New book challenges business leaders to move past fear and hesitation—and start measuring Return on AI (ROAI)

DENVER, July 22, 2025 — Brett A. Schklar, AI strategist and founder of AI–First Leadership™, today announced the launch of his groundbreaking new book, AI Without the BS™: The CEO’s Playbook for Actually Getting AI Right.*

This candid, no–nonsense guide provides a framework for CEOs and business owners who are feeling left behind as artificial intelligence transforms industries. With companies worldwide moving rapidly to integrate AI into every aspect of operations, Schklar warns that many executives still treat the technology like a “middle school science fair project”—dabbling instead of leading.

“CEOs don’t have time for fluff—they need clarity, action, and measurable impact,” said Schklar. “This book gives them a roadmap to do just that. It’s time for CEOs to stop hesitating and start focusing on what I call Return on AI—ROAI—as their most critical business metric for the next 12 to 18 months.”

Why Now: The Leadership Mandate of 2025

Artificial intelligence is no longer experimental—it’s operational. Companies that hesitate today risk falling irreversibly behind as competitors deploy AI to scale faster, cut costs, and make smarter decisions. Yet many CEOs remain stuck, paralyzed by fear of complexity or unsure where to begin.

“The gap between what AI can do and what CEOs are doing is growing by the day,” Schklar warns. “Over the next 12 to 18 months, Return on AI—ROAI—must become every leader’s most important metric. This isn’t about playing catch-up; it’s about staying relevant.”

A CEO’s roadmap to AI that delivers strategic insights and practical frameworks, the book guides leaders through:

• Moving beyond pilots to enterprise-wide AI implementation
• Managing risk while driving innovation
• Building an AI–ready team and culture
• Shifting from short–term wins to long–term strategic advantage
• Measuring success with ROAI—Return on AI
• Hiring and retaining AI–capable talent
• Streamlining implementation for faster results

“Every time a CEO uses AI to remove redundancy, automate a task, or accelerate decision–making, they’re freeing up their people to do what only humans can: connect, create, and lead,” Schklar added. “That’s not cheating—that’s smart business.”

Launch Events and Engagement Opportunities

To celebrate the release, AI–First Leadership™ will host a series of events for business leaders:

“AI is no longer optional—it’s a leadership mandate. This book gives CEOs the lens and the language to make AI their competitive advantage instead of their blind spot,” Schklar said.

AI Without the BS is available now for pre-order in paperback and Kindle editions on Amazon: https://bit.ly/AIWithoutBS 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brett A. Schklar is a nationally recognized AI strategist and executive advisor with over 20 years of experience helping organizations unlock smarter growth. He has guided startups, Fortune 500 companies, and mid–market leaders through digital transformation and AI adoption. Over the past 18 months, Schklar has spoken with more than 1,000 CEOs and executive teams nationwide, uncovering a consistent theme: while AI capabilities are advancing rapidly, many leaders remain hesitant to engage meaningfully with the technology.

His mission is to close this leadership gap—helping executives move from confusion to confidence, and from AI fear to AI Adoption.

Media Contact:
Brett Schklar
[email protected]
303-883-2449

SOURCE Brett Schklar

CVS Health® Ventures joins investors to expand whole-person care for vulnerable and chronically complex members.

COLUMBIA, Md., July 22, 2025 — AbsoluteCare, a leader in value-based integrated health care, has secured $135 million in equity financing from four investors: Kinderhook Industries, CVS Health Ventures, Pacific Life, and Lexington Partners. This funding bolsters AbsoluteCare’s ability to optimize operations and expand into new markets and serve new member populations.

“AbsoluteCare is setting a new standard for value-based care, delivering comprehensive health care to high-acuity Medicaid and Medicare members,” said Chris Michalik, Managing Director at Kinderhook. “We are thrilled with the company’s success and recent expansion, and we look forward to supporting AbsoluteCare as it continues to scale its proven care model and improve patient lives across the country.”

