Latest news with #GeneralCatalyst
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
a day ago
- Business
- Axios
Commure raises $200M from GC's marketing fund
Health care AI infrastructure startup Commure raised $200 million in growth financing from General Catalyst's "customer value fund," a vehicle GC created to power companies' sales and marketing budgets. Why it matters: The structure means Commure must tie financing to customer performance rather than equity — a notable move for GC, which poured millions into now-shuttered AI health infrastructure play Olive. What's next: CEO Tanay Tandon expects to see Commure go public in the next two years. Commure is considering a tender offer sometime later this year, per Tandon, who sees it as a good opportunity to consolidate its core investors. The company may also raise another round of capital later this year, Tandon tells Axios Pro. Zoom in: With this funding, Commure is effectively raising against the cashflows of its existing customers. If the marketing campaigns underperform, GC absorbs the loss. Today, Commure has $200 million in live, contracted annual revenue, per Tandon. The company has about six years of runway, and is on track to be cashflow positive by the middle to end of next year, he adds. What he's saying:"Ambient and RCM lines are about 70-75% of our sales and marketing focus," says Tandon. The raise "effectively lets us accelerate our investments in eng[ineering], because it's taken S&M off our balance sheet," he adds. How it works: GC wants Commure to set the blueprint for AI-native infrastructure in U.S. health systems. Reality check: That's an effort the investment firm underwrote previously in Olive AI, the $4 billion hospital-facing automation startup whose technology didn't live up to the promise. While Commure has multiple health tech assets via previous M&A activity — including those of patient navigation startup Memora Health and ambient AI company Augmedix — it's unclear which ones, if any, are consistently profitable. Tandon says Commure's fastest-growing business lines are in revenue cycle, workflow management, and ambient AI. What they're saying: "I see revenue cycle as [Commure's] core revenue engine that allows us to fund other modules that live on top, like ambient [AI] and clinical copilots," Tandon says. Friction point: Commure faces considerable hurdles in the form of dominant electronic medical records giants (EMRs), several of whom are expected to release their own competitive AI tools.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Summa Health sale to HATCo can move ahead, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost says
The sale of Summa Health to Health Assurance Transformation Company, a subsidiary of for-profit General Catalyst, has been conditionally approved by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, his office announced June 18. The deal has also been approved by the Ohio Department of Insurance, Summa spokesman Mike Bernstein said in a prepared statement. Other agencies reviewing the deal are the Federal Trade Commission and the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority, Dr. Cliff Deveny, Summa Health president and CEO, said in November. Yost said in a prepared statement that his role in the process "is to protect Ohio's charities. After a comprehensive review by the Charitable Law Section of my office, we're confident that the agreement includes enforceable commitments that will secure Summa's nonprofit mission, protect patient care, and ensure continued investment in the greater Akron community. 'With proper safeguards in place, this has the potential to strengthen health care in northeastern Ohio for years to come.' The Attorney General Office's Charitable Law Section, according to the release, "assessed whether the parties are in compliance with fiduciary duties, whether the nonprofit will receive full and fair market value, and whether the proceeds will be used in a manner consistent with Summa Health's original charitable purpose." Yost's office sent a letter to the parties to the deal on June 18 approving the deal with 10 conditions. One of the conditions is that $15 million in cash and another $15 million in equity be transferred to Summa's existing nonprofit foundation to benefit people who are served by the system in Summit County and surrounding areas. Other conditions are that a majority of board members of a new, separately governed, nonprofit community foundation have no affiliation with Summa Health and that, for three years after the deal closes, the foundation will not agree to sell its $15 million interest. The Ohio Revised Code requires that the parties provide notice and host a public hearing within 45 days to hear comments on proposed uses of proceeds, the release said. Bernstein said through email, "Summa Health and HATCo are partnering to satisfy these conditions, and we will continue to work closely with the Attorney General's office to ensure compliance. This is a significant milestone and follows the recent approval we received from the Ohio Department of Insurance. With these two crucial regulatory approvals now received, we look forward to continuing to focus on completing all of the remaining details necessary to finalize the transaction, including the legal work required to meet the conditions developed by the Attorney General's office and the receipt of all other regulatory approvals. We look forward to providing additional details as they become available."Patrick Williams covers growth and development for the Akron Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at pwilliams@ or on X @pwilliamsOH. Sign up for the Beacon Journal's business and consumer newsletter, "What's The Deal?" This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: HATCo purchase of Summa Health can proceed, Ohio AG Dave Yost says
Finextra
3 days ago
- Business
- Finextra
German fintech NaroIQ raises $6.5M to build out funds platform
