The AI-powered workforce management platform brings next-level efficiency to global companies with innovative localized workforce and payroll management solutions

NEW YORK, March 4, 2025 — Helios Global Payments Solutions Inc, the AI-powered workforce management platform focusing on localized automation workflows, has successfully raised a total investment round of $15.5 million in funding as it launches its highly anticipated product worldwide across 125+ countries. With backing from global corporate investors, private angel investors and several Family Office investors, Helios is positioned to disrupt how companies hire, manage and pay their global workforce.

Founded by entrepreneur and HR Tech innovator, Rick Hammell, Helios is an all-in-one global payroll, payments, and HR management solution designed to accelerate growth, create flexibility, streamline operations and simplify workforce management for global companies. Helios is committed to delivering innovation and support to global companies navigating the complexities of cross-border workforce management. The Global People Platform combines payments, compliance and people operations tools into a harmonized realm designed to meet the diverse needs of global teams.

With 17 modules encompassing critical HR functions such as localized employee onboarding, global payroll, benefits administration with marketplace, right-to-work verification and PTO compliance tracking, Helios empowers organizations to manage their teams from any location with ease and confidence. The platform’s AI-driven insights and automation workflows optimize productivity, simplify regulatory adherence and streamline processes, ensuring that companies can focus on growth while Helios takes care of the complexities of workforce management.

“We launched Helios to create equitable opportunities for all businesses to compete in the global marketplace, which we believe can be done through strong AI, automation workflows, localization and compliance management tooling built into the foundation of HR and FinTech SaaS technology that creates flexibility for our customers,” said Rick Hammell, CEO and Founder of Helios. “Our mission is to break down the obstacles in global team management and payroll while creating cost effective solutions that redefine what’s possible for companies navigating the future of work. The way we work is reshaping itself faster than ever, and Helios has built a cohesive solution that empowers organizations to tackle every hurdle of the modern workforce, meeting these changes seamlessly and effectively.”

Helios secured $15.5 million in funding from a mix of U.S., Canadian, European and Asian investors, underscoring strong confidence in the platform’s potential to transform global workforce management. This funding round will fuel Helios’ growth, enabling further innovation and expanding global reach, including continual investment into the platform to revolutionize the HR and Fintech industries.

“Investing in Helios was an easy decision,” said Cristian de Dios, Managing Director of Aracan Energía. “We see immense value in their technology and the clarity they bring to complex global HR and payroll processes by leveraging AI. Helios’ vision aligns with the future of work, and we’re excited to support their journey.”

Global expansion comes with a complex web of compliance requirements, from local labor laws to tax regulations and reporting standards. Helios simplifies this process by integrating automated compliance tools directly into its workforce management platform, reducing the risk of fines, delays and legal complications. By ensuring businesses remain compliant in every market they enter, Helios empowers companies to scale with confidence, eliminating administrative burdens and allowing leaders to focus on strategic growth.

Looking ahead, Helios is poised to expand its capabilities through strategic partnerships, with upcoming integrations designed to enhance compliance, global payroll and HR advisory. These collaborations will further strengthen Helios’ offerings, providing clients with seamless access to a comprehensive suite of tools and expertise.

For more information about Helios, please visit https://www.helios.io/ and to schedule a demo, visit https://www.helios.io/demo.

About Helios
Helios, a leading innovator in workforce management technology for global teams, provides a cutting-edge technology platform that enhances productivity, offers data-driven insights for strategic decisions, and revolutionizes industries to drive global expansion and economic growth. By empowering organizations to reach new markets, maximizing growth potential and contributing positively to the global economy, Helios envisions a world where global expansion is achievable for every organization. The trusted SOC2 Type 1 and ISO 27001 platform offers essential tools, expert guidance, and AI-driven support to streamline hiring, management, and payment processes, enabling seamless collaboration and unlocking new opportunities for teams worldwide. Helios’ enterprise-grade tech platform supports various business operations, from hiring contractors to managing global payroll, transcending geographical boundaries and ensuring compliance with local regulations for diverse workforce. For more information, please visit www.helios.io or follow Helios on LinkedIn.

Media Contact
Interdependence PR
Mattie Van Gundy
713-409-1835
[email protected] 

SOURCE Helios

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., March 4, 2025 — Starfighters Space, Inc (“Starfighters” or the “Company”), the innovative aerospace company operating the world’s only commercial fleet of flight-ready Lockheed F-104 Starfighter supersonic aircraft, flying out of Kennedy Space Center, announces that GE Aerospace’s Innoveering division completed external surface engineering of the Company’s StarLaunch test article. With the completion of this engineering step, Starfighters now moves on to its simulation testing.

Tim Franta, Vice President of Development at Starfighters, commented, “We are pleased to have completed this step and remain on track for flight testing this summer. The collaboration with GE Innoveering supports our commitment to achieving key technical benchmarks on schedule.”

Engineering of the StarLaunch test article’s external surfaces outer mold line or “OML” refers to the outermost surface of a component, representing the visible exterior of a rocket or spacecraft, essentially the “skin” of the vehicle. It is the primary reference point for designing and shaping the external components of a craft, including the flight control surfaces.

