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In New York, Funding Announcement, ERP & Finance

Gappify, Inc. Announces Closing of Equity Financing

Gappify, Inc. (“Gappify”), a provider of digital workers for the accounting enterprise, today announced that it has completed a financing round led by Stage 2 Capital. As part of the transaction, Stage 2 Capital Managing Partner, Jay Po, will join Gappify’s Board of Directors.

Gappify, whose team consists of former accountants and KPMG auditors, will use the funding to invest in new product development and accelerate sales and marketing efforts.

“Gappify is excited to build innovative, industry-leading products that help corporate accountants close their books faster and in a compliant and efficient manner,” said Jotham Ty, CEO and founder of Gappify. “This investment will enable our team to develop autonomous solutions for more processes within the Controllership, and provide our customers an enhanced experience with robust capabilities and deep system integrations.”

“We were impressed with Gappify’s vision for modernizing the accounting profession,” added Stage 2 Capital’s Jay Po. “With more CFOs prioritizing efficiencies and compliance in their accounting organization, we see an enormous opportunity to partner with Gappify to accelerate digital transformation efforts and create immediate value for the Controllership function.”

Other participants in the financing round include SaaS Ventures, Manila Angel Investor Network, Pasudeco Investment Management Corporation, Overtime.vc, and former Oracle CFO Jeff Epstein.

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In Press, Berlin, Consumer Industries, Announcements

DataRobot Acquires Zepl to Enhance Enterprise AI Platform Capabilities for Advanced Data Scientists

DataRobot, the leader in enterprise AI, today announced the acquisition of Zepl, a cloud data science and analytics platform. The acquisition — unveiled today at DataRobot’s virtual conference, AI Experience Worldwide — will unlock new capabilities within DataRobot’s enterprise AI platform for the world’s most advanced data scientists.

“We have always known that to lead the AI market, we must embrace all creators of AI systems, from analysts and citizen data scientists who prefer using a GUI to advanced data scientists who love to code,” said Dan Wright, CEO of DataRobot. “Through the addition of Zepl, we now give advanced data scientists more flexibility to use our enterprise AI platform within their existing workflows, including the ability to use their own code. By incorporating Zepl into the DataRobot platform, we plan to further democratize data science across every enterprise and significantly accelerate our code-centric roadmap.”

Zepl was founded by the creators of Apache Zeppelin, an open source notebook for data and analytics that has been downloaded more than 500,000 times by data scientists from some of the biggest brands in the world. Zepl provides a self-service data science notebook solution for advanced data scientists to do exploratory, code-centric work in Python, R, and Scala with enterprise-ready features such as collaboration, versioning, and security.

DataRobot will incorporate Zepl as a cloud-native, self-service notebook in its enterprise AI platform to drive productivity, efficiency, and collaboration for multiple personas. This will unlock additional flexibility for data scientists who prefer to code by allowing them to write their own tasks and custom models extending the out-of-the-box capabilities provided by DataRobot. With the integration of Zepl, business analysts will be able to build models using the power of DataRobot’s automation and then collaborate with their advanced data science colleagues for additional customization if desired, all on the same platform. It will also provide a more transparent view of the code behind DataRobot blueprints, further enhancing trust and explainability within the platform.

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In Funding Announcement, CRM & Customer Experience, Foundries, Munich

Final-mile fulfillment startup parcelLab closes $112M Series C funding led by Insight Partners

Munich-based parcelLab, which offers a final-mile fulfillment service for online retailers, has closed a $112 million (GB£80 million) Series C funding round led by the U.S. VC/PE firm Insight Partners.

Germany’s Endeit Capital participated as a co-investor, alongside existing investors Capnamic Ventures and coparion. ParcelLab last raised an undisclosed Series B in October 2019. The new funding will feed into parcelLab’s global expansion plans and new product development.

Founded in 2015 by Tobias Buxhoidt (CEO), Julian Krenge (CTO) and Anton Eder (COO), the startup has managed to bag such customers as Lidl, to which it provides automated personalized shipping messages. This means that as much as 85% of Lidl customers return to its website.

It also works with Ikea and Farfetch to increase basket sizes and email open rates of — it claims — over 90%, 25% reductions in WISMO (where is my order) and increases of customer reviews.

In a statement, Tobias Buxhoidt, CEO and founder of parcelLab, said: “As e-commerce becomes increasingly competitive, providing unique and branded experiences will drive growth. Identifying opportunities to further connect with people and build a better, stronger relationship is a key differentiator.”

