Roaring: Welcome to Wednesday, dear readers, still a bit windy and chilly but the spring equinox – aka, Spring – will arrive Saturday, March 20 at 5:37 a.m. with the promise of longer days and warmer temps. Something good to look forward to.
It’s March 17 out there with blueprints for the future and dreams of socioeconomic greatness just waiting to unfold. Let’s do this.
Going green: Here, there and everywhere, March 17 is St. Patrick’s Day, a celebration of all things Irish and a remembrance of its patron saint (whose true name was Maewyn Succat. That obviously lacked an Irish ring and he used Patricius when writing about himself). St. Patrick’s Day was first celebrated on the date in 1756 in New York City at the Crown & Thistle Tavern and NYC’s first parade was held in 1762.
Fittingly for Women’s History Month, Dorothy Hayden Cudahy, host of the “Irish Memories” radio show, was named the first female grand marshal of the St. Patrick Day Parade in 1989.
Marching on: The traditional parade today, like most everything else affected by COVID-19, will be a live stream event from New York City honoring a number of select first responders and essential workers, beginning with a live broadcast of mass from St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Her life: Golda Meir became the world’s fourth and Israel’s first and only woman to hold the office of Prime Minister on March 17, 1969. Described as the “Iron Lady” of Israeli politics, former Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion used to call Meir “the best man in the government.”
Picture perfect: The National Gallery of Art was officially opened in Washington, D.C. in 1941 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
It’s elemental: Californium, Element 98, was first made in 1950 at Berkeley, California, by a team consisting of Stanley Thompson, Kenneth Street Jr., Albert Ghiorso and Glenn Seaborg.
Other innovations on this date include the blast furnace charger (1885) by Fayette Brown; self-raising flour (1845) by Welsh-born Henry Jones; and the rubber band (1845) by Londoner Stephen Perry.
Motor trend: Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler (1834-1900) – a pioneer of internal-combustion engines and automobile development, founder of Germany’s Daimler Motors and inventor of the first motorcycle – would be 187 years old today.
Also born on March 17 were G.M. Hughes (1925-2011), renowned British zoologist; James Benson Irwin (1930-1991), American astronaut who served as Apollo Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 15; Nat King Cole (1919-1965) American singer, pianist and television host; Gary Sinise (1955) American actor (Forest Gump, CSI:NY) and co-founder of the Lt. Dan Band which performs for charities and non-profit organizations; and Rob Lowe (1964) St. Elmo’s Fire heartthrob and Atkins Diet spokesperson.
Kind of a kick: And take a bow, Mariel Margaret “Mia” Hamm-Garciaparra – the American retired professional soccer player, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and two-time FIFA Women’s World Cup champion, turns 49 today.
A few words from our sponsor: Farrell Fritz, a full-service law firm with 15 practice groups, advises startups on entity formation, founder and shareholder agreements, funding, executive compensation and benefits, licensing and technology transfer, mergers and acquisitions and other strategic transactions. The firm’s blog, New York Venture Hub, discusses legal and business issues facing entrepreneurs and investors.
VOICES
Networking events have been the backbone of Long Island’s business community but COVID-19 nearly eliminated them overnight.
Virtual events have their merit, yes, but they’ll never match the efficacy, or charm, of traditional, in-person networking. David Chauvin, executive vice president of ZE Creative Communications, can’t wait for the rubber-chicken dinner events to get back on the calendar.
RECENT FUNDINGS
+ Songclip, a New York City-based patented technology solution for integrating popular licensed music as a feature in social apps, raised $11 million in funding led by Evolution VC Partners, Raised in Space, Gaingels, Forefront Venture Partners. Industry, iHeartMedia Ventures, SWAT Equity Partners and Northwood Ventures, among others.
+ AcreTrader, an Arkansas-based farmland investing platform, raised $12 million in Series A funding round led by Jump Capital with participation from Narya Capital, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, RZC Investments and Revel Partners.
+ M1 Finance, an Illinois-based finance app offering automated investing, borrowing, and banking products, raised $75 million Series D funding round led by Coatue with participation from Left Lane Capital and Clocktower Technology Ventures.
+ Cybrexa Therapeutics, a Colorado-based biotechnology company developing a new class of therapeutics through its tumor targeting platform, completed its $25m Series B financing. Backers included HighCape Capital and new investor Elm Street Ventures.
+ retrain.ai, a NYC-based provider of a talent intelligence platform that uses AI and machine learning to help organizations upskill, retrain and place professionals in new roles, closed a $9 million Series A funding round. Square Peg made the investment led by Hetz Ventures with participation from TechAviv and .406 Ventures.
+ Geneos Therapeutics, a Pennsylvania-based clinical stage company focused on tumor neoantigen targeted personalized immunotherapies for cancer, closed its Series A1 round, raising $12 million in financing led by Korea Investment Partners Global Bio Fund with participation from Santé Ventures and Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
BELOW THE FOLD
Work with benefits: How to use the free time for me time while working from home.
Full circle: Why it’s healthier to have friends that don’t look like you.
Order up: Can the automat make a successful return as restaurants come back to life?
Full story: With its Regulatory & Government Relations Practice Group and other topflight resources, nobody tells it as straight as Farrell Fritz, one of the amazing firms that support Innovate LI. Check them out.
