Peak XV Partners leads the round as Blacksmith grows from 800 to more than 6,000 customers amid surging demand for faster code validation.

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 12, 2026 — Blacksmith, a cloud for validating code, has raised a $45 million Series B led by Peak XV Partners, with existing investors Y Combinator and GV also participating. The round values the company at $550 million.

The financing comes as AI coding tools are changing how quickly engineering teams produce software. Since the beginning of the year, the number of CI jobs running on Blacksmith has grown between 5% and 10% week over week. More than 6,000 companies now use Blacksmith, including Supabase, Clerk, Ashby and Mercury, up from approximately 800 when the company announced its Series A last September.

As developers adopt tools such as Claude Code, Codex and other coding agents, teams are producing significantly more code and opening more pull requests. That has put increasing pressure on the infrastructure responsible for building, testing and validating every change before it ships.

“Writing code has gotten dramatically easier. Validating it hasn’t,” said Aditya “JP” Jayaprakash, co-founder and CEO of Blacksmith. “We’re seeing teams adopt coding agents, generate several times more pull requests, and suddenly CI becomes a bottleneck. Every piece of code an agent writes still has to be built, tested, and reviewed before it can ship. That validation layer is going to become increasingly important as more software is written by agents.”

Beyond CI: the validation platform

Blacksmith started with purpose-built infrastructure that runs CI workloads dramatically faster than general-purpose cloud instances, with migration taking a one-line change to a workflow file. That remains the foundation. The broader goal is helping developers validate and merge code faster, with confidence in every change they ship.

The company recently launched codesmith, a cloud coding agent developers can delegate tasks to. Beyond building features and fixing bugs, codesmith works inside the validation loop: diagnosing CI failures, autofixing them, and keeping pull requests green. It is also the foundation for codesmith QA, which will autonomously test changes before they merge.

Where the money goes

Most of the new capital goes to compute. Blacksmith manages hundreds of thousands of cores today and plans to grow that footprint by an order of magnitude in the coming months to stay ahead of demand.

Blacksmith is hiring engineers in New York and San Francisco: https://www.blacksmith.sh/careers 

About Blacksmith

Blacksmith builds infrastructure and software for validating code. Its purpose-built CI cloud runs GitHub Actions workloads on dedicated compute with caching and storage optimized for CI. More than 6,000 companies use Blacksmith, including Supabase, Clerk, Ashby and Mercury. Blacksmith also develops codesmith, its cloud coding agent for building and validating software. The company was founded by Aditya (JP) Jayaprakash, Aayush Shah and Aditya Maru and is backed by Peak XV Partners, Y Combinator and GV. For more information, visit blacksmith.sh.

About Peak XV Partners

Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia Capital India & SEA) is a leading venture capital firm investing across India, APAC and beyond. Over the last 20 years of operations in the region, Peak XV has grown to manage over USD 10 billion in capital across 16 funds and has invested in over 450 companies. The portfolio has seen over 37 IPOs and several successful M&As to date. To know more, please visit www.peakxv.com.

SOURCE Blacksmith

• Financing will further accelerate the already successful early commercial rollout of VitaSmart™ HOPE System
• Company also advancing an active organ viability assessment tool designed to raise industry standards with a validated biomarker that gives transplant centers the data to save more organs and lives
• Funds fuel Bridge to Life’s multi-organ product pipeline and reinforce its market leadership

DULUTH, Ga., Aug. 12, 2026 — Bridge to Life™ Ltd., a market leader in organ preservation solutions and perfusion technologies, today announced the successful completion of a $110 million Series C and debt financing. The equity financing was led by new investor Soleus Capital, along with Lauxera Capital Partners and participation by Bridge to Life directors, officers, and employees; the debt financing was provided by Soleus Capital Credit Opportunities Fund. Proceeds will fuel the VitaSmart™ launch by expanding the field team and providing the working capital to reach every U.S. transplant center. The remaining funds will advance Bridge to Life’s new product pipeline, including a proprietary viability assessment tool, broadening its organ preservation portfolio, and scaling global operations. Proceeds were also used to refinance the Company’s credit facility with Perceptive Credit Funds, thereby significantly reducing the Company’s outstanding leverage and lowering its interest rate, as Bridge to Life has evolved from early development stage to a fully commercial organization.

