• Das Unternehmen sicherte sich 47 Millionen US-Dollar durch Verlängerungsrunden der Serie A unter der Leitung von Legend Capital und Meituan Long-Z Investment mit starker Unterstützung sowohl von neuen Investoren als auch von bestehenden Unterstützern
• Erlöse zur Förderung von zwei differenzierten und äußerst wettbewerbsfähigen ADC-Programmen in globalen Phase-I-Studien
• Die Finanzierung wird die weitere Entwicklung von ADC- und multispezifischen Antikörperplattformen unterstützen, die darauf abzielen, kritische Einschränkungen bestehender biologischer Therapeutika zu überwinden

SHANGHAI, 16. Dezember 2025 — Allink Biotherapeutics, Inc. (AllinkBio), ein Biotechnologieunternehmen im klinischen Stadium, das sich auf die Entwicklung fortschrittlicher Antikörper-Wirkstoff-Konjugate (ADCs) und multispezifischer Antikörpertherapeutika für die Onkologie und Immunologie konzentriert, gab heute den erfolgreichen Abschluss seiner Erweiterungsrunden der Serie A bekannt, in denen 47 Millionen US-Dollar aufgebracht wurden. Die Finanzierungsrunde wurde vom bestehenden Investor Legend Capital und dem neuen Investor Meituan Long-Z Investment angeführt, gefolgt von anderen namhaften bestehenden und neuen Investoren wie Lanchi Ventures, Yuanbio Venture Capital, 5Y Capital, Lapam Capital, Runzhang Venture Capital usw.

Vorantreiben der globalen klinischen Entwicklung für zwei führende Wirkstoffe

Die Finanzierungsrunde der Serie A wird dazu beitragen, die globale klinische Entwicklung der beiden führenden Programme des Unternehmens mit deutlichen Wettbewerbsvorteilen voranzutreiben. ALK201, ein potenziell erstklassiges und bestes FGFR2b-gerichtetes ADC, hat bei mehreren Tumorarten vielversprechende Wirksamkeitssignale mit einem günstigen Sicherheitsprofil gezeigt, was seine Entwicklung als Basistherapie für FGFR2b-überexprimierende solide Tumoren unterstützt. Parallel dazu haben erste klinische Daten zu ALK202 vorläufige Hinweise auf das Potenzial des bispezifischen ADC gegen EGFR/cMET als Eckpfeilertherapie bei nicht-kleinzelligem Lungenkrebs geliefert. Darüber hinaus wird das Programm auf die klinische Bewertung einer breiteren Palette von Biomarker-definierten Tumortypen und Patientengruppen ausgeweitet.

AllinkBio hat mit der Entwicklung beider klinischer Leitwirkstoffe begonnen. Dabei verfolgt das Unternehmen eine biomarkerbasierte Strategie, um die Wirksamkeit bei einem breiten Spektrum solider Tumoren nachzuweisen. Kurzfristig plant das Unternehmen die Einleitung von Kombinationsstudien, um das therapeutische Potenzial der beiden Wirkstoffe in einer breiteren Patientengruppe weiter zu untersuchen. Diese Initiativen werden die Vorbereitung von ALK201 und ALK202 für die zulassungsrelevanten Studien beschleunigen und gleichzeitig ein differenziertes Profil in ihren jeweiligen Zielindikationen etablieren.

Erweiterung der Fähigkeiten der Plattform für neuartige Technologien

Über seine ADC-Technologie hinaus etabliert AllinkBio eine proprietäre Plattform für maskierte T-Zell-Engager (TCE), um die Anwendung von TCEs bei soliden Tumoren weiterzuentwickeln. Im Bereich der Immunologie treibt das Unternehmen die Entwicklung eines Portfolios von erstklassigen bi- und multispezifischen Antikörper-Wirkstoffkandidaten voran. Diese Programme basieren auf rationalen biologischen Konzepten und zielen darauf ab, Lösungen der nächsten Generation für Patientengruppen bereitzustellen, die nach den aktuellen Versorgungsstandards unterversorgt sind.

„Wir schätzen die entschlossene und anhaltende Unterstützung unserer Investoren innerhalb eines so kurzen Zeitraums sehr”, erklärte Dr. Hui Feng, Gründer und Chief Executive Officer von AllinkBio. „Mit dieser Unterstützung können wir unseren klaren klinischen Fahrplan zur Beschleunigung unserer Leitprogramme weiterverfolgen. Neben den beiden führenden Programmen ist unsere Forschungsplattform vollständig aktiviert und bereit, eine neue Welle innovativer Medikamentenkandidaten hervorzubringen, die in absehbarer Zukunft weiteren Mehrwert schaffen werden.”

