SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 15, 2026 — Pinch, the AI-powered post-purchase intelligence platform that helps retailers reward loyal customers and prevent return fraud, announced a $5 million total seed round. The seed round was co-led by Dynamo Ventures and Infinity Ventures with additional participation from Defined Capital and PayPal Ventures.

Built by fraud and risk leaders from PayPal, Google, and Simility, Pinch was born out of a simple realization: retail was fighting modern return abuse with blunt, static policies that hadn’t evolved. After two decades of building fraud and risk systems that protected billions in global payments, Arthi Rajan Makhija, Co-Founder and CEO, saw the same pattern emerging in e-commerce returns. Together with Co-Founders Chirag Vaya (CPO) and Jayan Tharayil (COO), she assembled a team of former PayPal, Google, and Simility leaders to launch Pinch AI, the industry’s first post-purchase risk operating system. The autonomous, AI-driven platform evaluates customer intent, detects emerging abuse patterns, and dynamically orchestrates return and refund decisions across checkout, return initiation, and warehouse operations, giving retailers the intelligence to protect margins without punishing loyal customers

Average e-commerce return rates hover around 25%, with apparel and luxury often seeing even higher rates, creating a major drag on margins and growth. Pinch delivers two clear outcomes for retailers:

• ~8% reduction in return rate, by identifying and proactively denying only abusive returns or applying graduated interventions to high-risk behavior.
• ~20% increase in VIP retention, by dynamically improving the return experience for a brand’s most loyal customers – protecting trust while driving repeat purchases.

The result is fewer bad returns, stronger customer relationships, and a measurable improvement to both margins and lifetime value. Pinch enables retailers to turn returns from a cost center into a growth lever.

“Traditional return systems rely on blunt policies, manual investigations, and guesswork that treat every shopper the same by rewarding bad actors and frustrating loyal customers,” said Arthi Rajan Makhija, CEO & Co Founder.  “Abusive behaviors like wardrobing, empty-boxing, counterfeit swaps, and FTID fraud are surging, yet most retailers have no unified view of post-purchase risk. We built Pinch to give retailers an intelligent operating system that continuously learns, adapts, and intervenes in real time. Our platform identifies the abusive 1% without penalizing the loyal 99%, allowing brands to boost margins while actually improving the customer experience.”

Pinch’s technology is already delivering a measurable impact for enterprise retailers. A North American premium apparel brand using Pinch reduced overall returns by 8%, driving a 10% lift in contribution margin by proactively identifying and intervening on abusive behaviors such as wardrobing, empty boxing, and SKU swapping. Pinch also automated 80% of return reviews end-to-end, freeing up valuable operational capacity while enabling instant refunds and elevated return experiences for trusted VIP customers, resulting in a 20% increase in VIP retention.

“While many fraud vendors try to force-fit return and policy abuse into platforms built for other use cases, Pinch built its solution from the ground up for this specific problem, and it shows,” says Rohit Nathany, Chief Product & Technology Officer, Mejuri. Their native Shopify integration meant we could move fast, but what really differentiated them was their customer-first approach, giving us the flexibility to block fraudulent activities while actually enhancing the experience for our most loyal customers. That combination of focused expertise, purpose-built technology, and true partnership is rare to find.”

“From the beginning, it was clear this team had the domain expertise and technical depth to solve a problem retailers have struggled with for years,” said Jon Bradford, Managing Partner at Dynamo Ventures. “They’ve lived inside the fraud infrastructure of major global platforms and understand how fragmented post-purchase data creates blind spots that erode margins. Pinch is a full-stack intelligence layer that unifies signals for cross-checkout, returns, and warehouse operations. The early traction with enterprise retailers has been extraordinary, and what the team has built in such a short time is exceptionally impressive.”

“Having worked alongside Arthi, Jayan, and Chirag since our PayPal days, I can say firsthand that you couldn’t assemble a better team to solve this problem for merchants,” says Jay Ganatra, Managing Partner, Infinity Ventures. Their rare combination of risk and fraud expertise and customer-first thinking is what sets Pinch apart and why we believe it’s the best product in the market.”

With the new funding, Pinch will accelerate product development across its abuse prediction models, warehouse intelligence systems, and adaptive return engine; expand its go-to-market efforts; and expand its integration ecosystem across the full retail technology stack, including order management systems (OMS), return management systems (RMS), warehouse management systems (WMS), and customer experience (CX) platforms.

