JC2 Ventures’ Post

AI Company Highlight: Rising Tide's Innovative Leap for Blue-Collar Industries In a groundbreaking move that underscores Richmond's burgeoning status as an AI hub, local startup Rising Tide has unveiled an AI-powered productivity software, tailor-made for the blue-collar service sector. As AI Ready RVA champions, we are thrilled to spotlight Rising Tide's visionary approach to integrating cutting-edge technology into the backbone of our economy. Founded with the mission to revolutionize operations and knowledge retention within service-based companies — from delivery services to home repair — Rising Tide's subscription-based software is a testament to the transformative potential of AI. By capturing and disseminating the invaluable experience of seasoned workers through employee-created videos and audio files, they're ensuring that hard-earned knowledge is preserved and shared, enhancing efficiency and service quality. This innovative tool not only addresses the critical challenge of knowledge loss due to employee turnover but also democratizes access to generative AI technology for the often-overlooked blue-collar sector. Rising Tide's use of blockchain technology further amplifies its impact, creating a robust, accessible database for crucial operational records. As Richmond's AI ecosystem continues to flourish, Rising Tide's recent securing of $650,000 in investor funding to expand its team is a beacon of growth and opportunity. It signifies a broader trend of tech innovation and entrepreneurship that AI Ready RVA is committed to nurturing within our community. Rising Tide's journey from focusing on last-mile delivery to embracing a broader service industry challenge highlights the versatile, problem-solving power of AI. It's a compelling example of how local startups are not just adapting to technological advancements but are at the forefront, driving them. We're inspired by Rising Tide's success and its contribution to reinforcing Richmond as a forward-thinking, AI-ready city. Let's celebrate and support the innovative spirit of Rising Tide and the many other AI-driven ventures in our community. Together, we're not just riding the wave of technological progress — we're creating it. #AIRichmond #AIReadyRVA #RisingTide #Innovation #Technology #Startups #RichmondTech 🔗 Learn more about Rising Tide and their impact on blue-collar industries check out the Richmond BizSense article https://lnkd.in/eFvESR4z

🎉𝐔𝐦𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐭.𝐀𝐈 𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 $125𝐊 𝐭𝐨 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐇𝐑 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡🎉 Umwelt.AI, a rising star in HR tech, has secured $125,000 in seed funding to revolutionize how companies listen to and engage with their employees. Umwelt.AI, founded in 2023 by Vishal Chopra, is making waves in the HR tech space. By integrating behavioral science, chatbot technology, and advanced analytics, the platform delivers real-time employee insights, enhancing engagement and reducing attrition. 𝐊𝐞𝐲 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 - 💰𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬: Secured $125,000 in seed funding led by Upekkha.  🌍𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: Aims to expand its global footprint and deliver impactful solutions across industries. 🚀𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: Offers tools that boost Employee Net Promoter Scores (eNPS) and improve response rates. 🤝𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬: Collaborates with companies like Quess Corp Limited, Vero Moda, and JACK & JONES. Here's what makes them special: •𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥-𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬: Leveraging a powerful combo of AI, behavioral science, and chatbots, Umwelt.AI helps CEOs and HR leaders understand employee sentiment and act on feedback in real-time. •𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 & 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: By proactively addressing employee concerns, Umwelt.AI boasts a proven track record of reducing early attrition and boosting employee net promoter scores (eNPS). •𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 & 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡: Umwelt.AI goes beyond basic data collection. They provide actionable insights to help you build a thriving company culture, with plans to expand their solutions globally. Congrats to Umwelt.AI on this exciting milestone! KwikFundz is thrilled to see a company prioritizing employee experience. We can't wait to see the impact you make!🚀 #SeedFunding #Startups #Venturecapital #Innovation #Investing #aistartups

Big Announcement! I'm excited to finally be able to share that Lucy® AI, along with Envision and Linc, are now a part of Capacity. I’m looking forward to joining this incredible team of CX-focused brands, working together to break down knowledge silos, empower agents with real-time coaching, and automate CX channels to boost brand loyalty. As David Karandish Founder & CEO perfectly put it: “Our growth strategy is shaped by our customers' needs—an all-in-one AI platform that delivers across all communication channels.” Read the full interview to learn more about all the growth. 👀 https://lnkd.in/gtRvcj8J #SupportAutomation #LucybyCapacity #AI

We're excited to share that we've reached 600% year-over-year ARR growth, driven by customer success and key hires. And we're thrilled to announce new investors—including JC2 Ventures, led by John Chambers, who had this to say: “The winners in the Age of AI will be the ones who are able to harness the power of this technology and leverage it to create more customer value faster. There is an opportunity to redefine employee service for large enterprises and PeopleReign is leading the way.” We look forward, with this amazing support, to continuing the momentum as we create customer value and enable enterprises to deliver better #employeeexperiences using #AI. You can read the complete release here: https://lnkd.in/ggWUmw6U #FutureofWork #Funding

