XIAMEN, China, Sept. 10, 2025 — POP Culture Group Co., Ltd. (“Company”) (NASDAQ: CPOP) today announced the completion of a major strategic investment in the cryptocurrencyBitcoin (BTC), totaling $33 million and representing 300 BTC.
Furthering its commitment to digital innovation, POP Culture Group Co., Ltd. is establishing a diversified cryptocurrency fund pool focused on stable and transparent assets including BTC, ETH, and BOT. The fund aims to invest in:
Promising cryptocurrencies in the Web3 pan-entertainment track;
Projects with high investment value and growth potential;
High-quality equity projects aligned with the Company’s strategy and business; and
High-quality artist incubation or artist management projects.
Huang Zhuoqin, CEO of POP Culture Group Co., Ltd., commented: “Our strategic cryptocurrency investment marks the beginning of a vision to build not only a pan-entertainment platform, but a global Web3 pan-entertainment super ecosystem. Spanning live entertainment, digital entertainment, short films, and artist management, we aim to create a symbiotic network deeply connecting creators, users, and the platform itself. Entertainment will transform from disposable emotional experiences into sustainably appreciating digital assets.”
This initiative underscores the Company’s position at the forefront of integrating digital assets and entertainment, fostering long-term value for stakeholders worldwide.
About CPOP (Pop Culture Group Co., Ltd):
Pop Culture Group Co., Ltd is a cultural industry operation enterprise focused on the industrialization of Chinese Pop Culture, incorporated in the Cayman Islands with its main operations located in China. The company offers a range of services including live performances, artist management, intellectual property rights, film and television production, MCN (Multi-Channel Network), and entertainment marketing. Originally focused on hip-hop culture, Pop Culture Group Co., Ltd has evolved into a diversified group specializing in Chinese Pop Culture. Its comprehensive business ecosystem spans both online and offline platforms, including: (1) live entertainment events (such as concerts, music festivals, street dance competitions, and other performances); (2) digital entertainment services; (3) artist management and agency services; and (4) investment in and production of film and television content featuring elements of Chinese Pop Culture.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, and are based on the company’s current expectations and projections of future events that it believes may affect its financial condition, operating results, business strategies, and financial needs. Investors can identify these forward-looking statements by terms such as “may,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “aim,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “is likely to,” “potential,” “continue,” or other similar expressions. Except as required by law, the company is not obligated to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, or changes in its expectations. Although the company believes the expectations expressed in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, there is no guarantee that these expectations will prove correct. The company reminds investors that actual results may differ materially from expected results and encourages them to review other factors that may affect its future results, as disclosed in the company’s registration statements and other filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which are available at www.sec.gov.
For inquiries, please contact: POP Culture Group Co., Ltd. Email: [email protected]
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 10, 2025 — Standard Fleet, a fleet management platform for the connected-vehicle era, has raised $13 million in Series A funding and expanded its hardware-free Digital Key product.
The funding round was led by Nova Threshold, with participation from WEX Venture Capital, SNR, Garry Tan, CEO of Y Combinator, Salil Deshpande of Uncorrelated Ventures and Apoorv Bhargava, founder of WeaveGrid. Returning investors include Burst Capital, Canvas Ventures, Liquid2, Night Capital, Olive Capital, UP2398 and Danny Wen.
Most new vehicles come off the assembly line with embedded connectivity, but the majority of fleet management systems still rely on hardware and manual processes. Standard Fleet eliminates that problem by connecting directly to a vehicle with a system that supports more than 30 automakers, covering EVs, hybrids and internal combustion engines.
Aggregating over 1,000 data points, Standard Fleet is the first fleet management platform to combine telematics with digital key access and payments for rental, rideshare, leasing, insurance and service fleets. That means no installation delays or additional device costs.
“Our platform connects directly to the vehicle itself, so operators can scale faster, control access in real time, and streamline operations across diverse vehicle types without costly or time-consuming installs,” said David Hodge, founder and CEO of Standard Fleet. “We’re helping fleets address operational challenges, including the thousands of hours spent annually just managing keys and hardware.”
For fleets with existing hardware, Standard Fleet can integrate with leading third-party providers, which is common for vehicles manufactured before 2018. The platform is designed to be flexible, supporting both connected vehicles and those that still rely on traditional telematics devices.
