New iOS and Android app puts working capital, payoff tracking, and paperless renewals in small business owners’ pockets.

NEW YORK, July 23, 2026 — Byzfunder, a nationwide alternative small business lender that has deployed more than $1.75 billion to over 30,000 businesses since 2019, today launched its native iOS and Android app — putting the full Byzfunder experience in the palm of every active customer’s hand. The app is built to close the oldest gap in small business capital: the distance between the moment an owner needs money and the moment they can act on it. What used to take a laptop, a portal login, or a call to a rep now happens right from the phone. From behind a restaurant counter, inside a truck cab, or on a job site, owners now can focus more on growing their business, rather than getting buried in paperwork, logins, and phone tag.

The Byzfunder app gives customers full control of their existing funding and renewals across both products — MCA (merchant cash advance) and ByzFlex. Active customers can track current balances, payoff schedules, and payment history on their existing advance; accept renewal offers without resubmitting bank statements; and view next-payment information in real time. ByzFlex Flexline holders can request funds anytime directly in the app, with same-day wire transfers for requests made before 4 p.m. ET. The app is free to download and available to all active Byzfunder customers.

“Small business owners don’t run their businesses from a desk. After funding more than 30,000 of them, the next move was obvious: meet them where they already are. This isn’t a feature ship — it’s a recognition that how operators run their businesses has changed, and how they reach capital has to change with it. And the app is just the beginning.”

— Ilya Fridman, CEO & Founder, Byzfunder

Future updates will extend the app well beyond capital management. Coming features include in-app access to Money Master Class — Byzfunder’s small business education series hosted by CEO & Founder, Ilya Fridman — industry-specific tips for operators across restaurants, contractors, healthcare practices, and retail, in-app customer support, and AI-generated business insights tailored to each customer’s real-time cash flow patterns. The roadmap reflects Byzfunder’s broader strategy: to be more than a capital provider for the small businesses it serves.

The Byzfunder app is available now in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. Existing Byzfunder customers can log in using their current portal credentials. Learn more at byzfunder.com/app.

About Byzfunder

Byzfunder is a tech-driven small business lender delivering fast, flexible capital to small businesses underserved by traditional finance. Founded in 2019 and incorporated in New York, Byzfunder provides working capital to small businesses nationwide through its core merchant cash advance product and ByzFlex, a revenue-based revolving capital solution. The company combines proprietary technology, data analytics, and a service-first philosophy to help business owners access the capital they need to grow. Since inception, Byzfunder has funded more than $1.75 billion to more than 30,000 businesses nationwide.

For more information, visit byzfunder.com.

Media Contact

Xin Hamilton, CMO

[email protected]

byzfunder.com

ByzFlex MCA About Byzfunder

SOURCE Byzfunder

—Consortium led by the Broad Institute’s Center for Therapeutic Genetics to use Apertura’s novel CNS-targeted AAV capsid, TfR1 CapX™, for base and prime gene editing programs—

NEW YORK, July 23, 2026 — Apertura Gene Therapy, a biotechnology company developing next-generation AAV capsids for delivering genetic medicines, today announced participation in a consortium selected to receive funding from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) THRIVE program to develop gene therapies for rare childhood diseases. THRIVE is led by ARPA-H Program Manager Daria Fedyukina, Ph.D. The consortium, led by the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard’s Center for Therapeutic Genetics, will use Apertura’s novel central nervous system-targeted AAV capsid, TfR1 CapX™, for base and prime gene editing programs.

Composed of academic researchers, clinicians, patient advocates, and biotechnology companies, the consortium will work to create a Pediatric Epilepsies and Rare CNS (PERC) Gene Editing Platform that shares manufacturing, regulatory precedent, and clinical infrastructure across diseases. The goal of the consortium is to address a gap in development efforts and develop therapies faster than is currently possible for patients with a wide range of rare central nervous system diseases.

