Joe Trippi and Lever Communications Team Join Amygdala’s Board of Advisors
WASHINGTON, Aug. 24, 2026 — Amygdala www.amygdala.com, the first enterprise-grade, Neuroscience + GenAi platform built for political campaigns, announced today that Democratic campaign operative and movement politics veteran Joe Trippi has joined its Advisory Board.
Amygdala has developed a first-of-its-kind platform based on blending the neuroscience and the Amygdala response to win elections. “NeuroPolitics” models how voters feel in their non-conscious, and not what they say. Amygdala generates Polling, Messaging and Positioning strategies engineered to persuade and activate voters and donors.
Trippi will bring his decades of political experience helping guide Amygdala along with his veteran campaign team at Lever Communications, including partner and campaign strategist Alex Shashlo. Trippi is currently engaged by multiple statewide battleground races and several Congressional races, along with serving as a senior advisor to the Lincoln Project where he helps direct campaign strategy.
Trippi said, “I believe in leveraging the best technology and aligning it with political movements. Social networks are driving division and fear in our politics and it’s time we fight back with cutting edge neuroscience.”
“I feel as if I have been a voice screaming in the wilderness about how candidates must appeal to more than reason – but primal emotion to activate voters. Understanding and triggering this neural emotion pathway will win both the midterms, and the general election,” said Trippi.
Amygdala was launched by a team of former Nielsen research executives, neuroscientists and political scientists, GenAi engineers, and physicists, from U.C. Berkeley, and political campaign veterans in Washington, DC and Wisconsin. Amygdala is currently providing strategy, polling and messaging for gubernatorial, state senate, and house and U.S. Congressional election campaigns, said the founders.
“Emotions win elections,” said Dr. Robert Tatterson, co-founder and CEO. “At Amygdala we believe the solution creates neural alignment with the electorate. By utilizing deep neuroscience-backed algorithms powered by AI and Voter Digital Twins – models of voters – campaigns can move beyond the blunt guesswork of traditional polling and message testing. When we understand the cognitive pathways of the electorate, we will speak to it with a clarity that has been missing.”
Amygdala has established offices in San Francisco, Washington, and Milwaukee/Chicago. Amygdala’s campaign clients are now in the highly contested Midwest region. Tatterson is a former tech and R&D executive who has more recently run for office and supported other candidates and organizations in the Midwest. Devin Pracar is a founder and strategist.
“That is the larger lesson for candidates and campaign managers looking toward the midterms,” said Pracar, co-founder of Amygdala. “Attraction and activation are neural mechanisms beyond simple logic and reason, especially among GenZ voters, millennials, and seniors.”
Demonstrated success was in the recent Wisconsin Gubernatorial Primary where Amygdala was the single poll that predicted the upset winner. Cost, time efficiency, and accuracy are at the foundation of Amygdala’s Neuroscience-centered approach, said the founders.
Amygdala offers software as a service platform to individual campaigns on a monthly subscription basis. Subscriptions are also available to political consulting firms and other campaign managers. For more information or to schedule a demonstration, please visit: www.amygdala.com
Pay.com.au processes more than US$7 billion annually for 30,000+ Australian businesses; PayRewards enables U.S. SMBs to earn points on commercial rent, supplier invoices and other SMB bills paid by ACH or card
NEW YORK, Aug. 24, 2026 — PayRewards, a rewards-first platform built specifically for small business, launches in the US with US$28 million in new Series E funding, bringing total capital raised to US $70 million. The new U.S. company allows American businesses, which move trillions through accounts payable every year and earn nothing on most of it, to earn rewards points on ALL payments including ACH (bank transfer) and credit card. The round was privately funded by a group of existing and new investors.
PayRewards CEO Blake Hutchison
Parent Pay.com.au, Australia’s largest payments and rewards ecosystem, expands to the U.S. after processing more than US$7 billion in business expenses in the last 12 months, serving more than 30,000 businesses. This represents 100% YoY growth. The new raise follows a November 2025 fundraise totaling A$25 million (approximately US$18 million).
