The milestone reflects investor conviction in a fundamentally different retail model designed to eliminate the inefficiencies embedded in traditional pricing.

SAN FRANCISCO, March 11, 2026 — Quince, the consumer technology platform redefining how premium goods are produced, priced, and distributed, today announced a $500 million Series E financing led by ICONIQ, with participation from Basis Set Ventures, Wellington Management, Wndrco, Marcy Venture Partners, Ballie Gifford, Notable Capital and DST Global. The financing results in a post-money valuation of $10.1 billion and will support the continued growth and global expansion of Quince’s proprietary Manufacturer-to-Consumer (M2C) operating system.

Quince began by testing a simple premise: premium quality should not require legacy retail markups. The company first proved the model in material-led categories such as cashmere, where composition and craftsmanship are measurable. As customers returned and demand expanded, growth followed, not through trend cycles, but through supply chain innovation and AI designed to deliver consistent quality and pricing at scale. Today, Quince is a platform that serves millions of customers across a broad set of categories, with repeat purchasing reinforcing that trust is anchored in the system, not in any single product.

The explanation behind that momentum is a unique end-to-end business model and proprietary technology and AI that power decision making. Rather than chasing seasonal volatility, Quince invested in structural redesign. By partnering directly with specialist manufacturers and removing traditional intermediaries, the company challenges a retail model that has long embedded financial and environmental inefficiencies into the price of goods. Excess production, layered margins, and inventory risk inflate cost without improving quality. Quince’s Manufacturer-to-Consumer platform addresses those distortions directly: reducing waste, compressing supply chains, and preserving material standards as it expands across essential categories.

What differentiates Quince is not pricing. It is the system behind how products are made, priced, and delivered. This structural operating advantage is built through proprietary technology, disciplined capital deployment, integrated manufacturing relationships, and a world-class team executing the platform at scale.

Traditional retailers typically forecast demand months in advance, placing bulk production orders long before products reach shelves. Excess inventory is routinely discounted, destroyed, or written off, costs that ultimately become embedded in consumer pricing. Quince instead forecasts demand weekly at the SKU and size level, introducing production through small-batch test orders before scaling. Factory integrations, materials verification systems, and real-time production planning allow inventory targets to be measured in weeks rather than quarters. By narrowing the distance between maker and customer, the company reduces excess inventory, shortens supply chains, and removes the financial and environmental inefficiencies historically built into retail pricing. The Company has re-defined the way goods get to market.

“For decades, consumers have been conditioned to equate higher prices with higher quality,” said Matt Lippert, Chief Commercial Officer at Quince. “We play in categories where quality is tangible and measurable to disprove that assumption. The model is simple: design a different system that eliminates the waste consumers have traditionally paid for in retail. That starts with real care around quality, from the materials we source all the way through how products are made, while removing excess production, unnecessary intermediaries, and inventory risk. When those inefficiencies come out of the system, people experience the benefits through more consistent quality and more accessible pricing. Over time that creates trust, and increasingly customers come to Quince first when they’re looking for something because they know what they’re going to get.”

That operating model has translated into exceptional growth, and last year surpassed $1 billion in top-line revenue. Since launch, Quince has experienced triple digit growth year over year, every single fiscal year.

“Quince has built hyperefficient infrastructure that enables it to deliver unmatched value to consumers at scale and, in turn, has built a brand people love,” said Yoonkee Sull, General Partner at ICONIQ. “By redesigning how premium products are manufactured and delivered, compressing traditional retail cycle times and reducing waste, and building a deep understanding of what customers want in real-time, the company is correcting structural inefficiencies that have long defined retail economics. We are excited to triple down in Quince following a year of strong execution by the team and believe the platform is positioned for durable, long-term growth.”

With this financing, Quince joins a limited cohort of private consumer companies valued at $10 billion or more, a milestone that reflects investor conviction not in a product, but in a platform. As the company expands globally, its proprietary Manufacturer-to-Consumer operating system is designed to compound, strengthening forecasting precision, production efficiency, and category expansion with each additional customer interaction.

