Final close of Galvanize Real Estate Fund I includes investments from range of pension funds, banks, foundations, and other leading international institutions

NEW YORK, March 5, 2026 — Galvanize, a global asset manager investing at the intersection of energy innovation, resilience, and intelligence, today announced the final close of its Galvanize Real Estate Fund I (“the Strategy”). With $370 million in commitments from a globally diverse set of institutional investors, including pension funds and foundations, RIAs, banks and their clients, and family offices, the strategy is advancing the application of decarbonization as a core driver of value creation.

Galvanize Real Estate (GRE) targets undercapitalized commercial buildings in supply-constrained, high growth U.S. markets that represent attractive opportunities to drive net operating income (NOI) growth, through the implementation of its profitable decarbonization strategy. Against the backdrop of accelerating load growth and rising electricity rates, real estate owners and tenants are demanding more control over energy. GRE’s decarbonization and resilience interventions — which include a combination of on-site renewable energy generation, energy efficiency retrofits, and electrification — aim to protect against rising costs and reduce building emissions.

“GRE’s strategy demonstrates a different role for sustainability, one that places it at the center of profit generation and product differentiation,” said Katie Hall, Co-Chair & CEO, Galvanize. “In an environment where the combined impact of rising electricity prices and market volatility is accelerating, there is a large and ongoing opportunity for the team to leverage decarbonization as a driver of value creation.”

“We are honored by the confidence such a diverse set of investors has placed in the Galvanize Real Estate team,” noted Joseph Sumberg, Managing Partner & Head of Galvanize Real Estate. “As the cost, reliability and resilience of energy becomes increasingly salient for commercial real estate owners and tenants, I believe GRE’s profitable decarbonization strategy is well positioned to continue generating long-term value across our growing portfolio.”

GRE investment professionals collaborate with a team of in-house scientists, climate technologists, and policy experts who help to evaluate and seek to deliver on each property’s decarbonization potential. Additionally, a portion of GRE’s long-term economic incentives are tied to successfully achieving operational net-zero emissions in its portfolio within three years.

To date, the Fund has made five investments in 15 buildings across 11 U.S. cities, totaling 2.4 million square feet.¹ The team believes it can achieve portfolio-level decarbonization of 153% in its initial portfolio through its solar, electrification, and energy reduction efforts, leading to an estimated 8,224 metric tons of avoided emissions annually. The award-winning Galvanize Real Estate team is actively combining its expertise in energy with capital to upgrade existing properties, while pursuing disciplined acquisitions that represent a strategic fit.

About Galvanize
Galvanize is a global asset manager investing at the intersection of energy innovation, resilience, and intelligence. The firm deploys capital across seed, venture, growth, public equities, credit, and real estate, combining investment expertise with deep in-house capabilities in technology, policy, and markets. Galvanize is built to identify opportunities created by structural change in the 21st century economy and convert them into long-term value.

¹ As of December 2025.

SOURCE Galvanize

MOORPARK, Calif., March 5, 2026 — Aspire Broadband Holdings, Inc. dba Aspire Fiber is a Southern California-based internet service provider, delivering next-generation 10 Gbps fiber-to-the-home internet to consumers throughout Southern California and beyond. As part of this majority investment, Arenova Capital, a Dallas-based growth equity firm, has committed to invest $50 million of equity capital into Aspire to fuel the Company’s network expansion. Stephen Weatherford and the management team of Aspire Fiber remain as meaningful shareholders and will continue leading the business going forward.

Aspire Fiber launched its first service market in Moorpark, California late last year and is undergoing active construction in the remainder of Moorpark and nearby Santa Clarita. With its expanded backing, Aspire is actively evaluating and in discussions with additional expansion markets throughout California.

“This partnership with Arenova marks a significant milestone for our company,” said Stephen Weatherford, Chief Executive Officer of Aspire Fiber. “We share a long-term vision for building high-quality, community-focused fiber internet infrastructure across California. With Arenova’s strategic capital and deep domain expertise in fiber investing, we are well-positioned to accelerate our expansion while maintaining disciplined execution and operational excellence.”

“We are incredibly excited to partner with Stephen and the Aspire Fiber team at this important inflection point,” said David Li, Managing Partner of Arenova. “Although Aspire is still early in its lifecycle, Stephen and his team are extremely experienced in the fiber sector and we are highly aligned with Aspire’s mission of bringing next-generation fiber service to Californian consumers who currently lack access to symmetrical fiber-to-the-home internet. We believe Southern California represents a highly compelling opportunity for long-term fiber investment, and we look forward to supporting the Company’s continued growth.”

