Lisnr Partners With Paga on Contactless Payment Solution Across Africa

Lisnr, a Serra Capital II and Serra Capital II Follow-on-Fund company, has announced its partnership with Nigeria-based payment platform Paga. Lisnr is the global leader in proximity verification that enables contactless ultrasonic authentication. This relationship will allow contactless payments throughout Africa.

The strategic partnership between Paga and LISNR is the first major partnership of LISNR in Africa’s fintech space.

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Droneseed To Be Part Of U.S. Forest Service’s New Reforestation Mission

Droneseed, a Serra Capital Ag Tech Fund portfolio company with rapid reforestation as their mission, is now a integral part of how the U.S. Forest Service will reforest land.

Thousands of acres of California forestland are destroyed every year due to wildfires ‚ and in some areas, the land is unable to regenerate. Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service are hard at work trying to give trees a head start by collecting seeds to start seedlings in greenhouses and planting them by hand. However, enter Droneseed, whose solution can drop seeds from the sky. DroneSeed is paid per acre to plant tree seed vessels after a wildfire, using heavy-lift Drone Swarms. Rapid reforestation, that is quicker, safer and ready to go at a moment’s notice.

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Artio Medical’s Amplifi Vein Dilation System Demonstrates Encouraging Results

Artio Medical, Inc., a medical device company developing innovative products for the peripheral vascular, neurovascular, and structural heart markets, today announced that full results from its first-in-human (FIH) clinical study of the Amplifi™ Vein Dilation System were presented at the 2021 VEITH Symposium by Surendra Shenoy, MD-PhD, an Associate Professor of Surgery at the Washington University School of Medicine at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Missouri. 

"Data from the first five patients treated with the Amplifi System demonstrated more than a doubling of forearm and upper arm cephalic vein diameters following a mean treatment period of 8.6 days. We were able to successfully create an arteriovenous fistula (AVF) using treated veins in all patients and observed rapid and robust AVF maturation," commented Dr. Shenoy. "This data is very encouraging and I believe this technology has the potential to offer a much-needed solution for increasing AVF suitability and reducing maturation failure."

Artio Medical is a Serra Capital III and Serra Capital III SBIC company. To view the full article, follow here.

Hazel Technologies’ Co-Founder Listed on Forbes ‘30 Under 30’

Hazel Technologies is a stand-out Serra Capital III company that is changing the fresh produce industry with packet inserts that keep food fresher, longer. This week, their co-founder, Patrick Flynn, was featured on the Forbes “30 Under 30 Manufacturing & Industry” List.

Hazel has recently expanded to the West Coast to better offer their solutions in California - where 25% of the United States food supply is produced. The company also recently completed a $70 million Series C funding round.

To learn more about Hazel, follow here.

Introducing Opendorse Opportunities

Opendorse, a Serra Capital III and Serra Capital III SBIC portfolio company, made a major announcement in November with the launch of Opendorse Opportunities.

“Now available on Opendorse, Opportunities makes it easier than ever for brands and fans to connect with their favorite athletes. It’s like a job board for NIL deals. Everyone is welcome to create a free account and list an opportunity.’

To view the full announcement, follow here.

Hazel Technologies Expands to the West Coast

Hazel Technologies Inc., a Serra Capital III portfolio company, is a USDA-funded technology company delivering new solutions for fresh produce to extend shelf-life, increase sales, and combat food waste. It has recently announced its first major corporate expansion beyond its Chicago headquarters – a new Fresno, CA research center and west coast customer support office located adjacent to Fresno’s Yosemite International Airport. The announcement of the strategic Central Valley hub follows Hazel Technologies’ recent $70 million Series C funding round.

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Evisort is Selected for 2021 Spend Matters ‘50 Providers to Watch’ List

Spend Matters® just revealed its 2021 "50 Providers to Watch" list which includes Evisort, a leading provider of contract management and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions.

Spend Matters selected Evisort and the other listed companies based on rigorous criteria including growth, innovation, technical capabilities and solution delivery. Evisort was independently chosen by Spend Matters’ analyst team over multiple rounds of debate and discussion.