The surface design is critical to StarLaucnh’s operational performance. GE Innoveering, widely known for its work in high-speed gas dynamics and propulsion systems, has applied its engineering expertise to develop a system that meets Starfighters’ performance requirements. The completion of this phase allows for digital simulations to assess system response and readiness before proceeding to physical manufacturing.

Again, simulation testing of the StarLaunch design can now begin, providing insights into aerodynamics, stability, and control in simulated flight environments. These tests will validate the engineering approach before manufacturing, ensuring efficient integration with Starfighters’ existing systems.

Starfighters is currently undertaking a Regulation A Tier 2 offering hosted with Equifund (https://equifund.com), a private market investment platform that delivers vetted, early stage investing opportunities, and being offered by Digital Offering, LLC, a SEC registered broker-dealer, and member of FINRA and SIPC. Interested parties are encouraged to carefully review the Company’s offering statement on Form 1-A, the offering circular contained therein, as supplemented from time to time, and exhibits thereto.

For additional information on the Company and its Regulation A Tier 2 offering, including how to invest, visit https://starfightersspace.com and https://equifund.com/starfighters. The securities offered by the Company are highly speculative and involves significant risks. Additional information concerning risks about investing in the Company’s securities, including risks related to the business, government regulations, intellectual property and the offering in general, can be found in the “Risk Factors” section of the offering circular, as supplement from time to time, forming part of the Company’s Form 1-A offering statement.

About Starfighters Space, Inc.
Starfighters Space, Inc. is the only commercial company in the world with the capability to fly at sustained MACH 2 and with the capability to launch payloads to space. Starfighters Space is an organization committed to participating in high-demand commercial space activities. Located at the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Company operates a growing fleet of modified supersonic aircraft operationally configurable to act as the first stage lifting platform to carry payloads up to 45,000 feet for air launch to space. Additional activities include support research, pilot training, space flight training, and advanced scientific efforts including hypersonic testing as part of air launch partner development programs. Starfighters Space is working to position its capability to become the most cost-effective launch provider in the sector.

For more information about Starfighters Space, Inc. please visit: https://starfightersspace.com/.

Contact:
Starfighters Space Media Relations
Tel: +1 321-261-0900
[email protected]
www.starfightersspace.com 

Safe Harbor Statement
Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein, the information presented in this news release constitutes “forward-looking statements” as such term is used in applicable United States securities laws. These statements relate to analysis and other information that are based on forecasts or future results, estimates of amounts not yet determinable and assumptions of management. Any other statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as “expects”, or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, “plans”, “estimates” or “intends”, or stating that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and should be viewed as “forward-looking statements”. We have based these forward-looking statements on information currently available to the Company, assumptions the Company believes are reasonable and our current expectations about future events or performance. While we believe these expectations are reasonable, such forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. Our actual future results may differ materially from those discussed or implied in our forward-looking statements for various reasons. Factors that could contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the ability to obtain the necessary permits and approvals to operate, the Company’s ability to develop new products and/or services, the approval of the Company’s application for a launch license and the timing thereof, the Company’s expansion to Midland, Texas, the adoption by the market of the Company’s method of satellite deployment, the Company’s continued business arrangements, market trends and competition in the Company’s industry, the future diversification of the Company’s revenue streams and the assumptions underlying any of the foregoing, and other factors discussed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission under Regulation A. Consequently, all of the forward-looking statements are qualified by these cautionary statements, and there can be no assurances that the actual results or developments will be realized or, even if substantially realized, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effect on, the Company. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements contained in this news release and in any document referred to in this news release. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made only as of the date hereof. The Company assumes no obligation to update or supplement any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of any offer to buy the Company’s securities.

No securities regulatory authority has reviewed nor accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release.

SOURCE Starfighters Space Inc.

• GEM HEALTH is a nationwide virtual specialty clinic providing timely, convenient, and insurance-accessible specialty sleep care services
• GEM SLEEP provides a focused and simplified end-to-end solution, from diagnosis to treatment and support, for those who may have obstructive sleep apnea
• GEM secured a $7M Series A round of financing co-led by HealthTrend Capital and LFE Capital, with participation from Base10 Partners and Mairs & Power Venture Capital

MINNEAPOLIS, March 4, 2025 — Gem Specialty Health, Inc. (GEM HEALTH), the nationwide virtual specialty care company transforming sleep care, announced today a $7M Series A funding round co-led by HealthTrend Capital and LFE Capital, with participation from existing investors Base10 Partners and Mairs & Power Venture Capital.

With the funding, GEM HEALTH will rapidly expand its cutting-edge virtual sleep services and further develop solutions for patients. This will enable GEM HEALTH to scale its evidence-based, patient-friendly and outcomes-driven approach to care that is helping thousands of individuals improve their sleep across the nation.

