Emerging as a foundational platform for Physical AI, the robotics engineering and hardware firm leverages an arsenal of IP to unlock on-edge computer vision for autonomous systems.

PITTSBURGH, May 19, 2026 — Hellbender, a Physical AI infrastructure company powering intelligent systems at the edge, today announced the closing of a $12.5 million seed funding round. The round was co-led by Magarac Venture Partners and Veredas Partners, with significant participation from Mana Ventures, Gaingels, Sum VC, and the Active Angels Network.

The new capital will expedite the rollout of Hellbender’s edge AI platforms, designed to bring real-time perception, reasoning, and decision-making directly into physical environments. The company will also scale its team across product, growth, and hardware manufacturing to meet rapidly surging demand.

Hellbender’s U.S.-based technology stack provides a secure safeguard against global supply chain fragility. As a result, industry-leading robotics companies are turning to Hellbender for their most challenging AI perception and edge computer vision problems.

“Hellbender has quickly become a critical backbone of Pittsburgh’s robotics ecosystem and an emerging national leader in domestic AI hardware,” said Jay Katarincic, Partner at Magarac Venture Partners. “They are one of the few companies globally offering a fully integrated solution — from initial ideation through scaled manufacturing — right here in the United States. As AI and robotics move from research to real-world deployment, the need for secure, onshore engineering and production has never been more important. Hellbender is uniquely positioned at the center of that shift. Their ability to nearly double revenue each year since founding reflects both strong execution and accelerating demand. We’re thrilled to lead this round and support their continued growth.”

Commercializing a Deep Technology Portfolio
Hellbender’s new AI hardware is built on a foundation of battle-tested intellectual property. After years of engineering custom edge AI computer vision systems for top-tier robotics companies, Hellbender is turning its field-proven solutions into universally accessible platforms. This launch marks a major evolution, shifting the company from a dedicated engineering and AI hardware manufacturing arm into a commercial provider of physical AI platforms.

“The market is in dire need of the edge computing solutions Hellbender is delivering,” said Vaibhav (Vai) Viswanathan of Veredas Partners. “Developers building the next generation of autonomous and industrial systems have been severely bottlenecked by a lack of accessible, intelligent hardware. Hellbender’s new line of physical AI cameras provides the exact depth perception, orchestration, and scalable infrastructure the industry is asking for right now.”

Embedding True Intelligence at the Edge
Designed to eliminate the immense friction of custom hardware integration, Hellbender’s new AI cameras allow software teams to focus purely on application development. Powered by Hailo AI accelerators and Raspberry Pi compute, they deliver low-power, high-TOPS processing directly to the edge. Today, the company is unveiling three new flagship products:

• Hellbender Stereo Camera: Delivering depth perception, open-access compute, and AI acceleration in a single, fully integrated package. Capable of operating in low-light and feature-poor environments as well as powering and controlling peripheral devices, the Stereo Camera can truly function as the centerpiece of an intelligent system operating on the edge. Currently in pilot with a major national utility provider.
• Hellbender Vine Camera System: Making distributed monitoring simple, scalable, and cost-effective. The Vine Camera System accommodates up to 64 cameras over hundreds of feet with seamless installation, backed by a native API that makes large-scale observation effortless for smart retail, inventory management, industrial monitoring, and other applications. Currently in pilot across a national convenience store chain and assisted living facilities.
• Hellbender Tadpole Camera: The simplest way to deploy powerful computer vision applications on the edge. The Tadpole Camera offers massive AI acceleration and computational capabilities in a remarkably small footprint, designed for seamless integration into your applications, custom OEM hardware, Insurtech, and advanced security deployments.

Pre-orders begin in June 2026.

Hellbender will be showcasing its new camera line live at Automate 2026 in Chicago, June 22-25, at Booth #3425.

For more information on Hellbender’s engineering services or to pre-order the new camera line, visit hellbender.com.