Digital Key: Instant Access, Zero Hardware
Standard Fleet’s Digital Key gives fleet operators the ability to grant instant, remote vehicle access with no hardware installs or key handoffs in less than 60 seconds, even without cell service or WiFi. Operators can issue, revoke or schedule access via a secure link, with role-based permissions and full audit trails for control and accountability.
The Bluetooth-enabled solution delivers instant, secure vehicle access and has already powered more than 75,000 trips with existing Standard Fleet EV customers. With this launch, Digital Key is now available to new fleet customers and mixed fleets, including EVs, hybrids and internal combustion vehicles.
“Standard Fleet has been instrumental in helping us scale our operations across multiple markets. Digital Key has saved our team countless hours by streamlining vehicle turnaround and empowering us to confidently manage a 2,500+ vehicle fleet,” said Henok Menas, chief marketing officer, DriveWhip. “Paired with fleet dashboards, remote commands and vehicle health alerts, the platform helps keep our operation running seamlessly. The shift from reactive to proactive management has been a major boost to our efficiency and productivity.”
Standard Fleet’s Digital Key is the only solution on the market combining digital access with integrated payments and telematics. It automates payments for EV charging, tolls, rental extensions and other fees, enabling daily payouts to providers and instant access revocation for nonpayment.
“Standard Fleet is bringing a new solution to fleet management by embracing vehicle connectivity and data, not ignoring it,” said David Klein, head of WEX Venture Capital. “By removing complexity and giving fleets real-time control, they are giving fleets the tools to scale quickly, addressing a critical need in a rapidly evolving market. They are a tremendous addition to our growing portfolio of innovative companies across mobility and the energy transition.”
According to a 2024 report by ResearchAndMarkets, the global fleet management systems market is projected to grow from $24.6 billion in 2023 to $71.7 billion by 2030, driven by EV adoption and connected vehicle data. Standard Fleet is uniquely positioned as a next-generation, OEM-agnostic solution designed to help rental, rideshare, leasing, insurance and service fleets scale efficiently in this rapidly growing sector.
WASHINGTON, Sept. 10, 2025 — Cloud Capital, a leading global data center investment management firm, today announced the final close of Cloud Capital Fund II, an opportunistic closed-end investment vehicle focused on acquiring and developing high-quality data centers across the United States. The Fund was oversubscribed, reflecting strong investor confidence in Cloud Capital’s specialist data center expertise, strong tenant relationships, and unique access to compelling data center investments.
Cloud Capital Fund II focuses on acquiring and developing strategically located data center assets across the United States that support hyperscale and AI-driven workloads. The Fund provides investors with access to opportunistic, de-risked tenant-led data center investments, while complementing Cloud Capital’s wide range of product offerings.
“As demand for digital infrastructure continues to accelerate, Cloud Capital’s differentiated investment strategy, long-standing experience, access to off market deal flow and tenant relationships is paramount,” said Shariar Mohajer, Cloud Capital’s President and Chief Investment Officer. “We remain deeply focused on generating value for our investors through disciplined execution and hands-on approach to value creation.”
To date, the Fund has already made several investments and has deployed a meaningful portion of committed capital across multiple transactions, including assets supporting the network needs of a hyperscaler. These investments exemplify Cloud Capital’s ability to secure and execute exclusive, off-market opportunities.
Cloud Capital Fund II attracted a diverse group of institutional limited partners, including U.S. public and corporate pension funds, asset management firms, and family offices across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific. The strong participation from both new and existing limited partners underscores the depth of global demand for access to Cloud Capital’s differentiated investment strategy.
“We are honored to have earned the trust of our global institutional investor base and are proud to have successfully held our final close for Fund II,” said Vivian Tongalson, Head of Investor Relations & Capital Formation, Americas at Cloud Capital. “The Fund’s final close is a testament to our strong relationships with new and existing limited partners, experienced team, and proprietary sourcing capabilities.”
Vivian Tongalson also remarked, “We would like to thank our limited partners for their continued support and look forward to building on our partnership. Cloud Capital continues to see strong deal flow and we remain committed to providing investors access to differentiated investment opportunities across the risk spectrum while broadening our suite of product offerings.”