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In Business Technology Platform, Portfolio News, Funding Announcement

Pecan AI Raises $35M To Accelerate AI Adoption In Predictive Analytics

Israeli startup Pecan AI, the business-ready predictive analytics company announced on Wednesday it raised $35 million in new funding to “equip both commercial analysts and business stakeholders with the power of predictive AI,” the company said in a statement.

The round was led by global investor GGV Capital with participation from Vintage as well as existing investors Dell Technologies Capital, S-Capital, and Mindset.

This round brings the company’s total financing to more than $50 million.

This Series B will allow Pecan to expand its operations globally and continue to help organizations accelerate the adoption of AI and advanced analytics.

“Pecan was designed to drive business value from AI. In one intuitive platform, analysts and business stakeholders can obtain actionable insights and see outputs in a matter of days after adding their raw data — helping companies evolve from BI to AI,” said Zohar Bronfman, CEO and co-founder at Pecan, “We have seen tremendous uptake from organizations of all sizes, and are looking forward to expanding globally and bringing real business value to our customers.”

The business world knows that AI will somehow power the next revolution in analytics. But rollouts of AI have been slow, and there is a gap estimated in the dozens of billions of dollars between the potential of AI and businesses’ ability to implement and deploy complex models. Pecan “democratizes data science and AI” by putting the power of predictive modeling in the hands of business analysts with a platform that models its straightforwardness after classic BI.

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In Portfolio News, Funding Announcement, Business Technology Platform

BigID: $30 Million Funding And $1.25 Billion Valuation

BigID — a leader in data discovery and intelligence for privacy, protection and perspective — announced a $30 million investment from Advent International, extending the company’s $70 million Series D financing raised in December 2020. And BigID has raised $200 million over 4 rounds since September 2019. This latest funding round brings BigID’s valuation to $1.25 billion.

The pandemic accelerated all automation and digital transformation programs by several years as companies recognize the importance of innovating, placing increased pressure on IT leaders to deliver digital initiatives and overcome issues such as data silos. And BigID’s platform reimagines data management for enterprises, combining machine learning-based classification, cataloging, correlation, and cluster analysis to help companies better understand, protect, and derive value from their data. This funding will help BigID expand globally, boost its go-to-market efforts and advance product development in the areas of data privacy, security, and governance.

Advent International is joining BigID’s existing investors including Salesforce Ventures, Tiger Global Management, Glynn Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Scale Venture Partners, and Boldstart Ventures.

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In Portfolio News, Supply Chain Management

Too Good To Go Expands Its Food Waste App Nationally Across the U.S.

Not so very long ago, the United States lagged far behind Europe in terms of the widespread availability of food rescue apps. Fortunately, a heightened awareness of the world’s food waste problem has changed this and created opportunities for food rescue companies in the U.S.

Case in point: Too Good To Go’s recent expansion westward. The company, originally started in Denmark, today announced its plans to expand across the United States, following a successful program in select East Coast states. The first stop is San Francisco, with 200-plus food businesses participating, including Mission Chinese, La Boulangerie, and Indie Superette.

Via the Too Good To Go app, users can browse surplus food options from participating restaurants, bakeries, and grocery stores at the end of every day. They can then sign up for a “surprise bag” which includes surplus items from these businesses. Depending on the business from which it’s ordered, that bag could include pastries, extra sushi rolls, surplus produce, and many other items.

Too Good to Go brought its app Stateside in 2020, starting in New York City. The company followed that move with a $31 million fundraise at the start of this year, specifically meant to enable a wider expansion around the U.S.

And while the concept of food rescue might be more commonplace Stateside compared to a couple years ago, it’s still unusual in the restaurant biz. Grocery delivery services like Misfits Market and Imperfect Foods address the grocery sector. Canada’s Flashfood app, based in Toronto, Ontario, similarly addresses surplus food in the grocery store via its U.S. partnership with Meijer.

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In CRM & Customer Experience, Supply Chain Management

Too Good To Go Expands Its Food Waste App Nationally Across the U.S.

Not so very long ago, the United States lagged far behind Europe in terms of the widespread availability of food rescue apps. Fortunately, a heightened awareness of the world’s food waste problem has changed this and created opportunities for food rescue companies in the U.S.

Case in point: Too Good To Go’s recent expansion westward. The company, originally started in Denmark, today announced its plans to expand across the United States, following a successful program in select East Coast states. The first stop is San Francisco, with 200-plus food businesses participating, including Mission Chinese, La Boulangerie, and Indie Superette.

