Is there anything more refreshing on a hot summer day than a cold refreshing drink? Onda is making this possible with tequila. The newly-launched spirits brand offers a line of canned sparkling tequila beverages that are each 5% alcohol, 100 calories, zero sugar, zero carb, and naturally gluten-free. CEO and Cofounder Noah Gray shares more about launching the brand in the middle of the pandemic, the shift to digital, and the company’s recent funding round led by 25madison.
Funded in the Alley
ROOM Raises Another $12.5M to Reimagine the Modern Workplace Through Modular Solutions
After launching its award-winning soundproof Phone Booth, ROOM continues to explore new ways to reinvent the workplace and make certain the needs of today’s modern office workers are met. The company, founded in 2018, is in the midst of preparing for the launch of three new solutions designed for focused work and collaboration. The flexibility […]
Sanzo Raises $1.3M For the First Asian-Inspired Sparkling Water Brand
Sandro Roco, self-financed Sanzo, an Asian-inspired sparkling water brand, for a few years, which meant (pre-pandemic) taking subways with a hand truck, Ubers at 6AM to beat traffic (and surge pricing) and meeting 1:1 with customers, retail partners, and suppliers. Today, the product is found in Whole Foods throughout the Northeast, available direct-to-consumer, and the business is profitable. Roco shares some insight into how the recent popularity of Asian culture in America inspired the launch of Sanzo, self-funding the company, operating as a solo founder, and the experience of raising capital primarily through angel investors rather than funds.
Smalls Raises Another $9M for its Direct-to-Consumer Cat Food Brand
Despite cats as pets outnumbering the number of dogs, cats have been overlooked with most of the focus on our canine friends, and much of the products for cats are really just repurposed from dog-centric offerings. Smalls is the direct-to-consumer human-grade cat food brand designed specifically for cats and their loyal owners. AlleyWatch caught up with CEO and Cofounder Matt Michaelson to learn more about building a cat-centric brand in a dog-centric world, the company’s biology-based approach, and recent funding round from investors that include Left Lane Capital, Founder Collective, and Companion Fund.
KUDO Raises $6M to Make Multilingual Web Meetings Seamless
In 2017, KUDO launched its Language-as-a-Service platform to support multilingual web conferences and events. The pandemic has exacerbated the need for these services and the company has gone from interpreting 200 thousand minutes to roughly 30 million minutes per month. CEO and Cofounder Fardad Zabetian shares some more about the impressive traction, expansion plans, and recent round of funding from investors that include Felicis, Global Founders Capital, ID8 Investments, and Advancit Capital.
Curv Raises $23M to Help Enterprises Prevent Cyberattacks on Digital Assets
Distributed ledger trading and new crypto finance products are swiftly being adopted by financial institutions across the globe. Curv unlocks this market for participants and accelerates institutional adoption of its security infrastructure. The company’s unique multi-party computation (MPC) technology eliminates the need for private keys on obsolete hardware and is completely cloud-based. CEO and Cofounder Itay Malinger shares more on the partnerships that traction the company has built, the security benefits of the technology, fundraising during the pandemic, and the company’s latest round of funding, which brings the total funding raised to $29.5M since 2018.
Ro Raises $200M to Become NYC’s Newest Unicorn
The pandemic has accelerated the adoption of nearly anything that can be done remotely and telehealth has been one of the immediate beneficiaries. Ro is the digital telehealth company whose digital clinics allow patients to leverage technology for affordable access to common health services. With this latest funding, Ro has tripled its valuation from in the last fifteen months since its Series B (this round comes at a $1.5B valuation) and is on pace to do $250M in revenue this year. We caught up with CEO and Cofounder Zachariah Reitano to learn more about the company’s impressive growth, plans to double the size of its engineering team, and the latest round of funding from investors that include General Catalyst, FirstMark Capital, Torch Capital, SignalFire, TQ Ventures, Initialized Capital, 3L, BoxGroup, and The Chernin Group.
MeetElise Raises $6.5M for its AI-Powered Assistant for Rentals
COVID has brought contactless to the forefront in situations where technology can replace human interaction. This societal shift has had a significant impact on the real estate industry, forcing it to reexamine how to better serve and communicate in times where in-person interactions are not advisable. MeetElise has built an AI personal assistant that helps leasing agents manage the rental process and respond immediately to prospect leads, questions, and even schedule guided tours. The company’s growth is up 50% during COVID. CEO Minna Song shares more about how the platform is simplifying the rental process with AI, how leasing agents are reclaiming 2-3 hours a day with automation, and the company’s recent funding from investors that include Navitas Capital, AvalonBay Communities, and Equity Residential
Applicaster Raises $11M to Let Media Companies Manage OTT Across All Platforms
Applicaster’s Zapp App Management Platform simplifies the development and lifecycle management of OTT media applications. In an era, where media companies must be where the audience is, Applicaster enables these companies to seamlessly widen their distribution without custom development for each platform and multiple codebases. CEO and Cofounder Jonathan Laor shares more on how the company was bourne out of need, prescient in its thinking, and was able to recently close its latest funding round from investors that include Viola Growth, 83 North, Pitango, Saban Ventures, Planven Investments, and La Maison
Ergatta Raises $5M to Fuse Rowing Machines with Competitive Gaming to Improve At-Home Fitness
“Investors don’t like hardware, and rowing can be perceived as a niche interest. We had to respond to concerns like ‘what if Peloton copies your content,’ and manage the difficulty of effectively demo-ing our product given that it’s a large piece of hardware and COVID-19 made transporting the rowers a bigger challenge.” Learn more about how Tom Aulet of Ergatta, a connected fitness startup that offers elegantly designed in-home rowing machines with a gamification element, was able to successfully raise $5M for the company during the pandemic from investors that include Greycroft and Techstars.
Cooks Venture Raises $10M to Breed Chickens That are Healthier Inside and Out
As the COO and Cofounder of Blue Apron (IPO 2017), Matthew Wadiak saw firsthand the problem with the country’s food supply chain. His latest venture, Cooks Venture, is reimagining the chicken farming industry with regenerative agriculture. Slow-growth, heirloom chickens are bred on the 800-acre farm that not only produces healthier chickens for humans but also has a reduced environmental footprint as compared to the “factory farms” where most chickens come from. Today, Cooks Venture announced a $10M Series A round from investors that include SJF Ventures, Cultivian Sandbox, Larry Schwartz, and John Roulac. Wadiak shares some insights on the agriculture industry, where it needs to head, and Cooks’ future plans.