About Pinch AI
Pinch is an AI-powered post-purchase intelligence platform redefining how retailers control returns, refunds, and customer trust. Built by industry veterans who previously built PayPal’s trust and safety ecosystem ground up, Pinch delivers real-time buyer intent scoring, automated policy enforcement, and warehouse intelligence that helps merchants protect margins while elevating the customer experience. To learn more, visit pinch.ai.

SOURCE Pinch AI Corp.

Payments data analytics company launches first product as VAMP enforcement drives demand for real-time visibility

SALT LAKE CITY, Jan. 15, 2026 — RouteSense, a data analytics company delivering predictive intelligence for the payments industry, announced its official launch alongside a ~$2 million pre-seed round led by Redbud VC with participation from FOVC, Cultivation Capital, Service Provider Capital, and the University of Missouri AACE Fund.

“As network oversight becomes more stringent, the industry needs better intelligence, not more guesswork,” said Stephen Martin, CEO of RouteSense. “Our mission is to help teams understand MID health at a glance so they can act proactively and responsibly.”

By providing a unified intelligence layer that consolidates fragmented payment data across the transaction lifecycle, RouteSense gives merchants, processors, and acquirers the near-real-time visibility they need to make faster, more informed decisions. The company launches with Pathfinder, a MID health analytics and transaction routing platform designed for merchants operating multiple approved merchant accounts.

Pathfinder evaluates MID performance continuously using network-defined health indicators and approval trends, allowing transactions to be directed toward MIDs with available capacity based on current conditions. Rather than relying on static rules or delayed reporting like most orchestration platforms, Pathfinder enables dynamic, data-driven allocation aligned with existing card network frameworks.

Persistent MID health visibility has become increasingly critical following Visa’s enforcement of the Visa Acquiring Monitoring Program, the most significant update to card-not-present acquiring oversight in more than two decades. Under VAMP, performance thresholds are assessed on a monthly basis, making early visibility and intervention essential for maintaining compliant portfolios.

“Regulation, fraud behavior, and dispute dynamics have all evolved,” said Colin Martin, COO of RouteSense. “With VAMP now actively enforced, compliance depends on timely, accurate insight. Pathfinder gives merchants with multiple MIDs the clarity they need to manage portfolio health while maintaining strong authorization performance.”

Legacy systems often surface issues weeks after the underlying activity has occurred. Pathfinder provides near real-time insight, allowing teams to identify deteriorating trends earlier and take corrective action before issues escalate into fines, holds, or forced account actions.

“In payments, the difference between reactive and predictive analytics is material,” said Robert Matthews, CTO of RouteSense. “Reactive reporting explains what happened after the fact. Predictive intelligence helps teams make better decisions in real time.”

Pathfinder is powered by RouteSense’s data platform. At launch, it delivers real-time MID health analytics and intelligent transaction routing. RouteSense’s broader vision is to become the operating intelligence layer for acquirers globally, providing continuous portfolio visibility, predictive risk signals, and lifecycle MID health management through a modern, data-driven infrastructure.

RouteSense was founded by a leadership team with more than 75 years of combined experience across acquiring, PayFac infrastructure, dispute technology, and real-time analytics. Co-founders Stephen Martin, Robert Matthews, and Colin Martin bring deep industry roots, including family involvement in the founding of the Electronic Transactions Association and the early commercialization of electronic payment terminals. CTO Robert Matthews previously led engineering at Midigator, a chargeback and dispute management platform acquired by Equifax, where he later oversaw global disputes engineering.

RouteSense is currently onboarding select merchants, acquirers, payment service providers, and processors.

About RouteSense

RouteSense is a data analytics company purpose-built for the payments industry. Using predictive analysis and real-time intelligence, RouteSense helps merchants, acquirers, and processors make better business decisions by transforming fragmented payment data into actionable insight. The company’s first product, Pathfinder, delivers real-time MID health analytics and intelligent transaction distribution for merchants operating multiple MIDs, with a platform designed to expand across the full payment lifecycle. Learn more at routesense.ai.

