Granite Asia invests in Centific’s $60M Series A, led by Midas List investor Jenny Lee, to fuel the company’s expansion as the independent AI data backbone for the next wave of global agentic AI systems.

SEATTLE, June 25, 2025 — Centific, the AI Data Foundry trusted by the world’s top model builders, AI labs, and enterprise innovators, today announced the close of its $60 million Series A funding round, led by long-time Midas Lister Jenny Lee of Granite Asia, an investment firm behind 56 unicorns and 31 IPOs globally.

Founded in 2020, Centific has operated behind the scenes to power many of the world’s most transformative AI breakthroughs. Today, the company equips innovators with the infrastructure, oversight and deep expertise required to develop and safely deploy foundational models, multimodal systems and next-generation agentic AI; intelligent platforms that perceive, reason and act at scale.

Centific is a recognized innovation partner to NVIDIA, selected for its leadership in real-world Vision and Language AI inferencing. The company was recently featured by Jensen Huang at both CES and GTC as a leading innovation partner, underscoring its role in helping scale AI from prototype to production.

“Enterprises globally are moving from AI experimentation to enterprise-wide deployment, but the journey requires scale, trust, and deep integration with legacy systems. Centific is built for this moment.” Said Jenny Lee, Senior Managing Partner at Granite Asia. “With its global delivery infrastructure, strong existing client base, and commitment to safe, responsible AI, it is uniquely positioned to become a foundational partner in the enterprise AI stack. At Granite Asia, we back the builders of enduring infrastructure for the future of industry, and Centific reflects that vision.”

Powering the Frontier of AI with safety, speed, and scale

As organizations move beyond model training into large-scale, real-world AI applications, Centific delivers the technical sophistication, governance frameworks, and expert oversight required to succeed.

“AI is evolving from isolated models to fully agentic systems that perceive, reason, and act at scale,” said Venkat Rangapuram, CEO of Centific. “Our full-stack Data Foundry meets this moment by combining deep domain expertise, human-in-the-loop assurance, and true multimodal orchestration—all delivered with unmatched speed and scale.”

A future-ready platform for real-world AI

Centific’s AI Data Foundry brings together a global network of experts across 1000’s of domains in STEM, vertical and professional, and consumer and lifestyle, human-in-the-loop assurance with built-in QA checkpoints and escalation paths to eliminate bias, hallucinations, and failures, true multimodal orchestration supporting complex prompts across text, image, video, audio, 3D, and spatial data, and unmatched speed and scalability to deploy, localize, and contextualize AI at the enterprise, citywide, and national levels.

Centific’s AI Data Foundry integrates every component organizations need to power safe, scalable agentic AI deployments:

• Infrastructure-Agnostic Deployment: Scale models seamlessly across cloud, core, edge, and far-edge environments to deliver truly transformational experiences
• High-Precision Model Training: Workflow-orchestrated datasets fine-tune LLMs and domain-specific agents with unparalleled accuracy
• Optimized AI Inferencing: Low-latency, high-assurance pipelines for perception-based Vision and Language AI in production
• Agentic AI Experiences: Digital twins, avatars, and multi-agent coordination that bring Physical AI to life
• Governance & Risk Mitigation: Human-in-the-loop validation, synthetic-data controls, and audit-ready compliance workflows integrated at every stage

Trusted by the Magnificent Seven, top model labs, and Fortune 500 organizations, Centific’s Data Foundry provides a secure, repeatable infrastructure that keeps pace with rapid innovation while minimizing operational and regulatory risk.

Deploying capital to drive next-gen AI innovation

With this foundation in place, Centific is channeling this new capital into four key areas:

• Expand Functionality & Capabilities: Enhance our platform to accelerate the journey from prototype to production; delivering resilient, agile systems finely tuned for real-world impact.
• Supercharge R&D Frontiers: Continue research and innovation programs fueling breakthroughs and pushing the frontiers of model architectures, Vision AI, and specialized AI; driving cutting-edge advancements.
• Scale the Enterprise AI Backbone: Cement Centific’s position as the foundational partner; powering mission-critical AI deployments at the speed of innovation.
• Amplify Strategic Ecosystem Alliances: Deepen collaborations with NVIDIA, Microsoft, AWS, Dell, Lenovo, and GPU-as-a-Service leaders; driving global adoption.