“More than three million children worldwide are affected by developmental and epileptic encephalopathies that are caused by mutations across more than 400 different genes, making it difficult to develop therapies for these diseases with traditional approaches,” said Andrew Steinsapir, Acting Chief Technology Officer at Apertura and Gene Therapy Program Lead at Deerfield Management. “By working directly with patient advocacy organizations and sharing drug development infrastructure across programs, the consortium is taking an innovative approach to advancing treatments for a wide range of neurogenetic disorders.”

TfR1 CapX was initially engineered by Ben Deverman, Ph.D., Senior Director, Vector Engineering and an Institute Scientist at the Broad Institute, and colleagues. The capsid is administered intravenously and designed to target human transferrin receptor 1 (hTfR1), cross the blood-brain barrier, and enable broad distribution to the brain and spinal cord.

TfR1 CapX will be paired with base and prime gene editing technologies developed in the lab of David Liu, Ph.D., Richard Merkin Professor and Director of the Merkin Institute for Transformative Technologies in Healthcare, Core Institute Member, and Director of the Chemical Biology and Therapeutic Sciences Program at the Broad Institute.

Manufacturing support for the consortium will be provided by Viralgen, a leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) specializing in recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) gene therapies. “Viralgen has extensive experience working with partners to manufacture AAV gene therapies, and we look forward to supporting the consortium as it advances therapies for rare CNS diseases,” said Andy Holt, Chief Commercial Officer at Viralgen.

This project deepens Apertura’s commitment to providing TfR1 CapX broadly across the industry. Apertura has signed multiple licensing agreements for TfR1 CapX programs, several of which are expected to enter clinical trials within the next 12 months.

About TfR1 CapX™

TfR1 CapX™ is a leading IV-administered, BBB-crossing capsid. Multiple for-profit and non-profit organizations have validated and licensed TfR1 CapX, and other groups are in discussions to license the technology. Clinical readiness has been supported by several preclinical development programs, including regulatory engagement and manufacturing by contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs). TfR1 CapX is a proprietary, second-generation capsid that demonstrates superior CNS delivery compared to Apertura’s first-generation capsid, BI-hTFR1. Research on the first-generation BI-hTFR1 capsid was published in Science.

About Apertura Gene Therapy

Apertura Gene Therapy develops genetic medicines and next-generation AAV capsids that engage human-relevant receptors, aiming to enable more effective and selective gene delivery. The company’s lead capsid, TfR1 CapX™, leverages human transferrin receptor 1 to enable intravenous delivery to the brain and spinal cord. This established transport mechanism has a strong clinical track record in pediatric and geriatric populations, expanding its potential to treat serious neurological and genetic diseases. Apertura has licensed its next-generation capsids to multiple partners, with several programs expected to enter clinical trials over the next 12 months. Founded in 2021 on technology from the Broad Institute and supported by Deerfield Management, Apertura Gene Therapy is headquartered in New York City. Learn more at aperturagtx.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

Contacts

For Apertura Gene Therapy
[email protected]

SOURCE Apertura Gene Therapy

PHILADELPHIA and LONDON, July 23, 2026 — SEMCAP Beauty & Wellness today announced a minority investment in MERIT, the US-based cosmetics brand known for its modern, minimalist approach to beauty. The investment is led by Vasiliki Petrou, Managing Partner at SEMCAP Beauty and Wellness. With more than 30 years of experience in the beauty industry, Petrou founded the Unilever Prestige division in 2014 and led the acquisition and growth of a portfolio of iconic brands including Dermalogica, Paula’s Choice, Hourglass, Tatcha and K18.

Petrou will join MERIT’s board and partner with the executive team on the ongoing growth and globalization of the brand, which remains highly profitable.

“MERIT is one of the most thoughtfully built brands in beauty, a true icon in the market. I love the timeless brand aesthetic, the simplified and edited approach to beauty, and the focus on the millennial and gen X consumer, which is a significant white space in our industry. I am thrilled to support the continued global scaling of the brand,” said Petrou.

“We are honored to have Vasiliki Petrou join the MERIT Board of Directors. MERIT has seen significant growth over the past few years, and Vasiliki’s industry-defining experience will be an invaluable asset as we continue to invest in the long-term future of the business. Her perspective on brand equity, financial performance, and operations perfectly aligns with our dedication to intentionality and excellence,” said Philippe Pinatel, CEO of MERIT

The investment in MERIT underscores SEMCAP Beauty & Wellness’ focus on partnering with innovative, category-leading brands that are poised for durable, global growth.