„Unsere anhaltende Unterstützung basiert auf unserem Vertrauen in die effiziente Umsetzung durch das Team von AllinkBio und dessen solide Entwicklungsstrategie”, erklärte Tan Hong, Managing Director bei Legend Capital. „Die rasanten klinischen Fortschritte ihrer beiden wettbewerbsfähigen Leitprodukte bestätigen bereits jetzt die Leistungsfähigkeit der ADC-Plattform des Unternehmens und stellen einen erheblichen Mehrwert dar. Wir freuen uns auf die bevorstehenden klinischen Ergebnisse und darauf, weitere innovative Programme aus ihren Forschungsplattformen hervorgehen zu sehen.”

„Das Team von AllinkBio verbindet eine internationale Denkweise mit erstklassiger Umsetzung und setzt damit bemerkenswerte Maßstäbe im Bereich der Antikörper-Wirkstoff-Konjugate”, erklärte Xuejing Guo, Managing Director und Head of Healthcare bei Meituan Long-Z Investment. „Wir sind tief beeindruckt vom Potenzial ihrer Technologieplattform und freuen uns darauf, dem Team dabei zu unterstützen, diese originellen Innovationen weltweit umzusetzen und damit Patienten auf der ganzen Welt lebensverändernde Therapien anzubieten.”

Information zu AllinkBio

AllinkBio wurde im Jahr 2023 gegründet und ist ein Biotechnologieunternehmen im klinischen Stadium, das sich der Erforschung und Entwicklung differenzierter ADCs und multispezifischer Antikörper für die Onkologie und Immunologie widmet. Dank der Synergie aus innovativen Plattformfähigkeiten und außergewöhnlicher F&E-Effizienz hat das Unternehmen zwei ADC-Kandidaten rasch in globale klinische Phase-I-Studien gebracht. AllinkBio engagiert sich für die Weiterentwicklung von ADC und multispezifischen Antikörpern, um das Leben von Patienten in Not weltweit zu verbessern.

KONTAKT: [email protected]

• The company secured $47 million through extension rounds of Series A led by Legend Capital and Meituan Long-Z Investment with strong backing from both new investors and existing supporters
• Proceeds to advance two differentiated and highly competitive ADC programs in global Phase I trials
• The financing will support continued development of ADC and multi-specific antibody platforms aimed at addressing critical limitations of existing biologic therapeutics

SHANGHAI, Dec. 16, 2025 — Allink Biotherapeutics, Inc. (AllinkBio), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focusing on developing advanced antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and multi-specific antibody therapeutics for oncology and immunology, today announced successful completion of its extension rounds of Series A, raising 47 million US dollars. The extension rounds were led by existing supporter Legend Capital and new investor Meituan Long-Z Investment, followed by other prominent returning and new investors including Lanchi Ventures, Yuanbio Venture Capital, 5Y Capital, Lapam Capital, Runzhang Venture Capital, etc.

Advancing Global Clinical Development for Two Leading Assets

The Series A extension rounds will help advance global clinical development for the company’s two leading programs with distinct competitive advantages. ALK201, a potential first- and best-in-class FGFR2b-targeted ADC, has demonstrated encouraging efficacy signals across multiple tumor types with a favorable safety profile, supporting its development as a backbone therapy for FGFR2b-overexpressing solid tumors. In parallel, early clinical data for ALK202 have provided preliminary support of the EGFR/cMET bispecific ADC’s potential as a cornerstone therapy in non-small cell lung cancer. Furthermore, the program is being expanded into clinical evaluation of a broader range of biomarker-defined tumor types and patient populations.

AllinkBio has started developing both lead clinical assets through a biomarker-guided strategy designed to demonstrate efficacy in a broad spectrum of solid tumors. In the near term, the company plans to initiate combination therapy studies to further explore the two assets’ therapeutic potential in broader front-line patient populations. These initiatives will accelerate ALK201 and ALK202 toward pivotal trial readiness while establishing a differentiated profile in their respective target indications.

Augmenting Novel Technology Platform Capabilities

Expanding beyond its ADC technology, AllinkBio is establishing a proprietary masked T-cell engager (TCE) platform to evolve the application of TCEs for solid tumors. In the immunology space, the company is advancing a portfolio of first-in-class bi- and multi-specific antibody drug candidates. Anchored in rational biology design, these programs aim to deliver next-generation solutions for patient populations underserved by current standards of care.

“We sincerely appreciate the decisive and continued support from our investors within such a short timeframe,” said Hui Feng, Ph.D., Founder and Chief Executive Officer of AllinkBio. “With this support, we are moving forward with a clear clinical roadmap to accelerate our lead programs. Beyond the two leading programs, our discovery engine is fully activated, poised to deliver new wave of innovative drug candidates that will unlock further value in the foreseeable future .”

“Our continued support is rooted in our confidence in the AllinkBio team’s efficient execution and their robust development strategy,” said Tan Hong, Managing Director at Legend Capital. “The rapid clinical advancement of their two competitive lead assets is already serving as a strong validation of the company’s ADC platform and presenting significant value. We look forward to the near-term clinical readouts and seeing more innovative programs emerge from their discovery platforms.”

