Summer has come and it’s the right time to read less technical news and have a little fun.
If so, you may have missed a few intriguing capital raises this month. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with what caught our eye — starting with an eye-related startup.
Check your eyes
Typically when we talk about healthcare and AI, we are referring to biotechnology using AI to enhance therapies or aid in the clinical trial process.
However, Okobot has frozen $6 million this month, led by AlleyCorp AND Ubiquity ventures for a different business model. A Boston startup desires to build a network of AI-equipped kiosks that provide 90-second eye exams
Yes, self-service, quick eye tests without an optometrist. Hey, we scan our own groceries, why not turn out to be our own eye doctor? The prescription the kiosk spits out is actually finalized by a teledoctor, but it still eliminates the need for a traditional visit to the eye doctor — which may be a good thing, considering optometry labor shortage.
The startup plans to roll out its kiosks – which appear to be old-school slot machines – in places like shopping malls and pharmacies in October in the Northeast, before launching next yr.
Be cautious!
Voice prompts
Now I’m moving from trying to talking Canarian speech is next on the list after raising $13 million in a Series A funding round led by Capital cuts.
Provo, Utah-based AI-powered healthtech startup uses patented voice evaluation to screen for mental health and neurological disorders.
Canary’s vocal biomarker technology can capture and analyze speech data in seconds to discover abnormal behavioral and cognitive changes – exceeding current clinical testing standards and avoiding noticeable symptoms of diseases resembling anxiety, depression and dementia.
Canary’s ambient listening tools not only allow for the assessment of a patient’s health, but also allow for the simultaneous assessment of the health of physicians – which is more necessary than ever before in American Medical Association reporting that at the end of 2021, almost 63% of physicians experienced symptoms of burnout.
AI for social media
Have you ever felt lonely on social media and needed a friend?
Well, now you can just create it — or at least the AI.
Butterflies.AI closed a $4.8 million seed round led by Coat In June. The Bellevue, Washington-based startup is creating a social media platform where humans and AI can “coexist,” allowing users to create AI friends.
The platform relies on AI models to assist users create a new “friend” in minutes. AI people are fully developed with profile, history and even emotions. They can then create and interact with other people and AI characters on the platform.
Honestly, we do not really understand this concept. Isn’t the purpose of social media to have a conversation with individuals who don’t think like you? Not to make/create friendships.
Moving beyond the echo chamber
The way people eat news and where they get their information has modified significantly in recent a long time.
Many news outlets disappeared and newspapers all but died. People seem very glad to have their news delivered only the way they need it, based on the opinions they share.
That’s why the news reader was launched Particles.News caught our attention this month. The Northern California-based startup is looking for partnerships with publishers where its AI wouldn’t just summarize news, but would actually help the reader delve deeper into stories and understand different points of view by using AI to summarize stories from different publishers.
This month, investors took notice of the business model, locking in a $10.9 million Series A round at the lead Lightspeed Project Partners.
She also signed a contract with Reuters be a source of knowledge content for your website.
It will likely be interesting to see where this leads. Many are under the impression that individuals simply wish to read the news in their very own echo chamber. Perhaps there is more to it.
This is (not) a tire fire
We’ve all driven past a tire yard and all the used rubber was just an eyesore.
All right, LDCoal has locked in $28 million in Series C funding to assist it cope. The new round was led by Toyotasgrowth fund, Woven capital.
The Seoul, South Korea-based company has developed technology to recycle used tires and other automotive parts to get better soot and pyrolysis oil.
These products, in turn, will be used to create new automotive parts and tires—and the cycle continues. The company is trying to unravel a major pollution problem that results from burning old cars and tires—while also helping automakers meet sustainability goals and regulatory requirements.
The company is in the strategy of building the largest tire pyrolysis plant in Asia and says its pyrolysis and materials recovery process ensures almost 100% recovery of used tires.