This milestone underscores how financial institutions can unlock cost-effective, sustainable growth by deepening customer and member relationships with MANTL

PLANO, Texas, Sept. 16, 2025 — MANTL, an Alkami solution team and leading provider of loan and deposit account opening technology, today announced that its clients raised over $3B in deposits with existing banking relationships in the first half of 2025. This achievement highlights the significant opportunity financial institutions have to achieve low-cost, sustainable growth by strengthening customer and member relationships and driving banking primacy with omnichannel account opening technology.

In just six months, MANTL clients opened nearly 130,000 deposit accounts from existing customers and members, with an average funding amount exceeding $24,000. Notably, nine institutions generated more than $100 million in deposits each from existing account holders in the first half of 2025, demonstrating how banks and credit unions can leverage MANTL to activate existing banking relationships and drive sustainable growth at scale.

“MANTL clients are on track to raise more deposits in 2025 than any other year,” said Nathaniel Harley, co-founder and president of MANTL, and chief revenue officer at Alkami. “MANTL built its reputation as the industry’s most powerful growth engine by helping institutions raise hundreds of millions in net new deposits quickly and efficiently. However, in today’s highly competitive deposit environment, retaining deposits and expanding existing banking relationships are just as crucial as acquiring new customers and members. MANTL is redefining relationship banking, and helping financial institutions grow smarter, by giving banks and credit unions the technology and data-rich insights to transform existing account holders into deeper, more profitable relationships.”

MANTL Deposit Origination streamlines the process for existing banking customers and members to open new accounts in just a few clicks. Powered by real-time data and actionable insights, MANTL enables financial institutions to activate their banking relationships, increase lifetime value, and achieve a more cost-effective path to deposit growth than traditional acquisition strategies.

“MANTL enhances ConnectOne Bank’s ability to deliver a truly best-in-class relationship banking experience to our clients,” said Steve Primiano, chief corporate development officer at ConnectOne Bank. “Efficiency is core to our culture, and MANTL empowers us to stay both efficient and agile as we scale. MANTL supports our strategic growth as we expand into new geographies and markets, launch new verticals, and deepen existing customer relationships.”

MANTL is hosting an upcoming webinar, “Turning existing relationships into results: $3B in 6 months,” on Wednesday, Sept. 17 at 1:00 p.m. CT. This webinar will feature ConnectOne Bank’s Steve Primiano and David Carlson, vice president of sales at MANTL, for a powerful discussion on how ConnectOne Bank is supercharging deposit growth by leveraging an omnichannel deposit strategy to activate its existing customer base. To hear firsthand from a MANTL client on best practices to deepen customer relationships, register here.

For more information about MANTL or to schedule a demo, click here.

About MANTL
MANTL is an Alkami solution team that offers unified account origination technology, empowering banks and credit unions to open loan and deposit accounts seamlessly on any banking channel in real time. MANTL Deposit Origination is among the fastest and most performant solutions on the market; consumers can open a new deposit account in under five minutes, businesses can open a new deposit account in under 10 minutes, and MANTL customers raise billions in core deposits. MANTL Loan Origination simplifies each step in the loan process, automating up to 100% of loan application decisions to ensure an intuitive, feature-rich experience from personal loans to business financing. Founded in 2016, MANTL was acquired in March 2025 by Alkami Technology, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALKT), a leading cloud-based digital banking solutions provider for financial institutions in the U.S. For more information, visit mantl.com or follow MANTL on LinkedIn.

Media Relations Contacts
Vested
[email protected]

Marla Pieton
[email protected]

SOURCE Alkami Technology, Inc.

Eve Security’s combination of Agent-in-the-Loop and intent-based policy enforcement delivers the industry’s deepest observability and security for Agentic activity

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 16, 2025 — Eve Security today announced its $3 million seed round and the availability of EveGuard, an agentic AI observability and policy enforcement platform that ensures the security of AI agents interacting with a company’s most crucial business systems. The seed round is led by LiveOak Ventures with participation from Tau Ventures.

