• Secures KRW 30 Billion (USD 20 Million) Valuation with Pantera Capital as Lead and Further Ventures as Anchor Investor
• Transitioning from Research to a Comprehensive Solutions Partner across Research, Institution, and Validated Units
• Strengthening Infrastructure to Bridge Structural Gaps Between Asia-Global and TradFi-Web3 Markets

SEOUL, South Korea, April 27, 2026 — Four Pillars, a blockchain research and technology company co-founded by Namwoong Kim, Jaehwan Jung, Heechang Kang, and Jinsol Bok, announced today at a press conference held in Gangnam, Seoul, that it has secured a Series A investment led by global investment firm Pantera Capital, with Further Ventures participating as the anchor investor.

Pantera Capital, the world’s first institutional asset manager focused on digital assets, led the round, while Further Ventures — backed by Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ — joined as the anchor investor. Through this round, Four Pillars achieved an official post-money valuation of approximately KRW 30 billion (USD 20 million), demonstrating strong validation of its growth potential from leading global institutional investors.

“This investment represents more than capital; it reflects the data-driven trust we have built in the global market over the past three years,” said Namwoong Kim, CEO of Four Pillars. “It is especially meaningful to announce this milestone at Episode Gangnam — the symbolic location where our founding team first envisioned the company — as we take a significant step toward becoming a comprehensive Web3 solution partner.”

A representative from Pantera Capital commented, “Four Pillars is a well-balanced team of four co-founders, each bringing deep expertise across research, technology, strategy, and operations. Their multilingual research has already set a benchmark for technical credibility in the global market while helping reduce regional information asymmetry. The infrastructure they are building on top of this foundation has the potential to become a key driver of on-chain ecosystem expansion.”

Rebranding: Transition to a Web3 Solutions Company

Following the investment, Four Pillars is officially rebranding as a “Web3 Solutions Company,” marking a strategic shift from a research-focused organization to a full-stack infrastructure and solutions partner. The transition reflects the company’s view that the blockchain industry has entered a phase where real-world value creation is becoming more important than early-stage experimentation, and where structural inefficiencies continue to limit market development. To address these issues, the company has defined three strategic approaches: connecting Asia with global markets by acting as a trust-based interface (Bridge), bridging the gap between traditional finance and Web3 through specialized collaboration models (Translate), and scaling beyond research into a provider of tangible infrastructure and product execution (Expand).

Three Integrated Business Pillars: Research, Institution, and Validated

Moving forward, the company will center its operations around three core business pillars: Research, Institution, and Validated. The Research unit will continue to deliver global-standard technical analysis, while the Institution unit provides advisory services and seminars tailored for enterprises and institutional investors. The Validated unit, representing the company’s infrastructure arm, operates institutional-grade validator services led by veteran engineers with prior experience at leading blockchain organizations such as A41 and Lambda256.

In particular, as regulatory developments accelerate in areas such as KRW-based stablecoins and tokenization of traditional assets (including real estate, bonds, and funds), Four Pillars aims to strengthen its role as an infrastructure partner. The company seeks to enable institutions to integrate Web3 infrastructure into real-world financial services, facilitating meaningful collaboration between traditional finance and the decentralized ecosystem. Jaehwan Jung, Head of Validator at Four Pillars, emphasized that research has always served as a means of proving capability rather than an end in itself. He stated that as the crypto market enters a phase where execution defines success, the company will grow by organically connecting research, institutions, and infrastructure to deliver real value in the global market. 

Founded in 2023, Four Pillars currently holds a team of 10+ world-class researchers and over 600 research reports. Its infrastructure arm, Validated, consists of five veteran engineers with node operation experience at firms such as A41 and Lambda256, managing operations within SOC 2 and ISO-certified environments to ensure the highest standards of reliability.

About Four Pillars

Four Pillars is a Seoul-based blockchain research and technology company providing multi-lingual research, protocol strategy consulting, institutional networking, and validator infrastructure services. Over the past three years, the company has built a reputation as a trusted partner connecting Asia and the global blockchain ecosystem through over 100 collaborations and more than 600 research publications.

About Pantera Capital

Founded in San Francisco in 2013, Pantera Capital is the first institutional asset manager focused exclusively on digital assets. It operates a broad investment portfolio across the blockchain ecosystem and is widely recognized as a leading global Web3 venture capital firm.

About Further Ventures

Founded in Abu Dhabi in 2021, Further Ventures is a global venture capital firm backed by the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund ADQ. The firm focuses on building institutional-grade digital asset infrastructure through strategic investments at the intersection of fintech and Web3.

SOURCE Four Pillars

Financing led by Sutter Hill Ventures; company names new Chief Business Officer, adds independent board member, and establishes Scientific Advisory Board

NEW YORK, April 27, 2026 — Fathom Therapeutics, formerly Atommap Corp., a company that uses quantum chemistry and AI to design novel drug molecules by predicting their behavior inside living cells, today announced an oversubscribed $47 million Series A financing. Sutter Hill Ventures led the round, with participation from Chemistry, Alexandria Venture Investments, and Empire State Development’s NY Ventures, among others.

Microcosmos, the company’s drug design engine, uses proprietary algorithms to simulate protein motion at atomic resolution, generating data on dynamic behavior that has been difficult to capture at scale. These algorithms accelerate modeling of protein dynamics by 10,000x without compromising accuracy. The simulations, based on physics, enable generative design of small molecules that reshape protein behavior for the desired therapeutic effect.

“Current drug discovery efforts are limited by reliance on static structures of isolated proteins,” said Huafeng Xu, PhD, Co-Founder and CEO of Fathom Therapeutics. “Microcosmos is a world model of drugs in living cells that surpasses these limitations by translating accurate quantum mechanical calculations to measurable cellular outcomes.”