About MERIT

Founded in 2021, MERIT is a modern beauty brand that simplifies what it takes to get ready. Born out of an industry crowded with fleeting trends and products that demanded expert-level skills, MERIT was created as the antidote – a considered collection designed to bring ease to your everyday. With a timeless perspective on beauty and a commitment to uncompromising quality, we create beauty and lifestyle essentials that become signatures of your routine – products you’ll reach for daily and live with for years to come.

About SEMCAP Beauty & Wellness

SEMCAP Beauty & Wellness makes influential investments in high-growth, breakthrough products, services and technologies that support the modern consumer’s goals of living longer, better lives. The platform partners with exceptional beauty and wellness brands, services and technologies, backed by strategic expertise, industry relationships and operational support. SEMCAP provides access to resources and leverages industry networks, and expertise to help these businesses scale nationally and internationally. SEMCAP Beauty & Wellness is one of SEMCAP’s four platforms: AI, Health, Food & Nutrition, and Beauty & Wellness. SEMCAP is a growth equity firm committed to investing behind seminal trends in sectors that have the greatest impact on society

This release is provided for informational purposes only, and does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation or an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell any securities to any person in any jurisdiction in which an offer, solicitation, purchase or sale would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. This material may contain estimates and forward-looking statements, which may include forecasts and do not represent a guarantee of future performance. This information is not intended to be complete or exhaustive and no representations or warranties, either express or implied, are made regarding the accuracy or completeness of the information contained herein. The views expressed are as of July 23, 2026 and are subject to change without notice. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the reader. Investing involves significant risks.

©2026 Seminal Capital Holdings, LLC. All rights reserved. SEMCAP is a trademark of Seminal Capital Holdings, LLC.

Media contacts:

MERIT
[email protected]

SEMCAP Beauty & Wellness
Michelle Musburger
[email protected]

SOURCE SEMCAP Beauty & Wellness

Institute Selects 10 Projects in Latest Round of Funding

ROCHESTER, N.Y., July 23, 2026 — The REMADE Institute, a 150-member public-private partnership established in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) with an initial investment of $140 million, today announced $4.86 million in new technology research, selecting 10 new research demonstration, verification and validation (DV&V) projects as part of the Institute’s latest round of funding.

REMADE’s new DV&V projects will demonstrate tools and technologies that are at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6 and will reach TRL 7 by the end of their project. Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) describe the various phases of technology development, with TRLs 4-7 typically referred to as the “Valley of Death” — the critical gap between early-stage research and commercial viability where promising innovations often fail to transition from the laboratory to the marketplace.

These new DV&V projects will not only address the Valley of Death for these technologies but will also increase U.S. manufacturing competitiveness; strengthen the resilience of the domestic supply chain; decrease manufacturing energy consumption; and advance the Circular Economy by increasing the reuse, remanufacturing, recovery, and recycling of critical minerals and rare earth elements, aluminum, textiles, electronics scrap, diesel engine blocks, steel, and paper.

“By focusing REMADE’s investment on these projects, we are getting closer and closer to fully commercializing these novel technology solutions, which once fully implemented are capable of achieving significant positive energy, manufacturing, environmental, and economic impacts for us as a nation,” said REMADE Chief Executive Officer Nabil Nasr.

This latest round of investment, the Institute’s seventh, is cost-shared between REMADE and the funding recipients. Of the 10 new projects, some involve new partners for REMADE. They will join the Institute’s existing partners, including industry innovators and academic researchers with Caterpillar, John Deere, Michelin, Nike, Adidas, MIT, RIT, Honda, Volvo, Yale University and many more.

REMADE Chief Technology Officer Magdi Azer said it’s important for research institutes like REMADE to provide ongoing investment in technologies to ensure they advance through the Valley of Death, noting that REMADE had previously funded six prior Requests for Proposals (RFPs).