“The AllinkBio team pairs an international mindset with best-in-class execution, setting a remarkable pace in the ADC space,” said Xuejing Guo, Managing Director and Head of Healthcare at Meituan Long-Z Investment. “We are deeply impressed by the potential of their technology platform and are excited to help the team translate these original innovations into global impact, ultimately delivering life-changing therapies to patients worldwide.”

About AllinkBio

Founded in 2023, AllinkBio is a clinical-stage biotechnology company dedicated to the discovery and development of differentiated ADCs and multi-specific antibodies for oncology and immunology. Leveraging a synergy of innovative platform capabilities and exceptional R&D efficiency, the company has rapidly advanced two ADC candidates into global Phase I clinical trials. AllinkBio is committed to advancing ADC and multi-specific antibody innovation to transform lives for patients in need worldwide.

CONTACT: [email protected]

• L’entreprise a obtenu 47 millions de dollars grâce à l’extension de la série A menée par Legend Capital et Meituan Long-Z Investment, avec un fort soutien de la part de nouveaux investisseurs et de soutiens existants.
• Des produits destinés à l’avancement de deux programmes de conjugués anticorps-médicaments (ADC) différenciés et hautement compétitifs dans le cadre d’essais de phase I à l’échelle mondiale
• Le financement permettra de poursuivre le développement de plateformes ADC et d’anticorps multispécifiques afin de remédier aux limites critiques des thérapies biologiques existantes.

SHANGHAI, 16 décembre 2025 — Allink Biotherapeutics, Inc. (AllinkBio), une société de biotechnologie en phase clinique qui se concentre sur le développement de conjugués anticorps-médicaments (ADC) avancés et de thérapies à base d’anticorps multispécifiques pour l’oncologie et l’immunologie, a annoncé aujourd’hui la conclusion réussi de ses tours de table supplémentaires de la série A pour lever 47 millions de dollars US. Ces tours supplémentaires ont été dirigés par Legend Capital, qui soutient déjà l’entreprise, et par le nouvel investisseur Meituan Long-Z Investment, suivis par d’autres investisseurs importants, anciens et nouveaux, tels que Lanchi Ventures, Yuanbio Venture Capital, 5Y Capital, Lapam Capital, Runzhang Venture Capital, etc.

Avancement du développement clinique mondial de deux produits de premier plan

Les tours supplémentaires de la série A contribueront à faire progresser le développement clinique mondial des deux programmes phares de la société, qui présentent des avantages concurrentiels distincts. ALK201, un ADC ciblant le FGFR2b susceptible d’être le premier et le meilleur de sa catégorie, a démontré des signes d’efficacité encourageants dans plusieurs types de tumeurs avec un profil d’innocuité favorable, ce qui soutient son développement en tant que traitement de base pour les tumeurs solides surexprimant le FGFR2b. Parallèlement, les premières données cliniques concernant ALK202 ont apporté un soutien préliminaire au potentiel de l’ADC bispécifique EGFR/cMET en tant que traitement de base dans le cancer du poumon non à petites cellules. En outre, le programme est étendu à l’évaluation clinique d’un éventail plus large de types de tumeurs et de populations de patients définis par des biomarqueurs.

AllinkBio a commencé à développer les deux produits cliniques principaux par le biais d’une stratégie guidée par les biomarqueurs, conçue pour démontrer l’efficacité dans un large spectre de tumeurs solides. À court terme, la société prévoit de lancer des études de bithérapie afin d’explorer plus avant le potentiel thérapeutique des deux produits dans des populations de patients de première ligne plus larges. Ces initiatives permettront d’accélérer la préparation des essais pivots pour ALK201 et ALK202 tout en établissant un profil différencié dans leurs indications cibles respectives.

Augmenter les capacités des plates-formes de nouvelles technologies

Au-delà de sa technologie ADC, AllinkBio met en place une plateforme propriétaire d’engagement de cellules T masquées (TCE) afin de développer l’application des TCE pour les tumeurs solides. En matière d’immunologie, la société développe un portefeuille de médicaments candidats anticorps bi- et multispécifiques de premier ordre. Ancrés dans une conception biologique rationnelle, ces programmes ont pour objectif de fournir des solutions de nouvelle génération aux populations de patients mal desservies par les normes de soins actuelles.

