EarlyBird Education Raises Funding for Game-Based Pre-Literacy Assessment

Based in Boston, EarlyBird is a literacy assessment tool that can screen for both dyslexia and literacy challenges in early childhood education when intervention is most effective. Developed by leading researchers at Harvard’s Boston Children’s Hospital and the Florida Center for Reading Research, the interactive app has contributed to the ability for educators to predict later reading success and point teachers towards appropriate interventions.

This year, the Company closed a $1.5 million USD Seed round to support the commercial launch of their product, with the participation of Amplify Capital, Flare Capital Partners, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Solve Innovation Future.

“Despite an intense focus on reading for decades in U.S. schools, identification and intervention for struggling readers often comes too late, resulting in negative academic, social-emotional, and societal impacts. Our funding partners come from the worlds of education, health, and technology, and are keenly interested in transforming the way educators, parents, and physicians identify and support children at risk for reading difficulties.”

-Carla Small, co-founder and CEO of EarlyBird

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From Fund I to Fund II: our learnings

From Fund I to Fund II: our learnings

It has been almost five years since our first investment from our Fund I. Since then, we have doubled the team size, achieved great social and environmental impact, invested in 16 companies, of which one exited, and reviewed over 1,200 investment opportunities. Building on the success from our Fund I, we have even bigger ambitions for our Fund II. It’s an exciting time for Amplify Capital.

As countries reaffirm their climate goals, Hydrostor gains global traction

As countries reaffirm their climate goals, Hydrostor gains global traction

This week, the European Commission released an anticipated first look into a long set of proposals, which will bring the continent closer to its European Green Deal objective of climate neutrality by 2050. This new set of proposals, titled Fit for 55, is nothing short of ambitious. It aims to reduce emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.

Celebrating Canada’s venture sector

Celebrating Canada’s venture sector

A week ago, Canadians, border to border, celebrated or reflected on Canada Day. We hope your day was filled with maple syrup, Tim Hortons, and passionate discussions about the National Hockey League series. We wanted to highlight why Canada is not only a wonderful place to live, but also a wonderful place to invest.

Smoking Cessation Startup Ditch Labs Completes $1.3 Million Seed Round to Solve Nicotine Addiction and Tobacco Use

Ditch Labs, a Montreal-based precision medicine company, is developing a new smoking cessation system and just completed a $1.3 million round of funding.

The Montreal-based startup closed a Seed round in May 2021 with the participation of Amplify Capital, Desjardins Capital, Boreal Ventures, Anges Québec, Formentera Capital, the Healthcare innovation arm of Symphony Care Network, along with renowned tech entrepreneurs such as Cherif Habib (CEO of Dialogue) and Simon de Beane (CEO of GSoft), among others.

“Part of the problem is that current smoking cessation products seek to treat a very complex addiction with a one-size-fits-all approach. Ditch is the first solution to adapt its treatment in real-time, based on craving intensity and behavioral feedback.”

— Laurent Laferriere, co-founder & CEO, Ditch Labs

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Kathryn Wortsman with Collision on Proving That Impact Investing is Truly a Financial Advantage

Kathryn Wortsman with Collision on Proving That Impact Investing is Truly a Financial Advantage

“IMPACT-FOCUSED VENTURE CAPITAL IS PLAYING A GROWING ROLE IN DEVELOPING A MORE SUSTAINABLE AND EQUITABLE WORLD AND YIELDING TOP DECILE FINANCIAL RETURNS. AS WE COUNT DOWN TO COLLISION 2021, WE CAUGHT UP WITH AMPLIFY CAPITAL MANAGING PARTNER KATHRYN WORTSMAN TO TALK ABOUT HOW THE INDUSTRY HAS GROWN.”

Inkblot Therapy, an early Amplify Capital portfolio company, is acquired by Green Shield Canada

Green Shield Acquires Inkblot Technologies, Canada's Fastest Growing Virtual Mental Health Platform

Amplify Capital invested in Inkblot Technologies in early 2019 as its first institutional investor. We joined the Board and continued to support the Company through to this acquisition. We’re excited to see Inkblot enter the next phase of growth in providing quality mental health therapy for all.

Read more about the acquisition in the source link.

https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/76528/Green-Shield-Acquires-Inkblot-Technologies-Canadas-Fastest-Growing-Virtual-Mental-Health-Platform

Verto Health Raises $2M CAD Seed Round To Better Connect Healthcare Providers, Patients

TORONTO, August 27, 2020 /Betakit/ -- Toronto-based healthtech startup Verto Health has closed a $2 million CAD seed round led by MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund (MaRS IAF).

The round also included financing from Verstra Ventures, Amplify Capital, and undisclosed strategic investors in digital health.

COVID-19 has only accelerated digital transformation in healthcare.

Verto aims to improve clinical workflow by connecting healthcare providers and patients. The startup’s platform uses “digital twin technology,” which creates virtual replicas of physical entities, like bodies or devices.

The company said it plans to use the new capital to grow its sales and marketing teams across North America, develop its products, and scale-up operational support “to address significantly increasing demand.” Verto told BetaKit investors have committed to providing additional support if required.

“Digital twin technology has been deployed in other industries to improve data sharing, interoperability and efficiency and I was confident that similar technology could be applied to the healthcare sector,” said Michael Millar, Verto Health’s founder and CEO.

Millar founded Verto Health in 2017, following 15 years spent working in healthcare information technology, during which he noticed healthcare organizations struggled with clinical workflow issues as they built out digital patient records, given that different providers use different systems.