Microcosmos has demonstrated significant early momentum in guiding the discovery and optimization of molecules for multiple classes of targets and small molecule modalities. In one case, the Fathom discovery team used Microcosmos to generate novel degraders against an “undruggable” target. Within six weeks, the platform produced potent, highly selective candidates that are now being optimized for advancement into the clinic to address a major unmet medical need.

“We backed Huafeng because he wanted to rethink how machines understand molecules, combining the best of physics and machine learning to actually move the frontier in computational drug design,” said Keith Loebner, Managing Director at Sutter Hill Ventures.

“He and the world-class team he’s assembled have demonstrated that their approach not only works, but works better than we imagined. We’re proud to lead this round, turning Fathom’s field-defining molecular design capability into new medicines for patients.” Founded in 1962, Sutter Hill Ventures’ previous investments include NVIDIA, Snowflake, Pure Storage, Corcept Therapeutics, GRAIL, and Forty Seven.

The new funding will accelerate the scaling of Fathom’s lab-in-the-loop capabilities and the expansion of internal discovery programs in high-impact diseases. The company’s leadership has collectively advanced 19 drugs to the clinic, including seven FDA-approved medicines. Fathom has an active pipeline and multiple external discovery partnerships.

“We started Fathom to build a flywheel for new small molecule medicines that previously seemed impossible,” said Dr. Xu.

Fathom’s two other co-founders, Jesús Izaguirre, PhD, previously at Roivant Discovery and Silicon Therapeutics, and Yujie Wu, PhD, previously at Roivant Discovery and Schrödinger, are pioneers in building molecular models for drug discovery.

“Fathom stood out to us as a company tackling one of the most ambitious and technically difficult challenges in biotech — already showing the real ability to translate computational results into molecules with promising therapeutic profiles,” said Ethan Kurzweil, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Chemistry. “We’re excited to back Fathom as they work to build medicines that would be impossible to create any other way.”

New Appointments

Alongside the financing, Fathom announced two additions to its leadership.

Mandana Honu, PhD, has joined as Chief Business Officer. Dr. Honu is a strategic advisor to Sutter Hill Ventures and previously held roles as Head of Business Development at Protillion Biosciences, Chief Scientific Officer at Kaleidoscope Bio, and Head of Scientific Assessments and Corporate Business Development at Resilience.

Diala Ezzeddine, PhD, a seasoned biotech entrepreneur and executive, has joined the board of directors. Dr. Ezzeddine brings over 20 years of experience in founding and scaling biotech companies at the cutting edge of drug discovery innovation, including X-Chem Pharmaceuticals and Magnet Biomedicine.

Scientific Advisory Board

Fathom has established a Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) to guide the company’s drug design strategy and pipeline development. Members include Ian Taylor, PhD (former Chief Scientific Officer of Arvinas); Dimitris Agrafiotis, PhD, FRSC (Director at Arsenal Capital Partners, formerly Chief Information Officer Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research and Chief Digital Officer at Generate Biomedicines); and Bruce Zetter, PhD (Professor of Cancer Biology at Harvard University and Boston Children’s Hospital).

“I welcome this extraordinary team of scientific and business leaders to our internal leadership, board, and SAB, who bring deep expertise and complementary perspectives across biology, technology, partnering, and translational medicine,” said Dr. Xu. “Each of these leaders shares our ambitious goal of pushing the molecular frontier to deliver better therapies to patients, and their combined expertise will accelerate the process of taking each idea to regulatory approval.”

About Fathom Therapeutics

Fathom Therapeutics is a drug design company that uses physics-based simulations and AI to model protein motion and interactions at atomic resolution. Its Microcosmos platform simulates protein dynamics, producing the data needed to design small molecules with differentiated therapeutic effects and reduced off-target risk. The company has an active internal pipeline, multiple discovery partnerships, and has advanced its lead program into animal efficacy studies. Fathom was founded by the team behind the Anton supercomputer and the most widely used software for predicting protein-drug binding. The company is headquartered in New York, with a second office in Boston.

Media contact:
Ryan Flinn
In Like Flinn Communications
[email protected]

SOURCE Atommap Corporation

New venture-building program unites entrepreneurs throughout Appalachian Region with LG NOVA’s innovation ecosystem to create high potential growth businesses in Healthtech, Cleantech and Transformational Tech

News Summary:

• LG NOVA, LG Electronics’ North America Innovation Center, is launching “Elevate WV,” a structured venture-building program designed to transform startups and entrepreneurs across the region into the next-generation, globally scalable AI-first businesses.
• As a key program milestone, LG NOVA will host the Elevate WV Challenge Competition, a live pitch competition featuring five West Virginia entrepreneurs, during Bridging Innovation Week on April 29.
• Winners of the Challenge Competition may advance into LG NOVA’s full venture-building program, with a pathway to create new businesses with the potential opportunity to become an LG NOVA venture portfolio company.
• Elevate WV is a pillar of LG NOVA’s strategic initiative in West Virginia, aimed at building a thriving “Innovation Corridor” to support economic growth in throughout the region.

MORGANTOWN, W.Va., April 27, 2026 — LG NOVA, the North America Innovation Center for LG Electronics, today announced “Elevate WV,” a structured program designed to propel startups and entrepreneurs in the Appalachian region toward building next-generation AI-first companies competing and scaling on a global stage. To mark the official start of the program, LG NOVA is hosting a live pitch competition at Bridging Innovation Week on April 29, 2026. Five unique West Virginia entrepreneurs have been hand-selected to take the stage to present their ideas for new ventures, competing for the opportunity to advance into LG NOVA’s full venture-building program and the potential opportunity to become an LG NOVA venture portfolio company.

Selected challenge winners may have the potential opportunity to transition into LG NOVA’s structured incubation program,  a 9-to-12-month process designed to develop pre-seed startups into unicorn-scale AI-first businesses in high-impact sectors where AI creates significant value, drives major changes in industries and society and solves real-world problems across the fields of Healthtech, Cleantech and Transformational Tech, multi-sector disruption-ready markets in enterprise and consumer industries.