“This is exactly why the Manufacturing USA institutes were established in the first place more than a decade ago,” Azer said. “These new DV&V projects will, for example, explore better ways to recover total rare earth oxides from electronic scrap; utilize computer vision and AI to reduce the cost of electronics recycling; recover and recycle aerospace and automotive aluminum; repair diesel engine blocks; use secondary steel to produce new tires; improve paper recycling; expand textile recycling; and increase the circularity of new product designs.”

Since the Institute’s founding in 2017, REMADE has launched or selected 103 technology R&D and workforce development projects, representing a total combined value of $104 million. For a list of the 10 new technology projects and their project team members, see below.

More detailed information on all REMADE R&D projects can be found at www.remadeinstitute.org.

About REMADE
Founded in 2017, REMADE is a 150-member public-private partnership established in collaboration with and funded in part by the U.S. Department of Energy. REMADE is the only national institute focused entirely on developing innovative technologies to accelerate the U.S.’s transition to a Circular Economy. In partnership with industry, academia, trade organizations, and national laboratories, REMADE enables applied research and development that will increase the reuse, remanufacturing, recovery and recycling of critical and key materials in U.S. manufacturing. For more information about REMADE, visit www.remadeinstitute.org.

For additional information contact:
Megan Connor Murphy
Director, Marketing and Communications
REMADE Institute
585-339-8379 cell
[email protected]

SOURCE REMADE Institute

Cheyenne Ventures and AVP co-lead the round, which brings Abstract’s total funding to nearly $50 million at triple its prior valuation, after a year of 380% ARR growth and 264% net revenue retention.

SAN FRANCISCO, July 23, 2026 — Abstract, the pioneer of composable security operations, today announced a $25 million round co-led by Cheyenne Ventures and AVP, with additional investment from Olive Hill Ventures and follow-on investment from Crosslink Capital and Rally Ventures. The round brings Abstract’s total funding to nearly $50 million following a year in which the company grew annual recurring revenue 380%, reached 264% net revenue retention, and tripled its customer base.

The investment reflects a broader shift in security operations as enterprises move beyond monolithic SIEM platforms toward composable architectures that provide greater control over data, AI, and cost. Abstract’s streaming-first platform enables organizations to modernize security operations without being locked into a single vendor ecosystem.

Security teams have spent a decade feeding every log into one platform and watching the bill climb as the data grew. The model leaves detection happening after everything is already in storage, locks organizations into a single vendor’s architecture, and turns visibility into a cost problem. Abstract was built to break that pattern.

AI-Gen Security Operations combines a composable architecture with streaming detection and AI woven across the SOC workflow. It separates data sources from destinations, runs detections while data is still in motion, and helps analysts work faster, investigate deeper, and trust the results. Enterprises keep control of their architecture, their costs, and their data, without trading away performance. With Abstract, an organization can:

• Decouple sources from destinations, so data is not locked to one vendor’s stack
• Run detections in stream, so threats surface before data reaches storage
• Tier and route data on the way out, in the schema each destination expects, including OCSF, ECS, and CIM, to cut storage cost
• Apply Astro AI throughout the SOC workflow
• Scale across multi-cloud and hybrid environments

Over the past year, Abstract:

• Grew ARR 380% year over year
• Reached 264% net revenue retention
• Grew the customer base 3x
• Made 40 strategic hires to support enterprise expansion

“For more than two decades, SIEM has been the foundation of security operations. AI-Gen Security Operations is what’s next,” said Colby DeRodeff, CEO and co-founder of Abstract. “It gives organizations control over their data, runs detections while data is still in motion, and embeds AI into every stage of detection, triage, investigation, and response. We built Abstract around that vision from day one because AI isn’t a feature bolted onto the SOC. It’s woven into every layer of security operations. This investment gives us the resources to continue building a generational cybersecurity company.”

The funding will go toward widening in-stream detection coverage, extending Astro AI across the SOC workflow, and growing the go-to-market team to keep pace with enterprise demand.

