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Meet the Winter 2023 startups of Mercury Raise: Seed

Meet the Winter 2023 startups of Mercury Raise: Seed
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The latest round of the Winter 2023 Mercury Raise: Seed program, is underway with an incredible new cohort of 60 up-and-coming startups in the midst of their pre-seed or seed fundraises.

With 800+ investors in our network, Mercury’s goal with Raise: Seed is to help pre-seed- and seed-stage startups secure funding by getting their companies in front of top angels and VCs. The 60 companies accepted for this cohort of Raise: Seed were selected by our panel of judges, made up of top, early-stage VCs who select the startup applicants they feel are most prepared to raise a pre-seed or seed round based on their business idea, team, and early growth indicators. Once we have our list of finalists, we share the startups' pitch decks with investors in our network, and if an investor is interested in learning more about a particular startup, we make a personal introduction.

This was an especially competitive round, with a significant increase in both the number of applications and the quality of those applications all around. Here are some stats on what we’ve seen this time around:

  • We accepted 60 startups from a record 3,000+ applications.
  • This round’s accepted startups operate across 26 industries — from consumer to defense tech.
  • They’re based in seven different countries, including Nigeria, New Zealand, and Poland.
  • Just under half of the 60 accepted startups are in artificial intelligence or healthcare tech.
  • 56% of accepted startups plan to raise $2M or more funding.

As always, participants of Raise: Seed Winter 23 will also have access to exclusive events, including pitch workshops and fireside chats with top VCs. In addition, they can opt in to receive curated, 1:1 introductions to other founders in their cohort, as well as access to ongoing, exclusive founder peer groups.

Given the continually changing landscape of the early-stage fundraising environment, we look forward to working with these founders throughout their fundraising journeys and beyond.

We’re excited to introduce you to the latest cohort of Mercury Raise: Seed companies.

Alpaca Health - Healthcare Tech - U.S.

Alpaca Health is an AI-powered telehealth platform to help measure and manage complex chronic illnesses, with an initial focus on long COVID and chronic fatigue syndrome.

Alta Tools - B2B Software/AI - U.S.

Alta is an AI-powered platform for building mobile apps without code, significantly reducing the time and cost for companies looking to build mobile experiences.

Arda - Drones/B2B Software/Transportation - U.S.

Arda enables existing delivery operators to become drone delivery operators with an enterprise SaaS platform.

Ask Alex - Artificial Intelligence/B2B Software - U.S.

Ask Alex is an AI-powered customer engagement platform that automates workflows for brick-and-mortar operators.

Atmos Financial - Energy/Climate/Financial Services - U.S.

Atmos transforms conventional banks into climate banks to make clean energy affordable and accessible for all.

Baton - Marketplace - U.S.

Baton is building the first true two-sided marketplace for small business owners built on verified financial data.

Glov - Artificial Intelligence/Retail - U.S.

Glov employs AI technology to make real-time personalizations that increase sales for major brands' ecommerce sites.

Bedrock Computer - B2B Software - U.S.

Bedrock gives creatives superhuman computing powers with web-compatible OS. They combine the beauty of Mac with the collaborative spirit of the web to help users stay organized, seamlessly switch between apps, and collaborate with ease.

Berry Street - Healthcare Tech - U.S.

Berry Street connects patients with dietitians for one-on-one nutrition therapy that's 100% covered by health insurance and proven to boost physical and mental wellbeing.

Bookworm Reads - Consumer/Education/Social - U.S.

Bookworm is a social app and curated digital library for today's readers.

Bunnii - Healthcare Tech/B2B Software - U.S.

Bunnii is a personal health record and care navigation platform that makes it easier to complete fertility treatment.

C-Quester - Energy/Climate - U.S.

C-Quester is developing a scalable, low-energy, and inexpensive CO2 capture technology and sequestration service for existing point-source CO2 emitters such as gas- and coal-fired power plants, and cement and steel production plants.

Cascade - B2B Software/Crypto/Developer Tools - U.S.

Cascade simplifies the process of integrating and building custom Web3 and hybrid (Web2/Web3) applications through a low-code/no-code integration middleware platform.

