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STARTUPS & INNOVATIONS

FINANCING

Fuel50, a talent retention and recruitment software company, raised a $15.5 million round of financing this month.
 
The Series B round brings the Laguna Niguel-based firm’s total funding to $28.2 million to date. The new investment was led by PeakSpan Capital and Shearwater Capital.

 
“Fuel50 is accelerating plans to deliver executive-level talent intelligence dashboards to help business leaders hone in key talent, understand their strengths and weaknesses, as well as future-proof their workforce at the touch of a button,” co-founder and Chief Executive Anne Fulton said

 
Funds will be used to expand and enhance product offerings with artificial intelligence and data analytics to pair employees with ideal positions and growth opportunities, the company said.

 
Fuel50 saw 70% growth in recurring revenue and grew its customer base by 23% in 2020 compared to 2019, it said. Customers include Citi, Indeed, Fidelity Investments and Vanguard Group.  


Companies using Fuel50 saw increases up to 65% in lateral movement, 35% in internal recruitment, and a reduction of 60% in employee churn, the company said. 

Blaze, a Newport Beach-based cannabis-focused software company, recently closed an $8 million Series A round of financing led by Delta Emerald Ventures.
 
The company’s platform aids dispensaries, delivery services, distributers and cultivators with software modules across cannabis production and sales. It also ensures compliance with local laws and taxes.

 
Funds will support product development, sales and marketing efforts as the company seeks to expand in emerging states with legal cannabis markets, it said.

 
“We are an inventory management system—the heart of a cannabis business,” Chief Executive Chris Violas, 30, said. “Our ability to go vertical across the entire supply chain makes us different.”  


Blaze, which began in 2017, said it has facilitated over $1 billion in annualized gross merchandise sales with over 350 operators across 15 states.

 
The company has 33 employess and has raised $9.5 million since inception from Delta Emerald, Ace One Ventures and SOJE Capital.

Insight Medical Systems Inc., the developer of a wearable surgical navigation system, recently raised an $8 million round of financing, according to regulatory filings.
 
The round brings the Laguna Hills-based company’s funding north of $10 million.

 
Past investors have included Tech Coast Angels via its OC 2020 fund. The angel group recently accepted an offer that netted investors a 3.5x return on capital, which yielded an internal rate of return of 251%.


New investors in Insight Medical include DJO, a subsidiary of medical technology provider Colfax Corp.


Funds will support commercialization of the company’s first product, called ARVIS, which is an augmented reality headset with tracking cameras, a 3D display, and a hands-free interface designed to help guide surgeons during hip and knee reconstruction or replacement.

 
“The Insight team has developed an impressive 3D AR technology that tracks the surgeon’s viewpoint and delivers navigation and patient-specific information right at the surgical site in a highly efficient and seamless workflow,” Louis Vogt, president and general manager of DJO Surgical said.

 
ARVIS will launch through DJO’s sales channel in the second half of 2021, the companies said.

ACQUISITION

Tenex Health of Lake Forest was acquired by Pennsylvania-based Trice Medical this month.
 
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

 
Tenex Health, founded in 2009, is the developer of a minimally invasive treatment for chronic tendon pain. The company’s device uses ultrasonic energy to remove diseased tissue and restore musculoskeletal function.

 
Tenex treatments were used for more than 117,000 procedures since its market launch in 2011, and it raised about $18.5 million in funding since inception, according to regulatory filings.

 
Trice will add Tenex’s technology to its portfolio of orthopedic products, which also includes a portable, tablet-based imaging device and an endoscopic carpal tunnel release system.

 
“We believe there are several extremity procedures that can be driven further down the chain into procedure rooms, without the need for the infrastructure, staff and cost of operating rooms,” Mark Foster, chief executive of Trice Medical said.

 
“Our mission is to provide products that can help with this transition.”

LAUNCH

Subchondral Solutions Inc. of Huntington Beach is launching its BioActive Joint products in all 50 states in the U.S. through an orthopedic distribution network of over 100 sales representatives.
 
The company, founded in 2015, is the developer of a procedure called the S-Core that uses bioactive titanium implants to restore the structural foundation of bones in the hand, foot, elbow, ankle, knee, hip and shoulder.

 
The technology can serve as a “platform for the body to heal and deliver biologics,” co-founder Derek Dee said.

 
The minimally invasive procedure takes about 30 to 45 minutes in an outpatient setting and replaces commonly used micro-fracture procedures. Micro-fracture, which creates scar tissue to cover cartilage bone areas, causes damage to the bone over time and can lead to full-blown arthritis, Dee said.


BioActive, which has raised about $3 million since inception, said demand has exceeded expectations since its federal clearance and subsequent launch last April.

 
Chief Executive Thomas Kinder said it expects to “unseat the market leader in the foot and ankle space by the end of the year.”

PARTNERSHIPS

Irvine-based Immerse Inc., the creator of a virtual reality language learning platform, recently closed a contract with EC Language Schools.
 
EC Language Schools, a Malta-based collection of 20 schools, is using the company’s technology to replicate communication-based education in a remote setting. It is currently offering English lessons for students 11 to 17 years old.

 
The new contract is just one sign of growth for Immerse in recent months.

 
The company closed a $1.5 million Series A round of financing in August. Since then, it has nabbed pilot agreements with 13 of the 25 largest private English teaching companies in the world, allowing it to reach about 15,000 classrooms and 600,000 students.  


In addition, Immerse recently updated its platform to allow curriculum designers to create their own lessons and share them with teachers across their organization.

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