“Every major platform transition creates a new systems architecture, and security operations is entering one of those moments. Enterprises no longer want to be forced into a single data platform just to detect threats. Abstract has built the architecture for that next generation.
Streaming-first. AI-native. Composable. When we combined that vision with the team’s execution and customer traction, increasing our investment was an easy decision,” said J.R. Becko, Partner, Cheyenne Ventures.

“We back founders with the depth and conviction to build something category-defining, and Abstract has both,” said Manish Agarwal, General Partner, AVP. “Security teams are putting AI at the center of how they operate, and AI is only as good as the data underneath it. The teams that come out ahead will be the ones that own their data, route it on their terms, and detect in real time rather than after the fact. Abstract is building the platform to get them there.”

About Abstract

Abstract is the pioneer of composable security operations, a streaming-first platform that simplifies data strategy and speeds detection, investigation, and response. The platform runs detections in stream, routes data to the destinations and schemas teams already use, and brings AI to security operations through Astro AI. Abstract is on the AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud marketplaces. Abstract was founded in 2023 by veterans of ArcSight, Bank of America, Mandiant, and Palo Alto Networks. Learn more at https://www.abstract.security/

About Cheyenne Ventures
Cheyenne Ventures is a specialized venture capital firm providing flexible equity financing to expansion-stage technology companies. The firm leads and syndicates investments alongside top-tier investors, enabling existing backers to increase ownership in their highest-conviction companies. Leveraging deep relationships across the venture ecosystem, Cheyenne focuses on high-growth businesses in AI, cybersecurity, and cloud infrastructure while remaining opportunistic across enterprise technology. Cheyenne’s differentiated strategy and decades of operating experience allow it to provide founders with strategic capital, hands-on guidance, and go-to-market expertise.

About AVP
AVP is an independent global investment platform focused on high-growth technology companies, ranging from deep tech to tech-enabled, across Europe and North America. The firm manages more than €2.5 billion in assets. Its multi-stage platform combines global research with local execution to drive investment. Since its establishment in 2016, AVP has invested in more than 70 technology companies. Through its dedicated expansion team, AVP works closely with founders, offering the expertise, connections and resources needed to unlock growth opportunities, and create lasting value through meaningful collaborations.

Contact

Jill Pescosolido
VP Marketing, Abstract [email protected]

SOURCE Abstract Security Inc

NEW YORK and SAN FRANCISCO, July 23, 2026 — Coalesce Capital (“Coalesce”), a private equity firm focused on investing in next-generation technology-enabled services companies, today announced a strategic growth investment in Workstreet, (“the Company”) a leading provider of AI-native compliance and cybersecurity solutions to companies in regulated industries.

The Company’s founders and management team are investing alongside Coalesce Capital as part of the transaction to continue to drive the business through its next phase of hypergrowth. This partnership reflects Coalesce’s commitment to supporting founder-led, high-growth technology-enabled services companies as they continue to scale category-defining businesses.

Workstreet provides market-leading, AI-native cybersecurity and compliance services to high-growth enterprise customers across regulated industries globally. The Company combines its unique blend of deeply experienced cybersecurity and compliance experts with its AI-powered capabilities to deliver a full suite of cybersecurity services. These include governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) services across more than 35 compliance frameworks such as SOC, ISO, FedRAMP and CMMC, security services (including vCISO, penetration testing, and vulnerability management), and privacy services. Coalesce will support Workstreet’s continued growth through investments in talent, technology, and go-to-market expansion, helping the Company extend its position as a trusted compliance partner to fast-growing global enterprises.

“We built Workstreet to take the burden of security and compliance off the plates of fast-growing companies so they can focus on their core business,” said Romeen Sheth, Co-Founder and CEO of Workstreet. “Coalesce has a deep understanding of the cybersecurity and GRC market and what makes technology-enabled businesses successful. They share our conviction that the combination of expert people and modern AI-based technology is what sets us apart. This partnership gives us the capital and expertise to invest in our team and customers while we continue to build the company we founded. We are excited to grow alongside a partner who believes in our vision and backs the team executing it.”