AbsoluteCare’s Beyond Medicine™ model is designed to improve health outcomes for complex Medicaid and Medicare members through a whole-person approach that includes intense social determinants of health support, behavioral health care, primary and urgent care, and integrated pharmacy.

Vijay Patel, Vice President and Managing Partner at CVS Health Ventures highlighted AbsoluteCare’s impact, saying, “AbsoluteCare is delivering a unique, concierge-level of care to individuals who need it most, within their own community. Supporting the enhancement and expansion of this innovative care model aligns with our commitment to improve health outcomes for vulnerable populations.”

With 25 years of experience serving marginalized populations and deep expertise in value-based care, AbsoluteCare is committed to improving quality outcomes by increasing interactions with primary care providers while reducing avoidable utilization and costs. Results include a 34% reduction in emergency department (ED) visits and a 20-30% decrease in total cost of care, along with 75-80% member engagement.¹ This is for a member population that averages 13 diagnoses, 10+ medications and of which 60% have a behavioral health or substance use diagnosis.

“This investment reflects deep confidence in AbsoluteCare’s concierge, PCP-led care model and strengthens our ability to deliver outstanding health outcomes for our members and payer partners,” said Mike Radu, CEO of AbsoluteCare. “Due to its complexity, value-based care in Medicaid is rare at scale, but we are unwavering in our commitment to expanding our reach and deepening our presence in new communities. Our partners are seeing the results of that dedication with enhanced quality and demonstrated cost savings.”

AbsoluteCare offers services within comprehensive care centers set in urban communities, near their member populations, and extends care into the community by rounding in hospitals and facilities and visiting members in their homes.

¹ Data Source: AbsoluteCare internal data (2025), Average annual performance across all members after year one.

About Kinderhook Industries
Founded in 2003, Kinderhook Industries, LLC is a private investment firm that has raised $8.5 billion of committed capital. We have made in excess of 500 investments and follow-on acquisitions since inception. Kinderhook’s investment philosophy is predicated on matching differentiated, growth-oriented investment opportunities with financial expertise and our proprietary network of operating partners. Our focus is on middle market businesses with defensible niche market positioning in the healthcare services, environmental & industrial services, and light manufacturing & automotive sectors. For more information, please visit https://www.kinderhook.com

About CVS Health Ventures
CVS Health Ventures is a dedicated corporate venture capital fund that works with high-potential, early-stage and growth-stage companies focused on making health care more accessible, affordable, and simpler. The company focuses on investments that transform care delivery and focus on whole person care, consumer-centric health, and disruptive technology enablement. CVS Health Ventures’ goal is to enable promising entrepreneurs to scale more quickly and effectively through access to their unmatched enterprise capabilities and consumer touchpoints, while offering expertise and insights from their company’s unique perspective. For more information, visit cvshealthventures.com.

About AbsoluteCare
Headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, AbsoluteCare is a leading value-based integrated health care provider. AbsoluteCare tends exclusively to the needs of the high-risk population who persistently represent a disproportionate amount of unnecessary utilization and cost. AbsoluteCare operates in 11 markets: Baltimore and Prince George’s County, MD; Chicago, IL; Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, and Dayton OH; New Orleans, LA; and Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, PA. For more information, visit absolutecare.com.

www.absolutecare.com | LinkedIn 

SOURCE AbsoluteCare Manager, LLC.

– RA Capital Closes $120M Planetary Health Fund Focused on Profitable, Market-Driven Solutions –

BOSTON, July 22, 2025 — RA Capital Management, LP (“RA Capital”) today announced the final close of its inaugural Planetary Health Fund (PHF), raising $120 million to invest in high-growth companies advancing resource availability, energy innovation, and industrial productivity. The fund supports scalable, market-driven solutions that improve planetary health, leveraging RA Capital’s two decades of evidence-based investing and company-building expertise.

RA Capital’s Planetary Health team backs capital-efficient companies that can become profitable without relying on subsidies or policy support. Industry verticals of interest include critical minerals, energy, manufacturing, agriculture, and environmental services.