Aspire Fiber’s strategy emphasizes partnering with municipalities and local stakeholders to expand access to advanced broadband connectivity and support regional economic development. Aspire deploys a next-generation 10 Gbps fiber-to-the-home network, built primarily underground, to enhance resiliency, future-proof reliability, and community integration.

About Aspire Fiber

Aspire Fiber is a Southern California-based internet service provider delivering next-generation, 10 Gbps fiber-to-the-home internet across Ventura and Los Angeles Counties. The company is focused on building future-proof, scalable, high-performance broadband infrastructure designed to serve communities for decades to come.

About Arenova

Arenova Capital is a principal investment firm focused on founder-owned and founder-led companies in the middle market. Arenova seeks to catalyze growth in technology-enabled, media and communications companies through thoughtful partnership, support and investment, with the goal of building enduring industry leaders. Arenova Capital is based in Dallas, TX and was founded in 2022.

SOURCE Aspire Fiber, LLC

– NexCure founded by Raven, RA Capital’s healthcare incubator, to address capacity constraints and access challenges for lifesaving therapies –

– Financing led by RA Capital with participation from Cencora Ventures and Oncology Ventures –

BOSTON, March 5, 2026 — NexCure, Inc. today launched with a bold mission to address one of healthcare’s most pressing challenges: access to advanced, life-saving therapies for patients who need them most. By delivering CAR-T and other clinically intensive treatments in community-based outpatient settings, NexCure brings these therapies closer to home. The company is backed by a $19 million Series A financing led by RA Capital Management, with participation from Cencora Ventures and Oncology Ventures.

NexCure combines purpose-built outpatient clinics with proprietary technology designed to support the complexity of CAR-T and other advanced therapeutics. NexCure meets patients where they are by bringing clinically intensive therapies into outpatient settings and removing the geographic, financial, and logistical barriers that stand between patients and the care they need. The model expands access for patients, referring oncologists, health systems, payers, and manufacturers seeking reliable sites of care.

“I understand first hand the impact that cell therapy can deliver for people suffering from cancer and other diseases, and we are determined to surmount the operational barriers care providers face when attempting to provide access to these life-changing treatments,” said Sophie Papa, FRCP, PhD, Founder and Chief Medical Officer at NexCure. “NexCure is helping to solve the challenge of bringing current and future complex therapies, with high care and monitoring needs, to the patients that need them.”

The company was founded by Raven, RA Capital’s healthcare incubator, to address capacity constraints and access challenges for lifesaving therapies. Out of 6,100 hospitals in the US, only ~200 – just 3% – administer CAR-T therapy.

“Today, only a fraction of patients who are eligible for CAR-T therapy actually receive it, largely due to where and how care is delivered,” said Paul Rothman, MD, Venture Partner at Raven, RA Capital’s healthcare incubator, and Founder and Board Chair of NexCure. “As CAR-T matures and moves beyond oncology into autoimmune and other diseases,NexCure will work in partnership with the health ecosystem to thoughtfully expand access so more patients can receive advanced therapies in settings that are safe, effective and closer to home.”

The company’s proprietary platform standardizes protocols, automates care coordination, and reduces operational variability, enabling advanced therapies to be delivered beyond a small number of academic centers. This financing will support NexCure as it builds out the operating system for clinically intensive therapy delivery, integrating clinical decision support, remote monitoring, and operational intelligence.

“CAR-T and advanced oncology therapies are at a historic breakthrough moment, but the infrastructure to deliver them hasn’t kept pace,” said Ben Freeberg, Founder and Managing Partner of Oncology Ventures. “We are excited to invest in NexCure as they solve that bottleneck with a scalable outpatient clinic model that expands access, increases efficiency, and redefines where advanced therapeutics can be safely and efficiently delivered.”

NexCure is led by:

• Paul Rothman, MD, is NexCure’s founder and Board Chair and also a Venture Partner at Raven and former Dean of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine. Paul is a distinguished physician-executive known for building and leading world-class academic medical centers and translating innovation into patient care.
• Jennifer Smith, NexCure CEO, brings more than 20 years of healthcare operations experience focused on expanding access, scaling innovative clinical models, and building high-performing organizations.
• Sophie Papa, FRCP, PhD, is Co-founder & Chief Medical Officer of NexCure and an internationally recognized expert in cellular therapy, translating academic innovation into scalable, high-quality patient care.
• Anish More, Co-founder & Chief Business Officer of NexCure, brings extensive experience leading operations and strategy across high-growth healthcare organizations.

