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  • The Era of AI led Sales Engineering with Rapidflare

    The Era of AI led Sales Engineering with Rapidflare

    Navigating a Perfect Storm of Complexity and Scarcity

    Picture this: A Fortune 500 manufacturer needs a specialized semiconductor for their next-generation product. The technical requirements are complex, the timeline is tight, and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Standing between a handshake and a $1 million contract is a single sales engineer—tasked with translating intricate technical specifications into business value in real-time.

    This scenario plays out thousands of times daily across the $891 billion electronics industry, projected to breach the trillion-dollar mark by 2024. Yet here’s the paradox: as the industry explodes with opportunity, the people who make these critical deals happen are becoming an endangered species.

    Sales engineers are the heroes of tech commerce—part technical wizard, part business translator, navigating labyrinths of product catalogs containing hundreds of thousands of SKUs and bridging the gap between what’s possible and what customers actually need. But with engineering enrollment declining and demand soaring, we’re facing a shortage of up to 146,000 skilled sales engineers by 2029.

    Unfilled Vacancies For Sales Engineers Are Rising Every Year In The US

    The result? Million-dollar deals that should close in weeks now drag on for months. Critical technical knowledge gets trapped in silos. And in an industry where precision matters, even the smallest miscommunication can derail everything.

    The Perfect Storm of Challenges

    This talent crisis sits at the center of multiple converging problems that are crippling the industry’s sales efficiency:

    The talent pipeline is broken. Engineering enrollment has dropped 13% globally over the past decade, while demographic shifts and retirements accelerate the exodus of experienced professionals. The gap between industry needs and workforce capabilities continues to widen.

    Sales processes have become painfully inefficient. Technical solutioning often takes weeks, with deals averaging 12+ weeks to close. Subject matter experts spend their time answering repetitive queries instead of strategic work, leaving long-tail customers underserved and deals vulnerable to competitors.

    Knowledge fragmentation creates constant friction. Critical technical information lives scattered across SharePoint sites, databases, personal notes, and spreadsheets. Sales engineers waste precious time hunting for answers while customers wait, turning what should be fluid conversations into frustrating back-and-forth exchanges.

    Current tools miss the mark entirely. Traditional sales enablement platforms like Seismic and Highspot function as glorified content repositories, lacking the technical granularity these complex sales require. Generic AI produces unreliable “hallucinations” when faced with nuanced technical queries, creating a narrow, lossy communication channel that delivers only a fraction of available knowledge to buyers.

    What Needs to Change: A New Paradigm for Technical Sales

    The status quo is unsustainable. The electronics industry urgently needs a paradigm shift in how technical sales are approached and executed. There’s a clear need to:

    • Empower Sales Teams: Equip non-technical sales personnel with the tools to confidently and accurately address technical inquiries, bridging the gap left by the shrinking pool of SEs.
    • Accelerate Sales Cycles: Drastically reduce the time it takes to move from initial contact to deal closure, unlocking revenue and improving customer satisfaction.
    • Democratize Expertise: Provide real-time, contextualized access to siloed expert knowledge, ensuring that every customer interaction is informed and effective. As one large electronics buyer told a Rapidflare customer, “If you don’t have AI-assisted tools, we can’t buy your products going forward”.
    • Move Beyond Static Content: Transition from passive content repositories and generic AI to dynamic, industry-specific intelligence platforms that provide actionable outputs and facilitate genuine buyer-seller dialogue. The goal is to create “rep free delightful sales conversation where customers can engage in dynamic real-time dialog”.

    The Ideal Solution: Unlocking Expertise with Advanced AI

    In an era defined by AI’s rapid advancements and sophisticated LLMs, the ideal sales enablement solution looks more like a technical co-pilot. Such a system would leverage proprietary customer data to provide precise, contextual answers to complex inquiries in real-time. Crucially, it would overcome AI “hallucinations” by grounding responses in verified knowledge, automating high-value tasks like proposal generation, and seamlessly integrating into existing workflows. This enables non-technical sales personnel to confidently handle complex client discussions, effectively bridging the knowledge gap and freeing human experts for strategic engagement.

    Rapidflare: Intelligent Sales, Expertly Delivered

    Addressing these deep-seated industry challenges requires a special blend of insight and innovation. We found that in Rapidflare. They are transforming how technical B2B sales happen in electronics by essentially giving sales teams an AI-powered “virtual sales engineer.” This isn’t just about incremental improvements; it’s about fundamentally changing the speed and efficiency of the sales process. Imagine shrinking a complex, two-week technical solutioning process down to just five minutes – that’s the kind of impact Rapidflare is delivering for its customers.  

    Team

    The power behind this comes from a team that has lived and breathed the electronics industry. The founders – Navanee Sundaramoorthy, John Williams, Prush Palanichamy, and Vasanth Asokan – are not new to this world. With over 80 years of collective experience at tech giants like Xilinx, AMD, and Netflix, and with successful prior entrepreneurial ventures (including an acquisition sale of Uncanny Vision to Eagle Eye Networks co-founded by Navanee ), they possess an intimate understanding of the bottlenecks they’re eliminating. They’ve even all worked together before, creating a well-oiled machine for execution.

    Approach

    Their approach is sophisticated yet practical. Rapidflare intelligently ingests a company’s vast trove of technical documentation into proprietary knowledge graphs. This allows their advanced AI, built on an Agentic RAG framework, to provide remarkably accurate and contextual answers to complex technical queries – a crucial factor when dealing with high-stakes enterprise sales. One customer, AMD, was particularly impressed by an 80-85% accuracy rate during a proof-of-concept, leading to strong internal adoption. It’s clear this is far more than a generic AI wrapper; it’s a purpose-built engine for technical clarity.

    Market Access and Growth

    The market has been quick to recognize the value. Since their start in January 2024, Rapidflare has already secured ~$376,000 in live and contracted ARR from major players like AMD, Avnet, Eagle Eye Networks, and Brivo, among others. Customers are not only signing up but also significantly expanding their usage. Eagle Eye Networks, for example, grew their ACV from $12K to $60K, and Brivo is on a similar path, moving from $12K to $30K ACV and set to reach $60K in Q2 next year. Portal.io now uses Rapidflare to help generate up to 9,000 accepted proposals a month. This rapid adoption and expansion underscore the tangible ROI and the team’s ability to deliver a solution that directly addresses a pressing need, especially as major buyers now expect AI-assisted tools from their suppliers.