PHF is an early-stage investment fund focusing on a company’s path to near-term deployment and profitability. Although PHF’s investments to date range from Series Seed to Series C, each company shares a similar commercial timeline. PHF tracks progress by a company’s market readiness, not by its funding round – mirroring the unique go-to-market paths of deep-tech firms.

The Planetary Health team is led by Managing Partners Brigid O’Brien, PhD, and Kyle Teamey. As of July 2025, the fund has invested in seven portfolio companies, built a robust pipeline of opportunities, and assembled a specialized team supported by a global network of advisors and collaborators.

“This fund represents a natural evolution of our mission to back transformational science and technology to improve human wellbeing,” said Peter Kolchinsky, Founder and Managing Partner at RA Capital. “By applying the same rigorous, evidence-based approach to the planetary health space under Brigid’s and Kyle’s leadership, our team can help build enduring companies that address global challenges while delivering strong returns.”

Current portfolio companies span breakthrough technologies in metal recycling and circularity (Sortera Technologies and a company still in stealth), advanced battery manufacturing (AM Batteries), geologic hydrogen exploration (Koloma), next-generation energy platforms (Bia Energy and Optivolt), and mining technology (company still in stealth).

“Planetary Health’s focus on near-term solutions identified through deep market diligence positions us to scale companies that deliver both meaningful returns and measurable results,” said O’Brien. “Our team combines deep technical expertise with proven company-building capabilities. We don’t just provide capital – we’re active partners that help entrepreneurs navigate everything from technology challenges to regulatory complexity to recruiting and commercial scale-up.”

“Our proprietary research platform, experience scaling companies with product-market fit, and global experience with complex investments enable us to pursue high-potential opportunities regardless of geography,” said Teamey. “We love to help entrepreneurs build great companies and we are excited by the opportunities in our pipeline.”

About the Team

Managing Partners Brigid O’Brien and Kyle Teamey bring combined experience across more than 90 technology investment transactions. They previously collaborated at In-Q-Tel, the strategic investment arm of the U.S. Intelligence Community, where they jointly managed strategic portfolios and led investments in early-stage companies.

Before joining RA Capital, O’Brien served as Managing Director at In-Q-Tel’s Australian subsidiary and as Head of Venture Investments at BHP, the world’s largest mining company by market capitalization. Teamey was previously a Partner at Breakthrough Energy Ventures and investment principal at In-Q-Tel. He also served as CEO and Co-Founder of Liquid Light, a CO2-to-chemicals company acquired by Avantium.

About RA Capital Management

Founded in 2004, RA Capital Management is a multi-stage investment manager dedicated to evidence-based investing in public and private healthcare, life sciences, and planetary health companies. RA Capital creates and funds innovative companies, from private seed rounds to public follow-on financings, allowing management teams to drive value creation from inception through commercialization and beyond. RA Capital’s knowledge engine is guided by its dedicated internal research division; and Raven, RA Capital’s healthcare incubator, offers entrepreneurs and innovators a collaborative and comprehensive platform to explore the novel and the re-imagined. RA Capital has more than 170 employees and over $10 billion in assets under management.

SOURCE RA Capital Management, LP

LONDON, July 22, 2025 — Magentic, the AI Agent Platform that hunts and delivers savings across global manufacturing supply chains, today announced a $5.5 million funding round led by Sequoia Capital.

The fundraise, with participation from The Westly Group, First Momentum Ventures, and angel investors from SAP, Airbus, McKinsey & Company, Hugging Face, Ironclad, and Rosberg Ventures, will accelerate the team’s growth.

“Supply chains are the hidden engines of our world, responsible for every phone, medicine, and plane in our lives,” said Robin Van Aeken, Magentic’s co-founder and CEO. “Procurement teams are at breaking point, spending hours navigating unstructured information, ever more complex demands, and now global conflict and tariffs.”

According to McKinsey & Company, 90% of Chief Procurement Officers (CPOs) identify supplier compliance value “leaks” as critical business issues, with an average waste of 2% of total spend; ~$40M on a $2B spend base. One Magentic partner found previously undetected, P&L-impacting errors in 1 in 4 of its procurement documents.

