AlleyCorp in Q3: The AI Hype Continues
Our positions in AI, along with new investments, initiatives and more from AlleyCorp.
Note from Kevin
AI has been touted as the next industrial revolution. It’s drawn comparisons to space exploration, the creation of the internet, and even the discovery of electricity.
We know AI is going to work. There’s no question, it will have a massive impact. But what’s become clear is that we don’t know why and we don’t know when.
In many ways, it follows the script of driverless cars that we’ve seen play out over the last decade. None of us debate whether driverless cars will exist, but where venture got it wrong is that it’s taken longer than everyone thought.
That may be the case with AI.
Right now in VC, the short answer is that no one really knows, and that’s why you’re seeing so much funding go toward AI companies.
If you just invested in the 20 hottest Internet companies in ‘98, you won, because you were making one bet and that was whether the Internet was going to work.
In thirty years, I’ve never seen more capital available, with private rounds 5,000 times the size of Apple’s IPO. At the same time, I’ve never seen a shortage of talent like the one we’re seeing in AI, and it will take years for the industry to develop enough PhDs and heads of product to keep up with demand.
You’ve heard about our vision for Radical AI in materials science, something that I think can be huge. We were the first investor in Altana, an AI company that just became a unicorn by mapping data to better manage supply chains. We’ve also been bullish on Rogo, a Gen AI platform for financial analysts that is already being used by 25+ of the leading public investment banks, private equity firms, and hedge funds.
All three companies aim to solve real things with AI, not just co-piloting solutions.
Again, there’s no debate that AI can and will be effective. It just might take several more years than the hype will lead you to believe.
New Investments
AlleyCorp co-led Coral Care’s $5.2M seed round alongside Reach Capital. Grey Matter, Purpose Built Ventures, Mother Ventures, Charge Capital and Hustle also participated in the round. Coral Care connects families to childhood development specialists such as speech language pathologists, occupational therapists and physical therapists who conduct sessions in the home. The company will use the funds to expand outside of Massachusetts into New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Texas.
AlleyCorp led Barte’s $8M Series A as the fintech company continues to scale its payments solutions across Brazil. Since their seed round 1.5 years ago, Barte is now well over $10 million in annualized revenue.
Portfolio Fundraises in Q3
Altana announced a $200M Series C (Forbes) led by the U.S. Innovative Technology Fund, reaching unicorn status with a valuation of $1B. Investors include AlleyCorp along with Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management, March Capital, Salesforce Ventures, GV, and Activate Capital.
Rogo announced a $18.5M Series A (Fortune) led by Khosla Ventures with participation from AlleyCorp and new investors: AltCapital, Original Capital, and The Chainsmokers’ Mantis VC.
Thyme Care announced a $95M Series C (Fierce Healthcare) with backing from AlleyCorp, a16z, CVS Health Ventures, Town Hall Ventures, Echo Health Ventures, Frist Cressey Ventures, and Foresite Capital.
Clarium announced a $10.5M raise (Modern Healthcare) led by General Catalyst, with backing from AlleyCorp and the venture arms of Kaiser Permanente, Yale New Haven Health, and Texas Medical Center.
Carmoola secured a £100M debt deal with NatWest.
Recent & Upcoming Events
Senator Amy Klobuchar
In September, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar stopped by the AlleyCorp office to sit down with 25 New York-based founders and VCs for a conversation on tech policy and the upcoming election.
DHNY
Our third annual Digital Health New York Summit brought together 400+ digital health leaders from across the country. Speakers included inspiring conversations from the C-suite of Northwell Health, Mount Sinai Health System, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, Humana, Aetna, Amazon, and Microsoft on the progress and future of technology in healthcare.
Healing, Innovation and Public Service: A Conversation w/ Senator Bill Frist, MD
At the end of October, AlleyCorp General Partner Brenton Fargnoli, MD will host a very special Doctorpreneur gathering with Senator Bill Frist, MD. One Medical and Galileo founder, Tom X Lee, will also join the program as we bring together top physician leaders throughout NYC.
D/OC: Truth in Medicine
Our inaugural longevity sciences and innovation conference kicks off in Napa later this month, with more than 200 leaders attending, from doctors and renowned scientists to venture capitalists, CEOs, and tech leaders.
D/OC’s purpose is to deepen our understanding of actionable insights in long-term health.
Peerless
Building on the success of our inaugural program, AlleyCorp and Management Leadership for Tomorrow will be opening applications on October 15th for our next round of PEERLESS, a program designed for exceptional founders that culminates with a $1M pitch competition.
We’re encouraging applications from founders with distinct perspectives and backgrounds, including Black, Latine, Native American and Female founders who have raised less than $2M to date. Special thanks to Pillsbury, JPMorgan, Citrin Cooperman, and Google for their partnership.
AlleyCorp in the News
The second episode of This Won’t Last, a monthly podcast featuring Kevin Ryan, Keith Rabois, Logan Bartlett and Zach Weinberg, dropped on Oct. 4th. The conversation featured a deep analysis of OpenAI, as well as the delicate balance between social media and disinformation.
Kevin Ryan has had a long and storied career as a pivotal force of New York City tech.
Kevin joined TechCrunch for a virtual fireside chat with 200+ founders and CEOs participating in their upcoming Startup Battlefield competition. Kevin gave advice on pivotal moments that can define a company’s success.
TechCrunch: New York tech investor and serial entrepreneur Kevin Ryan explains when to sell your company
There have been over 4 million fewer cancer-related deaths in the United States since 1991, yet younger and younger populations are getting diagnosed with cancers every year.
General Partner Brenton Fargnoli, MD will be moderating a panel on cancer care at HLTH in Las Vegas on October 20th. The conversation will examine innovations being made in cancer care, and where there is still much more work to be done.
"I want to demonstrate that the magic that happened in Massachusetts is replicable across geographies."
General Partner Tanya Beja shared her insights on the future of child development care in this Axios story highlighting our investment in Coral Care.
““We are people who love going from zero to one…We’re operators. We’re builders.”
General Partner Abe Murray joined the Smart Venture podcast (and a stream on LinkedIn Live) to discuss the state of Deep Tech investing.
“Technical mentorship matters, and it’s an accessible way for any seasoned engineering leader to help a nonprofit.”
AlleyCorp Nord CEO Florencia Herra Vega penned an op-ed for Built In that highlighted our Nonprofit ENG(INE) initiative and the past impact we’ve been able to make through the program.
Portfolio Companies in the News
Aescape and their world’s most advanced massage was featured just about everywhere - from The New York Times and The Tonight Show with Stephen Colbert to Vogue and Fast Company’s Innovation by Design List.
Glacier founder Rebecca Hu was profiled in a Q&A for Forbes’ Climate newsletter.
Yuvo Health was named to the Fierce 50 of 2024 (Fierce Healthcare’s annual list of the 50 most meaningful people and companies driving change in the industry).
Clarium Health was highlighted in Business Insider’s list of the most promising healthcare AI startups in 2024.
ShopMy founder Harry Rein was named one of Beauty Matters’ 2024 Innovators of the Year. The company was also featured in The Information last week.
Tough Leaf’s Series A was featured in Crain’s as part of their “Chasing Giants” series.
368 Broome Street
Space is quickly filling up at our new office building in NYC (368 Broome Street). If you’re a tech or VC company interested in learning more about flexible workspace options, or a half / full floor lease, please reply or indicate your interest here and a member of our team will be in touch.