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Era Ventures Aims to Drive Fundamental Transformation in the Built Environment with Initial $88M Fund

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Era brings a unique investment thesis to bear with the largest woman-led first-time fund.

NEW YORK, Sept. 18, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Era Ventures, a pioneering venture capital firm focused on investing in a broad range of business model innovations to catalyze positive change in the built world, today announced the launch of its inaugural $88 million fund. Era Ventures will deploy capital across multiple stages and a full spectrum of sector-focused innovations, from enablement technologies that improve existing processes to truly disruptive platforms that reshape the industry. The firm has identified seven core business models driving change, including but not limited to SaaS and AI, marketplaces, embedded fintech, and hardtech ventures leveraging new technologies to optimize physical assets, and will actively invest across all of these categories.

Founded by industry veteran Clelia Warburg Peters, Era Ventures has already garnered support from a broad roster of leading institutional investors, including one of the country’s leading Ivy League Endowments, ICG Advisors, New York Presbyterian Hospital, The Ashforth Company, BentallGreenOak (BGO), Continental General Insurance Company (CGIC), Pelwood Holdings, First American, Bain Capital Ventures, Fenwick & West LLP and others. It marks a notable achievement during a year when very few new venture funds of this size were raised.

“We are proud to have invested in and to support Era Ventures in its mission to drive transformational change in the real estate sector,” said Jeff Assaf, Chief Investment Officer at ICG Advisors, one of the leading multifamily offices in the country. “We’ve seen specialist venture funds consistently outperform in similarly complex sectors like financial services and healthcare, and Era’s approach positions it to drive fundamental disruption in a massive, yet technologically lagging, industry.”

Peters has been a leading investor in the PropTech space since its early days — first as a co-founder of MetaProp, one of the original, strategically backed PropTech funds, and then as a Venture Partner at Bain Capital Ventures, a leading generalist venture firm. She is an authority on innovation in the real estate category and is the first woman to raise an initial fund of this size in the category.

“I’ve seen firsthand the need for a new approach to physical world innovation that combines the creativity and quality of the generalist investing approach with the sector knowledge and relationships brought by specialist funds,” said Clelia Warburg Peters, founder and Managing Partner at Era Ventures. “Era Ventures is leveraging our unique blend of institutional backing, top-tier venture experience, and deep real estate expertise to bring both rigor and care to driving transformational change in the physical world.”

The fund’s launch comes at a critical juncture for the nearly $380 trillion global real estate industry, which has long resisted technological disruption. With productivity in construction rising just around 1% annually over recent decades and buildings consuming 30% of global energy, the need for innovation has never been more urgent.

“Era is not about playing it safe — we’re not just looking to digitize old processes in real estate and construction,” said Raja Ghawi, Partner at Era Ventures. “As innovation in our built world enters a new generation, we believe founders and startups will learn from their predecessors’ mistakes, bringing more transformational, efficient, and profitable businesses to market.”

Era Ventures is building a concentrated, high-conviction portfolio of transformative startups reimagining how we build, manage, and interact with our physical environment. Fund I has already backed founders across multiple stages:

Marketplaces and tech-enabled services:

Honey Homes, a digital handyman subscription service provider.Latii, a cross-border construction-materials marketplace.Welcome Homes, a platform to manage and build custom homes online.Ostrich, a next-generation real estate listing service in the UK.

Fintech:

Shepherd, an embedded insurance platform designed for the construction industry.Truehold, a single-family rental company that combines home sales and rental leases.Homeward, an embedded financial platform powering residential real estate transactions.

Hardtech:

PassiveLogic, an AI-enabled platform for autonomous buildings.ViaBot, a Robotics-as-a-Service facility management platform.

Vertical AI and SaaS:

Indigo, an AI-powered platform to facilitate residential real estate transactions.

“Clelia and Raja have a deep and considered viewpoint on what makes companies great. They use a qualitative and quantitative approach to understand their portfolio companies and apply that to provide helpful guidance and advice,” said Vishwas Prabhakara, the Founder and CEO of Honey Homes. “In particular, I’ve appreciated how they have helped Honey Homes better understand our target customers and informed our pricing strategy. Just as important, they have shown themselves to be a steady partner amidst the ups and downs of a startup journey.”

