Participated · Seed · Aug 2023

EMTECH provides software, data and services that connect central banks to other regulators and financial services providers, with platforms that power regulatory data exchange, compliance, supervision, currency issuance and currency movement. Its offerings focus on digital cash, regulatory sandboxes, compliance, accelerating payments and settlement times, and driving financial inclusion. The company is founded and led by Carmelle Cadet, a former IBM Blockchain executive. EMTECH aims to help central banks modernize payments systems, enhance supervisory capabilities, and develop infrastructure needed for tokenization and central bank digital currency. As part of a strategic partnership, Accenture will integrate EMTECH products into its core banking transformation services and EMTECH will join Accenture Ventures' Project Spotlight. Terms of the investment were not disclosed. Emtech develops central bank digital currency (CBDC) infrastructure and a CBDC Innovation Kit aimed at fintech platforms and financial service providers. The firm announced the launch of its CBDC Innovation Kit last month and says it will support experimentation with virtual-currency solutions backed by reserve banks. Emtech is continuing development of its CBDC technology stack alongside its Regtech offerings and plans to launch an initial version of a CBDC platform in late 2023, according to founder Carmelle Cadet. The company is headquartered in New York. Financially, Emtech announced a $4 million investment led by Matrix Partners India and said the latest round brings total investments to $10 million. The round included contributions from BTN, Equity Alliance, LoftyInc Capital and Vested and joins existing backers Noemis Ventures, Octerra Capital and 500 Global. Emtech provides a digital regulatory platform that includes an innovator’s center and a regulatory sandbox to help fintechs prepare, test, and integrate with multiple regulators. The platform supports pre-market technical integration via regulatory reporting APIs, live reporting of data, and cross-regulator collaboration to enable cross-border innovation and financial inclusion. After a pilot in Ghana, Emtech signed five agreements with central banks across Africa and the Caribbean and has moved into production. The startup raised $4 million in seed funding from a group of investors to support that expansion. Founder and CEO Carmelle Cadet launched the company in 2019 and says Emtech plans to be working with at least 10 central banks by the end of the year. Emtech also plans to introduce a CBDC platform for regulators, partnering with Hedera Hashgraph to build a high-performance, energy-efficient solution.

Participated · Seed · Jun 2021

Qwoted is a freemium CommTech platform that uses AI to match journalists with vetted sources, PRs, and small businesses to streamline media sourcing and reduce off-target pitches. The platform reports nearly 40,000 users to date, including over 200 paying users, and lists customers such as Salesforce, IBM, Bank of America, Edelman and major universities. Qwoted says its revenues have grown nearly 2,000% over the past 12 months. Since launching in April 2019 the company has prioritized helping small businesses via a Small Business Hub and maintains a media advisory board of reporters and journalism experts to guide product development. Qwoted plans to use the new funding to enhance its technology capabilities and to hire sales, marketing and media-success talent to build brand awareness and onboard new customers. Qwoted is a freemium business expert platform created by Vested that connects reporters with PR professionals and vetted sources. Launched in Q3 last year as a separate entity using technology developed by Vested, it enables reporters from major outlets to submit expert source requests—over 1,000 requests have been submitted to date. Agency users include representatives from Weber Shandwick, Edelman, Hill & Knowlton, FleishmanHillard and FTI. The platform offers no-cost subscriptions with robust features and premium tiers that unlock the full suite of capabilities for communications professionals. Prosek Ventures has made a strategic investment to accelerate development of new features and to fund sales, marketing, and customer service. Terms of the investment were not disclosed and Qwoted will be governed by a five-person board including Dan Simon, Binna Kim and Seth Rosenstein alongside new appointees Jennifer Prosek and Russell Sherman.