Verto’s software integrates with existing hospital and laboratory information systems, electronic medical records (EMR), mobile app data, and various other devices. The company claims its platform makes patient care information easier and less costly to access, improving patient outcomes and experiences.

The startup aims to address interoperability (the ability of systems to exchange and make use of information) and care coordination, without the use of “expensive or disruptive” EMR upgrades. According to Verto, its platform is currently used by over 50 hospitals, clinics, and long-term care facilities across North America, and has served over 120,000 patients.

“What piqued our interest in Verto was its ability to address the decades-old interoperability and care coordination problems in healthcare without modifying existing EMRs or workflows,” said Matan Hazanov, VP of Vestra Ventures.

“COVID-19 has only accelerated digital transformation in healthcare, so we looked to partner with leading investors to support our rapid growth,” Verto’s CEO added.

Verto supports virtual care, streamlines data collection, allows for coordination between healthcare facilities, and acts as a patient engagement hub. For instance, Verto’s tech allows long-term care providers to access patient’s full medical histories from different hospital and laboratory information systems with ease, enabling them to offer more personalized care.

“Healthcare is undergoing a rapid shift away from ‘one-size-fits-all’ experiences towards a future where the best patient outcomes are personalized and specific to each of us,” said Craig Leonard, senior investment director at MaRS IAF.

AI-Driven Talent Solutions Company Knockri Raises $2.15 Million USD to Reduce Bias, Improve Diversity and Help Hire Exceptional Talent

TORONTO, July 22, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Knockri, a leading developer of artificial intelligence video-based soft-skill assessment and talent mobility solutions, today announced it has closed an oversubscribed seed round of $2.15 Million USD led by Differential Ventures with participation from Bertelsmann Investments, Grand Ventures, and others to transform talent acquisition and increase diverse hiring.

Knockri has the potential to change the face of the global workforce using technology that provides equal opportunity for all candidates. Candidates are judged on their skills, and not what they look like, their creed, or what school they graduated from.
— Kathryn Wortsman, Managing Partner, Amplify Capital

Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Knockri has enabled Fortune 500 customers in technology, consulting and pharma to assess thousands of candidates worldwide, reduce hiring bias and eliminate unsuccessful interviews 

Knockri's hiring solution assesses skills of candidates by merging industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology and artificial intelligence to better quantify key performing skills for a job role.

Knockri was co-founded by Jahanzaib Ansari in 2016. Ansari couldn't find work because of his long ethnic name. He would often apply to jobs and never hear back from employers. While feeling confused and looking for answers, Maaz Rana, Knockri's COO and co-founder, suggested Ansari anglicize his name. Soon after anglicizing his name, he started receiving interviews and job offers from the same managers that had previously overlooked him.

Ansari and Rana collaborated with childhood friend, Faisal Ahmed, a machine-learning scientist, to create Knockri – a skills assessment tool deeply rooted in I-O psychology and built from the ground up by a diverse and specialized team that is hyper focused on ethical AI and reducing hiring bias.

"Our ability to oversubscribe during this period of global unrest is a testament to our dedicated team and the world's need for a fair and scalable hiring solution that is deeply infused in science and predictive analytics," said Jahanzaib Ansari, Knockri CEO and co-founder. "Knockri's unparalleled ability to reduce bias and predict job role success by assessing key performing skills has created a unique value proposition that reduces time and cost for clients while procuring a better candidate experience that heightens diversity and talent performance."

The current Knockri executive team – including co-founders Faisal Ahmed, CTO, and Maaz Rana, COO – will continue to lead the company with the addition of Differential Ventures co-managing partner Nick Adams to the board of directors. Knockri has raised almost $2.5 Million USD in seed funding to date.

"Knockri has harnessed machine learning in a brilliant and innovative way to simultaneously improve efficiency and reduce bias in hiring. Their technology is ideally suited for dealing with many problems in enterprise hiring today, and Knockri's product introduction is timed well to have a significant impact on improving fairness in hiring practices and speeding the growth of workforces as our economy grows," said David Magerman, who is a co-managing partner and chief technology officer for Differential Ventures as well as an advocate for responsible use of data science.

The company's video, audio and written screening platforms seamlessly integrate into existing Applicant Tracking Systems, and Knockri's API is compatible with the most widely used and best-in-class talent acquisition solutions. The company's services are also offered in multiple languages.

Amplify Capital is thrilled to participate in this seed round for an impact company that can help reduce workforce inequality at scale and improve business performance.
— Kathryn Wortsman, Managing Partner, Amplify Capital

"Shifts in hiring practices are likely to continue long after COVID-19," said Ansari. "Knockri reduces the need for face-to-face interaction by assessing candidates remotely, and our mission to create a strong and safe talent acquisition process is more important now than ever. With our growing global footprint, coupled with customer allies seeing the benefits of our platform, we aim to employ evidence-based artificial intelligence across worldwide organizations as a catalyst for social change, while generating competitive advantages and transforming talent acquisition and identification functions."

About Knockri
Knockri is an AI video based, soft-skill assessment tool, that helps reduce unconscious bias and shortlists the best fit job candidates to interview, during the early screening process of hiring. Knockri helps eliminate unsuccessful interviews, while identifying exceptional candidates and increasing candidate diversity by merging video intelligence, artificial intelligence and science to quantify soft skills like confidence and empathy. Learn more at: www.knockri.com.

Knockri Social Networks
Twitter: www.twitter.com/KnockriCo
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/Knockri
Facebook: www.facebook/Knockri
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/Knockri