About Era Ventures:
Era Ventures is a venture capital firm dedicated to transforming the physical world through collaboration with companies that have the potential to disrupt outdated business models and create new systems. Founded by industry veteran Clelia Warburg Peters with a rare combination of expertise across real estate, technology, and venture capital, Era backs visionary entrepreneurs reimagining how we build, manage, and experience physical environments. The firm invests across stages, from seed to growth, in startups poised to revolutionize the $380 trillion global real estate industry. For more information about Era Ventures, visit www.eraventures.com.

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HiTHIUM Partners with the University of Cambridge to Advance International Industry-Academia Collaboration in Long-Duration Energy Storage

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November 14, 2026

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XIAMEN, China, Nov. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — On November 12, the Global Energy Storage Colloquium was held in Xiamen. During the colloquium, HiTHIUM and the University of Cambridge signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU), establishing a strategic partnership. The two parties will collaborate on frontier scientific research, key technology innovation and industrial applications in battery energy storage, bringing academic research into closer alignment with industry needs and exploring new models for international industry-academia collaboration. The partnership aims to contribute to the advancement of global energy storage technology and the industry.

The UK has a strong track record in the development of modern battery technologies and fundamental research. The University of Cambridge is one of the world’s leading universities, with internationally recognized expertise in engineering, materials science and fundamental research. As a leading global energy storage technology company, HiTHIUM has long focused on energy storage technology development and commercialization. It continues to advance integrated research and innovation across the value chain, from high-capacity energy storage cells to long-duration energy storage systems and grid integration technologies.

The collaboration is intended to bring internationally leading academic research into closer engagement with innovation across China’s energy storage industry. The University of Cambridge’s strengths in fundamental science, materials research and engineering will offer new perspectives and approaches to key scientific questions and emerging technologies in energy storage. HiTHIUM will bring its experience in long-duration energy storage (LDES), product development and large-scale deployment, connecting research with real industry needs and application scenarios, and supporting the engineering validation and commercialization of research outcomes. By drawing on the strengths of both research and industry, the partnership will strengthen the links between frontier innovation and practical applications.

Under the cooperation plan, the two parties will establish joint management and research collaboration mechanisms, bringing together academic resources and corporate R&D capabilities. They will work together to plan research projects, facilitate scientific exchange and support the translation of research outcomes, strengthening connections between fundamental research, technology development and industrial applications so that innovation in energy storage can better serve industry needs.

The partnership also marks an important step in HiTHIUM’s efforts to expand its international innovation network. Building on this collaboration with the University of Cambridge, HiTHIUM will further strengthen academic exchanges and research partnerships with leading universities and research institutions around the world. By bringing together international research resources and talent, the company aims to encourage collaboration across disciplines and technology fields, explore the development of technologies such as LDES from a global perspective, and bring technical challenges and application needs from the front lines of industry into research and innovation. This will help research and industrial practice reinforce one another.

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SOURCE HiTHIUM

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The NYSE Welcomes vVARDIS as a Publicly Listed Company

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November 14, 2026

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NEW YORK, Nov. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — vVARDIS (NYSE: VVVV) co-founders Dr. Haley Abivardi and Dr. Goly Abivardi aim to reshape the future of dental care with a drill-free treatment for the world’s #1 non-communicable disease: cavities.

vVARDIS Solves a Problem that Millions FaceTooth decay affects billions of people worldwide, and dental anxiety keeps millions from getting the care they need.vVARDIS is a Swiss dental technology company focused on changing the way early tooth decay is treated.vVARDIS has introduced a new approach that aims to treat decay earlier and more comfortably for patients.Its flagship product, Curodont® Repair Fluoride Plus, uses proprietary peptide technology to help repair early-stage tooth decay by supporting the natural remineralization of enamel — simply put No drill, No needle, or No filling.Tooth Decay is One of the Most Common Health Issues in the World2.5 billion people globally live with untreated tooth decay.Nearly 90% of U.S. adults have experienced tooth decay.Nearly 73% of U.S. adults report dental fear.21% avoid the dentist because of anxiety.The Story that Helped Shape vVARDISFor decades, treating early tooth decay often meant waiting until it worsened or getting a filling. The founders spent 25 years developing Curodont® Repair Fluoride Plus, a treatment that helps repair early tooth decay before it becomes a cavity.Curodont® gives dentists a way to treat early decay while making the experience easier and less intimidating for patients.The technology has already treated more than 2.5 million teethAvailable in more than 20% of U.S. dental practices

