Latest news with #Curio
Forbes
7 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
Miami's Curio Is Making Brick-And-Mortar Retail Exciting Again
Miami Beach, Florida, aerial view, Faena House luxury condominium complex with Collins Avenue Forum, Indian Creek Portugal Tower. (Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) In the heart of Miami Beach's Faena District—where fashion and art blur into commerce —Curio has emerged as a powerful case study in adaptive brick-and-mortar experience. Launched in December 2019 by fashion veterans Danielle Licata and Jeff Lasota, the multi-brand concept store is rewriting the rules of experiential shopping against the odds. Curio Co-Founders Jeff Lasota and Danielle Licata 'We never wanted to build just a boutique," Licata, once president of Coterie, one of the largest fashion trade shows in the U.S., explained. "The idea from day one was to build something that would be like a cultural hub—where you'd be able to discover fashion, meet new designers, and be inspired simultaneously." Curio at Faena Bazaar, Miami Beach Store began as a pop-up outside Miami Swim Week. 'It was going to be temporary,' Licata said. 'But we did wonderful business and realized there was demand for something more curated and interactive.' That pop-up led to a year-long lease at the Faena Bazaar to create a multi-brand store. Then the pandemic hit. The duo's timing could have been disastrous. They shuttered Curio's physical doors in March 2020, but then quickly adapted. 'We decided to take the store on the road during COVID,' she said. 'We went to New Jersey, New York—wherever we saw that our customers were coming from to Miami.' That move was not only tactical—it ultimately seeded customer loyalty in direct, key markets that continue to benefit them today. Curio's success is also impossible to detangle from Miami's overall cultural renaissance. The arts sector contributes over $2.1 billion annually to the local economy and supports over 31,000 jobs. Art Basel alone brings in 90,000 global visitors each year, with the majority being a very fashion-friendly crowd. By the time the duo reopened a brick-and-mortar store six months later, Miami had become one of the pandemic's hottest relocation destinations, drawing with it even more wealth, commerce, and fashion tastemakers from around the world. Curio rode that wave with surgical precision. The store's success is also impossible to detangle from Miami's overall cultural renaissance. The arts sector contributes over $2.1 billion annually to the local economy and supports over 31,000 jobs. Art Basel alone brings in 90,000 global visitors each year, with the majority being a very fashion-friendly crowd. People look at artwork during the 22nd edition of Art Basel at the Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida, on December 6, 2024. (Photo by Giorgio VIERA / AFP) (Photo by GIORGIO VIERA/AFP via Getty Images) Curio taps into this energy with deliberate strategy. "You're going from having the biggest tennis tournament one week, then an art fair the next week, and then suddenly there's a music festival," Licata said. "We go out of our way to be part of it all." At its core, Curio retail experience, similar to most multi-brand stores, is about discovery. That means not only curating heritage brands like Marni and Zimmerman, but also one-of-a-kind, emerging designers. It's this balance between the familiar and the surprising that drives visitors and sales. 'Established brands get people in, but emerging brands push them to the checkout,' Licata notes. And it's not just women's wear that is selling well, 'our male customers are buying more—and wisely so,' said Licata. 'Once we get them in a fitting room, they're shopping. They want to feel put together.' Rich the Kid at Curio This incubator spirit is central to Curio's business model. Licata and Lasota don't just stock names—they also mentor and develop designers, often helping international labels make their U.S. debuts, helping them adapt to the American tastes. Between them, they have a 360-degree view of the fashion world: Lasota held leadership roles at Stella McCartney, Belstaff, Yeezy, VFiles, and Johanna Ortiz, while Licata is credited with reinvigorating Coterie and still works closely with brands and influencers around the world. Curio also eschews the usual trend-chasing. 'We believe in trends, but we don't believe in changing the identity of the person,' Licata said. 'Barbiecore, for instance, can be interpreted across styles—from the minimal girl to the sexy girl to the bohemian in a hot-pink kaftan.' This lens helps customers shop more intentionally and hold onto pieces longer—a type of thoughtful shopping that Curio champions. 'We only have one sale a year—and it's for charity,' Licata added. 'Otherwise, we treat a piece with respect.' The store also partners with designers to upcycle deadstock materials into unique new garments, creating fresh inventory while reducing waste. Beyond the product, what sets Curio apart is its immersive brick-and-mortar experience. The space itself—inside the artistically driven Faena Bazaar—functions like a curated gallery, blending shopping with visual storytelling. Beyond the product, what sets Curio apart is its immersive brick-and-mortar experience. The space itself—inside the artistically driven Faena Bazaar—functions like a curated gallery, blending shopping with visual storytelling. Collaborations with Miami Music Week's Breakaway Festival or exhibitions tied to artists like David LaChapelle and John Galliano further blur the lines between fashion and art. Case in point, Curio recently elevated Breakaway's festival merchandise from standard tees to fashion-forward embroidered cabana shirts. 'They went fashion, and we went younger,' Licata explained. 'That sort of synergy is why we are still culturally relevant.' As global travel has resumed, Curio continues to benefit—thanks in part to Miami's status as a leisure mecca. 'People may not spend as freely at home,' Licata said, 'but when they're on vacation, they want experiences.' Fashion influencers at Curio Despite the challenges of building and running a luxury retail business during turbulent times, Licata's passion hasn't dimmed. 'It's not as glamorous as people think. After 20 appointments in Paris, we look like we got hit by a truck,' she laughed. 'But when someone finds something meaningful for a special moment—a wedding, a first date—that's the real reward.' In an age of the click-through-retail, Curio is a rare brick-and-mortar gem that can still surprise and delight. And for a parting advice for those seeking to repeat Curio's success Licata suggests to 'stay curious and stay plugged in.' 'Discover the overlap between who you are and what your clients and community wants. That's where the business magic happens.'
