SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 2, 2025 — UpTerra, a company redefining how water performs in agriculture, announced two updates today. Stephen Birch has been appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Big Idea Ventures’ Generation Food Rural Partners Fund has made a strategic investment in the company.

Birch has been leading UpTerra’s commercial push, including recent deployments highlighted in Texas and multi-state acreage growth to +40,000 noted in prior company updates. As CEO, he will focus on scaling UpTerra market penetration across core crops and regions, building out regional teams, and strengthening grower and channel partnerships. Recent releases cite installations across thousands of acres and growing state coverage.

“Farmers are seeking solutions that deliver real results. Our goal is simple, to apply the UpTerra proven successes to every irrigated farm in the United States. We will do this by providing value field by field, helping farmers deliver higher yields, and making farm agronomics work better,” said Stephen Birch, CEO, UpTerra. “With GFRP’s support and our demonstrated momentum this year, we can help more farms turn irrigated water into rain water.”

The investment comes from the Generation Food Rural Partners Fund, part of Big Idea Ventures, which backs technologies in food, ag, and materials. The fund is led by Chief Investment Officer Tom Mastrobuoni. Prior GFRP announcements describe its mandate to commercialize innovations that matter for agriculture and rural economies.

“Big Idea Ventures, through its Generation Food Rural Partners fund, in partnership with the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology, are proud to join the existing investors in UpTerra,” shared Tom Mastrobuoni, Chief Investment Officer at Big Idea Ventures. “This fund invests in breakthrough technologies that drive rural economic development, and UpTerra’s traction with growers shows why we are excited to support the next phase.”

About UpTerra
UpTerra is a revolutionary farm performance technology company that applies advanced physics inside existing irrigation systems to restructure and enhance water. This improves infiltration, uniformity, and nutrient transport so growers see measurable efficiency and yield gains. UpTerra is installed on more than 40,000 acres nationwide across 300 farms, spanning row crops, orchards and specialty crops.

About Generation Food Rural Partners Fund
Generation Food Rural Partners is part of Big Idea Ventures, a multi-stage platform investing in technologies that will transform the global food system. The fund focuses on commercializing innovations with impact across food, agriculture, and materials.

For more information, visit upterra.co.

SOURCE UpTerra

DALLAS, Dec. 2, 2025 — GetChkd Inc. announces it has been selected by SpaceWERX for a SBIR Direct-to-Phase II contract in the amount of $1.9MM focused on Blockchain Infrastructure to address the most pressing challenges in the Department of the Air Force (DAF). The Air Force Research Laboratory and SpaceWERX, the innovation arm of the U.S. Space Force and a unique division within AFWERX, have partnered to streamline the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) process by accelerating the small business experience through faster proposal to award timelines, changing the pool of potential applicants by expanding opportunities to small business and eliminating bureaucratic overhead by continually implementing process improvement changes in contract execution. The DAF began offering the Open Topic SBIR/STTR program in 2018 which expanded the range of innovations the DAF funded and on September 27, 2025, GetChkd Inc. started its journey to create and provide innovative capabilities that will strengthen the national defense of the United States of America.

“The opportunity to extend the use of our Blockchain Infrastructure Platform, while also accelerating commercialization in the private sector, is a significant milestone for GetChkd,” said Michael Caplovitz, Founder and CEO of GetChkd. “We are honored to collaborate with SpaceWERX to advance this technology.”

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Air Force, the Department of War, or the U.S. government.

About GetChkd Inc.
GetChkd’s state-of-the-art blockchain infrastructure platform revolutionizes system connectivity, enforces user-specific mappings, and ensures immutable audit trails for every action. This guarantees unparalleled security, accountability, and reliability for a connected system of systems across various domains and classifications. GetChkd: The Foundation of Trust in a Connected World.

About SpaceWERX 
As the innovation arm of the U.S. Space Force and a unique division within AFWERX, SpaceWERX inspires and empowers collaboration with innovators to accelerate capabilities and shape our future in space. Headquartered in Los Angeles, SpaceWERX employs military, civilian and contractor personnel executing an annual $457 million budget. Additionally, SpaceWERX partners with Space Systems Command’s Commercial Space Office (COMSO) as a collaborative program. Since it was aligned under AFRL in Aug. 2021, SpaceWERX has awarded over 1,470 contracts worth more than $1.46 billion to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base and drive faster technology transition to operational capability. For more information, visit: spacewerx.us.information, visit: spacewerx.us.

About AFRL  
The Air Force Research Laboratory, or AFRL, is the primary scientific research and development center for the Department of the Air Force. AFRL plays an integral role in leading the discovery, development and integration of affordable warfighting technologies for our air, space and cyberspace forces. With a workforce spanning across nine technology areas and 40 other operations around the globe, AFRL provides a diverse portfolio of science and technology ranging from fundamental to advanced research and technology development. For more information, visit: afresearchlab.com. 