Cologne-based FinTech NaroIQ has raised more than $6.5 million (€5.85 million) in a seed financing round. 0 The round is led by VC investor Magnetic, which specialises in critical infrastructure, followed by Redstone, a well-known European FinTech VC. Existing venture investors, including renowned US-based VC General Catalyst, have increased their stakes. NaroIQ will utilise the funding to further expand its digital fund infrastructure. The platform enables companies to launch and manage ETFs and funds with enhanced digital capabilities and greater cost-efficiency. The FinTech is building an independent European alternative to the US-dominated ETF landscape and enables smaller fund providers to enter the ETF market. NaroIQ: Driving competition in the ETF and fund market While the European ETF and fund market sees record inflows, outdated manual processes create barriers to innovation and broader market access, which concentrates assets among a handful of providers. NaroIQ's solution for funds and ETFs addresses this challenge directly: The digital infrastructure platform reduces the costs of launching new and managing existing ETF and fund products. This ensures a faster time-to-market, more flexible product development and lower initial investments. NaroIQ thus opens up new access to the financial market, and existing providers such as banks, insurers and asset managers can work more efficiently and cost-effectively. Christian Meyer-Vahrenhorst, Managing Director, sowie die NaroIQ-Gründer Chris Püllen, CEO, und Nils Krauthausen, COO © NaroIQ 'We are witnessing a once-in-a-generation shift: ETFs will replace mutual funds in the retail market over the next decade, which means that margins will shrink significantly,' explains Chris Püllen, Co-Founder and CEO of NaroIQ. "Without a technological solution, only large fund providers with scale advantages will survive, creating an alarming concentration of power and wealth in the market. Our digital fund infrastructure levels the playing field, allowing smaller fund providers and management companies to offer their own ETF and fund products profitably, while ensuring investors continue benefiting from diverse investment options and innovative ideas.' Europe's untapped billion-dollar market opportunity According to EFAMA, the European UCITS and AIF market represents a total volume of €22.9 trillion in assets, but is based largely on outdated infrastructure. In a recent study by Ernst & Young, the degree of digitalisation of the asset servicing market for funds is rated at just 1.6 out of 5 points. This leads to considerable pressure on margins. The disconnect is stark: While asset managers' assets under management (AuM) have grown by 8.8% over the last five years, profits have only increased by 0.7%, a recent study by strategy consultancy zeb shows. As a result, the market is demanding flexible, digital solutions that reduce operational costs, which NaroIQ delivers with its modular technology. David Rosskamp, Founding Partner vom VC Magnetic © Magnetic David Rosskamp, Founding Partner at venture capital firm Magnetic, adds: 'With foundational financial services still reliant on manual, fragmented back-end processes, NaroIQ's digital infrastructure is critical to unlocking efficiency, real-time transparency and cost savings. The team's API-first, cloud-native platform addresses the sector's most painful workflows and positions NaroIQ to drive the next wave of innovation in fund servicing across Europe and beyond.' Europe's ETF Paradox: The need for sovereign infrastructure NaroIQ solves a critical paradox and a structural weakness of the European ETF market: It is one of the largest ETF markets in the world, yet a few players dominate it, and it lacks a powerful European ETF administrator. The five largest ETF issuers account for 75 percent of the market share, while US-based issuers manage two out of three and administrate four out of five of all European ETFs. As geopolitical tensions continue to grow, financial sovereignty becomes increasingly strategic. Therefore, Europe's financial institutions are actively seeking local partners and looking to diversify their assets, creating a clear market opportunity. NaroIQ is closing this gap by building a more resilient and high-performance fund infrastructure, 'Made in Europe', also enabling smaller fund providers and management companies to enter the ETF market. The fresh capital will be invested specifically in technical development and regulatory licensing. NaroIQ plans to launch its first partner integrations as a key milestone this year.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Sword Health nabs $40M at $4B valuation, pushes IPO plans to at least 2028
Sword Health, an AI-powered digital health startup, has raised $40 million at a $4 billion valuation, a 33% jump from the $3 billion price tag it earned just a year ago. The funding was led by returning investor General Catalyst. Even though 10-year-old Sword Health is cash-flow positive, its CEO and founder, Virgílio Bento, told TechCrunch that he opted to raise additional capital for two key reasons: to update the company's valuation, and have funds readily available for strategic acquisitions. Sword Health, which began as a virtual physical therapist and has since expanded into offering pelvic health and mental health services, had previously considered a near-term IPO. Bento told TechCrunch last year that a 2025 listing was a possibility. Despite the recent successful IPOs of counterparts Hinge Health and Omada, and Sword's healthy $240 million annual revenue run rate, Bento is reconsidering his IPO plans. 'It's going to be much later than everyone expects,' he said. Bento's goal is for Phoenix, Sword's AI care specialist, to extend remote healthcare beyond musculoskeletal pain and pelvic floor care to numerous conditions, such as cardiovascular care, gastroenterological health, and speech therapy. 'I want to IPO when I have lots of different proof points at scale in many different care verticals — so maybe 2028,' he said. In recent months, Bento has embarked on what he calls an 'educational journey' to learn about managing a public company, speaking with CEOs of various public companies and bankers. 'At the end of that education period, I realized that if you ask me why we shouldn't IPO, I can give you 10 reasons. If you ask me why we should IPO, I cannot find one reason,' he said. Bento isn't convinced by the typical reasons for an IPO, such as brand building or capital access. Pointing to Ikea and Lego as examples of successful private companies, he said strong startups can still secure ample private capital, citing Databricks' massive $10 billion raise. Liquidity for employees and early shareholders is also easily attainable for private companies thanks to secondary markets, Bento said, adding that Sword will likely launch a tender offer next month. Sword expects to raise more capital next year, Bento said. He's even predicting the size and valuation of the company's next funding round. 'Last year, we raised $30 million at a $3 billion valuation. This year, we did $40 million at $4 billion. I think you can imagine the type of raise we're going to do next year, which is probably going to be $50 million at $5 billion,' he said. 'I like the numerical symmetry. I think it's fun.' The latest round brings Sword's total funding to $380 million. Other participants in the new round include Khosla Ventures, Comcast Ventures, Lince Capital, Oxy Capital, Armilar, Indico Capital, and Shilling. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