  • MatterFact Why We Invested

    The Hidden Cost of Public-Market Research

    Every investment opportunity hides behind a mountain of data. For example, to build an understanding on a mid-cap stock, analysts slog through over 10,000 pages of filings, transcripts, industry reports, and expert-call notes often taking 30-40 days. Once a position is taken, the “scared cow” effect sets in: teams spend 2–3 hours a day monitoring incremental news. This is time that could otherwise be spent exploring new ideas or stress-testing portfolios .

    Despite investment teams pouring over hundreds of analyst-hours per quarter into manual workflows, coverage of mid-cap companies continues to shrink. Wall Street shrinks research budgets; buy-side shops lack deep pockets for bespoke data teams. The result? An information bottleneck that limits both the depth and breadth of analysis and ultimately, the alpha investors can generate.

    Rethinking “Alpha”: Depth, Speed, and Scale

    What if analysts could scan hundreds of stocks for key metrics like P/E ratios, regional exposures, margin trends and get structured answers in minutes, not weeks? Imagine seamlessly combining quantitative outputs (Y/Y growth, cohort analyses) with qualitative color (management commentary, thematic narratives). That’s the capability that today’s data-heavy and model-light tools simply don’t deliver:

    1. Alternative-data platforms (a market set to hit $140 billion by 2030) often stop at raw signals: “here’s a spike in Google searches,” but not “what does that mean for retail margins?” .
    2. Generic LLMs (even GPT-4 Turbo) stumble on finance-specific reasoning, failing 81% of benchmark questions; long-context variants still miss 20–25% of the mark .

    Investors need a truly integrated research partner; one that marries institutional-grade data, domain-tuned AI, and workflow-native interfaces.

    Enter Matterfact: Your AI Research Analyst

    At Matterfact, Ashutosh, Vishal, and Daniel have stitched together an AI research “team” that feels less like a toolkit and more like a seasoned analyst sitting beside you. Under the hood, their domain-specific LLMs have been painstakingly trained and fine-tuned on decades of SEC filings, earnings-call transcripts, and the messy reality of analyst workflows, so much so that they consistently hit a 93% accuracy score on the FinanceBench benchmark. 

    But raw power isn’t enough. By building a workflow-first product suite, they’ve turned that power into practical speed and insight: a chat interface that thinks in tables, KPIs, and market narratives rather than generic prose; a Bulk Analyzer that can slice through hundreds of tickers: “show me mid-cap industrials growing revenue north of 15% with EV/EBIT under 10x” in under five minutes; and a forthcoming Model Bench that marries what management is saying with what the spreadsheets are telling you, spitting out draft forecasts that you can tweak rather than build from scratch. Early users report 50–70% reduction in time spent preparing sector overviews and deep-dive briefs, freeing analysts to focus on strategy rather than data wrangling.

    Behind the scenes, an institutional-grade data backbone keeps everything honest. SEC filings flow in real time, earnings calls are parsed automatically, press releases are crawled, and niche news sources are added on the fly; so every answer is rooted in the freshest, most reliable information. That means when a sudden shift in consumer demand or a surprising regulatory filing hits the tape, Matterfact’s AI instinctively ties it back to your portfolio, surfaces the outliers, and flags the questions you didn’t even know you needed to ask. It’s this seamless fusion of deep finance expertise, cutting-edge AI, and granular data that turns what was once a weeks-long slog into an interactive, living research process into one where you spend less time hunting for facts and more time crafting the questions that lead to true alpha.

    Timing Is Everything: Riding Two Tailwinds

    The convergence of two massive, high-growth markets makes Matterfact’s timing impeccable:

    • AI in Asset Management: A projected $48 billion market by 2031, growing at 34% CAGR, as firms embrace AI to augment human decision-making .
    • Alternative-Data Explosion: Expected to balloon to $137 billion by 2030 at a 53% CAGR, driven by the relentless hunt for unique alpha sources .

    Yet incumbent platforms like Bloomberg and FactSet remain fundamentally data-centric. Matterfact flips the script: intelligence-first, with seamless data fusion and AI-native workflows.

    A Vision Beyond Research

    Matterfact’s vision extends well beyond simply speeding up analyst workflows. In the coming years, they’re on track to transform every step of the investment process: first by replacing the painstaking manual legwork with a seamless AI “research analyst” that any firm – large or small can plug into and use; then by becoming the go-to authority for in-depth, sell-side–quality research on the thousands of mid-cap and under-covered names that today fall through the cracks; and ultimately by leveraging that same AI engine to power a next-generation prime-brokerage business, where trade execution, capital financing, and settlement are all informed by real-time, data-driven insights. It’s a three-stage journey from democratizing research, to owning the narrative around every sector, to redefining how markets actually move.

    At z21 Ventures, we invest in founders who’ve been in the trenches and built for the battle and Matterfact’s team has lived the analyst’s grind at Nomura, WorldQuant, Google, and Apple. We saw their domain-tuned AI outperform all other models on industry benchmarks, and we watched top-tier buy-side firms lean in as early design partners, cutting research time by more than half and uncovering new ideas faster than ever before. With tens of billions of dollars spent annually on data, research, and execution and with AI tooling in asset management poised to hit $48 billion by 2031—this is exactly the kind of problem and opportunity that z21 was built to back. We believe Matterfact won’t just accelerate workflows; it will rewrite the playbook for how investment intelligence is created, shared, and acted upon.

  • Breaking the Prior Authorization Bottleneck: How RISA Labs is Transforming Healthcare

    Breaking the Prior Authorization Bottleneck: How RISA Labs is Transforming Healthcare

    In an era when AI-driven advances promise to transform healthcare, one of the simplest tasks still trips up clinicians and stalls patient care: prior authorization. Designed as a safety net to verify medical necessity, PA has become a Gordian knot of faxed forms, phone trees, and opaque payer rules. Patients wait weeks for approval, clinicians burn out on paperwork, and the system bleeds over $80 billion in wasted labor annually.

    RISA Labs isn’t just building another bolt-on shortcut. They’re rewriting the PA playbook with an end-to-end, AI-powered orchestration engine that treats authorization as a seamless clinical workflow, not a bureaucratic burden. Below, we explore the human cost of today’s PA grind, how RISA Labs is engineering a radically different experience, and why this shift matters for every patient and provider.

    The Broken Backbone of Clinical Care

    Imagine a cancer center where every treatment path hinges on a pre-clearance form. At one leading U.S. oncology practice, physicians report that 70 percent of patients face PA delays, and one in three wait over a month time during which certain cancer mortality risks climb by 1.2 – 3.2 percent per week of delay. Those delays aren’t just statistics; they’re missed chemotherapy cycles, frantic phone calls, and families in limbo.