“This funding round isn’t about necessity, it’s about ambition. Having trained most the world’s leading AI models, our Zero Distance Innovation™ ethos now pivots to enterprise impact, unlocking industries’ ability to deploy safe, scalable AI at speed and scale.” said Venkat Rangapuram, CEO of Centific. “With significant interest from top-tier firms, we selected Granite Asia for their unrivaled track record in scaling early-stage tech innovators. Built profitably on a foundation of trust and global reach, this investment turbocharges our mission: to empower enterprises with AI systems that are resilient, agile, and meticulously fine-tuned.”

Looking ahead

As demand for sovereign, secure, and scalable agentic AI infrastructure surges, Centific is perfectly poised to lead the charge. The company envisions AI evolving into an unseen yet indispensable layer of everyday life. Fueled by this vision, Centific is building a unified ecosystem, bringing together world-class talent, robust platforms, and cutting-edge technology, to power the next generation of AI-driven innovation.

About Centific | www.centific.com

Centific powers the world’s most advanced AI. As the trusted data and infrastructure partner for thousands of production-grade systems, Centific empowers innovators to scale models and agents across the full lifecycle—faster, safer, and with expert oversight. From perception-based inferencing to HITL-evaluated datasets, Centific is the backbone for the future of AI.

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NEW YORK, June 25, 2025 — Elfie, the free digital health super-app that rewards people for taking care of their health, today announced the closing of its $12m Series A funding round. The round was led by White Star Capital with participation from LifeX Ventures and follow-on support from Integra Partners, FEBE Ventures, and Hustle Fund.

Elfie is on a mission to make healthy living easier, and more rewarding, for the millions of people living with chronic conditions and for those who just want to monitor their health. By combining self-monitoring tools, AI-driven coaching, and real-world rewards, Elfie empowers users to stay on track with their treatment plans and build better health habits.

Non-communicable diseases account for over 70% of deaths globally, and 75% of healthcare spend in the US, creating urgency for scalable, patient-centric solutions that bridge gaps in traditional care models.

“It’s a privilege to lead a company with such meaningful social impact. Thanks to our strategic partnerships with the pharmaceutical industry, we’re able to offer the world’s most complete and engaging health app, for free. We believe the only scalable way to fight the global pandemic of non-communicable conditions is to make self-monitoring fun, rewarding, and accessible to all,” said Ofir Ejnes, CEO & co-founder of Elfie. “That’s our mission: to encourage everyone, everywhere, to take charge of their health. This funding round marks a significant milestone as we scale our impact through deeper collaborations with insurers and employers.“

Since its launch in 2021, Elfie has grown to over 700,000 users across four continents, helping individuals self-manage chronic illnesses like obesity, IBS, IBD, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. The app’s unique approach combining clinically validated interventions with gamification mechanics and behavioral science has driven 30%+ improvement in adherence for key pharmaceutical partners and measurable health improvements among users.

Users are rewarded for completing simple but critical actions such as monitoring health metrics like blood pressure or glucose levels, logging medication, and engaging with educational content. This continuous positive reinforcement encourages sustained participation and leads to better health outcomes over time.

Elfie’s rapid traction has already led to multimillion-dollar partnerships with global pharma leaders. These partnerships aim to improve treatment adherence for patients with chronic conditions, while generating real-world data to support market access and ongoing research. In parallel, Elfie is also piloting programs with global insurance carriers, aiming to reduce medical claim costs and loss ratios through better health awareness and medication adherence.

“Elfie is tapping into three enormous markets, pharma, insurance, and clinical research, at exactly the right time,” said Eric Martineau-Fortin, Managing Partner at White Star Capital. “They’ve built a scalable, data-driven platform that improves outcomes for patients while creating measurable ROI for partners. We’re thrilled to support their next phase of growth.”

With this fundraise, Elfie plans to accelerate user acquisition through new pharma and insurance partnerships, expand the team in the United States, adding talent in product, engineering, and go-to-market, and launch Elfie Research, a decentralized clinical trial platform to generate real-world evidence and support clinical innovation.