About Cloud Capital
Cloud Capital is a leading global specialized investment management firm focused on acquiring, developing and operating high-quality data centers. Since 2020, Cloud Capital has acquired a portfolio of data center assets worldwide valued at over $5 billion, employing a rigorous and disciplined underwriting process for both proprietary and off-market data center transactions and active hands-on asset management. Cloud Capital has offices in Washington, D.C., Tampa, Florida, and London.
Brothers Team Up with Fourth-Generation Pest Pro to Build Nation’s First On-Demand Pest Control Platform
NAMPA, Idaho, Sept. 10, 2025 — Pest Share, the leading on-demand pest control platform for residential property managers, today announces it has raised a $28 million Series A led by Integrity Growth Partners (“IGP”) with participation from existing investors, including MetaProp, Capital Eleven and RE Angels. The funding will accelerate Pest Share’s expansion across the single-family and multifamily rental markets, advance product innovation and deepen partnerships with leading property management platforms. Pest Share already services 48 states with 300,000 residential units on the platform and is trusted by companies like Re/Max, Roofstock, and ARK Homes For Rent.
A first-of-its-kind business model for the industry, Pest Share modernizes pest control through a new, tech-centric business model that integrates directly with property management systems, automating service dispatch and connecting residents with a national network of vetted service providers. Offered as a standalone amenity or as part of a resident benefit package, Pest Share delivers a seamless experience for residents to resolve pest issues, while enabling property managers to reduce operational headaches, improve service quality and unlock new revenue streams.
The company started in 2020 after local property managers began asking how to better handle pest control for their residents. Landon Cooley, CEO of Pest Share and a fourth-generation pest professional, worked with co-founders Justin Clements, COO, and Tom Clements, CRO, to bring the idea of Pest Share to life to solve this problem. Their deep industry expertise led to the launch of Pest Share, which operates with the mission to transform the pest control industry.
“Property managers have been stuck with a fragmented and administratively burdensome approach to pest control for decades,” said Cooley, CEO and Co-Founder of Pest Share. “We built Pest Share to reimagine that experience — using technology to help property managers efficiently deliver high-quality pest control services at scale. With IGP’s support and the continued partnership of our existing investors, we’re excited to continue to expand this model to property managers and residents nationwide.”
Since launch, Pest Share has become a trusted partner to more than 700 property management companies, from local operators to large national brands. Customers consistently highlight the platform’s ability to shorten service response times, standardize workflows across portfolios and deliver measurable time and cost savings — all while improving the resident experience.
“Pest Share has created a modern, automated, and tech-enabled solution for a problem that touches nearly every property manager,” said Doyl Burkett, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Integrity Growth Partners. “We’re excited to back a team that deeply understands the industry’s operational pain points and has built a platform that fundamentally changes how pest services are delivered and managed.”
About Pest Share Pest Share is the leading on-demand pest control platform purpose-built for residential property managers. Pest Share integrates with leading property management systems and leverages a national network of vetted service providers to help property managers address their residents’ pest issues. Pest Share streamlines pest issue resolution, reduces costs, and elevates the resident experience. For more information, visit www.pestshare.com.
About Integrity Growth Partners Integrity Growth Partners (“IGP”) is a Los Angeles-based growth equity firm that invests in founder-led, capital-efficient lower middle market software and tech-enabled services companies. IGP targets high-growth businesses with established products and business models, bringing a differentiated combination of investing and operating experience. For more information, visit www.integritygp.com.
For media inquiries please contact: Steph Hadas 5W Public Relations [email protected]
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 10, 2025 — Caplight today launched 2.0, an AI platform for venture investors to discover and evaluate private companies. The new product complements the company’s trusted secondary market data, pricing, and liquidity tools.
Sourcing and qualifying private companies remains one of venture capital’s biggest time sinks, costing individual investors up to 1,000 hours a year. Caplight’s new platform solves this by putting all of the information a VC needs to qualify or disqualify an opportunity in one place, including:
Caplight Logo
More company data: Continuously updated profiles for more than 20,000 private companies, including business models, customer segments, sectors, and verticals.
