Lifelike digital avatars + CropX goes presidential
A weekly selection of news and investment opportunities from OurCrowd, the global venture investing platform
Startup of the Week
D-ID: Humanizing virtual interactions with GenAI
Generative AI and LLMs are transforming the business world, and D-ID, an OurCrowd portfolio company and graduate of Y Combinator, is at the forefront of this revolution. Its AI platform creates digital human avatars that can conduct lifelike, real-time conversations with users, enabling businesses to manage multiple effective interactions with hundreds of millions of users at scale, and in a much more natural way than text or audio alone. The B2B platform is aimed at enterprise customers’ marketing and customer experience departments. D-ID’s ARR grew 10X YOY at the end of 2023. The company forecasts a further 3X YOY ARR increase by the end of 2024. In the last two weeks, D-ID has signed 10 enterprise deals with clients such as NTT, Fidelity and SoftBank. “I’ve been with D-ID from the very beginning, and I'm thrilled to endorse their groundbreaking technology. Witnessing their solution go viral and revolutionize how we interact with machines has been truly remarkable. In 2024, enterprises will widely embrace LLMs, and D-ID’s platform is a key interface for that. D-ID stands out as a category leader, providing the ultimate solution for high-quality, real-time conversations with digital humans,” says investor Ofer Ben-Noon, Founder of Argus Cyber Security Ltd, acquired by Continental, and Founder of Talon, acquired by Palo Alto Networks. Further details of D-ID's current funding round are available under NDA.
Jan 17 online: Meet the founders of Atlas Obscura?
Atlas Obscura is an award-winning travel media company that reaches millions of travelers with its podcasts, newsletters and online travel guides. Atlas’ platform hosts exclusive news and reports on destinations, cuisine and activities from over 25,000 locations around the world, generated by a global community of over 2M enthusiastic explorers and a team of top professional editors. The company is now profitable, earning ~$20M in annual revenue. It has published half a dozen New York Times best-selling books and hosts the world’s No. 1 travel podcast. OurCrowd is offering fans an exclusive opportunity to become an investor in this fast-growing company, helping it expand and develop more multimedia content, and share in its future success. Join us on January 17 as we sit down with the founders of Atlas Obscura and discover how we all can go places.
Israel startups weathering the storm
Three months into the war against Hamas in Gaza, Israeli startups are weathering the storm, I told David Westin on Bloomberg TV’s Wall Street Week Daily, explaining the background to OurCrowd’s Israel Resilience Fund to help startups affected by the crisis. The fund raised more than $13M in just a few weeks and has already announced its eight initial investments, with eight more approved awaiting announcement. Startups are using a lot of grit to be resilient and make sure that “Israeli Tech delivers no matter what” Israel’s startups raised $7B in 2023 – about half of the amount raised in 2022 and in line with global trends. Meanwhile, Israel’s shekel and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange have both recovered to the levels they were at before the brutal Hamas massacre on Oct. 7. Startup companies, by and large, are not profitable. They need investment in order to get to their goals. The problem of course is that war is not the easiest time to get this investment. That’s why the Resilience Fund is such an important vehicle.?
Cyabra adds Mike Pompeo to board, raises $5.7M?
Our anti-disinformation warrior Cyabra completed a $5.7M Series A extension round led by OurCrowd with participation from existing investors Founders Fund, Red Forest Ventures, and Singapore-based Vulpes Ventures, Meir Orbach reports in Calcalist. Through its AI-powered platform, Cyabra exposes the internet’s malicious actors, disinformation, bot networks, and GenAI text and images. The company also announced the appointment of former US Secretary of State and ex-CIA Director Mike Pompeo to its Board of Directors. As a prominent figure in the international political and intelligence arena, Pompeo brings a wealth of strategic expertise to the Cyabra team. “Vigilance is key to national security,” Pompeo says. “At the Department of State and the CIA, our ability to meet constantly evolving threats depended on our capacity to detect them. Cyabra’s dedication to proactive, cutting-edge threat detection aligns perfectly with this mission, and I am excited to work with them as they provide a vital shield against nefarious manipulation efforts online.”
Together, Israel and South Korea can take high tech even higher
“If Israel is a great place to create a startup, South Korea is a great place to scale a startup and achieve commercial success. When two complementary ecosystems from two very different cultures start working together, the value added can be exponential – as several of our portfolio companies have already found, says our CEO, Jon Medved.” OurCrowd is working on a new project to bring Israeli and South Korean innovation and investment closer. Read more in his latest ‘Investors on the Frontlines’ commentary.