Wealthtech startup Zeplyn raises a $3 million seed round to improve financial advisory with AI #Zeplyn, a #WealthTech startup founded by former Google engineers, is transforming the wealth management industry with its innovative AI-driven platform designed to streamline advisor workflows. Recently securing $3 million in seed funding led by Leo Capital, with participation from Converge and several angel investors, Zeplyn is positioned to revolutionize the way financial advisors manage their administrative tasks. Central to Zeplyn’s offering is the Zeplyn Meeting Assistant, a tool that leverages artificial intelligence to simplify client interactions by automating note-taking, meeting preparation, and follow-up tasks. By capturing and organizing conversational data from meetings, the platform ensures that client records are accurately updated, which saves advisors an average of 10-12 hours each week. Integrating seamlessly with popular CRMs like Salesforce, Redtail, and Wealthbox, Zeplyn’s Meeting Assistant not only enhances efficiency but also ensures compliance with regulatory standards. CEO and co-founder Era Jain emphasizes the critical role this technology plays in alleviating one of the most time-consuming burdens for #advisors: manual note-taking and client follow-up. With Zeplyn, advisors can focus more on nurturing client relationships, reducing the need for additional staff in meetings solely for note-taking purposes. Lauded by early adopters like Sequoia Financial Group for its capacity to improve both efficiency and personalization, Zeplyn offers advisors a meaningful way to reinvest their time in client service and business growth. By optimizing the client meeting process, which remains a cornerstone yet costly aspect of wealth management, Zeplyn is advancing advisor productivity and redefining efficiency in the wealth tech market. The article on FinTech Global in the first comment.

💼 Scrut Automation Secures $10 Million to Expand to New Markets and Enhance GenAI Integration. 📈 Funding Details: Enterprise tech startup Scrut Automation has raised $10 Mn in growth capital from existing investors Lightspeed, MassMutual Ventures, and Endiya Partners. The funds will be utilized to boost capabilities, integrate generative AI (GenAI) use cases, and expand operations into North American and European markets. 🌐 Market Expansion: The freshly raised capital will fuel Scrut's expansion efforts, allowing it to penetrate new markets in North America and Europe. This strategic move aligns with the company's goal to broaden its global footprint and cater to tech-first mid-market enterprises. 💡 Incorporating GenAI: Scrut Automation aims to incorporate generative AI (GenAI) use cases into its platform, enhancing its capabilities and providing innovative solutions to its clients. This integration reflects Scrut's commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technologies to optimize governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) processes. 🚀 About Scrut Automation: Founded in 2022, Scrut Automation specializes in helping mid-market enterprises build scalable GRC programs tailored to their specific goals, risks, and resources. The platform streamlines compliance and risk management processes, offering high flexibility and adaptability to diverse industry requirements. 🔍 Industry Solutions: Scrut Automation caters to industries such as healthtech, fintech, and SaaS, providing solutions that automate tests across a wide range of controls. Its user-friendly platform reduces manual efforts, enhances security, and ensures regulatory compliance, catering to the evolving needs of its clientele. 🌟 Partner Perspectives: Lightspeed partner Dev Khare emphasized the increasing adoption of strong GRC practices among mid-size enterprises, highlighting Scrut's market-leading platform's role in alleviating compliance burdens and enhancing security measures. 📈 Funding Landscape: Scrut Automation's funding comes at a time when enterprise tech startups are witnessing increased investment activity, underscoring investor confidence in the sector's growth potential despite prevailing market challenges. Scrut Automation #ScrutAutomation #EnterpriseTech #GrowthCapital #GenAI #MarketExpansion #StartUpNews #BusinessNews #MicroShots #NewsUpdates

It's not just another work day. It's Workpilot 🚀 We're revolutionizing recruitment, HR and business processes, optimizing cost through integrations, automations, holistic data approach and the power of AI. #Innovation #Management #HumanResources #careers #futureofwork #startups #businessintelligence #workpilot #ai #esg

JUST DROPPED ➡️ 2024 State of #GenAI in the Enterprise report. One of the major VC firms - Menlo Ventures, just released it. Fascinating reading, here are the highlights ✅. Overall theme - From Pilots to Production. Predictions 1. Agents drive the next wave of transformation with automation 2. More incumbents to fall - when startups deliver superior Al-powered experiences, customers switch fast 3. Al talent crisis - expect 2-3x salary premiums for Al/ML talent Highlights: - OpenAl's enterprise share dropped from 50% to 34%, while Anthropic doubled to 24%. - Enterprise Al spending hits $13.8B (6x YoY growth) - Healthcare leads in GenAl adoption with $500M in spend - Code copilots lead the charge with 51% adoption, making developers Al's earliest power users. - 47% of solutions are developed in-house, while 53% are sourced from vendors (down from 80%) -Price isn't an issue; just 1% of enterprise leaders mentioned price as a selection concern. ➡️ To find out how the #AI revolution is driving impact and innovation within the global #travel, #MICE and #hospitality industry, and how your brand or company can utilize it as part of your overall corporate strategy and #tech stack to drive #utility, #engagement and #loyalty, reach out to the #AIforHospitality team, led by Vincent Somsen and Michael J. Goldrich at Growth Advisors International Network - GAIN here on LinkedIn or at GainAdvisors.com ⬅️ Where is #GenAI being effectively deployed:

Where does your strategy and roadmap fit into this? #AI #work #management #strategy #tech #startups

3 Keys to Building a Successful Biz in 2024 (Speed is Key!) Top startups are winning by moving fast. I've seen this clearly in startups I’ve worked alongside. But it’s not going fast without any strategy. It’s carefully crafted through these 3 key ideas: 𝟏/ 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 - Leaders know their time's value. - Outsource HR, finance, compliance. 𝟐/ 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 - Automate email marketing. - Chatbots for customer support. - Do away with manual data entry. If it can be automated, it should be. 𝟑/ 𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐈 - AI is the ultimate team member. - Best tool and assistant available. - Use it to leap ahead and cut costs. Master these three to win in 2024. P.S. Have you leveraged AI in your business? ------- If you want to implement AI , I can help. Send me a DM TJ Larkin Jr I will setup everything, don’t have to move a finger. Thank you.