“The cybersecurity landscape is constantly evolving. Keeping pace with expanding compliance frameworks and security and privacy requirements demands significant internal resources that most growing companies would rather devote to their core business,” said Stephanie Geveda, Founder & Managing Partner at Coalesce Capital. “Workstreet has built a differentiated model that pairs deep domain expertise with AI to make compliance a driver of growth, rather than a cost of doing business.”

“Our thesis centers on next-generation, technology-enabled services businesses that solve mission-critical problems for their customers through a differentiated business model,” added Austin Heiman, Managing Director at Coalesce Capital. “Workstreet sits at the intersection of accelerating demand for security and compliance and the emergence of AI as a force multiplier for expert services. We look forward to collaborating with Romeen and the rest of the management team to support Workstreet’s growth across new frameworks and market opportunities.”

AGC Partners and Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough served as financial and legal advisors to Workstreet. Latham & Watkins served as legal advisor to Coalesce Capital. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. 

About Workstreet

Workstreet is an AI-native security and compliance firm that helps companies build security and compliance programs that scale. Workstreet’s solutions include full cybersecurity support across compliance, security, and privacy. Today Workstreet partners with more than 1,000 customers to turn security and compliance into a driver of growth. For more information, please visit www.workstreet.com.

About Coalesce Capital 

Coalesce Capital is a private equity firm that partners with entrepreneurs and management teams to build enduring value around differentiated businesses. Coalesce has over $1.8 billion of regulatory assets under management and is dedicated to investing in human capital-driven and technology-enabled services companies. The firm’s growth-oriented investment philosophy centers around its conviction that people are the most important ingredient of value creation. Coalesce leverages its sector expertise, strategic resources, and capital to collaborate with management teams to create shared success. For more information, please visit www.coalescecap.com. Follow Coalesce on LinkedIn: @Coalesce.

Media Contact 

Ed Trissel / Kate Thompson / Kate Kelley
Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher
212-355-4449
[email protected]

SOURCE Coalesce Capital

LOS ANGELES, July 23, 2026 — LLCP, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, today announced the final closing of LLCP Lower Middle Market IV (“LMM IV”) with $2.0 billion of total capital commitments. LMM IV was significantly oversubscribed, surpassing its $1.7 billion target and closing at its hard cap.

LLCP began marketing LMM IV in December 2025. The Fund received strong support from its existing investor base, as well as a new group of diverse blue-chip institutional investors globally. The Fund’s investors include prominent sovereign wealth funds, public pension plans, endowments, foundations, insurance companies, investment consultants, and family offices.

LMM IV builds on the success of LLCP’s oversubscribed Flagship Fund VII, which closed in June 2025 with $3.6 billion of total commitments. The successful fundraise underscores the continued momentum of LLCP’s platform and confidence in the Firm’s strategy and investment team. Over the past 24 months, LLCP has raised $6.4 billion of capital across its global platform.

LMM IV will utilize LLCP’s Structured Private Equity approach to invest in market-leading, lower middle market businesses by combining debt and equity capital to deliver flexible, tailored solutions for entrepreneurs and management teams. LLCP focuses on sectors including Business Services, Franchising & Multi-Unit, Education & Training, and Engineered Products & Manufacturing.

Michael Weinberg, Co-Managing Partner of LLCP, said, “We are deeply grateful for our limited partners’ exceptional response to LMM IV, which exceeded our expectations, particularly in today’s challenging fundraising environment. We believe this outcome reflects the strength of our differentiated Structured Private Equity strategy, which has delivered consistent investment returns over our 42-year history through varying economic and market environments.”

Matthew Frankel, Co-Managing Partner of LLCP, added, “The early support of LMM IV from our existing investors helped drive significant demand from new, high-quality limited partners, which together led to this successful outcome. We will continue to expand our platform, develop our team and partner with talented management teams to deliver robust performance. This is an exciting time for LLCP, and we appreciate the continued confidence of our partners.”

LMM IV’s predecessor, LMM III, closed in 2021 with $1.4 billion of total commitments. Lazard served as lead placement agent and Kirkland & Ellis served as fund counsel for LMM IV.

