2024 in Review from SmartGateVC
RIDING THE WAVE OF AI WITH OUR EARLY BETS, INVESTING IN THE FUTURE OF AI
Q4 2024 kicked off with SuperAnnotate 's $36M Series B and the announcement of our investment in Ritual Dental .
Since 2018, we have focused on AI investments, and today, we are seeing the results of that early conviction. Looking ahead, we believe AI will reshape the physical world and life sciences. The portfolio we build today positions us to ride this wave, delivering extraordinary potential returns.
In 2024, our portfolio company Activeloop closed an $11M Series A, Podcastle secured $13.5M in Series A funding, Modicus Prime raised $3.5M in a Seed round, and Biosim AI and Deep Origin merged to revolutionize AI-driven drug discovery and advance life sciences. We also announced investments in TACTUN , the world’s first full-stack no-code controller solution connecting AI to smart manufacturing, and Vonova , a groundbreaking medtech company pioneering catheter-based brain-computer interface technology.
We are also thrilled about Areg Alimian joining SmartGateVC as a Partner. Areg’s extensive experience will enhance our ability to support and scale transformative startups. More to be announced in January - stay tuned!
As 2025 approaches, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to all our investors, partners, and supporters. Cheers to a joyous and prosperous new year!
Q4 NEWS FROM INSIDE SMARTGATEVC
Forbes featured Armine Galstyan and SmartGateVC as we near the close of our second fund, highlighting our portfolio of 32 pre-seed startups, $1B+ enterprise value, and notable investment markups, underscoring our focus on transformative technologies and visionary founders.
SmartGateVC secured a $500K grant from the City of Glendale, CA ’s to support our Venture Building Program. This program will bridge deep tech with markets through collaborations with academia and industry, reinforcing our role in SoCal’s tech ecosystem.
At Hero House we hosted Strobia Foundation ’s event on Technology, AI, and Armenia’s Global Brand, featuring Rev Lebaredian ( 英伟达 ) and Vahe Kuzoyan ( ServiceTitan ). Earlier highlights included the Glendale Tech Week Demo Day and the Securing AI: Real-World Strategies for Cybersecurity and Operational Governance event with leaders from FBI Cyber Division , 甲骨文 and ServiceTitan .
Check out Ashot Arzumanyan ’s talk at Innovate Pasadena's Friday Coffee Meetup titled Connecting the Dots: From Great Science to Great Companies, where he focused on the core elements of turning groundbreaking science into impactful companies. Check out also Ashot’s guide on early-stage startup valuation published at our website.
Q4 HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR PORTFOLIO
Activeloop hosted its inaugural RetrieveX conference in collaboration with 微软 , Amazon Web Services (AWS) , and 英特尔 . The event featured leaders from leading tech companies while Activeloop CEO Davit Buniatyan unveiled the release of DeepLake 4.0. Incredibly fast and multimodal, DeepLake enables building AI search applications with high accuracy while scaling to billions of data artifacts. It is being battle tested in Fortune 500 companies and is already trusted by 拜耳 , Flagship Pioneering and others. Check out the conference talks at Activeloop’s Youtube channel.
Podcastle unveiled a video editor with multi-track editing and AI-powered enhancements, enabling creators to streamline workflows and deliver professional-quality results.
Krisp has partnered with 8x8 and Five9 to transform call center communications by removing background noise, localizing accents in real-time, and enabling agents to provide support in 25+ languages with AI Live Interpreter. Achieving PCI-DSS certification, the highest security standard, Krisp reinforces its commitment to delivering secure, reliable, and trusted solutions.
Deep Origin partnered with AccuKnox to secure sensitive data and AI-driven applications with Zero Trust CNAPP technology. This collaboration enhances cloud-native security while streamlining the drug discovery process. Earlier this year the company launched Balto, the world’s first AI drug modeling and discovery assistant.?
Toxometris.ai Co-Founder & CSO, Nelly Babayan , co-authored a review in Toxicology, highlighting Toxometris.ai’s potential for AI-based carcinogenicity risk assessments.
领英推荐
Grovf partnered with Yerevan State University to launch a Chip Design Lab aimed at advancing tech education and innovation.
DEEP DIVE INTO SOME OF OUR PORTFOLIO COMPANIES
TACTUN ’s industry specific articles about the world of Automation and Smart Manufacturing! Check out here.
Design Brief Podcast with Lean Enterprise Institute where Robin the Robot, by Expper Technologies CEO Karén Khachikyan and Clinical Director Dr. Mineh Badmagharian, OTD, OTR/L delve into the journey of creating Robin the Robot! Check out here.
See also some deep dives covered earlier throughout the year: Activeloop AI, Deep Origin and Modicus Prime diving into their tech at Harry Glorikian ’s Show, Vonova introducing their catheter-based brain interface in a Medtech Innovator cohort presentation.
CHECK OUT JOB OPPORTUNITIES AT OUR COMPANIES!
Krisp is hiring across different roles. Check out here.
SuperAnnotate is hiring across different roles. Check out here.
Zerobroker is hiring across different roles. Check out here.
Expper Technologies is hiring across different roles. Check out here.
Britive is hiring for various technical positions. Check out here.
Activeloop is hiring across different developer jobs. Check out here.
Podcastle is hiring across different roles. Check out here.
DeepOrigin is hiring for various technical positions. Check out here.
Grovf is hiring across different roles. Check out here.
Thanks for reading! You can follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter for the latest. You can also join our journey as a company mentor, angel investor, or fund LP. Comment here or DM to Samvel Khachikyan or Ashot Arzumanyan .
Stronger together,
SmartGateVC team