    In behavioral health clinics, the story is no less grim. Providers spend 24 minutes and up to $14 per authorization, i.e., three times the effort of general-medicine cases to navigate transfer forms, fax confirmations, and appeal letters. Across the system, prior authorization volumes have surged 27 percent since 2016, yet fully electronic automation barely budged, forcing staff to shoulder growing caseloads manually.

    For practices, the result is staff burnout and costly errors; for patients, it’s delayed diagnoses, interrupted therapies, and, in the worst cases, preventable harm. Nearly 30 percent of radiation oncologists report that PA has directly led to hospitalizations or emergency visits and 7 percent say it even contributed to patient deaths. This tangled process undermines care, erodes clinician morale, and drives up healthcare costs at every step.

    Turning Prior Authorization into a Co-Pilot

    In 2024, Kshitij Jain and his co-founders recognized that true transformation required more than incremental automation. They launched RISA Labs with a clear thesis: clinical operations deserve a unified, intelligent backbone. One that combines AI’s speed with human judgment where it matters most.

     

    Risa Labs Cofounders: Kshitij Jaggi & Kumar Shivang

     

    At the heart of their solution is BOSS – Business Operating System as a Service. Rather than scattered bots or static rule engines, BOSS uses a multi-agent AI framework to parse each PA request: large-language models extract clinical details from notes; machine-learning classifiers match those details to payer guidelines; robotic-process automation submits forms and uploads documentation; and a human overseer steps in only when complexities arise. The result? What once took 30–45 minutes collapses into a five-minute, 80 percent-automated journey with error rates dropping by more than half in early oncology trials.

    Crucially, RISA Labs built deep EHR and clearinghouse integrations from day one, connecting to Epic, Athenahealth, Cerner, and Availity so that PA becomes a natural extension of the clinical chart, not a separate silo. And because the system learns from each case, reinforcing successes and flagging exceptions, BOSS grows more accurate over time, paving the way for an AI co-pilot capable of handling not just authorization but referrals, imaging orders, and beyond.

    The Road Ahead: From Choke-Point to Clinical Flywheel

    RISA Labs envisions a future where prior authorization is no longer a painful afterthought but an invisible partner in every clinician’s workflow. In the coming months, BOSS will quietly extend its reach beyond oncology—seamlessly handling imaging orders in radiology suites, orchestrating referrals in cardiology clinics, and managing pharmacy benefits behind the scenes. Clinicians will log into the same familiar EHR, only to discover their PA tasks already underway: requests parsed, guidelines applied, forms submitted, and approvals delivered—often before the next patient arrives in the exam room.

    As BOSS learns from each case, its AI agents will grow more confident and autonomous, resolving an ever-greater share of requests without human intervention. At the same time, RISA Labs will forge deep ties with payers themselves, integrating real-time policy engines so that every shift in coverage criteria instantly recalibrates BOSS’s decision logic. This fluid exchange will not only keep authorizations accurate but anticipate changes—alerting care teams to evolving requirements or newly covered therapies before those policies even reach the fax machine.

    Behind the scenes, RISA Labs is already partnering with academic centers to measure the clinical impact of this transformation. Soon, peer-reviewed studies will show how BOSS-driven authorizations shave days off treatment start times, reduce hospital readmissions, and even improve patient survival rates. And as those data points accumulate, they will do more than prove ROI—they will build trust across the healthcare ecosystem, opening doors to new collaborations, deeper integrations, and ultimately a unified, AI-powered operating system that transforms every corner of clinical operations.

    In that future, administrative burden gives way to clinical focus, patient access accelerates, and the promise of intelligent healthcare delivery becomes reality. RISA Labs isn’t just automating tasks—it’s redefining what care can look like when technology works for clinicians, not against them.

    By reframing prior authorization as a seamless, intelligent workflow rather than a hulking administrative hurdle, RISA Labs is digitizing not just tasks but trust—freeing clinicians to focus on patients and accelerating access to the treatments that save lives. In doing so, they’re lighting the path toward a future where healthcare operations are as smart and compassionate as the medicine they enable.

     

  • Engineering Silence: Greenjets and the New Sound of Aviation

    Engineering Silence: Greenjets and the New Sound of Aviation

    Too Much Noise, Too Little Flying

    Above bustling city streets, delivery drones and eVTOL air taxis now carve invisible corridors through the sky yet for many residents, their distinctive whine is neither futuristic nor welcome. Laboratory and field studies show that typical open-rotor electric motors emit sharp, high-frequency tones that carry further in urban canyons, triggering complaints and stress responses akin to those first documented by the EPA in the late 1970s. Even when marketed as “quieter than helicopters,” many systems still exceed local noise thresholds, prompting city councils to pause pilot programs and redraw flight paths at community hearings.

    Beneath the din lies a more fundamental constraint: energy density. Jet A fuel boasts roughly 12,000 Wh/kg, whereas state-of-the-art lithium-ion battery packs deliver barely 200–300 Wh/kg. This disparity forces designers to trade off range and payload against the added weight of batteries, confining electric platforms to short hops and niche surveillance roles rather than reliable point-to-point transport. While next-generation chemistries like solid-state, lithium-sulfur promise incremental gains, they face rigorous safety, cost, and scaling hurdles before they can match jet-fuel benchmarks.

     

    On top of this, certification adds another layer of complexity. The FAA’s new “powered-lift” rule, finalized in October 2024, outlines a path for eVTOL aircraft, but the multi-stage type-certification process remains lengthy and resource-intensive. Joby Aviation’s recent progress in navigating three of five certification steps over several years highlights both promise and persistent uncertainty. Evolving safety standards, data requirements, and flight-test regimes deter some investors and compel OEMs to stretch out funding rounds, slowing the pace from prototype to revenue-generating fleets.

     

    Finally, the materials at the heart of electric motors remain a strategic vulnerability. Neodymium-iron-boron magnets require rare-earth oxides, over 80 percent of which are processed in China. When Beijing expanded export controls in 2023, curbing not only mined minerals but also finished magnet products global manufacturers felt immediate reverberations. Diversification efforts in Australia, the U.S., and recycling can mitigate risk, but developing alternative supply chains and processing capacity is a multi-year, capital-intensive endeavor.

     

    Together, these intertwined barriers – acoustic pollution, low battery energy-density, murky certification pathways, fragile community trust, and geopolitically fraught materials keep electric aviation grounded. Addressing them in silos will never suffice; the next leap requires propulsion systems engineered holistically for silent operation, optimized efficiency, regulatory alignment, transparent impact modeling, and supply-chain resilience. Only then can the vision of truly quiet, clean, and scalable flight take off.

