Managed by Accion Impact Management through its Accion Ventures strategy, the global fund will make up to 30 new fintech investments

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8, 2025 — Accion today announces the final close of a $61.6 million fund that will invest in early-stage fintech companies meeting the needs of financially underserved people globally. Accion Venture Lab Fund II, LP builds on a decade-long investment strategy focused on delivering social and financial objectives through early-stage venture capital investments.

The fund closed with commitments from both existing and new investors, including commercial and impact asset managers, development finance institutions, foundations, family offices, and strategic financial service companies. Limited Partners in the fund include the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank FMO, Proparco, ImpactAssets, Ford Foundation, MetLife, and Mastercard. The most recent initial investments by the new fund are PaidHR in Nigeria, Foyer in the United States, FinFra in Indonesia, and Flowcart in Kenya.

With the launch of the new fund, Accion Impact Management’s early-stage fintech strategy has rebranded from Accion Venture Lab to Accion Ventures. Accion Ventures seeks innovative tech companies that promote financial inclusion around the globe and have the potential to generate attractive returns. Bringing a deep understanding of local customers and markets, combined with global learnings, the team behind Accion Ventures supports investments across Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the United States.

According to the Global Findex 2025, worldwide, 1.6 billion people do not have an account with a financial institution or have an inactive account, and the $5.7 trillion annual financing gap for micro, small, and medium-sized businesses represents a huge market opportunity for innovative startups ready to disrupt the traditional financial system. Accion Ventures aims to find and help scale companies at the forefront of the latest trends in fintech, delivering financial solutions leveraging embedded finance, alternative data, and more.

Since the investment strategy was established in 2012, $59.4 million has been deployed in 76 companies across more than 30 countries, with 13 full or partial exits across all geographies. The three most recent exits were Apollo Agriculture, a company providing tech-enabled inputs, financing, insurance, and training to smallholder farmers in Kenya and Zambia; Lula, an all-digital small business lender and bank account provider for small and medium enterprises in South Africa; and Pula, a company providing agricultural insurtech solutions to smallholder farmers across Africa and Asia.

Beyond deploying capital, Accion Ventures provides hands-on support to startups across the critical areas of a fintech lifecycle, which may include access to market expertise, board governance, networking to open doors in typically limited debt and equity funding environments, and strategic and operational guidance from a dedicated Portfolio Engagement team, drawn from expertise as international investors and operators of tech companies.

Michael Schlein, President and CEO of Accion said: “With the huge uptick in mobile technologies in emerging economies, we see a significant opportunity to connect many small businesses and low-income consumers to the digital economy for the first time. Leveraging third-party capital to deliver social and financial objectives is a critical part of our strategy. This fund seeks to support the growth of early-stage, disruptive companies providing high-quality, affordable financial services that can help reduce poverty and create opportunity for millions of people globally.”

Rahil Rangwala, Managing Partner, Accion Ventures, said: “We are excited to support the growth of incredible innovators across the globe in early-stage fintech who are using technologies ranging from satellite imagery to conversational commerce and embedded finance, leveraging the power of mobile phones and the internet to seek to deliver sustainable financial returns, alongside real-world impact for underserved people globally. We believe we have a strong pipeline and team in place and will continue to leverage our networks to deliver quality, affordable financial services for small businesses and consumers globally.”

Amee Parbhoo, Managing Partner, Accion Ventures, said: “With this new funding, we seek to build on our success to date, finding and scaling some of the world’s most innovative fintech companies that provide a full suite of financial products and services to small businesses globally. We believe our global portfolio and local approach mean we can spot and respond to trends faster, driving local innovations on a global scale, and share learnings across geographies. We aim to be one of the first institutional checks a company receives and will continue to engage early, while maintaining sufficient reserves to back our winners as they scale.”

About Accion

Accion is a global nonprofit on a mission to create a fair and inclusive economy for the nearly two billion people who are failed by the global financial system. We develop and scale responsible digital financial solutions for small business owners, smallholder farmers, and women, so they can make informed decisions and improve their lives. Through targeted investment strategies, advisory solutions, and expert thought leadership, we work with local partners to develop and scale cheaper, more accessible, and customer-friendly financial solutions. Over its history, Accion has helped build 285 financial service providers serving low-income clients in 77 countries, reaching 478 million people. More at https://www.accion.org. 