About AFWERX
As the innovation arm of the DAF and a directorate within the Air Force Research Laboratory, AFWERX brings cutting-edge American ingenuity from small businesses and start-ups to address the most pressing challenges of the DAF. Headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, AFWERX employs military, civilian and contractor personnel executing an annual $1.4 billion annual budget. Since 2019, AFWERX has awarded over 10,400 contracts worth more than $7.24 billion to strengthen the U.S. defense industrial base and drive faster technology transition to operational capability. For more information, visit: afwerx.com. 

Company Press Contact:
Michael Caplovitz
Founder and CEO, GetChkd Inc.
[email protected]
833-405-3335

SOURCE GetChkd Inc.

EMERYVILLE, Calif., Dec. 2, 2025 — Ripple Foods, the leader in high-protein, allergen-free plant-based milks, today announced $17M in new funding. The round includes new investments from Material Impact, and Rich Products Ventures, the Corporate Ventures arm for Rich Products Corporation, alongside continued support from existing investors S2G Ventures, Prelude Ventures, Fall Line Capital, Euclidean Capital, Tao Capital Partners, and Tim Koogle.

Each serving of Ripple milks and shakes delivers up to 20 grams of plant-based protein—more than any other leading non-dairy milk—while containing 50% more calcium than dairy milk, with less sugar, fewer calories, no common allergens like nuts, soy, or lactose, and is pediatrician recommended. Ripple is the only plant-based milk free from both dairy and nuts that has a nutritional profile better than dairy milk, making it a go-to for families managing dietary sensitivities.

The market for alternative protein ingredients is valued at $23B in 2024 and projected to more than double by 2030 reflecting the strong momentum behind the broader novel ingredients sector. Ripple has a successful track record of capitalizing on this consumer momentum and driving consistent, double-digit top line growth.

The new funding comes as Ripple also welcomes longtime board member and seasoned industry leader Becky O’Grady as Chief Executive Officer. O’Grady brings more than 30 years of experience building and scaling iconic food and consumer brands. She spent over two decades at General Mills, where she most recently served as President of Global Häagen-Dazs and Chief Marketing Officer for International, overseeing global marketing strategy, e-commerce, and consumer insights. She previously served as President of Yoplait USA, helping to lead the turnaround and growth of the brand within the highly competitive yogurt category.

O’Grady has served on Ripple’s Board of Directors for the past five years, bringing a deep understanding of the brand’s values, mission, and market opportunity. As CEO, she will lead Ripple’s next chapter of growth—expanding access to clean-label, allergen-free plant-based nutrition for today’s consumers while continuing to build a healthier and more sustainable food system.

“This is a pivotal moment for Ripple,” said O’Grady. “Harnessing the power of our brand and the strength of our team, we are poised to unlock our full potential. We are launching innovative new products, driving consumer penetration and customer expansion, and opening new growth horizons through transformative partnerships and capabilities.”

Ripple’s new funding will fuel several strategic initiatives:

• New Product Launches: Ripple will introduce a new line of organic plant-based milks in Q1 2026 at a time when consumers seek nutrient-dense, plant-based protein options over ultra processed alternatives. 
• Consumer and Customer Expansion: Ripple will accelerate growth on its high protein kid and core milk offerings by increasing brand differentiation and visibility while driving expanded retail distribution.
• New Partners and Channels: Ripple is expanding into foodservice channels while continuing to build on its strong momentum with major retail partners such as Target, Whole Foods and Walmart, where it has already established a loyal customer base.

“We couldn’t imagine a more exciting time to invest in Ripple Foods. With Becky at the helm and a sharp focus on growing top-line revenue and achieving profitability, the company is poised to deliver strong results in the plant-based protein market. On a human note, Ripple’s products provide a wonderful solution for the millions of families struggling to find a nutritious, tasty, and clean alternative to dairy,” said Melissa Fensterstock of Material Impact.

Ripple’s products are available nationwide in leading retailers such as Whole Foods, Target, Kroger, and Walmart, as well as online at www.ripplefoods.com

About Ripple:
Berkeley-based Ripple Foods is a leader in developing innovative and delicious dairy-free products. Using protein from yellow peas, Ripple Foods creates creamy and protein-filled products like Plant-Based Milk, Protein Shakes, and Half & Half. Sustainably produced and using significantly less water than dairy and other dairy alternatives, Ripple is a Certified Benefit Corporation, proudly built on transparency that even the smallest actions can have far-reaching impacts. Ripple products are gluten-free, 100% vegan, certified non-GMO and made without nuts, lactose and soy. For more information visit: www.ripplefoods.com and join the plant-based conversation with @ripplefoods on Instagram and Facebook.