About NexCure

NexCure provides clinically intensive therapeutics in community, outpatient settings, redesigning how CAR-T and other advanced treatments are delivered, monitored, and scaled. NexCure translates hospital-grade clinical rigor into scalable, community-based outpatient clinics designed specifically for next-generation therapeutics. Its platform integrates AI-powered patient selection, remote monitoring, and standardized clinical protocols to ensure every patient receives safe, compassionate, and personalized treatment.

For more information about NexCure visit https://nexcure.com/.

About RA Capital Management

Founded in 2004, RA Capital Management is a multi-stage investment manager dedicated to evidence-based investing in public and private healthcare, life sciences, and planetary health companies. RA Capital creates and funds innovative companies, from private seed rounds to public follow-on financings, allowing management teams to drive value creation from inception through commercialization and beyond. RA Capital’s knowledge engine is guided by its dedicated, science-first internal research division and Raven, RA Capital’s healthcare incubator, offers entrepreneurs and innovators a collaborative and comprehensive platform to explore the novel and the re-imagined. RA Capital has more than 200 employees and over $14 billion in assets under management. Learn more at www.racap.com.

About Cencora Ventures

Cencora Ventures is the dedicated corporate venture capital fund of Cencora. Cencora is a leading global pharmaceutical solutions organization centered on improving the lives of people and animals around the world. We partner with pharmaceutical innovators across the value chain to facilitate and optimize market access to therapies. Care providers depend on us for the secure, reliable delivery of pharmaceuticals, healthcare products, and solutions. Our 51,000+ worldwide team members contribute to positive health outcomes through the power of our purpose: We are united in our responsibility to create healthier futures. Cencora is ranked #10 on the Fortune 500 and #18 on the Global Fortune 500 with more than $300 billion in annual revenue. Cencora Ventures is managed in collaboration with Cerity Partners Ventures.

About Oncology Ventures

Oncology Ventures is a venture capital firm focused exclusively on advancing innovation in cancer care. The firm invests in commercially-validated start-ups transforming the future of cancer care through better data infrastructure, digital health solutions, and AI powered technologies. With deep expertise in the oncology ecosystem, Oncology Ventures partners with visionary founders to accelerate the transformation of cancer diagnosis, treatment, and care delivery worldwide.

SOURCE NexCure Inc.

Investment led by participation from the Al Nahyan family, Al-Ketbi family, and existing investor Pulsar Capital

DUBAI, UAE, March 5, 2026 — TruDoc Healthcare, the GCC’s premier virtual-first, full-stack healthcare platform, today announced the successful closure of a $15 million Pre-Series B funding round. The round saw significant participation from the Al Nahyan family and the Al-Ketbi family, alongside continued support from existing investor Pulsar Capital.

The investment reflects growing confidence in healthcare models that move beyond hospitals as physical destinations, toward systems that deliver continuous, clinical-grade care wherever patients are. TruDoc is using the capital to deepen its position as a single, accountable virtual first healthcare provider, while expanding what is already the largest at-home critical care deployment in the GCC. 

TruDoc is fundamentally re-architecting the patient journey, by combining virtual-first primary care, longitudinal chronic disease management, pharmacy-at-home, diagnostics, in-home services, and the region’s largest hospital-at-home critical care program, TruDoc delivers continuous care across the full lifecycle of a patient—not just moments of illness. The result is faster intervention, fewer hospital admissions, better adherence, and a single accountable care partner for patients, payors, and providers alike.

Reimagining Care: Beyond the Four Walls

This capital infusion signals a paradigm shift toward healthcare that follows the patient, not the facility. TruDoc is leveraging this investment to solidify its role as the GCC’s primary accountable care partner, scaling the region’s most sophisticated at-home critical care deployment.

By fusing virtual-first primary care with longitudinal disease management and hospital-grade home diagnostics, TruDoc is dismantling the region’s fragmented legacy systems. This ‘Care Operating System’ bypasses physical infrastructure bottlenecks, delivering 24/7 clinical interventions that improve adherence and keep patients out of high-cost hospital beds. From streamlining insurer costs to expanding governmental care capacity, TruDoc is turning healthcare into mission-critical virtual infrastructure that serves the UAE and Saudi Arabia at population scale.

Leadership Perspectives

Dr. Ahmed Mansour, CEO, Private Department of H.E. SH. Mohamed Bin Khaled Al Nahyan, said: “Healthcare systems everywhere are being asked to do more—serve more people, manage more chronic disease, and deliver better outcomes—without endlessly expanding physical infrastructure. TruDoc represents a fundamentally different approach: one that scales access and efficiency while maintaining clinical integrity. This model is well aligned with the UAE’s long-term priorities and the future of healthcare delivery across the Middle East. Believing in TruDoc model to lead this market innovation and increase the ultimate efficiency of the healthcare industry.”