Via the Too Good To Go app, users can browse surplus food options from participating restaurants, bakeries, and grocery stores at the end of every day. They can then sign up for a “surprise bag” which includes surplus items from these businesses. Depending on the business from which it’s ordered, that bag could include pastries, extra sushi rolls, surplus produce, and many other items.

Too Good to Go brought its app Stateside in 2020, starting in New York City. The company followed that move with a $31 million fundraise at the start of this year, specifically meant to enable a wider expansion around the U.S.

And while the concept of food rescue might be more commonplace Stateside compared to a couple years ago, it’s still unusual in the restaurant biz. Grocery delivery services like Misfits Market and Imperfect Foods address the grocery sector. Canada’s Flashfood app, based in Toronto, Ontario, similarly addresses surplus food in the grocery store via its U.S. partnership with Meijer.

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In Portfolio News, Business Technology Platform

Astraea announces partnership with Cuebiq

Astraea, developer of the EarthAI geospatial analytics platform, has announced a partnership with Cuebiq, a leader in mobility intelligence and offline consumer insights. Fusing geospatial and mobility datasets give organizations a comprehensive understanding of the Earth’s surface and those who live on it. By combining Cuebiq’s innovative, flexible tools and vast mobility data catalog with Astraea’s end-to-end AIOps platform, the partnership brings together two important and growing data sets, giving consumers secure, accurate intelligence.

“As a Benefit Corporation, we see incredible value in partnering with Cuebiq and their multiple Data for Good initiatives,” said Brendan Richardson, Astraea CEO. “As the Earth changes, we need a new data infrastructure to unlock GeoAI, and partnering with Cuebiq allows us to do just that.”

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In Press, Portfolio News, HR & People Engagement

Timeshifter selected as one of Fast Company’s 2021 World Changing Ideas

Timeshifter is recognized by Fast Company for its accomplishments in translating sleep and circadian neuroscience into real-world tools with the potential to improve the lives of billions of people.

NEW YORK, NY (May 4, 2021) — Fast Company’s 2021 World Changing Ideas Awards were announced today from a pool of more than 4,000 entries, honoring the businesses, policies, projects, and concepts that are actively engaged and deeply committed to pursuing innovation for the good of society and the planet.

Timeshifter, the creator of the world’s first technology platform for circadian timing, received an honorable mention. Timeshifter enables people to proactively “shift” their circadian clock quickly or “shift” the timing of an activity to the optimal circadian time. This gives Timeshifter the unique and patent pending ability to solve several universal and multi-billion-dollar problems.

Timeshifter has already solved jet lag with an app it launched in 2018 — now the most-downloaded and highest-rated jet lag app in the world. Later in 2021, Timeshifter will launch a new app to help shift workers optimize their sleep, alertness, health, and quality of life. At least 20% of the global labor force are shift workers, changing to a new schedule soon after they adapted to the previous one, or never adapting at all. Timeshifter has also begun strategic work in the field of peak performance and chronotherapeutics that aims to treat illnesses according to circadian rhythms.

Our circadian clock controls almost every biological system in our bodies — from our sleep-wake cycle and mood and performance patterns to our metabolic, immune, and reproductive systems, and even many of our genes: By including Timeshifter as an honoree, Fast Company highlights the growing consensus that circadian science is the new frontier in human performance and personalized medicine.

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In Portfolio News, CRM & Customer Experience

GoFundMe and Perksy Release New Data Revealing the Kindness of New Yorkers

GoFundMe, the world’s leading fundraising platform, today released new data about the state of giving in New York City. The findings, which combine new internal GoFundMe data with the results of a survey* conducted by Perksy among 1,000 New Yorkers in April 2021, demonstrate the kindness and resilience of the nation’s largest city.

While only 1% of New Yorkers described themselves as kind in the Perksy survey, data from GoFundMe between January 2020 and March 2021 indicates otherwise. In that period of time, GoFundMe found that:

  • Approximately $150 million was raised on GoFundMe by New Yorkers for people, causes, and organizations in need.
  • A New Yorker donated to a fundraiser every 30 seconds.
  • Over half of donors in New York City were first time donors.
  • Over 40% of donations made by New Yorkers were anonymous, a signal of the city’s understated generosity.
  • Over one-third of the fundraisers started by New Yorkers were for someone else.

“The data speaks volumes about the resilience and strong sense of community New Yorkers demonstrated over the past year,” said Emily Wolverton, Head of Analytics at GoFundMe. “With New York City often considered a microcosm of the United States, we’re inspired by the city’s generosity and commitment to uplifting one another that our research uncovered. From helping a friend in need to supporting a local coffee shop, we see the kindness of New Yorkers everyday on GoFundMe.”

