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Huma raises US $ 130 million financing to scale its digital health platform for better care and research
Huma Therapeutics has announced the completion of its latest funding round with financing of approximately US $ 130 million . The investment will scale Huma ’ s modular platform which can power digital ‘ hospitals at home ’ nationally and support the pharmaceutical and research industries to run the largest ever decentralised clinical trials . Huma ’ s platform combines predictive algorithms , digital biomarkers and real-world data to advance proactive care and research .
Leaps by Bayer and Hitachi Ventures led the Series C funding round , which also saw new strategic and financial investors become shareholders . Samsung Next , Sony Innovation Fund by IGV , Unilever Ventures and HAT Technology and Innovation Fund by HAT , as well as individuals , Nikesh Arora ( former president of SoftBank ) and Michael Diekmann ( Chairman of Allianz ) are also new shareholders .
A further commitment of US $ 70 million that can be exercised at a later date has also been agreed as part of the Series C funding round and takes the total financing raised to more than US $ 200 million .
IT consultancies started during pandemic to create 2,200 new jobs
The record number of new businesses started in 2020 are set to create thousands of jobs in the coming years , with one in four new IT consultancy owners planning to hire one or more employees , new research has found .
A quarter of entrepreneurs who started an IT consultancy during the pandemic – around
2,200 ( 2,266 ) – said they will be hiring one or more employees as their business grows in the coming months and years , creating an influx of new employment opportunities .
Although many lockdown-born businesses were created out of necessity following pandemic hardships such as furlough and redundancies , research from The Boom or Bust : Beginning a Business in a Pandemic report published by The Accountancy Partnership indicates that the majority of entrepreneurs have long-term growth plans for their businesses .
ONS data shows that the UK ’ s small and medium-sized businesses created three times more jobs than businesses with more than 250 employees in the years from 2013 to 2017 .
LivePreso to penetrate UK market with record sales quarter and new international clients , including Booking . com
Automated digital content platform , LivePreso , ( formerly known as SalesPreso ) has posted a record quarter after landing several new international clients , including one of the UK ’ s most popular digital travel platforms , Booking . com , and global travel company , Flight Centre Travel Group . The Melbourne-based start-up – which offers a cloud-connected suite of apps designed to automate sales presentations – recorded 43 % growth and 100 % contract renewal in the March quarter and plans to grow in the UK market this year .
The new contracts will include support for the roll-out of business-critical automation projects . LivePreso now supports thousands of users across 72 countries around the world with the UK being third . The platform boasts 79 integrations to date , and since signing Booking . com , it now supports dynamic content in 43 languages .
Under the new deals , LivePreso will support sales and account management teams to manage a high volume of customers that demand highly-tailored , data-driven proof points in their commercial decision making .
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