Media Contact:
Colin Martin
682-259-9497
[email protected]

SOURCE RouteSense

HONOLULU, Jan. 15, 2026 — Olelo Intelligence, the AI sales coaching platform built for high-volume automotive repair shops, today announced the completion of a $1 million angel round. The platform analyzes service advisor calls in real time, identifying missed sales opportunities and coaching managers on how to grow revenue, helping shops convert more calls into booked appointments without adding headcount.

The round was led by Hawaiʻi Angels, which contributed $500,000 to the financing. Clif Purkiser shepherded the deal for the investor group.

“What stood out to us about Olelo was the execution,” said Purkiser. “The company showed strong customer adoption, early revenue, and clear momentum. Furthermore, this is a huge market. The US auto repair sector is 190B and growing and managing increasing complexity.”

Since closing the round in fall 2025, Olelo has scaled to more than 100 live shop locations across 62 franchisees, including a national partnership with AAMCO Transmissions & Total Car Care, the world’s largest transmission repair franchise. Customers have adopted both daytime call coaching and after-hours AI phone agents that capture opportunities when staff are unavailable.

“Within about two months, we saw roughly a 15% increase in revenue per store—about $20,000 a month per location,” said a multi-location automotive franchise operator. “Olelo gave our managers visibility into missed calls and the ability to recover deals quickly. This was something we couldn’t do with any generic solution out there to date.”

“Service advisors are the heartbeat of every shop, but they’re juggling a hundred things and have no way to know what’s working on the phone,” said Miki Hardisty, CEO and Co-Founder of Olelo Intelligence. “The best advisors want to get better—we show them exactly where the money is slipping away and how to get it back. Completing our angel round in fall 2025 allowed us to deepen the product and scale what was already measurable results quickly. This industry is built on trust. We are focused on helping them solve their enablement challenges. But we won’t stop there. It is a big market we can expand into.”

Olelo’s trajectory reflects the strength of Hawaiʻi’s startup ecosystem. After participating in the Blue Startups Accelerator, the company raised capital from Hawaiʻi Angels and leveraged that foundation to scale across the US and Canada. With the platform proven in franchise and independent repair environments, Olelo is now addressing a fragmented market of nearly 300,000 automotive service locations in the United States.

Olelo was founded by Co-Founder and CEO Miki Hardisty. Miki has spent her career in building and scaling applied AI and technology solutions as a technology and operations executive who returned to Hawaiʻi after serving as National CTO at Jack in the Box and as CTO and COO at ProService Hawaiʻi. She is joined by Co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer Ed Moore, who has built and led billion-dollar sales organizations.

About Olelo Intelligence
Olelo Intelligence is a Hawaii-based AI sales guidance platform for high-volume automotive repair shops. The company helps operators increase revenue by identifying missed sales opportunities in service advisor calls and providing actionable insights that improve call conversion, appointment booking, and service authorization. Learn more at olelo-ai.com.

About The Hawaiʻi Angels
The Hawaiʻi Angels is a Honolulu-based network of early-stage investors that has supported founders in Hawaiʻi and beyond since 2002. Members invest individually but often collaborate on deals like Olelo’s, offering not just capital but also coaching and connections to help startups grow. Learn more or inquire about membership or corporate/VC sponsorship at hawaiiangels.org.

Media Contacts:
Miki Hardisty, Olelo Intelligence
(808) 818-5120
[email protected]

Joey Katzen, Hawai’i Angels
[email protected]

SOURCE Hawai’i Angels

MIAMI, Jan. 15, 2026 — Sauvegarder Investment Management, Inc. (“SIM IP”), a global leader in intellectual property-based investment and monetization, and Tangibly, an AI-powered platform at the forefront of trade secret management and intelligence, announced the launch of a trade secret litigation financing partnership. This partnership combines SIM IP’s expertise in IP monetization and enforcement with Tangibly’s AI-powered platform for trade secret identification, management, and validation, empowering companies to protect and enforce their most valuable assets against theft and misappropriation.

In an era where intellectual property theft costs businesses nearly $1 trillion annually – yet the vast majority of incidents go unprosecuted – this partnership arrives at a critical juncture. With nearly a decade of case law under the Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA), trade secrets have emerged as enforceable strategic assets with measurable economic value. However, many companies remain unaware of potential claims or lack the resources to pursue them effectively. The SIM IP-Tangibly alliance closes this gap by providing accessible financing, strategic guidance, and advanced intelligence to level the playing field.