About LLCP

LLCP is a middle-market private equity firm with a 42-year track record of investing across various targeted sectors, including Business Services, Franchising & Multi-Unit, Education & Training and Engineered Products & Manufacturing. LLCP utilizes a differentiated Structured Private Equity investment strategy, combining debt and equity capital investments in portfolio companies. LLCP believes that by investing in a combination of debt and equity securities, it offers management teams growth capital in a highly tailored, flexible investment structure that can be a more attractive alternative than traditional private equity.

LLCP’s global team of dedicated investment professionals is led by 9 partners who have worked at LLCP for an average of 20 years. Since inception, LLCP and its affiliates have managed approximately $20.6 billion of capital across nearly 20 investment funds and have invested in approximately 120 portfolio companies. LLCP and its affiliates currently manage $15.0 billion of assets and have offices in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Miami, London, Stockholm, Amsterdam and Frankfurt.

Contact: 
Mark Semer / Alex Jeffrey
Gasthalter & Co.
(212) 257-4170
[email protected] 

SOURCE LLCP

New platform launches from stealth to index the world’s ephemeral speech data, helping institutional decision-makers detect convergences and divergences before they reach market consensus

SAN FRANCISCO, July 23, 2026 — Cast Insights today announced the launch of its AI-powered platform that turns spoken content into competitive intelligence for high-stakes decision makers, alongside a $4.5 million pre-seed funding round. The round was led by Abstract Ventures, with participation from HF0, Village Global, Max Ventures, Embassy Ventures, Stratus Ventures, and others. The funding will accelerate Cast Insights’ mission to ingest and analyze publicly available spoken word at a global scale.

The company is built on a simple but disruptive premise: the future is often a comforting story we create because we don’t fully understand the present. Rather than relying on traditional forecasting, Cast Insights focuses on understanding reality as it happens, constantly gathering and interpreting large amounts of public conversation to identify convergences, the recurring patterns and signals emerging across society, markets, and institutions, and divergences, the breaks from those patterns that signal new disruptions. In this view, tomorrow is not a guess, but the continuation or interruption of forces already at work today.

Using AI, Cast Insights ingests spoken audio from thousands of sources worldwide and transforms it into a real-time intelligence layer. At the center of the platform is what the company calls ephemeral speech data, a new category of real-time intelligence built from spoken information that is everywhere, constantly renewing, and disappearing almost as soon as it is created. Beyond simply transcribing speech, Cast Insights analyzes who is speaking, what is being said, when it’s happening, and how narratives and sentiment evolve over time, creating a permanent, searchable record of data of what would otherwise vanish. Built for investors, policy teams, corporate strategists, and newsrooms, the platform ensures that insights spoken across the world no longer vanish in real time and instead, become discoverable and actionable as they unfold.

“We’ve always had this strange cultural obsession with forecasting the future, when the real problem is that we barely understand the present,” said Otávio Costa Miranda, CEO and Co-Founder of Cast Insights. “Most of what gets said in the world every day across radio stations, legislatures, podcasts, local broadcasts is ephemeral by nature. It surfaces publicly, it influences people, and then it vanishes. We call this ephemeral speech data, and it’s the largest uncaptured dataset in the world. What Cast does is make the present legible in real time so that instead of guessing where things are going, our clients can see convergences forming and divergences emerging before they reach consensus. The signal is always there. It just slips through everyone’s fingers.”

The volume of ephemeral speech data is staggering and largely untapped. Currently, there are more than 4.5 million podcasts and 185 million episodes existing globally, alongside more than 44,000 radio stations broadcasting across 100+ languages and geographies, each one a constant stream of public content.

Since its launch, Cast Insights has gathered more than 2.3 million hours of speech data from over 20 countries and 10 languages. In the coming weeks, the company plans to scale to 20 million hours processed and 500,000 hours of live content monitored daily, at which point it will have built the largest American ephemeral speech dataset in the world, covering every major radio station and television broadcast across the country, plus podcasts at scale.

Cast Insights was invited to join the HF0 Residency, the most exclusive startup programs for repeat founders. HF0 only takes 10 teams per cohort, with the goal of achieving 12 months of business growth in 12 weeks.