Castor - Financial Services - U.S.

Castor is a workforce platform focused on providing benefits to informal workers in Latin America. They currently offer automated savings, credit building tools, and collateralized, no-interest credit cards.

Character - Consumer/Ecommerce/Construction/Marketplace/Media - U.S.

Character is the do-it-yourself home improvement brand for the next generation of homeowners & renters.

Clever Harvest - Agriculture Tech - U.S.

Clever Harvest is digitizing global food supply by cutting out the middleman.

Daisies - Healthcare Tech - U.S.

Daisies is the first subscription-based health program in Latin America designed specifically for women and powered by AI.

Dukka - Accounting and Bookkeeping/B2B Software/Financial Services - Nigeria

Dukka provides bookkeeping and payments solutions to over 100,000 small merchants in Africa.

ELBO AI - Artificial Intelligence - U.S.

ELBO AI makes motion animation easy.

Eze Technologies - Marketplace - U.S.

Eze is a B2B SaaS-enabled wholesale marketplace for used smartphones and other electronics built on a suite of software, financial, and logistics services with real-time market data.

Farmcrowdy - Agriculture Tech/Financial Services/B2B Software - U.S. and Nigeria

Farmcrowdy provides food and agriculture businesses in Africa with access to goods and trade finance.

Felix Pago - Crypto/Financial Services - U.S.

Felix Pago makes cross-border payments from the US to Latin America as easy as sending a message on WhatsApp.

Feminade - Healthcare Tech - U.S.

Feminade is the first digital health concierge for women's hormone health.

Figuro - Insurance - U.S.

Figuro offers individuals in Latin America a more efficient and effective experience for quoting and underwriting life, health, house, and car insurance.

Giftpack - B2B Software/Artificial Intelligence/Ecommerce - U.S.

Giftpack is an AI-powered, smart gifting service that helps HR, marketers, and sales development representatives find perfectly matched corporate gifts with ease as well as automate gifting for everything from global onboarding and employee recognition to client retention and sales enablement.

HABIT - Consumer - U.S.

HABIT is a next-generation sunscreen for the next generation.

Heartbeat - B2B Software/Social - U.S.

Heartbeat is the all-in-one SaaS platform for paid memberships. They help experts (business coaches, course creators, and more) build paid memberships and shift away from one-off, paid Zoom sessions and towards reliable MRR.

HippoBuild - Construction - Colombia

HippoBuild is the Faire.com for construction companies. By gathering operational data from SMBs through our SaaS, HippoBuild predicts buying behavior, groups purchases from multiple projects, and connects SMB demand directly with major suppliers — thereby increasing sales for the suppliers while also lowering the cost of materials for the SMBs.

HomeRoom - B2B Software - U.S.

HomeRoom provides a suite of tools that enables community leaders to measure success through analytics, host memorable community events with the help of plugins, and save time on their daily tasks.

IKONA Health - B2B Software/Healthcare Tech/Virtual Reality - U.S.

IKONA is a learning platform trusted by over 250 clinics to improve end-stage kidney disease outcomes through virtual reality and analytics.

Inversion Art - Art/B2B Software/Financial Services - U.S.

Inversion Art combines "studio management as a service" with a YC-inspired accelerator to give fine artists the operational support, capital, and help they need to scale their studios and create their greatest work. In exchange for investment and a full suite of services, artists share 15% of their revenue with Inversion Art for a period of five years.

Koltin - Healthcare Tech/Insurance - Mexico

Koltin is Mexico’s first health insurance company dedicated to seniors.

Krepling - B2B Software - U.S.

We're enabling merchants to expand their ecommerce stack and create brilliant consumer experiences using clicks instead of code.

Luminary - Artificial Intelligence/B2B Software - U.S.

Luminary is building an AI assistant to automate, improve, and scale API-based workflows.

Metre - Healthcare Tech - U.S.

Metre is a subscription-based, metabolic health platform that replaces an invasive and expensive metabolic blood test with a simple breath test.

Mica - Financial Services/Real Estate - Mexico

Mica is streamlining renting by simplifying payments, offering rent guarantees, and eliminating risk — as well as work — for renters, landlords, and real estate brokers.