Magentic deploys off-the-shelf, procurement and supply chain domain-specific AI teammates into operations. These AI agents are designed to hunt down, prioritize, and deliver hard savings, even in messy, unstructured environments where master data is incomplete or inconsistent. An example is a $30B manufacturer that saved 4% on its machinery spare parts procurement and is now rolling out Magentic’s AI teammates to additional spend categories.

Odhran O’Donoghue, Magentic co-founder and CTO, said “For the first time, we have the technology to understand all our data across previously incompatible systems. At Magentic, we’re motivated by the question: how can complex companies deploy trustworthy, reliable systems capable of following company playbooks to improve outcomes for their suppliers and their customers.”

Magentic was founded by Robin Van Aeken who led teams at McKinsey & Company for global manufacturers and Odhran O’Donoghue who holds a PhD in Machine Learning from the University of Oxford and led advanced AI projects at OpenAI, NASA, and the Crick Institute. Magentic combines a world-class AI engineering team with procurement expertise.

Sequoia Capital Partner Julien Bek said: “Today, the best AI companies are selling outcomes not seats. In the old world, SaaS sold the promise of ROI. In the new world, AI actually delivers it. That’s why we’re proud to partner with Robin, Odhran, and the team at Magentic – their AI ‘Mages’ work seamlessly alongside procurement and supply chain teams to drive immediate P&L gains and we can’t wait to see the impact they deliver as they continue to build.”

Magentic’s customers span consumer packaged goods, pharmaceutical, and advanced manufacturing sectors across the US and Europe. Magentic is deploying new AI teammates to prepare and defend against supplier tariff claims, find more opportunities for savings, and operate “end-to-end”, always with humans in the loop.

Magentic aims to help its customers achieve automated operations, with human strategic thinking and relationships at the center.

To book a demo, please visit Magentic’s website or find Magentic on LinkedIn

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2734980/Magentic_Founders.jpg
Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2734979/Magentic_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Magentic

Firm targets control investments in essential service and manufacturing businesses with $2–$30 million in revenue and $1–$3 million in EBITDA.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., July 21, 2025 — Signal Rock Capital, a private investment firm built to partner with gritty, founder-led companies in overlooked corners of the economy, has officially launched operations.

Co-founded by Sam Hafermann and Grant Husted, Signal Rock focuses on buying and building essential businesses across four core verticals:

1. B2B Industrial – Distribution, manufacturing, fire & life safety, pest control, commercial towing, and landscaping.
2. Infrastructure Services – OSHA consulting, paving & striping, backflow prevention, traffic control, loading dock maintenance, and tree trimming.
3. Consumer Services – Vacation rental maintenance, health & wellness, and 4-wall consumer.
4. Healthcare Services – Outsourced MRI, scanning, and diagnostic testing.

The firm targets control investments in companies generating $2–$30 million in revenue and $1–$3 million in EBITDA.

“We started Signal Rock to be the kind of investor we’d want if we were in the owner’s shoes,” said Hafermann. “No spreadsheets-for-brains. No three-year flip plans. Just a real partnership — grounded in trust, long-term thinking, and a deep respect for what it takes to build something that matters to its customers.”

Before founding Signal Rock, Hafermann and Husted worked together at L2 Capital, a family office based in Devon, PA and Miami, FL with a 4x realized track record since 2010. The two founding partners have led or supported more than 30 transactions across the industrial, niche manufacturing, and business service sectors.

sig•nal rock noun:

1. A fixed structure with a powerful light used to guide ships safely to shore.
2. Calm, visible, and dependable in stormy conditions.

Signal Rock is named after coastal lighthouses that guide ships through chaos — reliable markers in moments of uncertainty. That’s the firm’s aspiration: to be steady in the storm and deeply embedded in the journey.

About Signal Rock:

Signal Rock Capital is a principal investment firm focused on acquiring and growing founder-led industrial, specialized service, manufacturing, and four-wall consumer businesses.