Elfie’s app is currently available across 35 countries, with plans to scale to 10 additional countries by the end of 2025. The app is medically approved across multiple regions and remains 100% free for users, with all revenue generated through enterprise partnerships.

About Elfie
Elfie is the super-app for better health. Free for all and backed by science, Elfie empowers people to take control of their chronic conditions through smart tracking, personalized coaching, and real rewards. Whether you’re managing hypertension, tracking medications, or just trying to build healthier habits, Elfie helps make it stick. It pays to get better.

Learn more at www.elfie.co

Media Contact
[email protected] 
www.elfie.co

SOURCE Elfie

Investment in data center power infrastructure solutions provider will accelerate innovative solutions for powering data centers in constrained markets.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. and BOSTON and BOCA RATON, Fla., June 25, 2025 — Takanock, LLC, a provider of innovative digital and power infrastructure solutions, announced today new capital commitments totaling $500 million from ArcLight and DigitalBridge, two leading investors focused on digital infrastructure and electrification infrastructure, respectively.

Takanock was formed in 2023 to address the power shortage limiting the development of data center sites in core markets. The company spent its inaugural year engineering a scalable, integrated approach to solving critical energy constraints faced by data centers.

Led by Kenneth Davies, founder of Google Energy and later head of Microsoft’s renewable strategy globally, Takanock leverages extensive experience in both energy and digital infrastructure. This expertise bridges the gap between the two sectors, delivering innovative solutions to meet the increasingly critical power challenges faced by today’s data-infrastructure sector.

“To meet the increasingly compute-intensive needs of hyperscalers and large-scale data center operators, it’s essential to combine expertise from both the energy and digital sectors,” said Kenneth Davies, founder and CEO, Takanock. “What makes this partnership so significant is our ability to deliver integrated solutions, accelerating time to power for new data center deployment while strengthening grid reserve margins and flexibility. ArcLight and DigitalBridge bring tangible operational capabilities and industry connectivity that will help us operationalize digital power solutions in premier Tier I data center markets where existing constraints are most acute.”

Takanock accelerates time to power by providing flexible on-site power solutions capable of serving as prime power until the completion of a substation and a wholesale grid resource thereafter. In doing so, Takanock eliminates the need for local utilities to build new offsite generation, reducing their burden and preventing the shifting of costs to existing utility customers—a challenge that has hindered industry growth. Unlike other generation solutions available in the market, Takanock sidesteps pipeline capacity constraints and the need for firm pipeline contracts, all while offering unparalleled resiliency during disruptions.

“Access to reliable power is the cornerstone for scaling the data center industry,” said Jon Mauck, Senior Managing Director and Head of Data Centers at DigitalBridge. “The Takanock team has a demonstrated ability to deliver innovative commercial structures that bridge the gap between the power and data infrastructure sectors, enabling scalable, long-term solutions for both power and land development.”

Takanock’s focus on sustainability is central to its business model. Takanock’s highly dispatchable power solution enhances the wherewithal of the grid to support greater integration of renewable energy sources and provides data center customers flexibility to procure their own energy resources.  The company also uses best available emission control technologies and closed-loop cooling systems, which minimize environmental impact and ensure minimal demand on local water resources.

“As the cost and availability of grid-served power grows increasingly uncertain, the data center industry needs new power-infrastructure solutions tailored to accelerate time to power and to deliver on the prerogatives of reliability, sustainability, and affordability,” said Jake Erhard, Partner at ArcLight. “In a complex market that needs actionable solutions, we see Takanock’s team and strategy as compelling and differentiated.”

Since the beginning of 2024, Takanock has assembled a strategic portfolio of sites across the U.S. The company is currently in the process of executing digital power deployment under long-term contracts at late-stage projects in Northern Virginia and Phoenix.

Houlihan Lokey, a global investment bank with expertise in capital solutions, served as exclusive financial advisor to Takanock during this transaction.