About Hellbender

Hellbender is a Physical AI infrastructure company powering intelligent systems at the edge. The company builds integrated perception platforms that enable machines to see, understand, and act in real time across complex, high-variance environments. Hellbender’s platforms combine edge-native AI with proprietary, high-performance hardware to deliver production-ready intelligence for mission-critical industries, including energy, logistics, agriculture, manufacturing, and healthcare. By unifying advanced engineering, domestic manufacturing, and continuous improvement, Hellbender eliminates the fragmentation and latency of cloud-dependent architectures. All systems are designed and built in the United States, providing a secure, foundational layer for the next generation of autonomous and embedded systems.

Media Contact:
David Tusick
Chief Growth Officer
[email protected]

SOURCE Hellbender

• General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund invests $50 million in Relay, enabling the company to accelerate customer acquisition while focusing existing investment on product innovation.
• The investment comes as Relay surpasses $1.3 billion in managed deposits and 150,000 small business customers to become the obvious banking and money management platform for self-made small businesses.
• Since Relay’s $32.2 million Series B in May, 2024, the company is on track to 3.2x its revenue by the end of 2026.

NEW YORK, May 19, 2026 — Relay (“Relay Financial Technologies, Inc.”), the small business banking¹ and money management platform, today announced a $50 million growth investment by General Catalyst. The financing marks a growth inflection point for Relay. The company now oversees more than $1.3 billion in managed customer deposits through Thread Bank, Member FDIC, and is trusted by more than 150,000 small businesses to deliver cash flow clarity at a moment when it matters for main street. Since Relay’s $32.2 million Series B in May, 2024, the company is on track to 3.2x its revenue by the end of 2026.

Small business owners today are feeling financial uncertainty from multiple directions; supply chain delays, rising fuel costs, and a tight labor market are just some of the hurdles they face. And yet, most are still managing their money—e.g., bill payments, expense-tracking, and client invoices—using fragmented legacy tools that offer poor financial visibility and slow decision-making when speed is critical. Relay’s recent financing enables the company to directly address this friction for main street. With this step forward, the company can deliver cash flow clarity to even more entrepreneurs across the U.S., and it takes its place as the modern financial command center for small businesses.

“Every dollar invested in Relay supports passionate folks who work hard to build their businesses and realize their ambitions. This investment is a vote of confidence in the true value we deliver to those self-made entrepreneurs, so they can put every dollar to work,” said Yoseph West, Co-Founder and CEO of Relay. “This investment is the spark that will ignite our brand footprint and market presence, so that we can bring cash flow clarity to even more American small businesses.”

The financing from General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund (CVF) comes at a pivotal moment in Relay’s growth. Unlike a traditional equity fundraising round, CVF provides innovative growth financing that eliminates the growth-vs-burn tradeoff, allowing companies to accelerate while continuing to invest in exceptional products. The funds will support Relay’s growth functions to ramp up customer acquisition.

“Relay has proven its deep understanding of what small business owners actually need to succeed, with a product that clearly resonates based on the strength of its customer acquisition machine. We’re excited to help them step on the gas with CVF and enable this next phase of growth,” said Andrew Ziperski, Partner at General Catalyst, Customer Value Fund.

Relay reimagines business banking and money management with a unified financial platform enabling cash flow control, and faster, more confident decisions. Most recently, the company launched Relay Capital term loans, giving small businesses frictionless access to capital all within Relay.² The investment by General Catalyst marks the latest step on the company’s mission to equip self-made entrepreneurs with the tools they need to grow and claim a larger share of the economic value they help create.

About Relay:

Relay is digital banking built to give small business owners the tools and know-how to be great with money. By connecting accounts, cards, bills, invoices, capital, and more together in one place, Relay replaces financial guesswork with real visibility, helping owners turn cash flow from a constant source of stress into a signal they can use to run stronger, more resilient businesses.

For more information, please visit www.relayfi.com

About General Catalyst:

General Catalyst is a global investment and transformation company that partners with the world’s most ambitious entrepreneurs to drive resilience and applied AI.

We support founders with a long-term view who challenge the status quo, partnering with them from seed to growth stage and beyond.

With offices in the U.S., Europe, and India, we have supported the growth of 800+ businesses, including Airbnb, Anduril, Anthropic, Applied Intuition, Commure, Glean, Gusto, Helsing, Hubspot, Kayak, Livongo, Mistral, Ramp, Samsara, Snap, Stripe, Sword, and Zepto.