Eve Security’s EveGuard introduces the industry’s first Agent-in-the-Loop (AITL) – Eve. Eve detects anomalies, clusters requests, assesses risks and interrogates other agents so that CISOs and department heads don’t have to. While Human-in-the-Loop is garnering attention, an Agent-in-the-Loop that can quantify risk and assign tasks to agents and humans will dramatically impact the effectiveness of Agentic AI security. Eve Security’s AITL, Eve, can observe agents, agent interactions with each other, with humans and with critical business systems and take necessary action. Eve behaves predictably and consistently under the same conditions, allowing humans to oversee decisions with reliability and accountability, and follows predictable, rule-based logic that produces the same result every time when given the same input.

EveGuard also includes Intent- and Data-Based Policy Enforcement to address the challenges in English-language-based policies that create blind spots such as translation and cultural nuances. Eve Security’s platform is able to define and enforce policies that understand intent and data included in agentic requests. These new capabilities are not available in existing security products.

“Agentic AI is already inside the enterprise, whether CISOs and other leaders approve it or not. Shadow AI agents are making decisions, moving data, and creating vulnerabilities that today’s security tools simply can’t see. Right now, most security leaders are flying blind,” said Creighton Hicks, Partner at LiveOak Ventures. “Eve Security enables security teams to gain visibility and control over the known and unknown agentic AI running in their enterprise.”

“CISOs today are faced with both great opportunity and great responsibility,” said Nadav Cornberg, co-founder and CEO, Eve Security. “We help them to innovate with AI with confidence and trust that their organization’s crown jewels – the data and systems that matter most to their business – are protected. Our implementation and combination of observability, policy and AITL allows CISOs and department heads to trust the activity of their AI agents. Our support for API, MCP and A2A protocols allows us to go deeper than competitors to observe, detect and react to security concerns quickly.”

Moore’s Law, the principle that the speed and capability of computers can be expected to double every two years, doesn’t account for AI. Based on collective industry reports, Agentic AI is doubling in capability and adoption every twelve months, compressing decades of digital transformation into just a few years. What was on the tip of everyone’s tongue less than a year ago is deployed in enterprises around the world. This provides both great promise and great risk for CISOs. Agentic AI and its pace of development has increased both the attack surface and attack type for security breaches. From “vibe-hacking,” as just reported by Anthropic, to data exfiltration, malicious actors are already exploiting the very autonomy that makes these systems so powerful. The risks are escalating faster than traditional security tools can adapt, creating a widening gap between innovation and protection. Eve Security combines the industry’s first AITL and intent-based policy enforcement to deliver the deepest observability of agentic AI activity with critical business systems. It also offers a frictionless deployment that delivers value and the safeguards enterprises urgently need to deploy and run AI agents with confidence – on day one.

“Eve Security is kind of like the security seatbelt for AI’s self-driving era,” said Chris Aniszczyk, Eve Security advisor, CTO at the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. “Everyone wants to go fast and keep pace with the rate of change. With its focus on business critical systems and its Agent-in-the-Loop method, Eve Security is the best way to do it.”

EveGuard includes: 

• Agent-in-the-Loop (AITL): The Eve Security AITL, Eve, identifies anomalies, assesses risk, clusters requests, interrogates agents and acts as a security analyst to take action. Eve Security manages all the agentic activity between an AI agent and an organization’s most critical business systems – what the company calls the ‘crown jewels,’ systems that include financials, human resources, and sales systems. This ensures consistency, compliance and auditability, which are critical to industries like finance, healthcare, and security.
• In-Depth Observability: Eve Security supports Model Context Protocol (MCP) and Agent-to-Agent (A2A) protocols to securely access external tools, APIs, data sources and more. These protocols enable deep insights into AI agent interactions and agent-to-agent coordination and delegation chains.
• Policy Enforcement: English-language-based policies create security blind spots in agentic AI due to issues with translation and cultural nuances. Eve Security’s platform is able to define and enforce policies that understand intent and data included in agentic requests. These are new capabilities not available in existing security products.
• Frictionless Deployments: Customers can deploy Eve Security without new infrastructure or even a plug-in to get started, enabling net value on day one.

