Led · Seed · Aug 2026

STEMi Makers of Africa focuses on teacher development and scalable learning platforms to deliver practical, project-based STEM education. Its platform includes over 3,000 STEM resources, practical exercises, case studies and lab work that teachers can assess and use as classroom materials. The organisation reports having refined instructional pedagogy for over 10,500 educators and reached more than 270,000 students through its programs. STEMi has received multiple grants and support from U.S. government agencies and partners including the International Telecommunication Union, Mastercard Foundation, Microsoft and Google across several African countries. With the new ten-year $2.5M partnership with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs, STEMi plans to scale teacher upskilling and expand its platforms. The group aims to empower 2,000,000 young Africans with emerging-technology and real-world problem-solving skills by 2030 to improve STEM workforce outcomes.

Led · Equity · Dec 2025

Zipline builds and operates autonomous fixed-wing drone systems to deliver packages, with a track record of medical supply deliveries in Africa and expanding consumer deliveries in the U.S. Its commercial roster includes partners such as Walmart and more than a dozen restaurant brands including Panera, Chipotle, and Wendy’s. The company operates across four continents and has completed about two million deliveries to date. Financially, Zipline closed an extended $800 million Series H earlier this year and was most recently valued at $7.6 billion. Under its new strategic partnership with Uber, Zipline will integrate with Uber Eats and begin deliveries in existing U.S. markets later this year, aiming to scale rapidly toward a target of one million daily deliveries by 2029. The deal is intended to accelerate mainstream adoption by pairing Zipline’s infrastructure and regulatory approvals in select markets with Uber’s on-demand marketplace.

Led · Grant · Nov 2025

Vulcan Elements develops and manufactures rare-earth magnets and is positioning Johnston County, North Carolina, as a production hub. The company plans a new factory in Johnston County that is projected to create approximately 1,000 jobs. It raised $430 million in financing to support that expansion. The project has drawn notable backing from the Trump administration. The articles do not disclose revenue, user metrics, founding year, or other financial details.

Led · Grant · Aug 2023

Talus Bioscience developed MARMOT, a proprietary platform that integrates AI, next‑generation proteomics, synthetic chemistry, and computational biology to discover and optimize modulators of transcription factors. MARMOT uses the company’s dataset for transcription factor activity—the article states it is currently the largest in the world—and enables rapid identification of candidates from billions of compounds in live, unmodified human cells. The platform replaces time‑consuming high‑throughput screens and is designed to discover and optimize modulators for any given transcription factor target. Talus is advancing internal therapeutic programs, including Brachyury‑driven cancers and an undruggable transcription factor implicated in prostate cancer, and is sourcing partners to progress dozens of promising candidates discovered to date. The company employs a growing team of more than a dozen experts across proteomics, biochemistry, computational biology, and machine learning. Talus was founded in 2020 and is based in Seattle. Talus Bioscience is building a drug discovery platform to find compounds that affect transcription factors, proteins that interact with DNA to turn genes on and off. The platform is aimed at targeting transcription factors implicated in cancer and other diseases. Recent grant funding is intended to accelerate development of that discovery platform. The company is led by CEO Alex Federation, a biochemist and computational biologist, and CTO Lindsay Pino, who has expertise in biochemistry and machine learning. Talus has pursued both non-dilutive grant funding and venture capital to advance its work. Financially, the startup has raised venture capital and grant awards to support platform development. Talus Bioscience builds a drug-discovery platform (MARMOT) to find compounds that modulate transcription factors and thereby affect gene activity. The platform purifies transcription factors from hundreds of samples in ~20 minutes and pairs the assays with software to read how compounds change the regulome. Talus is in early exploration of partnerships with biopharma while also working on its own drug targets, including transcription factors implicated in childhood cancer and adult solid tumors. The company was founded in 2020 by Alex Federation and Lindsay Pino out of work at the Altius Institute and the University of Washington. Talus has 13 employees and recently hired Michelle Briscoe as COO. Financially, the company reported $2.75M in NIH small business grants plus $7M in venture funding led by NFX (a $9.75M total raise) and previously received a $255,000 NSF grant and $1.5M in pre-seed VC led by Fifty Years.

Participated · Equity · Jul 2020

Neurovalens is a Belfast-based health‑tech company co-founded in 2015 that develops non-invasive neurostimulation medical devices under its Modius technology. The company has obtained FDA clearance for two products: Modius Sleep for treating insomnia and Modius Calm for managing anxiety; both devices are available for purchase in the US and are being prescribed by healthcare professionals. Neurovalens aims to address global health challenges including insomnia, anxiety and PTSD and plans to extend its product portfolio through additional FDA approvals. The company says the new funding will support commercial expansion across the US and other global healthcare markets, advance its regulatory pipeline, and accelerate sales of its FDA-cleared devices. To date Neurovalens has raised approximately £20m in equity and debt from UK investors. Neurovalens develops noninvasive medical devices that deliver small electrical stimulation to targeted areas of the brain and nervous system. Its Modius Stress device is designed to treat generalized anxiety disorder by delivering a brief, safe electrical pulse to the head for 30 minutes before bed. The company recently secured FDA 510(k) clearance allowing Modius Stress to be sold in the US to patients with a prescription. Neurovalens previously obtained FDA clearance for Modius Sleep in October 2023; that device is already available for sale and being promoted by doctors. The company completed two Phase III/pivotal clinical trials in mid-2023 in the UK/Ireland and India that supported the clearance. Neurovalens has closed a £2.1M funding round with existing investors and has previously raised around £11M in equity from UK investors. Management says the clearance supports plans for continued growth in the US market. Neurovalens develops non-invasive neuro-technology products based on technology created in collaboration with research facilities at the University of California San Diego. The company aims to influence the brainstem and hypothalamus to cure or treat neurological diseases without implanted electrodes. Founded in 2015 by CEO Dr Jason Mckeown, Neurovalens is based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and San Diego, California. It is already in the final phase of trials for an obesity device and is pursuing approvals for insomnia and anxiety devices within the next 12 months. The company plans diabetes trials in 2021. Neurovalens is seeking regulatory approvals from the FDA and EU and intends to use new funding to expand initial clinical trials, develop the technology for other conditions, and hire additional staff. Neurovalens is a Belfast-headquartered medtech company that has developed a headband designed to help users lose weight. Its core product is the weight-loss headband, which the company markets as a consumer health technology. In March 2019 Neurovalens raised £4.6m (€5.4m) in an equity funding round. The raise was described as one of the largest ever generated by a Northern start-up. The round was led by Wharton Asset Management with participation from TechStart Ventures, IQ Capital, Beltrae Partners, Co-Fund NI and the Angel CoFund. Neurovalens was founded in 2015 by Dr Jason McKeown and neuroscientist Paul McGeoch and was named Northern Ireland’s best start-up in the Invest NI Propel Programme awards that year. Neurovalens develops Modius, a wearable headset that aims to help users achieve leaner, healthier bodies through vestibular nerve stimulation. The company completed a $1.57M Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign with 4,000 backers across more than 80 countries. It plans to use the funds to invest in additional research and further develop Modius. Neurovalens intends to launch sales via its website in early 2018 and to be present at CES 2018. Founded in 2015 by Dr. Paul McGeoch and Dr. Jason McKeown, the company operates from dual headquarters in Belfast, Northern Ireland and San Diego, California. To date it has raised £1.4 million in VC funding.