For more: www.generalcatalyst.com, @generalcatalyst

¹ Relay is a financial technology company and is not an FDIC-insured bank. Banking services not related to Relay Capital term loans are provided by Thread Bank, Member FDIC.

²Relay Term Loans are provided through Fundbox. Fundbox makes capital available to business through business loans originated by Lead Bank. California businesses: Fundbox makes business loans and lines of credit loans pursuant to California Financing Law license 60DBO-48774. All loans are subject to credit approval of a completed application and applicable terms and conditions. Approval timing is based on typical experience; actual decision and funding times may vary. Financing may not be available in all states and may be subject to local restrictions where applicable.

SOURCE Relay Financial Inc.

Start-up advances mission around World Hypertension Day

SAN FRANCISCO, May 19, 2026 — Vital Signals, a health innovation company founded by technology veteran Tom Moss, today announced that it has raised over $15M in investments, led by XYZ Ventures, to support its mission to improve how people understand, engage with and manage their blood pressure and long‑term heart health.

The announcement coincides with World Hypertension Day, this year themed ‘Controlling Hypertension Together,’ highlighting the need for greater shared understanding and more proactive approaches to a condition that affects billions worldwide and remains the leading driver of serious cardiovascular outcomes. Despite its prevalence, high blood pressure is often misunderstood and addressed only after a health event occurs.

For Moss, a serial start-up entrepreneur and veteran technology leader who has shaped products at Google, Motorola, Razer and Skydio, the company’s work is deeply personal.

“High blood pressure affects more than 100 million Americans, but many people don’t realize it until it’s too late, which is why it’s called the ‘silent killer,'” said Tom Moss, CEO & Founder of Vital Signals. “After experiencing a life-threatening hypertensive crisis, I realized how little support people have to truly understand their blood pressure and what they can do to manage it. Vital Signals was built to bring clarity, convenience and control so blood pressure becomes something people can engage with confidently over time, rather than react to in moments of uncertainty.”

The investment supports Vital Signals as it brings a breakthrough technology to consumers, allowing individuals to understand their blood pressure as a critical indicator of long‑term health. Built on technical innovation and expertise, the company is advancing a new approach grounded in accuracy, insight and long‑term relevance.

“Vital Signals achieved a technological breakthrough previously assumed to be impossible,” said Ross Fubini at XYZ Ventures. “We believe it will fundamentally change how billions of people manage their long-term heart health.”

The investment marks a key milestone for Vital Signals as the company continues to build toward future developments.

About Vital Signals

Vital Signals is a health innovation company addressing one of healthcare’s most persistent challenges: how people understand and manage blood pressure over time. Founded by tech veteran Tom Moss, the company is focused on building new approaches centered on accuracy, insights and ease of use.

Contact:
Kaplow Communications
212-221-1713
[email protected]

SOURCE Vital Signals, Inc

Framework agreement with Johnson Controls outlines plans for modular data center production at dedicated factory in Arizona, expected to create more than 500 jobs

SAN FRANCISCO, May 19, 2026 — “The AI race will not be won by one-off projects,” said Dan Wright, Co-Founder and CEO of Armada. “It will be won by the companies and countries that can manufacture, deploy, and continuously improve AI infrastructure, with speed, scale and sovereignty. At Galleon Forge One, we will do what America does best: build the industrial base to win.”

Galleon Forge One will span up to 400,000 square feet, and is expected to create 500 jobs, with additional roles in the domestic supply chain. Continuous production is planned to begin in the summer and will start with Leviathan, Armada’s megawatt-scale modular data centers built for high-density AI training and inference workloads, sovereign neo-cloud, and multi-tenant compute environments.

As part of today’s announcement, Armada and Johnson Controls are unveiling a Global Framework Agreement for modular data center systems. The company is also making an investment in Armada. Johnson Controls brings deep expertise in advanced thermal management and mission-critical building systems, supported by manufacturing leadership and a global footprint that includes more than 40,000 field personnel across all key regions. This reach enables Armada to produce and deploy sovereign AI infrastructure wherever customers need it.