Following its U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) De Novo clearance in January 2026, the VitaSmart™ Hypothermic Oxygenated Perfusion (HOPE) System is the first and only hypothermic oxygenated perfusion system authorized by the FDA for use in liver transplantation.

“Bridge to Life is committed to improving transplant medicine through science-based solutions that bring more organs to more patients,” said Don Webber, CEO and President of Bridge to Life™ Ltd. “This financing marks an important milestone for Bridge to Life and reflects the confidence our investors have in our technology, team, and long-term growth strategy. The VitaSmart launch has outpaced our expectations, as leading academic centers are adopting it rapidly. This financing enables us to meet that demand while advancing a pipeline that expands beyond liver transplantation to other solid organ transplants.” Webber further commented, “The Company would like to extend its appreciation for the financial support provided by Perceptive Credit Funds, through funding the Company’s VitaSmart clinical development, FDA clearance and initial commercial launch.”

“We led this financing because Bridge to Life pairs an established preservation franchise with a newly FDA-cleared perfusion platform that is already rapidly being adopted in the field, and with a credible pipeline behind it — this is a combination we believe is unmatched in the transplant category,” said Ben Lund, Partner, Soleus Capital. “We are excited to partner with Lauxera with whom we share a deep understanding of this market and conviction in Bridge to Life’s future potential.”

“We have substantial experience investing in organ transplantation devices and we have seen firsthand how difficult it is to carry a preservation technology from clinical promise through to routine practice,” said Samuel Levy, Co-Founding Partner, Lauxera Capital Partners. “Bridge to Life has done exactly that with a technology combining long-duration perfusions, class-leading ease of use, an accessible price point and outstanding clinical outcomes. These characteristics will accelerate machine perfusion adoption saving lives and reducing costs for the healthcare system.”

Creating a New Standard of Care in Perfusion

Proceeds from this financing will primarily be used to scale the company’s commercial and clinical field organizations, providing the infrastructure required to deliver VitaSmart™ to every U.S. transplant center seeking to modernize its organ preservation capabilities. In just six months, VitaSmart™ has rapidly become part of routine clinical practice as evidenced by:

• Master service agreements with a rapidly growing number of leading academic transplant centers, organ procurement organizations, and several of the nation’s highest-volume liver transplant programs, including first-time adopters of cold perfusion
• Strong customer loyalty demonstrated through a remarkable cadence of repeat orders
• A robust pipeline of additional U.S. transplant centers in the process of adopting VitaSmart™

With more than 100,000 U.S. patients currently awaiting life-saving transplants, there is a critical need to maximize the use of every available donor organ. The VitaSmart™ System directly addresses this acute shortage by expanding the pool of viable organs, helping to reduce waitlist times and save more lives.

Meeting the Unmet Need for Assessing Organ Viability

Bridge to Life is advancing a first-in-class, science-based viability assessment tool designed to set a new industry standard in transplant medicine. It aims to address one of transplantation’s most persistent challenges: currently, donated organs are accepted or declined based on a combination of visual assessment, donor characteristics, clinical judgment, and, during normothermic perfusion, surrogate measures such as lactate clearance and bile production. Bridge to Life seeks to augment these traditional measures with a more definitive, science-based evaluation of organ viability. Objective decision support at the point of evaluation can give surgeons the confidence to accept marginal and extended-criteria grafts, reduce preventable organ non-use, and standardize acceptance practice across centers.

The viability assessment tool is currently in development and under investigation, and it is not cleared for commercial sale at this time.

Expanding Product Portfolio Beyond Liver

The remaining capital will fund Bridge to Life’s broader innovation pipeline, expanding its organ preservation and perfusion portfolio beyond liver transplantation into additional organ applications over the next three years. In addition, the company is actively developing next-generation closed systems to streamline transport, thereby supporting the expansion of Bridge to Life’s global commercial footprint.

Advisors

UBS Investment Bank acted as exclusive financial advisor and placement agent to Bridge to Life in connection with the transaction. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP acted as legal counsel for Bridge to Life in connection with the transaction.

About Bridge to Life™ Ltd.

Bridge to Life™ Ltd. is a global leader in organ preservation and perfusion technology. Driven by a commitment to science-based innovation, the company empowers transplant teams with advanced tools that expand the donor pool, streamline clinical workflows, and improve patient outcomes worldwide. VitaSmart™ joins a preservation franchise anchored by Belzer UW^®, widely regarded as the global gold standard in cold static preservation and the most extensively used cold flush solution in abdominal organ transplantation. Together, the portfolio gives Bridge to Life a differentiated position spanning both established preservation and next-generation machine perfusion.