Vish Narain, Executive Chairman at TruDoc, said: “For centuries, healthcare has been organised around buildings—patients moving toward facilities, systems optimised for episodic care. That architecture no longer reflects how people live, age, or manage chronic disease. What TruDoc is building is healthcare as infrastructure: continuous, accountable, and designed to operate beyond four walls, at population scale.”

Asad Khan, CEO at TruDoc, said: “The question is no longer whether high-quality care can be delivered outside hospitals—it’s how fast healthcare systems can adapt to that reality. TruDoc has shown that hospital-grade, high-acuity care can be delivered safely and effectively in homes, at scale. This capital allows us to expand that model across the GCC while staying relentlessly focused on clinical excellence and patient trust.”

About TruDoc:

TruDoc is the region’s largest virtual-first healthcare provider, dedicated to leading care beyond hospital walls. Headquartered in the UAE, TruDoc combines clinical excellence with technology to redefine healthcare for millions. By making virtual-first the standard, we empower individuals and governments with 24/7 telemedicine, wellness, and real-time care—anytime and anywhere.

About Private Department of H.E. SH. Mohamed Bin Khaled Al Nahyan: 

The Al Nahyan Family Office represents long-term strategic investments across healthcare, education, technology, and infrastructure, aligned with the UAE’s vision for sustainable economic and social development.

Mashreq Bank acted as an advisor to the transaction.

Experience healthcare that’s proactive, predictive, and personal.
This is the future—delivered today.

[email protected] | ☎ 800 878362
https://trudochealth.com

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2926772/TRUDOC_15Mn.jpg
Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2926771/TruDoc_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Trudoc Health

In the news release, Create Music Group Completes $450M Fundraise at $2.2B Valuation, issued 04-Mar-2026 by Create Music Group over PR Newswire, we are advised by the company that changes have been made. The complete, corrected release follows, with additional details at the end:

Create Music Group Completes $450M Fundraise at $2.2B Valuation

LOS ANGELES, March 4, 2026 — Create Music Group today announced the successful completion of its latest funding round, valuing the company at $2.2 billion and securing over $450 million of new equity and debt capital to support its continued expansion. The company remains majority-owned by its founders, with institutional investors Ares Management, 2 Mile, and Flexpoint Ford each holding minority stakes. The financing round also included expanded bank group support, with Truist Securities and Banc of California serving as Joint Lead Arrangers.

This milestone comes on the heels of Create’s strategic investment in Nettwerk Music Group, a transaction totaling more than $300 million that strengthens the company’s portfolio with one of the world’s most respected independent recording and publishing companies. The agreement enables Nettwerk’s leadership to increase ownership while preserving the label’s identity and creative autonomy – aligning with Create’s partnership-first approach. The partnership with Nettwerk, home to iconic artists like Vacations, Sarah McLachlan, SYML, Paris Paloma, Passenger and Old Crow Medicine Show, exemplifies Create’s strategy: backing culturally defining labels and entrepreneurs and helping them build even more substantial businesses on top of the Create platform.

“At a time when the future of media, technology, and creative ownership is being rewritten, we’ve become the definitive platform for the music and media industries’ most visionary entrepreneurs,” said Jonathan Strauss, co-founder and CEO, Create Music Group. “This capital will not only accelerate our roadmap, expanding our footprint in media, IP and technology, but also empower our partners to build generational businesses that redefine culture and value creation across the global entertainment ecosystem.”

Will Smith, Chief Financial Officer at Create Music Group, also commented: “The music industry is as dynamic as it has ever been, with rapid growth in new consumption channels and means of creation, which is creating vast opportunities for agile, digital-first companies to reshape the status quo. In that context, this fundraise is an exciting milestone for Create and the product of a lot of hard work from our entire team over many years. The newly raised capital will support continued acquisitions, strategic investments, technology development and global expansion – reinforcing Create’s long-term commitment to building the industry-defining platform for the world’s leading music businesses and entrepreneurs.”

Founded in 2015, Create is a digitally native music, media and technology platform that has evolved into one of the industry’s most active owner-operators of culturally influential labels, catalogs and creative businesses. By combining proprietary technology, data analytics, digital marketing expertise and strategic capital deployment, Create has become the strategic partner of choice for leading music labels, artists and catalog owners.

Over the past 12 months alone, the company has invested more than $500 million across acquisitions, advances and other growth initiatives, positioning Create as a scaled co-owner and operator of enduring music businesses with global reach.

