Propel(x) raises $5.5M in funding for its online investment platform that connects science and tech startups with investors

Propel(x), a San Mateo, California-based tech startup that enables global private market for primary fund raising, today announced it has closed $5.5 million investment round to build new features on its platform to help investors make informed investment decisions, as well as to grow operations and expand marketing.

Backers include Franklin Templeton, FreeS Venture Capital. Sky Saga Capital, ZhenFund, MIT Alumni Angels of Northern California, and several other family offices and individual angels. Propel(x) is an online investment platform that helps investors source, evaluate and fund pioneering science and technology startups.

Founded in 2014 by CEO Swati Chaturvedi and Lisheng Wang, MIT classmates, Propel(x) is an angel investing platform focused on funding early-stage companies that are built around scientific discovery. The startup connects science and technology startups with investors to unleash innovations, grow great businesses and have an impact on the way people live.

Propel(x) introduces its users to groundbreaking startups that are commercializing all kinds of deep technologies, including new forms of clean energy, life-saving drugs, new methods of space exploration, and innovative new materials, among other things. By facilitating private funding for startups based on scientific and technology breakthroughs, Propel(x) seeks to build the next generation of great companies.

“We are very pleased with the support from investors and their belief in the Propel(x) mission,” Ms. Swati Chaturvedi, CEO of Propel(x) said. “Private markets will become more accessible and transparent due to our platform, as we make early investment in technology startups available to ordinary accredited investors worldwide. As companies stay private longer, more people want to participate in a company’s early investment rounds and Propel(x) provides that opportunity for a wide spectrum of investors.”

“We invest in companies and technologies that we believe are poised to deliver significant economic or strategic benefits,” said Joe Boerio, Chief Risk & Transformational Officer, Franklin Templeton. “Propel(x) has built a platform that we believe holds great potential.”