    Rethinking Propulsion For The New Era

    Most electric aviation systems flying today weren’t built for the skies they now occupy. They borrow from hobbyist designs or industrial-grade rotors, resulting in propulsion that is loud, inefficient, and fundamentally ill-suited to life above cities. These open-rotor setups hum with high-frequency noise; piercing enough to disrupt neighborhoods, loud enough to stall community acceptance, and messy enough to make regulators hesitate.

    Greenjets took a different path.

    From day one, the team chose not to retrofit the past, but to build for the world ahead designing electric ducted-fan systems from the ground up. Their technology doesn’t just look cleaner; it sounds like it. By enclosing rotors and engineering airflow with surgical precision, Greenjets has achieved acoustic signatures up to 10× quieter than open-rotor equivalents without compromising on thrust or control. In urban air mobility, where public trust often hinges on decibels, that difference is more than technical, it’s cultural.

     

     

    This innovation is more than skin deep. Instead of bolting together off-the-shelf fans and battery packs, Greenjets has reimagined the propulsion module as a tightly integrated system: cooling, structure, and control working together as one unit. That vision became reality in early 2023, when Greenjets unveiled the world’s first electric jet engine demonstrator built specifically for commercial drone platforms. It wasn’t just a breakthrough in performance. It was proof that safety, certification, and silence could be engineered not as trade-offs, but as table stakes. And they couldn’t have timed it better.

    As aviation faces unprecedented pressure to decarbonize, battery technology is catching up, short-haul routes are opening up, and regulators are finally aligning behind eVTOL certification frameworks. Cities are laying the groundwork for aerial corridors but grounding noisy operators. In parallel, defense agencies are seeking next-gen drones that are stealthier, more agile, and energy efficient.

    Greenjets fits squarely into this moment. Especially as geopolitical fault lines sharpen and rare-earth dependencies become liabilities. In April 2025, China tightened export controls on critical magnet materials, sending a shockwave through global EV and aerospace supply chains. But Greenjets had already made the hard choice: to avoid reliance on Chinese rare-earths altogether, sourcing instead from emerging suppliers in the West and Australia. That decision, once contrarian, now feels prescient.

    Behind the product is a team that knows propulsion to its core. CEO Anmol Manohar brings deep experience from Rolls-Royce and Formula 1, blending engineering rigor with high-speed iteration. Dr. Guido, formerly at BAE Systems, leads development with expertise in advanced turbomachinery and simulation. Together, they’ve built a team that moves fast without cutting corners—balancing aerospace-grade safety with startup-grade urgency.

     

     

    Supporting them is a circle of experienced advisors, including industry veteran Colin Smith, whose leadership in global aviation programs brings the kind of perspective that only decades at the frontier can provide.

    The result is a company that doesn’t just build electric engines, it’s rewriting the template for how electric flight should sound, feel, and scale.

    The Flight Ahead

    Greenjets isn’t just building engines, it’s building belief.

    Belief that the sound of flight can fade into the background. That clean, quiet propulsion isn’t a long-term goal but it’s ready for testing, for integration, for the skies.

    This isn’t a theory. In March 2024, Greenjets and Ricardo unveiled the InCEPTion demonstrator; a fully integrated, ducted-fan propulsion system built for aircraft under five tonnes. It was a step toward flight that is quiet, scalable, and certifiable.

     

     

    And the work continues. Through a research partnership with the Whittle Laboratory at Cambridge, Greenjets is combining engineering with climate modeling, exploring not just how to fly quieter and cleaner, but how to prove it scientifically, publicly, and at scale. In parallel, collaborations with edge-focused partners like Firestorm Labs are pushing the platform into the field, testing how modular units can perform in the real world, under real constraints.

    This is what momentum looks like.

    But perhaps most importantly, Greenjets is doing this without shortcuts with no rare-earth reliance and no supply-chain guesswork. In a world increasingly wary of fragility, the team is building with resilience in mind sourcing consciously, manufacturing locally, and preparing for a future where propulsion isn’t just cleaner, but smarter and more sovereign.

    For the industry, the signals are clear: certification frameworks are maturing, battery tech is catching up, and cities are preparing the infrastructure. What’s been missing is propulsion that meets the moment—with the performance, the silence, and the trust to scale.

    Greenjets is building exactly that. And they’re not waiting for the future to arrive. They’re flying toward it.

  • Why Guest Experiences At Hotels Are Broken

    Why Guest Experiences At Hotels Are Broken

    It’s 2 AM. A weary traveler checks into a boutique hotel after a delayed flight. He taps his keycard against the door, but nothing happens. He tries again. Still red. Frustrated, he heads to the front desk, where an understaffed team struggles to reprogram his key.

     

    Inside the room, things don’t get better. The thermostat resets to an icy 65°F each night. The smart TV requires an engineering degree to navigate. And while the website promised a seamless, tech-enabled experience, the reality is a patchwork of disconnected systems that don’t talk to each other.

     

    This isn’t just an isolated inconvenience. It’s a symptom of a much larger problem in hospitality technology—one that DeviceThread is solving.

     

    A Disjointed Tech Stack Leading to Poor Guest Experiences

     

     

    Hospitality, an industry built on seamless experiences, is paradoxically one of the most fragmented when it comes to technology. Hotels and short-term rentals today are caught between evolving guest expectations and an outdated digital infrastructure. The key challenges include:

     

    1. Broken Access Control

    Hotel guests expect frictionless access to their rooms and amenities, but even in 2024, check-in delays remain a top complaint. Keycard failures, forgotten PIN codes, and outdated lock integrations cause long wait times and frustrated customers. In a two-day stay, a surprising percentage of guests encounter at least one lockout incident.

     

    2. Wasted Energy and Inefficiency

    Most hotel rooms operate with a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to heating and cooling, leading to an estimated 30% energy waste. Smart thermostats exist but are often disconnected from occupancy data, leading to empty rooms being heated or cooled unnecessarily.

     

    3. Property Maintenance Blind Spots

    From water leaks to dead batteries in smart locks, hotels lack real-time visibility into operational issues. This results in reactive rather than proactive maintenance, increasing costs and disrupting operations.

     

    4. Outdated Entertainment Systems

    Despite advancements in consumer entertainment, most hotel rooms still rely on expensive cable packages. Guests, accustomed to Netflix and YouTube at home, rarely use hotel TVs—yet owners continue paying $10-$30 per room per month for underutilized services.