About Soleus Capital

Soleus Capital is an investment firm based in Greenwich, CT focused on the innovative areas of life sciences, including biopharmaceuticals, medical technologies, life sciences tools and diagnostics. With approximately $3.5 billion in total assets under management as of June 30, 2026, Soleus Capital invests across the healthcare lifecycle from developmental-stage through commercial, and partners with life science companies across the capital structure with hedge fund, private equity and structured credit vehicles.

About Lauxera Capital Partners

Founded in 2020, Lauxera Capital Partners is an independent investment firm exclusively dedicated to Healthtech. Based in Paris and San Francisco, the firm is led by entrepreneurial company builders and seasoned investors. Lauxera manages more than $1 billion in assets and supports 14 portfolio companies as a hands-on operational and financial partner. Since its founding, Lauxera has championed investing for impact in pursuit of a more sustainable and effective healthcare system, tracking the positive impact of its portfolio companies on patients, providers and healthcare systems.

Product Development and Forward-Looking Statements

Pipeline programs described in this release are in development, are investigational, and are not cleared or approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or any other regulatory authority. Nothing herein should be construed as a claim of safety or effectiveness for any use that has not received clearance or approval. Commercial and clinical figures cited in this release are preliminary and unaudited as of July 24, 2026.

SOURCE Bridge to Life, Ltd.

PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 12, 2026 — WovenEarth Ventures held the final close of its second fund, WovenEarth Fund II, at $155M on May 29, 2026. The investment firm now manages over $330M in total AUM with the objective of delivering strategic exposure to early-stage cleantech companies with outsized return potential in energy, industry, and resilience.

“We believe we are in the midst of a massive innovation wave: We call it Cleantech 2.0,” said Jane Woodward, managing partner at WovenEarth Ventures. “We see cleantech as fundamental to the future of the global economy—it has the capacity to boost profit and reduce risk in key areas such as AI-driven electricity demand, domesticating supply chains, and the rising cost of extreme weather. In our view, cleantech companies cover a broad range of sectors and are no longer a niche investment category. We see them as better businesses that happen to be clean.”

WovenEarth seeks to fill a gap in the investment landscape. Its ambition is to build funds that generate attractive returns and expose investors to hundreds of early-stage cleantech companies, through a diversified approach of fund investments and co-investments.

WovenEarth Fund II will offer exposure to 250+ companies by investing in a select group of US early-stage cleantech funds and reserving roughly one-third of investable capital to co-invest alongside them. To date, WovenEarth Fund II has made commitments to seven funds and 20 co-investments in subsectors such as geothermal energy, battery storage, critical minerals, robotics, orchestration software, and more.

WovenEarth Fund II has a strong investor syndicate returning from WovenEarth Fund I, including The Pennsylvania State University, Glenmede, Mortenson Family Foundation, and M.A. Mortenson Companies. WovenEarth Fund II also welcomed additional partners, including foundations, family offices, and the J.M. Huber Corporation.

The firm is led by a seasoned team with decades of experience in cleantech innovation, fund investing, and direct investing, including Jane Woodward (managing partner), Denise Miller (general partner), Ashley Grosh (partner), Trina Van Pelt (partner), Alicia Virtue (partner, operations), Mauricia Geissler (senior advisor, investments), and Natasha Skok (senior advisor, operations).

About WovenEarth
WovenEarth Ventures is an investment platform that delivers strategic exposure to early-stage cleantech companies that can reinvent the future of energy, industry, and resilience. Our ambition is to give investors a curated pathway into cleantech investments with outsized return potential, using a fit-for-purpose investment strategy designed to mitigate downside and capture upside in this space.

For more information, visit wovenearth.ventures

Media & PR Contact
Trúc Nguyen
Mulberry & Astor
[email protected] 

SOURCE WovenEarth Ventures

Bullen’s Autonomous Process Optimization initiative with Phenx uses machine learning and digital twin modeling to improve manufacturing performance

EATON, Ohio, Aug. 12, 2026 — Bullen Ultrasonics, a leader in precision machining of advanced ceramics, glass and specialty materials using proprietary ultrasonic and laser-based technologies, today announced it has received a $23,100 grant through the Ohio Smart Manufacturing Program to support its Autonomous Process Optimization initiative, which applies artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to improve manufacturing operations. Bullen is working with industrial AI engineering company Phenx on the initiative. The companies will analyze approximately 2 billion data points collected from Bullen’s customized manufacturing equipment to identify opportunities to improve process stability, efficiency and consistency.