« Nous apprécions sincèrement le soutien décisif et continu de nos investisseurs dans un délai aussi court », a déclaré Hui Feng, Ph.D., fondateur et directeur général d’AllinkBio. « Grâce à ce soutien, nous avançons avec une feuille de route clinique claire pour accélérer nos principaux programmes. Au-delà des deux programmes phares, notre moteur de découverte est pleinement activé, prêt à fournir une nouvelle vague de médicaments candidats innovants qui génèreront de la valeur supplémentaire dans un avenir prévisible. »

« Notre soutien continu se justifie par notre confiance dans l’efficacité de l’équipe d’AllinkBio et dans sa solide stratégie de développement », a déclaré Tan Hong, directeur général de Legend Capital. « L’avancement clinique rapide de ses deux principaux produits compétitifs constitue déjà une validation solide de la plateforme ADC de la société et présente une valeur significative. Nous attendons avec impatience les résultats cliniques à court terme et nous nous réjouissons de voir d’autres programmes innovants émerger de ses plates-formes de découverte. »

« L’équipe d’AllinkBio associe un état d’esprit international à une exécution de premier ordre, établissant un rythme remarquable dans le domaine des ADC », a déclaré Xuejing Guo, directeur général et responsable des soins de santé chez Meituan Long-Z Investment. « Nous sommes profondément impressionnés par le potentiel de sa plateforme technologique et nous sommes ravis d’aider l’équipe à traduire ces innovations originales en un impact mondial, afin de proposer des traitements qui changeront la vie des patients dans le monde entier. »

À propos d’AllinkBio

Fondée en 2023, AllinkBio est une société de biotechnologie au stade clinique qui se consacre à la découverte et au développement d’ADC différenciés et d’anticorps multispécifiques pour l’oncologie et l’immunologie. En s’appuyant sur une synergie de capacités de plates-formes innovantes et une efficacité exceptionnelle en matière de recherche et développement, l’entreprise a rapidement fait progresser deux candidats ADC vers des essais cliniques mondiaux de phase I. AllinkBio s’engage à faire progresser l’innovation en matière d’ADC et d’anticorps multi-spécifiques afin de transformer la vie des patients dans le monde entier.

CONTACT : [email protected]

SEOUL, South Korea, Dec. 16, 2025 — The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) and the Korea Startup Forum (KSF) announced that COMEUP 2025, Korea’s flagship global startup festival, successfully concluded after a three-day run from December 10 to 12 at COEX in Seoul.

Now in its seventh year, COMEUP 2025 was hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, overseen by the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development (KISED), and co-organized by the Korea Startup Forum, the Korea Venture Business Association, and the Korea Venture Capital Association. Held under the slogan “Recode the Future,” this year’s event highlighted how startups are redefining the future of industries through technological innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. Centered on the three core themes of Deep Tech, Global, and Entrepreneurship, COMEUP 2025 featured a wide range of programs including exhibitions, conferences, IR pitching sessions, and open innovation initiatives, further strengthening collaboration and exchange across the global startup ecosystem.

COMEUP 2025 welcomed participants from 46 countries, marking its largest global presence to date. The event brought together a diverse group of startup founders, investors, large enterprises, and government officials from Korea and abroad, creating a highly dynamic environment for exchange and collaboration. In particular, a total of 3,447 investment and business matchmaking meetings were successfully completed through a combination of online matchmaking platforms, pre-arranged 1:1 meetings, and on-site investor booth consultations, earning strong recognition as a practical platform for expanding global business opportunities.

COMEUP 2025 introduced meaningful upgrades across its overall program structure compared to previous years. Conference sessions were reorganized around clearly defined daily themes aligned with the three core pillars of deep tech, global expansion, and entrepreneurship. In line with the festival’s slogan, stages and sessions were designed with a future-oriented approach, significantly enhancing audience engagement.

Another notable change was the first-ever joint organization by the Korea Startup Forum, the Korea Venture Business Association, and the Korea Venture Capital Association, which strengthened collaboration across the private startup ecosystem. This shift led to a stronger focus on inviting global VCs, CVCs, and accelerators, expanding opportunities for concrete investment discussions and strategic partnerships. Pre-arranged and open 1:1 meetings, investor booths, and sessions linked to venture investment briefings played a key role in helping startups secure tangible business opportunities.

Expanded side events also drew strong interest. Programs such as Startup Autobahn Korea 2025, Challenge! K-Startup Grand Finale, TIPS Scale-up Bridge, and a senior venture roundtable enriched the overall program and encouraged broader participation from companies and institutions. Programs designed for the general public were also strengthened, including the COMEUP Docent Tour, a B2C-focused COMEUP Flea Market, and pitch sessions by university startup teams, further broadening public engagement.

One of the most significant achievements of COMEUP 2025 was the expansion of international participation. A total of seven countries, including Saudi Arabia, India, Japan, and Canada, operated national pavilions to showcase their startup ecosystems and technologies. Australia and Sierra Leone joined the festival for the first time, further expanding COMEUP’s global network. Startup ecosystem stakeholders from across continents actively took part in IR pitching, conferences, networking sessions, and exhibitions, significantly increasing the density of global exchange.

Beyond technology trends and global collaboration, COMEUP 2025 placed a strong emphasis on spreading entrepreneurial values across society and industry. Newly introduced this year, the “Future Founder” program spotlighted the next generation of entrepreneurs and aspiring founders. Through student startup presentations, mentoring sessions, and talks by Gen Z founders, the program underscored the importance of nurturing entrepreneurial talent as a foundation for future national competitiveness.