“When we first met Otto and the team, we had this moment that keeps happening with the best founders we back, we thought, ‘Wait, that doesn’t exist yet? How does that not exist?'” said Evan Stites-Clayton from HF0. “Once Otto showed us the platform’s features like real-time alerts within thirty seconds of broadcast, speaker-level voice tracking, narrative curves across thousands of sources, it became very clear this team is building something the entire institutional world is going to depend on. This is the kind of company where every week you peel back another layer and it just gets bigger.”

Cast Insights is available to institutional clients, with pricing available upon request. To learn more, please visit: https://castinsights.com/.

About Cast Insights

Founded in 2025, Cast Insights is a leading real-time spoken intelligence platform that ingests public speech from television, radio, podcasts, and livestreams and transforms it into structured, real-time insights. By converting speech into searchable data, Cast Insights enables hedge funds, policy teams, strategy groups, and newsrooms to track emerging narratives, compare statements across time and sources, and receive alerts the moment something meaningful is said. The platform replaces manual monitoring and fragmented listening with a living, queryable archive of the spoken world, allowing organizations to move faster, think more clearly, and act with greater confidence. Cast Insights is headquartered in San Francisco and is backed by leading investors, including Abstract Ventures, Village Global, HF0, Max Ventures, and Founder Embassy. To learn more, visit: https://castinsights.com/ 

SOURCE Cast Insights

More than a name change: the launch marks the company’s evolution from fractional engineering into a suite of specialized AI agents, directed by senior engineers, that build, run, and maintain software. DevHawk delivers it two ways, with deep experience across a range of industries.

ATLANTA, July 23, 2026 — Fraction, which since 2022 has given 175 companies access to senior US engineers without the cost of building a team, today announced it has evolved into DevHawk, an AI software factory: a suite of specialist AI agents, directed by senior engineers, that build, run, and evolve the software a business depends on. Companies can have DevHawk operate the factory for them, or run the agents with their own team.

“We built Fraction on a belief I’ve bet my whole career on: leverage beats headcount,” said Praveen Ghanta, Founder and CEO of DevHawk. “Small, senior teams with the right tools outbuild big ones, and they grow profitably instead of bloating the org chart. It’s how I built and sold my last company. Same belief now, with a much bigger engine.”

The agents cover the full engineering lifecycle, spanning up to nine disciplines from product and architecture to QA, DevOps, and security. They don’t just write code; they test it, ship it, and keep it running in production. A single senior engineer directing the suite can do work that once required six to ten people, shipping up to 10x faster and at 80-90% less than a traditional team.

DevHawk offers firms two paths, and positions itself as a partner in both. In the managed model, DevHawk’s senior engineers operate the software factory on the client’s behalf. In the self-serve model, a company adds the agents it needs to its own team and runs them, with DevHawk handling onboarding, integration, and ongoing support.

“It’s the best engineers in the game, 10x’d by a suite of specialized AI agents,” said Ghanta. “Run it with us, or we customize the agents and then you run them yourself.”

Since launching the software factory, DevHawk has seen a sharp uptick in demand from traditionally non-technical industries, including construction, logistics, and healthcare. Its deepest roots are in wealth management and fintech, where getting software wrong is not an option. As off-the-shelf tools stop fitting how these businesses run, more are choosing to own their own software rather than keep renting something that doesn’t fit.

“For the first time, every company can afford software built exactly for how they work,” said Ghanta, “instead of bending their business around off-the-shelf tools.”

About DevHawk
DevHawk (formerly Fraction) is an AI software factory. The company helps businesses build, run, and maintain the software they depend on using a suite of specialized AI agents, run by the company’s own team or operated by DevHawk. DevHawk was founded by Praveen Ghanta, a multiple-time founder who previously built and sold the wealth-technology platform HiddenLevers to Orion. Founded as Fraction in 2022 and headquartered in Atlanta, the company has served more than 175 companies across dozens of industries. Learn more at https://www.devhawk.ai.

Media Contact
Ali Murphy • [email protected] • 404.343.7747

SOURCE DevHawk