Technical.ly
16-05-2025
- Business
- Technical.ly
A new $150M DC fund is betting on energy and agriculture, with a ‘conscious capitalism' twist
Most venture capital funds operate in silos — especially when deploying capital to companies at specific stages. A DC investment firm, whose leaders participate in a mix of ecosystem-building and politically controversial organizations, is bucking that norm. Synergos Holdings, with offices in Dupont Circle, launched its first fund at the beginning of May. The Synergos Fund is a 'continuum fund,' per Michelle Urben, a general partner at the firm and the leader of the fund. She'll spearhead deploying capital to US companies at the incubation, scaling and commercialization stages in manufacturing, energy and agriculture. The aim is to deploy $150 million to companies by 2026, she said, but the fund will be 'forever fundraising.' Being capital structure agnostic, but including later-stage firms, allows investors the returns they want, explained Urben, who also serves on the board of the DC Tech and Venture Coalition. 'That gives us a cadence of distributions to our investors,' Urben told 'We love the late stage, but we want to be able to start with the incubating piece — and then our investors can continue upping.' Synergos Holdings has invested $15 million in six ventures outside of this fund, including the nuclear fuel recycling company Curio. That firm was founded by brothers Rabbi Yechezkel Moskowitz and Yehudah Moskowitz. The two of them are also the founding partners of Synergos, which led Curio's $14 million seed round. Synergos Holdings, founded in 2019, moved to DC from New York shortly after its inception. Yechezkel Moskowitz attributed the change in part to wanting proximity to federal agencies and policymakers. The move benefited his nuclear company, too: Curio earned nearly $19 million in government contracts within two years. 'It's the right place to build deep-tech infrastructure that serves the American public. D.C. should reflect the spirit of American ingenuity,' Moskowitz said in a statement to 'and we want to help shape it into a center for science, energy, and industrial renewal.' What's a continuum fund? The minimum requirement to participate in this trademarked fund is $1 million, per Urben. Here's how it works: If a limited partner invests that $1 million minimum into the fund, it's divided into thirds (companies in the incubating, scaling and commercializing stages). There's also a 2% management fee, but no additional cost to investors, Urben explained. 'If fund expenses go beyond the 2%, that's on us,' she said. As investors get returns from exits, they can choose whether they want to keep that money in the fund or take some of it out. This model aims to give limited partners more autonomy. Investors can also set a portion of their overall allocation aside to interest- and income-bearing securities, like bonds, for added comfort. Plus, once the $1 million minimum is set, investors can put additional money into specific portfolio companies. 'We allow for that flexibility for investors that have a stronger confidence in specific areas to dial up their investments,' Urben said. Synergos is starting to evaluate companies to invest in, including a zero-carbon negative emissions manufacturing firm whose name was not disclosed. If that company receives an investment, the funds would go toward building a plant to pilot the technology. The focus on energy, manufacturing and agriculture stems from a want to prioritize 'national strength and future resilience,' per Moskowitz. 'Too much capital today chases software models from people who've never stepped inside a factory or field,' he said. 'We've built companies, and we've worked alongside those who build for a living. We understand the risk profiles and the patience required to turn real assets into enduring value.' Navigating ever-changing federal policies and messaging Though President Donald Trump proposes to axe clean energy programs in his 2026 budget plan, Urben remains confident in Synergos Holdings' work in the sector, which she labelled nonpartisan. 'At the end of the day, we are solving real problems, and whether we get government support and/or private funding support, we will do the right thing,' she said. Urben's priority is to invest in US companies that solve global problems, like clean energy and food access, through innovation. There's a lot of this problem-solving in the US, and she sees opportunities to commercialize inventions and expand abroad. She also hopes firms will set up offices in DC — to be close to not only federal happenings, but also founders doing similar work. Synergos also touts 'conscious capitalism,' meaning to focus on solving these global problems, Urben said. Plus, they are 'aligning profit with purpose,' Moskowitz explained. The fund managers' professed dedication to socially mindful and ethical investment sits alongside the Moskowitz family's own affiliations with politically controversial positions. The brothers' grandfather, multimillionaire Irving Moskowitz, had funded settlements in East Jerusalem and other parts of the West Bank where the Israeli military drove Palestinians out of their homes. His grandson denied current involvement in the foundations bearing his family name, and the Synergos Fund is not connected to those entities. He also asserted that his own political views are not of concern when it comes to the fund. He was quoted in an article supporting far-right lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene, and serves as a senior fellow at the Center for Security Policy, a think tank which has been critiqued for associations with the far-right and Islamophobic rhetoric. 