About Quince

Quince is a consumer technology platform rebuilding retail from the infrastructure up. Through its proprietary Manufacturer-to-Consumer (M2C) operating system, the company integrates AI–driven demand forecasting, real-time production planning, and direct factory partnerships to align supply precisely with customer demand, removing the layers of markup, inventory risk, and inefficiency historically embedded in pricing.

The company was built on a simple premise: premium quality should not require traditional retail markups. By redesigning how products are made, priced, and delivered, Quince restores transparency to modern retail and expands access to high-quality products across the categories people care about most. That system has quickly established Quince as a trusted destination for customers seeking premium materials, consistent quality, and pricing free from traditional retail markups. The result is a structurally more efficient model that challenges the economics of traditional retail and positions Quince as one of the fastest-growing consumer platforms in the industry.

Media Contact
Dakota Kate Isaacs
Head of Brand Strategy & Narrative, Quince
[email protected]

SOURCE Quince

TASCHKENT, Usbekistan, 11. März 2026 — Uzum (das „Unternehmen”), Usbekistans führendes digitales Ökosystem, gibt den Abschluss einer strategischen Investition von mehr als 130 Millionen US-Dollar bekannt, angeführt von staatlichen Einrichtungen des Sultanats Oman (der „Investor“).

Die Transaktion kombiniert Primäreigenkapital und strukturiertes Kapital und begründet eine Pre-Money-Bewertung von 2,3 Milliarden US-Dollar als Referenzwert, wobei die Umwandlungsbedingungen an die nächste qualifizierte Finanzierungsrunde des Unternehmens gekoppelt sind. Die Investition markiert einen deutlichen Sprung gegenüber den bisherigen Finanzierungsrunden von Uzum und stärkt die Position des Unternehmens im Vorfeld seiner Serie B erheblich.

An der Transaktion beteiligen sich auch die bestehenden internationalen Anteilseigner VR Capital, Tencent und FinSight Ventures. Dies unterstreicht das starke internationale Vertrauen in das langfristige Wachstum von Uzum sowie die schnell wachsende digitale Wirtschaft Usbekistans.

Das Kapital soll die nächste Wachstumsphase von Uzum in seinen Kernbereichen – E-Commerce, digitales Bankwesen, Zahlungsverkehr und Verbraucherkredite – beschleunigen, wobei der Schwerpunkt auf dem Ausbau des Produktangebots, der Stärkung der Infrastruktur und der Ausweitung des landesweiten Zugangs zu digitalen Diensten liegt. Uzum hat ein vollständig integriertes Ökosystem aufgebaut, das Handel und Fintech auf nationaler Ebene vereint. Seine Plattformen – darunter Uzum Market, Uzum Tezkor, Uzum Bank und Uzum Nasiya – werden von über 20 Millionen Menschen genutzt, was mehr als der Hälfte der usbekischen Bevölkerung entspricht.

Internationales Vertrauen in Usbekistans Wachstumskurs

Der Investor bringt langjährige regionale Erfahrung sowie einen starken Fokus auf wachstumsstarke Verbraucher- und Technologiemärkte mit. Die Partnerschaft spiegelt das wachsende internationale Interesse an Usbekistan als einer der attraktivsten aufstrebenden digitalen Volkswirtschaften der Welt wider.

„Diese Investition ist eine starke Bestätigung sowohl für die Strategie von Uzum als auch für das digitale Potenzial Usbekistans”, sagte Djasur Djumaev, Gründer und Geschäftsführer von Uzum.

„Wir konzentrieren uns auf den Aufbau einer Infrastruktur auf nationaler Ebene – technologiegetrieben, inklusiv und auf die tägliche Nutzung durch Millionen von Menschen und Unternehmen ausgerichtet. Die Unterstützung des Investors gibt uns zusammen mit unseren bestehenden internationalen Anteilseignern starken Rückenwind, während wir uns auf die Series B vorbereiten und unser Ökosystem weiter ausbauen.”

Uzum wurde bei dieser Transaktion von DLA Piper beraten. Der Investor wurde bei dieser Transaktion von Greenberg Traurig beraten.