About Accion Impact Management

Accion Impact Management is Accion’s platform for impact investments in financial inclusion leveraging third-party capital. Accion Impact Management manages Accion Ventures and Accion Digital Transformation and is a registered investment advisor with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Accion Impact Management is staffed by a team of investment professionals seeking to harness the capital markets to provide high-quality and affordable financial services to people who are currently excluded from the financial system. More at https://www.accion.org/accionimpactmanagement.

About Accion Ventures

Accion Ventures is an investment strategy that today pursues early-stage investments as part of Accion Impact Management. Accion Ventures deploys capital into early-stage fintech startups that operate in countries worldwide. Investments managed by Accion Ventures have shown that early-stage companies can be highly impactful and have delivered multiple exits. More at https://www.accion.org/ventures.

Media contact
Thessa Mooij
Phone: +1.917.631.2518
[email protected]

SOURCE Accion

LONDON, Sept. 5, 2025 — European venture capital is entering a new growth phase, and VCUK is stepping in expanding its activities with a new structured Private Equity and Venture Capital arm set on a first closing to a $60M target size to capture the momentum.

This new fund will target high-potential European companies, with a particular emphasis on DeepTech and other innovation-driven sectors where technology underpins scalable and sustainable business models.

While most investors focus primarily on financial metrics, VCUK applies a different approach to selecting projects. The firm prioritizes companies that already demonstrate a working product, confirmed market demand through customer or investor interest, and a technological edge that positions them to reshape industries. Investment horizons will typically range from three to five years, with expected returns of 25–50% IRR (in USD terms).

“Europe is at an inflection point. We view the current cycle as the right time to invest in the region and venture capital,” the company representatives stated. “Capital alone is no longer enough. What founders truly need now is smart money paired with deep technical insight. That’s where we come in.”

VCUK will primarily focus on pre-A and A rounds but remains open to earlier-stage opportunities where strategic customer traction is evident. The fund also allows for participation in a limited number of secondary transactions, giving it flexibility to back strong companies across different stages of maturity.

Sector priorities span FoodTech, AgroTech, Green Energy, Health & Wellness, and EdTech, alongside fast-evolving areas such as Mobility, FinTech, logistics, and infrastructure. Of particular interest are breakthrough technologies with the capacity not only to strengthen existing markets but also to create entirely new industrial niches — areas where European innovation is increasingly competitive on a global scale.

Behind the strategy is a team of domain experts with backgrounds in quantum processors, data center infrastructure, and advanced computing. This expertise enables VCUK to assess projects with both financial discipline and technological precision. Coupled with a streamlined decision-making process and willingness to co-invest alongside other professional investors, the firm positions itself as one of the most agile and insightful entrants to the European VC landscape.

About VCUK

VCUK Financial Services Ltd is a private investment company based in London, United Kingdom, established on 4 October 2006. VCUK focuses on high-potential European companies, particularly in DeepTech and other innovative sectors, prioritizing businesses with a working product, proven market interest, and unique technology. VCUK is authorized by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for specific regulated activities.

Contact
PR Manager
Darya Starostina
VCUK
[email protected]

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SOURCE VCUK

La asociación con Parthenon posiciona a Embark para escalar y continuar su expansión en el mercado.

DALLAS, 4 de septiembre de 2025 — Embark, una firma líder en consultoría de gestión y financiera, anuncia que ha entrado en una asociación estratégica con Parthenon Capital, una firma de capital privado de primer nivel enfocada en el crecimiento. Esta inversión marca un logro significativo para Embark, al proporcionar los recursos y el apoyo estratégico para acelerar su misión de ofrecer soluciones innovadoras a líderes ejecutivos y sus equipos.