The firm is currently evaluating several platform opportunities and is actively meeting with owner-operators seeking growth, succession, or a thoughtful recap. The firm brings operational horsepower, flexible structuring, and long-term alignment to every potential transaction.

To learn more, visit www.signalrockcap.com

Media Inquiries:

[email protected] 

www.signalrockcap.com 

SOURCE Signal Rock Capital

LONDON, July 21, 2025 — Xelix, a leading agentic AI software company in the Accounts Payable (AP) space, today announced a $160 million Series B funding round led by global software investor Insight Partners, with follow-on investments from Passion Capital and LocalGlobe. This funding will enable Xelix to accelerate platform development and support more organizations in adopting AI for their finance operations.

For too long, companies have relied on manual processes and basic systems to manage Accounts Payable and vendor risk. As a result, enterprises lose millions each year to overpayments, face increased fraud risks and suffer from bloated and burdensome manual workflows. Recognizing the need for improved AP controls, Xelix’s AI-powered platform seamlessly integrates with existing systems to detect payment errors and fraud, automate supplier statement reconciliations and streamline AP Helpdesk operations. Enterprise organizations such as Astra Zeneca, BAT, GSK and Virgin Atlantic have achieved millions in cost savings with Xelix whilst transforming costly, manual AP processes into automated, intelligent workflows.

This investment follows a period of significant, capital-efficient growth for Xelix – driven by a differentiated product offering, massive customer ROI and a deep commitment to client support and value realisation.

“This funding marks a major milestone in our journey,” said Paul Roiter, CEO of Xelix. “It allows us to accelerate product innovation, expand our market presence and reinforce our position as a category leader – enabling more finance teams to evolve Accounts Payable from a manual back-office function into a strategic, data-driven business partner.” 

Xelix’s growth accelerated in 2024 with the addition of its Helpdesk module – an agentic AP ticketing tool for handling high volumes of supplier queries. Today, the Xelix platform offers three core solutions, processes over 115 million invoices annually and audits more than $750 billion in spend across 130+ global customers. 

“Enterprise finance teams have long lacked an audit and control solution that is intelligent, proactive, system-agnostic, and efficient enough to support their high-volume workflows,” said Ryan Hinkle, Managing Director at Insight Partners. “While spot checks are helpful, anything less than a full audit of every invoice leaves potential for fraud, mistakes, or abuse. Xelix uses AI to deliver a comprehensive control layer – helping enterprises eliminate overpayments and fraud risk while driving major efficiencies by automating day to day AP tasks. We are excited to back Paul, Phil, and the Xelix team in this next chapter of growth.” 

As part of the investment, Hinkle and Alessandro Luciano, Vice President at Insight Partners, will join the Xelix board of directors. 

Solano Partners, a boutique investment bank focused on founder-led software businesses, acted as exclusive financial advisor to Xelix on the transaction. Houlihan Lokey served as financial advisor to Insight Partners.

About Xelix 

Since 2018, Xelix has been a pioneer in the Accounts Payable audit and controls space. Its AI-powered platform bolts onto existing ERP and finance systems to detect payment errors and fraud, automate supplier statement reconciliations and streamline AP Helpdesk operations. Trusted by global enterprises, Xelix helps finance teams reduce risk, unlock cost savings and drive greater efficiency across Accounts Payable. 

To learn more, please visit: https://xelix.com/ 

About Insight Partners 

Insight Partners is a global software investor partnering with high-growth technology, software, and Internet startup and ScaleUp companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. As of December 31, 2024, the firm has over $90B in regulatory assets under management. Insight Partners has invested in more than 800 companies worldwide and has seen over 55 portfolio companies achieve an IPO. Headquartered in New York City, Insight has offices in London, Tel Aviv, and the Bay Area. Insight’s mission is to find, fund, and work successfully with visionary executives, providing them with tailored, hands-on software expertise along their growth journey, from their first investment to IPO. For more information on Insight and all its investments, visit insightpartners.com or follow us on X @insightpartners. 