     

    The Existing Solutions: A Landscape of Fragmented Fixes

     

    Over the past decade, hospitality tech has evolved, but not in a cohesive way. The market is flooded with point solutions:

     

    Smart Locks (e.g., Lynx, SALTO Systems, Nuki) – Good for access control, but require heavy integrations and don’t connect seamlessly with broader hotel operations.

     

    Energy Management Tools (e.g., SensorFlow, Honeywell, AblePlus) – Can cut costs, but typically work in silos without guest or operational data.

     

    Entertainment Solutions (e.g., Enseo, RoomRaccoon) – Provide modern content options but don’t solve the fundamental issue of fragmented in-room experiences.

     

    Property Management Systems (e.g., Cloudbeds, StayNTouch, Mews) – Handle bookings and guest data but lack deep integration with IoT-enabled room controls.

     

    The fundamental issue? These tools don’t speak the same language. Each system exists in isolation, forcing hotel operators to stitch together solutions that aren’t designed to work together.

     

    Enter DeviceThread: The AI-Driven Operating System for Hospitality

     

    DeviceThread takes an entirely different approach. Rather than being another point solution, it acts as the central nervous system for hotel operations—connecting smart locks, thermostats, entertainment systems, and property management software into a single, AI-powered platform.

     

     

    Here’s why we believe DeviceThread is a game-changer:

     

    1. Full-Stack Integration Without Hardware Lock-In

    Unlike competitors that require costly hardware overhauls, DeviceThread is hardware-agnostic. It can integrate with existing smart locks, climate control systems, and entertainment devices, reducing capital expenditure for hotel owners.

     

    2. AI-Powered Efficiency

    By applying machine learning and predictive analytics, DeviceThread optimizes hotel operations in real-time. It automates energy consumption based on occupancy patterns, proactively alerts maintenance teams to potential failures, and personalizes guest experiences.

     

    3. Out-of-the-Box Deployment

    Most smart hotel solutions require weeks (or months) of professional installation. DeviceThread is designed for plug-and-play usability—no expensive system integrators required.

     

    4. A Clear GTM Strategy

    DeviceThread is not just an idea—it’s already proving itself in the market. With partnerships including Cloudbeds (300K+ rooms in its network) and Aavgo, the company is positioned for rapid expansion. Its initial traction in the unbranded hotel segment (a massive, underserved market) gives it a strong wedge before expanding into major chains and alternative accommodations.

     

    The Future of Hospitality Tech: A Fully Connected, AI-Driven Experience

     

    We are at an inflection point in hospitality technology. As digital-first generations become the dominant travelers, expectations around seamless, personalized experiences will only increase.

     

    In the next five years, we foresee:

    1. A move from single-use smart devices to unified smart ecosystems.
    2. AI-driven guest personalization becoming the industry standard.
    3. The death of fragmented hotel operations, replaced by fully integrated platforms.

     

    DeviceThread is at the forefront of this transformation. By solving the underlying fragmentation in hospitality tech, it is not only improving guest experiences but also unlocking massive operational efficiencies for hotel owners.

  • Why z21 Ventures invested in Breakout?

    Why z21 Ventures invested in Breakout?

    Why z21 Ventures invested in Breakout?

    Why We Invested in Breakout: The Future of AI-Driven Sales

    At z21 Ventures, we back founders who push boundaries—those redefining industries rather than just solving problems. When we met the Breakout team, we saw something different: Breakout, an AI-driven platform that automates the first sales conversation for software companies. Engaging prospects in real-time across inbound, outbound, and ABM channels, Meaku qualifies leads, answers questions, and demos products—completely unassisted, in a human-like way.

    The Problem: The Broken First Sales Conversation

    In today’s software sales landscape, the first conversation with a potential buyer is a huge bottleneck. Companies spend millions hiring SDRs (Sales Development Representatives) to qualify leads, schedule demos, and answer the same repetitive questions. Yet, the process remains inefficient—SDRs can only work so many hours, and buyers don’t want to wait days to get a response.

    While chatbots exist, they fall short. They can answer basic queries but fail when it comes to handling real sales conversations—ones that involve product demos, dynamic questioning, and true prospect qualification.

     

    The Breakout Breakthrough: An AI SDR That Actually Sells

    Breakout is not just another chatbot. It is a fully autonomous sales agent capable of handling inbound conversations, answering product questions, running demos, and even scheduling follow-ups—all in a human-like, real-time manner. Think of it as an AI-powered SDR that works 24/7, never gets tired, and improves with every interaction.

    At its core, Breakout is leveraging AI in a way that most sales tech solutions haven’t. It uses:

    • Specialized Language Models: Utilizing small language models fine-tuned for nuanced sales conversations.
    • Dynamic Video Processing: Implementing AI-driven video capabilities to deliver personalized product demonstrations.
    • Real-Time Intent Analysis: Employing behavioral analytics to assess buyer intent and tailor responses accordingly.
    • Automated Scheduling and CRM Integration: Streamlining meeting setups and ensuring seamless updates to customer relationship management systems.

    This isn’t just about automation—it’s about intelligence. Breakout is designed to interact as a true sales representative, guiding prospects down the funnel while personalizing conversations at scale.

    The Team: The Right People for a Hard Problem

    Building a product like this is incredibly difficult. It requires deep AI expertise, sales process understanding, and the ability to execute at the highest level. That’s why the Breakout team stood out.

    • Sachin Gupta, co-founder of HackerEarth, has spent over a decade building a software business. His firsthand experience as an early customer of Breakout before joining as a co-founder speaks volumes about his conviction in the product.
    • Hitesh Aggarwal, formerly at Google Ads AI, brings deep expertise in AI-driven optimization and automation. His experience building large-scale AI systems makes him the perfect technical leader for a venture like Breakout.

    Low Conversion Rates on B2B Websites

    B2B websites often struggle with converting visitors into leads or customers. Data indicates that the average conversion rate for B2B SaaS companies is approximately 1.1%.This low rate suggests that a significant portion of potential leads are not being effectively engaged or nurtured through traditional means.

    Complexity in Software Sales Due to Technical Nature

    Selling software products, especially those with advanced technical features, involves navigating lengthy sales cycles and addressing multifaceted customer requirements. Several factors contribute to this complexity:

    • Extended Sales Cycles: The intricate nature of software solutions often necessitates prolonged evaluation periods. On average, B2B sales cycles have increased from 6.4 months to 7.4 months in recent years. This extension can be attributed to the need for thorough assessments by potential buyers to ensure the solution aligns with their specific needs.
    • Multiple Stakeholders: Purchasing decisions in the software sector typically involve various stakeholders, each with distinct concerns and requirements. Coordinating and addressing the diverse interests of these decision-makers can complicate and lengthen the sales process.
    • Resistance to Change: Introducing new software solutions often requires customers to alter existing workflows or systems. This transition can lead to hesitation or resistance, as organizations weigh the benefits against the challenges of change.