Funding round data: Over 60,000 venture funding rounds, complete fundraising histories, amounts raised, and valuations.
Investor data: More than 10,000 venture firms and 100,000 VC investor contacts, with visibility into which funds are backing which themes and companies.
Market signals: $300B+ in proprietary secondary transaction data and sentiment signals from news and social media.
AI-powered search and alerts: Use chat-based queries to search by thesis, investor, fundraising activity, and more to find high-quality companies. Save target lists and get real-time updates.
“Caplight 2.0 ensures venture investors never miss a company that fits their thesis. Spend less time in spreadsheets, and more time building relationships with world-class founders,” said Javier Avalos, Caplight’s CEO.
Caplight’s customers include top venture firms, institutional asset managers, hedge funds, and investment banks, together managing over $30 trillion in assets. With Caplight 2.0, the company advances its mission to unlock more capital for the venture asset class through better data.
Caplight 2.0 is available now in beta. Learn more and request early access at Caplight.com.
About Caplight
Caplight Technologies, Inc. is a financial technology company providing data and liquidity solutions to the private market. The company’s patented price discovery tools enable market participants to navigate venture capital with more confidence. Securities are offered through Caplight Markets LLC, member FINRA/SIPC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Caplight Technologies, Inc.
Insight Partners leads; seven major U.S. health systems join. Funding accelerates the global rollout of Optain’s advanced robotic retinal imaging, AI, and teleophthalmology platform.
NEW YORK, Sept. 10, 2025 — Optain Health, a healthcare technology company applying artificial intelligence (AI), robotic retinal imaging, and teleophthalmology to detect eye and systemic disease earlier, today announced the close of an oversubscribed $26 million Series A. The raise was led by global software investor Insight Partners with participation from existing investors.
A single, non-invasive test, run anywhere: Oculomics—the science of using the eye as a window into whole-body health—powers Optain’s platform. Its portable robotic camera captures retinal images rapidly without requiring pupil dilation. Integrated AI workflows detect sight-threatening eye diseases, including diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration, and assess cardiovascular disease risk. In the U.S., Optain delivers rapid teleophthalmology grading to screen for diabetic retinopathy and more. Optain’s technology expands access to oculomics into primary care, optometry, and beyond, with minimal specialist staffing or workflow disruption.
“Our mission is simple: faster, easier, more equitable disease screening,” said Jeff Dunkel, CEO, Optain. “After two years of major international growth, we are ready to scale in the U.S. This Series A funds our enterprise deployments, opens new markets, and pushes the frontier of what the retina can reveal.”
Strategic health system and global investor participation: Insight was joined by seven leading health system investors, among them: Memorial Hermann Health System, Northwell Health, Novant Health, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, and UPMC. Together, these systems deliver care to 28 million patients across 25 states. Each will begin deploying Optain’s platform across their networks to expand screening access, close care gaps, and improve outcomes. Additional investors, including Informed Ventures, Lumio Capital, Meridian Ventures, and the UniQuest Extension Fund will accelerate the growth of Optain’s global footprint in Australia, Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.
“Optain represents our conviction in the power of better AI—deployed at the edge, inside clinical workflows,” said Scott Barclay, Managing Director at Insight Partners. “By making retinopathy screening truly accessible, Optain is already changing care delivery—and we believe it will become the upstream gateway in primary care for AI-driven diagnoses across many conditions.”
Backed by leading health systems and clinical leaders. Optain was co-created in 2023 by Aegis Ventures which also formed the Aegis Digital Consortium, a collaboration of 11 leading regional U.S. health systems to co-develop AI-driven healthtech companies. “Early retinal screening for diabetic retinopathy and chronic disease closes a critical care gap,” said Dr. John Noseworthy, Chairman of the Aegis Digital Consortium and Emeritus CEO of Mayo Clinic. “Clinicians have been waiting for a solution that meets patients where they are, and Optain is delivering a best-in-class product that is achieving real adoption. By deploying Optain in patient care and investing in the company, Consortium members have shown strong confidence in its value for enabling early detection and better outcomes.” Dr. Noseworthy will join Optain’s board as an observer, representing the strategic health systems.