“For several years, we have invested in the infrastructure needed to capture, organize and understand the data generated by our equipment because we believed it would eventually help us make better manufacturing decisions,” said Tim Beatty, president of Bullen Ultrasonics. “This grant allows us to turn that foundation into an actionable capability. We are applying AI to a specific manufacturing challenge with the potential to improve the value we deliver to our customers.”

The project began with an analysis of Bullen’s historical production data. Following encouraging initial findings, Phenx developed a digital twin, or virtual model, of the targeted manufacturing process.

The digital twin allows Bullen and Phenx to test different algorithms and process adjustments using actual production data before introducing changes on the manufacturing floor. The current phase is focused on validating the optimization algorithm within the digital twin. Once that work is completed, Bullen plans to pilot the algorithm on one of its machines and evaluate its performance during an extended prove-out period.

“Bullen had already completed much of the difficult foundational work required for a successful industrial AI project, including collecting high-quality data and developing deep knowledge of its custom machines and processes,” said Saurabh Sarkar, founder and CEO of Phenx. “By combining that foundation with advanced modeling and machine learning, we can identify patterns that would be extremely difficult to isolate manually and safely test optimization strategies in a digital environment before moving them into production.”

If successful, the project could help Bullen reduce process variation, shorten production cycles and improve the predictability and consistency of its manufacturing operations. It could also establish a framework for applying similar AI-driven modeling and optimization capabilities to other manufacturing processes in the future.

The grant supports the project’s initial phases. Bullen is investing additional resources in continued development, hardware integration, production testing and long-term validation.

The Ohio Smart Manufacturing Program helps small and medium-sized manufacturers adopt advanced digital technologies to improve operational efficiency, productivity and competitiveness. The program is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s State Manufacturing Leadership Program and led in Ohio by the Ohio Department of Development. The University of Dayton Research Institute (UDRI) supported Bullen’s participation by conducting technical discovery and helping prepare the project for state approval.

“UDRI is a key subrecipient supporting the Ohio Smart Manufacturing Program, providing technical project assessment and financial support to help companies like Bullen accelerate the adoption of digital technologies,” said Mark McCormick, senior business development lead of the University of Dayton Research Institute. “Bullen’s initiative is a strong example of how manufacturers can apply AI and machine learning to a clearly defined operational challenge with the potential to improve manufacturing performance and deliver measurable business value.”

Bullen views the initiative as part of a broader strategy to combine the expertise of its engineers, machinists and manufacturing professionals with emerging technology. The company intends to use AI to support human decision-making, accelerate problem-solving and expand its precision manufacturing capabilities.

To learn more about Bullen’s approach to AI adoption and the foundation it is building for Industry 4.0, read “AI Integration in Manufacturing: Building the Foundation for Industry 4.0” on the Bullen website.

About Bullen Ultrasonics
Bullen Ultrasonics is a global leader in the precision machining of advanced ceramics, glass and specialty materials using proprietary ultrasonic and laser-based technologies. Its non-thermal processes enable micron-level accuracy and reduce the risk of microcracks, contamination or structural damage, supporting the production of intricate features in components used across high-performance applications. Bullen’s vertically-integrated operations include in-house tool design and custom automation, which help streamline production from prototype through high-volume manufacturing. The company holds numerous certifications, including ISO 9001, AS9100 and ITAR, reflecting its alignment with quality and traceability standards in the aerospace, defense, automotive, medical and semiconductor and MEMs industries. Founded in 1971 and with more than 50 years of experience, Bullen is recognized for its engineering responsiveness and ability to deliver consistent results in regulated, high-stakes manufacturing environments. Learn more at https://www.bullentech.com.

About Phenx
Phenx is an industrial AI engineering company that helps manufacturers apply machine learning, digital twins, and process optimization to complex production environments. Phenx develops practical AI systems that combine operational data with domain expertise to improve process stability, efficiency, and decision-making. Learn more at www.phenx.ai.