ABOUT TAKANOCK, LLC
Takanock is a leading provider of integrated power solutions for the digital infrastructure sector. Founded in 2023, the company is focused on addressing the critical energy constraints faced by data centers in Tier I and II markets. By leveraging innovative co-located generation, Takanock enhances grid stability, accelerates data center deployment, and supports the integration of renewable energy into the grid. The company’s turn-key solutions are designed to reduce reliance on traditional grid infrastructure, while simultaneously improving energy efficiency and minimizing environmental impact. Takanock’s experienced team combines deep expertise in renewable energy and digital infrastructure to deliver scalable, flexible solutions that help operators meet the growing demand for digital infrastructure in a sustainable way. For more information: www.takanock.com.

ABOUT ARCLIGHT
ArcLight is a leading infrastructure investor which has been investing in critical electrification infrastructure since its founding in 2001. ArcLight has owned, controlled or operated over ~65 GW of assets and 47,000 miles of electric and gas transmission and storage infrastructure representing $80 billion of enterprise value. ArcLight has a long and proven track record of value-added investing across its core investment sectors including power, hydro, solar, wind, battery storage, electric transmission and natural gas transmission and storage infrastructure to support the growing need for power, reliability, security, and sustainability. ArcLight’s team employs an operationally intensive investment approach that benefits from its dedicated in-house strategic, technical, operational, and commercial specialists, as well as the firm’s ~2,000-person asset management partner. For more information, please visit www.arclight.com. References to “ArcLight” herein refers to ArcLight Capital Partners, LLC and/or its managed investment vehicles, as the context requires.

ABOUT DIGITALBRIDGE
DigitalBridge (NYSE: DBRG) is a leading global alternative asset manager dedicated to investing in digital infrastructure. With a heritage of over 30 years investing in and operating businesses across the digital ecosystem, including cell towers, data centers, fiber, small cells, and edge infrastructure, the DigitalBridge team manages approximately $100 billion of infrastructure assets on behalf of its limited partners and shareholders. For more information, visit: www.digitalbridge.com.

SOURCE Takanock

SAN FRANCISCO, June 24, 2025 — BackOps AI, the AI operations platform revolutionizing supply chain workflows, today announced a $6 million seed round led by Construct Capital, with continued support from existing investors Gradient, and 10VC. This brings the company’s total funding to $8 million in under a year as it accelerates its mission to become the intelligent operating layer for modern logistics.

From routine order updates to complex, multi-system workflows like claims resolution and cross-platform coordination, BackOps AI automates the operational tasks that traditionally drain logistics teams of time and resources. By eliminating manual work and reducing error-prone processes, BackOps AI enables warehouse and supply chain operators to move faster, operate more efficiently, and stay focused on delivering for their customers.

“Logistics operations are the heartbeat of every product-driven business, yet they remain shockingly manual,” said Sean McCarthy, co-founder and CEO of BackOps AI. “We started BackOps AI to change that. For the first time, the decades-long integration problem in supply chain can be leapfrogged using tools as simple as email and Slack, to drive real automation without heavy IT lifts. With this new capital, we’re doubling down on product innovation and expanding Relay, our AI-powered automation platform, to reach even more customers.”

Relay was built to meet teams where they are. Companies can start with simple, high-volume tasks like order status updates or shipping method changes and gradually move more complex workflows, such as claims resolution or cross-system coordination, into automation. Because Relay integrates lightly with existing tools like ERPs, WMS platforms, and communication systems, there’s no need for a costly rip-and-replace. It slots into the infrastructure teams already use, making it easy to adopt and scale over time.

Upcoming product launches will expand Relay’s capabilities beyond reactive automation. New features will include predictive analytics to surface operational risks before they happen, proactive identification of repetitive workflows that can be automated, and deeper integrations across transportation and warehouse systems. These enhancements will help customers shift from manual task execution to intelligent, self-optimizing operations.

“BackOps has an incredibly clear vision and a team that understands the pain points of logistics from the inside out,” said Rachel Holt, Co-founder and General Partner at Construct Capital. “The opportunity to bring intelligent automation to such a massive and underserved industry is enormous and BackOps is already delivering tangible ROI to customers.”