Australian R&D powering global impact. Optain’s technology builds on more than a decade of research led by Professor Mingguang He in Australia. “We’re proud to be translating world-class Australian science into real-world impact,” said Dr. Zachary Tan, President of Optain. “We are making significant investments in new Australian R&D and growing our local team, who will lead our global expansion outside of the U.S. Exporting Australian AI innovation to improve equitable access to healthcare and patient outcomes around the world is a mission we are proud to lead.”
About Optain Optain transforms preventive health with AI-enabled software and hardware that deliver real-time, non-invasive detection of eye and systemic conditions. Its portable robotic retinal camera, AI, and teleophthalmology service give clinicians an affordable point-of-care tool to close care gaps, reduce avoidable costs, and improve patient outcomes. Learn more at optainhealth.com/us and follow us on LinkedIn.
About Insight Partners Insight Partners is a global software investor partnering with high-growth technology, software, and Internet startup and ScaleUp companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. As of December 31, 2024, the firm has over $90B in regulatory assets under management. Insight Partners has invested in more than 800 companies worldwide and has seen over 55 portfolio companies achieve an IPO. Headquartered in New York City, Insight has offices in London, Tel Aviv, and the Bay Area. Insight’s mission is to find, fund, and work successfully with visionary executives, providing them with tailored, hands-on software expertise along their growth journey, from their first investment to IPO. For more information on Insight and all its investments, visit insightpartners.com or follow us on X @insightpartners.
This press release includes forward-looking statements concerning future events. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ from those expressed or implied. Factors beyond the control of Optain Health and its affiliates may affect future performance. Optain Health and its affiliates do not commit to updating forward-looking statements considering future events or changes in expectations.
Optain Health utilizes teleophthalmology services in the U.S. Automated disease detection software is not for sale in the U.S.
SAN FRANCISCO and FREMONT, Calif., Sept. 10, 2025 — Nitricity, the climate scaleup electrifying the production of nitrogen fertilizer worldwide, today announced it has closed a $50 million Series B funding round, days ahead of the groundbreaking ceremony on the company’s first-of-a-kind organic fertilizer plant in Delhi, California.
Nitricity founders Dr. Joshua McEnaney (President and CTO), Dr. Jay Schwalbe (CSO), and Dr. Nicolas Pinkowski (CEO) at the company’s office in Fremont, California. (Source: Pique Action)
The funding round was co-led by new investor World Fund, Europe’s leading climate VC, and returning investor Khosla Ventures, with participation from Chipotle’s Cultivate Next venture fund, Change Forces, Susquehanna Sustainable Investments, EIP, and Fine Structure Ventures [from the Fidelity Investments parent group, FMR].
Nitricity’s flagship organic, nitrogen fertilizer liquid – Ash Tea – is made from recycled organic almond shells, air, water and renewable power. Crucially, Ash Tea is cost-competitive with other commercially available organic fertilizers, while being better for the planet, pathogen-free and free from animal products. The product has proven highly effective with farmers, with field trials reporting up to a 30% yield increase and noticeable improvements in early plant growth, and every ounce of Ash Tea’s current production is already commissioned.
A market-leading solution scaling up to meet proven demand from organic farmers
Nitricity has invented a market-leading alternative to traditional nitrogen-based synthetic fertilizers. Conventional fertilizers, created through the Haber-Bosch process that sees ammonia synthesized from fresh air, account for about 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) worldwide. Their widespread use revolutionized food production, but it has left soil microbiomes in a dire state, made waterways toxic, and contributed to global biodiversity loss.
Ash Tea stands out as a fully organic fertilizer that offers farmers a sustainable and ethical alternative to traditional pelletized, dried slaughterhouse fluids used by competitors. Its liquid form flows smoothly through irrigation systems, minimizing clogging and maintenance issues. Nitricity fertilizer also utilizes nitrogen more efficiently than competitor products, meaning farmers can apply less product and cut costs. Nitricity is a safer, more effective fertilization solution serving the growing demand for sustainable, regenerative practices.
The company was founded by a team of graduate students – Dr. Nicolas Pinkowski (CEO), Dr. Joshua McEnaney (president and CTO) Dr. Jay Schwalbe (CSO) – from Stanford University in 2018. They started out co-living, testing out their solar-powered fertilizer systems on a single lemon tree in their backyard. That tree has since grown sky-high, while Nitricity has grown to secure over $150M in its sales pipeline following a period of rapid growth.
