Latest from SmartGateVC (Q2, 2024)
July 17, 2024
Here is a synopsis of some of the latest news from SmartGateVC and our portfolio companies. If you know people who might be interested in our news, why not forward it? If you are seeing this newsletter for the first time, hit subscribe.
SMARTGATEVC INVESTED IN TACTUN, PIONEERING THE CONNECTION OF INTELLIGENCE TO THE PHYSICAL WORLD THROUGH NO-CODE CONTROLLERS
TACTUN is the world's first full-stack no-code controller solution connecting artificial intelligence to smart manufacturing. By leveraging large language models (LLMs), Tactun's groundbreaking technology enables manufacturers to build AI-driven automation systems without extensive coding expertise. Check out more here.
SUPERANNOTATE EXPANDS PARTNERSHIPS WITH SNOWFLAKE AND DATABRICKS
SuperAnnotate is accelerating LLM adoption through new partnerships with Snowflake and Databricks . By integrating with Snowflake Cortex AI, businesses can now transform raw data into finely-tuned datasets with ease. The collaboration with Databricks further enhances the ability to manage and train on unstructured data, boosting model performance and reducing costs. Notably, SuperAnnotate is the tool behind DBRX, Databricks’ own large language model. These partnerships enable businesses to leverage their data efficiently and securely, creating custom AI applications with trusted quality.
NEWS FROM INSIDE SMARTGATEVC
The Los Angeles Business Journal featured Armine Galstyan , Principal at SmartGateVC and lead of our U.S. operations, in its LA500 Issue as one of the 500 influential leaders who drive innovation and economic growth in Los Angeles. As part of her role at SmartGateVC, Armine leads the Hero House tech hub, which brings together scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, and executives to build AI-driven companies.
The Life Sciences Review published an op-ed by SmartGateVC partner Ashot Arzumanyan where he shares his insights on the importance of data, talent, and compute power in AI innovation, and investment opportunities coming from the "fat tails" of AI. These are areas with fundamental data scarcity and requirement of deep domain expertise to understand the underlying science.
SmartGateVC and Connect100 hosted a networking evening with a panel discussion on launching, building, and exiting a tech business. The panel, moderated by SmartGateVC's Ashot Arzumanyan , featured Atul Bhatnagar (CEO, ExperienceFlow.ai), Narbeh Derhacobian (CEO, GuRu Wireless ), Leon Ekchian (President & CEO, Papillon Biosciences), and Areg Alimian (Box, Keysight, Berkeley SkyDeck ). The panelists shared their experiences in scaling tech businesses, managing public companies, leading startups to IPOs, and delivering commercial products. The discussion covered execution, technology/IP, leadership values, and exit strategies.
MORE HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR PORTFOLIO
Modicus Prime announced $3.5M seed round led by Silverton Partners and participation from Alumni Ventures .
Deep Origin launched Balto, the world's first AI drug modeling and discovery assistant.
Krisp was recognized as one of the top AI note-taking tools by TIME Magazine, and the CEO, Davit Baghdasaryan was recognized as one of the top 20 AI Startup CEOs by AIM Research .
Activeloop was named a 2024 Gartner Cool Vendor in Data Management.?
Dowork.ai joined Deepgram ’s startup program to leverage Deepgram's Text to Speech and Speech to Text technologies
Grovf has officially joined the Infiniband Trade Association (IBTA).
TheraB Medical Inc. secured investments from Foster Lane Investments, LLC and ranked #6 among top Pediatrics startups in the US for 2024 by F6S. They also closed an oversubscribed Seed funding round, marking a major milestone for their growth.
Robin the Robot, by Expper Technologies marked third deployment at Ararat Assisted Living Facility expands their reach in elderly care, fostering companionship and well-being nationwide in the U.S..
Let’s talk if you are interested to know which companies are open to investment offers.
DEEP DIVE INTO SOME OF OUR PORTFOLIO COMPANIES
ModelFront 's CEO, Adam Bittlingmayer was featured in The latest episode of Real AI, talking about AI transforming the Translation industry.
CHECK OUT JOB OPPORTUNITIES AT OUR COMPANIES!
Our portfolio company Grovf is actively hiring across multiple geographies with globally competitive salaries while building the next big thing in the backbone of the compute infrastructure. The world's biggest names in the industry are collaborating with Grovf, leveraging their expertise and innovative solutions to revolutionize the future of data center network infrastructure.
Also, check out other open positions in our portfolio companies: Krisp, SuperAnnotate, Zerobrokr, Expper Technologies, Britive, Activeloop, Podcastle, DeepOrigin.
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