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Energy Technology Firm ComboCurve Announces $50M Series B Financing

HOUSTON, April 26, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — ComboCurve, the cloud–based energy analytics and operating platform of choice for many of the world's largest energy companies, announced today that it has raised $50 million through a Series B funding round led by Dragoneer Investment Group and Bessemer Venture Partners. The additional capital comes on the heels of its Series A funding announced less than six months ago.

The Series B capital raise firmly cements ComboCurve as the fastest growing technology company in the energy industry. The additional capital will allow the company to accelerate core product enhancements while expanding into other workflows, including greenhouse gas emissions forecasting, scheduling, and modeling of renewable energy sources.

Since last year's Series A funding round, ComboCurve has quickly become the energy operating platform of choice, boasting 650% year–over–year growth and more than 170 customers with a collective enterprise value exceeding $600 billion. ComboCurve's software was named "Disruptive Technology of the Year" at the 2021 Northam Royalties Assembly Awards.

"ComboCurve was created to solve critical pain points, helping energy companies better manage their forecasting, valuation, reporting and decision–making functions," said Armand Paradis, CEO and Co–Founder, ComboCurve. "Our solution has resulted in widespread adoption by many of the world's leading energy companies, and this investment led by Dragoneer and Bessemer, two of the world's leading technology investment firms, will enable us to engage with additional energy companies to operate more efficiently."

Working in collaboration with energy companies, financial institutions, mineral and royalty firms and private equity groups, ComboCurve's platform unlocks the power of its clients' data with sophisticated software to forecast and report the performance of energy assets and run scenarios with thousands of assumptions in a matter of minutes. Executing on a broader roadmap, ComboCurve's mission is to become the software for energy asset management, including renewables.

“ComboCurve has drastically improved the efficiency, ease, and accuracy of our acquisition efforts and asset management," said Jarret Marcoux, Vice President of Engineering and Acquisitions, Desert Peak. "Our organization is focused on holistic data integration to make informed decisions using the best tools available in the industry, and ComboCurve fits into that strategy perfectly. The speed in which they respond to our needs through feature releases and customer support is unmatched. Because of this, we view them as a true partner rather than simply a software company. ComboCurve has been a refreshing change in an industry littered with antiquated software companies unwilling to innovate, change, or address customer needs."

"ComboCurve is in the early innings of building a truly enduring franchise that is rapidly becoming the software backbone of their customers' day–to–day operations," said Christian Jensen, Partner at Dragoneer Investment Group. "We are excited to partner with Armand and his world–class team as they continue to deepen their suite with existing customers and expand their platform into renewables, emissions reporting, and all corners of the energy market."

"ComboCurve is bringing the energy industry to the cloud and delivering a best–in–class, collaborative solution for energy forecasting, asset management, and more," said Brian Feinstein, Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. "We're thrilled to be partnering with ComboCurve in their journey to modernize the energy industry in the U.S. and beyond."

About ComboCurve
Headquartered in Houston, ComboCurve is a smart, scalable energy tech company that provides decision makers the ability to value assets, de–risk decisions and save time through an intuitive cloud–based collaborative platform. For more information visit combocurve.com or follow them on Twitter or LinkedIn.

About Dragoneer Investment Group
Dragoneer is a growth–oriented investment firm with over $27 billion in long–duration capital. Dragoneer has a history of partnering with management teams growing exceptional companies characterized by sustainable differentiation and superior economic models. The firm's track record includes public and private investments across industries and geographies, with a particular focus on technology–enabled businesses. Dragoneer has been an investor in companies such as Airbnb, Alibaba, Atlassian, AppFolio, Bytedance, Ceridian, Chime, Datadog, Doordash, Duck Creek, PointClickCare, Procore, Slack, Samsara, ServiceTitan, Snowflake, Spotify, Uber, UiPath and others.

About Bessemer Venture Partners
Bessemer Venture Partners helps entrepreneurs lay strong foundations to build and forge long–standing companies. With more than 135 IPOs and 200 portfolio companies in the enterprise, consumer and healthcare spaces, Bessemer supports founders and CEOs from their early days through every stage of growth. Bessemer's global portfolio includes Pinterest, Shopify, Twilio, Yelp, LinkedIn, PagerDuty, DocuSign, Wix, Fiverr and Toast and has $9 billion of capital under management. Bessemer has teams of investors and partners located in Tel Aviv, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, New York, London, Boston, Beijing and Bangalore. Born from innovations in steel more than a century ago, Bessemer's storied history has afforded its partners the opportunity to celebrate and scrutinize its best investment decisions (see Memos) and also learn from its mistakes (see Anti–Portfolio).

Contact information:
Kristen Quinn
Paige PR
kristen@paigepr.com


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 8527373)

Koelis Announces Completes of €10 Million Follow-On Growth Equity Financing with InnovaHealth Partners

GRENOBLE, France and PRINCETON, N.J., April 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Koelis, SAS ("Koelis" or the "Company") announced today the completion of a 10 million follow–on growth equity financing led by InnovaHealth Partners, LP ("InnovaHealth") and certain affiliates. Koelis is a pioneer and leader in the market for image– guided prostate cancer interventions including biopsy diagnosis and minimally invasive treatments. The financing will support the Company's continued commercial expansion as well as its commitment to clinical and technology initiatives that are at the leading edge of a paradigm shift in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. InnovaHealth Partners, based in New York, is a leading private equity firm focused on providing growth equity to the medical device industry.