Additional sessions focused on social value creation also garnered attention. These included discussions on climate-tech solutions addressing the climate crisis, trend analysis sessions led by Gen Z entrepreneurs, and talks exploring the life of founders from a family perspective. Major startup competitions such as the COMEUP Stars 2025 Final Pitch, the Challenge! K-Startup 2025 Grand Finale jointly hosted by 10 government ministries, and the K-Startup Grand Challenge (KSGC) Demo Day for foreign startups further highlighted the full spectrum of the startup ecosystem—from early-stage founders to globally scaling ventures.

COMEUP 2025 will be available for on-demand viewing through the festival’s official YouTube channel. 

SOURCE KOREA STARTUP FORUM

SEOUL, South Korea, Dec. 16, 2025 — The Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS) and the Korea Startup Forum (KSF) announced that COMEUP 2025, Korea’s flagship global startup festival, successfully concluded after a three-day run from December 10 to 12 at COEX in Seoul.

Now in its seventh year, COMEUP 2025 was hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, overseen by the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development (KISED), and co-organized by the Korea Startup Forum, the Korea Venture Business Association, and the Korea Venture Capital Association. Held under the slogan “Recode the Future,” this year’s event highlighted how startups are redefining the future of industries through technological innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. Centered on the three core themes of Deep Tech, Global, and Entrepreneurship, COMEUP 2025 featured a wide range of programs including exhibitions, conferences, IR pitching sessions, and open innovation initiatives, further strengthening collaboration and exchange across the global startup ecosystem.

COMEUP 2025 welcomed participants from 46 countries, marking its largest global presence to date. The event brought together a diverse group of startup founders, investors, large enterprises, and government officials from Korea and abroad, creating a highly dynamic environment for exchange and collaboration. In particular, a total of 3,447 investment and business matchmaking meetings were successfully completed through a combination of online matchmaking platforms, pre-arranged 1:1 meetings, and on-site investor booth consultations, earning strong recognition as a practical platform for expanding global business opportunities.

COMEUP 2025 introduced meaningful upgrades across its overall program structure compared to previous years. Conference sessions were reorganized around clearly defined daily themes aligned with the three core pillars of deep tech, global expansion, and entrepreneurship. In line with the festival’s slogan, stages and sessions were designed with a future-oriented approach, significantly enhancing audience engagement.

Another notable change was the first-ever joint organization by the Korea Startup Forum, the Korea Venture Business Association, and the Korea Venture Capital Association, which strengthened collaboration across the private startup ecosystem. This shift led to a stronger focus on inviting global VCs, CVCs, and accelerators, expanding opportunities for concrete investment discussions and strategic partnerships. Pre-arranged and open 1:1 meetings, investor booths, and sessions linked to venture investment briefings played a key role in helping startups secure tangible business opportunities.

Expanded side events also drew strong interest. Programs such as Startup Autobahn Korea 2025, Challenge! K-Startup Grand Finale, TIPS Scale-up Bridge, and a senior venture roundtable enriched the overall program and encouraged broader participation from companies and institutions. Programs designed for the general public were also strengthened, including the COMEUP Docent Tour, a B2C-focused COMEUP Flea Market, and pitch sessions by university startup teams, further broadening public engagement.

One of the most significant achievements of COMEUP 2025 was the expansion of international participation. A total of seven countries, including Saudi Arabia, India, Japan, and Canada, operated national pavilions to showcase their startup ecosystems and technologies. Australia and Sierra Leone joined the festival for the first time, further expanding COMEUP’s global network. Startup ecosystem stakeholders from across continents actively took part in IR pitching, conferences, networking sessions, and exhibitions, significantly increasing the density of global exchange.

Beyond technology trends and global collaboration, COMEUP 2025 placed a strong emphasis on spreading entrepreneurial values across society and industry. Newly introduced this year, the “Future Founder” program spotlighted the next generation of entrepreneurs and aspiring founders. Through student startup presentations, mentoring sessions, and talks by Gen Z founders, the program underscored the importance of nurturing entrepreneurial talent as a foundation for future national competitiveness.

Additional sessions focused on social value creation also garnered attention. These included discussions on climate-tech solutions addressing the climate crisis, trend analysis sessions led by Gen Z entrepreneurs, and talks exploring the life of founders from a family perspective. Major startup competitions such as the COMEUP Stars 2025 Final Pitch, the Challenge! K-Startup 2025 Grand Finale jointly hosted by 10 government ministries, and the K-Startup Grand Challenge (KSGC) Demo Day for foreign startups further highlighted the full spectrum of the startup ecosystem—from early-stage founders to globally scaling ventures.

COMEUP 2025 will be available for on-demand viewing through the festival’s official YouTube channel. 

SOURCE KOREA STARTUP FORUM

MELBOURNE, Australia, Dec. 15, 2025 — MEQ Solutions has secured A$23 million (US $15 million) in Series A funding from global software investor Insight Partners to accelerate the rollout of its solutions and scale its mission to become the global authority in objective measurement of red-meat quality and yield. The funding will strengthen MEQ Solutions’ operations, expand its team and deepen collaboration with partners in Australia, New Zealand, Brazil and the United States – unlocking value, consistency and trust from paddock to plate.

