for Edge devices. They are renowned for innovating low-power, high-performance AI semiconductor technology that is optimally designed for efficient deployment on such devices.</p>
 
</div> <p>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
 This financing round occurred shortly after the company introduced its DEEPX products in <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/26561"> February 2024 </a> . These are ultra-low-power AI chips designed for various market requirements. Some chips are tailored for minor data processing tasks, while others are more suitable for AI-intensive uses, such as robotics and autonomous vehicles. Additionally, this USD 80 million funding round has increased the company's valuation to USD 529 million as of May 2024.</p>

DEEPX raises USD 80 million for AI chip manufacturing and development of on-device LLM solutions

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

Neo Insurance

<div>
 
 <p>Insurance holding firm, Sammons Financial Group, is in the process of acquiring digital life insurance business, Bestow. A company known for offering digital life insurance and turnkey solutions. </p>
 <p>The deal is set to be finalized following a regulatory hearing in Iowa on the 28th of May, 2024. In the previous years of 2020, Sammons was a part of Bestow’s Series B and C fundraising rounds.</p>
 <p>Upon completion of the acquisition, Bestow will shift its focus towards B2B operations, where it aims to provide its speciality technology platform to various life insurance and annuity companies. Some of these names include Equitable, USAA, Nationwide, and Transamerica.</p>
 
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
 </b> This news arrives shortly after <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/29273"> Sproutt declared insolvency </a> this week and adds to a series of closures among digital life insurers over the past months, including <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/23774"> Haven Life </a> and <a href="https:<br>
//www.covermagazine.co.uk/news/4186492/deadhappy-closes-doors-life-insurance-customers"> Dead Happy </a> .</p>

Sammons Financial Group to acquire Bestow Life Insurance pending regulatory approval

<div>
 
 <p>CoverTree, a firm providing digital insurance for manufactured homes, has successfully secured USD 13 million in a Series A funding round. This round was spearheaded by Portage and also saw participation from AV8, Distributed Ventures, Detroit Venture Partners, Ludlow Ventures, and Annox Capital, among others. In total, the company's capital raised to date amounts to USD 23 million.</p>
 <p>The firm intends to utilize the raised capital to further its mission to innovate in the home insurance industry. This will involve expanding its enterprise suite which includes a variety of software and platforms. Among these are Maple, a resident insurance management software ideal for property managers; Bonsai, a binding and underwriting platform designed for independent agents and lenders; and Sequoia, an automated underwriting and quoting system specifically for insurance book conversions.</p>
 
</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake</b> :<br>
 CoverTree previously raised USD 10 million in <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/13155"> seed funding </a> in September 2022. The funds were utilized for recruitment, geographic expansion, and product development in areas such as distribution portals and automated underwriting and for investment in major partners.</p>

CoverTree raises USD 13 million in Series A funding for product expansion

Information to create a more efficient, cleaner and safer way to travel in the city of the future

Smart Mobility Information

<div>
 
 <p>Parkopedia, a UK-based company offering web and mobile parking discovery, has formed a partnership with Regeny, an EV charging solutions provider. This partnership aims to provide data for finding EV charging stations for drivers in the Middle East through their car systems.</p>
 <p>Initially, the data will cover charge points in the UAE, and there are plans for future expansion into Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, and Jordan. Regeny, through this partnership, will provide a database consisting of roughly half of the existing EV chargers in the UAE.</p>
   
</div>

Parkopedia partners with Regeny to simplify EV charger location for Middle East drivers

Disrupting the traditional financial system using blockchain

Decentralized Finance (DeFi)

<div>
 
 <p>AgriDex, an agricultural products tokenization platform, has raised USD 5 million in pre-seed funding headed by Endeavour Ventures. African Crops Limited and Oldenburg Vineyards also participated. The funding round valued the company at USD 19 million.</p>
 <p>The company intends to launch its native token, AGRI, in the third quarter of 2023. Over the forthcoming months, AgriDex will distribute 5% of the total token supply to its community through an airdrop program. The AGRI token will serve as a reward for users' trading volume, platform activity, and community engagement.</p>
 <p>AgriDex is currently building a Solana-based exchange. This exchange will allow users to turn agricultural commodities into NFTs and trade them on secondary markets. The platform initially plans to focus on commodities like sugar, grains, and cocoa.</p>
 
</div>

AgriDex raises USD 5 million in pre-seed funding

<div>

 <p>Arch Labs have raised USD 7 million in seed funding for their Bitcoin-based application building platform, Arch Network. Key investors include Multicoin Capital, Portal Ventures, OKX Ventures, and others. The funds raised will be used to expand the developmental team and support the launch slated for the second half of 2024.</p>
 <p>The Arch Network, a product of Arch Labs, is a parallelized, proof-of-stake network that provides a platform to users for building decentralized applications directly on the Bitcoin blockchain. It comprises a Rust-based virtual machine, utilizing zero-knowledge proofs and a decentralized verifier network. These features ensure that users can interact with applications on the Bitcoin blockchain without having to bridge from other layer-2 networks.</p>

</div> <p><b>Analyst QuickTake:<br>
</b> The Bitcoin layer-2 space has seen a large influx in investor interest, with companies such as <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/companies/3573611"> ZKM </a> and <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/companies/2977566"> Botanix Labs </a> raising <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/29217"> USD 5 million </a> and <a href="https:<br>
//sp-edge.com/updates/29218"> USD 8.5 million </a> , respectively, within the past week. However, Arch Labs has notably differentiated itself from its layer-2 competitors by enabling developers to build applications native to the Bitcoin blockchain without bridging their assets onto a separate layer-2 network. This enables users to access DeFi services such as lending, trading, and staking blockchain while benefiting from the added security and decentralization of the Bitcoin blockchain.</p>

All Updates