Every month, we recap the biggest tech and startup happenings in Rhode Island. (To get this info every Tuesday, sign up for the Rhode Island Inno Beat newsletter.)
Let’s dive in.
Intus Care has had a big year overall, but the Rhode Island based company capped it off in November by closing a $14 million Series A fundraising round. The round, led by Deerfield Management out of New York, could help Intus expand its service throughout the country, while helping to grow and scale its current business. Intus Care currently works with more than two dozen PACE Programs in 13 states.
This year, New Majority Capital, a B-Corp firm focused on creating generational wealth among women and BIPOC communities, started the New Majority Capital Foundation (NMCF) to increase awareness of the “entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA)” opportunity to BIPOC and women entrepreneurs and give them the skills training they need to become successful new small business owners. In November, the foundation kicked off a free, in-person class at the Liston CCRI campus in Providence called "Succession Ready." The course has five modules focused on financials, relationships, operations, marketing and next steps for business owners who are looking to pass along their business to a new generation.
After starting more than 12 years ago, the Rhode Island Black Business Association (RIBBA) now has a multipurpose headquarters where it can grow and help minority small-business owners. RIBBA founder Lisa Ranglin said the new location is an estimated 4,300 square feet and hopes the move will be completed by the spring of 2023.
In November, after six years of talks about renovating the University of Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay Campus, voters gave approval to move forward with a $100 million bond referendum to continue to transform the campus. With the new funding, URI plans to begin Phase 2 of the project which includes tearing down Horn Lab at the Bay Campus and replacing it with an Ocean Engineering Complex and Ocean Frontiers building that will house new classrooms, offices and laboratory space.
Collide Capital managing partner Aaron Samuels, a Providence native, capped off a big year as his Black-owned VC firm was simultaneously supported by Amazon, Alphabet, and Twitter. The firm also recently announced the close of a $66 million fund. As of last month, Collide has backed over 40 companies, of which more than 80% are led by Black, Latino, or female founders.
This fall, Rhode Island tech company Mocingbird announced it had teamed up with CertifyOS, a platform for credentialing and licensing, to integrate their platforms to create data sharing for clinician licensure and education. According to Ian Madom, co-founder and CEO of Mocingbird, the partnership with CertifyOS has been developing over the past six months and will integrate the two platforms to create data sharing for clinician licensure and education.
Last month, Innovation Studio announced a new program in collaboration with AAA Northeast that aims to help local startups navigate the burgeoning market. Driving 2043 is a free program aimed at startups between pre-seed and Series A with solutions to aid in the adoption of electric vehicles, ranging from software and infrastructure to recycling and supply chain.
When inspiration for Amy Neary's company, Share the Momentum, struck, it was a less-than-ideal time to start a company. The Rhode Island native had just been diagnosed with lung cancer in 2019. But in emails with her social worker at Dana Farber during treatment, a phrase in those notes kept repeating in her mind. With the help of some former coworkers, Neary developed an initial Stare Down the Bear logo in early 2020 and spent a lot of time brainstorming ideas and marketing strategies. Two years later, Neary launched her company, Share the Momentum, on Nov. 20. The startup sells branded t-shirts, hats and accessories.
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