The founders are tapping an enormous global market. McKinsey expects the $150 billion fertilizer market to grow around 2.1%pa, while Nitricity’s internal estimates suggest the liquid organic nitrogen fertilizer market alone could top $11 billion. Today, the company’s pilot factory in Fremont produces 80 tons of fertilizer each year, which feeds around 80 acres of crops, and this is just the start.
Nitricity expands across the US and into Europe as World Fund’s first US investment
Nitricity plans to use the fresh capital to scale its clean technology across the US and into Europe, make 10+ key hires into its 38-person team, and invest in R&D.
The company is building capacity in the Western US to be closer to its organic farmer customer base and expand into high-value fruit markets. New funding will also enable Nitricity to start pilot and field trials across Europe and make its first strategic hires on the continent. Nitricity plans to use local agricultural waste materials, including wood and waste from olive oil manufacturing, to power its European fertilizer production. Capital will also be used to invest further in R&D to improve system efficiency and expand into markets such as corn and wheat.
Dr. Nicolas Pinkowski, Nitricity co-founder and CEO, said: “This is an inflection point for Nitricity. We’re scaling across the US and we’re very excited to expand into Europe in a serious and assertive way. The European market for our organic fertilizer is even larger than in the US, and demand is only growing against a backdrop of European governments looking to boost resilience and create circular agriculture economies. We offer an exceptional organic, circular solution for the market.”
“We started out as grad students with a $5000 CalTech grant and a plan. Now, we have more customers than we can supply, so it’s about scaling to cater to that demand. We are thrilled to welcome new investors and deepen our partnerships with existing investors. Raising this capital is an enormous vote of confidence in Nitricity and our product, and having a prominent European investor in our syndicate will dramatically speed up our ability to connect with local partners and customers.”
World Fund, which invests in climate tech companies with significant decarbonization potential, has backed winners including IQM, Space Forge and Planet A Foods. The investment into Nitricity is its first US ticket, and marks a step-change in reach for the fund.
Dr Nadine Geiser, Principal at World Fund, said: “The Haber-Bosch process typically sees around 60-70% of nitrogen applied to crops get lost. This cannot continue. Our calculations show Nitricity’s brilliant, price-competitive sustainable, organic alternative provides an <92% reduction in emissions on average. As the EU looks to meet sustainability and organic requirements, demand for Nitricity’s solution is only rising, and we are proud to be supporting Nicholas and the team as they scale into Europe and beyond.”
Groundbreaking for innovative facility producing cost-competitive organic nitrogen
Slated for operation in 2026, Nitricity’s first-of-a-kind organic fertilizer facility in Delhi, California represents a major milestone, marking an 100-fold increase in production capacity to achieve commercial-scale volumes of cost-competitive organic nitrogen fertilizer. The plant’s full production capacity is already sold out through 2028 under binding offtake agreements with local organic growers. The plant, which was funded by Elemental Impact and Trellis Climate and will create 20+ jobs in Merced County, will hold a groundbreaking ceremony in September.
“Nitricity’s commitment to producing fertilizer that is optimized for farmers compliments Chipotle’s approach to Food with Integrity,” stated Curt Garner, President, Chief Strategy and Technology Officer at Chipotle. “Since our initial investment in 2023, we’ve seen continued innovation and believe the new facility and expanded team will enable Nitricity to scale their climate-smart technology and support growers globally.”
Rajesh Swaminathan, Partner at Khosla Ventures, said: “Fertilizer production hasn’t changed in over a century — it’s complex, expensive, and vulnerable to global supply shocks. Nitricity is taking a fundamentally different approach with a modular system that turns almond shells, air and water directly into organic fertilizer. Since investing in 2022, Nico and the team have made impressive progress, securing premium offtake agreements and preparing to break ground on a first-of-a-kind plant. This kind of innovation is what it takes to transform the global agriculture system.”