The gap PayRewards is targeting
At a time when American consumers are decidedly rewards-driven, business payments like rent, utilities, taxes often go unrewarded because of credit card restrictions or incompatible payment systems. By using PayRewards, business owners can earn points on all their bill payments, both ACH/bank transfer and credit card, turning previously unrewarded spend into a rewards currency. These points are redeemable across major airline and hotel loyalty programs, cabin and room upgrades, gift cards, employee incentives, custom requests, or credit against future invoices on the platform.
How PayRewards works
Unlike subscription-based bill-pay tools, PayRewards charges no monthly platform fee. A business pays only when it chooses to earn points. And because PayRewards layers its own points on top of whatever card rewards a business already earns, it can, in effect, double the rewards on the same dollar. PayRewards calls this the Double-Dip.
Says PayRewards U.S. CEO Blake Hutchison, “PayRewards is an end-to-end platform making it simple to pay anyone, by card or bank transfer, and earn full credit card and PayRewards Points in return.”
“The rewards are incredibly flexible. It’s the best rewards program we’ve used across our business, and we’re earning points on expenses we’d be paying anyway,” says Steve Shillington, McDonald’s franchisee and PayRewards customer.
PayRewards is available to U.S. small businesses in most U.S. states*. For more information, visit Payrewards.com.
About PayRewards
PayRewards is the U.S. arm of Australia-based Pay.com.au, a rewards-first platform that lets businesses earn points on payments that traditionally go unrewarded, including bank transfers, alongside the rewards they already earn on card spend. Members can redeem points across a growing network of airline and hotel partners, plus gift cards, employee incentives, concierge redemptions, and credit toward other invoices.
About Pay.com.au
Founded in 2019, Pay.com.au is an Australian payments and rewards platform. In the last 12 months the platform has processed more than A$10 billion in business expenses and serves more than 30,000 businesses. Pay.com.au allows businesses to pay suppliers, tax, payroll, and other expenses while earning PayRewards points, redeemable across a network of 16 global airline, hotel, and card partners.
The Scout Program, developed by The AmeriFlex Group, creates complete profiles for hundreds of advisors in need of succession planning support in minutes
LAS VEGAS, Aug. 24, 2026 — The AmeriFlex Group® (or “the firm”), an advisor-owned hybrid RIA recognized for its planning-first approach and succession solutions, today announced it has developed a proprietary AI-enabled program that analyzes hundreds of firms and creates comprehensive profiles of each in the time it once took to review a single practice. The program, called Scout, is currently being tested in five key markets for The AmeriFlex Group® and will be rolled out nationally next year.
“Scout is a gold miner that quickly and efficiently identifies financial advisors who are at or near succession in their practices, allowing our team to focus more on helping them maximize the value of their own life’s work,” said Thomas Goodson, founder and CEO of The AmeriFlex Group®. “By developing this program, we can move more quickly to bring together advisors entering the final stage of their careers with advisors hungry for additional growth, while focusing on the critical cultural aspects of these connections. This program frees us up to build our firm sustainably.”
How Scout Works
Built in part with Anthropic’s Claude AI solution, the team applies this tool to a variety of public and proprietary data sources to develop a profile of firms that may need support with long-term succession planning. Using these profiles, The AmeriFlex Group’s succession specialists can more efficiently initiate conversations and engagement with more practices, while freeing them up to ensure a personalized and smooth transition.
“The scale of the succession crisis required a different approach and a new set of solutions,” said Jesse Kurrasch, Chief Operating Officer of The AmeriFlex Group®. “This tool enables our team to help more advisors, scale our business and ensure we have the time and resources to give these advisors the support they rightfully expect as they consider the final chapter in their working lives.”
By leveraging this program, along with other growth initiatives, The AmeriFlex Group® expects to expand its advisor ranks by 100 advisors in the next 24 months. Earlier this year, the firm announced it welcomed 18 advisors to the platform, representing more than $1.7 billion in total client assets in the first half of 2026. In January, the firm announced it had secured a strategic minority investment from its broker-dealer partner, Cambridge Investment Research.