The company’s first offering, GEM SLEEP, removes the barriers to treating sleep conditions including obstructive sleep apnea. GEM SLEEP performs clinical evaluation, diagnosis, treatment set up and support without a patient having to set foot in a clinic. This approach gets patients to care in days, rather than weeks or months, while lowering costs for patients and insurers. GEM’s patients also stick with their care and get better: 70% of GEM’s patients continue with their treatment beyond 30 days, compared to the national average of 40%-50%.

“This funding marks a pivotal moment in our journey,” said Brian Sauer, Founder and CEO of GEM HEALTH. “We are thrilled to continue leading the charge in virtual sleep care and are committed to expanding access to life-changing treatment for sleep apnea. In addition to improved quality of life, our innovative approach saved patients and insurance providers nearly $15M in healthcare costs in 2024.  With the support of our investors, we can accelerate the development of innovative solutions that simplify and personalize the sleep care experience, ensuring more people get the care they need, faster. This investment allows us to scale and deepen our impact on the lives of millions who struggle with sleep health.”

In conjunction with the financing, LFE Capital Partner, Laurent Frecon, joined GEM HEALTH’s Board of Directors.

“Brian and his team have developed a best-in-class solution that increases access to quality care and improves outcomes. While the business grew 7x in 2024, as it stands today, less than 20% of individuals with sleep apnea receive the treatment they need. LFE Capital is proud to partner with GEM HEALTH on its mission to enable better sleep,” said Laurent Frecon.

Bill Brinkman, Managing Partner at HealthTrend Capital and a member of GEM HEALTH’s Board of Directors, said, “Thanks to the efforts of the GEM team, the company has been able to provide an improved sleep care experience to an expanding group of patients. Having seen GEM’s impressive progress since investing previously, HealthTrend is pleased to invest additional capital to enable the company’s further success.”  

This Series A round will also support GEM HEALTH’s expansion into new markets and conditions, ensuring that more individuals can take control of their sleep health without traditional barriers like long wait times, cumbersome in-lab tests, and expensive treatments.

“GEM HEALTH is transforming sleep care with an accessible, outcomes-driven virtual solution that improves lives and reduces healthcare costs, ” said TJ Nahigian, co-founder and Managing Partner, at Base10 Partners. “We’re proud to support their mission to make high-quality sleep care more convenient and affordable nationwide.”

For more information on GEM HEALTH and their innovative virtual sleep apnea solutions, visit mygemsleep.com.

About GEM HEALTH
GEM HEALTH removes the frustration of not knowing where to start or the next steps when navigating a new condition. GEM’s first product, GEM SLEEP, helps the estimated 30 million people with obstructive sleep apnea find relief. GEM provides a simple guided experience through diagnosis, treatment, and ongoing support, reducing the time to relief from months to weeks. GEM SLEEP treats patients in 50 states and is in-network with 53 million Americans’ health plans ensuring broad access to care. To learn more about GEM, visit www.mygemsleep.com or follow us on LinkedIn.
People wanting to get started with GEM can access care via www.mygemsleep.com. Health plans or employers that want to offer GEM SLEEP to their members can email [email protected].

About HealthTrend Capital
HealthTrend Capital is a healthcare-focused, stage-agnostic venture growth equity firm.  It makes investments in healthcare software and services companies through a flexible model that allows it to lead deals or co-invest alongside leading venture capital and private equity firms in the pursuit of driving growth.  HealthTrend provides deep healthcare expertise and relationships, advisory and operational networks of highly-specialized talent, experience in both investing and company-building, and a genuinely collaborative culture.  Learn more at www.healthtrendcap.com.

About LFE Capital
LFE Capital is a growth equity firm that provides expansion capital for health and wellness businesses with strong growth prospects. LFE invests in products and services that increase healthspan and reduce healthcare costs. A relationship with LFE brings capital and an operations-oriented investment team who dedicates the time and resources to build a successful business. For more information visit us at www.lfecapital.com.

About Base10 Partners
Founded by Adeyemi Ajao and TJ Nahigian, Base10 is a San Francisco-based venture capital fund investing in founders who believe purpose is key to profits and in companies that are automating sectors of the Real Economy. Through its program the Advancement Initiative, Base10 donates a portion of firm profits to underfunded colleges and universities to support financial aid and other key initiatives. Portfolio companies include Notion, Figma, Stripe, Popmenu, and Nowports. Connect via base10.vc.

Media Contact
[email protected]

SOURCE GEM HEALTH

New capital brings the rapidly growing one-year-old startup to $35 million in total funding

COSTA MESA, Calif., March 4, 2025 — Daisy, the first national home and small business technology installation and services company, is pleased to announce the successful completion of its $15 million Series C funding round. This new funding will reinforce its continued investments in acquisitions and propel further growth for its franchise operations. To date, Daisy has raised $35M, underscoring the company’s exceptional financial and operational performance in its first year in business.

The Series C investment solidifies Daisy’s balance sheet, providing significant cash resources and ensuring continued stability. By funding its operations through long-term investment partners with no debt, Daisy is building a sustainable business that can fulfill the ongoing needs of its partners, teams, and clients — encompassing home technology services such as custom audio/visual, shades, control systems, home security and smart lighting design and installation, all backed by a comprehensive service offering.