The partnership applies Tangibly’s proprietary AI to accelerate trade secret evaluation and litigation readiness. By automating asset identification, evidence development, and case validation, this partnership dramatically reduces the time and cost required to prepare trade secret claims while improving quality and enforcement readiness. “Most companies are sitting on untapped trade secret claims without realizing it,” noted Tim Londergan, Co-Founder and CEO of Tangibly. “Our AI tools demystify this process, allowing businesses to quickly evaluate their IP’s value and the strength of potential cases. Partnering with SIM IP expands our trade secret offering from management to enforcement, giving innovators a clear path to protect their intellectual property and business interests.”

Under the terms of the partnership, Tangibly will deliver litigation intelligence and case validation using its proprietary AI-powered SaaS platform. By systematically identifying and evaluating trade secrets, Tangibly helps organizations assess claim strength, evidentiary readiness and potential value, ensuring only high-quality cases advance to financing consideration. SIM IP will provide litigation financing and strategic advisory services to qualified cases identified by Tangibly’s technology.

SIM IP brings decades of experience in unlocking value from IP portfolios, including structured financing solutions, enabling companies, especially smaller innovators, to pursue high quality claims without bearing the full financial risk. “We are thrilled to partner with Tangibly to transform trade secret enforcement from a reactive burden into a proactive advantage,” said Erich Spangenberg, Co-Founder and CEO of SIM IP. “For too long, IP theft has been a silent killer of innovation. This partnership ensures that companies have the capital and deep expertise to fight back, turning potential losses into recoverable value and deterring future violations.”

The rise in trade secret litigation, fueled by generative AI risks, employee mobility, and global competition, underscores the need for a more accessible enforcement model. Smaller innovators in particular face significant challenges pursuing claims against well-resourced adversaries. The SIM IP-Tangibly partnership addresses this imbalance by blending intelligence, validation and enforcement capital into a single coordinated approach.

This collaboration builds on SIM IP’s recent strategic investment in Tangibly and reflects a shared focus on strengthening trade secret protection globally. By expanding into trade secret litigation financing, the partners are creating a “one-stop shop” for IP defense, filling a market void where innovators previously lacked the tools and backing to act decisively.

Looking ahead, SIM IP and Tangibly plan to host educational resources to help companies better understand trade secret rights and enforcement options. Interested organizations can visit https://www.tangibly.com/sim-ip-x-tangibly to learn more.

About SIM IP

Sauvegarder Investment Management, Inc. (SIM IP) is a Miami and Paris-based firm focused on intellectual property-based financing, investment and monetization opportunities. SIM IP invests across IP as an asset class and across jurisdictions, primarily focusing on the US, Europe, and Asia. Further information is available at www.simip.io.

About Tangibly

Tangibly is the world’s first enterprise SaaS platform for trade secret management powered by proprietary AI to help companies identify, protect, and enforce their intellectual property. With a focus on efficiency and compliance, Tangibly transforms trade secrets into defensible, valuable assets.

For more about Tangibly, please visit www.tangibly.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements made in this release are “forward looking statements” within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding SIM IP’s strategy, plans, objectives, initiatives and financial outlook. When used in this press release, the words “estimates,” “projected,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “forecasts,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes,” “seeks,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “future,” “propose” and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results, and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside SIM IP’s control, that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. As such, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements.

Investors should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties described in the “Risk Factors” sections of SIM IP’s filings with the SEC, including the Registration Statement and the other documents filed by SIM IP. These filings identify and address other important risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements.

Contact:
Julianna Gordon
7756364542
[email protected]

SOURCE Tangibly

Four-year-old industrial robotics startup reaches over $200M in total funding as it scales software-defined automation platform across customer sites

BRISBANE, Calif., Jan. 15, 2026 — Mytra, the company building the operating system for supply chains, today announced its closure of a $120M Series C round led by Avenir Growth. New investors Kivu Ventures, Liquid 2, D. E. Shaw, and Offline Ventures joined the round, alongside existing investors Eclipse, Greenoaks, Abstract Ventures, and Promus Ventures. The company’s strategic investors include Lineage and RyderVentures, the corporate venture capital arm of Ryder System, Inc.