2021 marks the eighth year of publication for the Spend Matters 50 to Watch as well as its counterpart, the 50 to Know. The Spend Matters annual 50 Providers to Know and 50 Providers to Watch lists are determined by the entire Spend Matters analyst team to represent the best of the commercial providers that serve enterprise-level procurement organizations.

To view the entire article, follow here.

Evisort is an artificial intelligence provider for contracts recognized by procurement analysts and is a Serra Capital III and Serra Capital III SBIC company.

Vytelle harvests $13.2M oversubscribed Series A round

Serra is very pleased to announce its latest investment in the Ag Tech Fund in Kansas-City, MO based Vyelle. Vytelle is a precision livestock company that specializes in genetic data and IVF technologies for cattle breeding. 

Vytelle just announced the closing of its over-subscribed $13.2M Series A round. The round was co-led by Private equity firm Open Prairie, through the Open Prairie Rural Opportunities Fund, and Kansas-based Ag-tech VC, Fulcrum Global Capital. Serra's Ag Tech Fund participated in the round as did new Midwest investors Innovation In Motion and KCRise, as well as existing investor, UK-based Wheatsheaf Group.

Vytelle's integrated technology platform combines Vytelle ADVANCE, a breakthrough in vitro fertilization (IVF) technology, with Vytelle SENSE, an animal performance data capture system, and Vytelle INSIGHT, an artificial intelligence based genetic analytics engine. The platform provides progressive cattle producers the technology to multiply the impact of elite livestock productivity and profitability, sustainably delivering more protein with fewer inputs.

To view the complete article about the most recent funding round, follow here.

Dr. Kiana Aran of Cardea Bio wins the 2021 Nature Research Award for Scientific Achievement

Nature, a world-leading scientific journal, announced on October 28 that  Dr. Kiana Aran, an associate professor at Keck Graduate Institute, and Chief Scientific Officer at Cardea Bio, Inc., won the 2021 Nature Research Award for Inspiring Women in Science in the Scientific Achievement category.

Cardea, a Serra Capital II and Serra Capital II Follow-On-Fund company, is a company that is linking computers to the live molecular signals running biology. Its multi-omics technology consists of a Tech+Bio Infrastructure (hardware, software, and wetware) and Chipsets manufactured with proprietary graphene-based, biology-gated transistors, called Cardean Transistors™.

Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) Set to Become New Standard of Care

WebCareHealth, a Serra Capital III SBIC portfolio company, is a leading remote patient monitoring (RPM) platform for heart failure and other chronic conditions. They have recently released a new survey highlighting the demand and value of RPM.

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Zerigo Health Raises $43 Million in Series B Funding

Zerigo Health, a Serra Capital III portfolio company, announced a $43 million Series B investment on October 21. This funding will drive adoption of the industry’s only connected light therapy solution which is used to treat chronic skin conditions.

To view the full article, follow here.

Potential of Artificial Intelligence Replacing Animal Testing in the Future with VerisimLife

Animal testing is considered to be one of the worst cruelties towards any animal in this world— over 100 million animals such as mice, frogs, dogs, rabbits, monkeys, cats, and many others are killed in animal experimentation.

However, Start-ups like Verisim Life have started utilizing the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning in biosimulation to replace animal testing in the nearby future. VeriSim Life is a Serra Capital III and Serra III SBIC portfolio company.

To learn more about VeriSim, follow here.

College Athletes Could Earn $1.5 Billion This Year Per Endorsement Platform Opendorse

Opendorse, a Serra Capital III and Serra Capital III SBIC company, is now facilitating deals to allow college athletes to benefit from their name, image and likeness. On July 1, the NCAA began allowing college athletes this new opportunity. Within the first 24 hours, Opendorse had already facilitated 1,000 deals.

Opendorse’s main purpose is to connect marketers with athletes to secure sponsored social media activations from the world's most influential athletes. To learn more about Opendorse, follow here.

