New practice builds on deep sector experience in physical AI and robotics, manufacturing, retail innovation, transportation and logistics, and public safety

SAN FRANCISCO and NEW YORK, Sept. 15, 2026 — Mission North, a strategic communications agency for consequential companies, today announced its new Physical Industries practice, serving companies that put AI into the machines, public spaces, stores, and supply chains that make, move, and sell things in the real world. The practice launches with a focus on physical AI applications across four verticals: commerce, manufacturing, mobility, and aerospace and defense. Executive Vice President Melinda Ball and Vice President Eric Stephens will lead the practice under Co-CEO Bill Bourdon.

The practice formalizes work Mission North has done for years advising leaders in robotics, autonomous manufacturing, transportation, public safety, retail, logistics, and operational technology. Current and former clients include Apptronik, Axon, Instacart, Google, Narvar, Simbe Robotics, Stord, Skyryse, and Verkada. The practice serves digital-native companies building this technology, the incumbents adopting it, and the investors backing both.

“AI is now reshaping how the physical world runs,” said Bill Bourdon, co-CEO, Mission North. “It has moved off the screen and into the spaces, machines, and stores that define the global economy. Melinda and Eric have spent years building the knowledge, relationships, and strategic frameworks companies in this space need to stand out. Codifying that expertise into a dedicated practice is a natural next step.”

AI has changed how work gets done and is transforming the machinery underneath everyday life. Robots fulfill orders in warehouses and carry passengers on city streets. Software routes same-day deliveries. Sensors inside trains and planes flag when a system is failing. Robotic arms assemble our smartphones. The groceries in a cart and the package on a doorstep now move through decisions a machine makes.

“Companies in physical industries are facing growing scrutiny,” said Melinda Ball, EVP, Mission North. “The decisions they make about product safety, policy, and community engagement, as well as how they communicate their progress, all shape trust—and trust often determines whether a company succeeds. The most compelling innovation stories go beyond what your product does; they show the meaningful difference it makes in people’s lives.”

“Physical AI is one of the biggest and most exciting investment themes of the next decade,” said Burke Norton, co-founder of Smith Point Capital. “The companies that will define this category are embedding AI into the load-bearing systems that build, operate, and sell things in the physical world—a fundamentally harder problem than shipping software. Getting that distinction right is what separates credibility from hype.”

“The most meaningful AI innovations are those that solve everyday challenges, and few industries are as physical or as universally understood as grocery,” said Francisca Fanucchi, senior director of communications, Instacart. “Mission North has been a strategic partner in translating complex technology into a clear, compelling narrative that resonates with retailers, consumers, media, and the broader industry.” 

Melinda Ball brings deep global market experience and a track record of pairing bold creative thinking with strategic execution for early-stage startups and global Fortune 500 brands. She has led integrated communications programs both domestically and in the Middle East, driving strategy for category-leading organizations including Shopify, Instacart, Stord, Shift5, FedEx, and Lockheed Martin.

Eric Stephens has led communications programs for robotics leaders, including Simbe Robotics, Standard Bots, and Apptronik, which included launching its Apollo humanoid robot. He has also built programs for Manhattan Associates, Ciena, Shippo, and others, spanning both incumbent and emerging players across physical industry verticals.

About Mission North

Mission North is a strategic communications agency for consequential companies to accelerate their market impact at every growth stage. The agency is headquartered in New York and San Francisco, with hubs in Los Angeles, Boston, Washington D.C., and Portland, Oregon. For more information visit www.missionnorth.com.

About Mission North’s Physical Industries Practice

Mission North’s Physical Industries Practice serves companies bringing AI to the real world, spanning industries including commerce, manufacturing, mobility, and aerospace and defense. The practice helps digital-native disruptors, industrial incumbents, and the investors backing them build the narrative infrastructure to earn category authority, stakeholder trust, and the credibility to lead. For more information, visit www.missionnorth.com/expertise.

Media Contact:

Shara Seigel, Vice President, Media Strategy at Mission North — [email protected] 

SOURCE Mission North

Companies based in the UK can now access Ramp’s finance platform, backed by local
payments infrastructure and supported by a growing London team

LONDON, Sept. 15, 2026 — Ramp today announced it has officially launched in the UK, making its corporate finance platform available to UK based businesses. It is the company’s first major move outside North America following its announcement in July that it had expanded into Canada.

More than 70,000 companies like Shopify and Virgin Voyages use Ramp to manage their corporate cards and expenses, bill payments, procurement, travel, and treasury on a single platform. The median Ramp customer saves 5% on expenses and grows revenue 16% in their first year on the platform.

Ramp comes to the UK with regulated payments capability. In March 2026, the company acquired Billhop, a payments platform based in Stockholm and London, giving Ramp regulatory payments authorisation in both the UK and the EU. Ramp now has growing offices in London and Stockholm with European customers already live on the platform following a beta phase.

Jacob Wallenberg, VP, International Expansion at Ramp said: “The UK is home to some of the fastest-growing companies in Europe, and we built our product to match that. We have a team based right here in London and we can’t wait to get to work.”

UK companies have been onboarding since the summer. UK-based AI voice agents platform ElevenLabs is among the companies that have been using Ramp’s platform as it grows internationally. ElevenLabs runs bill pay, corporate cards and AI token spend management on Ramp. Automation codes 99% of invoices and 99.8% of card transactions, saving a three-person finance team ~24 hours a month.

Maciej Mylik, Finance, ElevenLabs said: “We don’t want to build at the frontier only in research and product. We want it in every function we have, including this one. Which means breaking the stereotype that a finance team scales with the company.”

London-headquartered Attio has also been using Ramp’s platform to consolidate its finance stack, using Ramp’s corporate cards and overseeing expenses.

Roberto Restrepo, Head of Finance at Attio said: “Ramp replaced our fragmented finance stack with one AI-first platform giving us the context and automation we need to operate globally. Ramp has completely changed how I spend my time. Instead of managing finance tools, I can focus on driving the business forward.”

Ramp is working with Visa to support its corporate card offering for UK businesses, combining Ramp’s spend management platform with Visa’s global payments network.

Lucy Demery, SVP Head of Visa Commercial Solutions, Europe said: “The UK is one of the world’s most dynamic markets for business payments and fintech innovation, making it an exciting next step for Ramp’s international growth. At Visa, we’re proud to partner with Ramp to transform B2B payments at scale. Together, we’re helping UK businesses access smarter financial solutions, to unlock new growth in the digital economy.”

A new category of spend

Ramp’s arrival in the UK coincides with a shift in what finance teams are being asked to control. AI spending has grown roughly 21x across Ramp customers since June 2025 and the heaviest AI spenders see costs climb 50% or more roughly every quarter.

Token spend behaves unlike any line item that came before it. It’s usage-based, can swing day to day, and is scattered across providers, models, teams, projects and API keys – which makes it difficult for finance to see what’s actually happening.

“The issue is not that companies are spending too much on AI. It’s that they’re spending blindly,” said Wallenberg. “Ramp’s token spend intelligence tools break costs down by model and team, separate cost of goods sold from operating expenditure, and flag anomalies and savings opportunities automatically.”

Ramp’s increasing momentum
Ramp’s entry to the UK comes after a busy quarter in which the company made a succession of product announcements including:

• Ramp Stack: the AI operating system built for today’s top accountants and accounting firms.
• Stablecoin payments: send and receive USDC and USDT anywhere in the world.
• Token spend management: gain visibility and control over AI costs.
• Router: reduce inference costs by matching every request to the lowest-cost model for the job.

In addition, the company raised $750 million at a $44 billion valuation in June and launched for businesses in Canada in July.

Learn more about Ramp’s UK capabilities at http://ramp.com/uk.

About Ramp
Ramp is how companies save time and money on every dollar they spend. It’s the smart financial infrastructure behind every card swipe, invoice and reimbursement — streamlining approvals, processing payments and closing the books automatically. More than 70,000 organizations, from family farms and space startups to the Fortune 100, have saved over $12 billion and 27 million hours with Ramp. For the median customer, that translates to 5% savings on expenses and 16% revenue growth in their first year. Founded in 2019, Ramp powers over $200 billion in purchases annually. Learn more at www.ramp.com.

Contact
[email protected] 

SOURCE Ramp

As foundation models grow more capable, deploying them requires more power, memory bandwidth, and capital while adding infrastructure complexity. EUCLYD is developing a platform spanning crafted compute, innovative memory architecture, and datacenter systems to break this efficiency wall and transform AI inference economics.

EUCLYD’s long-term vision is Abundant Intelligence: a future in which advanced AI is no longer constrained by infrastructure cost, power availability, or geography. Founded by Bernardo Kastrup and Atul Sinha at High Tech Campus Eindhoven, Europe’s smartest square kilometer, EUCLYD draws on the campus’s semiconductor ecosystem and Europe’s engineering heritage.

At the center of EUCLYD’s roadmap are craftwerk, the world’s first agentic AI silicon, and craftwerk station CWS, the world’s lowest-power exascale AI factory. The platform combines programmable ASIC compute, processor-memory co-design, and system-level optimization to overcome the memory and efficiency walls limiting AI performance and scalability.

“AI is becoming a foundation of economic growth, scientific discovery, and national competitiveness, but its potential will remain constrained unless we fundamentally change the infrastructure beneath it,” said Bernardo Kastrup, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of EUCLYD. “This financing accelerates our mission to make intelligence abundant through greater efficiency, lower cost per token, and broader access to advanced AI.”

“The next phase of AI will be defined not only by model innovation, but also by the efficiency and scalability of its infrastructure,” said Dede Goldschmidt, Senior Vice President of Samsung Electronics and Head of the Samsung Semiconductor Innovation Center. “EUCLYD combines an accomplished team with a differentiated vision addressing constraints in AI datacenters.”

“Europe has the engineering talent to produce globally significant technology companies,” said Ted Persson, Partner at EQT and Co-Head of the Scaleup Europe Fund. “EUCLYD combines deep semiconductor expertise with a mission to tackle some of the hardest constraints in AI infrastructure. That mix of European engineering depth and global ambition is what we’re here to back.”

“Europe possesses world-class capabilities across semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, and systems engineering,” said Peter Wennink, Chairman of the Board of EUCLYD and former President and Chief Executive Officer of ASML. “EUCLYD can transform those strengths into a globally competitive AI infrastructure platform.”

The financing will expand EUCLYD’s engineering organization, accelerate its silicon and systems roadmap, strengthen ecosystem partnerships, and prepare the company for commercial deployment across enterprise, sovereign, and hyperscale AI markets.

ABOUT EUCLYD
EUCLYD is a European semiconductor systems company developing ultra-efficient infrastructure for foundation AI models. Its roadmap spans agentic AI silicon, advanced memory architecture, and datacenter systems engineered to reduce cost, energy use, and footprint. EUCLYD is headquartered in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

https://euclyd.ai/

MEDIA CONTACT
Catchfire
[email protected]

NOTES TO EDITORS

Investor Information

About the Scaleup Europe Fund, managed by EQT
The Scaleup Europe Fund, managed by EQT, is a commercially driven alternative investment fund backing ambitious European technology companies with the potential to become global leaders. Targeting €5 billion, the Fund brings together public and private capital and invests across Deeptech, AI and Life Sciences.

EQT is a global investment organization with a Nordic heritage and more than three decades of experience developing companies. With €341 billion in total assets under management, EQT invests across the full lifecycle of companies, from start-up to maturity.

About Somerset Capital Partners
Somerset Capital Partners was founded in 2005 by Joes Daemen and pursues a long-term, multi-asset investment strategy. We invest both directly and indirectly across a diverse range of sectors, including technology, real estate, strategic land, data centres, consumer, and healthcare.

We partner with ambitious entrepreneurs and founders, recognising that transformative ideas require capital, conviction, and time. Therefore, we are committed to fostering enduring and impactful long-term relationships.

About Innovation Industries
Innovation Industries is a leading European Deep tech venture capital firm with €1 billion in capital under management. The firm invests in visionary science and engineering-based companies that tackle the world’s most pressing challenges. With a strong belief that Deep tech can deliver both outsized financial returns and global impact, Innovation Industries partners with exceptional entrepreneurs and researchers to turn scientific breakthroughs into transformative companies. The firm provides long-term capital and strategic support from lab to scale, actively bridging the gap between academia and industry through close collaboration with leading technical universities, research institutions and industry partners. Innovation Industries has offices in Amsterdam, Eindhoven and Munich.

About EIFO 
As Denmark’s national promotional bank and official export credit agency, EIFO works to open doors for global business, drive the green transition, advance innovative technologies, and contribute to Denmark’s security.

With total commitments exceeding EUR 24 billion and activities in more than 100 countries, EIFO provides financial solutions to Danish companies and their global partners.

EIFO is also Denmark’s most active venture investor, investing in startups and VC-funds. In 2025, EIFO made 31 new investments in companies and 15 in funds. Altogether, EIFO has an investment portfolio of just over EUR 2,7 billion.

About imec.xpand
imec.xpand is one of the world’s largest independent venture capital funds dedicated to early-stage semiconductor innovation. It targets ambitious startups where the knowledge, expertise and infrastructure of imec, the world-renowned semiconductor and nanotechnology R&D center, can play a determining role in their growth. imec.xpand has an outspoken international mindset towards building disruptive global companies and strongly believes that sufficient funding from the start is key to future success.

About Brabant Development Agency
Entrepreneurship is the driver of innovation – from sustainable food sources to a healthy future, climate-neutral energy, and developing promising key technologies. The Brabant Development Agency (BOM) ensures that startups playing a role in these fields receive the right support and funding to get off to a solid start and grow into scaleups, and that companies that aspire to go global can actually do so. BOM is an executive body of the Province of Brabant and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate.

About Quadri
Quadri is a venture capital firm investing in category-defining companies across Enterprise AI, Physical AI, and AI Infrastructure. With offices in London and New York, we leverage our global enterprise network to accelerate commercial adoption and international expansion. For more information, visit quadri.vc.

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Sept. 14, 2026 — Payment Nerds, a merchant services and payment processing company, today announced that it has secured a $2 million credit facility from Espresso Capital, providing additional capital to support the company’s continued growth and expansion.

The financing will enable Payment Nerds to accelerate investments across its sales organization, technology infrastructure, strategic partnerships, and merchant services capabilities as the company expands its reach across the payments industry.

Founded by payments industry veteran Shawn Silver, Payment Nerds was built around a simple goal: to create a more modern and flexible approach to merchant services while giving businesses the technology, support, and payment solutions they need to grow.

“We built Payment Nerds with a clear vision for what modern merchant services should look like — more flexible, more technology-driven, and more aligned with the needs of the businesses we serve,” said Shawn Silver, Founder and CEO of Payment Nerds. “This partnership with Espresso Capital gives us additional capital and flexibility to invest in the business at an important stage of our growth. We’re focused on expanding our team, strengthening our technology and infrastructure, and continuing to build a company that can scale alongside our merchants and partners.”

The non-dilutive credit facility gives Payment Nerds additional financial flexibility to pursue growth initiatives while preserving the company’s existing equity structure. The capital is expected to support continued expansion of the company’s sales and marketing efforts, technology and integration capabilities, and strategic hiring.

The financing also comes as Payment Nerds continues to strengthen its leadership team and expand its capabilities across specialized merchant segments. The company recently appointed Jacob Martin as Vice President of Sales, bringing more than 10 years of payments and merchant services experience to the organization, and promoted Trae Holthouse to Sales Manager as part of its continued investment in sales leadership and team development.

“Securing this facility is an important milestone for Payment Nerds, but more importantly, it gives us the flexibility to keep executing on the opportunities in front of us,” said Silver. “We have a lot of work ahead of us, and we’re excited about where we’re going.”

About Payment Nerds

Payment Nerds is a merchant services and payment processing company providing businesses with flexible solutions for accepting and managing payments. The company serves businesses across retail, e-commerce, and specialized industries, with a focus on streamlined onboarding, payment technology, integrations, and dedicated merchant support.

Founded by payments industry veteran Shawn Silver, Payment Nerds was created to bring a more modern approach to merchant services and build long-term relationships with the businesses and partners it serves.

Learn more at paymentnerds.com.

About Espresso Capital

Espresso Capital provides innovative credit solutions to growth-stage technology companies. Since 2009, Espresso Capital has helped hundreds of technology companies and their investors accelerate growth, extend runway, and increase strategic flexibility through flexible, non-dilutive capital solutions.

Learn more at Espresso Capital.

SOURCE Payment Nerds

As 2026 defense tech funding sets records, Backswing Ventures says the number that matters isn’t the valuation on a term sheet. It’s the cash that eventually lands back in an investor’s account.

ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 14, 2026 — Mach Industries doubled its valuation to $3.7 billion in three months. A year earlier, the company was worth $470 million. Numbers like that used to belong to consumer apps riding a viral moment. Now they belong to a drone and munitions manufacturer in El Segundo, and that says something about where defense technology sits in venture capital today.

Backswing Ventures has been watching that shift for months. The Orlando-based defense venture capital firm invests exclusively in early-stage defense and national security companies, and its founder, Kyle Asman, has been warning that the sector’s funding boom is starting to outrun its fundamentals.

“None of this means Mach or any other company raising at a big number is doing anything wrong,” Asman said. “It means the bar for what counts as a win keeps moving, and founders need to be honest about whether they’re building toward that number or borrowing against it.”

A RECORD YEAR FOR FUNDING, A QUIET YEAR FOR EXITS

Crunchbase News reported this month that 2026 is shaping up to be the biggest year on record for defense startup funding, even as venture investors are only beginning to look for exits. Asman said that gap matters more in defense tech than in most sectors, because government sales cycles run long and dual-use commercial traction takes years to prove out.

“Raising money has never been faster in this sector,” Asman said. “Turning that money into an exit is a separate problem, and a much slower one. A company can post a striking valuation and still be years from giving an investor anything more than a number on a spreadsheet.”

Fewer than 20% of 2017-2018 vintage venture funds have returned even 1x DPI to their limited partners, according to Carta’s Q1 2026 State of Private Markets report. A markup on paper is an estimate. It isn’t cash in an investor’s account until a company sells, goes public, or otherwise returns capital.

WHY BENCHMARKING OFF THE LAST BIG RAISE IS RISKY

Asman said one of the clearest signs of a hype cycle is when founders start pricing their own round off someone else’s. It’s a natural instinct. Nobody wants to raise below what a comparable company just got. But he said a valuation isn’t a market consensus. It’s a deal between one company and whichever investors decided to write the check that week.

“Ask five people at a defense conference what a given startup is worth, and you’ll get five different numbers,” Asman said. “A number that looked cautious in one round can look aggressive in the next one. Chasing the last headline is a poor way to set a price.”

WHAT BACKSWING VENTURES LOOKS FOR INSTEAD

Backswing’s own portfolio points to a different approach. The firm led financing for Isengard Industries to expand munitions manufacturing for allied militaries. It backed Orion Edge’s $3 million seed round to bring tactical electronic warfare systems to military and commercial customers. Both raises were sized to hit specific milestones. Neither was built to set a headline number.

That approach shapes how Backswing measures its own results, too. Fund II surpassed 1.0x DPI in under three years, placing it among the better-performing 2023-vintage venture funds in the country, according to the firm.

“IRR and paper markups tell you what a fund might be worth someday,” Asman said. “DPI tells you what it’s worth right now, because it’s the money that already made it back to an investor’s account. That’s the number we want to be judged on, and it’s the number we tell founders to build toward.”

THE ADVICE FOR FOUNDERS RAISING RIGHT NOW

Asman’s advice to founders in the current market is simple. Raise enough to reach the next milestone, then stop. Product validation. A government contract. A first paying customer. Those are the things that hold up once a hype cycle cools. A valuation on its own doesn’t.

“The founders who do well over the next five years probably won’t be the ones who raised at the highest number this year,” Asman said. “They’ll be the ones still standing, and still credible, once the number stopped being the story.”

ABOUT BACKSWING VENTURES

Backswing Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm investing in dual-use and defense technology companies across aerospace, autonomy, munitions, cybersecurity, and national security. The firm’s Fund II surpassed 1.0x DPI in under three years, placing it among the top-performing 2023-vintage venture funds in the country.

CONTACT

Backswing Ventures | [email protected]

SOURCE Backswing Ventures

MULLICA HILL, N.J., Sept. 14, 2026 — SENA Health, a New Jersey-based AI-powered healthcare access and care coordination company, today announced it has secured Series A financing led by Rittenhouse Ventures. The funding will support the expansion of SENA’s Clinical Command Center and global operations. SENA is dedicated to relentlessly reducing friction in healthcare by reducing the administrative burden for healthcare organizations, making it easier for patients to access care, and enabling providers and staff to focus on delivering an exceptional healthcare experience.

The new capital will support the company’s ongoing growth, including expansion of business development and sales initiatives, as well as continued investment in artificial intelligence and technology development.

“We are impressed by SENA’s innovative approach to healthcare operations and patient access, as well as the opportunity to help address some of the industry’s most pressing challenges, using AI and human expertise judiciously. We are excited to partner with the SENA team and support the company as it enters its next phase of growth,” said Sushma Rajagopalan, Partner at Rittenhouse Ventures. Rajagopalan will join SENA’s Board of Directors, bringing additional strategic guidance and industry expertise as SENA builds on its momentum and scales its business using the best technology and AI.

“We are thrilled to welcome Rittenhouse Ventures as a strategic partner as we continue to transform healthcare operations and patient access, combining people and technology to drive meaningful outcomes for the organizations and patients we serve,” said Dr. Anthony Wehbe, Founder and CEO of SENA Health. “Rittenhouse’s strategic perspective, knowledge of the technology and healthcare industry, and operational guidance will be invaluable as we scale SENA Health, expand our capabilities, and help more healthcare organizations improve access, efficiency, and the patient experience.”

The funding positions SENA to expand its reach as healthcare organizations increasingly seek better ways to improve access to care and simplify operations. By addressing the root causes of operational friction, SENA aims to make healthcare easier to navigate, more responsive, and more human-centered for providers, staff, and patients.

About SENA Health

SENA Health is an AI-enablement company helping medical practices improve patient access, reduce administrative overhead, and build more scalable care delivery models. Through its 24/7 Command Center, SENA takes over front desk, back office, and call center functions, combining intelligent automation with clinical expertise to streamline operations, strengthen coordination, and support high-quality patient care.

For more information, please contact SENA Health at 609-888-6039 or [email protected].

About Rittenhouse Ventures

Rittenhouse Ventures is an emerging-growth venture capital firm that partners with capital-efficient B2B SaaS, AI, and tech-enabled services companies. With a strategic focus on the Mid-Atlantic region and other underserved markets, Rittenhouse invests in companies generating $2M-$10M in revenue, typically into rounds of $5M or less. The firm is dedicated to providing deep operational support and unique network access, collaborating with exceptional management teams to foster sustainable growth and market leadership. (https://techcouncilventures.com/transcendap-partners-with-rittenhouse-ventures-tech-council-ventures-to-fuel-ai-ap-growth/)

SOURCE SENA Health

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 14, 2026 — Vance Street Capital (“Vance Street”), a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, today announced that Katherine Dowley has joined the firm as Head of Investor Relations. The addition reflects Vance Street’s continued growth and investment in the firm’s institutional capabilities and long-term partnerships with limited partners.

“We are excited to continue building out our investor relations function with a leader of Kate’s experience. She brings the relationship-oriented approach that is essential to being a strong partner to our investors and her addition reflects our commitment to supporting Vance Street’s continued growth with exceptional talent,” said Brian Martin, Managing Partner at Vance Street.

Vance Street’s strategy is focused on partnering with founder-owned and family businesses and corporate carve-outs that provide highly engineered, mission-critical solutions across the industrial, medical and life science, and aerospace and defense markets. The firm closed Vance Street Capital IV at its $775 million hard cap in 2024, bringing total capital raised to more than $2 billion.

As Head of Investor Relations, Kate will lead Vance Street’s investor relations function, including capital formation, investor communications, and relationship management with current and prospective limited partners. She will work closely with the firm’s leadership and investment teams to deepen investor engagement and support Vance Street’s continued institutional growth. Kate joins Vance Street from W Capital Partners and previously worked at L Catterton and Lindsay Goldberg. She earned a B.A. from the University of Chicago.

“Vance Street has built a differentiated platform grounded in deep sector experience, a clear investment strategy, and genuine partnership. I was drawn to the quality of the team and the firm’s thoughtful, long-term approach to both investing and investor relationships. I look forward to working with Vance Street’s limited partners and contributing to the firm’s next phase of growth,” said Kate Dowley.

About Vance Street Capital LLC
Vance Street Capital is a middle-market private equity firm focused on investing in highly engineered solutions businesses across the industrial technology, medical, life science, aerospace, and defense sectors. Vance Street works with management teams and family owners to accelerate revenue growth, improve operations, and acquire strategic assets for the companies in their investment portfolio. For more information on Vance Street Capital, please visit www.vancestreetcapital.com.

Media Contact: Jason Burmer, 310-231-7100

SOURCE Vance Street Capital

Powerhouse Team of Industry Veterans to Debut Inaugural Product Range at LA Fall Previews

BENTONVILLE, Ark. and MELBOURNE, Australia, Sept. 14, 2026 — Traverse Group, a privately owned retail group generating over $1 billion annually in GMV, has officially announced its expansion into the global toy market with the launch of its new venture, ToyVerse.

Owned by retail veterans JD Hayes and Clint Lazenby, Traverse Group, based in Bentonville, has developed capability expertise in sales strategy, retail brokerage, manufacturing, brand development, licensing, eCommerce, warehousing, fulfillment, logistics, and supply chain execution under one platform for major global retailers and brand partners.

Recognized for four consecutive years on the prestigious Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies, Traverse Group maintains robust ongoing supply programs with major global retailers including Walmart, Sam’s Club, Target and Costco Global. Notably, Traverse Group has become the #1 supplier of toys globally into the Club channel in dollar share, largely driven by managing the Pokémon trading card program.

“Launching our own toy development company was a natural progression given the retail reach and customer base the Traverse team has built up over the years,” said JD Hayes, Co-Founder of Traverse Group. “We are excited to build on our strong retail footprint and leverage our end-to-end supply chain infrastructure to bring innovative products directly to consumers worldwide.”

Product design and development, global brand strategy and licensing for ToyVerse will be driven out of a newly established innovation hub located in Melbourne, Australia. Heading the hub is industry leader Claire Carroll, who joins ToyVerse following successful tenures as SVP of Strategy for Toy Monster as well as Global Head of Girls Toys for Moose Toys and Disney ANZ.

ToyVerse will make its industry debut on the Toy Industry Association’s LA Fall Preview circuit this month, offering retail partners an exclusive first look at its innovative portfolio. ToyVerse products are scheduled to officially hit retail shelves in Fall 2027.

The inaugural ToyVerse product range will span multiple core categories, including Construction, Novelty, Plush, Craft, and Collectibles, with additional announcements regarding global licensing partnerships expected in the coming months.

About Traverse Group:

Based in Bentonville, Arkansas, Traverse brings together sales strategy, retail brokerage, manufacturing, brand development, licensing, eCommerce, warehousing, fulfillment, logistics, and supply chain execution under one platform. The core category focus includes Home, Consumables, Petcare, Homewares, Toys, and Owned Brands, Traverse supports the full lifecycle of retail growth from product development and commercial strategy to operational execution with major global retailers and club channels.

SOURCE ToyVerse

NEW YORK, Sept. 14, 2026 — Northwind Group, a Manhattan-based real estate private equity firm and debt fund manager, today announced the origination of a $219 million first mortgage construction loan for 100 Wall Street, a 29-story, 463,000-square-foot office building in Manhattan’s Financial District. Loan proceeds retired the existing debt on the property and will fund the conversion of floors 2 through 11into 168 residential rental apartments, while floors 15 through 29 are nearly fully leased and will remain as office space. 

The conversion is being led by a joint venture between Lloyd Goldman’s BLDG and David Werner Real Estate Investments, two highly experienced New York City real estate sponsors. The joint venture acquired the building in July 2024 and quickly advanced the property through planning and predevelopment, which included successful relocations of office tenants from the base of the building into its top floors.

100 Wall Street is an ideal conversation candidate, with efficient floor plates providing optimal spacing between the windows and the building’s core and the freestanding nature of the building delivering four sides of natural light and air to the residential units. Additionally, the building already features two distinct elevator banks to allow for separate access points for residential and office tenants. Residents will have access to a full-service amenity package including a pool, fitness center, sports simulator, theatre, and rooftop deck with an outdoor kitchen.

The Sponsor has assembled an experienced project team to execute the conversion. Triton Construction, who alongside BLDG recently completed construction of The Orchard, a 70-story residential skyscraper in Long Island City, will serve as construction manager. Gensler Architecture, Design & Planning, one of the world’s largest architects, has been engaged as executive architect.

David Werner, President of DWREI, said, “It was great to have closed this transaction with Ran Eliasaf and Michael Ainbinder of Northwind Group. They have been an excellent partner to DWREI, and their certainty of execution is unparalleled in the marketplace. We’re very pleased to be moving ahead with the next phase of 100 Wall Street. Lloyd Goldman and the BLDG team have been terrific partners.”

Justin Kleinman, Executive Vice President and COO of BLDG, said, “100 Wall Street is uniquely suited for adaptive reuse, allowing us to create 168 luxury residences while maintaining a Class A office component with best-in-class amenities. We are thrilled to continue our outstanding financing relationship with Northwind Group and this closing represents an important milestone for the project. We appreciate Northwind’s continued confidence in the vision at 100 Wall Street.”

The loan was originated through Northwind Group’s discretionary debt fund platform as part of the firm’s ongoing strategy of providing financing for well-located, institutional-quality office-to-residential conversions across New York City and other supply constrained markets.

Ran Eliasaf, Founder and Managing Partner of Northwind Group, commented, “We are pleased to continue our partnership with Lloyd Goldman and David Werner, two of New York’s most established real estate investors. We believe 100 Wall Street is an ideal conversion that will deliver 168 much-needed residential units to the city and the fact that the office component is already over 95% occupied and cash flowing is very positive. Great work by our team executing this financing and expanding our initial $95mm pre-development loan into a full construction loan. This is the 8^th conversion project we have financed in the city, and we are implementing all experience we have learned as we continue expanding our credit platform into this strategy.”

Northwind was represented by John Vavas of Polsinelli Group.

About Northwind Group
Founded in 2008 by Ran Eliasaf, Northwind Group is a Manhattan-based real estate private equity firm and debt fund manager specializing in credit investments through its discretionary, closed-ended debt funds. The firm has successfully executed over $11 billion in real estate transactions in the U.S. across more than 400 real estate and healthcare properties in 28 states. For further information, go to www.northwind-group.com.

About David Werner Real Estate Investments
David Werner is a NYC based real estate investor who has been actively involved in commercial real estate for more than 40 years. He has extensive experience with both office and residential properties and has owned many iconic office buildings in NYC.

About BLDG Management
BLDG Management Company, Inc., led by Lloyd Goldman, is a Manhattan-based, privately held real estate investment, development and management company with an expansive portfolio of residential, retail, industrial, hospitality and office assets across the United States.

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SOURCE Northwind Group