“West Virginia is home to passionate entrepreneurs who are ready to build the future and make a difference in their communities,” said LG NOVA head Dr. Sokwoo Rhee, Corporate Executive Vice President for Innovation at LG Electronics. “Elevate WV brings the full power of LG NOVA’s global ecosystem, including our advisors, our investor network, our technology resources and our proven venture-building model, directly to this community. Our challenge competition shows that West Virginia’s entrepreneurial talent is ready to compete on a global stage.”

Through the program, entrepreneurs may have access to:

• Non-Dilutive Funds: Selected startups/entrepreneurs may receive funds to continue developing their business and support PoC projects and MVP development, granted at specific stage gates.
• Access to Top-Tier Advisors: Hands-on coaching from industry experts with proven startup exit experience in AI, Cleantech and Healthtech.
• Silicon Valley Ecosystem Collaboration: Direct collaboration with LG NOVA’s global startup network to build scalable business models.
• Go-To-Market Support: GTM toolkit plus visibility at CES and LG NOVA Innovation Summit Program.
• West Virginia Ecosystem Integration: Active partnership with local organizations to support West Virginia founders from ideation to commercialization.

Elevate WV Challenge Competition: Celebrating WV Bridging Innovation Week
The challenge competition brings together five entrepreneurs who have spent the past several months developing and refining unicorn-scale business proposals. The event will serve as both a celebration of West Virginia’s growing startup ecosystem and a competitive pitch forum, with participants presenting their ventures to a panel of judges and stakeholders from across the innovation community. The winners will be announced at Bridging Innovation Week’s awards banquet the same evening.

A Strategic Partnership for Regional Transformation
Elevate WV is a core element of LG NOVA’s broader strategic collaboration with the State of West Virginia, which encompasses four core initiatives: the establishment of an LG NOVA Innovation Center in West Virginia, a global growth initiative to expand access to capital and pilot opportunities, driving high-tech job growth through commercial activity and strategic partnerships and an ecosystem expansion effort that includes the Elevate West Virginia Challenge Competition and  scale-up support for startups in the state and beyond. Together, these initiatives are designed to lay the foundation for a thriving “Innovation Corridor” across the Appalachian region – one that creates lasting, generational economic growth opportunities.

Eligibility for Elevate WV
Elevate WV is open to pre-seed-stage startups and entrepreneurs who are headquartered in or maintain a primary office in West Virginia and are building AI-first software solutions in Healthtech, Cleantech and Transformational Tech with the potential for global scale. Intellectual property brought into the program remains the participant’s property. For more information, please visit www.lgnova.com/elevate-wv.

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About LG NOVA
LG NOVA, the North America Innovation Center for global innovation leader LG Electronics, is a team focused on delivering new experiences powered by AI, built from collaboration with innovators across the ecosystem. LG NOVA is based in Santa Clara, Calif, with a branch office in Morgantown, WV. The center’s mission is to fuel innovation for LG and its partners by creating and launching new AI-first ventures to become the next growth engine for LG. Learn more about LG NOVA at www.lgnova.com.

About LG Electronics USA
LG Electronics USA Inc., based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., is the North American subsidiary of LG Electronics Inc., a smart life solutions company with annual global revenues of more than $60 billion. In the United States, LG sells a wide range of innovative home appliances, home entertainment products, commercial displays, air conditioning systems and vehicle components. LG is an 11-time ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year. www.LG.com.

Media Contacts:

LG Electronics USA
Linda Quach
+1 408 903 3045
[email protected]

SOURCE LG Electronics USA

Backed by Meritech, General Catalyst, Kleiner Perkins, Amplify Partners, and Y Combinator, Avoca is on track to book $1B in jobs this year

NEW YORK, April 27, 2026 — Today, Avoca, the leading AI platform for America’s services economy, announced it has raised more than $125 million across Seed, Series A, and Series B funding at a $1 billion valuation. The Series B funding was led by Meritech and General Catalyst, and the Series A was led by Kleiner Perkins.

While most AI solutions today have focused on optimizing desk work and efficiency–email, docs, decks–the front office of the $1T+ services economy has lacked solutions tailored to specific industry needs. Avoca is transforming this narrative, powering 24/7 call handling, scheduling, custom marketing campaigns, and customer follow-ups, while giving service businesses the AI tools that match the quality of work they deliver.

“Every successful contractor already has a winning playbook. Answer every call. Follow up relentlessly. Fill the board before it empties. Provide the highest quality service,” said Apurva Shrivastava, co-founder of Avoca. “The reality is that execution breaks down when demand spikes or when teams are stretched thin.”

“Our AI is always on. It can answer a call and book a job directly at 3 a.m. It can autonomously revive that $15,000 unsold estimate from eight months ago sitting in your system. It creates and launches a new marketing campaign tailored to your customer. It turns the chaos of a seasonal business into a machine,” he added.

Avoca provides AI-powered voice and workflow automation that answers every inbound lead within a few seconds, books jobs directly into customer CRMs, relentlessly follows up on outstanding estimates, and dynamically drives new lead flow based on technician capacity. The result is higher utilization, faster response times, and revenue recovered for individual businesses every year.

“Home services is one of the last great underdigitized markets. Early on, it was hard to break into, as contractors were skeptical of AI,” said Tyson Chen, co-founder of Avoca. “Once we earned that trust, we uncovered an abundance of opportunity on the other side. Now, we’re leapfrogging the industry straight into the AI era alongside our customers.”

Avoca has established partnerships with ServiceTitan, Nexstar, and Clover, and its customers are some of the largest operators in the country, such as Turnpoint, 1-800-GOT-JUNK?, and Goettl. In 2025, the company surpassed eight figures in annual recurring revenue and continues to see rapid adoption as contractors look to generate more demand without straining their existing systems.