“I am so grateful to our incredible team of owners, technicians, salespeople, team members and franchisees who have continued to exceed all expectations since our launch last year,” said Hagan Kappler, founder and CEO of Daisy. “We are excited to continue to invest in this space and to provide a truly forward-thinking approach to home and small business technology installation and services.”

Daisy has invested half of each dollar raised to acquire new businesses and half to build out systems to support the integration and success of its branch operations. This support system includes its recurring services business, recruiting and retention platforms, marketing and sales support, and a tech stack to enable day-to-day business operations.

“At Daisy, delighting our clients and partners is at the core of everything we do,” said Dion Persson, co-founder and chief growth officer of Daisy. “This additional funding enables us to further invest in innovative tools and resources that enhance the experience for our local branches, their teams, and through them, the clients we serve. It’s about building a company that prioritizes both exceptional service and enduring relationships.”

“Daisy’s execution has been impressive” said Andy Spellman, Fifth Down founder and lead investor in Daisy’s Series C. “Fifth Down’s top criterion for direct investment is backing compelling founders, and Hagan and Dion exceed our views of compelling. We are excited about Daisy for all involved; especially the customers.”

Daisy recently announced its 10^th acquisition, opened its seventh franchise location, and now has leading market positions in California and Florida with other locations in Connecticut, Colorado, Virginia and Arizona. To learn more about Daisy’s services, visit daisyco.com. For information on joining Daisy’s growing team or becoming a franchise partner, visit daisyco.com/franchising. For interior design firms, architect or builders looking to integrate cutting-edge technology into their clients’ homes, please contact [email protected]

About Daisy

Daisy is a national home and small business technology installation and services company. Daisy partners with builders, architects, designers, and homeowners to create, install, and service optimal audio visual, lighting, shades, and security designs that enhance their clients’ experiences in their homes and offices. Daisy also provides ongoing support to steward clients through their lifetime technology journeys. For more information, visit daisyco.com.

About Fifth Down

Fifth Down Capital is an investment firm that focuses on private companies and investment funds in the global internet, software, consumer and fintech industries. Fifth Down’s objective is to back extraordinary individuals leveraging technology/innovation to create, reimagine, or enhance the future of our society. Fifth Down invests in venture and growth-stage businesses/funds and currently have an active roster of 100 private investments. Fifth Down invests via a network approach, and does not evaluate inbound investment solicitations/opportunities. For more information, visit www.fifthdown.com.

Forward-Looking Statements: Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could impact actual results.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Heather Ripley 
Ripley PR (865) 977-1973 
[email protected]

SOURCE Daisy

TEL AVIV, Israel, March 4, 2025 — Vintage Investment Partners, a global venture capital platform with over $4 billion under management, is pleased to announce the appointment of Iren Reznikov as a Partner.

Iren Reznikov is a seasoned venture capitalist who specializes in enterprise infrastructure software and cybersecurity. She joins Vintage Investment Partners from SentinelOne (NYSE: S), where she led Corporate Development and Venture Investments across Israel and EMEA, managing its $100 million venture arm. 

Previously, she spearheaded investments and corporate development for Cisco in Israel, led Cisco’s $50 million global Aspire Fund, and served as a Principal at YL Ventures, an $800 million AUM fund focused on early-stage cybersecurity. Her investment portfolio includes notable companies such as Medigate (acquired by Claroty), Axonius, Vulcan Cyber (acquired by Tenable), and Guardz.

Iren began her career as an officer in the Israeli Air Force before transitioning to Israel’s Ministry of Finance, where she worked on international investment treaties.

She holds a B.A. in Philosophy, Economics, and Political Science and an Executive MBA from Hebrew University. Recognized as one of Fortune’s top global cybersecurity investors, she was also featured in Forbes Israel’s 30 Under 30.

Asaf Horesh, Co-Managing Partner of Vintage, commented,

“We are thrilled to welcome Iren to Vintage Investment Partners. Her deep expertise in cybersecurity, enterprise software, and venture investing experience makes her a valuable addition to our team. Iren will play a key role in strengthening our platform and identifying and supporting top-tier cybersecurity, AI, and enterprise software startups and funds among other sectors. As the cybersecurity landscape evolves, Iren’s deep domain expertise will strengthen our ability to identify and support the next generation of category-defining companies. Her addition to the team reinforces our commitment to delivering exceptional value to our startups, GPs, and LPs globally.”

“Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of working across different stages of the technology ecosystem—from investing early in startups all the way to leading M&A and corporate innovation. With deep expertise in cybersecurity, AI, and enterprise software, I’m excited to bring this perspective to Vintage,” said Iren. “The current market presents a unique opportunity to support exceptional founders building enduring companies and to partner with the fund managers who back them. I look forward to leveraging Vintage’s comprehensive investment platform and working alongside its talented team to create lasting value for our startups, GPs, and LPs across the venture ecosystem.”

Abe Finkelstein, Co-Managing Partner of Vintage, added, “Iren’s addition, combined with our Head of Value+ Ilan Leiferman’s experience leading AWS’s business development efforts in cyber and software infrastructure, along with the deep and broad technology background of our CTO in Residence, Omer Dagan, further enhances our capabilities across some of the most critical sectors in tech and venture.”

