North America

VC-backed Jelli taps Knopke as chief revenue officer

San Mateo, California-based Jelli, a programmatic platform for audio, has appointed Rich Knopke as chief revenue officer. Also, the company has promoted Torsten Schulz to chief product officer and senior vice president of engineering and Eric Ronning to senior vice president of strategic accounts. Jelli's backers include Relay Ventures, Intel Capital and First Round Capital.

Passage AI grabs $7.3 mln Series A

Mountain View, California-based Passage AI, a provider of AI-powered conversational interfaces, has raised $7.3 million in Series A financing. Blumberg Capital led the round. In conjunction with the funding, Bruce Taragin, a managing director at Blumberg Capital, will join Passage AI's board of directors.

Soft Robotics inks $20 mln

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Soft Robotics, an industrial robotics company, has raised $20 million in funding. Hyperplane Venture Capital led the round with participation from other investors that included Scale Venture Partners, Calibrate Ventures, Honeywell Ventures, Tekfen Ventures, Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd, ABB Technology Ventures, Taylor Farms Ventures and Haiyin Capital. In addition to the funding, Rory O'Driscoll from Scale Venture Partners and Kevin Dunlap from Calibrate Ventures have been added to Soft Robotics' board of directors.

Trident Capital Cybersecurity rebrands as ForgePoint Capital

Trident Capital Cybersecurity, an early-stage venture firm focused on cybersecurity, has changed its name to Forgepoint Capital. Trident Capital Cybersecurity was formed in 2015.

Brazilian shipping company Mandaê rakes in $7.1 mln Series B

Brazilian shipping company Mandaê has raised $7.1 million in Series B funding. IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, led the round with participation from other investors that included UPS Strategic Enterprise Fund, Mercado Libre Fund, Tekton Ventures, FJ Labs, Performa Investimentos, Qualcomm Ventures, Monashees and Icon Holding Company.

Azitra pockets $2.15 mln

Farmington, Connecticut-based Azitra Inc, a biotech company focused on harnessing the microbiome to treat skin disease, has raised $2.15 million in financing. Connecticut Innovations and Bios Partners were the lead investors. Also, KdT Ventures participated in the round.

Avedro lands $25 mln

Avedro Inc, an ophthalmic pharmaceutical and medical device company, has secured $25 million in financing. Lilly Asia Ventures led the round with participation from return backers OrbiMed Advisors, InterWest Partners and HealthQuest Capital.

VC-backed PeerStreet hires chief real estate officer

California-based PeerStreet, a platform for investing in real estate backed loans, has named John Devereux as chief real estate officer. Devereux is a former executive vice president and head of commercial real estate at OneWest Bank and ex-principal at Colony Capital. PeerStreet is backed by Andreessen Horowitz.

Namogoo nets $15 mln Series B

Boston and Israel-based Namogoo, a provider of technology that prevents outside ads from hijacking ecommerce sites, has raised $15 million in Series B funding. Hanaco Venture Capital led the round with participation from GreatPoint Ventures, Blumberg Capital and Inimiti Capital. In addition to the funding, Alon Lifshitz, a general partner at Hanaco, will join the Namogoo board.

Pritzker Group Venture Capital adds three venture partners to team

Pritzker Group Venture Capital has named Dr. Pat Basu, David Schonthal and Craig Wortmann as venture partners. Recently, Basu was senior vice president for Optum and UnitedHealth Group while Schonthal is a professor of innovation and entrepreneurship at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. And, Wortmann is the founder and executive director of the Kellogg Sales Institute.