Media contact:
Michael Tebo
Gabriel Marketing Group (for Bullen Ultrasonics)
Phone: 571-835-8775
Email: [email protected] 

SOURCE Bullen Ultrasonics

Funding to accelerate the iteration of the proprietary AI-driven ExCEED platform and advance global clinical development of differentiated pipelines, including a second-generation Menin inhibitor and a novel ophthalmic therapy.

CHENGDU, China, Aug. 12, 2026 — Beyang Therapeutics Co., Ltd. (“Beyang”), an AI-driven innovative drug R&D company dedicated to building a “DreamWorks” for innovative drug discovery, today announced the successful closing of an oversubscribed Series A financing round, raising nearly $30 million.

The round was co-led by Legend Capital and Shanghai Healthcare Capital, with participation from China Medical System Holdings Limited (“CMS”), Fenglei Capital, Shanghai Sci-Tech Innovation Center Capital, and Harbor & Canton Capital. Existing investors Root Venture Partners and YuanBio Venture Capital also continued to support this round.

The proceeds will be primarily utilized to accelerate the technological iteration of Beyang’s core AI + Molecular Design and Optimization platform (ExCEED), advance key pipeline candidates through clinical and pre-clinical development, and further expand its international R&D and business development teams.

Validated AI Platform Driving Differentiated Innovation

Founded in 2021, Beyang Therapeutics is led by a team with over two decades of experience in both drug discovery and computational simulation. The company has successfully established the ExCEED platform, which integrates proprietary databases with AI and computational simulation technologies across molecular design, druggability optimization, and biological evaluation. The platform’s precision and stability were recently validated internationally, ranking 8th globally among over 350 participants in the OpenADMET blind prediction challenge.

The ExCEED platform empowers Beyang to generate entirely novel scaffolds—not merely variations on existing cores—enabling it to break through structural homogeneity and secure meaningful differentiation in clinical and pre-clinical studies.

Pipeline Highlights: Addressing Unmet Clinical Needs with Differentiated Advantages

• BT01001: Pioneering Non-Invasive Drug Delivery for Fundus Oculi Diseases.

BT01001 is a small-molecule eye drop designed to treat retinal diseases. In pre-clinical head-to-head studies, it demonstrated best-in-class exposure in ocular tissues, with efficacy comparable to intravitreal injections of Aflibercept. The project has successfully completed Phase I SAD and MAD studies, showing excellent safety and tolerability in healthy subjects. Beyang is now advancing toward First-in-Patient trials, aiming to offer a safer, non-invasive alternative for ocular fundus diseases.

• BT01002: First-in-Class Second-Generation Menin Inhibitor to Overcome Resistance.

BT01002 is a second-generation Menin inhibitor for KMT2Ar or NPM1 mutated acute leukemia. While first-generation inhibitors often face acquired resistance mutations, BT01002’s innovative molecular design successfully overcomes all known resistance mechanisms. Currently undergoing IND-enabling studies, the project is advancing at a globally leading pace.

“We are grateful for the strong recognition from our Series A investors. The oversubscribed financing validates the value of our ExCEED platform and our differentiated pipeline, “said Qiyue Hu, Founder of Beyang. “As our platform continues to deliver Best-in-Class potential, we are not only accelerating our proprietary pipeline but also actively seeking external collaborations to deliver high-value innovative drugs to patients and partners worldwide.”

“We observe that AI Drug Discovery (AIDD) is entering a 2.0 era characterized by vertical integration. Beyang’s team combines deep industry experience with computational expertise, establishing a distinct moat with the ExCEED platform, “said Fei Qi, Executive Director at Legend Capital. “The platform’s ability to cover the full value chain—from de novo scaffold discovery to biological optimization—has been verified by experimental data, proving its capacity to continuously incubate high-potential candidates. “

Qiushan Guo, President of Shanghai Healthcare Capital, added, “Beyang has generated highly differentiated molecules across multiple disease areas. We are particularly impressed by their next-generation Menin inhibitor, which addresses resistance issues through novel scaffold design, and their ophthalmic delivery platform that overcomes the limitations of invasive administration. We look forward to seeing Beyang leverage its platform strength to produce assets with strong global competitiveness.”