About The AmeriFlex Group® The AmeriFlex Group® is recognized as The Home for Hybrids® (www.HomeForHybrids.com) — BD/RIA Transitional Wealth Planners™. The RIA is owned and operated by its advisor members and partners. Securities offered through Registered Representatives of Cambridge Investment Research, Inc., a broker-dealer, Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services offered through The AmeriFlex Group®, a Registered Investment Adviser. Cambridge is a minority owner of The AmeriFlex Group®. Other entities and/or marketing names, products or services referenced here are independent of Cambridge.
SEONGNAM, South Korea, Aug. 23, 2026 — Rznomics Inc.(KOSDAQ: 476830), a biopharmaceutical company specializing in the development of RNA-based gene therapies, announced that it is joining Lilly Gateway Labs (LGL) in San Diego, California.
Lilly Gateway Labs is a best-in-class innovation hub designed to empower biotechnology companies to advance groundbreaking science by providing access to wet lab facilities and opportunities to engage with Lilly scientists and executives. Lilly Gateway Labs is part of Lilly Catalyze360, alongside Lilly Ventures, Lilly ExploR&D, and Lilly TuneLab, which together support biotech innovation by providing access to strategic capital, lab space and technology, and research and development capabilities.
Through its entry into Lilly Gateway Labs, Rznomics plans to accelerate candidate discovery and development across its target gene database bank comprising over 200 disease targets, while simultaneously driving long-term efforts to establish global clinical infrastructure for its lead pipelines, expand global strategic partnerships, and recruit top-tier R&D researchers in the U.S.
“Joining Lilly Gateway Labs in San Diego represents a meaningful milestone for Rznomics’ proprietary RNA platform,” said Seong-Wook Lee, CEO of Rznomics. “We intend to advance the development and commercialization of our RNA therapeutics by active collaboration with the global biotech ecosystem.”
About Rznomics Inc. Rznomics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company based in South Korea focused on developing RNA-based gene therapies. The company’s proprietary trans-splicing ribozyme platform enables precise RNA editing and has broad applicability across multiple indications. The company signed a research collaboration and license agreement with global pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company in May 2025 for the development of a novel RNA editing therapeutic and listed on the KOSDAQ market in December 2025. (KOSDAQ 476830)
ATLANTA, Aug. 21, 2026 — Ace Pickleball Club Media (“APCM”), a media and marketing company, today announced two major milestones: the launch of the inaugural issue of Beyond The Bounce, its new pickleball and lifestyle digital magazine, and the opening of a Regulation Crowdfunding (“Reg CF”) investment opportunity in APCM for everyday investors.
The announcements mark the next stage in Ace Pickleball Club’s strategy to build an integrated media platform connecting pickleball players, consumers, brands and businesses across digital media and real-world experiences.
APCM operates three complementary businesses: Beyond The Bounce, focused on content and media; Courtside XP, focused on experiential advertising; and HI Digital Group, focused on marketing services.
Beyond The Bounce: Just the Beginning
The inaugural issue of Beyond The Bounce introduces a new voice for the sport, delivering insights, strategy and analysis designed to improve players’ performance on the court and in their everyday lives. Its coverage extends across performance, nutrition, wellness, equipment and technology, travel, and the people and businesses shaping the industry’s future.
The editorial platform will expand beyond the digital magazine into the website, newsletters, streaming, podcasting, social media, and other owned channels.
“The growth of pickleball has created a massive audience that we believe deserves more than just what happens between the lines of the court,” said Jay Diederich, Founder and CEO of Ace Pickleball Club Media. “The current media landscape is a sea of sameness, and we’re charting a new course. Scaling our clubs responsibly across the country will take years. Beyond The Bounce allows us to reach players in every market immediately while applying the same approach we bring to our clubs daily, challenging the status quo and creating the best player experience possible.”