The Koelis Trinity is a system that offers stand–alone ultrasound imaging and MRI fusion image guidance for prostate biopsy and minimally invasive prostate cancer treatments. Featuring proprietary 3D ultrasound imaging and prostate motion tracking software (OBT Fusion ), the Koelis Trinity System facilitates more accurate biopsy diagnosis as well as enabling "focal" treatment alternatives to traditional "total organ" treatments such as surgical prostatectomy and radiation. The Company's clinical stage, focal treatment programs include a prospective, multi–center registry ("Violette") utilizing microwave technology, and multi–center clinical evaluation of its proprietary focal cryoablation image guidance software.

Antoine Leroy, Koelis' Co–founder and Chief Executive Officer, "We are very pleased to complete this financing with the InnovaHealth Partners team that has been not just a supportive investor, but also a true partner who shares the Koelis vision to be a leader in the transformation of the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer."

Mortimer "Tim" Berkowitz III, InnovaHealth's President & CEO said that, "In advancing the way prostate cancer is diagnosed and treated, we see the enormous potential of Koelis technology to address significant unmet clinical needs on a global basis."

Contacts:

InnovaHealth Partners: Natalia Stricker
e–mail: ns@innovahp.com

Koelis: Antoine Leroy, Founder and CEO
e–mail: leroy@koelis.com


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 8522946)

New Gavi Risk Sharing Partnership with MedAccess and the Open Society Foundations to help meet country demand for COVID-19 vaccines

New York, April 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —

  • Gavi, MedAccess, and the Open Society Foundations announce a new partnership to create an innovative Risk Sharing Facility to support the COVAX Cost–Sharing Mechanism.
  • The partnership aims to build on intensive efforts by Gavi to extend its suite of innovative financing instruments to help donors and countries stretch their available resources as the pandemic shifts and to protect against future shocks. The Facility's instruments also represent a pathway and toolkit to address future global health crises.
  • This new partnership comes as Gavi seeks to raise additional funds to support COVAX. April 8 will see Germany co–host the 2022 Gavi COVAX AMC Summit, where governments, international organizations, civil society, and the private sector will come together to renew their commitment to global vaccination.

MedAccess, the Open Society Foundations, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance today announced a new partnership to create a Risk Sharing Facility to help countries procure additional COVID–19 vaccine doses, including variant–adapted doses in response to risks and shocks. The $200 million facility is designed to enable countries to protect more of their people and support COVAX's ambitions to make COVID vaccine procurement more sustainable and more tailored to country needs.

The Gavi COVAX Advance Market Commitment (Gavi COVAX AMC) provides COVID–19 vaccines free of charge for 92 of the world's lowest–income countries, helping them to meet the objectives set out in their national vaccination strategies""with more than 1.2 billion doses already shipped to AMC countries. In addition, AMC countries can also use the COVAX Cost–Sharing Mechanism to order more doses using domestic resources or low–cost financing from their multilateral development bank (MDB) partners, enabling them to protect more people, more quickly.

The new guarantees are aimed at increasing take–up of the Cost–Sharing Mechanism by facilitating the financing of orders. MedAccess will provide a $100 million procurement guarantee to enable COVAX to order more doses from manufacturers on behalf of AMC countries choosing to participate in cost–sharing. By purchasing through COVAX, countries benefit from lower prices per dose negotiated for a range of COVID–19 vaccines.

The Open Society Foundations will provide a further procurement guarantee of up to $100 million alongside MedAccess, through the Soros Economic Development Fund. This will help COVAX to respond to country requests for additional doses in the event of a future shock or demand spike.

"COVID–19 has wreaked havoc on health and financial systems in every country," said MedAccess CEO Michael Anderson. "Donors have stepped up with huge sums of money to drive COVAX's initial dose allocations, but innovative finance can unlock even greater value. Our support for Gavi will enable COVAX to work with countries to speed up access to these essential vaccines and put their programmes on a more sustainable footing."

"Innovative financing solutions are crucial to the success of global vaccination in 2022," added Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. "Our partnership with MedAccess, thanks to the support of the Open Society Foundations, will allow countries to access additional resources through COVAX cost–sharing, helping them to meet the goals set out in their national vaccination strategies and respond to uncertainty and risks such as new variants. Together, we can break COVID–19."

"The inequities in access to vaccines in poor countries is one of the biggest, collective global failings of our time," said Mark Malloch–Brown, President of the Open Society Foundations. "Since the beginning of the pandemic, Open Society has responded in diverse ways to ensure that the most vulnerable have equitable access to vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics""just like those in rich countries. COVAX's Cost–Sharing Mechanism is an additional and important way to ensure governments have the agency, on their terms, to determine if, how, and when they acquire low–cost doses for their populations."

The COVAX Cost–Sharing Mechanism was launched in partnership between Gavi, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank in July 2021. Since then, the European Investment Bank has also joined and committed 300 million in financing for countries wishing to access additional doses through the mechanism. Countries with MDB–approved vaccination programmes can make requests to COVAX for additional vaccine doses. To date, Gavi has already ordered 140 million additional vaccine doses through cost sharing on behalf of 15 AMC countries, at a total value of $800 million.