Eve Security is founded by CEO Nadav Cornberg, CRO Sharon Eilon and CTO Amit Eliav. Their depth of expertise in cybersecurity, AI and business growth makes them poised to solve one of the most pressing enterprise technology challenges of our time. The $3 million seed round will help the team continue to develop product features and its go-to-market (GTM) strategy.

For more information, please visit: https://www.eve.security/

About Eve Security
Eve Security is an agentic AI observability and policy enforcement platform that uses the industry’s first Agent-in-the-Loop (AITL) to ensure the security of AI agents interacting with a company’s most crucial business systems. Based in Austin, Texas, the company is backed by Live Oak Ventures and Tau Ventures and founded by industry veterans Nadav Cornberg, Sharon Eilon and Amit Eliav. 

About LiveOak Ventures
LiveOak Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm based in Austin, Texas. With over 23 years of successful venture investing in Texas, the founders of LiveOak have helped create nearly $5 billion of enterprise value. While almost all of LiveOak’s investments begin in the early stages, LiveOak is a complete life cycle investor focused on technology and technology-enabled service companies. With nearly $500M under management, LiveOak has led investments in 60 high-growth Texas-based companies, including DISCO (NYSE: LAW), Eventus, AmplifAI, Homeward, SchooLinks, Take Command Health, and Osano. Recognized as the Venture Capital Firm of the Year at the inaugural A-List awards by the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, LiveOak is dedicated to supporting local founders, fostering the next generation of leaders, and building category-dominating companies.

Media Contact
Ray George
650-922-3825
[email protected]

SOURCE Eve Security

Funding furthers the company’s focus on delivering AI agents that streamline operational efficiency for anti-money laundering, sanctions, KYC and fraud compliance

NEW YORK, Sept. 16, 2025 — WorkFusion, a pioneer in AI agents for financial crime compliance (FCC), today announced it raised $45 million in funding. The round was led by Georgian, a growth-stage B2B investor helping companies scale faster via its AI Lab. The new investment furthers the company’s focus on delivering agentic AI to the burgeoning $155 billion FCC operations industry.

Leveraging the company’s rich decade-long automation and intelligent document processing (IDP) history, WorkFusion restructured its business in 2022 to focus on delivering AI Agents that automate the highly manual, error prone and document-heavy work processes for financial crime compliance operations. Today, its solutions are deployed at leading banks around the world, including 10 of the top 20 banks, automate over 1 million alert hits and save 5,000 FTEs per day.

The company’s AI Agents reduce manual work and allow FCC operations teams to scale capacity by 3-5X in job functions such as sanctions screening alert review, adverse media monitoring, transaction monitoring investigations, onboarding, Know Your Customer (KYC) refresh, enhanced due diligence/high risk review and fraud alert review.

WorkFusion’s agentic AI for FCC is easier, faster and cheaper than hiring or outsourcing, and brings greater confidence to banks and financial institutions that work is done consistently and accurately, backlogs don’t accumulate, and compliance with policy and regulations is significantly strengthened. Additionally, analysts are freed up from busy work and organizations avoid the looming overflow of alerts that bury teams, increase risk, and explode costs.

WorkFusion CEO Adam Famularo says, “In 2022, we made a hard pivot to restructure the company around our AI Agents for financial crime compliance. We were one of the first technology companies to focus on creating AI Agents that did a specific job role within a vertical industry. Today our pre-built AI Agents are saving customers about 40,000 hours a day of manual work. The type of work that humans are incapable of doing tirelessly, at scale, and with extremely high quality. And this is still just the beginning. We are now positioned for considerable growth as the market is ready for widespread adoption. We appreciate the continued confidence and support of our existing investor base and welcome our new investors.”

“Agentic AI represents an evolution beyond generative AI with capabilities to autonomously plan, reason about and execute complex tasks with minimal human intervention,” comments Justin LaFayette, Co-Founder at Georgian. “Financial crime compliance is well-suited to agentic AI, where AI agents can complete much of the work needed to protect financial institutions. With over 85%* of financial institutions currently deploying or planning to deploy agents in 2025, we think that WorkFusion is well positioned to capitalize on the move to agentic AI and we’re proud to support them in that journey.”

