Business Wire

NY-MORGAN-STANLEY

Share
Morgan Stanley Hosts First Global Demo Day for Startups in Inclusive Ventures Lab

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) today is hosting its first global in-person Demo Day, with 10 participating companies from the US and Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). The cohort companies, all founded by women, will pitch over 200 investors, as well as potential business partners and customers.

Over the past five months, Morgan Stanley’s Inclusive Ventures Lab has supported its eighth cohort of technology-enabled startups in the post-seed to Series A funding round stage, offering an intensive accelerator program designed to provide a variety of mentorship opportunities and business-growth resources from across the Firm’s network.

“We are on a mission to change the investing landscape for underrepresented founders. Through our accelerator program we are providing promising startups with much-needed capital, the broad resources of Morgan Stanley and access to investors,” said Selma Bueno, Managing Director and Global Head of the Inclusive Ventures Group. “Today’s Demo Day showcases innovative businesses led by underrepresented founders. By providing a global platform for these companies to attract funding, we are working to advance a more equitable investing climate for startups.”

The cohort companies presenting at Demo Day include:

  • Advocat a virtual deal desk with AI contract generation to streamline contracting from CRM through legal drafting, negotiation and internal approvals to signing.
  • AMAKA Studio a digital media platform connecting a global community of women sharing Pan-African stories.
  • AuditMate a provider of SaaS-driven vertical transportation maintenance and contract management services, helping property managers with contract analysis, maintenance completion reporting, compliance management and more.
  • Gentreo a next generation estate planning software solution helping families and caregivers affordably and easily prepare, plan and protect all they love.
  • Here Here Market an online marketplace connecting consumers with chefs and small batch food artisans.
  • imagi an education tech company leveraging gender inclusive proprietary coding education tools to equip 8-13+ year-olds with essential technology skills and confidence.
  • Kinhub (formerly Kami) an AI-powered platform offering a one-stop-shop for employee wellness, enabling diverse talent to thrive.
  • Perse an open energy platform unlocking access to energy and carbon data.
  • Physician 360 a platform that transforms community pharmacies into healthcare clinics by empowering them with access to a virtual care platform and a network of on-call clinicians in all 50 states.
  • WeArisma a global enterprise SaaS influencer analytics platform helping large-scale companies to optimize marketing spend and to achieve communication objectives.

“It’s been a privilege to witness first-hand how much these entrepreneurs have grown over the past five months,” said Sanghamitra Karra, Managing Director and EMEA Head of the Inclusive Ventures Group. “Each of them has the vision and the drive to create a more equitable world, and they finish this program well positioned for their next stage of growth.”

Today, the Multicultural Client Strategy Group will be renamed the Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Group, which includes the Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Lab, to reflect the group’s evolution and global expansion.

Founded in 2017, the Lab has hosted 69 participating companies, with a combined valuation of more than $670M. Following the Lab’s global expansion in 2022, the next cohort will support up to 15 companies in the US and 10 companies in EMEA. Applications will be open from February 14 - March 31, with the cohort set to launch in September.

About the Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Lab

The Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Lab (MSIVL) is an intensive five-month in-house accelerator designed to help further develop and scale startups, culminating in a showcase presentation and Demo Day to the investor community. Morgan Stanley launched MSIVL, formerly called the Multicultural Innovation Lab, in 2017 in order to address inequities in funding of ethnically diverse- and women-led startups, which our research shows equals over four trillion dollars in unrealized returns.

The team is led by New York-based Selma Bueno, Managing Director and Global Head of the Inclusive Ventures Group, and London-based Sanghamitra Karra, Managing Director and EMEA Head of the Inclusive Ventures Group. Together, they have over 35 years of investment banking and risk management experience.

About Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS) is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, wealth management and investment management services. With offices in 41 countries, the Firm’s employees serve clients worldwide including corporations, governments, institutions and individuals. For further information about Morgan Stanley, please visit www.morganstanley.com.

To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230207006133/en/

About Business Wire

Business Wire
Business Wire
101 California Street, 20th Floor
CA 94111 San Francisco

http://businesswire.com
DK

Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

Galderma Opens up New Chapter for Sculptra® with MDR Certification and New Expanded Indication for Body5.12.2025 07:00:00 CET | Press release

Sculptra®, the first proven regenerative biostimulator, has received European Union (EU) Medical Device Regulation (MDR) certification, expanding its current clinical application for the face to include gluteal area, posterior thighs, décolletage, and upper arms1 Studies investigating the efficacy of Sculptra on areas beyond the face show patients experienced progressive improvements in skin quality (including the improvement in cellulite appearance), firmness, lift, projection, and contour Sculptra’s versatility and new indication allow practitioners to shift patient treatment goals beyond rejuvenation toward enhancement, meeting evolving patient needs The certification validates Sculptra’s safety performance, efficacy, and quality, reinforcing Galderma’s commitment to innovation and meeting evolving patient needs Galderma (SIX: GALD), the pure-play dermatology category leader, today announced the certification of Sculptra for body indications in the European Union (EU) following its