Countries specify the preferred type of vaccine, number of doses and their desired delivery window, enabling COVAX to aggregate demand and exercise its options under agreements with vaccine manufacturers. The MDB provides a payment confirmation, which enables COVAX to confirm its order. Subject to finalisation of the legal agreement, MedAccess and Open Society's support aims to provide a backstop for Gavi during the period from exercising its option to country payment being confirmed; without the guarantees Gavi would be required to hold donor funds in reserve. This guarantee provides financial independence to Gavi for the benefit of COVAX AMC country partners.

On April 8, 2022, Gavi will hold the 2022 Gavi COVAX AMC Summit, co–hosted by Germany. Gavi aims to raise at least $5.2 billion in urgent financial support for COVAX, including $3.8 billion in donor funding for lower–income countries supported by the Gavi COVAX AMC. At least $1 billion of the $5.2 billion is intended to come from cost–sharing.

To date, COVAX has shipped more than 1.4 billion COVID–19 vaccine doses to 145 countries and territories.

Media contacts

Rob Kelly, Head of External Relations at MedAccess
+44 7867 132038
rkelly@medaccess.org

Evan O'Connell, Senior Media Relations Manager at Gavi
+41 79 682 18 95
eoconnell@gavi.org

Erin Greenberg, Senior Communications Officer, Open Society Foundations
erin.greenberg@opensocietyfoundations.org

About MedAccess

MedAccess is a U.K.–based social finance company with a mission to make global healthcare markets work for everyone. Its core purpose is to make medical supplies more widely available at lower prices in under–served markets. By applying the rigour and skills of business finance, it provides a novel solution to the challenge. MedAccess offers financial guarantees and debt products that reduce commercial risk and allow medical manufacturers to accelerate supplies into new markets at affordable and sustainable prices. In this way, vaccines, medicines, diagnostic tests and medical devices can reach patients far sooner than existing market forces would allow.

For more information see www.medaccess.org and follow MedAccess on Twitter @MedAccessUK.

About COVAX

COVAX, the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID–19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, is co–led by CEPI, Gavi and WHO "" working in partnership with developed and developing country vaccine manufacturers, UNICEF, PAHO, the World Bank, and others. It is the only global initiative that is working with governments and manufacturers to ensure COVID–19 vaccines are available worldwide to both high–income and lower–income countries.

Gavi's role in COVAX

Gavi leads on procurement and delivery at scale for COVAX: designing and managing the COVAX Facility and the Gavi COVAX AMC and working with its traditional Alliance partners UNICEF and WHO, along with governments, on country readiness and delivery.

As part of this role, Gavi hosts the Office of the COVAX Facility to coordinate the operation and governance of the mechanism as a whole, holds financial and legal relationships with 193 Facility participants, and manages the COVAX Facility deals portfolio: negotiating advance purchase agreements with manufacturers of promising vaccine candidates to secure doses on behalf of all COVAX Facility participants. Gavi also coordinates design, operationalisation and fundraising for the Gavi COVAX AMC, the mechanism that provides access to donor–funded doses of vaccine to 92 lower–income economies. As part of this work, Gavi provides funding and oversight for UNICEF procurement and delivery of vaccines to all AMC participants""operationalising the advance purchase agreements between Gavi and manufacturers""as well as support for partners' and governments work on readiness and delivery. This includes tailored support to governments, UNICEF, WHO and other partners for cold chain equipment, technical assistance, syringes, vehicles, and other aspects of the vastly complex logistical operation for delivery. Gavi also co–designed, raises funds for and supports the operationalisation of the AMC's no–fault compensation mechanism as well as the COVAX Humanitarian Buffer.

About Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a public–private partnership that helps vaccinate half the world's children against some of the world's deadliest diseases. Since its inception in 2000, Gavi has helped to immunise a whole generation""over 888 million children""and prevented more than 15 million future deaths, helping to halve child mortality in 73 lower–income countries. Gavi also plays a key role in improving global health security by supporting health systems as well as funding global stockpiles for Ebola, cholera, meningitis and yellow fever vaccines. After two decades of progress, Gavi is now focused on protecting the next generation and reaching zero dose children remaining deprived of even a single vaccine shot still being left behind, employing innovative finance and the latest technology""from drones to biometrics""to save millions more lives, prevent outbreaks before they can spread and help countries on the road to self–sufficiency. Learn more at www.gavi.org and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

Gavi is a co–convener of COVAX, the vaccines pillar of the Access to COVID–19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, together with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and the World Health Organization (WHO). In its role Gavi is focused on procurement and delivery for COVAX: coordinating the design, implementation and administration of the COVAX Facility and the Gavi COVAX AMC and working with its Alliance partners UNICEF and WHO, along with governments, on country readiness and delivery.

The Vaccine Alliance brings together developing country and donor governments, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry, technical agencies, civil society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other private sector partners. View the full list of donor governments and other leading organizations that fund Gavi's work here.

About Open Society Foundations

The Open Society Foundations work to build vibrant and inclusive democracies whose governments are accountable and open to the participation of all people. We are active in more than 120 countries, making us the world's largest private funder of independent groups working for justice, democratic governance, and human rights. The Soros Economic Development Fund supports Open Society's mission through investments that advance the Foundations' enduring commitments of equity, expression, and justice.