Create’s growing portfolio reflects this model in action. The company has assembled a collection of independent labels and catalog businesses that maintain operational autonomy while leveraging the scale, reach, and strategic capabilities of the Create platform. These include broke., the marketing-driven record label that has rapidly rewritten the playbook on artist discovery, building global chart dominance across multiple major genres; Monstercat, one of the most influential independent electronic music labels with 1000’s of releases and a global fan base; !K7 Music, a Berlin-based label group with deep cultural heritage; Cr2 Records, a UK dance music platform encompassing label, publishing and creative tools businesses; and Mau5trap the iconic label founded by Deadmau5 and many more.

Together, these companies demonstrate Create’s ability to partner with founders at every stage while preserving creative identity and accelerating long-term growth.

About Create Music Group
Create is a platform for some of the world’s most influential independent record labels and creative entrepreneurs. We operate a portfolio of specialist, market-leading label brands and catalog assets, centralized onto a unified platform comprising technology, data, marketing, and capital. Our mission is to help independent labels grow and thrive in the digital era. To learn more about Create Music Group, please visit www.createmusicgroup.com.

Correction: An earlier version of this release incorrectly included the SoundExchange logo.

SOURCE Create Music Group

NEW YORK, March 4, 2026 — The industry must pivot to Preemptive Defense: As agentic tools like Claude Code enable attackers to scan and exploit vulnerabilities at machine speed, a “prioritized list” is no longer a defense; it’s a liability.

Reclaim Security, a preemptive exposure-remediation platform, today announced $26 million in total funding, including a recent $20 million Series A round led by Acrew Capital, with participation from QP Ventures and Ibex Investors. The funding will accelerate the company’s mission to eliminate what many security leaders consider cybersecurity’s most persistent gap: remediation.

As attacker breakout times have fallen to as little as 27 seconds, enterprises still require an average of 27 days to remediate critical exposures. Over the past decade, organizations have invested heavily in detection tools to identify vulnerabilities and misconfigurations, yet resolving them remains largely manual, slow, and operationally risky. The result is an expanding backlog of exposures that security teams identify but struggle to safely close.

“There is a massive ‘Remediation Mirage’ in the market right now. Vendors are slapping an AI label on what is essentially just Prioritization 2.0 or faster ticket management,” says Barak Klinghofer, CEO and Co-founder of Reclaim Security. 

“The recent launch of Claude Code, which wiped billions from the market value of traditional security giants, is a massive wake-up call. While such tools can identify hundreds of vulnerabilities in seconds, they also hand attackers an autonomous, high-speed engine for exploit generation. We’ve seen reports of AI-orchestrated espionage campaigns where 80-90% of tactical operations were executed autonomously. In this new reality, if your ‘remediation’ strategy still ends with a human reviewing a manual Jira ticket, you aren’t just slow, you’ve lost the race. 

Reclaim is the only platform providing true Agentic Remediation. Through our PIPE engine, we’ve removed the fear of ‘breaking the business,’ allowing our AI to move from discovery to resolution in seconds. While others are perfecting the recommendation, we are perfecting the execution.”

Automating Cybersecurity’s “Last Mile”

Reclaim’s platform introduces the industry’s first AI Security Engineer, an autonomous system designed not only to identify exposures, but to resolve them safely and at scale.

At the core of the platform is PIPE (Productivity Impact Prediction Engine), a simulation engine that predicts the operational and business impact of a proposed security change before it is deployed. By accurately modeling how changes impact applications, workloads, user productivity and business processes, organizations can implement remediation without risking downtime or operational disruption.

This simulation-first approach enables organizations to:

• Prioritize exposures most likely to be exploited by attackers
• Deploy automated or semi-automated remediations safely 
• Reduce remediation timelines from weeks to minutes
• Eliminate manual configuration and ticket-driven workflows, allowing security teams to focus on strategic initiatives

Reclaim analyzes how real attack techniques would traverse a specific environment, evaluates how existing defenses would respond, and predicts the operational impact of remediation before changes are deployed. By combining advanced attack path modeling with business-aware remediation, the company eliminates exploitable pathways safely and at scale. This approach enables a shift away from reactive “assume breach” strategies toward proactively removing exposure without disrupting critical business operations.

Real World Impact

Early enterprise customers across financial services, healthcare, government, and critical infrastructure sectors report measurable results, including 80% increase in overall threat resilience, 75% increase in ROI from existing security stack and 90% reduction in manual effort when resolving critical exposures

“Security tools are excellent at explaining why something is risky,” said Mark Kraynak, Founding Partner at Acrew Capital. “What they don’t do is make remediation safe and practical. The real breakthrough isn’t more prioritization, it’s removing risk without breaking the business. Reclaim does exactly that, and that’s why it matters.”