'Let me be clear: My family's history is their own. They pursued causes they believed in, and while I respect their convictions, it's not the direction we've chosen,' Yechezkel Moskowitz said. 'Our work is forward-looking, focused on solving urgent global challenges — not engaging in geopolitical conflicts.' He also said he aims to invest in companies with diverse personnel across race and religion, he said. 'I think our own political views are not what matters here. We believe America needs to move beyond rigid partisanship. We need to come together—regardless of political ideology—to rebuild what truly matters: energy abundance, lower costs of living, clean air and water, and resilient infrastructure,' he said. 'We bring together people from all walks of life, united by the shared goal of building a stronger, more sustainable future. 'Our work is about creating solutions, not division,' he continued, 'and we welcome anyone who shares that vision.'
Associated Press
09-04-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Orano and Curio Forge Strategic Partnership to Advance Nuclear Fuel Cycle Sustainability
Strategic alliance built upon foundation of commitment to advancing nuclear technology for a cleaner, more sustainable, and economically robust energy landscape 'This MOU with Orano is not just a collaboration; it's a leap towards a future where nuclear energy is not only more accessible but also more sustainable' — Edward McGinnis, CEO of Curio WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES, April 9, 2025 / / -- Orano, a global leader in nuclear fuel cycle solutions, and Curio, a forefront innovator in nuclear technology, and are pleased to announce a significant Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). This partnership marks a pivotal step towards enhancing sustainability, efficiency, and innovation in the nuclear energy sector. Under the MOU, Orano and Curio will collaborate on multiple fronts: 1. Industry Alliance of Leaders for a Sustainable U.S. Nuclear Fuel Cycle The partnership will unite industry leaders—top-tier companies in nuclear technologies, engineering, and policy—to explore opportunities for developing a robust alliance. This coalition aims to advance a fully sustainable, cost-effective, and closed U.S. nuclear fuel cycle, driving cutting-edge innovations and shaping forward-thinking policies. By leveraging the collective strengths of these pioneers, the initiative seeks to establish new industry capabilities, positioning the U.S. as a global frontrunner in sustainable nuclear energy. 2. Recycling Solutions and U.S. Offtake for Curio's NuCycle Materials Orano will assess the most efficient recycling solutions for reprocessed uranium hexafluoride (UF6) and other valuable products generated by Curio's proprietary NuCycle process, optimizing both material value and disposal efficiencies. This collaboration will drive a nuclear circular economy and explore U.S.-based offtake opportunities for Curio's reprocessed materials — potentially supplying domestic energy producers, research facilities, or advanced reactor developers with high-quality recycled nuclear products. Together, the companies aim to transform waste into a strategic resource, strengthening U.S. energy independence. 3. Collaborative Logistics Exploration Bringing Mutual Value Both companies will collaboratively explore opportunities to address the transportation requirements for Curio's TRUfuel and related logistics, ensuring safe, secure, and efficient movement of nuclear materials. By combining Orano's 60 years of unique transportation expertise with Curio's innovative fuel solutions, this partnership delivers mutual benefits: enhancing Curio's operational reach while expanding Orano's portfolio with next-generation nuclear material handling. This joint effort not only supports U.S. nuclear advancements but also positions both companies as key players in a shared mission to redefine industry standards. Jean-Luc Palayer, CEO of Orano USA, added, 'This partnership with Curio aligns perfectly with Orano's vision of leading the nuclear energy sector towards even more sustainable practices. By applying Orano's recycling expertise and transport experience, plus exploring an industry alliance, this partnership can drive innovative advancements to extract the full value throughout the nuclear fuel cycle and significantly reduce both waste material and its storage volume.' Ed McGinnis, CEO of Curio, commented on the partnership, stating, 'This MOU with Orano is not just a collaboration; it's a leap towards a future where nuclear energy is not only more accessible but also more sustainable. Together, we are poised to revolutionize how nuclear materials are managed and utilized, enhancing both environmental