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Tom Walker to Transition to Executive Chairman; Kristy Campbell to Support Leadership Transition for Midwest Venture Studio

COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 10, 2026 — Building on more than a decade of growth, innovation, and economic impact, Rev1 Ventures, the Midwest venture studio that partners with innovators in Saas/AI, deep tech and life sciences, today announced it is launching a national search for its next Chief Executive Officer and President to guide the organization into its next phase of expansion and innovation.

As part of a long-planned leadership evolution developed with the Board of Directors, Tom Walker will transition to Executive Chairman of the Board by the end of the year. He will remain CEO throughout the search process and transition period, ensuring operational continuity and stability. As part of the strategic evolution of Rev1, Walker is focusing on capital efforts and building the next-generation fund strategy, while maintaining a close connection to the nonprofit mission.

“Over the last decade, we’ve worked intentionally to strengthen Rev1’s foundation, growing our nonprofit impact, building a capital platform, and structuring the organization for the future,” said Walker. “This is the right time to bring in a new leader who can build upon what we’ve accomplished, solidify Rev1’s position as one of the top venture development organizations in the country, and lead us into the next decade. My commitment to Rev1, our partners and founders remains unchanged, and I will continue to guide the organization’s capital efforts while supporting the new CEO’s transition.”

This announcement comes on the heels of Rev1 opening Rev1 at The Peninsula, a 43,000-square-foot downtown innovation hub designed to accelerate high-growth software and advanced technology startups. The new space reflects Rev1’s mission and vision, signaling the organization’s long-term commitment to homegrown entrepreneurship and ecosystem growth.

Kristy Campbell, current President and COO, will continue supporting Rev1’s Ventures operations through the end of the year, including services, partnerships, and the innovation space as she steps back from full-time work to begin her transition toward retirement in 2027. Under her leadership, the organization has aligned services to founder needs and successfully launched the new downtown hub.

“Rev1 Ventures has been an incredible opportunity to strengthen services that better serve founders,” added Campbell. “I’m proud of the foundation we’ve built that positions the organization for its next chapter, and I’m excited for the new leader to continue advancing this important work.”

Since 2015, Rev1 has supported more than 1,400 startups, including funding 150 unique companies, generating $3.3 billion in economic impact in Columbus and over $7 billion statewide.

The Board has engaged BeecherHill to lead a national search. The firm will work closely with the Board and leadership team to identify a CEO with deep experience in venture capital, startup growth, and ecosystem building. The Board anticipates naming a new CEO by late summer, allowing for a seamless transition through the end of the year.

Rev1’s day-to-day operations, founder services, venture studio programming, and investment activity will continue uninterrupted throughout the search process.

“Rev1’s mission and focus remain unchanged, and the foundation we’ve built is strong,” added Walker. “The depth of venture development expertise here is among the best in the country, and our leadership team will continue driving regional impact while providing a solid foundation for our next CEO to build on as we enter our next decade of growth.”

About Rev1 Ventures
Rev1 Ventures is where founders go to build. As a Midwest venture studio, Rev1 partners with innovators in Saas/AI, deep tech, and life sciences to turn bold ideas into scalable companies. From day one, Rev1 helps startups move faster and grow smarter by validating markets, gaining traction, and becoming venture ready. A catalyst for early-stage growth, Rev1 connects founders to the mentors, partners, and early customers that accelerate progress and position startups to attract investors. With hands-on support, a powerful network, and collaborative spaces designed for growth, Rev1 gives startups the foundation to build stronger and scale. For more information, visit https://www.rev1ventures.com.

SOURCE Rev1 Ventures

Nectir improves GPAs, boosts student motivation, and supports faculty success across 100+ campuses—without compromising academic integrity

SAN FRANCISCO, March 10, 2026 — AI is rapidly transforming education, creating as much uncertainty as opportunity. Faculty, parents, and students share anxiety about AI, and yet, students are using AI every day, often without guidance, guardrails, or standards. It’s even leading some schools to return to “blue books.” However, the reality is AI is here to stay, and higher education is facing a turning point: adapt quickly or fall behind.