Three Businesses. One Media Ecosystem.
Beyond The Bounce serves as APCM’s audience-building engine across its digital magazine, website, newsletters, podcasts, video, social media, and streaming.
Courtside XP connects brands with consumers in physical environments through display and audio advertising, product sampling, event activations, sponsorships, and experiential campaigns.
HI Digital Group combines human strategy, creative development, and digital systems to help brands build audiences and drive measurable growth.
Together, the businesses are designed to connect content, audience, advertisers and real-world experiences, combining digital media with physical retail and sports media opportunities.
Built on an Existing Pickleball Ecosystem
APCM is being built in connection with the growing Ace Pickleball Club ecosystem. According to company investor materials, that ecosystem currently includes more than 25,000 members, 200,000 email subscribers, 2.5 million annual website visits, 1.5 million annual club visits and 40,000 social followers.
That foundation provides APCM with the opportunity to connect digital audience engagement with consumers physically participating in the sport.
“Most media companies can reach an audience through a screen,” Diederich said. “Our opportunity is to connect content, digital engagement and real-world participation. We believe that combination can create something fundamentally different for our members, players, advertisers and partners.”
APCM Opens Regulation Crowdfunding Investment
Alongside the magazine launch, APCM has opened a Regulation Crowdfunding investment opportunity, allowing eligible members of the public to invest in the parent company behind Beyond The Bounce, Courtside XP and HI Digital Group, with a minimum investment of $500.
Capital raised is expected to support content creation, technology, video production, audience growth, sales, events, expansion of the experiential advertising network, agency growth and working capital.
“Our goal isn’t simply to publish a magazine or sell advertising inside pickleball clubs,” said Joe Sexton, Co-Founder and President of Ace Pickleball Club Media. “We’re building the infrastructure that connects the greater audience beyond our clubs, content, physical experiences and the brands that want to participate in this rapidly expanding community. We chose crowdfunding to help fuel that expansion, so our members, players and supporters of the sport have an opportunity to own a part of that future.”
Read. Experience. Invest.
The inaugural issue of Beyond The Bounce is available at BeyondTheBounce.com.
Information about Ace Pickleball Club Media and its Regulation Crowdfunding offering is available at invest.acepickleballclub.com.
About Ace Pickleball Club Media
Ace Pickleball Club Media (APCM) is a diversified media and marketing company building an integrated platform around the growing pickleball and active lifestyle audience. APCM operates Beyond The Bounce, Courtside XP and HI Digital Group, connecting audiences, advertisers, brands and experiences across digital and physical channels.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and the future performance of Ace Pickleball Club Media. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Prospective investors should review the complete offering materials, including applicable risk factors, available through the official investment portal.
Wiktoria Pawlak receives an O’Shaughnessy Fellowship to build an AI model that decodes cells’ electrical signals, enabling therapies that guide regeneration rather than relying on drugs.
GREENWICH, Conn., Aug. 21, 2026 — O’Shaughnessy Ventures LLC (OSV), an investment firm that empowers creators, has awarded an O’Shaughnessy Fellowship to Wiktoria Pawlak, a bioengineer and AI researcher based in Poland.
Wiktoria Pawlak, a Poland-based bioengineer and AI researcher, has received a 2026 O’Shaughnessy Fellowship to build an AI model that decodes the electrical patterns cells use to guide healing, growth and regeneration.
Pawlak will use the fellowship to build an AI model trained to recognize the recurring electrical patterns cells use to guide their own healing, growth and regeneration. She will apply that work toward new electroceutical therapies that use electrical signals, rather than drugs, to treat disease. Rather than looking at each electrical signal from a cell in isolation, Pawlak’s model looks for patterns across time, revealing how tissue organizes itself as it recovers. Over the next 12 months, she plans to build and validate a proof of concept that identifies whether tissue is healthy or diseased, predicts how it will change, and isolates which patterns matter most for one disease model, beginning with cancer.