“If you’re in this industry and you mention AI, the first word out of everyone’s mouth is Avoca,” said Bryan Enders, the owner of H.L. Bowman, a full-service HVAC and plumbing company based in Pennsylvania.

“Since we started using Avoca, our booking rates have jumped dramatically, and we’re capturing far more demand after hours and during peak storms. Additionally, our customers love speaking to the AI. It’s allowed us to make sure we never miss a customer in their time of need,” said Keith Chisholm, CTO of Sila Services, one of the largest HVAC, plumbing, and electrical operators in the country.

This year alone, Avoca is on track to book $1 billion in jobs. Customers achieve booking rates on par with their top CSRs, while capturing millions in additional annual revenue. Avoca’s AI consistently follows up on outstanding estimates and identifies new job opportunities within the existing customer base, automatically generating demand. 

“Three years ago, AI voice for home services wasn’t a category. Avoca created it,” said Alex Clayton, General Partner at Meritech Capital. “Today, every major contractor in America knows the name.”

“There’s no shortage of software built for software companies. Avoca is building an AI workforce for the people who actually keep America running–millions of service businesses across the country.” said Vedant Suri, Partner at General Catalyst. “We’re proud to partner with Apurva and Tyson as Avoca becomes essential infrastructure for the services economy.”

Looking ahead, Avoca is expanding beyond home services into every service-based business that depends on phones, technicians, and tight schedules, including moving, junk removal, automotive services, and property management.

“What excites me about Avoca is that they’re applying AI where execution is the real bottleneck,” said Leigh Marie Braswell, Partner at Kleiner Perkins. “Tyson and Apurva have built something that feels less like a tool and more like core infrastructure for how this industry operates.”

“The physical world still needs to be maintained,” said Chen. “The people who do that work deserve the same operational firepower that Fortune 500 companies have had for decades. We’re building that infrastructure and putting it in their hands.”

About Avoca

Avoca builds AI agents for service businesses, handling chat, email, voice calls, and SMS across the entire customer journey. From answering inbound conversations and booking jobs to running outbound campaigns and coaching CSRs, Avoca helps operators across HVAC, plumbing, automotive, moving, and other service industries capture every lead and convert more demand.

Avoca is headquartered in New York City and has an office in Santa Barbara. Follow Avoca on LinkedIn and X, and learn more at www.avoca.ai.

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Avoca AI

LOS ANGELES, April 27, 2026 — Nervonik, Inc., a clinical-stage medical device company developing next-generation peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) technologies, today announced the closing of an oversubscribed $52.5 million Series B financing. The round was led by Amzak Health, with participation from Elevage Medical Technologies, U.S. Venture Partners (USVP), Lumira Ventures, Foothill Ventures, and Shangbay Capital.

The proceeds from the financing will support the continued development and commercialization of Nervonik’s PNS system, including further development of its proprietary sensing capabilities.

“Nervonik is building a fundamentally differentiated neuromodulation platform that integrates stimulation with advanced sensing to deliver more precise and personalized therapy,” said Aydin Babakhani, CEO and Founder of Nervonik. “This financing enables us to accelerate our clinical programs, prepare for commercialization, and bring a truly intelligent, next-generation therapy to the patients who need it most.”

The company’s technology incorporates real-time physiological feedback to enhance therapy personalization and efficacy. Early data demonstrate successful recording of evoked compound action potentials (ECAPs) and other biomarkers using implantable leads, positioning Nervonik at the forefront of next-generation bioelectronic medicine.

“Peripheral nerve stimulation is at an inflection point, with expanding clinical evidence and growing adoption in the treatment of chronic pain,” said Anthony Natale, MD, Partner at Amzak Health. “Aydin and the Nervonik team have developed a highly differentiated technology platform that we believe has the potential to meaningfully improve the patient experience, and they are exceptionally well-positioned to capitalize on this opportunity. We are excited to lead this financing and to support the company through its next phase of growth.”

About Nervonik

Nervonik, Inc. is a medical device company focused on developing neuromodulation technologies. The company’s platform integrates stimulation and sensing to enable precision therapies for chronic pain and other neurological conditions. Nervonik is headquartered in Los Angeles, California.

SOURCE Nervonik Inc.

A new white paper identifies a USD 140 billion opportunity across leading AI companies and argues that the UAE’s integrated policy architecture — from the National AI Strategy 2031 to its Ethics Guidelines — uniquely positions the UAE as a center of artificial intelligence and digital infrastructure.

DUBAI, UAE, April 24, 2026 — Global Millennial Capital Ltd. (“GMCL”), a research-driven venture capital firm investing in new-age technologies, today released its Progress Research and Insights White Paper on Artificial Intelligence, examining how AI technologies, emerging business models, and evolving regulation are reshaping the global economy — and how the United Arab Emirates is emerging as one of the most deliberately positioned AI ecosystems in the world.

The report arrives at a defining moment for the UAE and the broader Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), where AI has become central to national strategies for economic diversification, competitiveness, and the development of a knowledge-based, innovation-led economy anchored in advanced AI – compute and services.

Broader context: the UAE as a global innovation hub for AI infrastructure and services

The paper concludes that the UAE is positioning itself as a global leader in AI by pursuing a coherent agenda built on innovation, governance, and the ethical use of AI technologies, supported by three structural pillars. The first is the UAE National AI Strategy 2031, a national roadmap to make the country a global hub for AI by integrating the technology across government, healthcare, transportation, and education, and by building international partnerships in AI research and implementation. The second is the Ministry of Artificial Intelligence, established in 2017 as the world’s first ministry of its kind, tasked with policy development, ethical standards, and promoting AI innovation through funding and start-up programs. The third is the UAE AI Ethics and Governance Guidelines, a principles-based framework grounded in transparency and explainability, accountability, privacy and data protection, and fairness and non-discrimination. Taken together, and combined with deep pools of sovereign and private capital, a fast-expanding data-center and compute footprint, strong digital connectivity, and a maturing venture and enterprise ecosystem, these foundations position the UAE as a global innovation hub and one of the most compelling destinations for the next generation of AI infrastructure, platforms, and enterprise services.