For more information, see www.opensocietyfoundations.org and www.soroseconomicdevelopmentfund.org


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 8518036)

Asante Gold Enters into Exclusivity Agreement with Kinross Gold to Purchase Chirano Gold Mine in Ghana

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 06, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Asante Gold Corporation (CSE:ASE | FRANKFURT:1A9 | U.S.OTC:ASGOF) ("Asante" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has entered into an Exclusivity Agreement with Kinross Gold Corporation to negotiate the potential purchase of all of their interests in Ghana ("Kinross Ghana"), including its 90% interest in the Chirano Gold Mine ("Chirano").

Chirano is an open–pit and underground mining operation located in southwestern Ghana, immediately south of the Company's Bibiani Gold Mine. It is 90% owned by Toronto–based Kinross Gold Corporation. The Government of Ghana has a 10% carried interest.

Chirano was explored and developed in 1996 and began production in October 2005. The Chirano mine comprises the Akwaaba, Suraw, Akoti South, Akoti North, Akoti Extended, Paboase, Tano, Obra South, Obra, Sariehu and Mamnao open pits and the Akwaaba and Paboase underground mines.

About Asante Gold Corporation

Asante is a gold exploration, development, and operating company with a high–quality portfolio of projects in Ghana, Africa's largest and most reliable gold producer. Asante is currently focused on developing to production its Bibiani and Kubi Gold mines located on the prolific Bibiani and Ashanti Gold Belts. Asante has an experienced and skilled team of mine finders, builders and operators, with extensive experience in Ghana.

Asante is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and has announced plans to co–list its shares in Ghana. Asante is also exploring its Keyhole, Fahiakoba and Betenase projects for new discoveries, all adjoining or along strike of major gold mines near the centre of Ghana's Golden Triangle. Additional information is available on the Company's website at www.asantegold.com.

About the Bibiani Gold Mine

Bibiani is a historically significant gold mine situated in the western region of Ghana, with previous gold production close to 5 Moz. It is fully permitted with available mining and processing infrastructure on–site consisting of a 3 million tonne per annum mill and processing plant, and existing surface and mining infrastructure.

The Current Mineral Resource Estimate for Bibiani, as reported in the Technical Report on the Bibiani Gold Mine, Ghana, by Principal Author Ian M Glacken FAusIMM (CP), FAIG, CEng and Qualified Person Dan Bansah MSc, MAusIMM (CP), FWAIMM, MGIG, dated November 7, 2021, and filed on SEDAR, is Measured and Indicated 20.1 million tonnes at 2.71 grams of gold per tonne for 1.81 Moz of gold, plus Inferred 8.41 million tonnes at 2.78 grams of gold per tonne for 0.75 Moz of gold from an open pit mine. The Mineral Resource has been reported above a 0.65 g/t gold cut–off and has been depleted for both historical open pit and underground development as of August 31, 2017. The Bibiani Main Pit mineral resource has been prepared by Competent Persons (Optiro, 2017) using accepted industry practices and have been classified and reported in accordance with the JORC Code (JORC, 2012). There are no material differences between the definitions of Measured, Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources under the CIM Definition Standards and the equivalent definitions in the JORC Code. The Satellite pit resource is an update completed in 2018 by Resolute Mining Limited. The Satellite pit resource is also reported above a cut–off grade of 0.65 g/t gold inside a pit shell defined at a gold price of US$1,950. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

For further information please contact:

Dave Anthony, President & CEO: +1 647 382 4215 (Canada) or +233 55 879 3309 (Ghana) or dave@asantegold.com
Malik Easah, Executive Director, malik@asantegold.com
Alec Rowlands, Capital Markets Consultant, alec@asantegold.com
Valentina Gvozdeva, Manager IR, valentina@asantegold.com
Kirsti Mattson, Media Relations, kirsti.mattson@gmail.com

Cautionary Statement on Forward–Looking Statements

This news release contains forward–looking statements. Forward–looking statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward–looking statements, including statements regarding potential negotiations and acquisitions, the resources, reserves, exploration results, and development program at Bibiani and Kubi, including timing of future mine development and the start of production. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward–looking statements include, but are not limited to, variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, the Company's inability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its planned activities, and the Company's inability to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies. The reader is referred to the Company's public disclosure record which is available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward–looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Except as required by securities laws and the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward–looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

LEI Number: 529900F9PV1G9S5YD446. Neither IIROC nor any stock exchange or other securities regulatory authority accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 8517249)

EMGA advises on US$200M debt raise for BTG Pactual with JICA

LONDON, March 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Emerging Markets Global Advisory Limited (EMGA), the niche investment bank focused on emerging markets, announces today another landmark Senior Debt capital raise transaction that will allow BTG Pactual to continue the expansion of its small and medium–sized enterprise (SME) lending activities in Brazil.

The US$200 million debt facility was provided by JICA and the transaction follows on from two previous DFI financed facilities of US$140 million and US$300 million respectively that EMGA has had also advised on.