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In Fund, Press, Portfolio News, Supply Chain Management

ClearMetal Recognized as One of the Four Notable Vendors in 2021 Gartner International Visibility Business Process Context

ClearMetal, the leading SaaS platform for international freight visibility, dynamic transport planning and customer experience, today announced it has been recognized by Gartner as one of the four vendors in the 2021 Gartner “International Visibility Business Process Context: ‘Magic Quadrant for Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platforms’” report.1

According to this Gartner report, “While many real-time transportation visibility platforms (RTTVPs) have expanded capabilities beyond core domestic road transport and now include pieces of, or all, international visibility as well, this research is focused on internationally focused vendors that are not included in the Magic Quadrant for Real-Time Transportation Visibility Platforms.”1

“ClearMetal is excited to be named one of the four solution providers recognized in the International Visibility Business Process Context of Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for RTTVPs. We believe this recognition validates ClearMetal’s position as a leader in door-to-door international freight visibility. The world’s largest shippers trust the quality and accuracy of our data and rely on our platform to provide insights about their freight in real time,” said Adam Compain, CEO of ClearMetal. “We congratulate E2open, TransVoyant and Infor for being named alongside ClearMetal in the International Visibility Business Process Context of Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for RTTVPs, as well as the over-the-road vendors featured in the Magic Quadrant.”

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In Tel Aviv, Consumer Industries, Foundries

SAP Foundry, Publicis to Launch Accelerator with 7 New Startups

SAP.iO, the investment arm of German multinational SAP SE, announced last month that it has launched its SAP.iO Foundry startup accelerator in Tel Aviv, focused on consumer engagement.

The accelerator program was launched in partnership with the digital business transformation company Publicis Sapient. Seven startups focused on developing advanced marketing and commerce solutions to help brands improve consumer engagement, have been selected to join the accelerator.

This is the first time that Publicis Sapient is taking part in the acceleration program in Israel.

SAP and Publicis Sapient will work closely with the selected startups during the three month program developing new joint solutions for personalized marketing content and offers, product discovery, social engagement, and more. The startups will also explore integrations with the omnichannel customer engagement platform Emarsys, one of SAP’s recent acquisitions, the company said.

“Recent year events and new market challenges in the Consumer Industries, emphasized the importance of expanding our partner portfolio in the e-commerce and marketing domains, and led us to launch a dedicated program with that focus.” says Lior Weizman, director of SAP.iO Foundry Tel Aviv.

Seven startups originating from Israel, US, Poland and UK were selected, Weizman said. The companies were selected after screening startups from more than 30 countries.

“The selected startups present advanced capabilities in their fields and have a strong track record of success, will enable SAP’s clients to engage in new ways with their customers,” Weizman added.

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In Press, Article, Portfolio News

Sustainable Waste Management Platform Goodr Exceeds Goal By $500K In Pre-Series A Funding Round

Goodr, a Black-owned and Atlanta-based sustainable waste management platform, has just announced that they’ve exceeded their own expectations.

In a press release announcement, it was revealed that the company raised $1.5 million in their recent Bridge to Series A funding round, which exceeded their initial goal by $500,000. Capital One Ventures were joined in this round by Backstage Capital, Unreasonable Ventures, and the Laurene Powell Jobs-helmed Emerson Collective.

“It is an extremely exciting time here at Goodr,” CEO Jasmine Crowe said in the press release announcement. “We are expanding our team, our market reach, and solving two critical problems at the same time. I welcome our new investors as part of the team as we continue to strive towards ending hunger.”

The company has already announced that they are on the hunt for a Lead Engineer, and are actively filling roles for other key executive positions. The supplemental funds will also allow them to improve their product and service offerings, increase marketing initiatives, and activate new markets.

The concept of Goodr doesn’t just cut down on food waste. Rather, it helps businesses save money on taxes, feed more people, and reduce food waste by rerouting surplus food from cafeterias and restaurants to people in need. Their food distribution services include grocery delivery, popup grocery stores, and food delivery to support food insecure communities around the United States. The company’s philosophy is simple: food insecurity is not an issue of scarcity, but of logistics.