Economic value: A 10x growth for leading AI companies OpenAI, Anthropic, and Databricks

GMCL’s original research, published in July 2024, captured a cumulative valuation of approximately USD 140 billion across three leading AI companies based in San Francisco, California — OpenAI, Anthropic, and Databricks. As of March 2026, the same three companies command a cumulative valuation of approximately USD 1.37 trillion, reflecting a nearly tenfold increase in under two years.  At a macro level, PwC estimates that AI could contribute USD 320 billion to the Middle East economy by 2030, with the UAE seeing the largest relative impact — close to 14% of GDP, or approximately USD 96 billion, while McKinsey estimates that generative AI alone could add a further USD 21–35 billion per year to GCC non-oil GDP, on top of approximately USD 150 billion from earlier AI technologies.

Leadership quote

“The near-tenfold revaluation of OpenAI, Anthropic, and Databricks between July 2024 and March 2026 is not a bubble signal — it is a repricing of AI as critical economic infrastructure, and that has profound implications for private capital in the region. Investing in the knowledge-based economy is how GCC capital converts hydrocarbon surplus into durable, compounding productivity: intellectual property, proprietary data estates, specialized talent, and the enterprise adoption layer that turns foundation models into tangible economic output across banks, healthcare systems, logistics corridors, and sovereign digital infrastructure. For sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and corporate venture arms, the strategic question has shifted from ‘should we allocate to AI’ to ‘how do we secure privileged access — through direct primaries, secondaries, structured equity, and regional co-investment — to the compounding layer of this decade’s most important platform shift, while simultaneously building the domestic knowledge base that ensures the UAE and GCC remain net creators, not just consumers, of the value being repriced.” — Andreea Danila, General Partner, Global Millennial Capital Ltd.

The future of jobs and skills: a great reset, with the UAE moving first

AI is reshaping the labor market at a pace few economies are prepared for. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 projects that 92 million jobs will be displaced and 170 million new jobs created globally by 2030 — a net gain of 78 million roles — with 39% of core job skills evolving over the same period, and with AI and big data, networks and cybersecurity, and technological literacy emerging as the three fastest-growing skill areas.

The UAE is moving ahead of this curve on several fronts. According to Human Capital Consulting, 80% of UAE CEOs are redesigning roles around AI collaboration, and 92% believe their organizations are ready to deploy AI responsibly — among the highest confidence levels globally. At the same time, the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) continues to graduate specialized talent in computer vision, machine learning, and natural language processing, and has trained dozens of senior executives across energy, finance, health, and government. These efforts are reinforced by Dubai‘s government-wide AI training program – and federal initiatives such as Nafis, which are embedding AI fluency into both public-sector and Emirati private-sector career pathways. Collectively, these investments position the UAE workforce as one of the most AI-ready in the world, reinforcing the country’s role as a destination for enterprises deploying AI at scale.

Emerging business models: where value will be captured

The paper further identifies six exponential business models shaping AI investment: AI-as-a-Service (AIaaS), data monetization, AI-enhanced products, AI-driven platforms, customized AI solutions, and AI-powered analytics. These models align directly with the UAE’s ambitions to build sovereign data infrastructure, home-grown AI champions, and world-class compute capacity, reinforcing the country’s position as a global innovation hub and a strategic base for AI infrastructure and enterprise services.

“From a technology research lens, these five predictions map almost perfectly onto the GCC’s policy thesis: AI ubiquity, Arabic-English NLP parity, automation-led productivity gains, and hyper-personalization are no longer frontier bets — they are board-level capital-allocation decisions. What makes the UAE’s positioning distinctive is the fifth pillar: ethical AI and regulatory compliance are maturing into a growth driver rather than a cost center, mirroring how the region has consistently converted regulatory rigor into a trust advantage across its most strategic sectors. Investors should treat governance, data sovereignty, and Arabic-language model performance as first-order diligence criteria — the firms that institutionalize these early will define the region’s next decade of AI-enabled returns.” AJ Jena, Research Collaborator, Global Millennial Capital Ltd. (former Harvard Business School Research)

The role of venture capital and private equity in knowledge-based economies

The transition to an AI-driven, knowledge-based economy cannot be financed through public markets alone. Venture capital and private equity play an indispensable role in channeling long-duration, risk-tolerant capital into frontier technologies, enabling research-stage innovations to become globally scaled businesses. OpenAI’s trajectory — from USD 1 billion in early funding commitments to an enterprise value of USD 852 billion — is a clear illustration of how private capital converts scientific breakthroughs into national and global economic value. For the UAE and the wider GCC, where sovereign wealth, family offices, and a new generation of research-driven VC and PE firms are deploying capital into AI, compute infrastructure, data platforms, and enterprise software, this capital stack is becoming a core pillar of economic diversification. Strengthening the region’s venture and private equity ecosystem is, in effect, strengthening the foundation of a knowledge-based economy — funding the founders, infrastructure, and talent that will define the UAE’s next decade of growth and its leadership in AI infrastructure and services.

Investor takeaway

“The future of AI technologies promises significant advancements that will transform industries and business models,” the paper concludes. “Companies that embrace AI integration, personalization, and ethical practices will be well-positioned to capitalize on these changes … businesses must stay agile and adapt to the changing landscape to remain competitive and thrive in an AI-driven future.”

For UAE and GCC stakeholders, the conclusion is clear: AI is both a platform for national competitiveness and a defining investment theme — and the UAE’s next phase as a global innovation hub, and as a leader in AI infrastructure and services, will be shaped by how decisively the ecosystem acts on it.