A JICA spokesman said, "Thanks to EMGA's support, we will partner Banco BTG Pactual S.A. addressing the funding gap for MSMEs in Brazil. BTG Pactual is among the first to introduce digital platforms offering financial solutions to businesses throughout the whole nation. With its digital platforms readily available to support the lending operation, Banco BTG Pactual S.A. can efficiently extend credits to the Northeast and Northern Regions, where only a limited number of financial institutions are actively operating to serve businesses at this time."

Sajeev Chakkalakal, Managing Director and Head of Investment Banking at EMGA, said: “It was a real pleasure to help BTG's team again by advising on this additional facility aimed at funding BTG's small and medium enterprise loan portfolio across Brazil. JICA is an important partner of EMGA and its position as a pre–eminent development finance institution also offers another new strategic long term funding source for BTG."

Jeremy Dobson, Managing Director, and Head of Business Development at EMGA, added: "Our team is delighted to have acted as advisor again to BTG and look forward to their continued success."

BTG Pactual: BTG is the largest investment bank in Latin America, the 6th largest bank in Brazil by shareholders equity and a key player in providing loans and guarantees to a broad set of clients, from SMEs to large corporations. BTG is a pioneer in promoting climate finance in Brazil and plays a pivotal role in channeling resources towards projects with a positive impact in the community.

JICA: The Japan International Cooperation Agency is a governmental agency that delivers the bulk of Official Development Assistance for the government of Japan. It is chartered with assisting economic and social growth in developing countries, and the promotion of international cooperation.

Emerging Markets Global Advisory Limited (EMGA), with offices in London and New York, helps financial institutions and corporates seeking new debt or equity capital. EMGA's multi–national team combine the decades of experience necessary to complete transactions on behalf of their clients within the world's emerging markets and frontier economies, including Brazil which remains a key market. With a proven track record in capital formation and strategic advisory throughout diverse economic cycles, EMGA continues expanding its geographic reach and service offering, solidifying its place in the market as one of the industries pre–eminent emerging markets focused niche investment banks.

Contact info@emergingmarketsglobaladvisory.com


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 1000610054)

EMGA advises Annapurna Finance on their EURO 15M debt raise with funding from OeEB

LONDON, March 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Annapurna Finance raised EURO 15 mn of senior debt from OeEB the Development Bank of Austria, this facility will provide financial assistance to its clients in microfinance space. EMGA advised on the transaction.

The EUR 15 million debt facility comes at a time when financial institutions world–wide are exploring new cross–border funding options to further deliver on their objectives.

"Increasing financial inclusion is one of our main strategic goals. We are therefore proud to work with Annapurna "" an experienced partner in the field of microfinance," stated Sabine Gaber, member of OeEB's Executive Board. "Especially women often have very limited access to financial services, which is why we are particularly happy that our funds will support female entrepreneurs and contribute to improving gender equality in India."

Commenting on the transaction, Annapurna's CFO Satyajit Das said, "Annapurna is very pleased and welcomes OeEB as a new debt partner." He further shared that, "We continued to grow despite the pandemic and the funding provided by OeEB will help boost our activities while generating strong positive impact." He also praised EMGA advisory team in closing the deal.

EMGA's Managing Director and Investment Banking Head Sajeev Chakkalakal said, "It was a pleasure to be able to communicate Annapurna's vision of economic empowerment within India and successfully structure and negotiate this funding solution with OeEB." Managing Director Jeremy Dobson added "Annapurna's strong management and solid financial position were major factors that enabled Sajeev and EMGA's Investment Banking team to complete this financing in tandem with the deep institutional framework and financial capacity that OeEB represents."

Annapurna Finance is one of the top ten NBFC–MFIs in India. Annapurna Finance was established with a purpose of serving their clients by bringing them to mainstream, providing need based financial services at their doorstep. They currently operate in 19 states and manage assets of more than EURO 640 mn in microfinance and MSME space. They are headquartered out of Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

Oesterreichische Entwicklungsbank AG (OeEB) has been operating as the Development Bank of Austria since March 2008. It specialises in the provision of long–term finance for the implementation of private sector projects in developing countries which create sustainable development. Additionally, OeEB provides technical assistance, which can be used to enhance the developmental impact of projects. For more information, please visit https://www.oe–eb.at/

Emerging Markets Global Advisory (EMGA), with offices in London and New York, helps financial institutions and corporates seeking debt or equity capital. EMGA's multi–national team combine the decades of experience necessary to complete transactions on behalf of their clients within the world's emerging markets and frontier economies, including India which remains a key market. With a proven track record in capital formation and strategic advisory throughout diverse economic cycles, EMGA continues expanding its geographic reach and service offering, solidifying its place in the market as one of the industries pre–eminent emerging markets focused niche investment banks.

info@emergingmarketsglobaladvisory.com


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 1000609950)

Legit Security Launches Out of Stealth with Series A Investment to Secure Software Supply Chains

TEL AVIV, Israel, Feb. 10, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Legit Security, a cyber security company with an enterprise SaaS solution to secure an organization's software supply chain, today announced its launch out of stealth mode with a Series A $30 million funding announcement with leading venture capital firms Bessemer Venture Partners and TCV. Prior seed funding was provided by CyberStarts, the premier cybersecurity venture capital firm in Israel. Legit Security protects software supply chains from attack by automatically discovering and securing the pipelines, infrastructure, code and people so that businesses can stay safe while releasing software fast. The company will use the funds to expand its engineering team and continue building its go–to–market organization in the United States with offices in Austin and Palo Alto.