About Nitricity Nitricity is a climate-tech startup creating sustainable, organic nitrogen fertilizers by harnessing air, water, renewable energy, and almond shells. Founded by a team of graduate students from Stanford University in 2018 – Dr. Nicolas Pinkowski serving as CEO, Dr. Joshua McEnaney serving as president and CTO, and Dr. Jay Schwalbe serving as CSO – The company is scaling its clean technology to enable regional, plant-based fertilizer production for a more sustainable farming future. For more information, visit www.nitricity.co.
About World Fund World Fund is a leading European venture capital fund investing in climate tech companies with significant decarbonisation potential. Its portfolio spans key sectors, such as energy, industry, built environment, transportation, food, agriculture, and biotech. The fund has backed prominent companies such as cylib, Vaeridion, Planet A Foods, IQM and Space Forge. The firm manages a €300m fund and focuses on bridging the financing gap in the early growth stage.
About Chipotle
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE: CMG) is cultivating a better world by serving responsibly sourced, classically-cooked, real food with wholesome ingredients without artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. There are over 3,800 restaurants as of June 30, 2025, in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Kuwait, and United Arab Emirates and it is the only restaurant company of its size that owns and operates all its restaurants in North America and Europe. With over 130,000 employees passionate about providing a great guest experience, Chipotle is a longtime leader and innovator in the food industry. Chipotle is committed to making its food more accessible to everyone while continuing to be a brand with a demonstrated purpose as it leads the way in digital, technology and sustainable business practices. For more information or to place an order online, visit chipotle.com.
About Khosla Ventures Khosla Ventures is a venture capital firm focused on investments in artificial intelligence, financial services, healthcare, consumer, enterprise, and sustainability. It is known for making early capital investments in startups such as OpenAI, Instacart, Affirm, DoorDash, and Block. https://www.khoslaventures.com/
About Change Forces Change Forces is an investment fund that backs those bold enough to reimagine our world. Founder-focused. Planet-forward. Profit-aligned. The fund invests in generational founders building world-changing companies.
Investment accelerates global adoption of Noxilizer’s terminal sterilization alternative that is validated, safe, scalable and sustainable for biopharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers
HANOVER, Md., Sept. 10, 2025 — Noxilizer, Inc. (“Noxilizer”), the leader in nitrogen dioxide-based terminal sterilization for biopharmaceutical and medical device products, today announced a growth capital financing of $30 million led by NewVale Capital, a growth equity firm focused on the pharmaceutical services sector.
Noxilizer’s nitrogen dioxide (“NO₂”) sterilization platform plays a pivotal role in addressing the urgent market demand for alternatives to ethylene oxide (“EtO”), with leading pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies already relying on Noxilizer to sterilize critical drug-device combination products. This growth financing will expand access to Noxilizer’s NO₂ sterilization platform to meet growing global demand.
“This investment allows us to broaden availability of NO₂ sterilization at a time when manufacturers urgently need validated, commercial-ready alternatives to existing methods,” said Christopher Thatcher, President and Chief Executive Officer of Noxilizer. “We’re proud to provide a platform that is already trusted in commercial-stage products. With NewVale Capital’s support, we are strengthening our foundation to serve our customers at scale, with long-term reliability, especially as EtO contract sterilization providers face increasing remediation mandates and capacity constraints.”
Noxilizer provides biopharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers with a proven commercial-grade sterilization alternative that offers:
Commercial and Regulatory Validation: Approved by global regulatory authorities and used in marketed biopharmaceutical products
Safety and Sustainability: Non-carcinogenic with emissions that meet room air quality standards
Compatibility: Works with sensitive biologics, drug-device combinations, and delivery systems
Efficiency and Scale: Provides fast cycle times, can be used in-house, and supports supply chain reliability
“Noxilizer represents one of the most viable alternatives to EtO in the market today,” said Todd Holmes, Founder and Managing Partner of NewVale Capital. “The platform has already been adopted by a growing list of leading manufacturers, and we’re excited to support Noxilizer through its next phase of expansion to meet the rising demand for sustainable, next-generation sterilization.”
About Noxilizer
Noxilizer provides ultra-low temperature nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) terminal sterilization for the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries. With FDA approvals and clearance, EMA authorization, and adoption by leading global manufacturers, Noxilizer’s NO₂ sterilization is a safe, efficient, and scalable alternative to existing methods. The company offers R&D studies, packaging and design consulting, validation and customer and technical support in addition to its proprietary sterilization equipment and consumables. Noxilizer is headquartered in Hanover, Maryland. For more information, please visit: www.noxilizer.com.
