Welcome to March’s Venture View of 2023! If you’re new to the newsletter, this is our monthly round-up of inspiring stories from the portfolio and news from the Praetura team.
Praetura welcome Recourse:AI & AeroCloud to the portfolio
February saw two new deals for Praetura, following investments into Re:course AI and AeroCloud. Our newest investee business, Re:course AI is making a name for itself as a ‘flight simulator for healthcare professionals’ by connecting training clinicians with AI-generated avatars to prepare them for real-life situations, such as delivering upsetting news. The second new portfolio business is Macclesfield-based AeroCloud who provides intelligent technology to airports through AI to improve operations, efficiencies, and communication.
Percayso acquires Cazana from auto giant Cazoo in high profile deal
Percayso Inform has completed the significant acquisition of Cazana – a market leading source of vehicle data – to expand its tools and give its clients a powerful competitive advantage. Percayso, which specialises in providing data enrichment services to help insurers reduce fraud and provide more accurate quotes, made the purchase from Cazoo, which previously acquired Cazana back in 2021. On the news, Percayso Inform’s managing director Rich Tomlinson said: “Cazana’s unrivalled database provides motor insurers with a one-stop-shop, enabling them to truly understand the risk factor of a vehicle including its likelihood to be involved in a claim.”
Modern Milkman appoint CTO Alvaro Guimaraes
Modern Milkman has named Alvaro Guimaraes as its CTO, following his work shaping the technology behind HelloFresh. Alvaro’s role will include helping Modern Milkman to ‘transform consumer habits, wipe out waste and make sustainable shopping convenient’. The news also follows the results of Modern Milkman’s impact report, with highlights including the company more than doubling its plastic-free range and expanding its return and reuse range.
Patchwork’s Dr Jing Ouyang published in Sifted
Dr Jing Ouyang, the co-founder of Patchwork, has recently been featured in Sifted with a piece detailing his thoughts on keeping the co-founder spark alive. For the article, Jing drew on his experiences building Patchwork with Dr Anas Nader and the lessons learned, from developing a dynamic built on trust and mutual respect to claiming separate and distinct roles. You can read the full piece here.
Placed App announces trio of new partners
Placed App, which matches Gen Z job seekers to roles in the hospitality sector using modern recruitment practices, has added SuperCamps, The Langham Hotel and Chef Zone to its growing list of partners. The companies join the likes of Pizza Express, Côte Brasserie and Greene King, which are using Placed to target and place younger demographics at scale.
XR Games to relaunch hit game on Playstation’s new VR hardware
An updated version of XR Games’ hit virtual reality game title Zombieland: Headshot Fever, which has sold millions worldwide, has been confirmed as one of the first titles on the new PlayStation PSVR2 headset when it arrives in stores soon. The ‘Reloaded’ version of Zombieland includes new levels, new artwork and other features. You can watch the trailer for the new game here.