According to Gartner , 45% of organizations worldwide will have experienced attacks on their software supply chains by 2025, a three–fold increase from 2021. Companies can no longer rely solely on traditional security tools and code scanners for protection as more organizations adopt modern applications, agile development, and DevOps. These complex software supply chains at the heart of digital business and critical infrastructure are now prime targets for cyber–attacks, and require new security solutions.

"Enterprises increasingly rely on software to do business, and they're adopting cloud, DevOps, CI/CD and agile techniques to move fast," said Roni Fuchs, CEO of Legit Security. "However, this has created a huge new, unprotected attack surface that cybercriminals have targeted, and their attacks are escalating. Right now, enterprises don't need another code scanner. They need a holistic security solution for the broader software supply chain environment. That's why we founded Legit Security and brought on world–class cybersecurity experts that share the same vision."

"Legit provides a single pane of glass to mitigate software development risk," said Bob Durfee, Head of DevSecOps at Takeda Pharmaceutical Company. "We're now able to inventory all our SDLC systems and security tools, view developer activity, and detect and remediate vulnerabilities across them fast. Legit's security scoring also allows me to measure the security posture of different teams and show progress improving it."

Legit Security helps companies protect their end–to–end software supply chain environment and software releases through automated vulnerability discovery and analysis, security policy enforcement, and continuous assurance. The platform scans software development pipelines for gaps and leaks, development infrastructure and systems within those pipelines, and the people and their security hygiene as they operate within it. The solution doesn't interfere with existing development tools and workflows, and includes continuous assurance and governance capabilities to monitor adherence to regulatory requirements and compliance frameworks in real–time.

"Legit helps us secure our CI/CD pipelines including tracking the security posture of our different teams and workspaces, addressing SDLC configuration drifts, and helping us apply security resources where it can help us most," said Erik Bataller, VP of Security, ACV Auctions. "Legit's platform enables our developers to maintain high velocity with minimal security friction and allows us to identify risk factors and adjust accordingly."

"Legit is providing us with visibility across the entire supply chain, which helps us minimize risk and raise analyst productivity," said James Robinson, Deputy Chief Information Security Officer at Netskope. "Legit's platform nicely complements our existing investments in application security tools and allows us to make better decisions in allocating our security controls and resources."

"Legit Security's platform visualizes and analyzes our software pipelines quickly to help ensure security compliance with regulatory frameworks, as well as the unique compliance requirements of some of our large financial services partners," said Or Cohen, Principal Engineer at Melio. "Legit's solution saves us time and resources and allows us to manage risk better."

“Software supply chain attacks will continue to grow until new solutions are available to close diverse security gaps across these environments," said Amit Karp, Partner at Bessemer Venture Partners. "We love how Legit developed an enterprise solution that is easy to deploy and delivers value in a couple hours."

Legit Security is led by CEO Roni Fuchs, CTO Liav Caspi, and VP of R&D Lior Barak and has assembled a team of security experts from the renowned Israeli Defense Force's Unit 8200, Checkmarx, Ping Identity, Duo/Cisco, Microsoft and other leading cybersecurity firms in the U.S. and Israel. For more information, visit legitsecurity.com.

About Legit Security
Legit Security protects software supply chains from attack by automatically discovering and securing the pipelines, infrastructure, code and people so that businesses can stay safe while releasing software fast. Legit provides an easy to implement SaaS solution that supports both cloud and on–premises resources and combines automated discovery and analysis capabilities with hundreds of security policies developed by industry experts with real–world SDLC security experience. This integrated solution keeps your software factory secure and provides continuous assurance that your applications are released without vulnerabilities.

Media Contact
Tony Keller
tkeller@outvox.com


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 8472859)

LeddarTech Announces 140 Million USD in Series D Financing Combined With Debt Facility

The latest financing supports LeddarTech's accelerated growth and development efforts for its unique proprietary sensor fusion and perception automotive solutions.

QUEBEC CITY, Feb. 03, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — LeddarTech , a global leader in providing the most flexible, robust and accurate ADAS and AD sensing technology, is pleased to announce a successful financing round with an investment of US$ 140M, which comprises a Series D first close of US$ 116M and debt facility of US$ 24M.

FS Investors led the financing round with the participation of Investissement Qubec, BDC Capital, Go Capital, certain funds managed by Fidelity Investments Canada ULC, Fonds de solidarit FTQ, Export Development Canada, ams OSRAM, Desjardins Capital, UI Investissement, Cowen Investment II LLC and other LeddarTech management. The debt facility was secured with Desjardins Group.

This investment will accelerate the development and commercialization of LeddarTech solutions. In addition, LeddarTech will use the funds to augment engineering resources to meet the demands from global OEM and Tier 1–2 automotive customers actively engaged with the company for sensor fusion and perception sensing solutions.