ABOUT VINTAGE:

Vintage Investment Partners is a global venture capital platform managing over $4 billion across Fund of Funds, Secondary Funds and Growth-Stage Funds focused on venture in the U.S., Europe, Israel, and Canada. Vintage is invested in many of the world’s leading venture funds and growth-stage tech startups striving to make a lasting impact on the world and has exposure directly and indirectly to over 6,800 technology companies. Vintage leverages its broad network, and its database of over 29,500 companies to provide value, through Value+, a free-of-charge service, connecting venture-backed technology startups to corporations seeking innovation. To date, Value+ has facilitated over 300 pilots, purchase orders (POs), and paid proof-of-concepts (POCs), generating over $200 million in revenue for startups.

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2631221/Vintage_Investment_Partners.jpg

SOURCE Vintage Investment Partners

Innovative facility will scale production of cost-competitive organic nitrogen fertilizer, creating 20 jobs in Merced County.

FREMONT and DELHI, Calif., March 4, 2025 — Nitricity Inc., a California startup electrifying the production of nitrogen fertilizer, today announced $10 million in project funding from a strategic mix of capital providers that includes Elemental Impact and Trellis Climate to build a first-of-a-kind (FOAK) organic fertilizer facility in Delhi, California.

Nitricity’s FOAK plant represents a major milestone, marking a 100-fold increase in production capacity to achieve commercial-scale volumes. Slated for operation in 2026, the plant’s full production capacity is already sold out through 2028 under binding offtake agreements with local organic growers. Located in Merced County, the project is expected to create approximately 20 jobs supporting fabrication, deployment, and maintenance.

“We are proud to scale up our manufacturing capacity of a product that creates value for California growers—made locally with local ingredients,” said Nicolas Pinkowski, CEO of Nitricity. “In a market where most nitrogen is imported, our solution onshores production to deliver exactly what growers have been asking for: a sustainable, organic alternative that strengthens farmers’ bottom lines and benefits our community and environment.”

The facility will brew Nitricity’s flagship organic nitrogen fertilizer using recycled almond shells and renewable power. This cost-competitive, plant-based solution is pathogen-free, odor-free, and designed for application through irrigation lines. The product is approved for use in organic farming, registered with OMRI and CDFA OIM. By leveraging local agricultural byproducts, the project strengthens the region’s circular bioeconomy and aims to produce hundreds of tons of low-carbon nitrogen by 2028.

“As one of dozens of FOAKs we’ve funded, Nitricity’s facility proves sustainable fertilizer can be produced at scale while providing local economic benefits,” said Danya Hakeem, VP of Portfolio at Elemental Impact. “Building on our initial investment in 2022, which supported the construction of their Fremont facility and successful field trials in the Central Valley, we’re confident they’re ready for this next frontier. There’s clear market demand that will position them for future commercial financing.”

Globally, traditional fertilizers account for about 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Elemental Impact and Trellis Climate are delighted to support Nitricity’s FOAK plant as a first step to addressing this massive source of emissions, while also providing economic benefits to the Merced community and the environmental benefit of transforming agricultural waste into a valuable product.

“Nitricity’s solution is unique in the industry in that it addresses both the production emissions from making fertilizers and the on-field emissions from applying them,” said Lara Pierpoint, Managing Director of Trellis Climate. “We’re excited to accelerate the scale-up of this technology and to partner with a company that recognizes the critical role of community engagement in project success. By integrating technology development with meaningful collaboration with local partners, Nitricity is well-positioned to scale rapidly and effectively.”

About Nitricity

Nitricity is a climate-tech startup creating sustainable, organic nitrogen fertilizers by harnessing air, water, renewable energy, and almond shells. Founded by a team of graduate students from Stanford University in 2018 — Nicolas Pinkowski serving as CEO, Joshua McEnaney serving as president and CTO, and Jay Schwalbe serving as CSO — The company is scaling its clean technology to enable regional, plant-based fertilizer production for a more sustainable farming future. For more information, visit www.nitricity.co.

About Elemental Impact

Elemental Impact is a nonprofit investing platform with 15 years of experience advancing innovative technology that creates lasting economic and climate benefits across communities. Through our platform, we deploy catalytic capital and provide expert services to a portfolio of 160+ companies across energy, agriculture, transportation, industry, and nature-based solutions.

For more information, visit www.elementalimpact.com.

About Trellis Climate

Trellis Climate is an impact-first catalytic capital program, launched at Prime Coalition, enabling novel climate infrastructure solutions to achieve commercial scale at speed. Committed to accelerating the deployment of first-of-a-kind (FOAK) climate projects, Trellis Climate focuses on opportunities with significant climate impact potential, a clear path to scale, and an acute need for catalytic capital. Trellis Climate addresses both financial and systemic barriers by offering risk-tolerant investment capital and sector transformation nonprofit programming, including support for robust partnerships and inclusive decision-making with surrounding communities. By leveraging philanthropy to crowd in as much commercial capital as possible, Trellis Climate aims to expedite the scaling of climate technologies to achieve net-zero targets by 2050. For more information, visit https://www.primecoalition.org/programs/trellis-climate.