BackOps AI is currently being adopted by forward-thinking operators across warehousing, industrials, and supply chain operations, with rapid growth fueled by strong customer referrals and clear ROI. As automation becomes mission-critical, BackOps is emerging as the trusted partner for teams looking to modernize how work gets done.

About BackOps AI

BackOps AI is building the AI-powered operating system for modern logistics. Founded in 2024 by Amazon and Apple alumni, the company helps supply chain teams eliminate manual workflows and operate at a new level of speed, accuracy, and intelligence. BackOps’ flagship product, Relay, automates customer service, order management, and system updates across WMS, ERP, CRM, and communication platforms unlocking the next era of operational excellence.

CONTACT: Sean McCarthy
EMAIL: [email protected]
628.244.3931

SOURCE BackOps AI

Founded in 2022 by education technology executive Chip Paucek and player development veteran Kaleb Thornhill, PAC is redefining what’s possible for athletes after their playing careers. Through executive education certificate programs with the University of Miami Patti and Allan Herbert Business School, PAC provides pro athletes with high-quality learning, hands-on industry experience, certified performance coaching, and access to a powerful network of pro athletes, Fortune 500 CEOs, investors, and advisors.

“The world can be incredibly harsh on pro athletes — holding them to the highest standards while playing, then leaving them without meaningful support, resources, or recognition for everything they’ve achieved and can still accomplish off the field,” said Chip Paucek, PAC Co-Founder and CEO. “With the support of GSV Ventures and our new partners, we can accelerate our mission and deliver for the thousands of elite men and women whose pursuit of excellence doesn’t stop once the game ends.”

PAC’s momentum is clear: Membership has doubled since January to over 650 current and former pro athletes across more than 10 professional sports and leagues, including roughly 10% of currently active professional football players in the U.S.

The Series A funding will fuel the launch of new virtual education programs, expanded mentorship, greater industry access, and enhanced career support—all centered on the unique needs of professional athletes.

“I was confident I would be OK when I retired. But when it happened, I struggled for months. My identity and my locker room were gone,” said Devin McCourty, PAC Advisory Board Co-Chair, pro football veteran, three-time Super Bowl champion, and athlete leadership advocate. “PAC recognizes the unique journey pro athletes go through and gives you education, exposure, community, and ongoing opportunities to figure out what’s next. PAC brought me back home—to that locker room feel and a community that pours into you and that you can then pour back into when you’re ready.”

“The pro athlete community is special and full of untapped potential,” said Michael Cohn, Co-founder and Partner at GSV Ventures. “It’s clear that the elite qualities that make pro athletes successful at their sport have generally not been supported when their playing days are over. PAC successfully created a safe space where athletes can get the education, coaching, and connections they need to thrive. What’s perhaps most exciting for us is to see the impact the PAC community can have not just for themselves but for society overall. This is just the beginning.”

About Pro Athlete Community (PAC)

Pro Athlete Community (PAC) supports and empowers professional athletes to relentlessly pursue what’s next. By providing exclusive access to education, mentorship, and a powerful peer network, PAC helps athletes build successful, purpose-driven lives after sports. Learn more at www.proathletecommunity.com. Follow us on Instagram at @proathletecommunity.

About GSV Ventures

GSV Ventures is a multi-stage venture capital firm focused on the $7+ trillion global education and workforce skills sector. The firm manages and is currently investing out of GSV Ventures Fund III, backing innovative entrepreneurs across the “Pre-K to Gray” Arc of Learning and Skills. GSV has made investments in industry leaders, including ClassDojo, Coursera, Degreed, Guild, Handshake, Lead, Mattilda, PhysicsWallah, Photomath, QuillBot, Quizizz, Toddle, MasterClass, and others. Learn more at GSV.Ventures.

Media Contact:

Megan Gift
[email protected]

SOURCE Pro Athlete Community

• Qunnect has deployed two metropolitan quantum networks to major cities;
• New funding will fuel development of turn-key variants of Qunnect’s quantum networking Carina product suite for new use cases with strategic industry partners across financial services, energy infrastructure, telecom, and defense sectors.

BROOKLYN, N.Y., June 24, 2025 — Qunnect, the first company to deploy quantum entanglement-based protocols over commercial fiber, today announces closing an oversubscribed Series A extended financing round of $10M led by Airbus Ventures, with additional participation from Cisco Investments and Quantonation, accelerating the company’s mission to revolutionize communications and networking.