Neatsy.ai - Artificial Intelligence/Healthcare Tech/Marketplace - U.S. and Poland

Neatsy is the world's first app that solves foot, ankle, and spine pain issues with AI and an iPhone camera. It helps to find the best fitting shoes, orthotics, and physical therapy — enabling the possibility of telehealth for orthopedic surgeons.

Noxx - B2B Software/Crypto/HR Tech - U.S.

Noxx is a payroll and compliance tool for pseudonymous talent. Using zero-knowledge proof, Noxx enables pseudonymous talents to work with legal entities without doxxing their original identity.

Overplay - Media/Gaming/Social - U.S.

Overplay lets anyone turn their videos into games — and share them with the world in minutes.

Packsmith - Ecommerce/Transportation/B2B Software - U.S.

Packsmith is building intelligent, distributed logistics for growing ecommerce brands.

Parker - Real Estate/Financial Services - U.S.

Parker is a fractional investing platform that empowers individuals to easily earn passive income through investing in mobile home parks.

PawPay - Insurance - U.S.

PawPay builds software that allows vets to bill an insurance company directly, automating 90% of submitted claims and allowing customers with pet insurance to only pay what they owe at checkout.

Peachy Patients - Healthcare Tech/Consumer/Financial Services - U.S.

Peachy Patients is a digital health platform that enables simple bill payments, price transparency, and concierge bill negotiations — empowering patients to access and afford the healthcare they deserve.

Picogrid - Government Tech/Defense Tech - U.S.

Picogrid is a defense technology company that builds a common platform for defense systems. By integrating fragmented technologies like visual surveillance, radar, and electronic warfare, Picogrid enables new defense capabilities across sensors, artificial intelligence, and command & control systems.

Proteus Space - Government Tech/Space Tech - U.S.

Proteus builds small satellites to help America win the new space race.

Readyly - B2B Software - U.S.

Readyly provides customer support AI-as-a-Service to mid-market companies. Their solution reduces support costs by 10X, while also automating 100% of Tier 1 and Tier 2 customer support workflows.

Refresh - HR Tech/B2B Software - U.S.

Refresh is a superapp for the employee experience. It deploys white-labeled, omnichannel, consumer-style apps that integrate with or replace an array of existing point solutions (recognition, rewards, benefits discovery, communication, forms, surveys, payroll, insurance, challenges, scheduling) into a single “home base” tailored to each individual user or segment — reducing costs and complexity while increasing delight, connectivity, and usage.

RTHM - Healthcare Tech - U.S.

RTHM provides telehealth for long COVID and related chronic illnesses including chronic fatigue syndrome, while also building a software platform to make high complexity care broadly accessible and compatible with insurance reimbursement. RTHM also operates a clinical lab and has a pipeline of at-home tests for monitoring health over time (based on the company’s research at Stanford).

Sahha - Artificial Intelligence/Research/B2B Software - New Zealand

Sahha is building the API for the mind, allowing teams to create more empathetic and aware products.

Sincerely - Consumer/Health Services - U.S.

Sincerely is a teen mental wellness platform where users anonymously support each other.

Theneo - Developer Tools - U.S. and Georgia

Theneo is an AI-powered tool that generates Stripe-like API docs in just a few clicks.

Thread Medical - Healthcare Tech/Artificial Intelligence - U.S.

Thread Medical is a fully autonomous medical scribe and artificial intelligence for clinical conversations.

TrueToForm - Artificial Intelligence/Ecommerce/B2B Software - U.S.

TrueToForm is a B2B software startup that generates personal 3D avatars to help shoppers find clothes that fit.

Turbodega - Ecommerce - Mexico and Peru

Turbodega is building the digital infrastructure for traditional neighborhood stores in Latin America.

Upzone AI - Real Estate - U.S.

Upzone AI uses machine learning to forecast regulatory risk for housing developers.

Zette - Media/Consumer - U.S.

Zette is the Netflix for news. It gives readers pay-per-article access to hundreds of premium publications, all while sharing revenue with newsrooms.

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