Media Contact
David Ganske
[email protected]

SOURCE Nitricity Inc.

Launch of LlamaCloud Knowledge Management Platform Provides Companies of All Sizes Simple, Secure Way to Manage AI Agent Workflow Over Unstructured Data

SAN FRANCISCO, March 4, 2025 — LlamaIndex, an agent development platform for automating knowledge work over unstructured enterprise data, today closed a $19 million Series A round of funding, led by Norwest Venture Partners with participation from existing investor Greylock. This round brings the total funding raised to $27.5 million. The company will use the new funding to expand its team and accelerate the development of its core generative AI (GenAI) agent development platform. It also will extend its proven solutions to a waitlist of more than 10,000 organizations, including 90 Fortune 500 companies, that are eager to start using LlamaIndex.

LlamaIndex also announced the launch and general availability of LlamaCloud, a commercial knowledge management platform that powers the GenAI stack with best-in-class end-to-end accuracy for agent workflows over unstructured data. Built with enterprise-grade reliability, security and scalability, and integrated with LlamaIndex’s open-source framework, LlamaCloud enables users to connect, parse, extract, and index large volumes of unstructured data, including PDFs, PowerPoints, images, charts and more. This approach ensures that enterprise data is accurate and available for a variety of downstream agent use cases, such as document research, automating workflows, synthesizing insights and generating reports.

“LlamaIndex is compelling for Norwest as we’ve been closely studying enterprise requirements for AI adoption, specifically around data preparation, ingestion and custom agents as part of an ongoing investment thesis,” said Dave Zilberman, general partner at Norwest Venture Partners. “The founding team has demonstrated grit and resilience, building usable, enterprise-enabling capabilities to solve critical pain points—from production accuracy issues to scaling complex data workflows. With customers already lined up, LlamaIndex has the potential to empower the agentic enterprise. We’re excited to see where the next year takes them.”

In less than two years, LlamaIndex has grown to more than 3 million monthly downloads across multiple open-source packages, and has over 38,000 stars on Github and 230,000 LinkedIn followers, as well as three courses with Andrew Ng, CEO and founder of DeepLearning.AI.

Building the Open-Source AI Agent Platform for the Enterprise 
LlamaIndex was founded in 2023 with the introduction of an open-source project that offered developers a starting point for building any custom agent over data, with tools that include data connectors, indices to structure data and advanced retrieval. The company also offers commercially available self-serve APIs that enable open-source users to get better data and output quality, including LlamaParse, which helps companies transform unstructured data into a structured format that can be used for retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) applications.

In developing these tools and APIs, founders CEO Jerry Liu and CTO Simon Suo saw developers running into roadblocks related to processing and indexing their data properly as they built naive RAG chatbots. Developers were wasting development cycles and experienced low accuracy, costing time and resources. To address the challenges of building production-ready agent applications, LlamaIndex developed its core technology for data processing, which is the foundation of the LlamaCloud knowledge management platform.

LlamaCloud for Building More Reliable Knowledge Agents, Faster and Easier
Available now, LlamaCloud can be deployed via SaaS or in a virtual private cloud, and is an out-of-the-box solution for building RAG applications from data ingestion through agent deployment. It offers a library of enterprise-ready data connectors and team features for collaboratively viewing, editing and deploying indexes. LlamaCloud also delivers enterprise-grade security, using role-based access control (RBAC) and single sign-on (SSO) to gate data access across development teams and end users.

“One of the most valuable use cases for large language model (LLM) agents is automating all knowledge work over unstructured data. Because only fragmented tools around data connectors, storage and agent orchestration have been available, developers struggle finding the right techniques and achieving high accuracy for production-grade agents,” said LlamaIndex CEO Jerry Liu. “We made it our mission to deliver the most secure, accurate and easy-to-use platform for building end-to-end knowledge agents, and in the process created a massive community at the epicenter of GenAI. Norwest’s and Greylock’s support in our Series A will allow us to continue growing our reach and enhancing the technology to ensure enterprises can get the most benefits from their AI agents.”

With customers that include Rakuten, Carlyle and Salesforce, LlamaIndex has become a widely used GenAI development platform that provides the tools and abstractions for allowing enterprise engineers to easily connect proprietary data sources to LLMs.

To learn more, or sign up for LlamaCloud, visit cloud.llamaindex.ai.

Customer Testimonials
“Agentforce development has been greatly accelerated with key open-source frameworks, including LlamaIndex, as we iterate our agent framework with our customers across many industries,” said Phil Mui, senior vice president of Engineering for Agentforce at Salesforce. “LlamaIndex provides advanced async workflow abstractions that enable us to build scalable concurrent agents much faster than without such a flexible modern framework.”

“LlamaCloud’s ability to efficiently parse and index our complex enterprise data has significantly bolstered RAG performance,” said Yusuke Kaji, general manager of AI for Business at Rakuten. “Prior to LlamaCloud, multiple engineers needed to work on maintenance of data pipelines, but now our engineers can focus on the development and adoption of LLM applications.”