Qunnect products, including its Carina product suite, support real-world deployment of scalable data networks based on quantum physics. These quantum networks hold the solution to a truly secure, exponentially more powerful network of computing power than currently leveraged today. Qunnect’s commercially available hardware are uniquely designed to operate at room temperature – rather than being limited to laboratory settings – allowing for wide-spread adoption by industry.

Qunnect is working with strategic industry partners to develop turnkey variants of its Carina product suite to enable demonstrations of the next generation of real-world industry use cases of quantum networks.

“This new round of investment was driven by the response we received from industry following the performance of Qunnect products deployed on city-scale quantum networking testbeds,” said Noel Goddard, CEO of Qunnect. “Because our quantum networking products have a standard server rack form factor and are designed to operate at room temperature, we are seeing customers innovate with our Carina product suite on existing telecommunications fiber, paving the way for further breakthroughs in security, sensing, and information transmission.”

Cisco joined the list of Qunnect investors this round through their corporate venture capital arm, Cisco Investments. Last month, Cisco Quantum Research announced their quantum network entanglement chip as part of their quantum data center vision and formally opened Cisco Quantum Labs in Santa Monica, California, positioning themselves as a key player in quantum networking infrastructure.

“Cisco is advancing the quantum technologies that will secure and define the quantum internet and data centers of the future,” said Aleem Rizvon, vice president, Cisco Investments. “Qunnect is placing quantum networking technologies into the hands of innovators today, poised to revolutionize security and communications.”

Since closing its initial Series A round, Qunnect has delivered its groundbreaking Carina quantum networking product suite to market with customers in the financial services, telecommunications, energy infrastructure, and defense/intelligence sectors. In addition, Qunnect’s solutions were deployed in two, first-of-their-kind, quantum testbed networks—one in New York City and another in Berlin in partnership with Deutsche Telekom’s T-Labs.

Advantages in utilizing quantum physics as the foundation for the future network lie in the high level of security it offers, higher processing power and enhanced sensing. Qunnect’s Carina product suite creates, buffers, and preserves high-quality entangled photons—the basis for quantum communications–at unprecedented rates, enabling breakthroughs in cybersecurity and distributed quantum computing and sensing. 

“Qunnect has successfully delivered on the foundational promise of quantum communication,” remarks Airbus Ventures Partner Nicole Conner. “We are thrilled to have Cisco Investments join alongside us, gaining their invaluable expertise as we support Qunnect’s acceleration of next-generation hardware tools that enable secure and reliable communication built on quantum entanglement communication protocols.”

“From day one, our mission was to invent and develop hardware that will become the infrastructure for the future quantum internet.” Said Mehdi Namazi, Chief Scientist and co-founder of Qunnect. “Now, after proving our unparallel quantum network capabilities in New York and Berlin, and thanks to partners like Cisco, we are pushing the industry towards the era of quantum network utility.”

To learn more about Qunnect, visit www.qunnect.inc. For interviews, please email [email protected].

About Qunnect

Qunnect builds deployable quantum networking infrastructure for provably secure, scalable connectivity over existing fiber optic cables. Based in Brooklyn Navy Yard, Qunnect commercialized the first room-temperature quantum memory in 2021. Our Carina suite — entanglement sources and stabilization tools — powers live quantum networks in NYC and Berlin, and supports use cases in finance, energy, telecom, and defense.

SOURCE Qunnect Inc.

SAN FRANCISCO, June 24, 2025 — AllSpice.io, the platform for electronics teams to collaborate and automate their workflows, today announced the close of its $15M Series A funding round, bringing its total funding to $25 million in venture capital.

The recent round was led by Rethink Impact, along with L’ATTITUDE Ventures, GingerBread Capital, and DNX Ventures, as well as continued support from Root Ventures, Benchstrength, and Flybridge.

The round will be leveraged to scale enterprise customer features, support, and open its AllSpice AI Agent out of private beta, for hardware design validation.