SOURCE Xelix

Andreesen Horowitz drove the round on the heels of Nexxa posting two straight quarters of 3x growth

The company was also selected for a16z’s Speedrun Badge 5

SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 21, 2025 — Nexxa.ai, an AI-native company working to transform how industrial engineers operate in digital environments, today announced a $4.4 million pre-seed funding round. The round was driven by Andreesen Horowitz with participation from institutional investors Augment Ventures, Propeller Ventures, Plug and Play, Beat Ventures, SBI, Untapped Ventures, and Cross Atlantic Angels as well as angel investors Rick Berry and Pat McCarthy, among others. The company was also selected for Speedrun Badge 5, a16z’s elite accelerator for high-potential AI startups.

“Having worked in industrials for over a decade, I believe that there has never been a more critical time to invest in technology that can have a real impact on our infrastructure. Our goal is to build an AI approach that can understand and learn deeply technical operations from scratch,” said Philipp Wehn, co-founder and CEO of Nexxa. “We are excited to bring on this additional capital and institutional guidance to accelerate our AI development.”

Despite the explosion of enterprise software and AI solutions, more than 4 million industrial engineers worldwide still rely on fragmented, in-house developed software systems and manual processes to execute complex operations. Nexxa deploys specialized AI agents that integrate with their customers’ existing software like engineering tools or estimating systems. Nexxa’s AI agents understand the industrial engineering context and act autonomously or collaboratively – accelerating work without requiring any rip and replace.

“Nexxa is shaping the future of industrial engineering with an execution-focused approach to AI,” said Troy Kirwin, partner at a16z Speedrun. “The potential of Nexxa is enormous – and they are just getting started.”

The funds will be used to grow the company’s engineering resources and expand into more industries. Nexxa was also selected to participate in a16z’s Speedrun Badge 5, which provides the company with access to a16z’s AI ecosystem, infrastructure support and go-to-market expertise.

“Philipp brings a deep understanding of pain points for industrial businesses which existing solutions fail to address,” said Sonali Vijayavargiya, founder and managing partner at Augment Ventures. “We are backing Nexxa because they are not just automating tasks but also building intelligent systems that drive results in complex enterprise environments.” 

Nexxa was founded in May 2024 and has now posted two straight quarters of 3x growth in booked annual contract value (ACV) in 2025. Early adopters include Fortune 100 companies and midmarket firms, with Nexxa’s AI already driving measurable impact in their operational workflows.

“Nexxa demonstrates strong potential through its focus on AI for industrial engineering and its ability to connect with existing software systems,” said Mario Mattern, head of portfolio management, partnering and startups at Siemens Mobility. “This capability is highly relevant for our customers and partners, which is why Nexxa is part of the Siemens Xcelerator ecosystem.”

About Nexxa.ai
Nexxa.ai is a startup delivering specialized AI to heavy project industries. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA, Nexxa is shaping the emerging field of Agent Augmented Engineering. The company is backed by Andreesen Horowitz and other top-tier investors. To learn more or request a demo, visit www.nexxa.ai.

Contact
Alexa Borislow
[email protected]

SOURCE Nexxa.ai

5G Market Consolidation leads to multiple strategic consulting projects

CAMPBELL, Calif., July 21, 2025 — Mobile Experts Inc. launched a new service this week, dedicated to consulting services for strategic investors in the mobile telecom market. This new service makes the team of Mobile Experts analysts available as deep subject-matter experts to advise anyone making an investment in wireless, edge computing, satellite communications, or smartphone/IoT device architectures.

“We’ve parachuted into strategic M&A projects periodically over the past fifteen years,” commented Joe Madden, Principal Analyst. “Recently, however, we’ve noticed an increasing number of investors that are exploring acquisitions or investments in ventures related to 4G or 5G technology. We are here to help the investors to make good decisions.”

“To be clear, we can provide very accurate market size and growth forecasts that are based on direct interviews with industry players.”, continued Mr. Madden. “We track the shipments, revenue, and market share and we’re well known for our accuracy. Perhaps less well known is that we’ve correctly predicted the strategic outcome of nine major market initiatives over the past 18 years. We have a combination of economic/cost analysis and technical savvy that allows us to make very specific conclusions about future adoption of technology.”