Intuition Robotics unveils ElliQ 3
Our portfolio company Intuition Robotics unveiled ElliQ 3, the newest version of its AI companion robot that helps older adults cope with loneliness and isolation, Brian Heater reports in TechCrunch. Technical upgrades, including an improved system architecture, twice the amount of computing power and memory, and a dual-core AI-processing unit, will enable the device to better interact with humans. Users now can discuss a virtually infinite number of topics with ElliQ in a more natural and detailed manner. Relevant information is maintained in a user profile and context so that new conversations, suggestions and activities triggered in follow-up conversations remain contextual and on point. The device is also smaller and lighter, making it easier for seniors to handle and for the company to manufacture. The development of ElliQ 3 was fueled by the $25M funding round the company closed in 2023. Intuition Robotics is currently funding on the OurCrowd platform. Further details are available under NDA.
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CropX presents presidential farmers
领英推荐
“Be the commander in chief of your field,” suggests the fictional US President in the new promotional video from our portfolio company CropX. The clip explains the advantages of CropX’s sustainable farming system through a series of faux presidential activities, including a Situation Room briefing where the participants break down threats to a field. The campaign reviews the platform’s key features including the CropX app, irrigation administration, crop protection, nitrogen monitoring and various types of hardware.?
Scientist.com offers online access to Polarisqb quantum drug design
Scientist.com, the life science industry’s leading online marketplace for outsourced research, is offering online access to the Quantum-Aided Drug Design platform (QuADD) from our portfolio company Polarisqb. The collaboration will allow Scientist.com users to utilize quantum computing to create optimized molecular libraries for drug design in days rather than months. “We are committed to supporting companies like Polarisqb that are at the cutting edge of drug research innovation,” says Kevin Lustig, PhD, CEO and Founder of Scientist.com. “Polarisqb’s QuADD software has the potential to significantly accelerate the discovery of new drug candidates for hundreds of human diseases.”
Securenet, Perception Point offer cybersecurity platform to GCC
Dubai-based cybersecurity vendor Securenet FZC and our cyber threat specialist Perception Point are working together to protect Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries from online attacks. “We are excited about our new partnership with Securenet IT Distribution, and the opportunity to deliver our comprehensive advanced threat protection solutions to secure organizations in the GCC market against a rapidly expanding threat landscape,” says Yoram Salinger, CEO of Perception Point. The company’s holistic AI-powered platform detects all threats, including APTs, zero days, phishing, malware, BEC, ATO, impersonation attacks and spam, in both Windows and Mac. It operates up to 40X faster than other solutions on the market, dynamically scanning 100% of content within seconds to prevent attacks from reaching the organization.?
nT-Tao to power EVs with fusion energy
Our nuclear fusion pioneer nT-Tao plans to use its technology to power electric vehicles, and Honda, one of the company’s key investors, may engage, Ryosuke Hanafusa reports for Nikkei Asia. nT-Tao intends to put fusion power generation behind EV charging stations that could charge 1,000 vehicles simultaneously. The company says it will manufacture demonstration facilities by 2029 and commercialize them in the 2030s.
Super Bowl stadium aims for the pocket with Zippin
The checkout-free concession stands from our portfolio company Zippin that Raiders fans have been enjoying for the past two NFL seasons at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas will have their big-game debut at the February 11 Super Bowl, Paul Kapustka reveals in Stadium Tech Report. Zippin has 10 checkout-free stands operating inside the arena – more than in any other stadium – and they will be the first of their kind encountered by fans attending the NFL’s championship game. “Zippin’s cutting edge technology helps enhance the fan experience at Allegiant Stadium,” says Raiders President Sandra Douglass Morgan. “Zippin continues to be an innovator in the checkout-free space, and the Raiders are proud to partner with a leader in its field.”
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About this Newsletter
Startup Beat?is a weekly selection of news and investment opportunities from?OurCrowd, the global venture investing platform.
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OurCrowd is a global venture investing platform. To date we have more than $2.2 billion in commitments, 225,000 registered investors, 427 portfolio companies, 50 venture funds and 63 exits.
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Thanks so much for naming us Startup of The Week, OurCrowd!!! ????