About LlamaIndex
LlamaIndex enables enterprises to build reliable, secure and scalable AI agents that can find information, synthesize insights, generate reports, and take actions over the most complex enterprise data. From its initial open-source project to tools for building custom agents over data, LlamaIndex now offers developers both commercial APIs that enable users to get better data and output quality and the new LlamaCloud knowledge management platform. Based in San Francisco, LlamaIndex has raised $27.5 million  from leading investors, including Norwest Venture Partners and Greylock. For more information, visit www.llamaindex.ai.

SOURCE LlamaIndex

Alta’s AI workforce, Katie, Luna and Alex, is trained on Alta’s proprietary LLM for sales, enabling streamlined workflow and improved efficiency and productivity to drive business growth.

TEL AVIV, Israel, March 4, 2025 — Alta, the AI revenue workforce solutions provider, announced today that it has raised a $7 million seed financing round and has launched out of stealth. Alta has developed a large language model (LLM) for sales and trained its data-driven AI agents to complete key marketing, sales, and revenue operations (RevOps) tasks in order to help companies empower their sales teams and increase revenue. The round was led by Entrée Capital and Target Global with additional funding from angel investor Ben Lang and others. Gavin Patterson, former President and Chief Revenue Officer at Salesforce, Nir Goldstein, Operating Partner at Greenfield Partners, and Yoram Teitz, Partner at General Atlantic, serve as strategic advisors.

While AI continues to impact nearly every industry, go to market and revenue teams across numerous vertical markets struggle with fully harnessing AI and data for real growth and impact to their bottom line. Identifying the right tools to enhance capabilities of salespeople while also automating relevant tasks, is a real challenge. Companies that can effectively navigate towards AI solutions that bolster a human workforce, rather than replace it, and implement a strong foundation of AI tools, will ultimately be more successful than their competitors.

Recognizing this challenge, Alta has created a data-driven AI Revenue Workforce (agents) that automates repetitive and mundane tasks requiring limited human oversight, such as researching potential leads and conducting personalized outreach across multiple channels, in addition to providing actionable insights based on real-time data across all revenue functions. Alta trained its AI workforce on extensive data across industries, regions, and cultures, which has resulted in the creation of highly specialized and experienced AI agents that help companies achieve improved revenue growth by working smarter and faster, saving companies upwards of 20 hours per week of workforce time, accelerating their sales cycle, and leaving humans to focus on relationship-building opportunities, strategic, and creative work.

AI agents in Alta’s workforce include Katie, a Sales Development Representative (SDR), Luna, an AI RevOps agent, and Alex, an AI Calling agent, with built in integrations of the workforce into more than 50 internal and external marketing, sales, and revenue systems that include CRMs, ERPs, payment, advertising social media tools and more.

By deploying Alta’s AI workforce, revenue teams can shift their efforts to those best executed by people: strengthening relationships and closing deals. Current customers employing Alta’s workforce range from Fortune 500 companies to SMBs.

“Central to Alta is our belief that no AI technology can replace human creativity,” said Stav Levi-Neumark, Co-founder & CEO of Alta. “Instead, humans who choose to strategically leverage AI to enhance how they prioritize ROI, will replace those who don’t. With AI, organizations can drastically improve their most valuable asset: their revenue engine. This funding will allow us to continue developing our out-of-the-box solutions that unlock limitless revenue growth opportunities.”

“The AI revolution is reshaping the way teams and companies operate, and we see endless potential in Alta’s AI solutions to improve the efficiency of revenue teams and deliver better results,” said Avi Eyal, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Entrée Capital. “We are excited to support Alta’s growth as they scale and solidify their position as a major force in the workforce intelligence automation space.”

“What caught our attention about Alta was how they’ve redefined the relationship between AI and sales teams,” said Shmuel Chafets, General Partner at Target Global. “Rather than promising to replace humans, they’ve created AI team members that handle the heavy lifting while empowering salespeople to focus on what they do best. The rapid traction they’ve gained with both enterprise and mid-market customers is a testament to the fact that Alta’s approach delivers measurable returns from day one.”

The company was founded in 2023 by CEO Stav Levi-Neumark, one of the few female CEOs in enterprise AI, alongside co-founders Tom Hoffen and Mor Shabtai (Founder of Xperiti, acquired by Ipsos). The founding team brings deep expertise from their previous roles as senior engineers and product managers at monday.com, while Alta’s broader leadership includes managers from Intel and Meta.

About Alta

Alta is a data-driven AI revenue workforce solutions provider. Their LLM for sales enables data-driven AI agents to act as Sales Development Representatives, revOps, and calling agents performing routine tasks and providing actionable insights with the ability to integrate seamlessly with more than 50 internal and external marketing, sales, payment CRM, ERP, and social media systems. This innovative approach supports human-led revenue teams to focus their attention where it matters most: developing strategy, building relationships, closing deals, and increasing ROI through creative thought.