“Innovative approaches that blend AI and automation—like those developed by WorkFusion—are critical to strengthening our financial system defenses, offering a more efficient way to manage complexity and scale AML and KYC operations” said Jody LaNasa, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Serengeti Asset Management and co-Chief Executive Officer of Rochefort. 

“As the demands on compliance teams continue to grow, it’s clear that traditional methods need to evolve and we’re excited to support the WorkFusion team as they continue to empower organizations with technology that makes a real difference,” added Ray Yousefian, Senior Managing Director at Serengeti.

WorkFusion investors in this round include: Georgian; Serengeti Asset Management; Nokia Growth Partners III, L.P.; Teralys Capital; Hawk Equity; Chubb INA Holdings; Declaration Partners; CEO Adam Famularo and other members of leadership team; SVB Innovation Credit Fund VIII, L.P.; Konrad Investments LLC; and George John.

* According to an April 2025 survey by Georgian and research firm NewtonX

About WorkFusion

WorkFusion is a pioneer in AI agents for financial crime compliance (FCC). Its AI Agents are purpose-built workers that augment financial crime compliance operations teams in Level 1 analyst functions for anti-money laundering (AML), adverse media monitoring, sanctions screening alert review, Know Your Customer (KYC), and transaction monitoring investigations (TM). WorkFusion’s AI solutions are used at 10 of the top 20 banks and leading financial institutions around the globe to mitigate risk, solve talent challenges, increase workforce capacity, save money, enhance employee and customer experience, and improve compliance posture. For more information visit workfusion.com.

About Georgian

Georgian invests in high-growth B2B software companies and collaborates to build software to help those companies scale through our AI Lab. We seek to identify and accelerate leading growth-stage software companies in our thesis areas of Applied AI and Trust. Georgian’s AI Lab team works with portfolio companies to address growth-stage product and go-to-market challenges through one-on-one engagements, the Transferred Learnings community and AI research. Based in Toronto, Georgian’s team brings together investors with machine learning professionals, software entrepreneurs and experienced operators.

For more information:
Jessica Cassady

[email protected]

SOURCE WorkFusion

Investment seen as further validation of the corporate nutrition benefit market and its ability to manage workforce health and costs.

LISBON, Portugal, Sept. 16, 2025 — Nutrium, an all-in-one corporate nutrition solution that helps millions of patients worldwide create personalized meal plans, track progress, manage chronic diseases, maintain weight, and lead healthier lives overall, announced today it secured $12 million in Series A funding. Vesalius Biocapital led the round; Lince Capital, Indico Capital Partners, and Beta Capital also participated. While the Nutrium platform already reaches millions of patients, connecting them to the world’s largest network of more than 350,000 registered dietitians in over 90 countries, this investment further solidifies the company’s global position in the corporate nutrition market.

The timing of the capital infusion is especially notable as soaring healthcare costs driven by obesity and the growing demand for GLP-1 medications make sustainable, expert-led non-pharmaceutical wellness solutions that improve health outcomes essential for employers and executives.

“Nutrition has become a business priority for companies navigating the challenges of obesity and the rapid adoption of GLP-1 treatments,” said André Santos, CEO and co-founder of Nutrium. “With this funding, we’re ready to expand our reach, strengthen our expert network, and deliver even greater outcomes for our clients and their people worldwide.”

As Nutrium’s clinically grounded corporate nutrition benefit, Nutrium Care delivers measurable financial and health outcomes that directly address rising corporate healthcare costs. On average, corporate partners see three times the return on their investment, with a five percent reduction in member weight in the first four months, reduced prescription medication needs, and increased employee productivity. Additionally, the program is a fraction of the cost of GLP-1 medication and has significantly higher retention and adherence rates. Though impressive, Nutrium’s remarkable 400% revenue growth last year is what caught the eye of its latest investor.