Since 2007, Mobile Experts (originally Madden Consulting) has accurately predicted usage of the most important technical innovations in wireless. All of these were confirmed some 3-7 years later:

During 2025, Mobile Experts has predicted that the wireless market will shift from “growth mode” to “commoditization”, meaning that many companies will be merging together or acquiring product lines from each other to consolidate the supply chain. Mobile Experts is announcing its intention to participate in these consolidation activities as an unbiased due-diligence and subject matter expert firm.

About Mobile Experts Inc.:
Mobile Experts provides insightful market analysis for the wireless industry. More than 150 companies subscribe to Mobile Experts forecasts and contribute to making each prediction as accurate as possible. The team consists of telecom professionals, all trained engineers, that spent 20+ years in product management and other business roles. See the team’s background here.

Contact:
Rachel Winningham
[email protected]
+1 (408) 374-0690
www.mobile-experts.net

SOURCE Mobile Experts Inc.

SAN FRANCISCO, July 21, 2025 – Activate Capital and XNRGY Climate Systems “XNRGY”, are pleased to announce that Activate has made a strategic investment in XNRGY, a leading North American manufacturer of sustainable air handling and liquid cooling technologies. The investment will support the company’s continued growth, expand its domestic manufacturing presence, and accelerate the delivery of next-generation cooling solutions for data centers and other mission-critical infrastructure.

This announcement follows the opening of XNRGY’s new 275,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Mesa, Arizona, the first phase of a planned one million- square-foot innovation campus. With production underway as of May 1, 2025, the facility significantly boosts XNRGY’s U.S. capacity to serve rising demand for efficient thermal management solutions — particularly across hyperscale, modular, and edge data centers.

XNRGY’s liquid cooling platforms are engineered to perform in high ambient temperature environments, offering advanced energy efficiency, reliability, and modular scalability. XNRGY offers comprehensive Liquid Side, Air Side, and full thermal management solutions with proprietary controls integration. These systems are built by a team of seasoned HVAC engineers and designed to meet the increasingly rigorous operational standards of today’s data infrastructure.

“We are thrilled to partner with Activate Capital as we enter this next phase of growth,” said Wais Jalali, Founder and CEO of XNRGY. “Their expertise in scaling sustainable technologies aligns with our vision to deliver ultra- efficient cooling systems that meet the performance, environmental, and reliability demands of our customers.”

“Data centers are among the most energy-intensive assets in the digital economy, and chillers are the central, long-lead infrastructure component that defines their thermal performance,” said Anup Jacob, Managing Partner at Activate Capital. “XNRGY’s technical depth and domestic manufacturing capabilities position it to deliver the efficiency breakthroughs needed to support the AI-driven transformation of global infrastructure.”

At full capacity, the Mesa operation is expected to employ over 1,000 skilled workers and serve as a cornerstone of Arizona’s clean technology and advanced manufacturing ecosystem.

This investment underscores Activate Capital’s commitment to backing transformative companies that are reshaping global systems — powering the AI revolution and digital economy through next-generation, high-efficiency critical infrastructure.

ABOUT XNRGY CLIMATE SYSTEMS
XNRGY is a North American leader in the design and manufacturing of sustainable Thermal Management systems for mission-critical environments, including data centers, healthcare, clean rooms, and advanced manufacturing. With facilities in Montreal and Mesa, XNRGY delivers ultra-efficient air handling units, liquid cooling systems, and fan platforms optimized for performance, reliability, and climate resiliency. Visit www.xnrgy.com

ABOUT ACTIVATE CAPITAL
Activate Capital is a growth-stage venture capital firm investing in the sustainable, resilient transformation of the global economy. Our portfolio companies address climate and important 21st-century challenges by accelerating decarbonization and strengthening our shared systems and infrastructure. Activate invests in technology companies at their inflection point, led by exceptional entrepreneurs with ambitions to build category-defining platforms of the future. To learn more, please visit activatecap.com.

SOURCE XNRGY Climate Systems