About Beyang Therapeutics

Beyang Therapeutics is an AI-driven innovative drug R&D company, aiming to become the “DreamWorks” in the field of innovative Drug Discovery. The company focuses on the development of drugs with clear mechanisms of action (MOA) and high potential for clinical translation, in the areas with unmet medical needs. Based on its proprietary ExCEED platform (molecular design, druggability assessment, and biological research), Beyang boasts industry-leading preclinical pipeline conversion rates. The core team comprises experienced scientists from leading pharmaceutical companies such as Pfizer, Merck, and Hengrui. They have participated in the R&D of three globally-launched small molecule drugs and successfully advanced over 10 projects into clinical trials. With strict target selection standards and an “AI + experience-driven” model, the company is actively deploying in high-potential fields, accelerating the development of effective drugs to address unmet patient needs while maximizing commercial value. For more information, please visit www.beyangtx.com.

About Legend Capital
Founded in 2001, Legend Capital is a leading early-stage and growth equity investor in China. With a strong focus on healthcare, it has backed numerous industry leaders, including Pharmaron, WuXi AppTec, WuXi Biologics, and Innovent Biologics.

About Shanghai Healthcare Capital
Shanghai Healthcare Capital is a specialized investment management platform under Shanghai Industrial Capital, managing a multi-currency, full-lifecycle fund matrix in the biomedical sector to support the innovation and development of the global biopharmaceutical industry.

Contact:
Minghui Tong, PhD
Beyang Therapeutics
[email protected] 
+86-13265738517

SOURCE Beyang Therapeutics Co., Ltd.

HELSINKI, Aug. 12, 2026 — STRGY AI Oy, the Helsinki-based startup building StrategyOS, today announced it has raised €1M in angel funding, backed by a private investor base spanning the UK, Norway, Switzerland, and Finland, with additional equity participation from Innovestor’s Angel CoFund and non-dilutive support from Business Finland.

The round reflects a deliberately international investor base from day one – a signal, the company says, of how broadly the shift toward AI-native strategy execution resonates across Northern and Western Europe.

The investment will be used to ramp up the commercial side of the business, invest in product development, and fuel growth.

StrategyOS is an AI-powered strategy execution platform that helps organizations turn strategy into daily, trackable action. Instead of static plans and one-off reporting cycles, StrategyOS gives leadership teams an always-on view of how work across the organization connects to strategic priorities – flagging drift early, automating board-ready reporting, and keeping teams aligned even during the busiest periods. The platform serves Chiefs of Staff, Heads of Strategy, and COOs at mid-market organizations who need clear, continuous visibility into whether execution is actually moving the business toward its goals. StrategyOS is already in use with early customers across consumer brands and private equity-backed companies, with additional enterprise deployments in progress.

“Most companies have a strategy. Very few have a way to know, day to day, whether their teams are actually executing on it. That’s the gap we built StrategyOS to close – giving leadership teams an always-on view of execution, instead of finding out weeks or months later that priorities have drifted,” said Samuli Bäck, Co-founder & CEO of STRGY AI.

The round’s investors include Maryne Lemvik, whose executive and board experience led her to invest after testing and evaluating StrategyOS firsthand.

“Having led international businesses and served on several boards, I’ve seen that strategy execution is often the weakest link, while leadership teams spend far too much time pulling together information for board reporting. What convinced me about STRGY is its ability to turn strategy into a continuous management discipline rather than a periodic exercise. That has the potential to significantly improve how leadership teams and boards make decisions. That’s the kind of company I want to support,” she said.

STRGY’s founding team includes Co-founder & CEO Samuli Bäck and co-founder Anton Skarp, alongside Head of Agentic Systems Oskari Listomaa and Head of Agentic Design Niko Savander.

STRGY plans to grow its commercial team, deepen its enterprise customer relationships, and prepare for further product launches later this year.

About STRGY AI

STRGY AI is a Helsinki-based startup building StrategyOS, an AI-powered platform that gives leadership teams an always-on view of strategy execution – connecting daily work to strategic priorities, flagging drift early, and automating board-ready reporting. StrategyOS serves Chiefs of Staff, Heads of Strategy, and COOs at mid-market companies across Europe. Learn more about STRGY at www.strgy.com.

Media Contact

Samuli Bäck
Co-founder & CEO
[email protected]
+358 40 550 9897

SOURCE STRGY AI

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 11, 2026 — Kruze Consulting, a leading accounting and finance firm serving venture-backed startups, today released its 2026 C-Suite Salary Guide, a benchmarking report on CEO, CTO, and COO cash compensation drawn from actual payroll records rather than self-reported surveys. The findings challenge a common assumption in startup compensation planning: That the CEO is always the highest-paid executive.