Founded in 2022, Mytra hit an inflection point in 2025: Signing contracts with some of the world’s largest organizations. Mytra now counts a Fortune 100 food company and a Fortune 500 industrial-supply distribution company as customers. In 2025 alone, Mytra signed a large-scale deployment 60x the size of its largest prior installation, shipped two pilot systems, went live in production at its new customer site and moved into a new facility 7x its previous space. The company also grew its team by 78%, including adding Gabi Gantus as CFO, Ingrid Cotoros as Chief Development Officer and Nigel Marcussen as VP of Scaling. The company also added former Tesla CFO Zach Kirkhorn to its board.

Material handling and movement represent nearly 50% of manufacturing labor, yet look fundamentally the same as they did a century ago. The result: more than 400,000 open industrial roles today, heading toward 2 million by 2030, with turnover rates of 50-200%. Meanwhile, roughly 60% of warehouse footprint is dead space — aisles and clearance that add cost but no value.

“I saw firsthand that material flow needs a fundamental platform shift, not incremental improvements,” said Chris Walti, CEO & Co-Founder of Mytra. “We’re not building better warehouse robots — we’re rebuilding the infrastructure layer that every industrial process depends on. Material flow should work like cloud computing: abstracted, programmable, and continuously optimizing.”

Approximately 80% of industrial facilities have zero automation because of cost, complexity, and limited flexibility once installed. Mytra abstracts material flow into software-defined primitives — move, store, pick, route — that standardize operations and make every cubic foot of space addressable. Mytra’s early deployments have demonstrated 32% reductions in material handling labor and 34% improvements in storage density.

“Most warehouses and industrial facilities can’t access the benefits of automation because legacy systems are too costly and inflexible,” said Jamie Reynolds, Co-Founder at Avenir Growth. “We believe Mytra represents a fundamental reimagining: a universal system for material flow that breaks free from legacy constraints. Chris and the team have moved with remarkable velocity – executing with intensity, deploying to customers, and implementing feedback pragmatically. We’re thrilled to lead their Series C.”

The Series C funding will accelerate deployment scaling to meet customer demand and fuel strategic talent acquisition. Mytra has over 20 open roles and is currently hiring for senior roles, including Director Electrical Engineering, Senior Technical Program Manager, and Safety Systems Engineering Architect.

To learn more about Mytra, visit https://mytra.ai/

About Mytra
Mytra, Inc. builds software-defined industrial robotics solutions designed to automate the most common industrial task in logistics – moving and storing material. Mytra solves critical bottlenecks for all warehouse-dependent organizations, from Fortune 100 suppliers to local grocers, so they can increase supply chain resiliency and throughput and drive new innovations forward. Headquartered in Brisbane, CA, the company is backed by investors like Avenir, Greenoaks, Eclipse, D. E. Shaw, Garry Tan, and Lachy Groom.

SOURCE Mytra

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 15, 2026 — Slips, a pioneer in peer-to-peer betting, today announced the close of its $3.5 million series seed, fueling rapid expansion as demand accelerates for social, player-driven competition.

The round was led by Las Olas Capital and Sunset Bay Capital, with participation from notable investors including Andrew Schwartzberg, Co-Owner of the Charlotte Hornets and Leeds United English Football Club, alongside a group of strategic investors supporting Slips’ long-term vision.

Slips is a social-first, peer-to-peer betting platform where players compete directly against each other — not a house. Every bet is matched between users, meaning someone always wins, without centralized odds-setting or a sportsbook taking the other side. Through products like Heads Up, Pools, Tourlays, and AI-generated P2P prediction markets, Slips enables real competition powered by its community.

“We’re pioneering a new model for betting — one that’s peer-to-peer at its core,” said Jess Richman, Founder & CEO of Slips. “By removing the house and letting players compete directly, we’ve created something more transparent, more social, and more aligned with how people naturally want to play.”

Strong Momentum in a New Category

The seed round builds on significant momentum for Slips, which has achieved over 500% year-over-year growth as players increasingly seek more transparent, player-driven alternatives to traditional betting. As peer-to-peer competition emerges as a distinct category, Slips is establishing itself as an early leader in the space.

“We’re seeing strong, organic demand,” Richman added. “Once players experience peer-to-peer — where your take matters and someone always wins — it’s hard to go back.”

Extending Peer-to-Peer Into Real-World Experiences

A key differentiator for Slips is its expansion beyond digital betting into in-real-life (IRL) experiences. The platform supports geo-located groups for bars, stadiums, and private clubs, as well as recreational sports communities including padel, pickleball, golf, and more.