About NewVale Capital
Founded in 2021, NewVale Capital is a growth equity investment firm focused on the services architecture underpinning the life science industry. The firm invests in proven, revenue-generating services businesses across the life science ecosystem that are helping to bring the next generation of medicines to patients. For more information, please visit: www.newvalecapital.com.
Media Contact: Peg Rusconi Senior Vice President, Media [email protected]
Gartner predicts that 40% of organizations will adopt a secretless approach by 2027 as the traditional secrets access model becomes a liability, unable to keep pace with today’s dynamic cloud environments, automated workflows, and the rise of agentic AI. Vaults and secret managers, used by the vast majority of organizations globally, were built for the pre-agentic era and simply store the risk instead of eliminating it. Other non-human identity (NHI) solutions offer limited, point-in-time visibility without prevention measures, leaving blind spots and overburdening developers and organizations with operational overhead.
Founded by the team behind Meta Networks (acquired by Proofpoint in 2019), Hush is now leading a policy-centric industry shift, enabling least privileged access based on what identities do instead of just what they’re allowed to do and allowing teams to quickly grant just-in-time, right-size access that is validated at runtime.
“Chasing secrets or watching dashboards doesn’t stop attacks,” said Micha Rave, CEO and co-founder of Hush Security. “Vaults were built for an era where environments changed slowly and AI was not part of the equation. That era is over. AI agents, ephemeral workloads, and automation have changed the game, and the vault model can’t keep up. We’ve eliminated the need for credentials entirely, introducing a groundbreaking new model for machine access.”
Hush Security delivers three integrated capabilities in cloud and on-prem, unlike any other solution on the market:
Runtime Visibility & Discovery: Continuously discover and map every workload, service, and AI agent, from code to runtime
Runtime Posture Analysis: Detect, assess, and prioritize risks and compliance based on runtime behavior, criticality and potential blast radius, not static assumptions
Prevention & Management: Replace static secrets with right-sized, just-in-time access policies that adapt dynamically, reducing overhead while blocking credential-based threats at the source
“We’re at a critical inflection point. Static secrets simply can’t keep pace with modern infrastructure, rapid development cycles, and the demands of AI-driven workloads,” said Barak Schoster, Partner at Battery Ventures. “Hush Security’s seasoned team and cutting-edge technology offer the right approach to replace secrets with dynamic policies, and we believe this is the beginning of the end for credential-based attacks.”
Hush’s patent-pending technology removes fragmented responsibility between security, DevOps, and developers by offering a transparent, unified and zero-trust access model built on the SPIFFE (Secure Production Identity Framework For Everyone). It streamlines compliance, eliminates secret sprawl, and protects everything from AI agents to microservices, without the ops burden or security blind spots of secret-based models.
“Machine identity security is entering a new era, and we see Hush Security leading the shift to a secure, policy-based future, especially as AI agents and LLMs proliferate,” said Yoav Leitersdorf, Managing Partner at YL Ventures. “They’ve built the right technology at the right time. With bold vision and strong execution, Hush is ready to redefine how machine identities are protected.”
Despite being in stealth, Hush has already secured paying enterprise customers, including multiple Fortune 500 companies. The team will use the funding to expand engineering and accelerate global GTM efforts.
To help organizations get started, Hush’s free assessment detects secrets, including API keys, credentials, and service accounts in code, identifies their owners, and maps how they’re used at runtime between applications, services, and AI agents across all environments. It delivers a clear, end-to-end ‘code-to-cloud-to-AI’ access story. With a single click, organizations can migrate to a secretless architecture in the enterprise edition, eliminating secret sprawl for good.
About Hush Security
Founded in 2024, Hush Security set out to disrupt the traditional secret-based access model for machines by eliminating static secrets and replacing them with just-in-time, policy-based access. Led by industry veterans with decades of experience, Hush’s mission is to bring true Zero Trust principles to machine-to-machine access. The company is backed by Battery Ventures and YL Ventures and is headquartered in Tel Aviv.