Expanding Global Growth

With the new funding, Reclaim plans to expand its engineering organization, deepen enterprise integrations, and accelerate go-to-market initiatives across North America and Europe.

Reclaim Security will showcase its platform and the “Attacker’s Worst Day” interactive experience at the RSA Conference 2026 Early Stage Expo, Booth ESE #63.

About Reclaim Security

Reclaim Security is an automated threat exposure remediation platform that moves enterprises from detection to execution. By combining AI-driven automation with business-aware simulation, Reclaim enables organizations to eliminate exposures safely, reduce operational risk, and strengthen security posture before attackers can exploit vulnerabilities.

Contact
Editor
Jake Smiths
TVC Analysis
[email protected]

SOURCE Reclaim Security

Analysis demonstrates that NeuroBlate followed by pembrolizumab is safe, well-tolerated and delivers more than a threefold overall survival advantage compared to surgery or biopsy plus immunotherapy

MINNETONKA, Minn., March 4, 2026 — Monteris Medical, the leader in minimally invasive neurosurgical technology with its NeuroBlate^® System, announced today that a newly published randomized prospective study in the distinguished journal Nature Communications suggests that laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT) using NeuroBlate may enhance the effectiveness of the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab (Keytruda^®) for patients with recurrent high grade astrocytoma, including glioblastoma (GBM). The findings come from a Phase 1/randomized Phase 2b clinical trial (NCT02311582) led by investigators at Washington University, the University of Florida and the University of Southern California evaluating the combination of NeuroBlate LITT followed by pembrolizumab.

High grade astrocytomas, including GBM, remain among the most aggressive and treatment resistant brain tumors. Immune checkpoint inhibitors, such as pembrolizumab, have historically shown limited benefit in this population due to multiple factors, including the impermeability of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and tumor characteristics allowing for evasion of the body’s immune response.

This study suggests that thermal ablation – heat generated by laser energy – delivered by NeuroBlate induces BBB disruption and activates an immune response, thereby enhancing the therapeutic effect of pembrolizumab.

“What we’re seeing in this trial is that NeuroBlate may be doing more than cytoreducing the tumor – it appears to prime the immune system in ways that make pembrolizumab more effective at delivering real clinical benefit,” said Dr. David Tran, lead author and division chief, neuro-oncology and co-director of the University of Southern California Brain Tumor Center in Los Angeles. “This opens the door to continue studying new treatment strategies for patients who currently have very limited options.”

In the full study analysis, patients who received NeuroBlate followed by pembrolizumab demonstrated improved overall survival – more than three times – compared with those who received surgery or biopsy followed by the same therapy. The combined approach was also found to be safe and well-tolerated.

“Monteris has invested for more than a decade in pioneering the use of NeuroBlate for brain tumors and drug-resistant epilepsy, and we are proud that our technology continues to play a central role in advancing minimally invasive neurosurgery,” said Martin J. Emerson, president and chief executive officer of Monteris Medical. “This new clinical evidence suggests that NeuroBlate may also serve as a powerful enabler of treatments like immunotherapy. We are honored to support the innovators and institutions pushing this field forward and, most importantly, to help bring new hope to patients and their families.”

About Monteris and the NeuroBlate^® System 

Monteris Medical develops and markets innovative, MR‑guided laser ablation systems that enable minimally invasive, robotically controlled brain surgery – often referred to as laser ablation, LITT (laser interstitial thermal therapy) or SLA (stereotactic laser ablation). The company’s NeuroBlate System is designed for adults and children aged two and older and uses laser technology to precisely destroy abnormal brain tissue, including certain brain tumors and specific areas of the brain that cause seizures due to epilepsy. NeuroBlate is the only LITT platform with a robotic interface that supports the targeted, safe delivery of laser energy and is supported by published prospective clinical data. Multicenter studies on NeuroBlate show that patients typically experience short hospital stays, low rates of complications, improved quality of life and outcomes comparable to open surgical resection.

Contact:

Monteris Medical
Doug Pahr – Chief Financial Officer
763-253-4710

SOURCE Monteris Medical

Nonprofit foundation also now accepting applications for its food security grant program

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., March 4, 2026 — To address Florida’s maternal health crisis, the Florida Blue Foundation, the philanthropic affiliate of Florida Blue and part of the GuideWell portfolio of companies, is investing $3.5 million to expand access to doula care, in-home visits, mental health services, and chronic condition support for mothers and families statewide.

Why it matters: High rates of preterm birth and infant mortality across Florida, particularly among women with chronic conditions and limited access to care, underscore the need for stronger, community-based maternal health support to improve outcomes for mothers and babies.

