Top tech startup news for today, Wednesday, December 11, 2019 – Disney, Omega Funds, Perfect Day, LeanDNA, Zero Card, and Aeva

Good morning! Below are some of the top tech startup news for today, Wednesday, December 11, 2019.

Disney+ passes 22 million downloads on mobile devices, says app tracking firm Apptopia. Disney, the world’s most popular amusement parks, flexes its muscle with 22 million downloads of its new Disney+ streaming subscription service. According to mobile app research firm Apptopia, Disney+ has been downloaded to mobile devices 22 million times since its launch in November. Disney announced in November that Disney+ had 10 million signups after its first day. Google’s annual search trends list reported Wednesday that Disney+ was the top trending search in the U.S. in 2019, another sign the service is growing quickly.

Food-tech startup Perfect Day scores $140M Series C funding to feed a growing world with sustainable, healthy, humane milk. Perfect Day, a food-tech startup is reinventing the way milk is produced industrially. They believe that factory farms, artificial insemination, and automated milking machines are not the way to go. They’re bad for cows, and they’re bad for the planet. Their animal-free approach, based on the safe and proven techniques that give us beer or vegetarian rennet, will provide consumers and food manufacturers with the same product they all know and love – through a more sustainable, healthy, and humane process. Today, Perfect Day announced it has closed $140 million Series C funding round to help accelerate its business growth, which includes expanding its production capacity, going deeper with partner opportunities and extending its product portfolio.

Aeva, a self-driving startup founded by ex-Apple engineers, has developed a more powerful tech for self-driving cars, and Volkswagen is interested. Aeva, a tech startup developing a new sensing & perception paradigm for autonomous machines, is getting noticed by the big auto companies including Porsche SE, the majority owner of Volkswagen AG and the world’s biggest automaker. Aeva is reportedly getting closer to its goal of making self-driving technology more affordable at 500 per unit. Aeva founders believe the technology can cost as little as $500 per unit, less than alternatives on the market. Founded in 2016 by Mina Rezk and Soroush Salehian, Aeva struck a deal earlier this year with Audi, one of Volkswagen Group’s 12 brands.

LeanDNA closes $15M in Series B funding to expand its global footprint. LeanDNA, an Austin, TX-based purpose-built, prescriptive analytics platform for factory management, secured $15m in Series B funding to scale its global offering, expand its customer base and support other strategic growth initiatives. The round was led by S3 Ventures with participation from existing investors Next Coast Ventures and Rony Kahan. Led by Richard Lebovitz, CEO, LeanDNA provides global manufacturers with a platform to optimize inventory, avoid shortages and improve on-time delivery.

Omega Funds closes $438M for its Fund VI to invest in life sciences startups. Omega Funds, a global life sciences-based investment firm that creates and invests in life sciences companies that target our world’s most urgent medical needs, has closed $438 million in capital commitments for its Omega Fund VI. With Fund VI, the firm will continue to execute on its strategy of creating and investing in life sciences companies that target the most urgent medical needs. In conjunction with the funding, Omega Funds also announced that industry veteran Bernard Davitian will be joining the firm as a Partner, beginning January 2020. Founded in 2004 by Otello Stampacchia, Omega focuses on identifying and supporting companies through value inflection points across the full arc of innovation, from company formation through clinical milestones and commercial adoption.

Israeli healthtech startup Notal Vision secures $25M to provide better methods of detecting age-related macular degeneration. Notal Vision, a Tel-Aviv, Israel-based healthtech startup focused on advancing eye care with precision medicine by extending disease management from the clinic to the home, has raised $25 million in funding to support the commercial growth of the company’s current service, ForeseeHome AMD Monitoring Program, as well as further research and development efforts for pipeline technologies. The funding was led by existing investor Ganot Capital. Founded in 2000 by Barak Azmon and Yair Alster, Notal Vision is developing the first comprehensive diagnostic solution for the early detection and frequent monitoring of Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of blindness in the western world today. Notal Vision’s platform leverages AI-enabled analyses of high-volume personalized health data that extends disease management from the clinic to the home to improve vision outcomes, reduce treatment burden, and improve health economics.

Zero Card secures $7M in Series A funding to expand its geographic footprint. The Zero Card, a healthtech startup and provider of data-driven marketplace for the U.S. healthcare system, raised $7m in Series A funding to open new geographic markets, further round out the executive team, scale the engineering & analytics team and grow the sales and customer success teams. The round was led by the George Kaiser Family Foundation (GKFF) with participation from Revolution’s Rise of the Rest Seed Fund. Co-Founder by CEO by Jim Millaway, The Zero Card works with mid-market, self-insured employers to help them save on their episodic healthcare costs by connecting their plan members with doctors and hospitals in a healthcare marketplace.