To meet this moment, Nectir, the first secure AI infrastructure purpose-built for education that has proven to save educators time, provide 24/7 personalized learning support, and increase educational outcomes, today announced it has raised $12.5 million led by Rethink Impact. This round also includes participation from Gingerbread Capital and Strada, along with existing investors.

Founded by Kavitta Ghai and Jordan Long, Nectir was inspired by the challenges they faced as students in college. “With this new chapter of funding, we are scaling our vision to meet the needs of the modern educational landscape,” said Kavitta Ghai, CEO and Co-Founder of Nectir. “At Nectir, we are not looking at the 30,000-student problems; we are architecting solutions for the 30-million-student reality. We believe educational accessibility is paramount, and our infrastructure provides a personalized learning partner for every single student, ensuring that high-quality, AI-driven support is a universal standard, not a luxury.”

Nectir is customizable, secure, and designed for academic integrity

While grappling with the pervasiveness of AI, higher education is facing a growing crisis, and institutions are under pressure to prove their value. Only 36% of Americans trust higher education, down from 48% just six years ago (Gallup). At the same time, AI adoption is widespread: nearly 90% of college students use AI, and students who say their schools allow AI use are 25% more likely to feel prepared to use the technology after graduation than those whose schools do not allow AI (Gallup). That preparation matters: the World Economic Forum projects 39% of core job skills will change by 2030, with AI literacy and analytical thinking both ranking among the fastest-growing capabilities employers demand.

AI itself is not the threat: it’s unstructured, unsecured, and unprincipled AI. Higher education needs institutional AI that is aligned with pedagogy, privacy, and outcomes. Nectir was built to do just that through its AI infrastructure, enabling schools and institutions to securely deploy AI Assistants at scale.

• Nectir deploys custom AI Assistants across students, faculty, and administrators, providing teaching support to professors, personalized guidance for students, and a lighter, more efficient workload for admin teams.
   
• Nectir AI Assistants are built on the school’s institutional knowledge, grounded in course content, and integrated into Learning Management Systems.
   
• The platform does not use student data to train models and is fully FERPA- and SOC 2-compliant.

Nectir is already delivering measurable impact:

• Trusted by 80,000 students across 100+ campuses, everywhere from Stanford University and community colleges to private high schools.
   
• Landmark deal with California Community Colleges made Nectir available to all 2.1 million students across 116+ campuses.
   
• Los Angeles Pacific University demonstrated a 7.5% GPA increase campuswide in a peer-reviewed study, making Nectir one of the only AI infrastructure solutions in education with independent, published research of academic outcomes.
   
• 74% of students reported a better learning experience, including improved understanding of complex content and critical thinking.
   
• 36% of students reported a boost in motivation.

“This is a 24/7 program, so even in the middle of the night, students can get accurate feedback,” said Adam Hathaway, Chabot College. “It’s also very customizable. If you sent this over to ChatGPT, you’d get very different answers. Nectir AI locks them into a system that I get to control.”

“AI use is pervasive in higher education and is here to stay. Yet it carries massive risk when used in an unstructured, unsecured, and unprincipled way,” said Jenny Abramson and Jill Ni of Rethink Impact, the largest fund in the country backing women-led tech companies. “Nectir’s compliant platform is driving better learning experiences, better student motivation, and, ultimately, better outcomes in both secondary and higher education. This is edtech innovation at its best, and we couldn’t be more excited to back the team in this next phase of growth!”

About Nectir
Nectir is the secure AI infrastructure purpose-built for higher education. Nectir AI provides 24/7 personalized learning support grounded in course content—without compromising trust, outcomes, or academic integrity. Nectir is trusted by 80,000 students across 100+ campuses and is fully FERPA- and SOC 2-compliant. For more information, visit https://www.nectir.io.

About Rethink Impact
Rethink Impact is the largest venture firm in the country dedicated to investing in female leaders using technology to help solve the world’s biggest problems (Forbes) and believes the next generation of extraordinary companies will find success through their relentless pursuit of mission for the benefit of all communities. For more information, visit https://rethinkimpact.com.