“Johnson Controls is working with Armada to rapidly deliver secure modular data centers at scale,” said Joakim Weidemanis, Chief Executive Officer of Johnson Controls. “Together, we have already deployed units across the United States and around the world, demonstrating the expertise and global reach required to support mission-critical environments. Johnson Controls’ differentiated technology, U.S.-based manufacturing strength and Armada’s edge computing expertise will deliver the thermal‑critical environments that perform predictably, deploy quickly, and scale with confidence.”

Armada’s Series B was co-led by Overmatch, BlackRock and 8090 Industries. It is the company’s largest round to date and heavily oversubscribed, bringing total funding to nearly half a billion dollars. New strategic investors BlackRock, Johnson Controls, NightDragon, Mitsui and Singtel Innov8 participated in the round alongside existing investors including Overmatch, 8090 Industries, Felicis, Marlinspike, Shield Capital, Lux Capital, Founders Fund, Silent Ventures, Veriten and Gladebrook.

With this raise, Armada is not just adding firepower to its balance sheet but unlocking modular data center capacity to enable organizations to achieve autonomous, AI-powered operations anywhere in the world. This ability is critical to preserving the industrial strength required to run AI at the edge, protect sensitive data, and sustain long-term operational advantage for the United States and its allies.

The company will use its Series B capital to support explosive growth, as well as new initiatives. From FY25-26 Armada recorded 540% customer bookings growth and significant interest in Leviathan. Q1 FY27 alone saw a 2000% increase in bookings growth, compared to Q1 the previous year.

Global Demand is Accelerating

Defense Edge Deployment: Armada supported an ally’s defense organization in deploying a Triton into the field in six days, demonstrating how customers can move from infrastructure need to operational capability without waiting on traditional data center construction cycles.

WinDC: WinDC selected Armada to provide the first network of portable AI factories designed to run on renewable energy that Australia’s national grid can’t absorb. As demand for real-time data processing and AI inference grows faster than centralized infrastructure supports, the customer began with a Triton and is scaling its sovereign AI infrastructure to a 10MW+ Leviathan deployment.

U.S. Navy: Armada enabled the U.S. Navy to deploy edge computing during a major multinational maritime exercise. Running mission applications including Minotaur on a Galleon aboard a communications-constrained vessel demonstrated how modular compute can support real-time decision-making, where centralized cloud infrastructure is limited or unavailable.

Aker BP: On the Norwegian Continental Shelf, Aker BP is performing building and testing, with an aim to deploy a Galleon on the Deepsea Nordkapp. Running AI models at the rig will move Aker BP and its alliance partners toward their ultimate goal of autonomous operations. Following and depending on a successful initial trial, Aker BP intends to scale AI capability across the fleet.

“At Aker BP, we are transforming how hydrocarbons are produced in the most challenging environments, and we know we cannot do it alone,” said Mads Rødsjø, VP, D&W Operations, Aker BP. “Our vision is real-time data processing, AI-ready workflows, and autonomous operations at the edge. Partnering with Armada gives us the infrastructure to make that vision a reality and scale across our fleet.”

Strategic Partnerships and Proven Deployments Drive Customer Momentum

Armada continues to expand its ecosystem and Marketplace through partnerships and collaborations with companies including Microsoft, NVIDIA, Palantir and Dell Technologies. These help customers deploy AI infrastructure faster, run workloads closer to where data is generated, and maintain control over sensitive data, models, and operations.

With dedicated Galleon manufacturing, strategic capital investments, and a growing partner ecosystem, Armada is scaling the infrastructure customers need to deploy AI across the world’s most demanding environments.

About Armada
Armada is the hyperscaler for the edge, delivering modular AI infrastructure from first deployment to AI factory with speed, scale and sovereignty. For more information, visit www.armada.ai.

Media contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Armada

• Financing led by OrbiMed with participation from TCGX, LAV, Cenova Capital and existing investors SCGC and Oriza
• Proceeds will advance multi-asset pipeline including AC-101, a leading RIPK2 inhibitor for Ulcerative Colitis

NEW YORK and SUZHOU, China, May 18, 2026 — Accro Bioscience Inc. (“Accro Bioscience”), a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of novel therapeutics that target molecular mechanisms of regulatory cell death for immune mediated diseases, announced the closing of its $50 million Series C financing. The round was led by OrbiMed, with participation from TCG Crossover (“TCGX”), LAV, Cenova Capital, and existing investors Shenzhen Capital Group (“SCGC”) and Oriza Holdings (“Oriza”).