About Global Millennial Capital Ltd.

Global Millennial Capital Ltd. is a research-driven venture capital firm focused on new-age technologies, including artificial intelligence, decentralized finance, autonomous systems, fintech, cybersecurity, and energy management services. GMCL publishes proprietary research and thought leadership to support investors, policymakers, and corporate leaders as they navigate the transition to an AI-driven economy.

About the authors

Andreea Danila, MBA, is General Partner at Global Millennial Capital Ltd., leading the firm’s investment strategy and research agenda across new-age technology verticals, including artificial intelligence, decentralized finance, and autonomous systems.

AJ Jena, PhD, is a Research Collaborator with Global Millennial Capital Ltd. and a former Harvard Business School Research Fellow, contributing to GMCL’s thought leadership on frontier technologies, business models, and global regulatory frameworks.

Media Contacts — Brunswick Group

For media inquiries, please contact:

Brunswick Group Email: [email protected] Middle East: +971 (0)4 560 9600

Source

Global Millennial Capital, Research and Insights White Paper — Artificial Intelligence (July 2024).

Disclaimer

GLOBAL MILLENNIAL CAPITAL LTD. IS A VENTURE CAPITAL FUND REGISTERED WITH THE BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMISSION. NO PART OF THIS PRESS RELEASE IS INTENDED TO BE, OR MAY BE RELIED UPON, AS INVESTMENT ADVICE, INVESTMENT RECOMMENDATION, AN OFFER TO SELL, OR THE SOLICITATION OF ANY OFFER TO BUY, ANY SECURITY, OR ADOPT ANY INVESTMENT STRATEGY. GLOBAL MILLENNIAL CAPITAL LTD. IS NOT A REGISTERED INVESTMENT ADVISOR.

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2964193/Global_Millennial_Capital.jpg

SOURCE Global Millennial Capital

• Community-led workspace platform targets rising demand from startups and SMEs in Saudi Arabia
• A bridge between Saudi and Pakistani ecosystems, COLABS will help companies launch, scale, and operate through COLABS’ business support platform.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, April 23, 2026 — COLABS, a Saudi headquartered community-led workspace platform backed by regional investors, has launched a 4,000 sqm campus in northern Riyadh, marking its entry into Saudi Arabia as competition grows to serve the Kingdom’s expanding startup and SME sector.

COLABS has raised more than $8 million to date from investors including Shorooq, Waseel Partners, Zayn VC, Indus Valley Capital, Fatima Gobi Ventures, and other regional backers. This marks the beginning of COLABS international expansion. The company aims to become the largest workspace provider for startups and scaleups in the Middle East, North Africa & Pakistan, over the next few years.

Located in Al-Narjis, COLABS Narjis is designed to accommodate more than 500 members, including early-stage startups, scaling companies, and enterprise teams. The campus forms part of the company’s broader strategy to create work environments that combine thoughtfully designed space, curated networks, and year-round programming.

The launch event drew more than 300 attendees, including founders, investors, policymakers, and members of the creative industries. Speakers included representatives from BECO Capital, Shorooq, 500 Global, Sotheby’s, and Aqar.

“Saudi Arabia represents a significant long-term market for us,” said Omar Shah, CEO of COLABS. “Our focus is on building environments where ambitious companies can work more effectively and where networks strengthen over time.”

Faisal AlRashed, Managing Partner at Waseel, said “the partnership reflects deepening economic ties between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and highlights the potential for greater cross-border collaboration across the region.”

Through their curatorial initiative, COLABS Creative Collective (CCC), art, design, and culture are embedded into the COLABS experience, reflecting the shared Saudi–Pakistan Islamic cultural heritage. With local partners such as the Abdul Monem Arts Foundation and Noura Arts, the platform brings together artists from both countries through initiatives like the “Love Across Borders” series by Zahid Mayo and Ola Hejazi, alongside engagements across Lahore and Jeddah.

Beyond entrepreneurship, COLABS is committed to promoting culture, art, and music—deepening the cultural connection between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan.

The campus includes event space for more than 200 people, a rooftop terrace, a podcast studio, and more than 10 meeting rooms, alongside amenities such as a daycare facility and on-site café. COLABS said it will also run a year-round calendar of programming designed to foster interaction among founders, investors, and operators.

COLABS currently operates more than 500,000 square feet of workspace across more than 10 locations, supporting over 5,000 members and 300 companies

About COLABS

COLABS develops and operates workspace campuses designed for startups, SMEs, and enterprise teams, combining physical infrastructure with curated communities and programming. It is supported by regional investors including Shorooq, Waseel Partners, Fatima Gobi Ventures, and Indus Valley Capital, alongside strategic operators across venture and real estate.

Through its campuses, COLABS brings together founders, operators, investors, and creatives into environments designed for focused work and consistent progress. COLABS works alongside 250+ partners across the ecosystem, such as EY, Digital Ocean, Canva, Coca Cola, Spotify, and Endeavor.

For more information, please visit https://www.colabs.sa/

About Waseel Partners 

Waseel Partners is a Saudi privately owned investment group with a regional mandate, boasting a well-diversified portfolio of holdings across the GCC and the broader Middle East. Waseel Partners Investment’s strategic focus spans a range of sectors including capital markets, private equity, venture capital and acquisitions. Key industry focus includes food & beverage, finance, medical, technology, entertainment, hospitality, real-estate and automobile.

For more information please visit: https://waseelinvest.com

About Shorooq

Founded in 2017, Shorooq is the leading alternative investment manager across the Middle East and North Africa regions. The firm’s venture capital and private credit funds invest in the most innovative technology companies, with deep sectoral expertise in Fintech, Platforms, Software, Gaming, and Web3.0. Shorooq has backed market leading disruptors including Pure Harvest Smart Farms, Nymcard, Tamara, Sarwa, Lean Technologies, TruKKer, Mozn and Lendo.