    Breakout’s Strategic Position

    Breakout is uniquely positioned to address these challenges by:

    • Enhancing Engagement: Through real-time, AI-driven interactions, Breakout can provide immediate, personalized responses to website visitors, potentially increasing conversion rates by effectively capturing and nurturing leads.
    • Simplifying Complex Sales: By automating initial sales conversations and product demonstrations, Breakout reduces the burden on human SDRs, streamlines the sales process, and accelerates the journey from interest to decision.
    • Building Trust with Stakeholders: Breakout’s ability to deliver consistent, accurate information helps in building confidence among diverse stakeholders, facilitating smoother consensus and decision-making.

    Our Investment: A Bet on the Future of Sales

    At Z21 Ventures, we believe Breakout has the potential to reshape how software companies sell.

    We’re backing Breakout because we believe in their vision: a world where sales teams no longer waste time on repetitive conversations, and buyers get instant, intelligent responses—leading to faster conversions, lower costs, and higher efficiency.

    The future of sales is autonomous. And Breakout is leading the charge.

     

  • Empowering Payers: How CoverSelf is Transforming Claims Processing

    Empowering Payers: How CoverSelf is Transforming Claims Processing

    Addressing the Problem: Administrative Waste and Payment Integrity in U.S. Healthcare

    The U.S. healthcare system is plagued by an overwhelming issue: administrative inefficiencies and payment inaccuracies, which together contribute to over $900 billion in waste annually. Of this staggering figure, improper payments and claims errors account for a significant portion. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), payment inaccuracies lead to a loss of approximately $100 billion annually in the healthcare sector alone. In addition to these systemic losses, the bureaucratic nature of the current payment integrity system further complicates the landscape.

    Payment integrity, which ensures the accuracy and legitimacy of healthcare claims, has become increasingly difficult to manage due to the complexity and constant evolution of healthcare policies, guidelines, medical advancements, compliance requirements, and payer policies. Claims processing systems often rely on legacy technology—opaque, black-box systems with limited transparency—making it nearly impossible for insurers to efficiently identify and resolve payment issues.

    Shifting left in the claims process can address these challenges by reducing administrative waste and the associated costs. By moving tasks earlier in the workflow and automating processes, the need for manual interventions decreases, improving efficiency and lowering costs. This approach not only enhances payment accuracy but also creates value for all key stakeholders—patients, providers, and payers—by streamlining operations and ensuring timely, accurate reimbursements.

    Third-party vendors are commonly enlisted by healthcare payers (insurance companies) to detect claims inaccuracies and mitigate payment leakage. However, these vendors, motivated by a contingency fee model, frequently reject claims without providing clear explanations. This system creates an adversarial relationship between healthcare providers and payers, as providers see legitimate claims being denied and are left struggling financially. The existing solution framework not only slows down claims processing but also creates distrust among the key stakeholders: patients, providers, and payers.

    Current Solutions and Landscape: Legacy Systems and Vendor Dependency

    The healthcare claims landscape is dominated by legacy systems and third-party vendors that have failed to adapt to the rapidly evolving needs of the sector. Incumbents dominating the payment integrity space but rely on closed systems that hinder innovation and transparency. These solutions present several critical challenges:

    1. Opaque Operations: Legacy systems function as black boxes, offering little to no visibility into their algorithms, decision-making processes, or system rules. As a result, payers and providers lack clarity on why claims are denied, which makes it difficult to correct errors and prevent them in the future. This opacity fosters inefficiency and mistrust, slowing down the entire process.
    2. Costly Dependencies: Payers are heavily reliant on third-party vendors, who are financially incentivized to identify claims inaccuracies, even when some claims are legitimate. This results in unnecessary denials, increasing the administrative burden and leading to costly cycles of appeals and resubmissions. Studies have shown that nearly 30% of healthcare costs in the U.S. can be attributed to administrative inefficiencies—part of which is due to these outdated vendor models.
    3. Innovation Stagnation: Legacy systems lack the agility to quickly adapt to new healthcare policies, compliance requirements, or technological advancements, such as artificial intelligence or automation. The rigidity of these platforms prevents healthcare payers from realizing potential savings, increasing efficiency, and delivering better outcomes to providers and patients.
    4. Misaligned Business Model: The current model discourages shifting solutions to a “shift-left” approach, insourcing, and adopting an open-box model. Additionally, the reliance on contingency-based pricing hampers proactive innovation and transparency, preventing the prioritization of these crucial factors in the business strategy.
      While some startups have emerged to challenge these incumbents, many are still early-stage players or offer limited solutions that don’t adequately address the industry’s core issues—transparency, efficiency, and collaboration.

    How CoverSelf is Different: Empowering Payers and Providers with a Transparent, Customizable Solution

    Founded in 2021, CoverSelf represents a generational leap forward in addressing the issues of payment integrity and claims processing in the U.S. healthcare system. Built by industry veterans with decades of experience in payment integrity and healthcare technologists, CoverSelf offers a cloud-native, API-first platform that aims to revolutionize claims accuracy, transparency, and operational efficiency. Here’s how it stands apart from the competition:

    1. Transparency and Open Architecture: Unlike legacy systems, CoverSelf’s patented technology is designed with full transparency in mind. Its open, collaborative architecture ensures that all stakeholders—payers, providers, and vendors—can access real-time data and insights. This transparency reduces confusion and eliminates the adversarial dynamic that often exists between payers and providers. Claims errors are flagged with clear explanations, allowing both parties to resolve issues more efficiently and help shifting left from Post-Pay to Pre-Pay.
    2. Customizable and Adaptable: CoverSelf’s platform is purpose-built to be easily customizable. Domain experts & SMEs can configure their policies, rule logic, and workflows using intuitive, simple templates or even in plain English. This flexibility enables payers to adapt quickly to changes in healthcare policies, compliance guidelines, and code sets, ensuring that their systems are always up-to-date. By allowing real-time adjustments, CoverSelf accelerates innovation and reduces the cost and time associated with platform updates.
    3. Eliminating Dependency on Third-Party Vendors & Speed to Market: CoverSelf empowers payers to take back control by automating much of the claims and payments processing internally. This reduces reliance on costly third-party vendors, cutting administrative costs and streamlining workflows. With the platform’s in-sourcing model, payers can identify and resolve claims errors more quickly, improving payment accuracy and reducing the incidence of denials and appeals. Additionally, CoverSelf’s ability to enable faster releases and innovation ensures payers can introduce new features quickly, accelerating time-to-market and avoiding lengthy recovery workflows that typically occur when relying on external vendors.
    4. Scalable, API-Driven Innovation & Seamless Integrations: CoverSelf is designed for scalability, using cloud-native technologies and APIs to grow alongside the healthcare systems it serves. The platform integrates seamlessly with existing claims systems and downstream processes, reducing the complexity and cost of adopting new technologies or complying with regulatory changes. Its real-time error correction capabilities ensure significant cost savings, while the easy integration with provider and regulatory systems helps payers meet strict SLAs without manual processing. By enabling seamless integrations, CoverSelf enhances operational efficiency and ensures smooth, compliant operations across the healthcare ecosystem.
    5. Reducing Administrative Waste and Costs: One of CoverSelf’s core missions is to eliminate the administrative waste that plagues the U.S. healthcare system. Its unified platform simplifies the claims process by reducing the back-and-forth between business users and technical teams. This streamlining not only accelerates claims processing but also identifies new savings opportunities.
    6. Expanding Capabilities with Generative AI: CoverSelf is investing heavily in generative AI capabilities to further improve payment integrity and claims processing. By incorporating AI-driven insights into its platform, CoverSelf aims to preemptively identify and correct errors, as well as optimize resource allocation. This next phase of product development is expected to reduce operational costs even further while enhancing the platform’s ability to learn from past mistakes and continuously improve accuracy.
    7. Built-in Concept Library: The platform provides a comprehensive, ready-made library of policies, complete with up-to-date and defendable rationale and sources. Users don’t have to start from scratch; instead, they can select and customize modular concepts according to their needs. This library includes policies relevant across various Lines of Business (LOBs), claim types, and specialties, allowing payers to pick and choose specific concepts to support diverse requirements.

    Conclusion: A New Era of Payment Integrity

    CoverSelf is poised to disrupt the U.S. healthcare system by addressing the fundamental inefficiencies that have long plagued claims and payment integrity. By offering a transparent, customizable, and scalable platform, CoverSelf empowers payers and providers to collaborate more effectively, eliminate administrative waste, and improve financial outcomes. As the company continues to scale, with additional clients expected to onboard soon, its approach has the potential to save billions of dollars and make healthcare more affordable for everyone.
    With an estimated ~$1 trillion in healthcare waste, solutions like CoverSelf are no longer optional—they are essential to the future of healthcare.

  • Why Develo is the Future of Pediatric Practice Management

    Why Develo is the Future of Pediatric Practice Management

    Pediatric healthcare is a critical aspect of the overall healthcare system, yet it has often been underserved by traditional healthcare technology solutions. Develo, a pioneering pediatric software company, aims to bridge this gap by providing an end-to-end solution tailored specifically for independent pediatric practices. This article delves into Develo’s innovative approach, the pressing needs of pediatricians, success stories, and the vision ahead.

     

    Pediatric Care: A Growing Need

     

    Children make up about one-third of the population in the United States, which means there are around 73 million kids under the age of 18. This large number highlights the important need for specialized care that only pediatricians can provide.
     


     

    Pediatricians deal with unique challenges because children’s bodies and health needs are different from adults. One major task is managing growth and development milestones. Pediatricians track how children grow and develop over time, using tools like growth charts to ensure they are progressing normally. If there are any concerns, they can spot them early and take action.
     

    Another key responsibility is giving age-specific vaccines. These vaccines are crucial for preventing serious illnesses in children. Pediatricians follow a vaccination schedule that is designed for different stages of a child’s growth, making sure kids get their shots on time.
     

    Pediatricians also handle various childhood illnesses such as asthma, allergies, infections, and chronic conditions like diabetes. Treating children can be challenging because they might not be able to explain their symptoms well. Pediatricians need to be skilled at understanding and diagnosing these conditions while considering how an illness can affect a child’s overall growth and well-being.
     

    Beyond the Basics: What Pediatricians Really Need
     

    Pediatricians require software that is customized to their specific workflows and the unique needs of their patients. Traditional Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems are often designed with general healthcare in mind and fail to address the particular requirements of pediatric care. For instance, pediatricians need specialized tools to track growth and development milestones, manage vaccinations, and handle a wide range of childhood illnesses. According to a 2020 survey by the American Academy of Pediatrics, 75% of pediatricians reported that their EMR systems lacked pediatric-specific features, such as growth charts, vaccination schedules, and age-specific illness protocols. This lack of specialized functionality led to inefficiencies and potential errors.Customization ensures that the software fits seamlessly into their daily routines, improving accuracy and efficiency in managing the health of young patients.
     

    Integration is another critical need for pediatric practices. Pediatricians must work with various healthcare systems, including lab systems for test results, pharmacies for prescriptions, and platforms for managing family health records. Seamless integration with these systems is essential for efficient and effective patient care. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association found that lack of integration in EMR systems led to a 30% increase in time spent on administrative tasks and a 20% increase in the risk of errors. Properly integrated software helps pediatricians access all necessary information quickly and accurately, ensuring timely and coordinated care for their patients.
     

    User experience is also a key factor in the effectiveness of pediatric software. Pediatric practices benefit greatly from software that is intuitive and easy to use. When the software is user-friendly, it enhances the overall patient care experience rather than complicating it. Features like automated clinical documentation and scheduling can save significant time and reduce administrative burdens. For example, automated clinical documentation can cut the time spent on charting by up to 75%, according to a report by Health Affairs. This time-saving allows pediatricians to dedicate more attention to their patients. A well-designed user experience means that pediatricians can work more efficiently, reduce burnout, and provide higher-quality care. According to the American Medical Association, practices using intuitive software saw a 20% increase in patient satisfaction and a 15% decrease in clinician burnout.
     

     
    Current Solutions: A Mixed Bag
     

    Many current Electronic Medical Record (EMR) systems are primarily designed with adult healthcare in mind, often lacking features that are critical to pediatric care. This creates a significant gap in the market, as these generic systems fail to address the unique needs of pediatricians. For instance, typical EMR systems may not offer tools for tracking growth charts, managing age-specific vaccinations, or handling the nuances of pediatric illnesses. According to a report by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), 65% of pediatricians find that their EMR systems do not adequately support pediatric-specific functionalities .
     