Josephine Cheng
Head of Marketing & Communications
Nectir
[email protected]

This release was issued through WebWire®. For more information, visit http://www.webwire.com.

SOURCE Nectir

TASHKENT, Ouzbékistan, 10 mars 2026 — Uzum (la « Société »), l’écosystème numérique leader de l’Ouzbékistan, a le plaisir d’annoncer la clôture d’un investissement stratégique de plus de 130 millions de dollars, ancré par les entités souveraines du Sultanat d’Oman (« l’Investisseur »).

La transaction associe des capitaux propres primaires et des capitaux structurés et établit un point de référence d’évaluation pré-monétaire de 2,3 milliards de dollars, avec des conditions de conversion liées au prochain tour de financement qualifié de la société. Cet investissement marque une étape importante par rapport aux précédents tours de financement d’Uzum et renforce considérablement le positionnement de la société avant sa série B.

La transaction comprend également une participation des actionnaires internationaux existants, VR Capital, Tencent et FinSight Ventures, ce qui témoigne de la confiance internationale dans la croissance à long terme d’Uzum et dans l’économie numérique en pleine expansion de l’Ouzbékistan.

Le capital sera utilisé pour accélérer la prochaine phase de croissance d’Uzum dans ses principaux secteurs verticaux – le commerce électronique, la banque numérique, les paiements et les prêts à la consommation – en mettant l’accent sur l’élargissement de la gamme de produits, le renforcement de l’infrastructure et l’amélioration de l’accès aux services numériques dans l’ensemble du pays. Uzum a construit un écosystème entièrement intégré combinant le commerce et la technologie financière à l’échelle nationale. Ses plateformes – dont Uzum Market, Uzum Tezkor, Uzum Bank et Uzum Nasiya – sont utilisées par plus de 20 millions de personnes, soit plus de la moitié de la population de l’Ouzbékistan.

Le monde entier est convaincu de la croissance de l’Ouzbékistan

L’Investisseur apporte une expertise régionale à long terme et une forte concentration sur les marchés de consommation et de technologie à forte croissance. Ce partenariat reflète l’intérêt international croissant pour l’Ouzbékistan, l’une des économies numériques émergentes les plus attrayantes au monde.

« Cet investissement est un soutien important à la stratégie d’Uzum et au potentiel numérique de l’Ouzbékistan », a déclaré Djasur Djumaev, fondateur et PDG d’Uzum.

« Nous nous concentrons sur la mise en place d’une infrastructure d’envergure nationale, axée sur la technologie, ouverte à tous et conçue pour une utilisation quotidienne par des millions de personnes et d’entreprises. Le soutien de l’investisseur, aux côtés de nos actionnaires mondiaux existants, nous donne une forte impulsion alors que nous préparons la série B et continuons à développer notre écosystème. »

Uzum a été conseillé par DLA Piper pour cette transaction. L’Investisseur a été conseillé par Greenberg Traurig.

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JLL Capital Markets arranged Freddie Mac refinancing for 224-unit building, the first of four Gowanus Wharf Residences

NEW YORK, March 10, 2026 — Joint partners, Charney Companies, Tavros and Canyon Partners Real Estate today announced that they have secured $125.536 million in fixed-rate financing for Union Channel, a 224-residential rental building in the burgeoning community of Gowanus Brooklyn. The trophy building, with an abundance of amenities, wonderful views and spacious, well-designed apartments, is the first of the four new buildings that make up the campus of Gowanus Wharf.

JLL worked to secure the 7-year, fixed-rate loan through Freddie Mac. The loan will be serviced by JLL Real Estate Capital, LLC, a Freddie Mac Optigo Lender.

Designed by Fogarty Finger Architecture, the striking nine-story building has been extremely popular with renters since it debuted a year ago. Union Channel offers 224 residential rental apartments, with 25% designated as affordable housing. Residential amenities include a rooftop swimming pool and sundeck, fitness center, yoga studio, coworking lounge, sky lounge and 24/7 attended lobby along with 22,226 square feet of retail space and 98 parking spaces.