The global red-meat market is worth more than US $1 trillion annually, feeding billions of people and supporting economies from Australia to the United States. Yet it remains one of the few global supply chains still dependent on subjective grading and manual inspection.

In an industry long defined by intuition and approximation, MEQ Solutions is creating an entirely new category of measurement and verification for red meat. Its suite of technologies, including MEQ Probe, MEQ Camera, MEQ Live, and MEQ Insights, utilises advanced AI models and proprietary imaging to provide real-time data on quality, yield, and eating attributes, spanning from live animals to finished products.

MEQ Camera recently became the first video-based technology certified by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for beef grading, a world-first milestone that cements MEQ Solutions’ role as a global benchmark for objective measurement.

This innovation positions MEQ Solutions at the forefront of Australia’s emerging AI-commercialisation story. The company exemplifies how Australian-built technology can lead globally in transforming complex, legacy industries through applied artificial intelligence.

Beyond efficiency, MEQ Solutions is creating new commercial models that can transform how value is recognised and shared. Processors can deliver verified brand-premium products, optimise yield and reduce waste. Producers receive clear, objective feedback that supports more accurate payments based on demonstrated quality rather than estimated risk. Brands can enhance consumer trust with verified quality and provenance insights, and use this data to link consumer needs with supply-chain decisions. MEQ Insights, the company’s data platform, powers this ecosystem by converting objective measurement into meaningful commercial intelligence.

“As we build deeper relationships, more opportunities are emerging to collaborate and unlock new value across supply chains,” said Remo Carbone, Founder and CEO of MEQ Solutions.

“Insight’s investment will enable us to further support our partners and grow our teams to capture the opportunity in front of us, with a particular focus on operational excellence. We’re installing truth infrastructure for the red-meat industry, creating value, consistency and trust across the chain.”

“MEQ Solutions is well-positioned to be a category-defining company transforming how value is measured and shared in one of the world’s largest industries,” said Connor Guess, Vice President at Insight Partners. “Its combination of hardware, software and AI-driven analytics represents the next frontier for transparency, traceability and performance in food production. We’re excited to back Remo and team in this next chapter of growth.”

MEQ Solutions is commercially deployed across three continents and is now scaling rapidly.

About MEQ Solutions

MEQ Solutions is the only company in the world that objectively evaluates red meat quality and yield. This unique position makes us the global authority in understanding how meat performs, and how value is created, from live animal to carcase to consumer.

We combine world-leading science with an integrated suite of technologies that deliver real-time, objective data at every point of the supply chain. Processors, producers, feedlots and brand programs use MEQ to optimise carcase outcomes, improve eating quality, reduce variability and build trust with consumers.

With commercial operations across Australia, New Zealand and North America, MEQ is setting a new global standard. We’re moving the sector from subjective grading to objective measurement, unlocking consistency, profitability and transparency for the people who feed the world.

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 June 30, 2025, the firm has over $90B in regulatory assets under management. Insight Partners has invested in more than 875 companies worldwide and has seen over 55 portfolio companies achieve an IPO. Headquartered in New York City, Insight has a global presence with leadership 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.

SOURCE MEQ Solutions

NEW YORK, Dec. 15, 2025 — Axion, the pioneering AI platform for manufacturing product quality, today announced a $37 million Series B funding round led by Salesforce Ventures with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Schneider Electric Ventures, and other existing investors. Axion’s platform, combining domain-specialized AI algorithms with human-in-the-loop problem solving workflows, serves as the operating layer underpinning America’s manufacturing revival.

Fortune 500 manufacturers face growing pressure to release sophisticated, innovative products while maintaining exceptional quality standards. Companies across industries – including data centers, automotive, aerospace, medtech, and consumer electronics – rely on Axion to make this possible.

Teams use Axion’s proprietary intelligence platform to ensure superior product quality by detecting the earliest warning signals of emerging issues that could impact their customers. By addressing problems swiftly, manufacturers improve uptime, enhance customer experience, and significantly reduce warranty costs. Importantly, Axion shifts quality from reactive to proactive, closing customer feedback loops and unifying data sets to enable manufacturers to ideate and develop the next generation of products, driving innovation across their entire product suite.

“Axion gives manufacturers the power to detect and solve customer issues faster than ever before,” said Daniel First, CEO and founder of Axion. “With new investments from Salesforce Ventures and Schneider Electric Ventures, we’re building the foundation for manufacturers to bring innovative products to market that customers love.”