Felice Gorordo, CEO de Embark, compartió:
“Estamos increíblemente entusiasmados y orgullosos de asociarnos con Parthenon Capital. La inversión de Parthenon mejorará los servicios existentes de Embark para nuestros clientes, acelerará nuestro crecimiento tanto orgánicamente como a través de adquisiciones, y fortalecerá nuestro compromiso con nuestra gente. En Parthenon, hemos encontrado un socio que está fuertemente alineado con nuestros valores compartidos y nuestra visión de un enfoque inquebrantable en las personas, una satisfacción del cliente sin igual y la entrega de soluciones de alto valor e innovadoras.”

Parthenon Capital, con más de $10 mil millones en compromisos de capital, es una firma líder de capital privado con un largo historial de asociación con fundadores y equipos de gestión para construir empresas franquicia en el sector de servicios financieros, con particular experiencia en servicios profesionales y modelos de negocio impulsados por capital humano. La firma adopta un enfoque basado en la investigación hacia sectores industriales específicos y primero identificó a Embark a través de un análisis profundo de varios años enfocado en los servicios de asesoría y la tecnología que está moldeando el futuro de la Oficina del CFO.

“Hemos seguido el impresionante recorrido de Embark durante años y estamos emocionados de asociarnos con un verdadero disruptor en la industria de asesoría y consultoría financiera,” dijo Andrew Dodson, Managing Partner en Parthenon Capital. “La cultura centrada en el cliente de Embark y su enfoque innovador los distingue, y esperamos apoyar su continuo crecimiento y expansión.”

Tom Hough, Principal en Parthenon Capital, continuó:
“Desde que tuvimos la oportunidad de conocer al equipo de Embark, hemos estado continuamente impresionados con su enfoque diferenciado en su gente y en ofrecer soluciones de clase mundial a sus clientes. Estamos entusiasmados de continuar sus inversiones en tecnología, desarrollar capacidades adicionales para servir a sus clientes, y apoyar su cultura única que realmente distingue a la compañía.”

La inversión de Parthenon permitirá a Embark expandir sus capacidades tecnológicas, con un enfoque particular en avances en automatización e inteligencia artificial dentro de la oficina del CFO. La asociación también apoyará la atracción y desarrollo de talento de primer nivel, así como la búsqueda de nuevas oportunidades estratégicas. Estos esfuerzos están diseñados para servir mejor a los clientes en asesoría financiera, transformación empresarial, asesoría en transacciones, contabilidad externalizada y otros servicios clave de consultoría.

Asegurando continuidad y alineación con los valores centrados en las personas de Embark, Paul Allen, Fundador de Embark, seguirá siendo Presidente del Directorio, retendrá una participación accionaria significativa y liderará el Comité de Personas y Cultura del Directorio. Paul compartió:
“No podríamos estar más emocionados de asociarnos con Parthenon Capital. A medida que crecemos, nuestro enfoque en la cultura y en la gente solo se profundizará con el apoyo de Parthenon.”

Con un mercado direccionable que supera los $80 mil millones y una demanda creciente de soluciones habilitadas por tecnología, el modelo diferenciado de Embark y su fuerte satisfacción de clientes —combinados con el historial comprobado de Parthenon de impulsar un impacto y crecimiento significativos— posicionan a la compañía para capitalizar las tendencias de la industria y apoyar a los clientes en un entorno empresarial en rápida evolución.

Guggenheim Securities, LLC actuó como asesor financiero exclusivo y Perkins Coie LLP se desempeñó como asesor legal de Embark. Kirkland & Ellis LLP actuó como asesor legal de Parthenon.

Sobre Embark
Embark es una firma de consultoría empresarial dedicada a transformar problemas complejos en soluciones claras. Embark ayuda a CFOs y líderes empresariales a navegar desafíos y alcanzar sus metas a través de asesoría financiera, transformación empresarial, asesoría en transacciones, externalización y soluciones a la medida. Operando en 26 mercados estratégicos, Embark aporta su experiencia y enfoque personalizado a clientes en todo el país mientras fomenta una cultura donde “happy works.” Más información en www.embarkwithus.com.