“Union Channel is the cornerstone of our vision for Gowanus Wharf and reflects our conviction in the long-term trajectory of this neighborhood,” said Justin Pelsinger, Partner and COO of Charney Companies. “Securing the loan enables us to continue executing our business plan while delivering a high-quality residential experience in one of Brooklyn’s most dynamic communities,” added Colin Rankowitz, Partner at Tavros.

“We are excited to participate in the evolution of Gowanus through Union Channel, which represents a significant step in establishing a new standard for residential living within the Gowanus Wharf community,” said Jacob Feingold, Partner and Head of Originations at Canyon Partners Real Estate. “This investment highlights our commitment to high-quality, well-located multifamily assets, and we value our partnership with Tavros Capital and Charney Companies in driving the long-term vision for this dynamic neighborhood.”

Union Channel is the first of four planned buildings that will make up Gowanus Wharf, along with Douglass Port which is slated to open in the late spring of 2026, Nevins Landing which will debut in the fall of 2026, and 175 Third Street, designed by architect Bjarke Ingels and the largest property on the Gowanus Wharf campus. Gowanus Wharf will ultimately feature approximately 2,000 residential units, a public park, canal boardwalk and 160,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor amenities ranging from a basketball court to a health and wellness spa.

Gowanus has undergone significant transformation following its rezoning, attracting substantial public and private investment and positioning the neighborhood for sustained residential and retail growth. Union Channel benefits from immediate access to the Union Street subway station and proximity to Carroll Gardens, Park Slope, Boerum Hill and Downtown Brooklyn.

The JLL Capital Markets Debt Advisory team representing the borrower was led by Senior Managing Directors Christopher Peck and Peter Rotchford, Senior Director Nicco Lupo, and Managing Director Michael Shmuely.

“Union Channel represents a best-in-class asset within one of Brooklyn’s most compelling long-term growth corridors,” said Peck. “Freddie Mac recognized the strength of the sponsorship, the quality of the construction and the property’s strategic positioning within the broader Gowanus Wharf master plan. We continue to see strong appetite from agency lenders for well-located, institutional-quality multifamily assets in New York City.”

About Charney Companies
Founded in 2013, Charney Companies is a fully integrated real estate development, construction, brokerage, and management firm focused on developing, owning, and operating first-class residential and commercial real estate in the New York City Metro area. From ground-up construction to adaptive reuse and value-add repositioning, Charney plays an integral role in all aspects of the development process – combining creative vision with a tech-driven approach to deliver superior products to the marketplace and best-in-class returns for investors. Beyond their own portfolio, Charney extends their expertise to third-party clients through brokerage and property management services, bringing the same standard of excellence to every engagement. Charney owns, operates, and is under construction on over three million square feet throughout Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan and has earned awards and recognition from municipal organizations and media outlets for their work. For more information, visit: charneycompanies.com.

About Tavros
Tavros is a privately-owned real estate investment management and development firm. They invest on a discretionary basis, with a strong focus on New York City, and a global investor base of family offices, trusts, high net worth individuals, and institutions. Core to the Tavros discipline is the quality of its partnerships with tenants, investors, and lenders. As an owner and property manager, Tavros aims to ensure a positive experience for its tenants through attention to detail and a focus on quality of life. For more information, visit: tavroscapital.com.

About Canyon Partners Real Estate LLC
Founded in 1991, Canyon Partners Real Estate LLC (“Canyon”) is the real estate direct investing arm of Canyon Partners, LLC, a global alternative asset manager with $29 billion in assets under management. Over the last fifteen years, Canyon has invested over $7.8 billion of debt and equity capital across 27 transactions capitalizing $33.8 billion of real estate assets while focusing on debt, value add, and opportunistic strategies. With 30+ years of experience, Canyon has established a broad menu of investment capabilities spanning property types, US regions, and project stages including development, transitional, and distressed/workouts. For more information visit: www.canyonpartners.com.