Proceeds from the financing will fund the Phase IIb clinical trial of AC-101, a leading RIPK2 inhibitor, for the treatment of Ulcerative Colitis (UC), and other novel therapeutic candidates for I&I diseases.

Dr. Xiaohu (Jason) Zhang, Co-founder and CEO of Accro Bioscience, said: “We at Accro Bioscience are focused on our mission of delivering innovative oral treatments for the millions of patients living with immune mediated diseases. I’m grateful to our investors who share our vision and have supported us continuously.”

Steven Wang, Ph.D., CFA, Partner at OrbiMed, said: “We are highly impressed by Accro Bioscience’s innovative pipeline. The team’s scientific acumen and track record of strong execution were instrumental in our decision to invest. OrbiMed is excited to partner with Accro to accelerate their global clinical development.”

About AC-101

AC-101 is a novel, selective RIPK2 inhibitor being developed for the treatment of moderate-to-severe Ulcerative Colitis (UC). Receptor interacting protein kinase 2 (RIPK2) is a key mediator in the NOD signaling pathway, and dysregulation of NOD/RIPK2 is implicated in several inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. AC-101 was developed from Accro Bioscience’s proprietary drug discovery platform targeting regulatory cell death and inflammation. AC-101 has completed Phase I studies in healthy volunteers in Australia and China, demonstrating a favorable safety and PK/PD profile. A Phase Ib/IIa proof-of-concept study in Chinese patients with moderate-to-severe UC has been completed. The Company has received the IND clearance from U.S. FDA for a Phase II clinical trial.

About Accro Bioscience

Accro Bioscience Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapeutics for inflammatory and autoimmune diseases, by targeting molecular mechanisms of regulatory cell death. The company’s robust pipeline of first- and best-in-class compounds offers the potential for innovative, paradigm-shifting therapies.

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

About OrbiMed

OrbiMed is a leading healthcare investment firm, with over $19 billion in assets under management. OrbiMed invests globally across the healthcare industry, from start-ups to large multinational corporations, through private equity funds, public equity funds, and royalty/credit funds. OrbiMed seeks to be a capital provider of choice, providing tailored financing solutions and extensive global team resources to help build world-class healthcare companies. OrbiMed’s team of over 130 professionals is based in New York City, London, San Francisco, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Herzliya, and other key global markets.

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

SOURCE Accro Bioscience Inc.

SUZHOU, China and GEMBLOUX, Belgium, May 18, 2026 — Full-Life Technologies (“Full-Life“, the “Company“), a fully-integrated global radiotherapeutics company, today announced the completion of a US$150 million financing package, comprised of approximately US$110 million in Series D equity and US$40 million in debt financing. Vivo Capital led the financing, joined by Full-Life’s strategic partner SK Biopharmaceuticals Co., Ltd. and Chengwei Capital, HSG, Junson Capital, Yunion, Plaisance, Sky9 Capital, TSG Capital, as well as other renowned shareholders.

Proceeds from the Series D round will be used to advance the Company’s clinical stage assets, including potential best-in-class [225Ac]-FL-020 for prostate cancer and potential first-in-class [225Ac]-FL-261 for multiple solid tumor indications. By year-end 2026, Full-Life expects to have three differentiated clinical stage programs, all of which emerged from its UniRDC™ discovery platform. Proceeds will also facilitate the initiation of GMP-grade 225Ac manufacturing at the Company’s state-of-the-art facility in Belgium. Having isotope supply and manufacture under its complete control is a significant strategic advantage in advancing radiotherapeutics rapidly through clinical development.

“Full-Life is distinguished not only by their scientific vision, but their ability to translate it into tangible clinical and operational milestones at a global scale,” said Hao Dong, Managing Director at Vivo Capital. “We are impressed by their early discovery efficiency, the strong emerging data from their lead program, and the accelerated progress of their manufacturing facility in Belgium. Leading this Series D financing reflects our conviction that Full-Life is transitioning from a platform innovator to a fully integrated radiopharmaceutical company, and we are excited to support their next phase of value creation.”  