“From autonomous vehicles to rockets, electronics teams are tackling some of the world’s most ambitious innovations. Bringing those to life requires modern, AI-powered tools that enable teams to ship with confidence,” said Valentina Ratner, Co-Founder & CEO.

AllSpice’s core focus is on automating the tedious, repetitive tasks that slow teams down—so engineers can spend more time designing and innovating.

“By significantly building out our Gen AI capabilities, largely leveraged by the fact that we understand these design files so well, you can transform this data to present extremely impactful decisions for hardware engineering teams,” stated Kyle Dumont, Co-Founder & CTO.

From schematics to layouts, AllSpice gives electrical engineering teams a shared workspace to collaborate, catch errors early, and bring high-quality products to life. With structured design data and built-in AI tools, engineers can confidently review changes, automate checks, and maintain a clear record of every decision through every stage of development.

“In a high-precision field like hardware, accuracy matters. AllSpice’s AI tools are built to assist, not override, the engineers’ judgment while using them,” continued Ratner.

AllSpice AI Agent enhances hardware design reviews. Electrical Engineers can:

• Analyze designs for errors and opportunities
• Achieve higher quality, improved reliability, and first-pass success

Example cases include:

• • Misconfigured component pins
  • Swapped TX/RX
  • Missing coupling capacitors
  • Component derating
  • End of Life or suggested alternates

This also enables engineers to:

• Automate document generation
• Generate essential assets to gain confidence and efficiency

Example use cases include:

• • Power tables
  • Spec sheet summaries
  • Theory of operation documentation

To learn more about AllSpice AI Agent’s private beta, visit https://allspice.io/ai-agent

About AllSpice.io

AllSpice.io serves as a home base for hardware teams.

Hardware Engineers, PCB Designers, and Electrical Engineers are the primary users of the AllSpice.io platform. Additionally, other teams and third parties that work in parallel to these counterparts, including Firmware Engineers, Software Engineers, Contract Manufacturers, and Procurement Departments, also collaborate on the platform.

Customers range from startups to Fortune 500s across aerospace, robotics, defense, instrumentation, consumer electronics, mass transportation, autonomous vehicles, medical devices, industrial machinery, and automotive industries.

Contacts:

Press & Sales Inquiries

Valentina Ratner

Co-Founder & CEO.AllSpice.io

[email protected]

Product Inquiries

Kyle Dumont

Co-Founder & CTO,AllSpice.io

[email protected]

Press & Business Development Inquiries

Robert Byrne

Founding GTM – Director of Marketing, AllSpice.io

[email protected]

General

www.AllSpice.io

[email protected]

https://www.linkedin.com/company/allspice-io/

SOURCE AllSpice.io

NEEDHAM, Mass. and LITTLE ROCK, Ark., June 24, 2025 — Ledgebrook Inc, an Excess and Surplus Lines Insurtech, announced today that it has completed the close of an oversubscribed $65m Series C funding round, led by existing investor The Stephens Group, LLC (“Stephens Group”), a leading private investment firm. Existing investors Duquesne, Brand Foundry, Floating Point, and American Family Ventures will also participate in the round, alongside new investors, including Hummingbird Nomads.

“I’m really excited to deepen our collaboration with Stephens Group and the Stephens Family. Their fair, open, honest and long-term approach to business partnerships, matches our own at Ledgebrook and has shone through since their initial investment last year,” said Gage Caligaris, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ledgebrook.

“The round recognizes the momentum in our business. It positions Ledgebrook to truly establish itself as a premier E + S platform, known for consistent execution on our mission to delight wholesale brokers and for bringing together the best of insurance expertise and technology. I am proud of the backing we have from our existing and new investors and am incredibly grateful for their support.”

The funding round will allow Ledgebrook to bring in further talent to grow and enhance its client-service-led approach to wholesale brokers, offer new insurance products through its platform, and participate further in retaining risk on the insurance it is writing on behalf of its carrier partners. Ledgebrook gains the deeper involvement of an experienced partner in Stephens Group, with a long history of helping to build great businesses.

Ledgebrook management and employees will continue to be the largest shareholders in the company. Ryan Morrow, Managing Director at Stephens Group, will join Ledgebrook’s Board of Directors.