These IRL experiences allow users to bet against other attendees, stake tournament brackets or individual matchups, see who is live on-site, track winnings, and cash out directly within Slips. For venues and clubs, Slips provides a growing B2B engagement platform, offering peer-to-peer betting as a value-added member benefit.

“Peer-to-peer is even more powerful in real life,” said Richman. “We’re turning live moments into shared competition — on site and on platform.”

Scaling Technology, Team, and Access

Proceeds from the seed round will be used to deepen Slips’ technology stack, expand the team across product, engineering, and growth, and accelerate user acquisition as the platform continues to scale nationally.

Slips recently launched ACH payouts, adding convenience and liquidity for users across the platform. The rollout has driven strong early adoption, with premium memberships growing more than 300% in the first month following launch — underscoring demand for faster access to funds and enhanced financial controls within peer-to-peer betting.

In parallel, Slips is investing in additional financial infrastructure, including crypto payment support, exploration of stablecoin-based withdrawals, and preparation for international expansion, all designed to further improve speed, access, and user control.

“This is still early,” said Gurminder Singh, CTO and Co-Founder of Slips. “This capital helps us move faster on infrastructure, financial rails, and real-world integrations that unlock scale.”

About Slips

Slips is a next-generation peer-to-peer betting platform where players compete directly with each other — not the house — so someone always wins. Offering Heads Up, Pools, Tourlays, AI-generated P2P prediction markets, and geo-located group experiences, Slips creates a social-first environment where users connect, compete, and win in real time — online and in real life.

Visit slips.com

SOURCE Slips Technologies, Inc.

HOUSTON, 15 de enero de 2026  /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Hoy, Amperon, proveedor líder de soluciones de previsión y análisis de energía impulsadas por IA, anunció una inversión de Samsung Venture Investment Corporation (“Samsung Ventures”), la sección de riesgo corporativo de Samsung Group. Este nuevo respaldo refleja la continua confianza de los inversores en la tecnología y la visión de Amperon y respaldará el crecimiento mundial de la empresa y el desarrollo de productos de próxima generación en los principales mercados energéticos.

Las soluciones de pronóstico impulsadas por IA de Amperon ahora prestan servicio a clientes en Estados Unidos, Canadá, México, Australia, Europa y Medio Oriente, lo que refleja un rápido crecimiento internacional desde su expansión en 2024 en Europa, con pronósticos activos en 27 países a nivel mundial. Gracias a los avances continuos en aprendizaje automático, el modelado basado en la física y el análisis meteorológico conjunto, Amperon continúa mejorando la precisión y confiabilidad de los pronósticos para los participantes del mercado de energía en todo el mundo. En forma más reciente, lanzó el primer pronóstico a mediano plazo de la demanda de la red basado en el clima, que permite a las partes interesadas anticipar la demanda de electricidad con hasta siete meses de antelación y redefinir la planificación estacional con una visibilidad sin precedentes de las condiciones futuras de la red.

“La inversión de Samsung Ventures es una fuerte validación de nuestra misión de transformar la forma en que se pronostica y comercializa la energía”, afirmó Sean Kelly, director ejecutivo y cofundador de Amperon. “La presencia mundial y el liderazgo de Samsung en semiconductores, infraestructura de datos y aceleración de la IA los convierten en un ajuste natural a medida que ampliamos el alcance de Amperon en sectores de gran consumo de energía, como los centros de datos. Su historial de escalar las tecnologías de próxima generación se alinea perfectamente con nuestra visión de construir un sistema de energía más inteligente, resistente y basado en datos”.

Samsung Ventures desempeña un papel clave en la inversión en empresas que desarrollan tecnologías en IA, dispositivos avanzados y sectores relacionados con la energía, con un enfoque en generar valor a largo plazo. Mediante una cartera mundial diversificada, la empresa apoya a las empresas emergentes que abordan oportunidades en áreas como la transformación digital y la sostenibilidad.

“Amperon ha demostrado fuertes capacidades técnicas y tracción mundial en un panorama energético en rápida evolución”, afirmó un portavoz de Samsung Ventures. “Su capacidad para pronosticar y modelar datos energéticos en tiempo real a escala global los posiciona como un factor clave para el desarrollo de sistemas energéticos más inteligentes y la resiliencia climática. Nos complace invertir en una empresa que desarrolla tecnologías que respaldan un mundo más sostenible y digitalizado”.