“Our decision to partner with LeddarTech began with our introduction to the corporate senior management team. Individually, the senior team possess decades of experience in the technology industry. In addition, many have worked with major global automotive and sensing technology companies,” stated Nick Stone, founder and partner of FS Investors. “An extensive due diligence process coupled with strong customer validation confirmed that LeddarTech's unique solution is the best positioned in the market to unlock mass adoption of ADAS and AD by breaking typical software dependency on hardware in sensing,” according to Mr. Stone, concluding that: “The LeddarTech solution, called LeddarVision, provides customers with the flexibility to quickly scale across vehicle models and deliver faster to market with greater performance at a lower cost.”

“The success of this round is a testament to the growth and industry recognition LeddarTech has achieved. I am delighted to welcome FS Investors as our most recent investors, who bring vast experience and expertise in the deep tech sector,” stated Charles Boulanger, CEO of LeddarTech. “I was impressed by the quality and thoroughness of their due diligence and their exceptional understanding of the ADAS and AD market, which confirms the value of our unique software solution. Our team and I look forward to working with FS Investors, our other new investors and our existing partners to enable our customers to significantly deploy our reliable and cost–effective ADAS and AD solutions across their brands and markets,” Mr. Boulanger concluded.

Cowen and Desjardins Capital Markets acted as co–advisors in this investment round.

About LeddarTech

Founded in 2007, LeddarTech has evolved to become a comprehensive end–to–end environmental sensing company by enabling customers to solve critical sensing, fusion and perception challenges across the entire value chain. The company offers cost–effective and scalable solutions such as LeddarVision, a raw–data sensor fusion and perception platform that generates a comprehensive 3D environmental model with multi–sensor configurations to support Level 2+ to Level 5 full autonomy. It is scalable to support all vehicle automation levels. In addition, LeddarTech supports LiDAR makers and Tier 1–2 automotive system integrators with LeddarSteer, a digital beam steering device, and the LiDAR XLRator development solution for automotive–grade solid–state LiDAR development based on the LeddarEngine and core components from global semiconductor partners. The company is responsible for several innovations in cutting–edge automotive and mobility remote–sensing applications, with over 100 patented technologies (granted or pending) enhancing ADAS and autonomous driving capabilities.

Additional information about LeddarTech is accessible at www.leddartech.com and on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.

Contact:
Daniel Aitken, Vice–President of Global Marketing, Communications and Investor Relations, LeddarTech Inc.
Tel.: + 1–418–653–9000 ext. 232
daniel.aitken@leddartech.com

Leddar, LeddarTech, LeddarSteer, LeddarEngine, LeddarVision, LeddarSP, LeddarCore, LeddarEcho, VAYADrive, VayaVision, XLRator and related logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of LeddarTech Inc. and its subsidiaries. All other brands, product names and marks are or may be trademarks or registered trademarks used to identify products or services of their respective owners.


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 8469090)

General Fusion closing oversubscribed $130 million transitional financing round

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 30, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — General Fusion announced today it is closing an oversubscribed $130 million (USD) Series E funding round filled by a new syndicate of global investors. This financing, led by Temasek, significantly expands the company's portfolio of institutional, sovereign, family office, and high net worth investors, providing the prelude to a large financing round being prepared for 2022. Combined with broad financial support from the Canadian, U.K., and U.S. governments, the General Fusion Series E round supports aggressive pursuit of several near–term initiatives and milestones in its program to commercialize Magnetized Target Fusion (MTF).

In addition to a portfolio of important individual investors, which includes Jeff Bezos, Tobias Ltke, and Kam Ghaffarian, Series E brings a new syndicate of major institutional and family office investors to General Fusion. These anchoring investors include Temasek, GIC, the Jameel Investment Management Company (JIMCO), and the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), as well as broader participation from other capital market segments represented by investors such as a large U.S. state pension plan and the hedge fund firm Segra Capital.

“Segra Capital believes General Fusion is best positioned among its peer group to deliver fusion at a commercial scale in the near term,” said Adam Rodman, Founder and CIO, Segra Capital. “While Segra Capital has traditionally invested primarily in public markets, this compelling opportunity resonated with our core ESG and cleantech–focused partners, so we are excited to participate in this Series E financing and look forward to supporting the company in the future.”

“General Fusion's drive to shape the market for clean fusion energy is just one of the many reasons why JIMCO is investing in its commercialization program,” said Fady Jameel, a member of the Jameel Family's Investment Supervisory Board. “The global energy sector is undergoing tremendous change to secure a cleaner future for all, which JIMCO is passionate about and ready to support through investments like the one in General Fusion."

"With our 75–year history of investing in companies positively shaping the future of the core industries, we believe General Fusion's global, technologically–advanced solution to commercial fusion energy make them a leader in this growing industry."

"Collectively, the expansion of General Fusion's investor base in this Series E financing provides a strong foundation for a larger financing next year," said Greg Twinney, CFO, General Fusion. "From our technology's inception, we have had a laser focus on cultivating customers and creating a practical, clean energy solution that meets their needs. This approach resonates with investors looking to make an impact in the global energy transition."

With substantial capital support from both private and government sources, General Fusion has aggressively pursued deployment of its power–plant scale Fusion Demonstration Plant located at the UK Atomic Energy Authority's (UKAEA) Culham Centre for Fusion Energy near London. The company has also accelerated MTF technology development activities associated with its new Vancouver headquarters and opened a new facility adjacent to Oak Ridge National Laboratory in the U.S. Furthermore, General Fusion has created a Market Development Advisory Committee (MDAC) focused exclusively on fusion. The company's MDAC is currently comprised of nine leading energy companies and clean energy users representing critical markets for fusion's carbon–free, on–demand power.