Tank Utility Acquired by Generac

Serra is very excited to announce the acquisition of Serra Capital III company, Tank Utility, by Generac.

Generac Holdings Inc., a global designer and manufacturer of energy technology solutions and other power products, announced Sept. 20 the signing of a purchase agreement to acquire the shares of Tank Utility, Inc., a provider of IoT propane tank monitoring that enables the optimization of propane fuel logistics. The deal further expands Generac’s connectivity functionality and services with sophisticated remote monitoring capabilities for propane.

“As an early minority investor in the company for the last five years, Generac has been impressed by the growth of the Tank Utility business,” said Kyle Raabe, executive vice president and president of Generac’s Consumer Power products. “Their solution has been able to help propane suppliers increase efficiency and reduce their emissions, and we believe that the Tank Utility monitoring platform can provide even further value to our dealers and peace of mind to our home standby generator owners.”

To read the full article, follow here.

Paystand Makes Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Private Companies in America List

Paystand, a Serra Capital II and Serra Capital II Follow-On-Company has had an exception year, even in the midst of a global pandemic. Paystand, the blockchain-enabled payment network for business, recently announced another year of record-setting growth, with payment volume over its network accelerating past $2B.

Just this month, Paystand made the Inc. 5000 list for the second year in a row, which means they are continuously ranked among the nation’s fastest-growing companies. Paystand continues to make partnerships of note - this month they have collaborated with Sage on instant B2B payments. Sage is the market leader in cloud business management systems. 

To learn more about Paystand, click here.

Leo Cancer Care raises $25.3M through parent company Asto CT

The Leo Cancer Center, a Serra Capital portfolio company, announced it has raised over $25M in funding. The start-up company is under parent portfolio company, Asto CT. The Leo Cancer Center is a startup that is focused on bringing upright radiotherapy solutions to the masses.

Stephen Towe, CEO of Leo Cancer Care, says, “It’s really exciting to see such a great balance of institutional and industry investments, it shows that the industry really shares in our vision for driving change”.

The Leo Cancer Center is dedicated to a more humane way to deliver radiation therapy, which is built on research from across the globe showing the clinical benefits of upright patient positioning.

Reconstruct Secures $17.3 Million to Empower Remote Quality Control & Progress Monitoring for Construction and Real Estate

Reconstruct, the leader in AI-powered remote quality control and progress monitoring software, announces its $17.3 million Series B funding round, with participation from Serra Ventures.

Apple Watches for Cows: How @HerdDoggHome is bringing wearable technology to Wyoming’s cattle

industryhttps://www.jhnewsandguide.com/news/business/apple-watches-for-cows-how-one-startup-is-bringing-wearable-technology-to-wyoming-s-cattle/article_2b209d4e-81c6-5d5b-b8c4-44a6d1b346a3.html

Blooma raises $15 million in Series A investment round

Blooma, an AI-powered digital underwriting platform for commercial real estate (CRE), announced it has raised $15M in Series A investment funding.

“When we founded Blooma, we brought together some of the most talented technologists and lenders in the industry to create a solution that doesn’t just automate the lending process but makes it smarter and more enjoyable. Blooma is a tool initially built for CRE lenders by CRE lenders – that’s part of our secret sauce,” Blooma CEO Shayne Skaff said.

Blooma is a Serra Capital III SBIC company. Follow the whole article here.

Label Insight Acquired by NeilsenIQ

Serra Ventures is pleased to announce the acquisition of Label Insight, a Serra Capital II and Serra Capital II Follow-on Fund company, by Nielsen IQ. The combination of Label Insight and NielsenIQ will create the most comprehensive and robust data provider within the $175B health and wellness space. Label Insight’s platform includes unique attributes of 540,000 UPCs from over 30,000 brands that cover over 99% of all consumer queries across over 80 percent of U.S. food, pet, and personal care products with a market-leading database of 200,000+ product nutrients, 400,000 product ingredients and 9 million product claims. With this coverage, Label Insight will enable NielsenIQ to address the shift towards buying food online and the need for more specific online searches based on attributes of the products.