Click Here to Learn More about vVARDIS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1p9hUR5Glk

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SOURCE New York Stock Exchange

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Innovative Immunology Biotech Windward Bio Lists on Nasdaq

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November 14, 2026

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SHANGHAI, Nov. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Windward Bio, a portfolio company of Qiming Venture Partners and a clinical-stage biotechnology company, successfully listed on Nasdaq on November 13, 2026. Windward Bio (Nasdaq: WWB) priced its IPO at $17.00 per share. Its shares closed at $28.50 on the first trading day, up 68% from the IPO price, giving the company a market capitalization of approximately $1.69 billion. This is Qiming Venture Partners’ 11th IPO in 2026.

Qiming Venture Partners invested in Windward Bio’s inaugural Series A financing in 2025 and continued to support the company in its Series B financing in 2026. Qiming also participated in this IPO financing round.

Windward Bio was founded in 2024 with a mission to transform the treatment paradigm for patients living with chronic inflammatory diseases through the development of differentiated biologic therapies targeting clinically validated disease pathways. Led by a team with extensive expertise across discovery, development, and commercialization, Windward Bio is advancing a pipeline of ultra-long-acting antibody medicines to improve clinical outcomes, reduce treatment burden and expand treatment options for patients with serious respiratory and dermatologic diseases, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and atopic dermatitis.

Windward Bio’s lead program, WIN378, is a potentially novel anti-TSLP monoclonal antibody engineered for improved potency and extended half-life. WIN378 is currently being evaluated in POLARIS-1, a Phase 2/3 study in severe uncontrolled asthma, and SIRIUS, a Phase 2 study in COPD. The company’s pipeline also includes WIN027, a clinical-stage, long-acting bispecific antibody targeting TSLP and IL-13 with potential applications across multiple inflammatory and immunological diseases. Windward Bio holds exclusive global rights (excluding Greater China and certain Asian countries) to WIN378 through a licensing agreement with Kelun-Biotech and Harbour BioMed, and has separately licensed WIN027 from Qyuns Therapeutics.

“Qiming Venture Partners invests in differentiated, globally competitive biotech innovation designed to address significant unmet needs for patients, and Windward Bio exemplifies this approach. We believe novel, long-acting biologics will reshape the treatment of severe chronic respiratory and skin diseases, and that WIN378 and WIN027 have the potential to expand and meaningfully improve the treatment options available to patients. In the hands of Luca and his team, with their expertise and proven track record, Windward is well-positioned to deliver on this potential, and we look forward to supporting the company through its next phase of growth,” said Alexander Sinclair Wilson, Principal at Qiming Venture Partners.

About Qiming Venture Partners

Qiming Venture Partners was founded in 2006. Currently, Qiming Venture Partners manages eleven US Dollar funds and seven RMB funds with $9.5 billion in capital raised. Since our establishment, we have invested in outstanding companies in the Technology and Healthcare industries at the early and growth stages.

Since our debut, we have backed over 630 fast-growing and innovative companies. Over 290 of our portfolio companies have achieved exits through IPOs at the NYSE, NASDAQ, HKEX, Shanghai Stock Exchange, or Shenzhen Stock Exchange, or through M&A or other means. There are also over 110 portfolio companies that have achieved unicorn or super unicorn status.

Many of our portfolio companies are today’s most influential firms in their respective sectors, including Xiaomi, Meituan, Bilibili, Zhihu, Roborock, Hesai Technology, UBTech, WeRide, HyperStrong, Insta360, Unisound, Biren Technology, Z.AI, Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals, Tigermed, Zai Lab, CanSino Biologics, Schrödinger, APT Medical, Sanyou Medical, AmoyDx, SinocellTech, Insilico Medicine, AusperBio, Yuanxin Technology, Medilink Therapeutics, LaNova Medicines, StepFun, among many others.

 

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SOURCE Qiming Venture Partners

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