Driving Product Excellence and Improved Customer Experience
Axion’s human-in-the-loop AI platform helps manufacturers detect customer issues earlier, fix them faster, and build products the world loves. It delivers concrete results in weeks and removes costly efforts to establish root causes of issues, which can take months and severely impact customer trust. This transforms how manufacturers ensure product quality by:

• Improving product uptime and reliability for end customers
• Reducing warranty costs by millions, through proactive issue detection and resolution
• Accelerating root cause analysis by 85% on average

“Axion’s quality intelligence creates a powerful feedback loop that connects product performance directly to customer satisfaction, empowering teams to build better products, improve customer experiences, and drive meaningful business outcomes,” said Paul Drews, Managing Partner at Salesforce Ventures. “We’re excited to support Axion as they help manufacturers turn quality into a strategic advantage.”

A Unified Approach to Solving Customer Issues
Salesforce Ventures’ investment in Axion will serve as a network multiplier, immediately opening new possibilities for manufacturers to unify their customer problem-solving operations through the Salesforce ecosystem and beyond. Many of Axion’s Fortune 500 customers already rely on Salesforce Data Cloud and Salesforce Service Cloud, creating natural integration opportunities that connect customer outcomes to product enhancements.

“The synergy between Axion, Salesforce Ventures, and the Salesforce ecosystem is transformative for our mutual customers,” added First. “Manufacturers can now have a more holistic, integrated approach to solving customer problems. This unified approach helps companies like Cummins and SharkNinja not only build better products, but also deliver exceptional customer experiences when issues do arise.”

Supporting Innovation
“The best manufacturers compete on product quality and customer experience,” said James Ezhaya, VP Power Products Quality & Sustainability at Schneider Electric. “Axion gives quality teams the insights they need to ensure every product meets the highest standards, increasing uptime and reducing warranty costs.”

“In medical devices, product quality directly impacts patient outcomes and lives,” said Kiran Kuppuswamy, Vice President of Quality at Medtronic. “Axion can identify potential quality issues with unprecedented speed and accuracy, helping us maintain the rigorous standards required while accelerating our time to market.”

Accelerating the Future of Customer-Centric Engineering
The funding will enable Axion to expand its AI capabilities, accelerate product development, and support more manufacturers in their pursuit of delivering high-quality, reliable products.

“We’re giving manufacturers the clarity and confidence to build world-class products,” added First. “By helping companies like Medtronic and Daikin understand their customers’ top issues, their teams can bring to market the next generation of products that customers love.”

For more information, please see our announcement blog.

About Axion
Founded in 2021, Axion is the first AI-powered customer quality intelligence platform that integrates human expertise into every workflow. Axion helps manufacturers build high-quality products by detecting, investigating, and resolving issues before they impact customers. Trusted by leading global manufacturers, Axion delivers measurable ROI through improved product uptime, enhanced customer experience, and reduced warranty costs. For more information, visit www.axion.com.

Media contact
[email protected]

SOURCE Axion Ray

Round Participation Led by Key Industry Experts and Regional Players

Funding to Drive AI Expansion Effort and Further Regional Coverage

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Dec. 15, 2025 — Skyblue Analytics (“SBA”), a fintech infrastructure company modernizing the way brokers, banks, and financial institutions build investment platforms, today announced a strategic funding round led by key partners including Merchant Seven (“M7”), A3 Mercados, Matba Rofex, PrimaryX and Draper Angels LATAM. The funding will accelerate Skyblue’s mission to enable any financial institution to become a fintech in weeks, not years.

“These partnerships go far beyond capital,” explained Sebastian Musso, Founder and CEO of Skyblue Analytics. “They represent a collective belief that LATAM can leapfrog a decade of slow progress and that Skyblue Analytics is the infrastructure partner to make this seismic change happen.”

While the U.S. fintech market has rapidly evolved, the LATAM financial sector remains close to a decade behind in infrastructure modernization. SBA’s front-end solutions and infrastructure teams bridge that gap by allowing regional and global financial institutions to integrate multi-market trading, analytics, and portfolio tools in record time.

“Modernization of client portals, applications, and trading toolkits should be something teams enjoy upgrading, not a painful process that can take months or years and millions of dollars in investment,” added Musso. “We are changing that today.”

This year, the company has gone beyond LATAM with the expansion into Europe and the US, adding high performance trading apps, and prop trading groups to their technology portfolio. In Argentina, Skyblue achieved a major milestone by co-developing a next-generation investment platform with A3 Mercados subsidiary (Primary), which now powers over 75+ retail brokers in the country.

“It’s time for LATAM to modernize their financial technology stack,” said Pierce Crosby, Founder and Managing Partner at Merchant Seven. “Together with Skyblue, we are pushing to develop the next-gen platforms and enabling LATAM investors to access all of the U.S. equity market through a single integration.”

Skyblue has created an ecosystem of three core technologies designed for speed, scalability, and intelligence for all of its customers:

1. Multi-market integration: Seamless connectivity across U.S. and Latin American exchanges and brokers.
2. White-label platforms: Fully customizable web, mobile, and desktop experiences deployable within weeks, with similarly world-class backend infrastructure.
3. AI-enabled investment platforms: The first B2B solutions in the region that integrate conversational AI, capable of answering complex questions such as, “Which assets contributed most to my portfolio this week?” or alerting users to events like upcoming earnings.