Pawlak earned a Master of Engineering in bioengineering from the University of California, Berkeley, where she was a Rafał Brzoska Foundation scholar and received the Fung Institute’s MEng Opportunity Award. At Berkeley, she co-developed a platform for electrically stimulating heart cells and built CellLense, a computer-vision system for cardiac-cell microscopy. Previously, at Tilburg University, she modeled how the electrical signals inside glial cells, the brain’s support cells, shift as they transition toward glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer. Earlier, she researched brain-inspired chip designs for neural implants at the medical technology company ni2o and worked on connectomics, the mapping of neural connections, at the Friedrich Miescher Institute. In 2026, Forbes Women Poland named her to its list of 26 women to watch this year.
OSV’s founder and CEO, Jim O’Shaughnessy, commented, “Wiktoria’s resume speaks for itself. She’s been working at the frontier of bioelectricity for years, and has the intelligence and ambition to turn that work into something transformative for patients. We’re honored to be backing her.”
“Some ideas ask us not to be certain, but not to be afraid. Joining the O’Shaughnessy Fellowships gives me the community and support to pursue my research further with that kind of courage,” said Pawlak.
About the O’Shaughnessy Fellowships Program
Launched in 2023, the O’Shaughnessy Fellowships program discovers and empowers the world’s boldest creatives, builders and researchers. Fellows receive a grant of up to $100,000 and gain access to OSV’s network of founders, investors and experts. OSV will award up to 20 fellowships in 2026.
Pawlak is the twentieth fellow announced in 2026. More information about previous fellows is available at OSV’s website.
Applications for the O’Shaughnessy Fellowships are now closed and will reopen on Jan. 1, 2027. Individuals interested in applying can do so via OSV’s website.
About O’Shaughnessy Ventures
OSV is a creative investment firm that empowers creators to bring their ideas to life. Founded by Jim O’Shaughnessy, a pioneer in quantitative investing, founder of O’Shaughnessy Asset Management, and author of five books, OSV aims to provide financial support and to partner in growing the next life-changing creative ideas.
OSV combines Jim’s deeply rooted interest in all things art, science, investing and technology with his long-held desire to establish scenarios designed to help promising creators and their inspiring ideas succeed, regardless of age, location, job history or level of education. For more information, visit OSV’s website.
Media Contact: Ena Gong O’Shaughnessy Ventures LLC (917) 355-7420 [email protected]
Fellows supported by NextLadder Ventures, MIT Lab, and Anthropic showcase new purpose-built tech at AI for Social Impact Fellowship Demo Day
Four frontline organizations commit to quickly scaling tools developed in collaboration with graduate fellows
SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 20, 2026 — NextLadder Ventures, The Bike Shop @ MIT, and Anthropic yesterday co-hosted a Demo Day at Anthropic’s headquarters that featured new Navigation Technology (NavTech) solutions designed to improve economic outcomes for individuals and families. The tools were developed by four teams of graduate students from MIT and Harvard as part of the inaugural class of the AI for Social Impact Fellowship, working alongside four frontline organizations that serve economically disadvantaged Americans.
Yesterday’s presentation marked the conclusion of the fellowship program, which supported students in building practical NavTech: an emerging category of tools that harness cutting-edge AI to deliver at scale highly personalized support through the high-stakes moments that impact a family’s economic future.
Following Demo Day, each participating organization is today announcing immediate plans to scale the new products developed by the fellows, extending their expertise to more individuals and families in need of support:
Money Management International, one of the largest nonprofit credit counseling organizations in the country, is rolling out a call intelligence tool that securely reviews debt counselors’ calls and gives them feedback to adopt the behaviors linked to higher enrollment in proven debt repayment solutions. The tool incorporates frontline expertise that frontier models don’t have and will be available to all of the organization’s debt counselors. MMI will continue to collaborate with The Bike Shop to refine and improve the tool to increase positive outcomes for individuals in financial distress nationwide.
Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO), the largest reentry employment provider in the country, is integrating a new evaluation and monitoring tool for CEO’s AI voice coach that supports people leaving incarceration with interview preparation for finding and keeping jobs. The fellows redesigned the AI coach to improve interview readiness, laying the groundwork for a successful expanded deployment of CEO’s tool across the 8,000 recently incarcerated job seekers it serves across the country every year.
Climb Together, a nonprofit helping students and jobseekers unlock career opportunities through human connections, is adding a new feature to their AI coach that gives feedback on real-life networking conversations. Users can upload a recorded conversation and receive targeted feedback on whether they gave a compelling introduction, asked the right questions and made an appropriate ask.The tool will be available across the roughly 9,000 career conversations their participants will have this fall.
Neighborhood Trust Financial Partners, a national nonprofit providing financial coaching and navigation to low-wage workers within employer, financial services, and housing channels, is integrating a tool that helps coaches arrive at debt reduction paths more quickly by analyzing bank and credit statements during a call. This tool will be accessible to all of the organization’s financial coaches and made available to allied coaching providers via Neighborhood Trust’s technical assistance and capacity building solutions.
“At its core, NavTech offers the potential to transform how millions of low-income people navigate life’s biggest economic decisions and challenges,” said Ryan Rippel, CEO and co-founder of NextLadder Ventures. “This collaboration is a testament to the promise of this sector, delivering tools that help individuals build better lives today while laying the groundwork for a growing ecosystem of developers and entrepreneurs that can propel the field forward long-term. We’re grateful to our partners and look forward to seeing the impact this tremendous group of fellows will continue to make in the years to come.”
“We are proud of our fellows, for dedicating their summers to impactful, mission-driven work.” said MIT Professor Sendhil Mullainathan, who leads The Bike Shop. “They’re working towards realizing a more ambitious vision of AI where technology truly enhances human capacity. The four projects showcase what a ‘bicycle for the mind’ can look like in practice.”
At maturity, the NavTech market has the potential to help millions of Americans better navigate their unique economic challenges and build more secure financial lives. The summer fellowship from NextLadder, The Bike Shop, and Anthropic was designed to both test and deliver new NavTech tools that make a tangible impact on daily lives, while expanding the pipeline of talented developers needed to grow the field.
About NextLadder Ventures: NextLadder Ventures is a time-bound venture with one goal: empower millions of Americans to reach their potential by 2040. Backed by over $1 billion in capital, the organization invests in breakthrough technologies that remove barriers to economic success and put people in control of their futures. NextLadder Ventures is trailblazing a new market for tech-enabled Navigation Technology tools that help people access the resources they need to navigate pivotal moments — offering flexible, risk-tolerant capital to entrepreneurs building these transformative tools today, while creating a pipeline of tech, talent, and capital for the long run. To learn more, visit nextladder.com.
About The Bike Shop @ MIT: The Bike Shop is an applied AI research lab at MIT’s Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS), working at the intersection of economics and computer science to build algorithms that enhance human capacity. To learn more, visit thebikeshop.mit.edu.
QuickFund helps eligible traders pursue funded proprietary trading accounts, providing an alternative path to participating in the markets without relying solely on personal trading capital.
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Aug. 20, 2026 — The growth of proprietary trading firms has created additional options for traders seeking access to larger trading accounts without committing substantial amounts of their own capital. QuickFund AI is helping traders navigate this model by providing a streamlined pathway to funded proprietary trading accounts through compatible third-party firms.
Unlike a traditional brokerage account, where the trader deposits and trades personal funds, proprietary trading firms provide eligible traders with access to firm-provided capital after specific requirements are met. This model allows traders to pursue funded trading capital while limiting the amount of personal capital they need to commit directly to a trading account.
QuickFund AI is designed to simplify the process of pursuing these funded accounts. The service works with compatible proprietary trading firms and assists traders through the account funding process, reducing some of the complexity that can come with navigating different firms, account structures, and requirements independently.
For traders using compatible TruTrade technology, funded accounts can also be paired with AI-driven trading software designed to automate trade execution and position management. This combination gives traders the ability to use funded trading capital alongside automated technology while maintaining control over their software settings and risk parameters.
Funded trading does not eliminate risk, and proprietary trading firms maintain their own rules, evaluation requirements, account parameters, and funding criteria. QuickFund AI operates independently of these firms and does not make funding or account approval decisions. Those decisions remain solely with the selected proprietary trading firm and are subject to its individual terms and requirements.
As traders consider different ways to participate in the financial markets, funded proprietary trading accounts provide another option alongside traditional self-funded brokerage accounts. QuickFund‘s role is to make that option easier to navigate by connecting eligible traders with compatible funded account opportunities and providing ongoing support throughout the process.
By combining access to funded trading capital with compatible AI-driven trading technology, QuickFund AI provides traders with another way to structure their trading experience without relying exclusively on substantial personal capital.
New Zealand-based deep tech marine company backed by Blackbird VC announces FlyTahoe as its first U.S. customer, marking a broader U.S. expansion that includes showcases in New York City, Washington, D.C.’s Navy Yard, and Lake Tahoe
AUCKLAND, New Zealand, Aug. 20, 2026 — Vessev, a deep tech marine company changing the way the world moves on water, today announced $19 million in Series A and follow-on financing, its first U.S. commercial customer, FlyTahoe, an emerging sustainable water transit network operator in Lake Tahoe, CA, and a series of high-profile U.S. activations across, New York City, Washington, D.C. and Lake Tahoe that mark the company’s entry into the U.S. market.
Vessev co-founder and CEO, Eric Laakmann, aboard Vessev’s VS–9 electric hydrofoiling passenger vessel. Photo credit: Derek Henderson.
A render of FlyTahoe’s VS–9, the electric hydrofoiling vessel set to operate on Lake Tahoe. Image courtesy of Vessev.
Together, these milestones establish Vessev’s commercial, governmental, and industry presence as it enters the United States, showcasing its electric hydrofoiling technology to customers, policymakers, investors, media and maritime leaders.
The funding was led by Blackbird Ventures, an early backer of Canva and one of Australia’s leading venture firms. New investors GD1 and Rypples joined the round alongside existing investors K1W1 (early investor in Rocket Lab), Icehouse Ventures (early investor in Halter), Shasta Ventures, NZVC, and existing angel investors. The capital will accelerate in-house serial production of Vessev’s VS–9 vessel line, expand the company’s global go-to-market team, advance development of its onboard software and telemetry platform, accelerate the development of larger vessels, and support plans to manufacture in the United States.
“Hydrofoiling doesn’t just make boats better, it redefines what’s possible on water,” said Eric Laakmann, co-founder and CEO of Vessev. “By combining electric propulsion, advanced foiling systems, and software, we’re making vessels significantly more efficient, better for passengers and more scalable for operators. Lake Tahoe is an ideal place to demonstrate our technology and we’re excited to work with our first U.S. customer, FlyTahoe, to help communities rethink mobility on the lake, offering a faster, more reliable alternative.”
Lake Tahoe welcomes more than 15 million visitors annually, yet congestion around the lake has become a persistent challenge for residents and visitors alike, with up to 20,000 vehicle trips a day between North and South Shore. FlyTahoe wants to offer a faster, more reliable alternative by moving people over water instead of around it.
“This technology unlocks an entirely new era of sustainable water transit – offering a faster alternative to Tahoe’s infamous traffic while helping preserve the lake’s famous clarity,” said Ryan Meinzer, Founder & CEO of FlyTahoe. “We’re proud to be Vessev’s first U.S. customer and to add the VS–9 to our growing fleet of electric hydrofoiling vessels.”
Vessev’s first stop and debut in the U.S. will be in New York City just ahead of New York Climate Week, with demonstrations continuing throughout the week, showcasing its technology in a city where waterways have long been central to moving people. As New York looks to expand sustainable transportation options and reduce pressure on its streets, electric hydrofoiling offers a new model for faster, quieter, and more efficient ferry services that could serve as a blueprint for cities across the United States and around the world.