The details: This latest round of grants supports organizations improving maternal health outcomes for women with chronic conditions, as well as those that provide perinatal and postpartum mental health services.

“These organizations are meeting mothers where they are — in clinics, in their homes, in early learning centers, and in places that are comfortable and convenient for them,” said Susan Towler, executive director of Florida Blue Foundation. “Every program we support helps close gaps in access, improve maternal and infant health outcomes, and strengthen families across the state.”

2026 Maternal Health Grant Recipients

Improving Maternal Health Outcomes for Chronic Conditions:

• Lakeland Regional Medical Center (Central/West Florida) — The Innovative Support for Maternal Health Outcomes program provides nurse navigation, doula support, education, and monitoring tools to help high-risk pregnant women manage chronic conditions and reduce complications.‑risk pregnant women manage chronic conditions and reduce complications.
• March of Dimes – South Florida Chapter (South Florida) — The Green Cars for Kids initiative provides free electric transportation to prenatal, postpartum, and specialty care appointments, helping mothers with chronic conditions maintain consistent care.
• Pasco Kids First (West Florida) — The Thrive Well: Maternal Health & Wellness program expands home visiting services to include maternal health monitoring, chronic condition education, and referrals for at-risk mothers.
• Collier Health Services / Healthcare Network of SWFL (Southwest Florida) — The Transitions of Care for High-Risk Pregnancies program coordinates care across home, hospital, and postpartum settings using monitoring, follow-up support, and AI enabled nutrition tools.

Perinatal and Postpartum Maternal Mental Health Support:

• Primary Care Medical Services of Poinciana / Osceola Community Health Services (Central Florida) — The Maternal Mental Health Integration Program embeds mental health screening, counseling, and peer support into routine OB/GYN care to strengthen perinatal and postpartum outcomes in Osceola County.
• University of North Florida Foundation (Northeast Florida) — The Osprey Psych Telehealth Maternal Mental Health Initiative expands access to perinatal and postpartum behavioral health care through telehealth, bilingual technology support, and AI enabled tools.
• Capital Area Healthy Start Coalition (Northwest Florida) — The C.O.A.S.T. Through Pregnancy program uses perinatal navigators and licensed clinical social workers to coordinate medical, mental health, and social services for mothers.
• Indian River County Healthy Start Coalition (Treasure Coast) — The Postpartum & Bereavement Community Doula Program offers emotional, mental health, and practical support to families navigating postpartum recovery or loss.
• The Children’s Movement of Florida (Statewide) — The Early Motherhood Support Groups program creates safe, peer supported spaces in early learning centers where pregnant women and new mothers can strengthen their mental well-being.

“To truly make progress for the youngest Floridians, we must impact the adults — in the family and community — who help shape children’s lives,” said Madeleine Thakur, president & CEO of The Children’s Movement of Florida. “We are grateful for the support from Florida Blue Foundation, which is helping to bridge gaps in care and services for new mothers and families.”

These programs will serve families across Florida, including those living in rural areas and in communities with limited access to maternal health services and support.

Food Security Grant Program Applications also now open

In addition to announcing maternal health funding, the Florida Blue Foundation is now accepting applications for the 2026 funding cycle of its food security grant program. The Foundation will award approximately $3.2 million in grants and is seeking proposals that address the following topic areas:

Focus 1: Transforming Health through Food
Healthy eating is a crucial component of overall well-being, and access to nutritious food can play a significant role in preventing and managing chronic health conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity which are prevalent in Florida. This funding focus supports programs that apply Food is Medicine principles to deliver effective interventions that improve health outcomes and quality of life. Funding will support initiatives that provide nutrition prescriptions, education, counseling, and medical nutrition therapy to individuals and communities. Programs that provide fresh produce and healthy food to support lifestyle changes and improve overall community well-being are a priority. Partnerships between health care providers, grocery stores, food banks, and community organizations that address food insecurity as a social determinant of health are encouraged.

Focus 2: Growing Access, Growing Capacity
Vulnerable populations in Florida, including children, families, and seniors, often face significant barriers to accessing healthy food, particularly in food desert communities. This funding focus supports organizations that provide essential services to address food access gaps and promote community resilience. Funding will support food distribution programs, including food banks, delivery services, pantries, and mobile markets, as well as urban agriculture and collaborative solutions that increase access to nutritious food. Effective organizations with strong foundations are best positioned to drive lasting change; therefore, support for operational needs is a critical component of this funding focus, enabling them to sustain and grow their efforts over time.

The application window closes on April 22 and details are available via this food security grant application link.