“At Vesalius, we are increasingly aware of the challenges associated with obesity and the need for better nutrition care, which is often overlooked as a key solution for such chronic conditions. We believe that Nutrium will be the solution of choice for employers and individuals that would like to improve their overall health.” said Qasim Al-Zawawi, Principal at Vesalius Biocapital. “We are impressed by the growth and achievements accomplished by Nutrium, and are thrilled to be leading the Series A, supporting the Nutrium team in their goal of making the world healthier.”

Stephan de Moraes, Managing General Partner at the independent venture capital fund manager, Indico Capital Partners, also shared his enthusiasm about the funding round and the company’s promise. “Since the start, the team at Nutrium had a clear vision about the key role that nutrition would play in health and wellbeing. We have been fortunate to back that ambition and help the team find a path to fulfill the promise of wellbeing, a key component of longevity, which is a huge and rapidly expanding market.”

Building on its track record with leading global brands such as Wellhub, Adidas, Vodafone, Talkspace, and several others, Nutrium expects to strengthen its U.S. operations and forge more strategic alliances with health plans and consultants to scale nutrition care even faster.

About Nutrium
Founded in 2015 in Portugal, Nutrium transforms how companies care for employee health through Nutrium Care, a complete corporate nutrition program combining 1:1 dietitian support, proactive digital coaching, and measurable impact. Backed by the world’s largest network of dietitians, Nutrium has already improved millions of lives and remains committed to making healthy eating practical, personal, and proven worldwide.

Media contact:
Amy Roberts
[email protected]

SOURCE Nutrium

The Veterinary Company Enters New Phase of Growth, With Continued Investment in its Tech Infrastructure and Comprehensive Care Model

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 16, 2025 — Modern Animal, the pioneering veterinary company dedicated to reimagining pet care, today announced that it has achieved a nine-figure revenue run rate and has raised $46 million in funding, led by Addition, True Ventures, and Upfront Ventures, with participation from Founders Fund, alongside a strategic expansion of its Board of Directors.

Mark Suster, managing partner at Upfront Ventures, which has backed Modern Animal since its 2019 seed round, joins the company’s board alongside Karen Boone, former CFO of Restoration Hardware and current board member of Peloton, Sonos, CoreWeave, and Rivian; Tony Conrad, partner at True Ventures; and Robbie Horwitz, partner at Addition.

Modern Animal is focused on redefining healthcare for pet parents, whether in clinic or online through 24/7 virtual care, from the first puppy and kitten visits through every life stage. This funding supports that vision, expanding services including an integrated pharmacy and e-commerce platform, extended urgent care hours, and expanded specialty care. Leveraging its proprietary technology infrastructure, the company is continuing to double down on its AI-powered tools and proprietary technology stack to fully automate administrative tasks, improve workflows, and support clinical decision-making, substantially enhancing operational efficiency and helping veterinarians deliver even higher-quality care.

“This is an important moment for Modern Animal,” said Steven Eidelman, the company’s founder & CEO. “We’re growing our care offerings and investing in the technology that puts us in a unique position to better serve pets and their parents, empower our veterinary teams, and build long-term value in a fast-changing industry. We’re focused on deploying our capital strategically – always in ways that improve the quality of care we deliver, and the experience for the providers of that care.”

The new funding comes on the heels of a period of significant growth for Modern Animal, including 85% year‑over‑year revenue growth in 2024 to a now $100 million annual run rate. These results highlight the solid foundation built since the company’s inception, with upcoming advancements expected to play a key role in accelerating its path to sustainable profitability.

“In a world where all investors can think about is AI all the time, it’s refreshing to back a company that, while leveraging technology, is completely dedicated to something we universally love — animals,” said Mark Suster, managing partner at Upfront Ventures. “Steven and his team have built a consumer brand in the veterinary care space that is equally loved by vets as it is by modern, young, tech-savvy animal owners. Modern Animal has already shown its ability to transform the industry and will continue setting the standard for what veterinary care can be.”