The study focuses solely on base salary, not equity compensation like stock options or restricted stock units.

According to the report, startup CEOs, CTOs, and COOs each earn an average of roughly $165,000 to $167,000 in overall cash salary. But that convergence masks a striking pattern beneath the surface: The highest-paid role changes as companies mature.

CTOs command the top average salary at the Seed stage, at $155,000, reflecting fierce competition for scarce technical talent. The average salary at Seed for CEOs is $135,000, while COOs earn an average of $144,000.

By Series B, however, COOs overtake both CEOs and CTOs, reaching average salaries of $246,000 at Series B. In comparison, CEOs earn an average of $216,000, and CTOs earn an average of $238,000 at Series B. This shows boards pay a premium for experienced operators who can scale day-to-day execution.

“The data shows compensation planning can’t be a flat rule applied across the leadership team,” said Vanessa Kruze, CPA, Founder and CEO of Kruze Consulting. “Founders and boards need a stage-specific and role-specific view of pay, because the executive who commands the top salary at Seed is often not the same one commanding it by Series B.”

Key findings from the report include:
 

• Convergent averages, divergent stories: CEO, CTO, and COO cash pay each average close to $165,000-$167,000 overall, but the roles reach that figure through very different trajectories by stage.
• CTOs lead early; COOs lead later: CTOs post the highest average pay at Seed ($155,000). COOs take the lead at Series A ($227,000) and hold it at Series B ($246,000).
• Medians reveal a small pool of outliers: Median pay sits below the average for all three roles, indicating that a smaller group of well-funded, later-stage executives is pulling each average upward.
• CTO pay is the most consistent benchmark: CTO average and median compensation differ by less than $1,000, making it the most reliable figure for hiring against.
• COO pay is the most stage-dependent: COO compensation starts lowest of the three roles at Seed, then rises fastest, ultimately becoming the highest-paid role by the growth stage.

The report attributes these patterns to the post-2022/2023 correction in venture funding, which pushed startups toward smaller, more milestone-driven early rounds and more disciplined cash compensation overall. As companies reach Series B with proven product-market fit, larger rounds allow boards to fund the technical and operational leadership needed to scale — which shows up directly in CTO and COO pay.

Unlike many published salary benchmarks, which rely on surveys that can lag market conditions by a year or more and skew toward the best-funded respondents, Kruze Consulting’s figures are drawn directly from the payroll systems of its US-based, venture-backed client companies. All data was anonymized and aggregated before analysis, so no individual company or executive can be identified.

The full C-Suite Salary Guide includes detailed average and median compensation breakdowns by role and funding stage (Seed, Series A, and Series B), along with guidance for founders and boards on benchmarking executive pay responsibly in the current fundraising climate. A companion report, the Startup CEO Salary Report, offers a deeper, founder-focused analysis with historical trends and year-over-year data.

About Kruze Consulting

Kruze Consulting provides accounting, finance, tax, and advisory services to venture‑backed startups, helping founders manage their finances, understand their metrics, and make data‑driven decisions about compensation, fundraising, and growth.

Media Contact

Bryan Long
Kruze Consulting
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://kruzeconsulting.com

SOURCE Kruze Consulting

Neros announces new products including Archer AI, Bandit c-UAS interceptor, and tech stack required for multi-drone control. 

TORRANCE, Calif., Aug. 11, 2026 — Neros Technologies has announced a $250M Series C at a post money valuation of $2.5B co-led by Sequoia Capital and American Strategic Technology Fund (ASTF) with participation by Interlagos, Valor Equity Partners, Allen & Company, Thiel Capital, Spark Capital, and Dylan Field.

These funds will accelerate the development and production ramps for new drone programs including Archer AI, an FPV platform augmented with autonomy features including Terminal Guidance and GPS-denied Position Hold, and Bandit, a c-UAS interceptor drone intended to counter Class 2 and 3 drone threats including Shahed-style systems.

These platforms are being developed with the hardware and compute required for multi-asset control (often termed “swarming”) while retaining the cost efficiency Neros is known for – and that’s essential to achieving true attritable mass. 

Both Archer AI and Bandit will be deployed in theaters of combat by the end of 2026.

