El Paso, Little Rock and Oakland make up the inaugural cohort for the multiyear initiative connecting local government with mission-driven, gap-closing startups

OAKLAND, Calif., Sept. 23, 2026 — Today at the Clinton Global Initiative, the Kapor Center announced El Paso, Texas; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Oakland, California, as the first cohort selected to overhaul how their governments partner with the startups working to solve urgent public problems in order to improve millions of American lives. As part of the Kapor Center’s PRIME Alliance, the initial cohort will take on a multiyear initiative connecting government with gap-closing startups building solutions to urgent challenges in areas such as housing, child care, health care, education, workforce development, and financial stability. Together they form the inaugural cohort that will help build a practical model for how governments and mission-driven entrepreneurs can work together.

“Oakland is where this work was born, and we intend to be the city that proves it can work,” said Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee. “Too many good solutions stall before they ever reach the people who need them. By joining this alliance, we’re committing to open our doors to the founders solving real problems in areas that make a difference, and make it easier for them to partner with the city that’s been their home.”

The selections mark the moment the PRIME Alliance moves from research to implementation. Over the coming months, the Kapor Center will work with leaders in each jurisdiction to identify priority challenges, connect governments with gap-closing founders, and test new approaches to partnership and adoption that other jurisdictions can learn from. The PRIME Alliance follows a Kapor Center report, Breaking Down Barriers, based on more than 60 entrepreneurs and investors who together hold over 3,000 public-sector contracts.

“Little Rock is proving that a capital city in the heart of the country can lead on innovation,” said Little Rock Mayor Frank Scott, Jr. “We’ve already moved to put smart, responsible technology to work for our residents, and this alliance lets us go further — opening our doors to founders whose solutions can make government faster, fairer, and more effective. This is an investment in Little Rock’s future as a place where entrepreneurs know their work can matter.”

The report found that the main barriers founders face are drawn-out contracting timelines, hard-to-find government buyers, inconsistent applications, and compliance requirements that are difficult for small companies to meet. It estimates that gaps in sectors such as housing, education, health care, and child care cost the U.S. economy more than $5 trillion a year, and that a 2 percent improvement would add about $100.7 billion annually. The report also points to early results at the state level: a partnership with Binti drove a 33 percent increase in the share of foster youth placed with families in Maryland.

“El Paso has always been a city that builds. Our problem has never been a shortage of good ideas; it’s the systems that slow them down,” said El Paso Mayor Renard U. Johnson. “We’re changing that. We want the folks who are solving real problems for our families to work with the City effectively and often, and this initiative is a step in the right direction.”

“Founders kept telling us the same thing: the hardest part of solving a public problem isn’t building the solution, it’s getting through the government’s front door,” said Chike Aguh, Head of Innovation and Strategy for Gap-Closing Startups at the Kapor Center. “El Paso, Little Rock, and Oakland are choosing to change that, pairing the speed of a startup with the scale of government, so good ideas reach families in months, not years.”

For more information, visit: https://www.kaporcenter.org/primealliance/ 

About the PRIME Alliance
The PRIME Alliance is a multiyear Kapor Center initiative that brings local and state governments together with gap-closing startups — companies whose products are designed to close opportunity gaps in areas such as child care, housing, health care, education, workforce development, and financial stability. Led by Chike Aguh, the Alliance grew out of the Kapor Center’s 2026 report, Breaking Down Barriers: Overcoming Government Hurdles for Gap-Closing Founders, which drew on more than 60 entrepreneurs and investors with experience across over 3,000 public-sector contracts and estimated as much as $100.7 billion in potential annual economic gains from faster, more effective public-private partnerships. Learn more at kaporcenter.org/primealliance.

About the Kapor Center
The Kapor Center works to make the technology and entrepreneurship ecosystem more diverse, equitable, and inclusive. Its work spans expanding access to technology and computer science education, conducting research on access and opportunity in computing, investing in community organizations and gap-closing ventures, and broadening access to capital for entrepreneurs from underrepresented backgrounds.

SOURCE Kapor Center

Veteran technology and finance executive of Nielson, Amazon, Delta Airlines, NBC to chair the board’s audit committee

LOUISVILLE, Colo., Sept. 23, 2026 — Sierra Space, a defense-tech space company delivering solutions for the nation’s most critical missions and advancing the future of security in space, today announced the appointment of Warren Jenson to its board of directors. Jenson will serve as chair of the board’s audit committee, bringing more than three decades of financial, operational and technology leadership experience at some of the world’s leading companies.

“Warren’s experience spans technology, media, aviation and entertainment, giving him a rare, cross-industry view of how businesses navigate complex private and public capital markets,” said Fatih Ozmen, founder and chair of the board of Sierra Space. “That breadth of perspective, paired with his deep financial expertise and public-company rigor, makes him exceptionally well suited to chair our audit committee. We are pleased to welcome Warren to the board as Sierra Space continues to execute its strategy and strengthen the company for what lies ahead.”

Jenson has held senior executive roles across the technology, media, aviation and entertainment industries. He currently serves as chief financial officer of Polymarket. Most recently, he served as president and chief financial officer of Nielsen. Previously, he was president, CFO and executive managing director of international at LiveRamp. Earlier in his career, Jenson served as CFO of Electronic Arts, Amazon, Delta Air Lines and NBC. Jenson currently serves on the boards of DigitalOcean, Ripple, Dropbox, bringing extensive corporate governance experience across technology and global businesses. He also chairs the audit committees of DigitalOcean and Dropbox.

“I’ve spent my career helping companies grow from ambitious ideas into disciplined, enduring businesses—from Amazon and Electronic Arts in their growth years to Nielsen and LiveRamp,” said Warren Jenson. “Sierra Space is at a similarly pivotal stage, with an opportunity to translate extraordinary technical capability into sustained growth. I’m looking forward to helping the board and management team build the financial discipline this mission demands.”

“Warren understands what it takes to build and operate complex businesses at scale,” said Dan Jablonsky, CEO of Sierra Space. “His perspective as both a seasoned global operator, executive and experienced board director will be invaluable as we continue to strengthen our business, expand our capabilities and deliver on increasingly complex missions for our customers. I look forward to working with Warren and drawing on his experience as we position Sierra Space for long-term growth.”

About Sierra Space
With more than three decades of spaceflight heritage and a track record supporting more than 500 missions, Sierra Space is a defense-tech space company headquartered in Colorado, with operations nationwide. Across our two business segments—Satellites & Spacecraft Missions and Space Subsystems—we design, manufacture, and deliver a diverse portfolio of satellites, space transportation vehicles, and space subsystems, including power and precision systems, hypersonics and propulsion, and in-space infrastructure.

With expansive classified and unclassified infrastructure and flight-proven technology, Sierra Space supports national security, civil, and commercial customers, safeguarding the nation, protecting space-based assets, and supporting space exploration and economic development.

MEDIA CONTACT: 
[email protected]

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SOURCE Sierra Space

• $450 million debt financing led by J.P. Morgan, Capital One and Citi comprises a $400 million term loan and $50 million revolving credit facility.
• Revamped Bird platform builds on giving AI agents access to the outer world in a regulated compliance-focused Agentic Harness to send messages, make calls, and manage email directly, as Bird accelerates its push into the US.
• Bird generated $165 million EBITDA in 2025 following extensive automation across the business.

NEW YORK and AMSTERDAM, Sept. 23, 2026 — AI communications infrastructure company Bird.com has completed a $450 million debt financing, led by J.P. Morgan, and unveiled a revamped Agentic Harness platform that now lets AI agents send messages, place calls, manage email, and even get their own eSIM phone plan on Bird’s network without custom integration.

The platform forms part of Bird’s broader repositioning to serve the growing agent economy as the company accelerates its push into the US.

This follows a two-year period during which the company continued to grow, generated $165 million EBITDA in 2025 and extensively automated its operations.

Bird’s headcount has fallen from more than 1,000 at its peak to 120 today, driven by extensive automation across the business rather than a retreat from the market. The automation drive has resulted in higher productivity and lower prices for customers, with some channels costing 90% less than competitors.

Robert Vis, founder and CEO of Bird.com, said:

“This is the direction the global economy is heading in, and we as a company have demonstrated how automation can work. We didn’t automate to cut headcount, we did it to become more productive, and the headcount came down as a result.”

“Half the apps on your phone rely on our infrastructure, and yet we’re running this business at a fraction of the size we used to be. You can’t do that unless you’re automated in a way that would have sounded crazy a few years ago.“

The $450 million financing comprises a $400 million term loan and $50 million revolving credit facility. It is structured as a dividend recapitalization, providing liquidity to Bird’s existing shareholders, including current and former employees with equity in the company. The financing involved seven banks, including J.P. Morgan, Capital One and Citi.

Shikha Goyal-Allain, Managing Director and Market Executive, Innovation Economy, Commercial Banking at J.P. Morgan, said:

“We’re seeing significant growth in agentic AI, and we expect that to keep accelerating as agents transact and communicate on people’s behalf. Bird has built a business combining scale, a lean operating model and sustained profitability. Leading this financing reflects our confidence in Bird’s fundamentals and in Robert’s track record of running a highly efficient, profitable business as it takes on its next chapter.”

Bird’s revamped platform includes a new layer — its Agentic Harness — specifically designed for AI agents to use Bird’s products via the technical protocols they rely on to connect to software, with full access to create, update and manage information across Bird’s systems on their own, so no human needs to log in. Operational mechanics that previously had to be handled manually by developers, including how message delivery differs by country and how to reach an inbox differently depending on the provider, can now be executed without a human in the loop. Agents’ ability to manage the Harness end-to-end is a significant differentiator versus competitors such as Twilio where agents’ access is more limited. Further, the platform connects to multiple major AI models rather than a single one, giving Bird’s customers enormous flexibility.

Robert Vis added:

“The world is filling up with AI agents. They can reason, plan and decide. But an agent that can’t send the email, fire the text or pick up the phone never actually achieves anything. We’ve built the layer that lets AI take actions in the real world. With Bird, every app or web application can communicate through ChatGPT, Claude or Cursor, making the agent economy work.”

Notes to editors

J.P. Morgan led the financing as joint lead arranger, joint bookrunner and administrative agent, with Capital One and Citi as joint lead arrangers and joint bookrunners. Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Flagstar and Huntington are also in the lender syndicate.

About Bird.com

Bird.com is an AI communications infrastructure company founded in 2011 by Robert Vis. It is the messaging infrastructure of the modern internet, moving trillions of messages a year. It offers one API for email, SMS, WhatsApp, voice and RCS, built so that developers and AI agents can reach the world in a few lines of code. It is trusted by enterprises across 150+ countries and is dual-headquartered in New York and Amsterdam. Learn more at bird.com.

CAMDEN, Del., Sept. 23, 2026 — The latest round was led by Electric Capital, with participation from New Form Capital, Generative Ventures, Fasanara Capital, 2Square, 4th Revolution Capital, DCFGod, The Rollup and others.

Since launching in June 2025, infiniFi has generated over $9M in yield while reaching an all-time high of $180M in TVL.

In a little over a year, infiniFi has now generated more yield than the company has raised in outside capital.

From Thesis to a Live Financial System

When infiniFi emerged from stealth in February 2025 with its initial $3M pre-seed, the thesis was straightforward: bring the capital efficiency of fractional reserve banking on-chain without bringing the opacity of traditional banking with it. 

Traditional banks deploy depositor capital across assets with different durations to generate returns, while keeping much of that upside themselves. infiniFi was built to automate that process transparently on-chain and return more of the economics to depositors.

What was a thesis in 2025 is a thriving ecosystem today.

infiniFi has generated more than $9M in yield while expanding across Ethereum, Arbitrum, Katana, Base and more to come, all while building an ecosystem spanning DeFi protocols and institutional asset managers.

For infiniFi, DeFi is only the beginning. With infiniFi Prime, we’re building the infrastructure to take the infiniFi system beyond crypto-native users, bringing diversified, institutionally managed private credit into Earn accounts across neobanks and consumer financial apps. With this next phase of growth, we’ll be bringing on-chain returns to off-chain users, dramatically increasing our potential market.

Partners and integrations include Ethena, Pendle, Morpho, Aave, Fasanara, FalconX, Accountable, Steakhouse Financial, Silo, Curve, Euler, and others.

“With this raise, infiniFi has secured funding to continue our mission to revolutionize how your typical person earns interest on their dollars. Through our forthcoming release of infiniFi Prime, we are expanding distribution for our offerings, while simultaneously diversifying the offerings that earn our users their returns. infiniFi stands positioned to be the leading conduit for off-chain money seeking the higher returns and greater transparency of on-chain sources and we look forward to many more years of innovation!”

– Rob Montgomery (CEO/ Founder – infiniFi)

More Yield Generated Than Capital Raised

With more than $6M raised across its pre-seed and seed rounds, infiniFi has already generated over $9M in yield, more than the company has raised in outside capital. 

The new funding will accelerate a system that is already working at scale.

Building Toward TGE

The raise comes as infiniFi enters its next stage of growth, with infiniFi’s token generation event confirmed for Q4 2026.

The additional capital will support continued protocol development, new integrations, multichain expansion, and the broader rollout of infiniFi’s products as the protocol moves toward TGE.

infiniFi started with a thesis for rebuilding fractional reserve banking on-chain. 

Today, with $50M+ in TVL, $9M+ in yield generated for users, and more yield generated than outside capital raised, that thesis is operating at scale.

Next stop: TGE.

SOURCE infiniFi

Former Paul, Weiss partner and longtime trusted advisor to Grain joins the Firm as it advances its institutional development and expands its multi-strategy investment platform.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23, 2026 — Grain Management, a leading global investment firm specializing in digital infrastructure, today announced the appointment of Amran Hussein as General Counsel. Based in New York, Hussein will lead the Firm’s legal and governance functions and serve as a member of and strategic advisor to Grain’s leadership team.

A highly regarded private funds attorney, Hussein brings more than two decades of experience advising some of the world’s leading investment firms on fund formation, governance, strategic transactions, and organizational growth. Prior to joining Grain, she spent 23 years at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, where she advised sponsors of private investment funds across a broad range of strategies. Her work included the formation and operation of multi-investor funds, separately managed accounts, co-investment vehicles, secondary transactions, strategic joint ventures, and investment management M&A transactions.

“Amran’s appointment reflects the continued evolution of Grain as a global investment platform,” said David J. Grain, Founder and CEO of Grain. “She has been a trusted advisor to our team for many years and possesses a rare combination of legal expertise, business judgment, and strategic perspective. As Grain continues to expand its investment capabilities and institutional infrastructure, Amran will be an invaluable partner in helping us navigate our next phase of growth.”

Hussein has worked alongside Grain for more than a decade as outside counsel. Her deep familiarity with Grain’s business, culture, investment approach, and leadership team positions her to seamlessly transition into the role of General Counsel. During her career, she advised numerous emerging and established asset managers, often serving as a trusted counselor on matters extending beyond fund formation to broader business strategy, governance, and organizational development.

“After spending much of my career advising investment firms through periods of growth and transformation, I am excited to join Grain at such an important moment in its evolution,” said Amran Hussein. “Having worked closely with David and the Grain team for many years, I’ve had a unique opportunity to witness the Firm’s growth firsthand. Grain has built an exceptional platform, strengthened its organizational capabilities, and established a remarkable culture.”

Widely recognized as one of the leading attorneys in private funds, Hussein was named a Fund Formation MVP by Law360 and received the “Best in Investment Funds” distinction at the Euromoney Americas Women in Business Law Awards. She has been recognized by Chambers, The Legal 500, IFLR1000, Who’s Who Legal, and Lawdragon for her work in private equity funds and investment management. She is also an active thought leader on issues affecting the private funds industry and frequently speaks on industry panels and educational programs hosted by leading legal and professional organizations. As part of her community involvement, Hussein has served on the boards of education non-profits and has been recognized for her advocacy and mentorship efforts.

The appointment reinforces Grain’s continued investment in its leadership team and institutional infrastructure as the Firm expands its platform, broadens its investment capabilities, and pursues new growth opportunities across digital infrastructure.

About Grain Management

Founded in 2007, Grain Management is a leading global investment firm. We believe broadband and digital infrastructure are foundational to the tech-enabled transformation occurring across all industries and facets of society. Our global team of seasoned and diverse professionals share a collective passion for the power of connectivity to strengthen communities and unlock human potential for all.

We specialize in digital infrastructure and are a trusted solutions provider to the broadband and communications industry. Our unique combination of sector knowledge, experience as operators, and disciplined analytical approach guide our differentiated investment strategy across fiber networks, data centers, wireless spectrum, cell towers, as well as managed and infrastructure services. For more information, visit graingp.com.

Media Contact

Grain Public Relations
[email protected]

SOURCE Grain Management, LLC

―New in-house digital tool helps nonprofits and their stakeholders evaluate the organization’s financial health, identify areas of strength and risk, and inform strategic planning―

NEW YORK, Sept. 23, 2026 — Bernstein Private Wealth Management (Bernstein), a unit of AllianceBernstein L.P. (NYSE: AB), today announced the launch of its Nonprofit Financial Health Assessment tool, an in-house digital resource that helps nonprofits evaluate their financial health and strengthen communication with stakeholders. The tool will be available through Bernstein Advisors on September 23rd, coinciding with Bernstein’s Foundation and Institutional Advisory Forum, a two-day event convening a select group of successful nonprofit and philanthropic leaders.

The Nonprofit Financial Health Assessment tool provides nonprofits and their boards a structured way to evaluate financial health, identify strengths and risks, inform planning, and ultimately open the door to more transparency with stakeholders. It evaluates six quantitative metrics: administrative ratio, operating surplus as a percentage of assets, months of spending, primary reserve ratio, debt margin, and debt service coverage ratio, using national nonprofit benchmarks tailored to organizations of similar sizes. The tool also considers three somewhat harder to quantify factors: revenue diversification, endowment strategy, and board governance. The resulting assessment helps leaders identify strengths, vulnerabilities, and priorities – and communicate their sustainability with donors.

“This launch equips our advisors with digital tools and resources that help them better serve nonprofit and philanthropic clients,” said Rick Meyers, Executive Managing Director and Head of Client and Advisory at Bernstein. “Nonprofit leaders, their boards, and the donors investing in those organizations, are navigating legislative and economic uncertainty with limited resources and growing scrutiny. A shared framework gives advisors a clearer way to help boards evaluate trade-offs and plan with confidence.”

The Nonprofit Financial Health Assessment tool further complements Bernstein’s existing Reserves Analysis Tool, which helps nonprofit boards evaluate appropriate cash reserve levels based on revenue, spending, timing, and borrowing risks. Together, they offer boards a fuller view of financial resilience: the Reserves Analysis Tool supports forward-looking reserve decisions, while the Nonprofit Financial Health Assessment offers a broader diagnostic across operations, liquidity, debt management, revenue diversification, endowment readiness, and board governance.

“The nonprofit and philanthropic sector is becoming increasingly complex, and leaders are looking for sophisticated but simple analytical tools to inform decision-making,” said Marisa Swystun, Senior National Director of Bernstein’s Foundation and Institutional Advisory practice. “This resource gives nonprofits, their donors, and Bernstein Advisors a clearer, shared view of long-term financial sustainability.”

This launch is informed by Bernstein’s latest research, Measuring the Financial Health of Mid-Sized Nonprofits, conducted with Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. The research analyzed data from more than 800,000 IRS Form 990s, reviewed existing academic literature, and conducted seven in-depth case studies to identify best practices. The result is benchmarked nonprofit reporting that serves as a strong evaluation and stewardship resource.

For nearly 60 years, Bernstein has taken a holistic approach to advising nonprofits, private foundations, philanthropists and board leaders on investment management, planning, and specific needs. Its Foundation and Institutional Advisory team supports more than 1,000 organizations nationwide with expertise, research, and custom tools for fundraising, governance, operations, and long-term planning. Bernstein manages $167 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2026.

About Bernstein Private Wealth Management
Bernstein Private Wealth Management (Bernstein) advises ultrahigh- and high-net-worth clients on planning and living with the complexities that come with significant wealth. Bernstein is distinguished among major wealth managers for its expertise in navigating life transitions through a holistic approach. A flexible process paired with innovative research, sophisticated modeling, and cutting-edge investment solutions also set Bernstein apart. It operates as a business unit of AllianceBernstein (AB), a leading global investment management firm that offers diversified investment services to institutional investors, individuals, and private wealth clients with over $909 billion in assets under management as of July 31, 2026. AB is a subsidiary of Equitable Holdings, Inc. (EQH), a leading financial services holding company that comprises well-established and complementary businesses.

Media Contact: 
Katrina Clay
Bernstein Private Wealth Management
[email protected]
212-969-6365

SOURCE Bernstein Private Wealth Management

Blockchain Capital leads strategic investment, bringing total funding raised since its 2021 founding to over $65 million

SÃO PAULO, Sept. 23, 2026 — NG.CASH, a Brazilian fintech rooted in the creator economy and built for a new generation’s relationship with money, today announced a $15 million strategic investment led by Blockchain Capital, bringing the company’s total funding raised since its 2021 founding to over $65 million.

NG.CASH, in 2021, started as an offshoot of a YouTube channel with 10 million subscribers, which has since grown to 20 million, and has grown into a platform serving more than 10 million users. The round comes as leading venture firms increasingly look to de-risk from an oversaturated U.S. market by backing category-defining companies in large international markets like Brazil.

“Millions of young Brazilians have grown up without a financial platform built for the way they actually live and bank,” said Mario Augusto Sá, NG.CASH’s CEO and Co-founder. “Blockchain Capital’s investment confirms NG.CASH is becoming that platform, the company building what comes next as money itself evolves in Brazil.”

NG.CASH’s core users come from middle- and lower-income households across Brazil, many from families where parents have never had a bank account of their own. For a lot of these users, NG.CASH is the first financial account anyone in the family has opened.

The company holds two Central Bank of Brazil licenses, a direct credit society license and a payment institution license. It has a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license application in process, giving it a regulatory foundation few can match. NG.CASH has grown to more than 10 million accounts since its 2021 founding, with billions of dollars already transacted on the platform. Credit products including Crédito CLT and Pix Crédito are driving that growth, and the company is targeting BRL 1 billion (nearly $200M USD) in credit originated by 2027.

“We’ve spent years looking outside the U.S. for the next generation of category-defining fintech companies,” said Kinjal Shah, General Partner at Blockchain Capital. “Brazil is exactly the kind of market we believe will produce them. NG.CASH has already proven it can build and scale a business young Brazilians actually use, and that’s why exactly why we wanted to invest.”

NG.CASH’s own history as a mass-market distributor, born from a YouTube channel and grown into a large financial platform, positions it to become one of the first movers on stablecoin and crypto adoption at scale in Brazil.

For more information about NG.CASH, visit www.ng.cash.

About NG.CASH

NG.CASH is a Brazilian fintech building the future of financial experiences through innovation, technology, and digital culture. Founded in 2021, the company was created to transform how a new generation connects with money by combining intuitive design, world-class technology, and a deeply digital-native approach. Originally rooted in the creator economy, NG.CASH has evolved into a robust financial ecosystem that supports users from their first steps toward financial independence to more advanced solutions such as investments and credit, reinforcing its position at the forefront of the next era of digital finance in Brazil.

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE NG.CASH

• Oversubscribed Series C led by S32 with backing from NVIDIA and others
• Funding will advance a pipeline of EDEN-designed therapeutics, starting with in vivo cell therapy, and expand pharmaceutical partnerships
• The company has demonstrated strong preclinical results across multiple modalities and disease areas

LONDON and BOSTON, Sept. 23, 2026 — Basecamp Research, a frontier AI company developing AI-designed medicines, today announced a $140M Series C financing to train a new generation of EDEN models and advance a pipeline of AI-designed therapeutics towards clinical development.

Basecamp’s ambition is to develop cures for diseases that remain incurable by designing medicines that reprogram the body to repair itself. The company combines frontier AI models trained on proprietary biological data with technology for writing DNA sequences into cells.

“We believe the future of medicine lies in reprogramming the body to repair itself. We design the models and the medicines to teach it how,” said Glen Gowers, co-founder and CEO of Basecamp Research. “AI-based approaches promise to change what’s possible for patients who currently have few alternatives. This funding brings this technology closer to those who need it most.”

The oversubscribed round was led by S32, with participation from Anthropic’s Anthology Fund, Catalio Capital Management, European Tech Collective, Firebrand River Capital, Inception Fund, King Philanthropies, NATO Innovation Fund, NVIDIA, PostScriptum, Redalpine, The Rockefeller Foundation, Singular, Sovereign AI and True Ventures.

Additional investment comes from senior leaders from across pharma, biotech, and global industry, including André Hoffmann, Vice-Chairman of Roche, who said: “The biotechnology revolution that began fifty years ago transformed how we make medicines. Personalised, AI-designed therapeutics represent the next transformation of that journey. Basecamp Research has built the full platform to deliver it, from biological data to trained models to designed therapies. This will be key in helping the industry to continue to innovate.”

Applying EDEN to develop new therapies

Basecamp Research is applying EDEN, its biological foundation model, to in vivo cell therapy – reprogramming a patient’s cells inside the body. Today’s cell therapies are limited both in the complexity of what they can deliver and by a manufacturing process that costs hundreds of thousands of dollars per patient.

By pairing EDEN’s ability to design long and complex DNA sequences with large serine recombinases that can precisely integrate them into the genome, Basecamp’s platform aims to underpin the future of cell therapies, making them more sophisticated, more customisable and simpler to administer. This has the potential to transform how we treat cancer, autoimmune disease, and more.

The company has demonstrated strong preclinical results across multiple modalities and disease areas. To expand its pharmaceutical partnerships, Basecamp has appointed Richard Pearce, formerly of Biogen, as Chief Business Officer.

Andy Conrad, General Partner at S32 and former CEO of Google’s Verily, who joins the Board of Directors, said: “AI is opening up new possibilities across every part of society, but perhaps nowhere is the potential more meaningful than in human health. The ability to combine AI, biological data and scientific insight could transform how we understand disease, discover medicines and ultimately improve and extend people’s lives. Basecamp Research is building an important technology platform at the center of that opportunity.”

The AI and data powering Basecamp Research’s therapies

At the centre of Basecamp Research’s AI platform is the Trillion Gene Atlas, the world’s largest proprietary biological AI training dataset. Built with partners including NVIDIA, Anthropic, PacBio and Ultima Genomics, the Atlas draws on biological data collected through access and benefit-sharing partnerships in more than 30 countries across all seven continents.

Trained on this data, the company’s EDEN models recognise patterns across a huge breadth of previously unseen biology. Unlike AI systems developed for a single scientific task, EDEN models aim to deliver a universal understanding of how DNA works across all of life.

This means that the models can generate potential therapeutic candidates directly from information about a disease, an approach already demonstrated through Basecamp’s collaboration with Anthropic on Claude Science. The EDEN models’ capabilities include designing cell and gene therapies, enzymes and peptides.

About Basecamp Research

Basecamp Research trains frontier AI models for therapeutic design. The EDEN models are trained on the Trillion Gene Atlas, the world’s largest proprietary genomic dataset, collected through partnerships in more than 30 countries worldwide. Its pipeline of EDEN-designed therapeutics, beginning with in vivo cell therapy, is advancing towards clinical development. Basecamp Research is headquartered in London with offices and labs in Cambridge, MA.

SOURCE Basecamp Research

NEW YORK, Sept. 23, 2026 — Invest Qatar, the Investment Promotion Agency of Qatar, today announced a strategic engagement with Aurion Capital, a global investment group, and LG NOVA, the Silicon Valley–based North America Innovation Centre for LG Electronics. This engagement aims to explore opportunities to scale regional investments and support the commercialisation of emerging technologies and business ventures to strengthen Qatar’s position as a regional hub for entrepreneurship and high-growth ventures.

Announced during the special edition of the Qatar Economic Forum Powered by Bloomberg, held on the sidelines of the 2026 United Nations General Assembly in New York, a new Memorandum of Understanding among the parties establishes a framework to explore collaboration across shared priorities, including targeted innovation programmes and scale-up support in high-growth sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI), digital health, financial technologies (FinTech), digital infrastructure, sports, media and entertainment.

Additionally, a new hub in Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP),  serving as a regional platform for LG NOVA-affiliated technologies and ventures, is anticipated to support the expansion of advanced technology solutions, foster collaboration between innovators, investors and industry partners and enable high-potential companies to scale across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Sheikh Ali bin Alwaleed Al-Thani, CEO, Invest Qatar, said: “This strategic collaboration reflects the multilateral strength of Qatar’s value proposition. Our world-class research and development (R&D) ecosystem, robust talent pipeline and pro-business regulatory environment position Qatar as an ideal platform to test, deploy and commercialise advanced technologies. Coupled with our strategic location and future-ready digital infrastructure, Qatar offers international investors a gateway to the MENA region and a natural pathway for sustainable regional expansion.”

“At Aurion Capital, we believe the future of innovation will be built through stronger connections between global markets and ecosystems,” stated Ali Diallo, Founding CEO of Aurion Capital. Our mission is to mobilize capital and strategic resources across America, Asia, the Gulf and emerging markets to create enduring economic value and accelerate the growth of transformative technologies. Qatar’s ambition, investment ecosystem, and strategic position between East and West make it one of the world’s most compelling destinations for innovation-led growth. Together with Invest Qatar and LG NOVA, we look forward to building a platform that helps scale world-class companies, unlock new investment opportunities, and strengthen the flow of innovation across regions.”

“The next technology evolution, driven by AI, is creating extensive opportunities for new business and industry growth, across all sectors. By exploring these new opportunities with Invest Qatar and Aurion Capital we’re strengthening our capabilities to build meaningful businesses that will shape our future,” stated Sokwoo Rhee, EVP of Corporate Innovation for LG Electronics and Head of LG NOVA. “Our innovation process brings collaborators together to create impactful change, and by working with Invest Qatar, spearheaded by Aurion Capital, we’ll be able to connect our ecosystems across the world.” 

Through this engagement, Invest Qatar will work closely with Aurion Capital and LG NOVA to plan and design innovation-led programmes in collaboration with key national stakeholders. It will also provide tailored facilitation and advisory support to Aurion Capital and LG NOVA-affiliated companies seeking to establish or expand operations in Qatar.

Aurion Capital and LG NOVA may explore potential deployment of their global innovation capabilities and investment platforms to strengthen technology testing, localisation and commercialisation capabilities within Qatar.

This objectives of this collaboration further cement Qatar’s position as a regional hub for research, development and innovation in advanced technologies, attracting high-quality private-sector investment in priority sectors identified under NDS3 and contributing to long-term economic diversification.

About Invest Qatar

The Investment Promotion Agency Qatar (Invest Qatar) is responsible for overseeing investment promotion activities, aimed at attracting foreign direct investment to Qatar. Established in 2019, Invest Qatar’s mission is to accelerate Qatar’s economic diversification and global competitiveness by proactively attracting targeted investment, developing priority economic clusters, and delivering an exceptional end-to-end investor experience.

As the gateway to investment solutions, Invest Qatar connects investors to an integrated ecosystem of business and licensing platforms. The Agency partners with investors throughout their journey, from exploration and setup to expansion, supporting their long-term growth by providing comprehensive insights into Qatar’s business landscape, sector-specific market knowledge and tailored investment facilitation.

For more information, please visit www.invest.qa 

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About LG NOVA

LG NOVA is a venture-building platform 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, WVa. 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.

LG NOVA is the North America Innovation Center for LG Electronics, a global innovator in technology and consumer electronics with a presence in almost every country and an international workforce of more than 75,000. LG is a leading manufacturer of consumer and commercial products ranging from TVs, home appliances, air solutions, monitors and automotive components. LG Electronics is a part of LG Corporation, South Korea’s fourth largest industrial conglomerate. Learn more about LG Electronics at www.lg.com.

About Aurion Capital

Aurion Capital is an American investment group focused on scaling high-growth companies, strategic industries, and critical infrastructure across the United States and global markets. The Group operates a multi-strategy investment strategy, deploying capital and resources across venture capital, private equity infrastructure, and venture studio innovation through its specialized business units.

Aurion integrates investment management, strategic collaborations, venture building, and public-private partnerships to connect capital, technology, industry, and global markets. Its investment platforms span key sectors including TMT (Technology, Media, and Telecom), healthcare, sports and entertainment, critical minerals, and energy and power with a pipeline of industrial projects representing more than 2 GW of generation capacity.Aurion Capital is the parent company of NovaWave Capital, a Silicon Valley venture capital firm focused on artificial intelligence, with $100 million in assets under management, that is supported by corporate investors and government partners, including LG Electronics and the U.S. states of West Virginia, Arizona, and Nevada. Aurion Capital also serves as General Partner to BYL Ventures, a Los Angeles-based venture capital fund with $ 70 million in assets under management.

Media Contacts:

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

SOURCE LG Electronics USA