As we continue to absorb mixed signals about the tech industry’s financial state, October was another month that featured a wide range of hefty venture capital investments in tech startups — signals that investors retain a healthy appetite for the next disruptive innovation, while the innovators of the world are not being deterred by uncertainty.
As I’ve done from time to time over the last several months, I’m presenting a set of the latest companies with fresh investment rounds and new tech that could be useful to Acceleration Economy readers in the near term.
The five presented below address functions including rebate management, small business financial services, the health of the human eye, and more.
Enable: $94M for Rebate Management
Enable, based in San Francisco, received a whopping $94 million Series C investment round that it says will catalyze its ability to serve the rebate management category.
Enable helps manufacturers, distributors, and retailers exert control over their rebate programs and turn them into an engine for growth. It helps them rein in rebate complexity and optimize sales and profit with real-time data and insights, as well as accurate forecasting. This provides visibility on an internal basis and across the supply chain to know where stakeholders stand on rebates.
The company says its growth has been “skyrocketing” amid inflation, consolidation, direct-to-consumer initiatives, and rising customer expectations. It positions rebates as key to driving behavior and trust among supply chain partners, as well as rebuilding loyalty that has diminished in the last couple of years.
Enable’s oversubscribed funding round was led by Insight Partners; it brings total funding to $156 million since 2020. The company said it’s poised is to more than double its revenue by year-end; it has expanded from 100 employees two years ago to over 400 today. Thousands of customers are currently using its platform.
NorthOne: $67M for SMB Financial Management
The Fintech firm NorthOne, based in New York, raised $67 million. The company aspires to operate as a world-class finance department that connects data between accounting, receivables, payables, lending, and payroll with the bank account ledger. Its target customers are the 33 million small businesses operating in the U.S. It aims to derisk entrepreneurship and reduce the percentage of small businesses that fail.
Investors include Battery Ventures, Ferst Capital Partners, and a number of high-profile individuals including retired National Football League great Drew Brees. Total funding now exceeds $90 million.
The company said the funding will support new working capital and credit products as well as faster and more convenient payment options for customers.
Eyenuk: $26M to Eliminate Preventable Blindness
Eyenuk has an ambitious objective, one that virtually anyone can appreciate, for its artificial intelligence (AI) platform EyeArt: to eliminate preventable blindness globally. Its digital platform enables automated diagnosis and coordination of care.
The company secured $26 million in funding, bringing its total over $43 million, led by AXA IM Alts. Eyenuk will use the capital to expand its AI platform with additional disease indications and to accelerate the platform’s global commercialization and adoption.
A recently published peer-reviewed study found that the company’s EyeArt AI system is far more sensitive in identifying referable diabetic retinopathy than dilated eye exams by ophthalmologists and retina specialists. Since receiving FDA clearance in 2020, the system has been used in over 200 locations — 18 countries and 14 U.S. states — to screen over 60,000 patients. It is the first technology to be cleared by the FDA for autonomous detection of both referable and vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy without the involvement of an eye care specialist.
Fermyon: $20M for WebAssembly in the Cloud
This Longmont, Colo., company develops Web Assembly in the cloud tools. It raised $20 million, bringing its total to $26 million, with a round led by Insight Partners, with plans to use the money to better serve the developer community.
Also this week, Fermyon released Fermyon Cloud, a fast, secure hosted application platform for developers to build microservices more quickly. It is in open beta.
Web Assembly is a “build once, run anywhere” technology that allows apps to run inside the browser; it’s being applied to solving cloud problems where speed (development, deployment, and execution) and security are critical.
Tellius: $16M for Data Analytics
Reston, Va.-based Tellius develops an AI-driven, data intelligence platform; It raised $16 million in a round led by Baird Capital and joined by all existing investors. Total funding is now $33 million.
The Tellius decision intelligence platform puts analytical power directly into the hands of analysts and business teams to give a complete picture of what’s happening, why metrics are changing, and how to drive business outcomes.
The company applies analytical and machine learning to surface business drivers hidden across data sources; it enhances ease-of-use through a natural language interface. Users can generate advanced insights — which once took data experts hours or days to uncover — in minutes.
The software addresses business’ challenge in using data to inform decisions that enhance sales strategies, reduce costs, and boost operational efficiencies.
The funding will be used to enhance the Tellius platform, expand the company’s go-to-market capabilities, and support hiring across sales, marketing, and product engineering.
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