“Ledgebrook is a unique and truly impressive, founder-led platform in the attractive E+S marketplace with fantastic early momentum,” said Morrow. “We look forward to a partnership with Gage and Ledgebrook for many years ahead. We and our co-investors could not be more excited to partner with the team as the business scales.”

Advisors
DLA Piper LLP has served as legal counsel to Ledgebrook. Stinson LLP has served as legal counsel to Stephens Group.

About Ledgebrook

To learn more about Ledgebrook and opportunities to join our team, please visit www.ledgebrook.com

About The Stephens Group LLC.

The Stephens Group, LLC is a private investment firm that partners with talented management teams to help build valuable businesses. Backed by the resources of the Witt Stephens, Jr. and Elizabeth Campbell families, the firm combines the operational expertise of a private equity firm with the flexibility provided by long-term capital. With over $2 billion of private equity assets under management, the firm has a long history of providing informed, sophisticated expertise and working with owners and managers to help them successfully achieve their strategic visions and build long-term value. Since 2006, Stephens Group has invested in over 50 companies, targeting investments in industries across the U.S., including industrial products and services, specialty distribution, and vertical software.

SOURCE Ledgebrook

MINNEAPOLIS, June 24, 2025 — Traction Capital, a Minnesota-based venture capital and growth equity firm, announces the launch of Fund II, its second investment fund focused on scaling early-stage businesses in Minnesota and neighboring states. Since its March launch, Fund II has raised over $30M in subscriptions, with a target of $40M–60M. The fund has already invested in two local companies: Blank Metal, which helps enterprises integrate advanced AI technologies to drive real business outcomes, and PARQA, a technology consulting and implementation firm assisting staffing and recruiting firms in modernization and growth. 

Building on the success of its first fund, Traction Capital will continue to invest in and acquire high-potential businesses, offering “smart” capital – financial backing combined with strategic guidance to help founders grow. Fund II will target Midwest companies with strong growth potential, scalable models, and committed leadership. The firm, made up of entrepreneurs and business owners, specializes in working with founders ready to scale, using a hands-on approach to create value. Traction Capital also leverages its large network of investors, over 80% of whom are small business owners, to provide resources and expertise across industries.

“We’re excited to launch Fund II and continue our support of outstanding founders,” said Shane Erickson, Managing Partner at Traction Capital. “As entrepreneurs, we know how tough scaling a business can be. That’s why we don’t just invest; we offer hands-on experience to help our portfolio companies grow.  The success of our first fund proved that when you combine capital with the right strategy, expertise, and a solid framework like EOS®, big things happen. With Fund II, we’re doubling down on our commitment to fueling Midwest businesses.”

To support the growth of Fund II, Traction Capital welcomed Matt Meents as a Strategic Growth Partner. With 25+ years of experience scaling companies, Meents is a leader in the startup space. As Co-Founder & CEO of Magnet360, he grew the company to $50M in annual revenue before its acquisition in 2016. He later co-founded Yardstik, where he drove growth before transitioning to a board role. At Traction Capital, Meents will guide founders through growth challenges and scaling opportunities.

Traction Capital’s first fund successfully invested in 13 companies and completed two acquisitions, helping them reach major milestones. Notably, Kwikly, a three-time Inc. 5000 honoree, was named Minnesota’s fastest-growing private company in 2024. GoRout saw a dramatic expansion in growth and product offerings, while TroutRoutes achieved a successful exit through its sale to onX. Additionally, Traction Capital facilitated additional capital raises for five portfolio companies, securing further funding for their growth.

About Traction Capital:  

Traction Capital is a Minnesota-based venture capital and growth equity firm comprised of successful business owners and entrepreneurs. Founded in 2020, the firm invests in and acquires Minnesota and Midwest early-stage and profitable companies stuck in the “capital gap”. Traction Capital believes that investing both financial and “smart” capital with a proven business management process (EOS®) during this critical stage sets businesses up for more rapid growth. They help founders with strategy and execution through their own experiences and that of their investors, to scale and exit at attractive valuations. 

For more information, please visit: https://tractioncapital.com/

SOURCE Traction Capital