Since its inception, Shorooq was built on the principle of being founders’ partners, company builders and value investors. Shorooq is a pan regional firm with direct and indirect presence across Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Riyadh, Egypt and Korea.

For more information please visit: https://www.shorooq.com

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Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2964469/COLABS_2.jpg

Contact: 
[email protected] 

SOURCE COLABS

La colaboración con LA4LA acelerará la construcción de viviendas asequibles y de uso mixto en el condado de Los Ángeles

SACRAMENTO, California, 23 de abril de 2026 /PRNewswire-HISPANIC PR WIRE/ — Health Net, uno de los planes de atención médica administrada de Medi-Cal con mayor experiencia de California y una empresa de Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC), anunció una inversión de 10 millones de dólares en el “Fondo de garantía” de LA4LA, que respaldará la construcción acelerada de viviendas asequibles y para personas de nivel de ingreso variado en el condado de Los Ángeles.

El “Fondo de garantía” ofrece subsidios con el propósito de ayudar a los promotores de vivienda a acceder con rapidez a financiamiento destinado a proyectos de alquiler asequible y así, reducir los tiempos de puesta en marcha de la construcción y poner más rápidamente a disposición de las comunidades necesitadas las nuevas opciones de vivienda.

“Una vivienda segura y estable es una de las recetas más eficaces para la buena salud; hemos visto que transforma vidas”, afirmó Dorothy Seleski, presidenta de Medi-Cal en Health Net. “Esta inversión no solo financiará proyectos, sino que fomentará la disponibilidad de más viviendas, devolverá la esperanza y ofrecerá a miles de angelinos un futuro más saludable. Esto se traduce en una sensación de estabilidad, así como en conexiones más sólidas con el sistema de atención de salud, menos visitas a la sala de urgencias y más tiempo cada día para que las personas trabajen, aprendan y sanen”.

En el condado de Los Ángeles, existen:

La inversión de Health Net está diseñada para ayudar a subsanar estas deficiencias al facilitar la construcción de viviendas que incluyan una combinación de unidades para familias/personas de bajos ingresos, dependientes de bonos del estado y de ingreso medio, con hasta un 30 % reservado para beneficiarios de bonos de asistencia.

“Esta inversión permitirá mantener el progreso alcanzado hasta ahora al acelerar la construcción de viviendas asequibles y reducir el número de personas sin hogar en Los Ángeles”, señaló la alcaldesa Karen Bass. “Quiero agradecer a los equipos de LA4LA y Health Net por su colaboración constante y por apoyar soluciones innovadoras para subsanar deficiencias y construir viviendas más asequibles y estables en toda la ciudad”.

Cuando las entidades crediticias confían en que los pagos subsidiados, como los bonos de asistencia de la Sección 8 o VASH, se realizarán con toda seguridad, entonces pueden proporcionar préstamos de mayor envergadura y financiar más proyectos. LA4LA ayuda a las entidades crediticias a proporcionar mayores préstamos y fomentar más proyectos de vivienda, especialmente en vecindarios cercanos a centros de trabajo, parques y escuelas, así como en lugares donde los residentes pueden acceder a recursos comunitarios. Esto elimina los déficits de financiamiento que puedan paralizar las construcciones aprobadas y promueve una mayor participación por parte de los propietarios de bienes raíces.

“Agradecemos a Health Net su compromiso con las soluciones de vivienda innovadoras”, comentó Sarah Dusseault, estratega principal de LA4LA. Su inversión en la herramienta de garantía transformará la manera en que los proyectos acceden a financiamiento e incrementará la viabilidad de las viviendas asequibles. A medida que se completen los proyectos y ya no requieran garantías, el capital de Health Net se puede reasignar, lo que genera un ciclo sostenible para respaldar otros proyectos en el transcurso del tiempo”.

La inversión de Health Net se puede invertir en varias obras de construcción en todo el condado y, si se combina con los subsidios públicos y crédito privado, ayuda a promover de manera significativa un mayor desarrollo habitacional en la región.

Esta inversión se basa en el compromiso más amplio de Health Net de resolver el problema habitacional y la carencia de vivienda en toda California. Desde 2020, Health Net ha destinado un total de 93 millones de dólares a inversiones habitacionales y servicios de apoyo para personas sin hogar.

Acerca de Health Net
Health Net, LLC (“Health Net”), una empresa de Centene Corporation, fundada en California hace más de 45 años, considera que todas las personas merecen atención médica de calidad, independientemente de su edad, ingresos, situación laboral o estado de salud actual. En la actualidad, ofrecemos planes de salud para individuos, familias, negocios de todos los tamaños y a quienes califican para Medi-Cal o Medicare. Con más de 117,000 proveedores en nuestra red, Health Net atiende a más de tres millones de afiliados en todo el estado. Asimismo, ofrecemos acceso a programas contra el abuso de sustancias, servicios de salud conductual y productos sanitarios gestionados para acceder a medicamentos con receta. Otorgamos acceso a estos planes y servicios de salud mediante Health Net y sus filiales: Health Net of California, Inc., Health Net Life Insurance Company y Health Net Community Solutions, Inc. Estas entidades son filiales de propiedad exclusiva de Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC), empresa sanitaria líder comprometida con la transformación de la salud en las comunidades que atendemos, una persona a la vez. Health Net y Centene Corporation emplean a más de 5,700 personas en California, que trabajan en una de las cinco oficinas regionales del Centro de talentos. Para obtener más información, visite www.HealthNet.com.
http://www.healthnet.com/

Acerca de LA4LA
LA4LA es una asociación público-privada con sede en la California Community Foundation y respaldada por financiamiento fondo inicial de la Conrad N Hilton Foundation. Nuestros donantes y colaboradores incluyen instituciones filantrópicas y financieras, así como personas y empresas que se preocupan por el futuro de Los Ángeles. LA4LA reúne a expertos en vivienda, desarrollo urbanístico y finanzas para hacer frente a los obstáculos más habituales que paralizan la construcción de viviendas asequibles en la actualidad: escasez de financiamiento, alto costo y volatilidad de los intereses. Para obtener más información o participar, visite www.la4la.org o comuníquese con [email protected].