The company was founded in 2023 by CEO Stav Levi-Neumark, one of the few female CEOs in enterprise AI, alongside co-founders Tom Hoffen and Mor Shabtai (Founder of Xperiti, acquired by Ipsos). The founding team brings deep expertise from their previous roles as senior engineers and product managers at monday.com, while Alta’s broader leadership includes managers from Intel and Meta.

Alta is backed by investors Entrée Capital and Target Global with additional funding from angel investor Ben Lang and others. Gavin Patterson, former President and Chief Revenue Officer at Salesforce, Nir Goldstein, Operating Partner at Greenfield Partners, and Yoram Teitz, Partner at General Atlantic, serve as strategic advisors.

For more information, please visit www.altahq.com.

Media Contact
Charlotte Coran
Gova10 for Alta
[email protected]

SOURCE Alta AI Inc

SHANGHAI, 4 maart 2025 — Pulnovo Medical, een wereldwijd erkende pionier op het gebied van medische hulpmiddelen voor pulmonale hypertensie (PH) en hartfalen (HF), kondigt aan dat het een Serie C-financiering van bijna $ 100 miljoen heeft afgesloten. Deze ronde werd mede geleid door Qiming Venture Partners en bestaande aandeelhouder Lilly Asia Ventures, waarbij de huidige investeerders OrbiMed en Gaorong Capital op een super pro-rata basis deelnamen. De opbrengst wordt gebruikt om Pulnovo Medical’s wereldwijde klinische onderzoeken, internationale bedrijfsuitbreiding en strategische initiatieven te bevorderen.

De financieringsronde was twee keer overtekend en markeert een van de grootste fondsenwervingen in de sector van innovatieve medische hulpmiddelen in Azië-Pacific in de afgelopen jaren. Dit weerspiegelt het vertrouwen van toonaangevende instellingen in de wereldwijde strategie en technische capaciteiten van Pulnovo Medical.

Pulnovo Medical, opgericht in 2013, is een baanbrekend medtechbedrijf dat wordt erkend volgens internationale richtlijnen. Het bedrijf gebruikt zijn uitgebreide klinische expertise om wetenschappelijke vooruitgang en wereldwijde commercialisering te stimuleren. Het bedrijf richt zich op de ontwikkeling van superieure therapeutische oplossingen voor verschillende HF-stadia om de resultaten voor patiënten te verbeteren.

Het kernproduct van Pulnovo Medical, de PADN-technologie (Pulmonary Artery Denervation), is een innovatieve en effectieve minimaal invasieve behandeling voor PH die met succes op de markt is goedgekeurd. PH is een aandoening die kan leiden tot hartfalen en sterfte, met beperkte behandelingsmogelijkheden. PADN gebruikt radiofrequente ablatie om de pulmonale vasculaire endotheliale sympathische zenuw aan te pakken, waardoor de druk in de longslagader effectief wordt verlaagd en de progressie van de ziekte wordt vertraagd.

PADN kreeg in 2021 van de FDA de aanduiding Breakthrough Device voor Groep I, Groep II en Groep IV PH. PADN werd in 2022 opgenomen in de richtlijnen van de European Society of Cardiology en de European Respiratory Society. In 2023 kreeg Pulnovo Medical de aanduiding Humanitarian Use Exemption Device voor Groep I PH. De RF-katheter en RF-generator kregen eind 2023 goedkeuring voor goedkeuring op de Chinese markt, waardoor ze wereldwijd een commercieel beschikbaar interventieapparaat werden. In 2024 ontving Pulnovo Medical’s accessoireproduct, de 9F sheath, goedkeuring van de FDA.

Cynthia Chen, Chairlady, Executive Chairwoman en President van Pulnovo Medical, kondigt aan dat de opbrengst van deze ronde dient ter ondersteuning van twee aankomende FDA-studies voor Groep I PH en Groep II PH (chronisch hartfalen gecombineerd met PH). De onderzoeken zijn gepland voor dit jaar. Onder leiding van het executive team is het bedrijf getransformeerd van een laboratorium naar een wereldwijd gestructureerd bedrijf met kantoren in de VS, Singapore, Hong Kong SAR en vier steden op het Chinese vasteland, waaronder Beijing en Shanghai.

William Hu, Managing Partner van Qiming Venture Partners, zegt: “De doorbraken van Pulnovo Medical op het gebied van interventionele behandelingen voor PH en HF zijn indrukwekkend. De PADN-technologie van het bedrijf is nu commercieel beschikbaar op het Chinese vasteland, in Hongkong en Macau. In 2024 zijn wereldwijde multicenteronderzoeken gestart in Portugal, Servië, Georgië en Zuidoost-Azië. Na de benoeming door de FDA als ‘Breakthrough Device’, valideren de wereldwijde klinische onderzoeken verder het leiderschap en de klinische waarde van de technologie. Als langetermijninvesteerder in de gezondheidszorg zet Qiming zich in om vernieuwers met een wereldwijde visie te ondersteunen. We hebben vertrouwen in het potentieel van Pulnovo Medical en zullen de internationale expansie en commercialisatie ondersteunen om patiënten wereldwijd nieuwe hoop te geven.”