“This financing reflects the significant value we have created over the past four years, evolving from a platform builder to a clinical-stage company,” said Julie Wu, President and Chief Financial Officer of Full-Life. “With the strong momentum from our lead asset, and the rapid advancement of our pipeline assets, this funding will accelerate our transition toward late-stage development and ensure our Belgium GMP facility is fully operational to support global 225Ac commercial supply.”

With completion of this round, Full-Life has secured nearly US$350 million funding since its inception in 2021, including equity financing and debt financing.

About Vivo Capital

Founded in 1996, Vivo Capital is a leading global healthcare investment firm with a multi-strategy platform spanning venture capital, private equity, and public markets. The firm manages over $7.0 billion across 16 USD and RMB funds and has invested in over 460 companies worldwide. Vivo Capital focuses exclusively on the healthcare sector, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and pharma services, with an emphasis on the world’s largest and fastest-growing markets. The firm is differentiated by its “Ecosystem Strategy,” leveraging deep industry networks and operational capabilities to deliver strategic support beyond capital. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Vivo Capital has offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taipei, and Singapore, supported by a global team of over 70 professionals.

About Full-Life Technologies

Full-Life Technologies (“Full-Life”) is a privately held, fully-integrated clinical-stage global radiotherapeutics company with operations worldwide. Our mission is to deliver the power of radiotherapy to cancer patients worldwide by owning the entire value chain for radiopharmaceutical research & development including production & commercialization. By combining advanced manufacturing capabilities, biological insights and clinical efficiency, the Company endeavors to tackle fundamental challenges affecting radiopharmaceuticals today by pioneering innovative research that will shape the treatments of tomorrow. We are comprised of a team of fast-moving entrepreneurs and seasoned scientists with a proven history of success in the life sciences and unwavering dedication to patients worldwide. Learn more at: https://www.full-life.com/  

SOURCE Full-Life Technologies

NORWALK, Conn., May 18, 2026 — Lifespan Vision Ventures (LVV), an investment firm focused on therapeutics that improve human healthspan, today announced that it has led Violet Therapeutics’ $4.75 million seed extension financing, with participation from Dementia Discovery Fund, UTEC, Ono Venture Investment, and Mass General Brigham Ventures.

Violet Therapeutics is a preclinical-stage biotechnology company developing first-in-class therapies for neurodegenerative disease by mapping disease-relevant cell-to-cell signaling interactions in the brain. The company’s proprietary CONNECT platform is designed to identify therapeutically actionable signaling pathways that drive neuroinflammation, neurodegeneration, and synaptic loss.

Synaptic loss is one of the strongest predictors of cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions, and Violet’s lead program is designed to address this core pathology through glial-mediated synaptic preservation and repair. “Preserving cognitive function is one of the most important challenges in aging biology, and Violet is approaching that challenge from a uniquely actionable angle,” said Altar Munis, Associate at Lifespan Vision Ventures. “The company’s CONNECT platform gives it a systematic way to uncover how glial signaling contributes to synaptic dysfunction, with EphB3 representing a strong first step toward therapies that may protect brain health across aging and neurodegenerative disease.”

“We are pleased to welcome LVV as the lead investor in this extension round. LVV brings deep sector expertise in technologies that will impact diseases of aging and cognition. Likewise, their addition to the board adds valuable perspective as we continue to advance our EphB3 program towards the clinic and to develop our CONNECT discovery platform,” said Meredith Fisher, Partner at Mass General Brigham Ventures and CEO of Violet.

Proceeds from the financing will support advancement of Violet’s lead small molecule program targeting EphB3 through key IND-enabling activities. EphB3, a receptor tyrosine kinase implicated in microglia-astrocyte signaling, emerged directly from Violet’s CONNECT platform and represents the company’s first therapeutic target generated from its cellular connectome approach.