About JLL
JLL (NYSE:JLL) is a leading global commercial real estate services and investment management company with annual revenue of $26.1 billion, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of more than 113,000 as of December 31, 2025. For over 200 years, clients have trusted JLL, a Fortune 500® company, to help them confidently buy, build, occupy, manage and invest across a variety of industries and property types, including office, industrial, hotel, multi-family, retail and data center properties. Driven by our purpose to shape the future of real estate for a better world, we help our clients, people and communities SEE A BRIGHTER WAY. Powered by rich global datasets and leading technology capabilities, we provide coordinated, end-to-end delivery of real estate services for a broad range of global clients who represent a wide variety of industries. Through LaSalle Investment Management, we invest for clients on a global basis in both private assets and publicly traded real estate securities. For further information, visit: jll.com.

SOURCE Gowanus Wharf

Backing from E8 Angels accelerates the deployment of AI-driven monitoring for a sector accounting for 37% of U.S. industrial fossil fuel use.

AUSTIN, Texas, March 10, 2026 — Imperium Technologies, creator of the InteliTrap® smart steam trap and SteamView® monitoring platform, announced it has surpassed $2 million raised. The funding includes an investment from E8 Angels, the nation’s largest cleantech angel investing network, advancing Imperium’s effort to bring digital insight and control to industrial steam systems.

While much of industry has modernized, steam remains a critical yet under-innovated corner of industrial infrastructure, despite accounting for 37% of fossil fuel use in U.S. industry. For decades, operators have relied on manual inspection and blind, reactive maintenance, often with no insight into the waste that drives energy loss, excess emissions and costly unplanned downtime.

Imperium’s solution combines InteliTrap®, the company’s first-to-market smart steam trap, and SteamView®, a data-driven, intelligent monitoring platform designed to help operators identify issues earlier and act faster. Together, the technologies help industrial operators detect failures earlier, improve reliability, reduce waste and make better maintenance decisions with real-time insight.

“Steam is too important, and too costly, to remain a blind spot in industrial operations,” said Brad Medford, CEO of Imperium Technologies. “As pressure grows to improve efficiency and cut emissions, operators need a smarter way to manage steam. Imperium is helping bring one of industry’s most overlooked systems into a more intelligent era.”

By combining intelligent hardware with real-time software insight, Imperium is creating a new category in steam system intelligence for industries such as chemicals, food processing and industrial manufacturing.

“Imperium’s smart steam traps and monitoring system can significantly reduce energy waste, potentially reducing global greenhouse gas emissions by tens of millions of tons of CO2 while making steam systems more reliable, lowering costs, and reducing wear and tear on the system. This triple win for the environment, customers, and suppliers is the kind of opportunity that E8 investors seek to make happen,” said Gordon Smith of E8 Angels.

Imperium plans to use the funding to support commercialization, expand market reach and develop SteamView’s analytics and AI capabilities.

About Imperium Technologies
Imperium Technologies helps industrial operators modernize steam systems with smart hardware and real-time monitoring. Its patented solutions, InteliTrap® and SteamView®, are designed to reduce the invisible waste of industrial steam, improve reliability and bring greater intelligence to system performance. The company is based in Austin, Texas.

Media Contact:
Leah Brown
Imperium Technologies
903-245-4695
[email protected]
Imperiumzone.com

SOURCE Imperium Technologies LLC

• Focused on automating labor-intensive tasks including truck unloading and palletizing
• Strategic partnerships with industry titans like FANUC and Saddle Creek
• Led by veterans with extensive expertise in Physical AI R&D and commercialization

SEOUL, South Korea, March 10, 2026 — NAVER D2SF, the corporate venture capital arm of NAVER, has invested in Anyware Robotics, a robotics startup solving real-world industrial challenges through advanced physical AI, starting from logistic scenarios. Anyware Robotics develops robots designed to autonomously perform demanding material handling operations — including truck unloading, pallet stacking, and package handling — with exceptional speed, safety, and adaptability.

