LocalGlobe led the seed investment in the virtual venue platform, with participation from several prominent angels and firms.
"Once the pandemic hit, we both saw productivity surge in our respective teams but at the same time, people were missing the in-office culture. Video conferencing platforms provide a great service when it comes to meetings, but they lack the spontaneity and fun that form the basis of our relationships. Cosmos is a way to bring back that human connection that we’re lacking when we spend all day online, by providing a virtual world where you can play a game of Pictionary after work with colleagues or gather round a table to celebrate a friend’s birthday."
LocalGlobe and Sands Capital Ventures led the financing round, which will fund research and quality control expansion.
"Most of the world’s videos – billions of hours of content – are shackled to a single language. And that’s for a simple reason – quality dubbing is prohibitively expensive and time-consuming, so current solutions only work for a select group of deep-pocketed content owners. Speech translation technology fundamentally changes the dynamics of how content is distributed and monetised. The technology we created will level the playing field – allowing all forms of video and audio to be consumed in any language, therefore vastly multiplying the potential reach for all content creators."
Anthemis Exponential Ventures led the seed round with participation from APEX Ventures and Entrepreneur First.
"The current pandemic vividly shows the need for digital, non-invasive technologies for clinical diagnosis and monitoring. Clinical trials are on hold, with regulators advising on the use of novel remote endpoints to salvage the trials. At the same time, the shift towards telemedicine models is further accelerating the adoption of digital technologies in the health care sectors. Novoic–with its next generation algorithms and strong focus on clinical validation–is best positioned to drive this acceleration."
AlbionVC leads Series A round in challenger credit bureau Credit Kudos.
"In these challenging times, it’s more important than ever that people have access to the right financial products. We believe open banking will soon be the standard for credit assessments and, as the first regulated Credit Reference Agency with the capability to measure creditworthiness using open banking data alone, we are in a fantastic position to provide a service that is needed now more than ever."