About Lifespan Vision Ventures

Lifespan Vision Ventures is a global venture capital firm investing in early-stage biotechnology companies developing breakthrough technologies to prevent and treat age-related diseases. The firm partners with visionary founders advancing science-driven solutions that promote healthy aging and extend human healthspan.

Contact: [email protected]

About Violet Therapeutics
Violet Therapeutics is a preclinical-stage biotechnology company developing first-in-class therapies for neurodegenerative disease by mapping disease-relevant cell-to-cell signaling interactions in the brain. The company’s proprietary CONNECT platform enables discovery of novel targets emerging from cellular interaction networks rather than genetic association alone, supporting the development of a pipeline of small-molecule therapeutics addressing neuroinflammation and related CNS pathologies.

For more information, visit www.violettx.com

Media contact:
Meredith Fisher, CEO
[email protected]

SOURCE LifeSpan Vision Ventures

HONG KONG, May 18, 2026 — AEON, the settlement layer built for the agentic economy, today announced it has successfully closed an $8 million pre-seed funding round. The round was led by YZi Labs, with participation from a robust group of leading investors, including IDG Capital, HashKey Capital, Stanford Blockchain Builders Fund, Oak Grove Ventures, SevenX Ventures, Alchemy Ventures, Draper Dragon, Contribution Capital, and Uphonest Capital.

The funding will accelerate AEON’s mission to build the financial backbone required for a new economic paradigm, where AI reshapes production relations across the internet and becomes an active participant in global commerce. AEON is building the settlement layer that this new paradigm demands, powering the agentic economy at scale, and bridging Agent-to-Agent (A2A) interactions with real-world merchant settlement.

As one of the earliest official partners of Coinbase‘s x402 protocol, AEON has been at the forefront of turning the concept of AI payments into reality. The company launched its first AI payment product in May, enabling AI agents to execute on-chain transactions and connect to over 50 million real-world merchants across the globe. With AEON, AI enters the marketplace, where ideas, intent, and intelligence can directly move value.

In partnership with BNB Chain, AEON recently launched the x402 Facilitator, built natively on the BNB Chain infrastructure. This enables verifiable transactions, on-chain settlement, and immutable receipts for millions of service providers within the BNB ecosystem, building payment infrastructure constructed for the agentic economy at internet scale.

By leveraging AI native protocols like x402, ERC-8004, Google AP2, and MCP, AEON enables autonomous and verifiable AI agent transactions that bridge the gap between digital agent interactions and real-world settlement. Its Protocol Kernel x402 Stack encapsulates payment instructions into HTTP 402 status codes, embeds settlement logic directly into every API request or service subscription, and ensures real-time clearing between A2A transactions. The distributed Trust Hub verifies transaction payloads with atomic finality, guaranteeing irreversible settlement. This architecture enables continuous value flows between agents, and through AEON’s Physical Gateway, extends into Agent-to-Merchant scenarios where agents can pay.

Building in phases, AEON’s roadmap begins with a completed foundation of cross-chain infrastructure and payment standards. It is now advancing into trust and scale, evolving from payment verification to execution verification while expanding its global settlement network across emerging markets and traditional financial rails. Looking ahead, AEON aims to unlock fully autonomous agent collaboration supported by a native KYA credit system and with full-stack AI financial services, where AI agents can coordinate, transact, and settle value across complex real-world scenarios. 

AEON’s founding team brings deep experience from Binance, Chainlink, Google, HSBC, and GrabPay, combining with deep expertise in AI, blockchain architecture, and real-world payments. This blend allows AEON to build a settlement layer the way the agentic economy actually operates, scaling payments that are verifiable, trustless, and at machine speed.

“AEON is not just bridging AI and real-world commerce, we are building the settlement layer the agentic economy inherently requires,” said Eddie Li, CEO and co-founder of AEON. “As production relations shift toward an economy powered by autonomous agents and value exchange between AIs, we believe a settlement layer built for the agentic economy will emerge and this economic paradigm needs its own financial foundation. This funding empowers us to accelerate that mission, advancing our settlement layer built for AI, and deepening collaboration with ecosystem partners like Coinbase and BNB Chain.”

