Latest news with #AxiosPro
Axios
a day ago
- Business
- Axios
Supply chain tech startup Pelico raises $40M round led by General Catalyst
Supply chain orchestration platform Pelico raised $40 million in strategic financing led by General Catalyst, co-founder Tarik Benabdallah tells Axios Pro. Why it matters: Fragmented supply chains restrict manufacturers' ability to make proactive decisions and rapidly respond to disruptions. Follow the money: Existing investors 83North and Serena joined General Catalyst in the financing round. Pelico has raised $72 million to date. How it works: Miami-based Pelico provides a platform to synchronize data and processes, helping manufacturers reduce backlog and lower inventory costs. It serves aerospace, defense, luxury and industrial customers, though Benabdallah sees relevance in medical devices and energy. What they're saying:"In a factory, every day, at 7am when you show up, you have a perfect plan," Benabdallah says. "On average, [by] 7:16, it's a different story. "It's a late delivery from a supplier, quality issue, some operations that didn't finish on time, demand change from a customer. Each one of those disruptions basically has snowball effects." Pelico "collects data from the systems and continuously scans for those disruptions [and] propagates their impact so that teams stay aligned," Benabdallah says. "We've been deeply impressed by the team's ability to deliver measurable impact in complex environments — fast, global and enterprise-grade," Jeannette zu Fürstenberg, General Catalyst managing director and La Famiglia founding partner, tells Axios Pro. By the numbers: Customers see an average reduction of 40% in parts shortages and a 15% increase in on-time deliveries, according to the company. Customers such as Airbus, Safran, Eaton and Daikin have successfully deployed Pelico in only 12 weeks, the startup says. Pelico's customers operate more than 1,000 factories globally, and the startup works with half of the world's top 10 aerospace and defense firms. Zoom in: The platform "brings structure, clarity and collaboration into environments where even a single late part can disrupt billion-dollar production lines," Zu Fürstenberg says. Catch up quick: Pelico was founded in Paris in 2019 by Benabdallah, Mamoun Alaoui and Jonathan Hickson. The company also maintains offices in Miami and Frankfurt, Germany. Pelico raised $18 million led by 83 North and Serena in 2022. What's next: The startup will be able to foresee its profitability within two years if it does not take on any new funding to accelerate its growth, Benabdallah says.
Axios
2 days ago
- Business
- Axios
Exclusive: Open-source intelligence startup Tadaweb raises $20M
Tadaweb, an operating system that collects and analyzes public data, raised $20 million, led by Arsenal Growth and Forgepoint Capital, according to co-founder and CEO Francois Gaspard, who tells Axios Pro exclusively. Why it matters: Being able to analyze publicly available information is a must for organizations, but the sheer volume makes it challenging to do quickly and accurately. How it works: Tadaweb's "small data" operating system digests fewer but more precise open-source intelligence (OSINT) data points. This reduces analysis time down from days to minutes, allowing companies and governments to identify threats, business disruptions and other issues. The platform also offers full transparency to customers concerning what data was used and how. Zoom in: Existing investor Wendel participated in the round. By the numbers: The 120-person company, founded in 2011, increased revenue 30% last year, Gaspard said. The Luxembourg-based company has raised $40 million total. What they're saying:"Big data companies can bring in a billion data points, but you don't know where it all is coming from," Gaspard said. "We are about precision and transparency. Transparency is key."
Axios
6 days ago
- Business
- Axios
Exclusive: Abacum lands $60M to bring AI to business planning
Abacum, business financial planning startup, landed a $60 million Series B round led by Scale Venture Partners, co-founder and CEO Julio Martínez tells Axios Pro. Why it matters: Businesses are under pressure to forecast accurately — and AI-driven planning tools are increasingly seen as critical. State of play: The business planning software market is enormous, with financial software startups alone having raised nearly $41 billion just last year, per PitchBook. How it works: The New York-based Abacum uses AI and machine learning to help finance teams predict and forecast more accurately, collecting financial and operational data in real-time to help find actionable insights. Abacum also uses agentic AI to help customers anticipate needs and suggest business actions. By the numbers: The company has tripled revenue year to year while keeping headcount flat, Martínez says. OneStream, with a market cap of $6.8 billion, and Anaplan, taken private for $10.4 billion in 2022, illustrate the size of the business planning software market. Zoom in: Cathay Innovation, Y Combinator, Creandum, Kfund and Atomico also participated in the Abacum's Series B. The round took less than two weeks to raise, Martínez says, adding that the company has raised approximately $100 million to date. What they're saying:"There is more uncertainty at seemingly every level of companies," Martínez says. "It's more crucial than ever to have accurate business forecasting and predicting."
Axios
6 days ago
- Business
- Axios
Exclusive: Guardz locks up $56M Series B for cybersecurity
Guardz raised a $56 million Series B led by ClearSky to help managed service providers (MSPs) better secure small and medium-sized businesses, co-founder and CEO Dor Eisner tells Axios Pro. Why it matters: MSPs struggle with the proliferation of security tools as SMBs face even more attacks. How it works: Guardz's detection and response platform is designed to streamline MSPs' active protection of small businesses' digital assets into a single engine using both AI agents and human expertise. Zoom in: The round also included new investor Phoenix Financial and existing investors Glilot Capital Partners, SentinelOne, Hanaco Ventures, iAngels, GKFF Ventures, and Lumir Ventures. Catch up quick: The new round brings Miami-based Guardz's total funding to $84 million in just more than two years. What they're saying:"What we are seeing is a shift in how bad guys attack," Eisner said. "It used to be they would just attack big companies. Now they are selling attack-as-a-service so other people can use these tools against small businesses."
Axios
7 days ago
- Business
- Axios
Exclusive: Horizon3.ai raises $100M Series D
Autonomous security startup locked up a $100 million Series D led by NEA, co-founder and CEO Snehal Antani tells Axios Pro. Why it matters: AI is making cyberattacks faster and more sophisticated — and is aiming to even the playing field. How it works: penetration testing platform — NodeZero — uses AI to find and exploit attack paths in production systems so teams can fix issues. The platform also collects training data used to improve its own algorithms and increase defenses. Zoom in: SignalFire, Craft Ventures and 9Yards Capital also participated in the round, which brings the company's total funding to $180 million. By the numbers: is experiencing 100% ARR growth year to year and is now Rule of 40-positive. The startup's platform is used by 3,000 organizations — including national defense partners — and is more than doubling its customer base annually. State of play: The penetration testing market seems to be attracting investors. Strike Security raised a $13.5 million Series A led by FinTech Collective in March. Threat level: A recent survey found that almost 74% of participants say AI-powered threats are a major challenge for their company.