    There are several companies attempting to address these gaps, but challenges remain. Open-source solutions like OpenMRS provide a flexible framework that can be customized to meet specific needs, but they require significant technical expertise and resources to implement effectively . This makes them less accessible to smaller pediatric practices that may not have the necessary technical support.
     

    Venture-backed companies such as Elation Health and Athenahealth have started to introduce pediatric-specific modules within their broader EMR systems. These solutions aim to better support the unique needs of pediatricians, offering features like growth chart tracking and age-specific vaccination management. However, these features are often in the early stages of development and may not fully address all the requirements of pediatric practices.
    On the other hand, companies like SimplePractice and Practice Fusion, which often cater to smaller practices, offer user-friendly EMR solutions but may lack the depth of pediatric-specific features needed for comprehensive care . These systems are designed to be broad and versatile, potentially missing the specialized tools required for pediatric healthcare.
     

    The demand for innovation in pediatric healthcare technology is clear. There is a growing need for tech-driven solutions that cater specifically to the pediatric market, addressing both clinical and operational challenges. For example, according to Rock Health, venture funding for pediatric health tech saw a 30% increase in 2023, reflecting the growing recognition of this unmet need . Pediatricians require software that supports their specialized workflows, integrates seamlessly with other healthcare systems, and enhances the user experience.
     

    The High Stakes of Outdated Technology
     

    In the healthcare industry, a shift towards value-based care models is underway, holding practices financially accountable for the quality of care they provide. This transition can lead to a significant collections risk of over 3%, determined by documented quality measures performance. Pediatric practices, in particular, confront challenges in managing these financial risks due to limited resources and support. To mitigate these risks, effective EMR solutions such as Develo can intervene. These solutions enhance data management and quality tracking, providing pediatric practices with the tools they need to thrive in a value-based care environment.
     

    The regulatory landscape for healthcare is evolving, with new requirements for interoperability and adolescent confidentiality. The 21st Century Cures Act, for example, mandates improved access to electronic health information while ensuring privacy and security. Non-compliance with these regulations can result in arduous documentation processes and poor records access, negatively impacting practice efficiency and patient care. Develo’s FHIR-native architecture (Fast Healthcare Interoperability resources) and family-centered data management help practices stay compliant while maintaining high standards of care.
     

    There is a growing trend towards the consumerization of healthcare, particularly among younger patients and their families. Pediatric practices need to earn loyalty and improve patient engagement to drive better care outcomes. This is challenging in an environment where patients and parents expect seamless, digital-first experiences. Develo addresses this by offering a consumer-first approach, integrating features like automated family engagement, digital intake, and user-friendly interfaces that enhance patient satisfaction and loyalty.
     

    The Develo Difference: Leadership
     

    Dr. Aaron Sin and Han Ke lead Develo, bringing a powerful blend of healthcare and technology expertise to the company. Aaron, a recent father, has an extensive background in healthcare technology and management. His experience includes leading the development of value-based care products at Innovaccer, managing healthcare projects at McKinsey, and implementing the Epic EMR system at LPCH Stanford. Aaron holds an MD from Stanford University and a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Yale University.
     

    Han’s expertise lies in full-stack engineering, with a track record of developing financial advice algorithms at Betterment and ad campaign products at Marin Software. He earned his BS in Computer Engineering from the University of Toronto. Together, Aaron and Han offer a deep understanding of both the technical and clinical aspects essential to pediatric practices.
     

    Develo’s Comprehensive Solution
     

    Develo equips pediatric practices with a robust suite of tools designed to optimize operations and elevate patient care. By automating documentation, scheduling, and family outreach, Develo streamlines administrative tasks, allowing for a more efficient workflow. This increased efficiency translates to fewer claim denials, simplified payments, and a more stable cash flow.
     

    Patient satisfaction is also a priority for Develo. The platform offers user-friendly charting features, easy-to-interpret growth charts, and a consumer-centric digital experience that fosters loyalty and engagement.
     

    Develo’s innovative solutions significantly reduce the time spent on visit notes and charge capture. This, coupled with automated patient communication and streamlined scheduling and results review, empowers pediatricians to dedicate their attention to what truly matters: delivering exceptional care to their young patients. Additionally, Develo’s integrated document management system simplifies inbound document handling, further contributing to a comprehensive and efficient pediatric practice.
     

    The Future of Pediatric Care Starts Now
     

    Develo is more than just software; it’s a commitment to the future of pediatric care. By empowering pediatricians with the tools they need, Develo is improving efficiency, enhancing patient experiences, and ultimately, shaping a healthier future for children everywhere.
     

  • The Silent Struggle: How Hearing Loss Impacts Lives

    The Silent Struggle: How Hearing Loss Impacts Lives

    (more…)

  • Z21 Ventures announces investment in Basepair, a SaaS platform that democratizes access to, analysis of, and interpretation of genomic data

    Z21 Ventures announces investment in Basepair, a SaaS platform that democratizes access to, analysis of, and interpretation of genomic data

     

    Thanks to advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology, genomic data is being generated on an unprecedented scale. Improvements in cloud computing resources have allowed the raw data to be processed and stored with ever-increasing efficiency. However, analyzing this data and gaining insights from it is still very challenging and limited to a select few due to technology restrictions. This results in reduced efficiency for R&D teams, longer times to market for assay manufacturers, and increased turnaround times in clinical settings.

     

    Basepair, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform, democratizes access to and the analysis and interpretation of genomic data. Basepair allows organizations to connect to and leverage the compute and storage resources in their own cloud account, allowing them to optimize their resources and realize greater business value. This allows them to remain connected to the other analytical capabilities offered by their cloud provider while benefiting from economies of scale by running everything through one account. This enables the end users with the appropriate domain expertise to run the same workflows in a controlled setting and use the inbuilt visualization tools and reports to make sense of the data.

     

    Z21 Ventures is pleased to announce our strategic investment in Basepair. This investment reflects our commitment to supporting innovative solutions and purposeful companies. Basepair aligns seamlessly with our vision, providing an innovative solution that makes bioinformatics easier, faster, and cost-effective.

     

    “z21 is more than just an investor; it’s a team of builders and operators. From the start, the investment process was efficient and well-managed. They have connected us with top-tier investors and talent in Silicon Valley. Behind the scenes, they actively help improve the business from the ground up. z21 should be the top choice for any founder.” – Amit U Sinha | Founder & CEO of Basepair

     

    We are thrilled about the investment and the upcoming collaboration with Basepair and the vibrant Z21 community. We eagerly anticipate the opportunity to work closely with the Basepair team, leveraging our collective expertise to propel them toward even greater heights in the genomics industry.