Manual unloading in logistics centers is one of the most physically demanding and hazardous tasks, exacerbating persistent labor shortages. While automation demand is high, the variability of on-site logistics environments has made it difficult for robots to deliver tangible results. Anyware Robotics addresses this with robots trained on real-world data to optimize performance across complex logistics environments. Its systems combine robust mechanical design and intelligent software to enable a single robot to handle multiple use cases, offering scalability and cost efficiency to logistics operations.

The company has proven its technological efficacy through partnerships with global leaders such as FANUC and Saddle Creek Logistics, significantly improving operational safety and efficiency without necessitating modifications to existing infrastructure.

Founded in 2023, Anyware Robotics is led by a team of robotics industry veterans with deep research backgrounds in mechanical engineering and imitation learning, credited with a collective portfolio of over 100 academic publications. The founders also bring field-proven experience from top robotics companies including FANUC, Amazon Robotics, and GreyOrange.

NAVER D2SF plans to continue expanding its investments across all layers of physical AI — from perception and computation to control. The firm focuses on startups like Anyware Robotics that demonstrate the real value of physical AI by solving real-world challenges, helping them drive long-term competitiveness in their respective fields.

About NAVER D2SF

NAVER D2SF is NAVER’s in-house corporate venture arm, supporting sustainable growth by collaborating with startups. Founded in 1999, NAVER has maintained its position as Korea’s leading search engine for over 20 years and operates across commerce, content, fintech, and cloud services. Under the technological vision of D2 (For Developers, By Developers), NAVER is actively developing new technologies and global partnerships to grow as a leading tech company.

To learn more, visit https://d2sf.naver.com

SOURCE NAVER

Creates Head of Talent position and adds additional Operations Associates

NEW YORK, March 10, 2026 — Astara Capital Partners, LLC (“Astara”), a middle-market private equity firm, is pleased to announce the continued expansion and development of its team.

Ensuring its portfolio companies have strong executive leadership teams capable of executing the value creation plan is central to Astara’s investment strategy.  Recognizing that recruiting, augmenting, and developing management teams is a critical and full-time job, the firm has hired Diana Barr as Human Capital Operating Partner. 

“Diana has spent her entire career in executive search and has led talent acquisition and talent development at major industrial companies such as Grainger and Boeing, as well as in private equity.  Hiring someone of her caliber reflects how we regard the importance of this role.  We are confident she will add tremendous value to our portfolio companies and are excited to have her join Astara”, said Michael Ranson, Managing Partner of Astara.

“I’m excited to join Astara because the firm understands something fundamental: talent is an upstream driver of enterprise value. Astara’s commitment to operational engagement and partnership with management teams creates the ideal environment to institutionalize a differentiated talent playbook,” said Ms. Barr.  “I believe this deep appreciation of the importance of talent to a company’s success is uncommon in most of the private equity industry.”

In addition to hiring Ms. Barr, Astara continues to expand its operations team.  Gian Paolo Pernicone and Shane Januik joined the firm as Operations Associates and are responsible for assisting portfolio companies with a wide array of operational improvement initiatives. 

“From inception, we architected Astara to be a unified team of both investors and operators.  Our continued investment in the operations team pays future dividends by helping our companies execute their value creation plans.  Astara’s balanced focus on investing and operations bolsters our portfolio companies’ capabilities and helps them accelerate earnings growth,” said Mr. Ranson.

Chris Curti, an Operating Partner with Astara, added “the Operations Associate program has been very successful.  They increase the bandwidth and capabilities of portfolio company management teams and quickly become invaluable resources.  The feedback I receive from leadership teams is consistent – their involvement helped us execute faster and with greater certainty.”

About Astara Capital Partners

Astara Capital Partners is an integrated team of investors and operators investing in the middle market. The firm brings capital, strategic, and operational resources to its investments to build sustainable value and position them for long-term success. Astara focuses on a variety of sectors where it has deep experience, including packaging and converting, food, building products, forest products, and industrial manufacturing, distribution, and services. More information about Astara can be found at www.astaracapital.com.

SOURCE Astara Capital Partners