💸 Carmen Palacios-Berraquero's Nu Quantum Secures £7M in Pre-Series A funding
FemWealth Issue #134
Hi FemWealth Friends!
In today’s edition: Carmen Palacios-Berraquero’s Nu Quantum secures £7 million in Pre-Series A funding; Anne Dwane’s Global Village raises $250 million for its third fund focused on Seed and Pre-Seed deals; Zoe Weinberg launches ex/ante with $33 million in capital commitments to focus on “agentic tech”; Phoebe Philo, former Celine and Chloé creative director, returns to the fashion industry with the launch of her eponymous brand; and more.
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In the Spotlight 💸
Co-founded and led by Carmen Palacios-Berraquero, Cambridge-based quantum networking firm Nu Quantum aims to build the entanglement fabric essential to scaling quantum computers. It secured £7 million in a Pre-Series A funding round to accelerate product rollout and expand partnerships.
Amadeus Captial Partners, IQ Captial, and Expeditions Fund co-led the round, joined by Ahren Capital, Seraphim Capital, The University of Cambridge, Martlet, Presidio Ventures, the National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF), and Deeptech Labs.
Read more: Nu Quantum raises £7M in Pre-Series A funding round for quantum networking
FemWealth Favourites ❤️
Procurement management software startup Oro Labs lands $34M investment - Co-founded by Lalitha Rajagopalan, Oro Labs’ platform is designed to orchestrate procurement and supplier management flows across disparate systems and data. The US-based company secured $34 million in a Series B round led by Felicis and joined by Norwest Venture Partners, B Capital, and XYZ Venture Capital.
Betteromics raises $20 million in Series A financing, led by Sofinnova Partners and Triatomic Capital - Founded and led by Angela Lai, the California-based company developed a clinical-grade compliant Software-as-a-Service platform that empowers life sciences professionals with the latest AI and computational techniques. It raised $20 million in a Series A financing round led by Sofinnova Partners and Triatomic Capital, with participation from SHAKTI.
Aqtual bags $16m for precision medicine platform, initiates rheumatoid arthritis trial - Led by Dr Diana Abdueva, the California-based precision medicine company is developing diagnostic solutions for chronic diseases and oncology through its “cell-free” DNA platform. It secured $16 million in Series A funding, co-led by Genoa Ventures, Manta Ray Ventures, and Yu Galaxy.
When generative AI cyberthreats arrive, Wraithwatch will be ready and waiting - Co-founded by Grace Clemente (President), Wraithwatch aims to build the next generation of cyber defense. The US-based company raised an $8 million Seed round led by Founders Fund, with participation by XYZ Capital and Human Capital.
Egyptian health tech Almouneer raises $3.6M to scale its platform for treating diabetes and obesity - Co-founded by Noha Khater (CEO) and Rania Kadry (CTO), Almouneer’s platform connects patients with doctors and an extensive network of healthcare providers. It secured $3.6 million in funding led by Global Ventures, alongside Proparco and Digital Africa via the Bridge Fund, Wrightwood Investments, and other international funds.
Stockpress Raises $1.8M in Seed Funding - Co-founded by Jessica Storry (CEO) and Kamila Romanowska (Chief Creative Officer), the US-based company provides distributed teams with a platform to manage file management and eliminate the friction of distributing digital media and activating partnerships through scalable team collaboration. It raised a $1.8 million Seed round led by Argon Ventures, including York IE, Two Lanterns VC, and The Fund XX/Everywhere Ventures Stage 2 Capital, and deftly.vc.
Barcelona-based sportstech Lapso Studios snaps €1.5 million to speed up expansion in the rest of Spain - Co-founded and led by Eugenia Llopart, the sportstech combines cycling, coaching, and dance to offer a healthy all-round training experience. Thomas Meyer, founder of Desigual through his family office “La Vida es Chula” led the company’s first funding round.
Finnish startup Kausal secures funding to boost climate action plans in cities - Co-founded and led by Sonja-Maria Ignatius, the climatetech platform provides climate action plan information for cities and governments. It raised an €880,000 Seed funding round from Innovestor and Zubi Capital.
VC: Bill Gates, Michael Dell Back $250 Million Village Global Fund - Co-founded and co-led by Anne Dwane, the US-based firm raised $250 million for its third fund focused on Seed and Pre-Seed deals.
Norrsken22’s debut fund closes at $205M to back growth-stage startups in Africa - Co-led by Managing Partner Natalie Kolbe and General Partner Lexi Novitske, Norrsken22 raised a debut fund of $205 million to invest in Series A and B startups in Africa. The fund will focus on fintech, edtech, medtech/health tech, and market-enabling technologies.
Ex/Ante, VC Firm Focused On Online Privacy And Security, Raises $33 Million - Founded and led by Zoe Weinberg, New York-based firm (spun out of a public-benefit venture group from billionaire Eric Schmidt) ex/ante secured $33 million in capital commitments to focus on “agentic tech,” i.e., technology that relates to human agency and rights in the digital age. It will invest in Pre-Seed and Seed-stage startups. Cendana Capital, Marc Andreessen, the Ford Foundation, and Union Square Ventures are among the firm’s backers.
Ex-Meta COO Sandberg Sets Up Venture Investment Firm with Husband - Sheryl Sandberg, former chief operating officer at Meta Platforms and Chairperson of LeanIn.org, and her husband Tom Bernthal launched Sandberg Bernthal Venture Partners, an investment firm aiming to fund businesses in various sectors.
Fashion: ‘Reputation precedes her’: Phoebe Philo nearly sells out exclusive collection - Phoebe Philo, former Celine and Chloé creative director, returned to the fashion industry with the launch of her eponymous brand.
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Until next Sunday,
Anamaria
Founder & Writer of FemWealth