About AEON

AEON is the settlement layer built for the agentic economy, leveraging leading protocols to enable autonomous, verifiable AI agent transactions at scale. It bridges Agent-to-Agent (A2A) interactions with real-world settlement and continuous value flows.

Serving more than 2 million users and processing 30M monthly transactions, AEON is backed by YZi Labs and IDG Capital, with participation from investors including HashKey Capital, Stanford Blockchain Builders Fund, etc.

Website | X | Telegram | Medium | AEON Pay

About YZi Labs

YZi Labs manages over $10 billion in assets globally. Our investment philosophy emphasizes impact first—we believe that meaningful returns will naturally follow. We invest in ventures at every stage, prioritizing those with solid fundamentals in Web3, AI, and biotech.

YZi Labs’ portfolio covers over 300 projects from over 25 countries across six continents. Some notable portfolios include Trustwallet, CoinMarketCap, Polygon, Injective, Ethena, Safepal Wallet, Better Payment Network, Aster, XAI (acquired by SpaceX), and more. More than 65 of YZi Labs’ portfolio companies have gone through our incubation program, EASY Residency. For more information, follow YZi Labs on X. 

SOURCE AEON

Financing and expanded board leadership position the company to accelerate FDA clearance and commercialization of its novel imaging system

SUNNYVALE, Calif. and GIVATAYIM, Israel, May 18, 2026 — Vortex Imaging Inc. announced today the closing of a $12 million financing round, supported by existing and new investors, including 10D Ventures, Entrée Capital, Harel T.E.C Partnership, Connecticut Innovations, and PhiFund Ventures.

The financing will support the continued development, regulatory clearance, and market launch of Vortex Imaging’s computational ultrasound system, a novel imaging technology designed to enable high-quality 3D volumetric imaging at the point of care using pioneering computational image reconstruction technology, utilizing GPUs-on-Cloud.

Today, many advanced imaging workflows rely on centralized radiology suites, which can contribute to delays in access to imaging and patient care. Vortex Imaging is developing a compact ultrasound-based imaging system designed to bring advanced 3D volumetric imaging into everyday clinical settings. The system aims to reduce variability associated with conventional ultrasound workflows by enabling standardized, reproducible volumetric datasets with a reduced learning curve, while avoiding ionizing radiation and large imaging infrastructure.

The reconstructed images are intended to provide physicians with advanced 3D volumetric visualization capabilities in a format traditionally associated with CT and MRI, while maintaining the accessibility, safety, and portability advantages of ultrasound.

“This financing round marks a major milestone for Vortex Imaging,” said Tomer Ben David, CEO of Vortex Imaging. “Vortex is focused on transforming ultrasound from a highly operator-dependent modality into a standardized, volumetric imaging system capable of delivering advanced 3D clinical insights directly at the point of care. We are excited to have the support of experienced investors and board members as we continue advancing toward FDA clearance and initial clinical deployment.”

In addition, Ori Hadomi, former CEO of Mazor Robotics and current Vice President of Strategic Initiatives & Partnerships at Medtronic, has been appointed Chairman of the Board, bringing significant experience in guiding transformative medical technologies from development to global commercialization.

The board will also include experienced healthcare and medtech leaders, including Chris Cleary, former Vice President of Corporate Development at Medtronic and former GE Healthcare executive; Yahal Zilka, co-founder and Managing Partner at 10D Ventures; and Dr. Yael Grunbaum, Partner at Entree Capital and Head of Entrée Bio.

Together, the expanded board brings deep expertise across medical imaging, strategic growth, corporate development, and commercialization of global medtech platforms.

Vortex Imaging’s initial clinical focus is on urology and nephrology, with broader future applications planned across additional diagnostic and procedural domains.

“Vortex Imaging has the potential to significantly expand how and where advanced imaging is performed,” said Ori Hadomi, Chairman of the Board. “The combination of high-quality volumetric imaging, reduced operator dependency, and a compact ultrasound-based platform could enable a far more scalable and standardized approach to imaging across healthcare systems.”

For more information visit: https://www.vortex-imaging.com/ or LinkedIn.

Watch: Why wait for imaging? 

Contact:
Izik Ithakov
[email protected]

SOURCE Vortex Imaging Inc.