Go deeper: To learn more about Florida Blue Foundation’s impact across the state, including its commitment to improving maternal health outcomes, read GuideWell’s latest impact report. 

About Florida Blue Foundation  

Florida Blue Foundation enables healthy communities by making grants, building coalitions, and embracing solutions that create a meaningful impact in communities across the state. An average of 10 million Floridians receive services each year as a result of its community investments. Founded in 2001, Florida Blue Foundation is committed to improving health by impacting food security, advancing mental well-being, growing healthy communities, and addressing health disparities. Florida Blue Foundation is a trade name of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida Foundation, Inc., an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. For more information, please visit FloridaBlueFoundation.com. 

About Florida Blue  

Driven by its mission of helping people and communities achieve better health, Florida Blue is the leading health insurer in Florida, and part of GuideWell, a not-for-profit health services company.  Florida Blue offers a range of health plans and personalized care programs for individuals, families, businesses of all sizes, and Medicare beneficiaries. For over 80 years, the organization has been member centric and committed to making health care as accessible and affordable as possible. Serving more than six million members across all 67 Florida counties, Florida Blue has more than 8,000 employees and is headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., is owned by its policyholders, and is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. 

For additional information visit FloridaBlue.com. For the latest news and content, visit the Florida Blue Newsroom, and follow Florida Blue on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram @Florida.Blue; and X (formerly Twitter) @FLBlue. 

SOURCE Florida Blue Foundation

This round was led by Shakti VC

Company to establish Austin, Texas as U.S. headquarters

AUSTIN, Texas, March 4, 2026 — NextWork, a platform helping people learn practical AI skills by building real projects and publishing proof-of-work portfolios, today announced a $4.45M Seed round led by Shakti VC with participation from Cake Ventures. Repeat investors GD1 VC, Blackbird Ventures, Icehouse Ventures, Phase One Ventures and angel investors also participated in this round, reinforcing their continued confidence in NextWork’s mission.

“The age of AI promises a new Renaissance where human potential is no longer siloed by specialization. In the AI age every person can be a Michelangelo because AI will provide abundant tools to do anything we want in the digital or physical domain,” said Keval Desai, founder and managing director of Shakti VC. “Achieving this future requires only two things: imagination and the mastery of AI. While the imagination is up to us, NextWork provides the mastery. This is Amber’s vision and we have never been more excited to invest in a founder and the future that she is building.”

AI is reshaping the workforce faster than people can adapt, exposing a widening skills gap and a hiring system still reliant on credentials that don’t always reflect real ability. NextWork closes this trust gap by serving as the verification layer for AI skills, shifting hiring and learning from inferred qualifications to proven outcomes. Through hands-on projects, authenticated skills and public portfolios, NextWork turns learning into verifiable proof of work, enabling individuals and employers to move at the pace AI demands with confidence.

“For most of history, learning existed to solve real problems. Somewhere along the way, we replaced that with credentials and titles that don’t tell you who can build anymore,” said Amber Winton, founder and CEO of NextWork. “As AI reshapes how work is done, the world needs systems that reward what people can actually build. NextWork exists to realign learning, work and value around solving real problems again.”

Since launching in 2024, more than 190,000 learners across 190+ countries have used NextWork to build practical AI projects, such as AI chatbots and automated workflows. One in five projects (22%) are completed by U.S. learners, who are typically between the ages of 25-35 and using their portfolios to pursue a career switch or promotion.

“Since we launched, I’ve been fortunate to lead the project writing team, turning user feedback into skills that directly reflect market demand,” said Natasha Ong, Chief of Staff at NextWork. “Watching learners complete projects and leverage their portfolios to unlock new jobs and opportunities has reaffirmed why this work matters so deeply.”

The new capital will support NextWork’s expansion in the U.S., including establishing its headquarters in Austin, Texas and continued investment in engineering and growth hiring to scale the platform and accelerate learner adoption.

“After completing an intensive cybersecurity training program, I still struggled to find a job because I didn’t have concrete proof of what I could actually do,” said Shane Brown, a NextWork learner in Arizona. “To make ends meet, I worked a custodial job while building my portfolio on NextWork, and it worked! The skills I showed in my portfolio were what helped me move from school custodian to the IT department, opening new doors in my career.” 

About NextWork
NextWork helps people learn practical AI skills by building hands-on projects and publishing proof-of-work portfolios. The platform is used globally by learners who want job-relevant skills and tangible outputs they can share with employers, teams, and communities.
Learn more at https://www.nextwork.org/.

Media Contact
Alexa Borislow
[email protected]

SOURCE NextWork