Sobre Parthenon Capital
Parthenon Capital es una firma líder de capital privado orientada al crecimiento con oficinas en Boston, San Francisco y Austin. Parthenon utiliza experiencia especializada en nichos de la industria y un equipo de ejecución profundo para invertir en empresas en crecimiento en las industrias de servicios y tecnología. Parthenon busca ser un socio activo y alineado con la gestión, ya sea a través de transacciones de recapitalización o respaldando a nuevos ejecutivos. Parthenon tiene experiencia particular en servicios financieros y de seguros, servicios de salud y tecnología, pero busca cualquier negocio de servicios, tecnología o entrega con una fuerte propuesta de valor y conocimiento propietario. Más información en www.parthenoncapital.com.

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FUENTE Embark

Parthenon partnership positions Embark for scale and continued market expansion

DALLAS, Sept. 4, 2025 — Embark, a leading management and financial consulting firm, announces it has entered into a strategic partnership with Parthenon Capital, a premier growth-focused private equity firm. This investment marks a significant milestone for Embark, providing the resources and strategic support to accelerate its mission of delivering innovative solutions to executive leaders and their teams.

Felice Gorordo, CEO of Embark, shared, “We are incredibly excited and proud to partner with Parthenon Capital. Parthenon’s investment will enhance Embark’s existing service offerings for our clients, accelerate our growth both organically and through acquisition, and further our commitment to our people. In Parthenon, we have found a partner that is strongly aligned with our shared values and vision for an unwavering focus on people, unmatched customer satisfaction, and delivering high-value, cutting-edge solutions.”

Parthenon Capital, with over $10 billion in capital commitments, is a leading private equity firm with a long track record of partnering with founders and management teams to build franchise companies in the financial services sector, with particular expertise in professional services and human capital-driven business models. The firm takes a research-driven approach to specific industry sectors and first identified Embark through a multi-year deep-dive focused on advisory services and technology shaping the future of the Office of the CFO.

“We have followed Embark’s impressive journey for years and are excited to partner with a true disruptor in the financial advisory and consulting industry,” said Andrew Dodson, Managing Partner at Parthenon Capital. “Embark’s client-centric culture and innovative approach set them apart, and we look forward to supporting their continued growth and expansion.”

Tom Hough, Principal with Parthenon Capital, continued, “Since we first had the chance to meet the Embark team, we have been continually impressed with their differentiated focus on their people and delivering world-class solutions to their clients. We are excited to continue their investments in technology, develop additional capabilities to serve their clients, and support their unique culture which truly sets the company apart.”

Parthenon’s investment will enable Embark to expand its technology capabilities, with a particular focus on advancements in automation and artificial intelligence within the office of the CFO. The partnership will also support attracting and developing top talent, as well as pursuing new strategic opportunities. These efforts are designed to better serve clients across financial advisory, business transformation, deal advisory, outsourced accounting, and other key advisory service offerings.

Ensuring continuity and alignment with Embark’s people-centric values, Paul Allen, Embark Founder, will remain Chairman of the Board, retain a significant ownership stake, and lead the Board’s People & Culture Committee. Paul shared, “We couldn’t be more excited to be partnering with Parthenon Capital. As we grow, our focus on culture and people will only deepen with Parthenon’s support.”

With an addressable market exceeding $80 billion and increasing demand for technology-enabled solutions, Embark’s differentiated model and strong client satisfaction—combined with Parthenon’s proven track record of driving meaningful impact and growth—position the company to capitalize on industry trends and support clients in a rapidly changing business environment.

Guggenheim Securities, LLC acted as sole financial advisor and Perkins Coie LLP served as legal counsel to Embark. Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to Parthenon.

About Embark
Embark is a business consulting firm dedicated to transforming complex problems into clear solutions. Embark helps CFOs and business leaders navigate challenges and achieve their goals through financial advisory, business transformation, deal advisory, outsourcing, and tailored solutions. Operating in 26 strategic markets, Embark brings its expertise and personalized approach to clients across the country while fostering a culture where “happy works.” Learn more at www.embarkwithus.com.

About Parthenon Capital
Parthenon Capital is a leading growth-oriented private equity firm with offices in Boston, San Francisco, and Austin. Parthenon utilizes niche industry expertise and a deep execution team to invest in growth companies in service and technology industries. Parthenon seeks to be an active and aligned partner to management, either through recapitalization transactions or by backing new executives. Parthenon has particular expertise in financial and insurance services, healthcare and technology services, but seeks any service, technology, or delivery business with a strong value proposition and proprietary know-how. For more information, visit www.parthenoncapital.com.

SOURCE Embark

The company is building the financial infrastructure to make investing in high-yield energy assets from distributed renewables, to batteries, to data centers, possible

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 4, 2025 — Plural, the tokenized asset management platform powering the electron economy, today announces an oversubscribed $7.13M seed round led by Paradigm, with participation from Maven11, Volt Capital, and Neoclassic Capital. Fueled by strong investor demand, the company closed the round at nearly double its original target, bringing total funding to nearly $10M. With an early lead across compliance, deal flow, and platform development, this latest infusion of capital accelerates Plural’s rapid growth.

Plural unlocks investment in high-yield energy assets at the edge of the electron economy—solar, storage, and data centers that are too small to bear the administrative burden of traditional infrastructure project finance structures. With global data center electricity demand projected to more than double by 2030, and electrification and EV adoption driving total consumption up by over 50%, the aging grid is under mounting strain.

Plural enables capital to flow into distributed generation—solar and storage across the grid co-located with consumption—supporting a more resilient, modernized power mix. These assets offer compelling returns and climate impact, yet have remained out of reach for institutional capital—until now. By bringing these assets on-chain, Plural makes participation simple, scalable, and cost-efficient.

The company uses smart contracts to automate and deliver highly structured deal terms with institutional-grade features like waterfall distributions, investor protections, financial reporting, and compliance, transforming assets that were previously too small or administratively burdensome into a programmable, portfolio-ready asset class for allocators. Projects can be built faster, generate real yield, and improve resilience, giving investors newfound access to the edge of the grid and helping to close the multi-trillion-dollar financing gap for energy systems of the future.

“As we enter an era defined by AI and electrification, nearly every economic moment will accrue value into the electron economy. The infrastructure that produces, consumes, and stores electrons won’t just power our systems and societies—it will power returns for investors of all types,” said Adam Silver, founder and CEO of Plural. “Allocating to the electron economy will be one of the most compelling capital markets opportunities of the next decade, and we couldn’t be more excited to use tokenization to make these assets accessible and investable at scale.”

Momentum for Plural’s Tokenized Energy Asset Marketplace 
2025 marked a turning point for Plural:

• Plural has over $300M in distributed solar and battery assets available for investment from high-quality renewable energy developers.
• Plural has worked with developers across the electron economy—from commercial solar to bitcoin mines—helping them access capital with greater efficiency. Project sponsors using Plural have saved an estimated 2% on their cost of capital by streamlining asset-level fundraising and eliminating unnecessary intermediaries.
• Earlier this year, Plural acquired a registered broker-dealer—now renamed Plural Brokerage LLC—enabling it to facilitate securities transactions on behalf of renewable energy partners and investors, while embedding broker-dealer due diligence directly into its tokenization process.

Today, Plural is scaling rapidly across product, capital markets, and asset origination, with a focus on expanding its capacity to source, underwrite, and tokenize high-quality energy projects to meet growing institutional demand. The team is actively hiring.

“Capital formation in energy, data centers, and other real-world infrastructure still runs on dated legal rails and fragmented fund admin,” said Caitlin Pintavorn, Partner at Paradigm. “Plural’s tokenization platform enables transparent, scalable capital markets for the physical world, starting with transforming energy into a more widely investable asset class. We’re thrilled to back Adam and the Plural team in this effort, who bring world-class domain expertise to this important real-world infrastructure challenge.”

About Plural 
Plural is building the financial infrastructure for the electron economy. Through tokenization and smart contract automation, Plural transforms real-world energy assets—like solar, batteries, and data centers—into scalable, programmable investment products. Its platform enables investors to access high-yield infrastructure investments that have historically been too small, complex, or fragmented for traditional capital markets. By combining regulatory compliance with structured deal execution, Plural is unlocking a new asset class at the edge of the grid—and helping close the multi-trillion-dollar financing gap for energy systems of the future. Learn more at www.pluralfinance.com.

About Paradigm
Paradigm is a research-driven crypto investment firm that funds companies and protocols from their earliest stages, often when there’s no more than an idea. The firm was founded in 2018 by Matt Huang and Fred Ehrsam on the belief that crypto is driving one of the most important technical and economic shifts of our time, as money, a financial system, and a new internet platform. To learn more, visit https://www.paradigm.xyz/.

MEDIA CONTACT: 
Tess Pawlisch
608-333-9788
[email protected]

SOURCE Plural Energy

NEW YORK, Sept. 4, 2025 — Billy Bets, the AI-powered sports-betting startup, closed a $1 million pre-seed round with Coinbase Ventures, and participation from Virtuals Ventures, Contango Digital, CMS Holdings, and a roster of athlete and crypto-native angels. The capital accelerates the public launch of the Billy Terminal, personalized autonomous betting agents, and expanded $BILLY token utility.

Sports wagering generates an estimated $250 billion in annual handle, yet fewer than 1% of bets are executed by AI agents on prediction markets. “That inefficiency is our wedge,” said Joe O’Rourke, Co-founder & CEO. “AI agents have already changed investing; now they’re coming for sportsbooks. Billy Bets will turn that small sliver into the default way fans bet.”

Built on Base (Coinbase‘s Layer 2), Billy supports bet discovery across prediction markets, including Kalshi and Polymarket, by highlighting edges, routes wagers to the best available price, and enables customized automated strategies. Billy’s natural-language terminal turns “Show me plus-EV NFL props tonight” into live odds, automated execution and real-time, traceable ROI tracking. Billy has routed over $1 million in betting volume, growing at 23% per week, since the launch of the Billy Terminal in June.

“Fundamentally, we believe all sports bettors will eventually rely on AI to improve their chances, particularly so with the advent of prediction markets, and we aim to be the best supplier of that agentic technology,” added Jared Augustine, Co-founder & Executive Chairman.

About Billy Bets

Billy Bets is an AI built for sports prediction markets, designed to upend the $250B sports gaming industry. Using proprietary machine learning models and big data, Billy analyzes prediction markets and betting exchanges in real time to surface the best opportunities at the best prices. Users can follow individual predictions or apply one of Billy’s automated strategies across their favorite sports and events—executing bets directly from their wallet in just one click. The Billy ecosystem is powered by the $BILLY utility token, which unlocks staking rewards, loyalty incentives, and exclusive access. Founded by multi-exit entrepreneurs Jared Augustine and Joe O’Rourke, Billy recently closed a $1m pre-seed round led by Coinbase Ventures. Learn more at billybets.ai and follow @askbillybets & @billybets_ai.

SOURCE Billy Bets

Funding round led by Dimension Capital, with participation from Stage 2 Capital, Flybridge Capital Partners, Ridge Ventures, Tokyo Black Venture Capital, and Vermillion Cliffs, along with several notable angel investors.

PORTLAND, Ore., Sept. 4, 2025 — Fiveonefour, a leader in data and analytics AI and developer tooling, today announced it has raised $17 million in total funding. The funding will be used to accelerate AI agent development, expand support for enterprise customers, deepen technical partnerships, and invest in growing their open source community.

As AI agents accelerate in adoption, enterprises face mounting pressure to modernize their data infrastructure to support real-time analytics and intelligent features. IDC reports that AI-enabling tech spend will hit $337 billion this year, with most Global 2000 companies adopting high-performance data systems by 2027. Fiveonefour enables developer teams to quickly and effectively deliver the specialized analytical infrastructure needed to power AI insights at conversation speed. For example, F45 Training — a Fiveonefour customer — powers its Lionheart biometric analytics feature with the platform, which delivers real-time performance insights and personalized workout feedback. Members who engage with Lionheart are 2.5X more valuable than average, making them F45’s most loyal and engaged users.

“Modern analytical use cases need more than a classic data warehouse with some dashboards,” said Tim Delisle, CEO and Co-Founder of Fiveonefour and former VP of Engineering at Nike. “AI agents and custom applications demand flexible, performant infrastructure coupled with developer and AI-friendly software interfaces like APIs and MCPs. We believe the future of data and analytics depends on the core developer experience for humans and AI agents alike, and this capital helps us deliver on that mission.”

At the heart of Fiveonefour’s offering is the Moose Stack, a fast-growing, open-source developer toolkit in TypeScript and Python, designed for developers building analytical backends. By abstracting away the complexity of data infrastructure, the Moose Stack enables software teams to rapidly integrate AI-ready analytics and operational data capabilities directly into their applications. Momentum has exploded, with installs doubling month over month, and enterprises across healthcare, manufacturing, and connected fitness are already using the Moose Stack to power user-facing analytics and AI-enabled data systems.

“In a world of AI hype, Fiveonefour is unlocking one of the biggest challenges in the enterprise today: developing and leveraging a solid data foundation to solve real problems with AI,” said Nan Li, Founder and Managing Partner at Dimension Capital. “With its open source core and  focus on the developer, Fiveonefour is uniquely positioned to push data and analytics into the bright AI future.”

Fiveonefour’s full product suite – including Boreal, a fully managed cloud infrastructure platform, and Sloan, AI agents and tooling for data & analytics – makes it simple for human and agentic developers to adopt and integrate specialized analytical infrastructure into their existing applications. Current technical partners and supported technologies include ClickHouse, Kafka, RedPanda, Temporal, and Redis. With this new funding, growing enterprise adoption, and a thriving open source community, Fiveonefour is scaling to become a cornerstone of the modern AI and analytics stack for developers. To learn more about Fiveonefour, please visit fiveonefour.com

About Fiveonefour:

Fiveonefour is on a mission to bring world-class AI and developer experiences to data and analytics. Fiveonefour’s developer toolkit for analytical backends offers open source frameworks, tooling, and AI for human and agentic developers. Through the open-source Moose Stack, Boreal cloud platform, and Sloan AI agents, Fiveonefour enables developers to quickly leverage the latest and greatest specialized analytical infrastructure to power user-facing analytics and custom operational data warehouses. Founded in 2023 by former Nike executives and serial entrepreneurs, the company is backed by Dimension Capital, Stage 2 Capital, Flybridge Capital Partners, Ridge Ventures, Tokyo Black Venture Capital, and Vermillion Cliffs, along with several notable angel investors.

SOURCE Fiveonefour Labs, Inc.

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 4, 2025 — Juniper Square, a fund operations partner to more than 2,000 private markets GPs, today announced a strategic investment from Nasdaq Ventures to further accelerate innovation in private markets technology. In addition to the investment, Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) and Juniper Square will establish a partnership which will explore ways to advance the development of integrated data and liquidity solutions for private fund managers. The news of this investment and partnership follows the company’s $130 million Series D financing announced in June.

“For over a decade, Juniper Square has been focused on helping GPs build enduring firms,” said Alex Robinson, CEO and Co-Founder at Juniper Square. “Nasdaq shares our vision for more efficient and transparent private markets. Together, we can combine world-class data with purpose-built software to deliver the go-to platform for raising and managing private capital.”

As private market investment continues to accelerate, next-generation data solutions that enhance GP visibility and turbocharge their fundraising efforts are a must for GPs. Juniper Square and Nasdaq will collaborate on new opportunities to deliver the tools critical to a modern GP enterprise and improve private market liquidity, including through innovations in secondaries.

“Private markets are experiencing a generational shift and real-time, data-driven insights are becoming essential to how firms raise and deploy capital,” said Gary Offner, Senior Vice President, Head of Nasdaq Ventures at Nasdaq. “Juniper Square provides an innovative platform to support fund operations for GPs, and we’re proud to invest in their vision.”

This investment and collaboration mark a significant step in Juniper Square’s efforts to deliver AI-powered solutions, integrated services, and industry-specific infrastructure to the global private markets.

For more about Juniper Square, visit here.

About Juniper Square
Juniper Square is the fund operations partner to more than 2,000 private markets GPs worldwide. Our unified platform connects software, data, and fund administration services to help firms scale faster, streamline operations, and enhance the investor experience. Juniper Square’s technology brings LPs and GPs together and powers everything from fundraising and onboarding to treasury, reporting, and business intelligence. Today, more than 40,000 funds, 650,000 LP accounts, and $1 trillion in LP capital are managed through Juniper Square.

About Nasdaq Ventures
Launched in 2017, Nasdaq Ventures is the global venture investing program of Nasdaq, Inc. (Nasdaq: NDAQ). Focused on cultivating technology advancement within financial services, Nasdaq Ventures invests in companies driving innovation in market infrastructure, data, analytics & workflow technologies, anti-financial crime, digital assets, ESG, and emerging asset classes. To learn more, visit: www.nasdaq.com/nasdaq-ventures. 

About Nasdaq
Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) is a leading global technology company serving corporate clients, investment managers, banks, brokers, and exchange operators as they navigate and interact with the global capital markets and the broader financial system. We aspire to deliver world-leading platforms that improve the liquidity, transparency, and integrity of the global economy. Our diverse offering of data, analytics, software, exchange capabilities, and client-centric services enables clients to optimize and execute their business vision with confidence. To learn more about the company, technology solutions, and career opportunities, visit us on LinkedIn, on X @Nasdaq, or at www.nasdaq.com.

SOURCE Juniper Square

BOSTON, Sept. 4, 2025 — Nanoramic, Inc. (“Nanoramic”) a pioneer in advanced batteries, today announced it has secured a strategic equity investment from ITOCHU Corporation (“ITOCHU”), with additional participation from existing investor Top Material. The financing will be used to accelerate the global commercialization of Nanoramic’s Neocarbonix® battery technology and products and will significantly strengthen its global supply chain in response to growing customer demand.

Neocarbonix® is a force multiplier for the battery industry, designed to drop into existing manufacturing lines and deliver far-reaching improvements in battery cost, energy density, power, and fast-charging performance.

The investment follows a period of significant momentum for Nanoramic, including a $44 million funding round co-led by General Motors Ventures and Catalus Capital, with participation from Samsung Ventures, and the grand opening of its new 40,000-square-foot headquarters in Woburn, Massachusetts. The company has recently commenced commercial shipments of Neocarbonix from the new facility, marking its transition to the next phase of global growth and commercial adoption.

The strategic partnership with ITOCHU will help catalyze the global adoption of Neocarbonix. This collaboration forms a powerful synergy between Nanoramic’s battery technology leadership and ITOCHU’s world-class expertise in logistics and supply chain management. ITOCHU will serve as a pivotal logistics partner, while Top Material continues to provide world-class infrastructure as a key scale-up partner. Together, they create a robust, de-risked global supply chain for customers adopting Neocarbonix.

“This strategic investment from ITOCHU and Top Material is a testament to our significant commercial momentum and the transformative potential of Neocarbonix,” said John Cooley, Founder and CEO of Nanoramic. “These partnerships provide a direct solution to the supply chain challenges of global expansion. By integrating with ITOCHU’s world-class logistics network and Top Material’s manufacturing excellence, we are not only scaling our reach but also offering our customers a reliable path to adopt our technology with confidence. We are thrilled to welcome ITOCHU and are grateful for the continued support from investors like Top Material as we enter this exciting new phase of growth.”

About Nanoramic, Inc.
Founded in 2009 out of MIT, Nanoramic, Inc. is an industry-leading energy storage and advanced materials company that has developed an innovative electrode technology, Neocarbonix®. Nanoramic is commercializing Neocarbonix to transform energy storage for all battery applications: increasing energy density and longevity, while reducing costs and improving sustainability. Nanoramic works with some of the world’s largest automakers, consumer electronics companies, and battery manufacturers to develop and commercialize batteries made with Neocarbonix. Nanoramic, Inc. is the exclusive designer, manufacturer, and licensor of Neocarbonix and Fastcap® Ultracapacitors. Visit www.nanoramic.com.

About ITOCHU Corporation
The history of ITOCHU Corporation dates back to 1858 when the Company’s founder Chubei Itoh commenced linen trading operations. Since then, ITOCHU has evolved and grown over 160 years. With approximately 90 bases in 61 countries, ITOCHU, one of the leading sogo shosha, is engaging in domestic trading, import/export, and overseas trading of various products such as textile, machinery, metals, minerals, energy, chemicals, food, general products, realty, information and communications technology, and finance, as well as business investment in Japan and overseas.

SOURCE Nanoramic, Inc.