Modern Animal has 27 clinics across California, Texas, and Colorado. Having served more than 100,000 pets, the company is strengthening its presence in markets where it has already built significant capacity and is expanding its services to provide an even more reliable, comprehensive solution for pet parents. At the same time, the company remains committed to creating a more fulfilling and sustainable work environment for veterinary professionals.

About Modern Animal
Modern Animal is a veterinary company with a mission to bring humanity back to veterinary medicine on behalf of pets, their parents, and the veterinary community. Leveraging its own technology platform, 24/7 virtual care, and state-of-the-art clinics, Modern Animal offers members an all-in-one experience that connects every aspect of their pet’s health, delivering personalized care and exceptional service at every touchpoint. For more information, visit www.modernanimal.com, and follow @modernanimal on Instagram and @modernanimalvet on TikTok.

Media contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Modern Animal

NEW YORK, Sept. 16, 2025 — ExSight Ventures, a venture capital firm dedicated to investing in transformative ophthalmology innovations, today announced its investment in RevOpsis Therapeutics, a biotechnology company pioneering next-generation therapies for retinal diseases.

RevOpsis is developing a novel class of multispecific antibody-based treatments designed to address significant unmet needs in ophthalmology, with an initial focus on wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic eye disease. The company’s proprietary platform integrates advanced protein engineering with validated biological pathways to deliver therapies that aim to improve durability, efficacy, and patient outcomes.

“We are thrilled to support RevOpsis in its mission to bring breakthrough therapies to patients suffering from vision-threatening conditions,” said Firas Rahhal, MD, General Partner at ExSight Ventures and Retina Vitreous Associates Medical Group in Los Angeles. “Our investment reflects our strong belief in both the scientific foundation of RevOpsis’ platform and the experienced leadership team driving its development.”

The funding will enable RevOpsis to accelerate preclinical development of its lead candidate and expand its pipeline of novel ophthalmic assets.

“ExSight Ventures is a leading investor in the ophthalmology space, and their support is a strong validation of our approach,” said Ram Bhandari, MD, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of RevOpsis Therapeutics. “This partnership will help us advance our pipeline toward clinical development and bring us closer to providing patients with more effective and longer-lasting treatment options. ExSight Ventures has a proven track record of backing companies developing innovative solutions in eye care, and this investment further demonstrates its commitment to supporting the next wave of therapeutic breakthroughs in ophthalmology.”

About RevOpsis Therapeutics

Founded in 2018, RevOpsis Therapeutics is a privately held, next-generation biopharmaceutical company spearheading innovation in ophthalmic therapies. Guided by a team of leading physicians, scientists, and business leaders, we are dedicated to leveraging our proprietary Rev-Mod Platform to develop and commercialize groundbreaking treatments for chronic multifactorial diseases. With a steadfast commitment to responsibly advancing patient care, we aim to usher in a new era of improved disease management and extended disease remission.

Leveraging the proprietary Rev-Mod platform, RO-104 is RevOpsis’ current lead candidate. Engineered as a first-in-class fully human modular tri-specific biologic designed to address all three clinically validated dominant angiogenic pathways (VEGF-A, VEGF-C, Ang-2) implicated in retinal vascular disease progression, including neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). RO-104 represents a significant innovative advancement in the treatment landscape for retinal vascular diseases. For more information, please visit www.revopsis.com.

About ExSight Ventures

ExSight Ventures (EV) is a venture capital firm built to serve an underserved corner of the innovation economy: early-stage life sciences. With deep clinical expertise and venture discipline, we stand as trusted partners for innovators transforming ophthalmology. Our commitment is to back pioneering teams advancing breakthrough innovations to patients who need them most. www.exsightventures.com

SOURCE RevOpsis

Investment supports market expansion and platform development, enabling PayNearMe’s clients to derive strategic advantage from payment experience

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Sept. 16, 2025 — Today, PayNearMe, a leading fintech transforming the payment experience for non-commerce businesses and their customers, announced a $50 million Series E investment from AVP (Atlantic Vantage Point) through its Growth Fund I. The investment will accelerate PayNearMe’s expansion into new markets and fuel ongoing investment in products that simplify the end-to-end payment experience for its clients.