Northern Escape Heli-Skiing Takes the Title of “World’s Best Heli-Ski-Operator” for the 4th Year Running5.12.2025 02:40:00 CET | Press release

4x World’s Best Heli-Skiing Operation near Terrace, BC Northern Escape Heli-Skiing (NEH) has been named World’s Best Heli-Ski Operator 2025 by the World Ski Awards, marking its fourth straight victory following years 2022, 2023 and 2024. This recognition places NEH amongst an elite group of ski tourism operators consistently voted best in the world by industry leaders and enthusiasts alike. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251204074550/en/ A four-year run built on reliability NEH operates in British Columbia’s Skeena Mountains, where deep northern snow and vast terrain come together with small-group heli-skiing and heli snowboarding. When helicopters can’t safely fly, NEH has cat skiing readily available as a backup — an exceedingly rare offering in this industry. The operation spans over 833,571 wild acres of alpine bowls, glaciers and old-growth tree skiing. The NEH experience Guests choose from three lodge f

IDE034, a Bispecific ADC Licensed by Biocytogen to IDEAYA, Receives FDA IND Clearance5.12.2025 01:00:00 CET | Press release

Biocytogen Pharmaceuticals (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (Biocytogen, HKEX: 02315), announced that its partner IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: IDYA), a precision oncology company, has received the clearance of an investigational new drug (IND) application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the initiation of a Phase 1 clinical trial of IDE034, a potential first-in-class B7H3/PTK7 bispecific antibody-drug conjugate (ADC). IDEAYA expects to begin patient enrollment in Q1 2026, initially evaluating patients with solid tumors known to express B7H3 and PTK7, including lung, colorectal, head and neck, and ovarian/gynecological cancers. IDE034 is a bispecific B7H3/PTK7 TOP1 ADC, independently developed by Biocytogen and licensed to IDEAYA in July 2024. The IND clearance marks an important milestone for this licensed program, supporting subsequent clinical development of IDE034, while highlighting Biocytogen’s technical capabilities in bispecific ADC discovery and development. Dr. Yue

Helical Fusion, Developer of Next-Generation Clean Energy Through Nuclear Fusion, Completes USD 5.5M Series A Extension Round5.12.2025 01:00:00 CET | Press release

Stakeholder base expands with participation from an individual-investor-oriented fund, alongside corporate and individual investors, bringing Total Funding to USD 38M Helical Fusion Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Takaya Taguchi; hereafter “Helical Fusion”), which is developing a next-generation energy source using Japan’s original Helical Stellarator technology to realize commercially viable fusion power plant in the 2030s, announced the completion of its Series A Extension round, raising approximately USD 5.5 million (≈ JPY 870 million). The round included investments from “Ecrowd NEXT”, a fund designed for individual investors, as well as multiple corporate investors and individual investors. As a result, Helical Fusion’s total Series A funding, including loans, amounts to approximately USD 21 million (≈ JPY 3.2 billion), bringing the company’s cumulative fundraising—including grants and loans—to approximately USD 38 million (≈ JPY 6.0 billion). With this funding, Helic

Andersen Consulting udvider sin tilstedeværelse gennem samarbejde med Hilal Technology4.12.2025 23:04:00 CET | Pressemeddelelse

Andersen Consulting indgår en samarbejdsaftale med Hilal Technology for at styrke sine kompetencer inden for digital infrastruktur, cybersikkerhed og AI. Med tilstedeværelse i Bahrain, Saudi-Arabien, De Forenede Arabiske Emirater, Oman og Indien leverer Hilal Technology et komplet spektrum af digital infrastruktur og managed services inden for cloudcomputing, cybersikkerhed, enterprise ai og systemintegration. Deres ydelser omfatter cloudtjenester, sikkerheds- og netværksdrift, implementering af ERP og applikationer samt udvikling af generative ai-kapaciteter. Med et team på mere end 250 fagfolk servicerer firmaet en bred vifte af brancher, herunder den finansielle sektor, olie og gas, logistik og den offentlige sektor. "Transformation er mere end systemer; det handler om parathed, tillid og løbende samarbejde," udtaler Roshan George, direktør for Hilal Technology. "Vi er begejstrede for at samarbejde med Andersen Consulting og levere skalerbare løsninger, der matcher tempoet i den dig

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye