LONDON and BUDAPEST, Hungary, Feb. 24, 2026 — Turbine, a leading virtual biology company, today announced a $25 million Series B financing, an expansion of its virtual cell platform across industries and a new immunology-focused partnership with a top 10 pharma company.

The Series B round is led by Interactive Venture Partners, with participation from Beiersdorf AG and existing investors, including MSD Global Health Innovation, Accel and Mercia.

“Central and Eastern Europe has produced exceptional innovation, and Turbine stands out as one of the region’s most compelling virtual biology platforms. Our team assessed the opportunity from both a technology and life sciences perspective, and we believe the ambitious team’s unique capability to virtualize biological experiments with AI positions them to be among the global leaders embedding such technology into biopharma R&D,” said Laszlo Czirjak, Managing Partner at Interactive VP, a fund backed by the family office of Thomas Peterffy, Founder and Chairman of Interactive Brokers Group, Inc.

With the new funding, Turbine will expand its platform to virtualize new assays across discovery and translational medicine. Turbine’s lab-in-the-loop will generate additional proprietary perturbation datasets, allowing the company to fine-tune its foundational virtual cell model to novel assay and tissue types. These virtual assays are deployed through the company’s Virtual Lab, a no-code platform that integrates with pharma workflows and systems.

“At Beiersdorf Venture Capital we see clear potential in AI-driven technologies such as virtual cell models that help researchers assess how active ingredients interact with skin biology, skin conditions, and safety. Our investment in Turbine reflects our interest in deep‑tech approaches that could shape the future of skin research.” – Ascan Voswinckel (Head of Beiersdorf Venture Capital)

With the new momentum from the investment round, Turbine is expanding its oncology-focused offering in biopharma to include immunology through a newly announced collaboration with a top 10 pharma company. Per the agreement, Turbine’s virtual assays will be trained to model immune cell behavior using proprietary datasets provided by the partner. The companies aim to provide deep mechanistic insights into immune pathways to inform the identification and prioritization of novel therapeutic combinations. The collaboration will enable scientists to run virtual experiments at a massive scale and interpret in silico results in the Virtual Lab so that only high conviction hypotheses proceed to wet lab validation. 

“Combination therapies have been proven to offer patient benefit. However, given the complexity of immunological diseases and the sheer number of potential combinations, virtualization is the only way scientists can rationally explore and identify the right drug combinations, as well as which patient cohorts may benefit from them.” said Szabolcs Nagy, Co-Founder & CEO at Turbine. “We are excited to expand into immunology, as a new therapeutic area, to build an active learning loop where simulations inform the right wet lab experiments, which in turn generate data that improves the next round of predictions to ultimately identify a number of potentially successful immunology drug combinations.”

About Turbine
Turbine is virtualizing biological experiments with AI to accelerate drug discovery and improve clinical translatability. Using its foundational virtual cell model powered by its lab-in-the-loop, Turbine creates virtual copies of experimental assays. Running experiments at computational speed and scale allows researchers to test millions of ideas, beyond physical lab constraints, to understand biological drivers of disease. Working with scientists at leading biopharma like MSD (Merck & Co.), AstraZeneca and Bayer, Turbine’s virtual assays have rationalized experiments across more than 30 discovery programs. Backed by leading tech and industry investors like Accel, MSD Global Health Innovation Fund, Interactive Venture Partners and Beiersdorf, Turbine is turning biology into an engineering discipline.

For more information, visit www.turbine.ai or follow our LinkedIn page.

About Beiersdorf
Beiersdorf has stood for innovative skin care and pioneering skin research for over 140 years. The company headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, employs more than 22,000 people worldwide. In the fiscal year 2024 Beiersdorf generated sales of €9.9 billion and an operating result (EBIT excluding special factors) of €1.4 billion. Leading international brands such as NIVEA (the world’s no. 1 skin care brand*), Eucerin, La Prairie, and Hansaplast are cherished by millions of people around the world every day. Renowned brands such as Aquaphor, Coppertone, and Chantecaille complement the extensive portfolio in the Consumer Business Segment. Through its wholly owned subsidiary tesa SE, Beiersdorf is a globally leading manufacturer of technical adhesive tapes and provides self-adhesive solutions to industry, craft businesses, and consumers. Guided by the purpose ‘Care Beyond Skin’, Beiersdorf pursues an ambitious sustainability agenda with the target to achieve Net Zero emissions by 2045 and aims to champion a more inclusive society.

Additional information can be found at www.beiersdorf.com.

* Source: Euromonitor International Limited; NIVEA by umbrella brand name in the categories Body Care, Face Care, and Hand Care; in retail value terms, 2024.

About Interactive Venture Partners
Interactive Venture Partners, a US investment fund, provides capital to ambitious innovators, entrepreneurs, and founders of startups in Central Eastern Europe. With early-stage investments in companies across industries, preferring some technology-based differentiation, Interactive Venture Partners supports startups seeking to grow by gaining access to larger markets and to a broader network. Interactive Venture Partners is an affiliate of the Interactive Brokers Group of Companies, and its managed fund is supported by the Thomas Peterffy family office.

Media Contact:
[email protected] 

SOURCE Turbine

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 24, 2026 — Handl Health, a technology platform powering the design of employer-sponsored health insurance that reduces costs while improving patient care, has secured $14.2 million in Series A funding to accelerate structural change in American healthcare.

Arthur Ventures led the funding round, which included follow-on investment from Syndra Capital Partners and another strategic investor from the ecosystem. Initial Handl investors Mucker Capital, Riverfront Ventures, Digital Health Venture Partners (DHVP) and Boutique Venture Partners increased their involvement.

Around 60% of U.S. citizens under retirement age are covered by employer-sponsored plans. The cost of these plans, for both consumers and employees, is climbing at an unprecedented rate. Accessibility has also declined. Handl Health aims to address both trends, transforming U.S. healthcare by supporting the insurance brokers, carriers and third-party administrators that are the main point of decision making for employer-sponsored health plans.

Over the past two years, Handl has partnered with employers to reevaluate their network strategy and benefits design, identifying a reported $113 million in savings across nearly $1 billion in healthcare spend. The company also powers alternative health plans that have reportedly reduced consumer costs by 22% on shoppable procedures.

“We’re seeing a once-in-a-lifetime shift in how employers purchase healthcare,” said Ahmed Marmoush, co-founder and CEO of Handl Health. “The building blocks for better health plans already exist across the ecosystem. What’s been missing is the platform that connects insight to action, a place where users can design a plan to optimize care pathways, deploy them through an intuitive member experience and then continuously refine that plan based on real-world performance. That’s exactly what we’ve built.”

The Series A funding will advance Handl’s platform expansion and help the company provide deeper plan analytics. This will lead to improved benefit design with predictable pricing and a higher quality of care for consumers.

“AI and price transparency data are redefining how health plans are designed and managed,” said Nick Goblisch, vice president at Arthur Ventures. “We’re thrilled to partner with Handl Health as its platform leads the next generation of network analytics and alternative health plan design.”

With the Handl platform, insurance brokers, carriers and third-party administrators can easily transform the rigid insurance of yesterday into dynamic, customizable and optimized health plans. These plans are built with the patient front and center, tailored to their unique needs and preferences.

“When building a cost-effective healthcare plan, you can no longer simply choose a carrier or network. You need to understand provider performance on both cost and quality, model different configurations, then evaluate what care pathways actually cost. We give users the infrastructure to design around those realities, deploy the plan and continuously track whether it’s delivering better outcomes at lower cost,” said Ria Shah, Handl’s co-founder and chief product officer.

“That’s how we’re forging the future of healthcare in the U.S.,” Marmoush added. “We’re killing one-size-fits-all, mass marketed health plans. Patients are demanding better health insurance options and employers are listening. It’s time for patients to start loving their health insurance.”

About Handl Health

Handl Health is a technology platform transforming how health plans are evaluated, designed and managed. By unifying healthcare pricing, utilization, benefit and quality data into a single analytical and operational layer, Handl empowers  brokers, carriers and third-party administrators  to build flexible, cost-effective health benefits. Handl’s technology delivers the infrastructure, analytics and insights needed to power the next generation of alternative health plans.

About Arthur Ventures

Arthur Ventures is an early growth capital firm that leads investments in B2B software companies located outside Silicon Valley. Since 2013, they have partnered with 80+ companies in different cities across all regions of the United States and Canada. Arthur Ventures manages ~$2 billion and is actively investing out of its $800 million in capital committed to its 2025 fund vintages.

Media Contact:
Jon Ross
[email protected]

SOURCE Handl Health

Purpose-built “Superhost” platform for hospitality has raised $68M to date, serving 2,000+ restaurant locations with 95%+ guest satisfaction

NEW YORK, Feb. 24, 2026 — Slang AI, the first and leading AI platform purpose-built for hospitality, announced today that it has secured $36 million in Series B funding led by US Venture Partners (USVP), bringing the company’s total funding to $68 million. The round includes $28M of equity and $8M of debt. Thayer Investment Partners and former Stripe COO Claire Hughes Johnson also participated, along with existing investors Homebrew, Stage 2 Capital, Active Capital, Wing VC, Collide Capital, and Underscore VC. Slang AI will use the investment to further expand and deepen its agentic voice AI platform for guest communications in hospitality settings, empowering restaurants, hotels and venues to eliminate missed calls, improve revenue capture, enhance the service capabilities of existing staff members and derive data-driven insights into their operations and customer relationships.

Slang AI’s sophisticated, custom-trained voice AI platform answers every inbound guest call with precision, warmth and professionalism, acting as a “Superhost” and setting the stage for a white-glove customer experience from the guest’s initial interaction. Available 24/7, the platform goes far beyond other hospitality AI systems that simply answer questions, handling more complex interactions such as booking reservations, intelligently routing high-value requests to the right staff, instantly handling guest inquiries, and recognizing returning guests and VIPs. In total, the company’s Superhost platform is designed to help restaurants further elevate the personalized hospitality that keeps loyal customers coming back.

Demand for AI-driven solutions that enhance restaurants’ operations and drive real ROI is surging, with recent industry data demonstrating that 8 out of 10 restaurant executives plan to increase AI spend this year and 94% of operators saying that AI is critical for remaining competitive. Slang AI was an early mover in identifying this trend, and has established itself as an indispensable partner to restaurants and restaurant groups including Texas de Brazil, Carmines, Riot Hospitality Group, Dineamic Hospitality and more by delivering up to 20x ROI for operators along with a 2x increase in phone reservations and 95%+ guest satisfaction.

Moreover, as high-quality data emerges as the key driver of success for enterprise AI deployments, Slang AI has developed a powerful competitive advantage with its dataset of over 25 million customer calls from 10 million unique guests. The company also offers seamless integration with leading online reservation and events platforms including OpenTable, SevenRooms, Tripleseat and Yelp.

Slang AI Co-Founder and CEO Alex Sambvani said, “The best restaurants in the world succeed because they make every guest feel known. Hospitality is about remembering people, anticipating their needs, and never missing an opportunity to serve. Slang AI makes that level of personalization possible at every restaurant, not just a handful of elite establishments. We’re building technology that unlocks a new level of personalization and human connection to every interaction, at any scale, and we deeply appreciate our restaurant partners’ and investors’ shared belief in our vision.”

Slang AI’s “Superhost” Solves Longstanding Pain Points for Hospitality Operators

Restaurants, hotels and venues rely on inbound demand to drive revenue, but they consistently struggle to respond to all the phone calls, voicemails, emails and forms that arrive every day. According to Slang’s own data, up to 50% of inbound opportunities to restaurants go unanswered daily, with roughly 20% arriving after hours. In addition, 10-20% of calls fail during handoff or follow-up, and many private dining and catering requests stall over days of back-and-forth.

At a time when restaurants face intense margin pressure and growing labor challenges, operators are often forced to choose between answering the phone and being fully present with the guests in front of them, leading to degraded service levels and potential brand damage.

Slang AI’s solution is a custom-built agentic voice platform that instantly and consistently captures demand, converts it into bookings and drastically expands the capabilities of existing staff by freeing them to focus on service.

Slang’s hospitality Superhost:

• Answers calls instantly, including at night and on weekends;
• Handles reservations, private dining, catering, and common guest questions;
• Qualifies high-value inquiries and routes them to the right team;
• Syncs directly with reservations, events, and CRM systems; and
• Works across the channels guests already use, including voice and text.

The platform logs and tracks every guest interaction, giving operators full visibility into inbound demand, with faster booking and more consistent guest response quality. Just as importantly, it helps restaurants manage costs by enhancing revenue capture without adding headcount.

Founding Farmers Restaurant Group Co-Founder Dan Simons said, “Slang AI has fundamentally impacted our business. Before Slang, we were missing calls, reservations, and private event leads that our team couldn’t get to in time. Now those opportunities are captured automatically, and guests who might have booked elsewhere are booking with us. It has delivered meaningful, measurable results, while removing constant interruptions so our staff can stay focused on delivering the highest value human interactions.”

Slang AI’s Sustainable Competitive Advantage in the Hospitality AI Race

Slang AI’s Superhost platform is designed to handle complex and delicate guest conversations that can determine that guest’s choice of one restaurant over another. This level of sophistication is made possible by the company’s proprietary dataset of 25 million calls from over 10 million unique guests across more than 2,000 restaurant locations, built up since the company’s launch in 2019.

Slang AI recognized early in the AI era that this dataset would be crucial in teaching its platform how to respond to nuanced caller behavior: how guests phrase requests, when they hesitate, where confusion tends to occur, and what makes an interaction feel smooth and reliable.

Today, Slang AI uses these insights to create sustainable competitive advantage by continuously improving its platform’s accuracy, timing, tone and clarity. The result is a voice AI that sounds natural and understands intent quickly.

US Venture Partners General Partner Rick Lewis said, “Slang AI has built something incredibly rare: a proprietary dataset from 25 million real guest interactions that gives them an insurmountable advantage in understanding how people actually communicate with restaurants. Customer satisfaction at 95%+ is almost unheard of in enterprise software – these operators genuinely love the product. When you combine that kind of data moat with deeply delighted customers, you’re looking at a category-defining company.”

What’s Next

Slang AI will use its Series B funding to deepen its AI capabilities, build multi-modal experiences that extend beyond voice, and expand into new areas of the guest journey – from personalized recommendations to post-visit follow-up and reviews – that drive measurable revenue and engagement for hospitality operators.

The company also intends to expand its engineering, product, and go-to-market teams to meet surging demand while scaling its partnership ecosystem to create an even more seamless experience for operators.

Sambvani concluded, “This funding round will empower us to make the Slang platform even more personal, more proactive, and more intelligent. It will remember even more about guests’ history and preferences, and bring them back through thoughtful, one-to-one outreach. And it will give operators real-time insight into both guest experience and team performance, so issues surface early and service keeps getting better. We’re thrilled to accelerate the expansion of our platform, and look forward to driving even greater value for our customers and investors.”

About Slang AI

Founded in 2019 by Alex Sambvani and Gabe Duncan, Slang AI is the first and leading AI platform purpose-built for the hospitality industry. Slang AI’s superhost answers every call with precision, warmth, and professionalism, booking reservations, handling inquiries, routing high-value requests, and recognizing returning guests, so restaurant staff can stay fully present with the guests in front of them. Serving 2,000+ restaurant locations globally with 95%+ guest satisfaction, Slang AI integrates with leading platforms including OpenTable, SevenRooms, Tripleseat, and Yelp. For more information, visit slang.ai.

About USVP

U.S. Venture Partners (USVP) is a leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm, partnering with entrepreneurs to transform their ideas into world-changing companies. USVP has invested in over 500 companies spanning four decades, including: Arkose Labs, Box, Carlsmed, Carrot, Cato Networks, Edgewise, Epsagon, Happy Returns, Heartflow, HotelTonight, Human Interest, Inari Medical, Inspire Medical Systems, Intersect ENT, Kenna, Medigate, Omada Health, Pluto TV, Primary, Supplyframe, Standard Bariatrics, ThreatMetrix, Trunk Club, Trusteer and Yammer. USVP focuses on early-stage start-ups that transform cybersecurity, enterprise software, consumer and healthcare. The USVP team consists of former entrepreneurs, technologists, corporate executives, and financial professionals who assist with strategy, scaling, team building, product development, and business development. USVP is based in Menlo Park, California.

Media Contact
Austin Pruitt
[email protected]

SOURCE Slang AI

Funding will support expanded real-time risk assessment and visibility across complex enterprise environments

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Feb. 24, 2026 — Circadian Risk, a pioneer in enterprise risk analysis SaaS and scenario-based assessment products, has closed a $6 million Series A funding round led by Arthur Ventures, with participation by Roll Tack Ventures and existing investors 11 Tribes and Tamiami Angel Funds. The Series A round was meaningfully oversubscribed, and strong investor demand allowed Circadian Risk to assemble a focused group of partners aligned with its growth strategy.

“We work closely with some of the world’s most sophisticated organizations—early adopters who understand the complexity of modern risk and the challenge of effective management,” said Michael Martin, CEO of Circadian Risk. “This investment affirms that we’re on the right path and gives us the resources to expand our reach, refine our platform, and bring our approach to a broader market.”

A Minneapolis-based early growth equity firm specializing in B2B software companies, Arthur Ventures has invested in more than 70 software companies across North America, including several in the security and risk management space.

“We are excited to partner with Circadian Risk, a company that has earned the confidence of its customers by providing a holistic platform that strengthens physical security and limits risk,” said Jake Olson, Principal at Arthur Ventures. “We believe their solution addresses the unique challenges faced by security teams today and are thrilled to provide growth capital to support their continued success.”

The Circadian Risk platform helps organizations identify and manage physical security risks, compliance gaps, and threat exposure. With this funding, the company will accelerate its next phase of growth, refining its go-to-market strategy and expanding its development team to integrate generative AI into the real-time, scored platform. Circadian Risk will also scale its client success team, deepening industry-specific expertise to support broader enterprise adoption across vertical markets.

Early and continuing investor 11 Tribes has supported Circadian Risk since its initial institutional funding and elected to participate again in the Series A round, citing continued conviction in the company’s leadership, execution, and market opportunity.

“From our earliest conversations, what stood out was the strength of the team and their understanding of the market,” said Mark Phillips, Founder & Managing Partner at 11 Tribes. “Circadian Risk wasn’t just building an interesting product. They had already demonstrated the ability to win customers and execute. That founder-market fit, combined with real traction, gave us confidence early on, and the company’s continued progress has reinforced that conviction.”

Investing in B2B technologies that strengthen the mid-market corporate tech stack and enable scalable growth and resilience across the Midwest’s core industries, Roll Tack is a new investor in Circadian Risk.

“Circadian Risk addresses a critical need that many organizations have historically managed through manual, fragmented processes,” said Sarah Lerner-Mantel, Partner at Roll Tack Ventures. “Customers adopt the platform because it brings real-time visibility across distributed locations, allowing teams to anticipate issues and respond quickly. As adoption grows, the platform benefits from increasing returns to scale, and leaders gain better insight into risk and more confidence in their decisions.”

Before the Series A round, Miami-based Tamiami Angel Funds supported Circadian Risk across two successive funds, both backed by strong member co-investment alongside fund capital—an internal signal of broad confidence in the company’s leadership, execution, and platform.

“Each time Circadian Risk came back and asked us to invest, they had earned it,” said Timothy Cartwright, Founder and Chairman of Tamiami Angel Funds. “They continue to hit milestone after milestone, which made it an easy decision. Their meaningful progress, strong execution, and a willingness to listen give investors increased confidence to support the company over time.”

About Circadian Risk
Circadian Risk is a pioneering developer of dynamic risk analysis SaaS that empowers organizations to control risk through awareness and action. The Circadian Risk platform allows customers to monitor organizational risk; manage multiple threat, hazard, and compliance scenarios; and communicate risk throughout their organizations. Offering both online and offline assessments, the software uses a logical, score-based approach to generate interactive dashboards and visualizations—updated in near-real time—and optimize the decision-making process. To learn more, visit www.circadianrisk.com.

Media Contact:
Timothy Simcoe
(734) 228-3429
[email protected]

SOURCE Circadian Risk

Led by Battery Ventures, the round comes just four months after the company’s previous raise, as enterprise revenue teams turn to AI to improve deal outcomes

CHICAGO, Feb. 24, 2026 — Letter AI, the AI-native revenue enablement platform for the world’s leading go-to-market teams, today announced it has raised a $40 million Series B funding round led by Battery Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator, Lightbank, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, Stage 2 Capital, and existing investors. The new funding will be used to scale product development, expand the team globally, and accelerate go-to-market efforts as enterprises move away from fragmented, low-adoption enablement tools toward AI-native platforms built for modern revenue teams.

Letter AI helps companies like Lenovo move beyond traditional revenue enablement towards deal enablement – bringing intelligence directly into live opportunities where it can have the greatest impact on sales outcomes. “Letter AI has changed how enablement shows up in our sales process,” said Abdul Hakim, Executive Director, Digital Workplace Solutions, Lenovo. “Rather than relying on static training that arrives too late, our teams now get real-time, deal-specific guidance that adapts to individual seller strengths and the realities of each opportunity. That level of personalized, in-the-moment intelligence has allowed us to respond much more quickly to evolving service offerings and accelerate sales cycles in ways we simply couldn’t before.”

Letter AI is Rebuilding Revenue Enablement for the AI Era

Revenue enablement has become one of the most fragmented layers in the enterprise stack, with companies relying on disconnected tools that lead to low adoption, slow onboarding, and sellers spending less than 30% of their time with customers (source: Salesforce State of Sales, 2024). Unlike legacy platforms that retrofit AI onto static architectures, Letter AI was built from day one as a unified platform with intelligence at its core – connecting content, learning, coaching, and buyer engagement into a single system that adapts in real time to each seller and each deal.

Real-Time Deal Intelligence for Go-to-Market Teams

Alongside the funding, Letter AI is launching Letter Compass, a new product that delivers real-time, deal-specific guidance for active opportunities. By combining enablement content and learning with live CRM data and customer interactions, Letter Compass brings highly contextual intelligence directly into the flow of sales execution.

“Revenue enablement is a perfect problem for an AI-native platform because it sits at the intersection of content, people, and live decision-making,” said Ali Akhtar, co-founder and CEO of Letter AI. “Legacy tools were built for static libraries and periodic training. We built Letter AI for modern sales teams who need guidance that is personalized, contextual, and available in the moment a deal is happening.”

“AI has made individual enablement features easy to replicate, exposing the limits of point solutions,” said Armen Forget, co-founder and CTO of Letter AI. “What enterprises need is a holistic system that understands deal context and supports sellers throughout the lifecycle of a deal.”

Battery Ventures led the round based on strong customer adoption and growing enterprise demand for system-level AI platforms in revenue operations. “Revenue enablement is undergoing a fundamental reset,” said Brandon Gleklen, Principal at Battery Ventures, who has joined the board of Letter AI. “Letter AI stands out because it wasn’t designed as a content repository or an AI add-on – it was built from the ground up as an AI-native platform that delivers real, measurable impact at the deal level. That’s what modern revenue teams are looking for.”

“Sales methodology has historically lived in static playbooks that reps skim once and forget. Letter AI changes that – it’s a living intelligence layer that’s tuned to every call prep, embedded in every live interaction, and actively shaping next steps for each deal,” said Mark Roberge, co-founder at Stage 2 Capital and founding CRO of HubSpot. “What makes this truly transformative is the personalization – the guidance is customized to each buyer’s unique context, and the coaching adapts to where each seller is in their own development journey. Letter AI meets sellers where they are – always on, always relevant, and always adapting to the changing buyer landscape.”

Note to editors:

Letter AI was recently recognized by G2 as the Highest Momentum Leader in Sales Enablement and earned 21 badges in the G2 Winter Reports, reflecting strong customer adoption, satisfaction, and growth across enterprise and mid-market segments.

The Media Kit with video, executive biographies and photos / imagery is available here.

About Letter AI

Letter AI is an AI-native revenue enablement platform that turns a company’s existing knowledge into real-time, deal-specific guidance for go-to-market teams. Rather than organizing static content and training, Letter AI dynamically generates personalized enablement and coaching based on live deal context, so sellers get what they need in the moment a deal is happening. Built from the ground up as a platform, Letter AI connects content, coaching, learning, and buyer engagement into a single intelligent system, driving higher adoption, faster onboarding, and more time spent with customers.

Letter AI is trusted by global enterprises, including Lenovo, Adobe, Novo Nordisk, Plaid, Zip, RingCentral, Kong, and SolarWinds, and supports revenue teams across more than 30 countries. Headquartered in Chicago, the company was co-founded by seasoned AI, product, and engineering leaders, Ali Akhtar and Armen Forget, and is backed by Battery Ventures, Y Combinator, Lightbank, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, Stage 2 Capital, and other leading investors. For more information, visit www.letter.ai.

Media contact:
Nick Morris | [email protected] | +44 (0)777 553 1593

SOURCE Letter AI

Growth investment to accelerate AI-powered curriculum innovation and expand access to accredited, personalized K–12 learning solutions for school districts and education organizations worldwide.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Feb. 24, 2026 — Subject, an AI-powered education platform, today announced an investment led by Vistara Growth, with participation from new investors NextEquity Partners, Green Street Impact Partners, and Outcomes Collective, along with existing investors Kleiner Perkins, True Equity, L’Attitude Ventures, and Hannah Grey. The $28M investment follows strong nationwide momentum and reinforces Subject’s leadership in AI-powered instruction, supporting continued platform expansion and broader reach among students and educators.

Schools, districts, and education organizations worldwide face evolving instructional requirements and increased accountability for student outcomes. As institutions move away from legacy digital curriculum that has proven difficult to scale and measure, Subject is increasingly adopted as a core instructional platform, enabling districts to expand accredited course offerings, support diverse and multilingual learners, and deliver instruction more efficiently. This shift reflects a broader transition toward AI-enabled infrastructure that helps districts do more while maintaining academic rigor.

“School districts are being asked to expand course access and improve outcomes while operating with fewer instructional resources,” said Michael Vilardo, Founder and CEO of Subject. “We built Subject to ensure every student, regardless of zip code, has access to engaging, accredited instruction that drives real outcomes. This partnership allows us to accelerate our ability to serve more districts, reach more students, and scale high-quality instruction worldwide, while advancing our AI-powered tools that support educators and personalize learning at scale.”

“Subject is addressing structural challenges reshaping instruction across secondary institutions,” said Kevin Barber, Associate Partner at Vistara Growth. “The Company has built a differentiated, AI-enabled platform with strong adoption across districts and a disciplined approach to growth. We are excited to partner with the Subject team as they continue scaling their platform and expanding impact.”

Looking ahead, Subject plans to accelerate development of its AI-powered platform, expand accredited course offerings, and deepen automation that supports educators and administrators. The Company also intends to scale its go-to-market efforts to meet growing demand across priority U.S. regions while strengthening partnerships with existing district customers. Together, these initiatives position Subject to continue expanding access to high-quality, accredited instruction at scale.

About Subject

Across the nation, Subject is a leading provider of digital curriculum and learning intelligence solutions for grades 6-12 education. Subject empowers nearly 1,000 schools nationwide through partnerships with approximately 360 districts and organizations. Subject delivers accredited middle and high school original credit and credit recovery courses, alongside innovative Teacher of Record AI and Multilingual AI solutions that expand access and flexibility for students. Through close collaboration with educators, Subject developed features that directly address educators most pressing needs: bite- sized, engaging video content that captures student attention, flexible language support to serve diverse student populations, comprehensive homework help, seamless progress monitoring tools that save teachers time, and comprehensive analytics that help districts boost graduation rates and student success metrics. Backed by top accreditations (Cognia, WASC) and approvals (UC-AG, NCAA, College Board), Subject delivers measurable results that administrators can trust. For more information, visit www.subject.com.

About Vistara Growth

Vistara Growth provides highly flexible growth debt and equity solutions to leading technology companies across North America. Founded, managed, and funded by seasoned technology finance and operating executives, “Vistara” (Sanskrit for “expansion”) is focused on enabling growth for the ambitious entrepreneurs we invest in, our investors, our people, and the communities we operate in. For more information, visit www.vistaragrowth.com.

SOURCE Subject

Additional funding will enhance Brainomix’s industry-leading customer support and fast-track product advancements across its Brainomix 360 Stroke and e-Lung AI imaging platforms.

The extension round was led by existing investors, Parkwalk and Hostplus via the IP Group Hostplus Innovation Fund, and includes participation from a new U.S.-based investor, Modi Ventures. 

OXFORD, England, and CHICAGO, Feb. 24, 2026 — Brainomix, a global leader and pioneer of AI-powered imaging tools in stroke and lung fibrosis, today announced a £4.8 million (c. $6.5 million) extension to its Series C financing, in addition to the £14 million secured in March 2025, bringing the total in the round to £18.8 million (c. $25.4 million). With existing operations in the U.S. and an extensive portfolio of FDA-cleared AI imaging solutions, the additional capital will enable Brainomix to further expand in the U.S. market as the company advances deployment of its AI imaging platforms, Brainomix 360 Stroke and e-Lung, across multiple hospitals.

The extension round was led by existing investors, Parkwalk Advisors and Hostplus via the IP Group Hostplus Innovation Fund, and includes participation from a new U.S.-based investor, Modi Ventures. 

“This investment reflects strong confidence in our technology, our team, and the impact Brainomix 360 Stroke and e-Lung can have on patient care,” said Dr Michalis Papadakis, CEO and co-founder of Brainomix. “Stroke care depends on speed, while lung fibrosis care requires early identification and consistent clinical decision-making over time, underscoring the need for hospital technologies that support clinicians at the point of care. With this investment extension, we are well-positioned to enhance customer support across the US and Europe, accelerating the seamless integration of our technology into existing clinical workflows and expanding access to life-saving treatments.”

Sahir Ali, founder and general partner of Modi Ventures, added, “Brainomix has built an exceptionally strong platform backed by rigorous clinical validation and real-world evidence showing that Brainomix 360 Stroke can significantly increase endovascular thrombectomy treatment rates and reduce delays in patient triage and transfer, particularly in primary stroke centers. With e-Lung, Brainomix is developing a truly novel technology to accelerate the diagnosis of fibrosing lung disease, enabling earlier treatment options that can improve patient outcomes. We are pleased to join as a new investor and look forward to supporting the company as it expands in the U.S. and accelerates adoption of technologies that meaningfully improve patient outcomes.”

Parkwalk is the UK’s largest growth EIS fund manager. Hostplus is a leading Australian industry superannuation (pension) fund with over AUD$140 billion in funds under management. Modi Ventures is an early-stage US-based venture capital firm investing in health tech, tech bio, and artificial intelligence.

About Brainomix

Brainomix is a global pioneer in AI medical imaging, enabling precision medicine for better treatment decisions in stroke and lung fibrosis. Its flagship product, Brainomix 360 Stroke, is the world’s first fully automated AI-imaging platform, designed for acute stroke assessment at all points of the patient pathway, facilitating more confident treatment and transfer decisions for patients in all hospitals, regardless of local resources or expertise. Brainomix 360 e-Lung technology applies AI-driven CT biomarkers to identify, monitor, and predict disease progression in pulmonary fibrosis. Founded as a spinout from the University of Oxford, Brainomix has offices in the UK, Ireland and the USA, and operations in more than 20 countries.

To learn more about Brainomix and its technology visit www.brainomix.com, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Contacts
Jeff Wyrtzen, Chief Marketing Officer
[email protected]
T +44 (0)1865 582730

US Media Enquiries
Jason Braco, Ph.D.
LifeSci Communications
[email protected]

UK & Europe Media Enquiries
Sue Charles 
Charles Consultants
[email protected] 

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SOURCE Brainomix

LONDON, Feb. 24, 2026 — Talentis – the Executive Search Software with a 4.9* rating on G2, is pleased to announce growth of 67% in exit ARR in H2 of 2025. This dramatic increase in revenue and subscriber numbers likely positions the platform as the fastest growing executive search CRM on the market.

Alongside the announcement of Talentis’ significant sales acceleration, ultimate parent Dillistone Group Plc announced an equity fundraise worth more than US$2Million. Backed by investors from both the US and the UK, a specific objective of the investment is to “provide adequate resources to take full advantage of the immediate and global opportunity afforded by Talentis”.

Strong Growth in Executive Search Software

Talentis has delivered impressive growth as executive search firms increasingly reassess their technology infrastructure. The platform is now used by executive search firms and in-house recruiting teams across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Independent user reviews on sites like G2 refer to how the platform has “dramatically increased productivity” for users, with clients reporting that the “new software is simply outstanding.”

A changing recruitment landscape

Talentis has benefited from a changing recruitment landscape. Unlike legacy executive search software that requires extensive data input and maintenance by users, the Talentis CRM provides an integrated CRM and candidate sourcing platform, which streamlines the executive search process – while offering a seamless user experience. This is an attractive combination for executive recruiters who are tasked with building candidate shortlists ever faster.

Purpose-Built Executive Search Technology

Unlike generalist recruitment CRM systems, Talentis was designed exclusively for executive search firms. The platform combines:

• Executive search CRM functionality
• Search assignment management
• Structured market mapping tools
• Candidate intelligence capture
• Access to hundreds of millions of public candidate and client profiles via the integrated TalentGraph
• Numerous AI integrations built into the platform.

For firms evaluating how to choose executive search software, a key consideration is whether the platform strengthens long-term value. Talentis enables firms to build a living executive database that compounds over time — rather than relying solely on external subscription databases.

Increasing Demand for Alternatives to Legacy Executive Search CRM Systems

In 2026, executive search firms are increasingly questioning the traditional combination of:

• A legacy executive search CRM
• LinkedIn Recruiter licences
• Disconnected research spreadsheets

The market is shifting toward unified executive search platforms that integrate workflow, research, and data ownership. Talentis has gained traction among boutique retained search firms, international networks, and growth-focused executive search businesses looking to modernise their technology stack.

As 2026 progresses, firms searching for:

• “Best executive search software”
• “Executive search CRM comparison”
• “LinkedIn Recruiter alternative for executive search”
• “Executive search database software”

are increasingly considering Talentis as a modern solution built specifically for retained search.

About Ikiru People

Ikiru People is a specialist provider of executive search technology and forms part of Dillistone Group Plc. Through Talentis, Ikiru People delivers purpose-built executive search software designed to help retained search firms build proprietary talent intelligence, manage assignments effectively, and strengthen long-term competitive advantage.

For executive search firms evaluating innovative technology, further information about Talentis is available at https://www.talentis.global/recruitment-software/talentis-fundraise/.

Media contact: Yann Le Leyour, Marketing Manager – [email protected].

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SOURCE Ikiru People Ltd

MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 23, 2026 — Maazah, a Minneapolis-based food brand known for its globally inspired dips and sauces, today announced the close of a $2 million Seed financing round to support nationwide retail growth and expanded distribution.

The round was backed by a group of Minnesota-based family offices reflecting strong regional support for the fast-growing brand.

The funding follows significant retail momentum for the brand’s globally inspired dips and sauces, including nationwide launches with Whole Foods Market and Sprouts Farmers Market, as well as an expanding footprint within Costco across multiple regions. Proceeds from the financing will be used to scale production, strengthen retail execution, expand distribution, and drive continued product innovation across Maazah’s portfolio.

“Maazah was built to bring bold, globally inspired flavors to everyday tables,” said Sheilla Sajady, Co-Founder of Maazah. “This funding allows us to accelerate growth while staying true to our roots and commitment to quality.”

Founded by sisters, Yasmeen and Sheilla Sajady, Maazah creates bold, globally inspired dips and sauces rooted in family recipes and crafted for today’s diverse, flavor-seeking consumer.

For more information, visit www.maazah.com.

Media Contact:
Sheilla Sajady
[email protected]

SOURCE Maazah