"General Fusion's unique global presence, with facilities in three countries, allows us to be much more ambitious in pushing toward commercialization," said Christofer Mowry, CEO, General Fusion. "Our broad network of national laboratory and industrial partners, together with our advisory council of energy market end–users, positions General Fusion well to help the world achieve its net–zero carbon goals."

General Fusion interacted with, and appreciated the support of, several firms during the Series E financing process, including VAHOCA, based in Singapore, and Disruptive Technology Advisers LLC.

About General Fusion
General Fusion is pursuing the fastest and most practical path to commercial fusion energy and is based in Vancouver, Canada, with locations in London, U.K., and Oak Ridge, Tennessee, U.S.A. The company was established in 2002 and is funded by a global syndicate of leading energy venture capital firms, industry leaders, and technology pioneers. Learn more at www.generalfusion.com.

General Fusion Media Relations
Email: media@generalfusion.com
Phone: 1–866–904–0995

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GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 8403320)

mimik Technology Closes $14.3 Million Extended Series A Funding Round Led by Pier 88

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — mimik Technology, Inc., a pioneer in hybrid edge cloud technology and business solutions, today announced a $14.3 million Series A funding round led by Pier 88 Investment Partners, a San Francisco–based alternative investment management firm. Other participants include Cathie Wood, Founder, CIO and CEO of ARK Invest and member of the mimik Board of Directors, along with existing investors Primera Capital and NLabs. mimik plans to use the funds to expand its global go–to–market operations including sales, solutions delivery, developer outreach, technical training, and partnership development.

mimik's hybrid edgeCloud platform transforms cloud applications from a fixed client–server architecture""where server functionality is limited to servers in data centers and gateways""to a fully distributed architecture, enabling billions of smart client devices to act as servers and delivering nearly endless scalability. The mimik platform enables heterogeneous applications, processes, and devices to autonomously communicate in clusters on the edge regardless of their operating system or network. Because data is processed at the edge, mimik's platform requires significantly less bandwidth and power, reduces cloud hosting costs, is more resilient than traditional client–server architecture, and offers much higher levels of data privacy and security.

"We have spent nearly a decade in R&D, building a platform to address the six major concerns of most developers: speed, cost, security, data privacy, interoperability, and scale," said mimik Founder and CEO Fay Arjomandi. "The mimik platform offers a strong foundation to build sustainable edge cloud services to help accelerate digital transformation and power the hyper–connected digital economy."

"Having invested in next–generation technologies like mobility, cloud computing, and cyber security for nearly two decades, our team is excited about the compelling growth opportunities we see in edge computing," says Frank Timons, Founder and CEO of Pier 88 Investment Partners. "mimik's technology lead and seasoned executive team position the company to capitalize on the next wave of growth for the computing industry as its nuanced device microservice architecture enhances security and privacy while reducing costs of traditional cloud computing solutions."

"Primera Capital has funded some of the world's most transformative technology companies over the past two decades," said Ori Sasson, General Partner, Primera Capital. "We invest in extraordinary products, opportune markets, and daring entrepreneurs with unwavering visions, and with the disruptive potential of their edge platform and strong leadership team, mimik aligns with these key criteria."

"We're thrilled to be working with funding partners such as Pier88, NLabs, Primera Capital and others. They understand the essential benefits of the mimik hybrid edgeCloud platform and the massive market opportunity ahead," said Siavash Alamouti, Executive Chairman of mimik. "We're in the midst of a massive transformation across all industries. The burgeoning hyper–connected economy will be orders of magnitude larger than mobile internet, and mimik's platform will help accelerate this technology revolution and in a much more sustainable way."

To drive the adoption of hybrid edge cloud computing, mimik has established strategic partnerships with leading cloud companies such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and IBM and technology services companies such as Tata Elxsi. The platform has been successfully used to complete digital transformation with a number of companies with impressive results and is now being used by many early–adopter customers and partners. For more information on mimik's hybrid edgeCloud platform, available edge–based microservices, and digital transformation services, visit mimik.com.

About mimik
mimik provides a hybrid edge cloud computing application development platform and business enablers for digital transformation. Developers and enterprises can achieve their business objectives without compromising time to market, cost, scalability, interoperability, data privacy and security, and being locked in proprietary technology stacks. mimik enables hybrid edge native application development that works across ecosystems of devices (iOS, Android, Windows, macOS, Linux, QNX, Raspbian, OpenWRT and smart IoT FreeRTOS sensors), networks, and any private and/or public cloud. The mimik platform is the fastest and most direct way of connecting siloed and fragmented applications from the edge with minimal reliance on middlemen. We can help enterprises save millions of dollars in legacy backend integration while reducing their ongoing operational costs through an edge–in approach. mimik enables systematic digital transformation for a sustainable digital economy to help enterprises secure business leadership in the hyper–connected world. For more information, visit: https://mimik.com and https://developer.mimik.com

Media Contact:
Beth Morrissey
PR@mimik.com


GLOBENEWSWIRE (Distribution ID 8385220)