Los modelos de IA de Amperon, que combinan datos meteorológicos, de consumo y de mercado en tiempo real, superaron de manera constante a los proveedores de pronósticos tradicionales, por lo que la empresa se estableció como un socio de confianza para minoristas de energía, servicios públicos y productores de energía independientes. Esta inversión de Samsung Ventures sigue a dos inversiones en 2025 de National Grid Partners y de Acario (la sección de riesgo corporativo de Tokyo Gas), lo que destaca el impulso de Amperon y el creciente respaldo mundial. Al proporcionar información precisa, Amperon ayuda a sus clientes a administrar los recursos de manera más efectiva y a mantenerse a la vanguardia en un panorama del sector de la energía en rápida evolución.

Acerca de Amperon
Amperon es la empresa líder en previsión energética, situada en la confluencia de los datos energéticos y la IA. Amperon fue fundada en 2018 y se ha convertido en un socio de confianza para las empresas de energía y servicios públicos y ofrece previsiones de demanda, generación renovable y precios. Con análisis predictivos de vanguardia, integraciones de datos fluidas y atención al cliente de primera calidad, Amperon permite a los clientes mejorar la confiabilidad de la red y optimizar el rendimiento de los activos. Amperon está comprometida con la modernización de la red y es la empresa de previsión de transición energética.

Para más información sobre Amperon, visite www.amperon.co.

Acerca de Samsung Venture Investment Corporation
Samsung Ventures es una empresa de capital de riesgo corporativa comprometida con impulsar el crecimiento y generar nuevos valores mediante la innovación tecnológica. Desde su fundación en 1999, la empresa aprovechó su experiencia y conocimientos para invertir de forma activa en empresas que desarrollan tecnologías innovadoras con el potencial de transformar las industrias. Mediante sus redes y conocimientos del sector a nivel mundial, Samsung Ventures se asocia con empresas de cartera para impulsar juntos un crecimiento sostenible.

Para más información sobre Samsung Ventures, visite https://www.samsungventure.co.kr/.

Logotipo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1809160/Amperon_Logo.jpg

FUENTE Amperon

The rebranding signals a sharper focus on the African continent for this exclusive angel investor network

SINGAPORE, Jan. 15, 2026 — XA Africa, the exclusive operator-led investment network founded by global technology veterans, today announced its official launch as A54. The rebrand marks a significant milestone in the network’s evolution, reflecting its deepened commitment to the 54 nations of the African continent and its growing impact as a primary bridge between global expertise and local innovation.

Just over one year since its public launch as XA Africa in Q4 2024, the network has rapidly established itself as a critical player in the ecosystem. To date, A54 has successfully deployed more than a quarter million US$ in capital to support the continent’s most promising startups.

A Proven Model for “Smart Capital”

A54 distinguishes itself by moving beyond traditional venture capital. As a global community of senior leaders from the world’s most prominent technology companies – including many from Google and YouTube – the network provides “smart capital” that combines funding with hands-on operational mentorship.

“Our mission has always been to connect exceptional founders with the guidance they need to scale globally,” said Nitin Gajria, Co-Founder of A54 and former MD of Google Sub-Saharan Africa. “As we rebrand to A54, we are doubling down on our hypothesis that operator-led investment is the most effective way to unlock Africa’s profound opportunities. We aren’t just investors; we are partners who have built and scaled the very products that define the modern tech landscape.”

Progress and Portfolio Highlights

The transition to A54 follows a year of significant momentum. The network has completed 9 core investments in high-growth startups across the continent – strategically concentrated in major African tech hubs, such as Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa.

A54’s early portfolio already demonstrates diverse sector backing – with notable companies including:

“Partnering with this network has been a game-changer,” said Michael Ogundare, CEO of Crop2Cash. “Their strategic guidance has opened doors to new opportunities that go far beyond the initial check.”

Looking Ahead: The A54 Vision

The name A54 represents the network’s dedication to the entire African continent. In 2026, the network aims to expand its “Regional Hubs” – inclusive of both investors and VC / technology partners – in key tech centers across Africa to facilitate even more seamless investment into the region.