and economic benefits.' By combining Curio's innovative approaches with Orano's vast experience, this partnership promises to lead to new pathways in nuclear fuel management. About Orano: As a recognized international leading operator in the field of nuclear materials, Orano delivers solutions to address present and future global energy and health challenges. Its expertise and mastery of cutting-edge technologies enable Orano to offer its customers high value-added products and services throughout the entire fuel cycle. Every day, the Orano group's 17,500 employees draw on their skills, unwavering dedication to safety and constant quest for innovation, with the commitment to develop know-how in the transformation and control of nuclear materials, for the climate and for a healthy and resource-efficient world, now and tomorrow. Orano, giving nuclear energy its full value. About Curio: Curio stands at the forefront of nuclear technology innovation, driving breakthroughs in sustainable nuclear power generation, fuel recycling, and waste management. We are committed to pioneering new solutions that reshape the future of nuclear energy, fostering partnerships and innovations that will redefine the industry for generations to come. At the heart of our mission is the recycling of nuclear fuel – a crucial step in this energy revolution. But we're not stopping there. Our goal is to build next-generation reactors that can efficiently use recycled fuel while minimizing waste, paving the way for a nuclear energy transformation with virtually unlimited power. We believe that energy use is a key indicator of economic prosperity, and access to reliable, clean energy is a fundamental human right. Our vision is a world where abundant, sustainable nuclear energy fuels progress, offering a future of plenty for all. Curio +1 771-210-1153 YouTube X Legal Disclaimer:
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Twist Bioscience and Curio Genomics Collaborate to Accelerate and Streamline NGS Adoption in Agrigenomics
Collaboration to enable cost-effective end-to-end genotyping across large animal and plant populations Companies to present poster at AGBT-Ag SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. & ANN ARBOR, Mich., March 31, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Twist Bioscience Corporation (NASDAQ: TWST), a core mid-cap growth and value equity company in the life sciences segment of the health care sector, and Curio Genomics, a pioneer in genomics software, today announced a collaboration to accelerate the adoption of NGS workflows in agricultural genomics (agrigenomics) by offering Twist's FlexPrep™ Ultra-High Throughput (UHT) Library Preparation Kit with Curio's bioinformatics software and data platform. Despite the flexibility and depth of genomic data provided by NGS workflows compared to microarrays, adoption of NGS in agrigenomics has lagged due to the low cost and familiarity of microarray workflows. Pairing the Twist FlexPrep UHT Library Prep Kit and the CURIO™ platform creates a sequencer agnostic end-to-end solution from library prep through data analysis to provide agrigenomics customers with tools that overcome these challenges and simplify NGS adoption. Specifically, the Twist FlexPrep UHT Library Prep Kit provides researchers with a tool to support a streamlined workflow with favorable economics, while scaling up assay throughput to thousands of samples with high flexibility. FlexPrep enables researchers to expand the depth and breadth of their data beyond just SNPs to generate high complexity libraries for low pass whole genome sequencing with high concordance to arrays. The CURIO bioinformatics software and data platform offers all-in-one genotyping, marker discovery and fine mapping in an intuitive interface. Rapidly delivering analysis results due to its uniquely scalable architecture, CURIO allows agrigenomics researchers to quickly interpret NGS data generated with Twist's FlexPrep UHT Library Prep Kit alongside historical data from microarrays. This enables them to make decisions faster, while maintaining insights even after changing their workflows. "Our FlexPrep UHT Library Prep Kit eliminates many of the traditional barriers that have slowed NGS adoption in agrigenomics – making high throughput genotyping faster, easier, and more accessible than ever," said Emily M. Leproust, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of Twist Bioscience. "By collaborating with Curio, we can now pair our FlexPrep UHT Kit with a robust easy-to-use, cost-effective software platform to conduct high-volume data analysis across array and NGS data from any animal or plant species. From library prep to data analytics, we believe this streamlined offering will facilitate a shift from microarray to next-generation sequencing." "With our CURIO platform, we can provide researchers with a scalable, approachable way to analyze their data across species type and depth of coverage, enabling them to transition quickly from data generation to actionable insights," said Shawn Quinn, CTO & cofounder of Curio Genomics. "By offering our platform with Twist's FlexPrep UHT Library Prep Kit technology, we are making it easier for researchers to bridge historical