Timed with America’s 250th anniversary, Vessev’s next U.S. stop will be the Washington, D.C. Navy Yard on the historic Potomac River in late September. In collaboration with the DC Mobility Innovation District, the company will host a series of on-water demonstrations for government leaders, media, investors, and industry partners.
The U.S. debut will also include on-water demonstrations at Lake Tahoe, showcasing the VS–9 in one of the country’s most iconic waterways. Together, the Washington, New York and Lake Tahoe initiatives form Vessev’s U.S. go-to-market strategy, bringing electric hydrofoiling directly to the policymakers, operators, investors and industry leaders shaping the future of transportation while showcasing real-world commercial demand.
Vessev’s electric hydrofoiling technology allows vessels to lift above the water, eliminating hull drag and producing virtually no wake. The foil systems, inspired by America’s Cup racing designs, dynamically adjust to changing conditions up to 100 times per second, delivering a smooth, stable ride that is three times more efficient than conventional vessels. Powered by advanced sensing and telemetry, Vessev’s technology unlocks entirely new transportation applications.
As it expands in the U.S., Vessev plans to work with U.S.-based shipbuilders while continuing to design, engineer and build its core technology in-house, including foils, hardware, and flight control systems, maintaining a tightly integrated technology stack that enables high performance and full quality control across all areas.
FlyTahoe selected the VS–9 for its purpose-built commercial design and premium passenger experience, with panoramic glass windows, connecting passengers to Lake Tahoe’s scenery. Its efficiency in both size and charging requirements makes it easy to integrate with existing marina infrastructure, and well suited for FlyTahoe’s planned operations.
FlyTahoe’s proposed sustainable water transit network is highlighted in the Lake Tahoe Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) and remains subject to Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA) permits and approvals that FlyTahoe is actively working to obtain.
A foundational technology
Electric hydrofoiling is emerging as a foundational technology for maritime transport. By unlocking battery electric propulsion with greater range and simpler charging, it enables smaller, more agile vessels and a superior onboard experience. No equivalent technology exists in aviation or automotive that can deliver this level of performance gain.
“Vessev is bringing world-class engineering from Apple, Tesla, the America’s Cup and Rocket Lab to a massive, long-stagnant industry,” said Phoebe Harrop Meadows, Partner at Blackbird. “Its combination of foiling technology and software unlocks lower operating costs while improving the passenger experience, and shows how waterways can function as near-zero-emission transit networks, the U.S. and beyond.”
With more than 11,000 nautical miles logged, the VS–9 is a commercially certified vessel already operating in commercial service in New Zealand, with demand now spanning five continents. The 10-passenger, battery-electric vessel has a range of up to 40 nautical miles with a full load, and 50 nautical miles with a light load. Larger platforms are in development.
The combination of commercial certification, passenger comfort, and operating efficiency explains why Vessev is now working with cities and operators globally, including projects underway in Northern Ireland, Sydney and Hobart, to activate underutilized waterways as scalable transit networks.
Vessev builds electric hydrofoiling technology that is designed to change how the world moves on the water. Based in Auckland, New Zealand, the company develops all of its core technology in-house, from the hull and foils through to the hardware and flight control systems. The team draws experience from the America’s Cup, Rocket Lab, Apple and Tesla to deliver vessels that are purpose-built for global commercial operations. Vessels are commercially certified and in service across New Zealand, with orders globally. Learn more at www.vessev.com.
About FlyTahoe
Featuring America’s first electric flying ferry, FlyTahoe is developing a sustainable water transit network on Lake Tahoe. Our vision is to cut travel time in half for the 20,000 daily drivers traveling between North and South Tahoe while preserving the lake’s clarity by eliminating road sediment and emissions. With 10x operational efficiency gains from electric hydrofoil technology, our model will unlock profitability while making flying across Lake Tahoe cheaper than driving around it. FlyTahoe is highlighted in the Lake Tahoe Regional Transportation Plan. Learn more at flytahoe.com.