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In Blog

From a Crowded Field, Three SAP Store Partners Stand Out

Introducing the 2021 SAP Store Pinnacle Winner and Finalists

Partner SolutionsWhile 2020 was a challenging year in countless respects, there were silver linings – including the astonishing innovation among SAP partners developing new solutions available on SAP Store. Among them are longtime SAP partners as well as brand-new startups, all of which brought cutting-edge technologies to our customers. There are so many of these solutions, in fact, and such tough competition, that we would have been hard pressed to decide on our 2021 SAP Pinnacle Award winner without a raft of supporting data. A clear favorite and two runners-up emerged with agreement from a range of stakeholders. We are very pleased to congratulate these companies, beginning with Icertis Inc

Icertis: 2021 SAP Pinnacle Winner / SAP Store Partner of the Year

With three solutions available on SAP Store, Icertis had one of the highest numbers of transactions and contributed to the overall 2020 success of SAP Store. These criteria clearly demonstrate that the solutions are succeeding in addressing customers’ unmet needs, while supporting SAP’s digital transformation strategy. But that’s not all.Icertis’s three offerings on SAP Store integrate with two categories of SAP products – SAP Ariba and SAP Customer Experience solutions – and address a different aspect of supply chain management. Icertis Contract Intelligence is an AI-powered contract lifecycle management solution that integrates with SAP Ariba solutions to push contract data to complete downstream procurement processes. Icertis Integration for SAP Customer Experience accelerates lead-to-cash processes by connecting to the SAP CPQ and SAP Sales Cloud solutions. And Icertis AI for Accelerated Contract Transformation provides insights for improving contract management by digitizing legacy and third-party contracts, using AI to analyze negotiation history .All of these offerings address thorny supply chain management challenges that have become especially acute for companies during the disruptions caused by the pandemic: spikes in demand, uncertain transportation schedules, remote work scenarios, and much more. Already gaining traction on SAP Store, the Icertis solutions became even more popular during 2020 as businesses faced intense pressure to streamline processes in this arena.

Paradox: A Startup with a Unique Solution for Recruiting

First runner-up for SAP Store Partner of the Year is Paradox Inc., a startup that entered the SAP PartnerEdge, Build track from the SAP.iO program. Soon after onboarding its solution to SAP Store, Paradox sprinted quickly ahead to gain “Spotlight” status on the strength of its top-selling solution, Olivia. Olivia is a conversational AI assistant that automates administrative work for recruiters and hiring teams, integrating with the SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting solution. With Spotlight status, Paradox is entitled to additional go-to-market support provided by SAP Digital Commerce and the SAP field sales organization – and had one of the highest numbers of unique visits to its SAP Store landing page in 2020.

Centrical: Helping Employees with the Work-from-Home Transition

Second runner-up is Centrical, another company that recognized a major contemporary challenge and found a way to help companies cope. Centrical for Enterprise Learning Solutions from SAP helps employees suddenly working at home to stay engaged and connected. Through integration with SAP SuccessFactors Learning, the app gives managers visibility into individual performance to identify who might need a helping hand. What’s really unique about this offering is its gamification capabilities. Teams can compete in contests and earn badges and rewards, and built-in features for recognition and peer acknowledgement help keep employees motivated and alert managers to potential for talent development. We are so proud to be aligned with these great companies and congratulate them on their achievements. We also commend all the many superb innovators participating on SAP Store and look forward to more brilliant solutions making strides in the coming months. Most important: our customers thank you!

For more information on the 2021 SAP Pinnacle awards, read the newsbyte.

In Portfolio News, Business Technology Platform

Now Tech Report Lists Adverity Among Marketing Measurement and Optimization Solutions

Adverity, the intelligent marketing analytics platform, has been listed in Now Tech: Marketing Measurement and Optimization Solutions Q2 2021. The report, published by independent advisory firm Forrester, provides an overview of 35 selected measurement and optimization solutions for marketers.

According to the report, 23% of B2C marketing decision-makers believe that measuring marketing results will be a great challenge in the next two years. As a solution that specifically addresses this challenge, Adverity was listed in the marketing performance monitors functionality segment.

“The Forrester Now Tech report reflects how important tools like Adverity have become for modern-day marketing,” said Alexander Igelsböck, CEO and Founder of Adverity, “Marketers are expected to face major changes in the future, not least when it comes to the death of third-party cookies, and our platform is ideally placed to help businesses become more data-driven in their decisions and achieve much greater ROI from their marketing spend.”

As a Marketing Measurement and Optimization (MMO) solution, the Adverity platform enables marketers to monitor the performance of their marketing spend across multiple channels, as well as derive intelligent insights from the data using advanced, AI-powered analytics.

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