In addition to these core components, Skyblue is also developing proprietary AI trading agents which allow clients to trade directly through natural language and voice prompts. Such a new model has yet to be seen in LATAM, and will move customer adoption much faster than previous desktop platforms. Customers can quickly chat with their AI agent to place trades, check portfolios, and more.

About Skyblue Analytics

Skyblue Analytics (www.skyblueanalytics.com) builds the technology backbone for modern financial institutions in LATAM. Through plug-and-play integrations, white-label platforms, and AI-powered investment tools, Skyblue Analytics empowers brokers, banks, and fintechs to deliver world-class user experiences faster than ever before. Founded in Uruguay and Argentina, Skyblue is redefining the future of digital finance in LATAM — one integration at a time.

Media Contact:
Press Office – Skyblue Analytics
[email protected]
www.skyblueanalytics.com

SOURCE Merchant Seven

Equity Financing to Drive Continued Growth, Innovation, and Market Expansion

NEW YORK, Dec. 15, 2025 — Octane^® (Octane Lending, Inc.^®), the fintech revolutionizing the buying experience, announced it has closed its Series F funding round of $100 million in equity capital. The raise includes new equity capital to be used for growth initiatives as well as amounts to be used for secondary share transfers.

The capital builds on Octane’s strong originations growth and enables the Company to further accelerate market penetration and deepen its product offering, positioning the Company even more favorably for long-term success. The Series F raise attracted a mix of returning and new investors; Valar Ventures led the round with participation from Upper90, Huntington Bank, Camping World and Good Sam, Holler-Classic, and others. Prior to the Series F, Octane had raised $242 million in total equity funding since inception, including its Series E, which closed in 2024.

“Building on our strong foundation, this capital allows us to move more quickly on key initiatives that will further differentiate us in existing markets and speed up our entrance into new ones,” said Jason Guss, CEO and Co-Founder of Octane. “We’re grateful to our existing investors for their continued support and belief in our vision, as well as to new investors for their partnership. We look forward to strengthening these relationships as we expand our offerings and unlock the full potential of financial products for merchants and consumers.”

“One of the investing lessons of the past two decades is that the best tech companies can compound for far longer than expected,” said James Fitzgerald, Founding Partner of Valar Ventures. “Octane’s unique offering supports dealers and OEMs with software and financing solutions unavailable elsewhere. We expect Octane to continue to take market share — both in its existing markets and in those it’s only begun to enter — for a very long time. We are excited to continue backing this team and to partner with them for another decade, or longer.”

“It’s been impressive to watch Octane’s execution in becoming a clear leader in the powersports market,” said Billy Libby, Managing Partner at Upper90. “Now the company is scaling its proprietary underwriting engine and end-to-end technology platform as it expands into new markets and helps dealers grow their profits and deliver better financing experiences to consumers. Few public or private companies are growing as rapidly — and profitably — as Octane, and we’re excited to be part of their continued growth.”

Thus far in 2025, Octane has launched a myriad of new products and technology enhancements, including groundbreaking updates for both merchants and consumers. Notably, Octane strengthened its industry-leading financing portal to provide even faster, easier customer acquisition and closing processes for merchants, helping them reach more buyers and increase profitability. At the same time, customers can access simplified payment options, expedited question resolution, and increased flexibility within the Customer Portal.

Since its founding in 2014, Octane has originated over $7 billion in loans through its in-house lender Roadrunner Financial^®, Inc., issued more than $4.7 billion in asset-backed securities, and has sold or committed to sell $3.3 billion of secured consumer loans since December 2023. The Company grew originations by more than 30% from Q3 2024 to Q3 2025 and is GAAP net income profitable. Octane works with 60 original equipment manufacturer (OEM) partner brands and serves markets worth a combined $150 billion with its innovative technology solutions and fast, easy financing experience.

About Octane:
Octane^® is revolutionizing recreational purchases by delivering a seamless, end-to-end digital buying experience. The Company unlocks the power of financial products for merchants and consumers in multiple industries, including powersports vehicles, RVs, boats, personal watercraft, and outdoor power equipment.

Octane adds value throughout the customer journey: inspiring enthusiasts with the Octane Media™ editorial brands, including Cycle World^® and UTV Driver^®, instantly prequalifying consumers for financing online, routing customers to dealerships for an easy closing, and supporting customers throughout their loan with superior loan servicing.

Founded in 2014, Octane supports over 60 OEM partner brands and over 4,000 dealer partners, and has a team of 600 in remote and hybrid roles. Visit www.octane.co.

Octane^® and Roadrunner Financial® are registered service marks of Octane Lending, Inc. Cycle World^® and UTV Driver^® are registered trademarks of Octane Media, LLC.

Octane Media Relations: Shannon O’Hara
[email protected]

Octane Investor Relations:
[email protected] 

SOURCE Octane