“PayNearMe has redefined what it means to deliver a modern payment experience. The company is uniquely positioned to solve challenges in a space long underserved and overlooked,” said Elizabeth de Saint-Aignan, General Partner and Head of Growth Fund, North America at AVP. “PayNearMe’s vision and proven execution are changing how non-commerce businesses approach payments, and we’re excited to support them in this next stage of growth.”

PayNearMe pioneered Payment Experience Management, a combination of software and money movement services that optimize every touchpoint in the payment journey across customers, support and operations. By accelerating payments and reducing the total cost of acceptance, PayNearMe helps its clients improve cash flow and profitability.

“For too long, payments have been treated only as a cost of doing business,” said Danny Shader, CEO of PayNearMe. “We see improving payments as a powerful opportunity to help businesses differentiate, drive customer satisfaction, and improve business results. AVP’s funding will allow us to deliver the benefits of Payment Experience Management to more clients and in new markets.”

As part of its ongoing product evolution and continued investment in Payment Experience Management, PayNearMe has renamed its platform to PayXM^™—the industry’s first platform that is purpose-built to dramatically improve the end-to-end payment experience. PayXM enables businesses to manage the entire payment journey, for all major forms of payment and through the most popular channels, with a single platform and integration.

About AVP

AVP is an independent global investment platform dedicated to high-growth, tech (from deep-tech to tech-enabled) companies across Europe and North America. The firm manages more than €2.5 billion in assets across four strategies: venture, early growth, growth, and fund of funds. Its multi-stage platform combines global research with local execution to drive investment. Since its establishment in 2016, AVP has invested in more than 60 technology companies and in over 60 funds through its Fund of Funds strategy. Beyond providing capital, AVP’s dedicated expansion team works closely with founders, offering expertise, connections and resources needed to unlock growth opportunities, and create lasting value through meaningful collaborations.
More information at www.avpcap.com. 

About PayNearMe

PayNearMe is redefining the way businesses and their customers experience payments. With PayXM^™, the industry’s first platform purpose-built for Payment Experience Management, every touchpoint in the payment journey becomes easy— driving customer satisfaction, accelerating payments, and reducing the total cost of acceptance. The platform supports all major payment types and channels, from PayPal, Venmo, Cash App Pay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, cards and ACH to cash at more than 62,000 U.S. retail locations. 

Thousands of businesses across industries, including consumer lending, iGaming and online sports betting, property management, and tolling, rely on PayNearMe to manage the end-to-end payment experience with a single platform and integration.

SOURCE PayNearMe

SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 16, 2025 — Figure, the AI robotics company developing autonomous general-purpose humanoid robots, today announced it has exceeded more than $1 billion in committed capital through its Series C financing round, at a post-money valuation of $39 billion. The funding will accelerate the company’s efforts to bring general-purpose humanoid robots into real-world environments at scale.

The round was led by Parkway Venture Capital with significant investment from Brookfield Asset Management, NVIDIA, Macquarie Capital, Intel Capital, Align Ventures, Tamarack Global, LG Technology Ventures, Salesforce, T-Mobile Ventures, and Qualcomm Ventures.

“This milestone is critical to unlocking the next stage of growth for humanoid robots, scaling out our AI platform Helix and BotQ manufacturing,” said Brett Adcock, Founder and CEO of Figure. “Support from new partners, alongside the continued backing of our existing investors, reflects both Figure’s position as the market leader and a shared belief in a future where this technology becomes a natural part of daily life.”

This capital raise milestone supports Figure’s momentum across three core areas—all designed to unlock the full capabilities of Helix, Figure’s AI system for embodied intelligence:

• Scaling humanoid robots into homes and commercial operations. Figure is expanding production manufacturing at BotQ and real-world deployments, enabling robots to assist with household and commercial workforce tasks.
• Building next-generation NVIDIA GPU infrastructure to accelerate training and simulation. This compute foundation will power Helix’s core models for perception, reasoning, and control.
• Launching advanced data collection efforts. These include data collection of human video and multimodal sensory inputs, to improve how robots understand and operate in complex, dynamic settings. These real-world datasets are essential to scaling Helix’s capabilities.