“This newest round of funding accelerates Neros into a multi-capability drone manufacturer. Our mission to produce one million drones per year hasn’t changed, but the span of drones and mission sets we can support are multiplying. Our core business has seen explosive growth since our last financing round in November, and this added capital gets our systems into war fighter hands faster, and at the scale needed for decisive outcomes on the battlefield.”

— Soren Monroe-Anderson, Co-Founder and CEO, Neros

This expansion of products will enable Neros to own the entire mass-manufactured, small drone segment: manual FPV augmented by autonomous strike, counter-UAS interceptors, and coordinated effects through multi-asset control.

Through owning the core technology, vertically integrating its component stack, and leveraging its preexisting domestic production capacity, Neros is positioned to deliver credible deterrence by building millions of drones per year for America and its allies.

About Neros
Neros is building a new era of credible deterrence for America and its allies by establishing a domestic drone industrial base in the United States. By 2028, Neros will be producing a million drones per year across a range of capabilities including long range strike, close-quarters combat, and interceptors. Neros has major contracts with the Army, Marine Corps, as well as contracts with every component of SOCOM and half a dozen allied countries. The company is partnering with allies across Europe via its UK subsidiary, as well as other allied nations across Asia and the Middle East in support of their own defense and sovereign manufacturing needs.

SOURCE Neros Technologies

Two years in: revenue nearly doubled, 24/7 global support live, and SugarShot’s white-glove service model left intact

LOS ANGELES and SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 11, 2026 — Treeline announced that SugarShot, the Los Angeles-based managed services provider, joined the company in August 2024 as its first design partner. In the two years since, SugarShot has nearly doubled its revenue while keeping the client teams that define its brand.

Treeline is challenging the decades-old acquisition playbook: that scale and efficiency come at the expense of the client experience. Treeline’s model inverts that assumption. SugarShot keeps its structure, leadership, and ways of working with clients. What it gains is engineering capabilities, institutional credibility, and ultimately, the ability to scale impact without sacrificing client experience.

That strategy has paid off; since August 2024, SugarShot has grown revenue nearly 100% by going deeper with existing clients and landing new, larger accounts. Headcount has grown 68%, all while service delivery quality continued to improve.

“By pairing the strongest companies and operators in this market with world-class engineering and go-to-market capabilities, Treeline can build and define the future of this industry,” said Peter Doyle, CEO of Treeline. “One that doesn’t depart from the value of people and high-touch service, but leverages software development, automation, and AI to provide a better experience to customers who are constantly growing and evolving.”

For clients, the SugarShot experience stayed consistent. “Clients are still able to work and interact with the same people who already know their environment and own the problem until it’s closed,” said Brandon Fox, Head of Technology at SugarShot. “What has changed is that I trust every ticket is triaged, worked, and escalated inside our service levels, which means I finally get to work on the business instead of in it.”

SugarShot has expanded the range of the work it can take on. Tina Grintjes, Director of Operations, said, “Historically, our conversations were primarily around managed IT, security, and technology operations. Today, through Treeline, we can have much broader conversations around AI, compliance, cloud infrastructure, and more. We can grow alongside our clients in ways we simply couldn’t before.”

Before joining Treeline, roughly 5% of SugarShot’s client base had significant overseas operations; today, about 50% of new clients do. SugarShot has also stood up a follow-the-sun support model, giving clients 24/7 coverage and eliminating the weekday on-call rotation for its technicians.

“We are now partnering with clients that we would never have partnered with if Treeline hadn’t pushed us to look at them differently, and there are also clients Treeline would never have won without SugarShot,” said Pam Boston, CEO of SugarShot. “It’s truly a two-way street. Treeline has given us not only the resources, but also the encouragement, to really run headfirst into opportunities that we might not have looked twice at in the past.”

SugarShot was Treeline’s first design partner. Treeline is excited to be applying learnings from the success with SugarShot as the business selectively brings additional partners into the model.

About SugarShot

SugarShot is a Los Angeles-based managed services provider, formed in 2018. The company delivers managed IT, cybersecurity, and technology solutions to mid-market companies, with a focus on healthcare and manufacturing. SugarShot is led by CEO Pam Boston and has been part of Treeline since August 2024.

About Treeline

Treeline is a modern IT and security partner for mid-market and scaling companies, delivering the ownership and accountability of an internal team without the cost of building one. Built on AI-native infrastructure and backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Treeline works with best-in-class service providers to bring that model to clients.

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SOURCE Treeline, Inc.