“Africa is home to 25% of the world’s youth but currently receives only 1% of global venture funding,” said Marek Dawidowicz, Co-Founder of A54 and Marketing Director at YouTube. “A54 is here to change that, by proving that with the right combination of capital and global expertise African startups can lead the next wave of global innovation.”

Upcoming African Startup Demo Day:

The A54 team will be hosting their next public [A54 Network] Startup & Investor Demo Day webinar on Thursday, March 19, 2026, at 1PM (GMT+1). This quarterly event offers an exclusive opportunity for Africa-focused investors to meet the founders of our most recent portfolio companies and learn more about the A54 investment model. Any investor or African startup ecosystem evangelist can register for the event via the A54 website or LinkedIn page.

About A54: A54 is a global, operator-led investment community supporting Africa’s most promising founders. Founded by veterans from the world’s leading tech companies, A54 provides curated access to early-stage and growth-stage deals, combining capital with hands-on expertise to help startups scale with confidence.

For more information and media queries, please visit: www.a54.network

CONTACT:
[email protected]

SOURCE A54

-Provest Equity Partners y CTW Venture Partners anuncian una inversión conjunta estratégica en Natural Fiber Welding Inc.

Esta alianza acelera la innovación y la comercialización de una plataforma de materiales vegetales de alto rendimiento

PEORIA, Ill., 14 de enero de 2026 — Natural Fiber Welding Inc. NFW, pionera en materiales vegetales de alto rendimiento, anunció hoy una inversión conjunta estratégica de Provest Equity Partners y CTW Venture Partners. Esta inversión impulsa la siguiente fase de crecimiento de NFW, a medida que la compañía acelera la comercialización y la expansión global de su innovadora plataforma de materiales de tecnología climática y bajas emisiones de carbono.

Esta alianza llega en un momento crucial para NFW, ya que está expandiendo la producción de sus innovaciones estrella, impulsadas por la química ecológica y la ciencia de los materiales patentados. Estas innovaciones incluyen PLIANT™, la primera suela exterior de caucho de alto rendimiento curado naturalmente del mundo, y MIRUM®, la primera alternativa al cuero totalmente natural y sin plástico del mundo.

Juntos, PLIANT™ y MIRUM® forman una plataforma de materiales circulares, escalable y regenerativa, diseñada para reemplazar los plásticos derivados del petróleo y los materiales sintéticos en múltiples industrias sin comprometer el rendimiento, la durabilidad ni la estética. El nuevo y mejorado PLIANT™ ya está disponible para pedidos, y su expansión al mercado está en marcha.

“Esta alianza marca un importante punto de inflexión para NFW, ya que continuamos con nuestra misión de comercializar materiales sostenibles de alto rendimiento”, afirmó Steve Zika, consejero delegado de NFW. “El enfoque de Provest, centrado en el operador, se alinea estrechamente con nuestras necesidades, a medida que la demanda de las marcas asociadas globales continúa creciendo. Junto con CTW, estamos fortaleciendo las bases necesarias para escalar de forma responsable y avanzar hacia la próxima generación de materiales de origen vegetal”.

NFW ha atraído el respaldo de marcas globales líderes e inversores estratégicos, como BMW iVentures, Ralph Lauren Corporation, Allbirds y Asahi Kasei, lo que refleja el potencial de la compañía para redefinir el panorama de los materiales de alto rendimiento.

La inversión de Provest y CTW aprovecha este impulso, centrándose en la ejecución operativa, la escala de fabricación, la innovación de productos y la creación de valor a largo plazo.

“NFW representa el tipo de plataforma que buscamos apoyar, donde la ciencia innovadora se une con una verdadera relevancia industrial”, afirmó Suhas Uppalapati, presidente de NFW y socio director de Provest Equity Partners. “Nuestra función es ayudar a convertir la innovación en un crecimiento escalable y rentable a medida que la empresa entra en su siguiente fase”.

Tras la inversión, NFW continuará ampliando sus relaciones en los mercados del calzado, la moda, la automoción y la industria, a la vez que impulsa su misión de sustituir los materiales basados en combustibles fósiles por alternativas naturales regenerativas y adaptadas al clima.

Acerca de Natural Fiber Welding
Natural Fiber Welding Inc., con sede en Peoria, Illinois, es una empresa de ciencia de materiales pionera en el desarrollo de materiales de alto rendimiento sin plástico, fabricados íntegramente con insumos vegetales renovables.