microarray and new NGS data, analyze diverse species, and accelerate breakthroughs in agricultural genomics." Presence at Advances in Genome Biology and Technology Agricultural Meeting (AGBT Ag) Poster: Switching from Arrays to Sequence-Based-Genotyping in CattleDate: Monday, March 31, 6:15 – 9:00 PMLocation: Caribbean Ballroom IV – VII Twist FlexPrep™ Ultra-High Throughput (UHT) Library Preparation Kit The Twist Flex Prep™ UHT Kit workflow is purpose-built to streamline and massively scale up Twist's established enzymatic fragmentation methods. The Normalization by Ligation™ (NBL) technology eliminates the need to measure the mass of each DNA sample and to perform labor-intensive concentration adjustment prior to library preparation, saving significant cost per sample. Following fragmentation and adapter ligation of each sample in a plate, up to 12 samples are pooled together in a single tube. This pooling strategy results in a meaningful reduction in both volumes and costs of reagents required for subsequent bead purification and amplification steps1. Libraries prepared from this kit can be leveraged to perform whole genome or targeted sequencing with the use of target enrichment panels. All plate and tube formats are optimized to ensure compatibility with key automation systems, a critical consideration for labs looking to streamline high throughput workflows and reduce hands-on time. 1As compared to Twist Library Preparation EF Kit 2.0. About Curio GenomicsCurio Genomics is accelerating agriculture genomics research to deliver better products to the market. Curio Genomics' proprietary parallelized bioinformatics software and data platform, CURIO™, enables unprecedented data processing speed of large and complex genomic data, delivering genomic data to breeders in minutes through intuitive and easy to use interfaces, and all without the need to engage scarce bioinformatics experts. For information about Curio Genomics, visit and follow on Twitter and LinkedIn. About Twist Bioscience CorporationTwist Bioscience is a leading and rapidly growing synthetic biology and genomics company that has developed a disruptive DNA synthesis platform to industrialize the engineering of biology. The core of the platform is a proprietary technology that pioneers a new method of manufacturing synthetic DNA by "writing" DNA on a silicon chip. Twist is leveraging its unique technology to manufacture a broad range of synthetic DNA-based products, including synthetic genes, tools for next-generation sequencing (NGS) preparation, and antibody libraries for drug discovery and development. Twist is also pursuing longer-term opportunities in digital data storage in DNA and biologics drug discovery. Twist makes products for use across many industries including healthcare, industrial chemicals, agriculture and academic research. Follow us on LinkedIn | X | YouTube | Instagram | Bluesky Twist Bioscience Legal Notice Regarding Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained herein are forward-looking statements reflecting the current beliefs and expectations of management made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, statement regarding the ability of the collaboration to provide agrigenomics customers with tools that overcome challenges, accelerate, and streamline, the adoption of NGS; the ability of Twist's FlexPrep UHT Library Prep Kit to allow researchers to expand the depth and breadth of their data; and the belief that this streamlined offering will facilitate a shift from microarrays to NGS. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other important factors that may cause Twist Bioscience's actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the ability to attract new customers and retain and grow sales from existing customers; the ability of Twist Bioscience to achieve sufficient revenue to achieve or maintain positive cash flow from operations or profitability in any given period; ability to obtain financing when necessary; risks and uncertainties of rapidly changing technologies and extensive competition in synthetic biology that could make the products Twist Bioscience is developing obsolete or non-competitive; ability to expand DNA synthesis manufacturing capacity; dependence on one supplier for a critical component; dependence on key personnel; additional regulations that could increase Twist Bioscience's costs and delay commercialization efforts; and the ability to maintain and enforce intellectual property protection. For a description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to Twist Bioscience's business in general, see Twist Bioscience's risk factors set forth in Twist Bioscience's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2024 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 18, 2024 and subsequent filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and Twist Bioscience specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. View source version on Contacts TWIST CONTACTS: For Investors: Angela BittingSVP, Corporate Affairs925-202-6211abitting@ For Media: Amanda HoulihanCommunications Manager774-265-5334ahoulihan@ CURIO CONTACT: John Prista FreshleyExecutive Chair+1 734-926-5530jfreshley@ Sign in to access your portfolio