About Figure

Figure is an AI robotics company developing autonomous general-purpose humanoid robots. The goal of the company is to ship humanoid robots with human level intelligence. Its robots are engineered to perform a variety of tasks in the home and commercial markets. Figure is headquartered in San Jose, CA.

SOURCE Figure AI Inc.

Lauren B. Leichtman, Cindy Gallop, Vlada Bortnik & Andrea Holland to Headline

SAN DIEGO, Sept. 16, 2025 — The Stella Foundation’s 12th Annual Women’s Venture Summit (WVS), will return to San Diego, CA from September 23–25, 2025. This year’s theme, Building Boldly, reflects the Summit’s mission: to fuel the growth of women founders, expand the ranks of women investors, and rewrite the future of venture capital.

The 2025 keynote lineup brings together trailblazers across finance, tech, culture, and leadership. Lauren B. Leichtman, Co-Founder of Levine Leichtman Capital Partners and Chairwoman of San Diego Wave FC, recently recognized by Forbes as the world’s first woman private equity billionaire, will share her journey scaling capital and impact. Cindy Gallop, fearless entrepreneur and founder of MakeLoveNotPorn, will take the stage with her unapologetic message on equity and inclusion. Vlada Bortnik, CEO & Co-Founder of Marco Polo, will discuss building technology with purpose at scale, and Andrea Holland, award-winning executive coach, will bring insight on leading with bold strategy in high-stakes moments.

Far more than a speaker series, the three-day event features transformative workshops, fireside chats, and interactive sessions designed to close the funding gap. Attendees will dive into sessions on Alternative Capital Pathways for Founders, Personal Finance Best Practices for Investors, Structuring Funds and Syndicates, and Breaking Into VC & Angel Investing, and many more. Networking lounges and curated meetups provide rare access for emerging investors to connect directly with fund managers, and for founders to build relationships with active capital providers.

At the heart of the summit is the Women’s Fast Pitch SemiFinals, where six women founders, selected from regional competitions across the U.S., will compete live for more than $50,000 in grants, investments, and in-kind support. The pitch competition has become a signature feature of WVS, with past participants going on to secure venture funding, national media coverage, and acquisition opportunities.

“In a year where political and economic headwinds are dismantling resources, funding, and programs for women, we’re choosing to do the opposite,” said Flossie Hall, CEO of the Stella Foundation. “Women’s Venture Summit doubles down on women, providing the capital, connections, and knowledge they need to get funded. This summit isn’t just an event, it’s a bold response to the moment we’re in – and a launchpad for the companies and funds that will define our future economy.”

Dr. Silvia Mah, Founder & Chair of the Board of the Stella Foundation, added: “When women invest in women, we create exponential impact. WVS is the catalyst where innovation, capital, and purpose intersect – and where the cycle of empowerment truly accelerates.”

Since its inception, WVS has facilitated more than $250 million in capital for women-led ventures. The 2025 summit is supported by sponsors includingThe Impact Seat Foundation, Comcast Lift Labs, Cooley LLP, Holland & Knight LLP, She Invests, and a growing coalition of partners committed to equity in venture.

Tickets and the full agenda are available at www.womensventuresummit.org.

About the Women’s Venture Summit

The Women’s Venture Summit is a national gathering that builds bridges between female founders and investors. Designed for aspiring investors, seasoned entrepreneurs, and community partners, the Summit combines education, connection, and capital to increase funding for women-led businesses and grow the number of women writing checks.

About the Stella Foundation

Founded in 2012, the Stella Foundation connects women founders and investors to the right resource at the right time. With a community of more than 10,000 women served annually and over $250 million in facilitated funding, Stella offers curriculum, advisory, capital access, and convening events—including Women’s Fast Pitch and Women’s Venture Summit—to drive equality in venture. Learn more at stella.co.

Media Contact
Laura Henson
HVM Communications
[email protected]
917-539-7812

SOURCE Stella Foundation