FUENTE Health Net, LLC

SHENZHEN, China, 23. April 2026 — Pudu Robotics, ein weltweit führendes Unternehmen im Bereich der kommerziellen Servicerobotik, gab heute bekannt, dass es in einer neuen Finanzierungsrunde fast 150 Millionen US-Dollar eingesammelt hat. Nach dieser Finanzierungsrunde hat die Unternehmensbewertung die Marke von 1,5 Milliarden US-Dollar überschritten, was das große Vertrauen des Kapitalmarkts in die technischen Vorteile, die kommerzielle Skalierbarkeit und die weltweite Führungsposition von Pudu widerspiegelt. Mit dieser jüngsten Finanzierungsrunde beläuft sich das Nach dieser Finanzierungsrunde hat die Gesamtfinanzierungsvolumen von Pudu nun auf über 300 Millionen US-Dollar.

Die Finanzmittel werden strategisch eingesetzt, um die Entwicklung von Technologien für verkörperte KI zu beschleunigen, das Produktportfolio des Unternehmens zu erweitern, die globale Marktexpansion voranzutreiben, die Produktionskapazitäten zu vergrößern und die Lieferkettenkapazitäten weiter zu stärken. Diese Initiativen zielen darauf ab, die Führungsposition des Unternehmens im sich rasch entwickelnden Sektor der kommerziellen Servicerobotik zu festigen und eine solide Grundlage für künftige Meilensteine auf dem Kapitalmarkt zu schaffen.

Pudu Robotics hat sich zu einem der am schnellsten wachsenden Unternehmen im Bereich der kommerziellen Servicerobotik entwickelt und verfügt über ein diversifiziertes Portfolio, das Dienstleistungserbringung, gewerbliche Reinigung, industrielle Lieferungen und allgemeine verkörperte KI-Robotik umfasst. Dieser branchenübergreifende Ansatz führte im Jahr 2025 zu einem bemerkenswerten Umsatzanstieg von 100 % gegenüber dem Vorjahr. Insbesondere ist das Segment der gewerblichen Reinigung auf über 70 % des Gesamtumsatzes angewachsen, während die industriellen Lieferroboter eine rasante Verbreitung erfahren haben: Innerhalb von nur einem Jahr nach ihrer Markteinführung wurden über 4.000 Einheiten ausgeliefert.

Dieser kommerzielle Erfolg wird durch die umfassende globale Präsenz von Pudu weiter untermauert, da seine Lösungen von führenden globalen Marken wie Carrefour, Walmart und EDEKA weitreichend eingesetzt werden. Laut der „Marktstudie zur globalen kommerziellen Servicerobotik (2023)” von Frost & Sullivan hält Pudu Robotics einen weltweiten Marktanteil von 23 %, rangiert weltweit an erster Stelle und behauptet seine führende Position in der Branche bei internationalen Einsätzen.

Das Unternehmen mit Hauptsitz in Shenzhen und eigenen Forschungs- und Entwicklungszentren in Chengdu und Hongkong setzt weiterhin neue technische Maßstäbe durch die Full-Stack-Entwicklung von Kernkomponenten, darunter Navigationsalgorithmen, Multi-Roboter-Planung, Bewegungssteuerungen und integrierte Gelenkmodule.

Felix Zhang, Gründer und CEO von Pudu Robotics, sagte: „Dieser Meilenstein bei der Finanzierung ist eine eindrucksvolle Bestätigung für die Branchenführerschaft, die Produkt- und Technologiekompetenz, die globale Marke und die kommerzielle Infrastruktur von Pudu. Mit der Unterstützung unserer strategischen Investoren und Industriepartner wird Pudu die Grenzen der verkörperten KI und der kommerziellen Servicerobotik weiter verschieben. Wir bleiben dem Innovationsgeist eines Erfinders verpflichtet und nutzen unsere globale Vision, um die Einführung von Robotern zu beschleunigen und die Branche in der globalen Wertschöpfungskette auf neue Höhen zu heben.”

Informationen zu Pudu Robotics

Pudu Robotics, ein weltweit führendes Unternehmen im Bereich der gewerblichen Servicerobotik, hat es sich zur Aufgabe gemacht, durch KI und Robotik die Arbeit zu erleichtern und das Leben zu verbessern. Die Vision ist der Aufbau einer globalen intelligenten Robotik-Infrastruktur, die 10 Milliarden Menschen weltweit dient.

Auf der Grundlage von drei Kerntechnologien – Mobilität, Manipulation und Interaktion – hat Pudu Robotics eine Architektur nach dem Prinzip „One Brain, Multiple Embodiments” entwickelt und ein umfassendes Produktportfolio aufgebaut, das Spezialroboter, halbhumanoide Roboter und humanoide Roboter umfasst.

Derzeit bietet Pudu vier zentrale Produktlinien an: Servicerobotik, gewerbliche Reinigung, industrielle Logistik sowie verkörperte KI. Die Lösungen des Unternehmens werden in vielen Branchen eingesetzt, z. B. im Einzelhandel, im Gastgewerbe, in Produktions- und Industrieanlagen, in der Lebensmittel- und Getränkeindustrie, in der Immobilienbranche, im Gesundheitswesen, in der Unterhaltungs- und Sportbranche, im Bildungswesen und in der öffentlichen Verwaltung.

Bis heute hat Pudu Robotics weltweit über 120.000 Einheiten ausgeliefert und ist in mehr als 80 Ländern und Regionen vertreten.

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