About Material Impact:
Material Impact is a champion of the bravest ideas for the future, building deep tech companies powered by material science that solve enduring, large-scale, real-world problems. Learn more at http://www.materialimpact.com. 

SOURCE Ripple Foods

NORTH VANCOUVER, B.C., Dec. 1, 2025 – Hydron Energy Inc. announced today that it has received funding from NGIF Accelerator to support demonstration of its INTRUPTor™ solution for single stage low-cost landfill biogas upgrading at the Bailey Landfill in Chilliwack, B.C., Canada. The project is being carried out in collaboration with FortisBC and the City of Chilliwack.

“Hydron’s demonstration project at the Bailey Landfill is a critical step in showcasing the INTRUPTor™ system’s ability to efficiently remove nitrogen as well as carbon dioxide and upgrade biogas to renewable natural gas (RNG) in a single stage at a significantly reduced cost,” said Soheil Khiavi, CEO of Hydron Energy. “Our technology is the only landfill biogas upgrading system capable of achieving price parity with fossil fuels. The continued support from NGIF Accelerator has been instrumental in our commercialization journey—this marks the second project they’ve helped fund. Our solution will lower emissions, create jobs across Canada, and accelerate the clean energy transition. We’re deeply grateful for NGIF Accelerator’s commitment to supporting innovative Canadian companies like ours.”

“Hydron Energy’s INTRUPTor™ technology represents an exciting step forward in landfill biogas upgrading and renewable natural gas production. This funding commitment reflects our confidence in their innovative approach and the significant potential their technology holds to advance the energy sector,” said John Adams, President and CEO, NGIF Accelerator. “Our Industry Grants program and its focus on de-risking technologies through field trials and pilots are part of NGIF’s integrated model of industry validation, customer creation, and technology commercialization.”

Hydron Energy’s Intensified Regenerative Upgrading Platform Technology (INTRUPTor™) represents a breakthrough in gas separation and upgrading. At its core, the INTRUPTor utilizes a novel biomimicry-based metal organic framework (MOF) that upgrades raw biogas into pipeline-quality renewable natural gas. This breakthrough system operates under ambient conditions, dramatically simplifying plant design and fabrication. This innovative approach enables cost reductions of up to 50% and delivers 80% lower greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional commercial technologies. Hydron has commercialized this platform to produce RNG from anaerobic digesters, wastewater treatment facilities, and landfills.

About Hydron Energy Inc.

Hydron Energy is a British Columbia (B.C.) based company that was formed in 2020 and is providing novel clean energy solutions for various applications at lower cost and less carbon emissions. To learn more, visit https://hydron.ca/.

SOURCE Hydron Energy Inc.

SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 1, 2025 — Mixx Technologies, the innovator behind high-performance, system-scale optical connectivity for artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, today announced the successful closure of a $33 million Series A funding round. The financing was led by ICM HPQC Fund, with participation from TDK Ventures, Systemiq Capital, Banpu Innovation & Ventures, G Vision Capital, Ajinomoto Group Ventures, AVITIC Innovation Fund, and other strategic partners. The oversubscribed round reflects strong investor confidence in Mixx’s breakthrough approach.

Mixx was founded by the innovators behind Intel’s silicon photonics-based transceivers and Broadcom’s industry-first co-packaged optics (CPO) for network switches. The team has been at the forefront of every major leap in connectivity and is now uniting to eliminate the interconnect bottleneck that constrains performance and scalability of artificial intelligence. With a platform that merges photonics, advanced packaging, and system architecture, Mixx is building the foundation for faster and more parallelized AI infrastructure.

The capital will be used to advance Mixx’s product development milestones, expand its global footprint with R&D centers and ecosystem partnership in the U.S., India, and Taiwan.

“As AI infrastructure scales into the exabyte era, the very metrics of performance are shifting,” said Vivek Raghuraman, CEO and co-founder of Mixx Technologies. “What once centered on link speeds and component efficiency must now account for system-wide power, latency, and reliability measured at the data center level. Mixx is rethinking these fundamentals to optimize end-to-end data movement, where every picojoule saved and nanosecond gained compounds across trillions of interconnected nodes.”

At the heart of this shift is HBxIO™, our silicon-integrated optical engine that forms a communication platform for next-generation AI infrastructure. Combined with open standards, proprietary orchestration algorithms, and a high-radix connector, this advanced architecture bridges the compute demands of the back-end and front-end network with unprecedented speed and reliability. By delivering higher bandwidth, lower power consumption, and reduced total cost of ownership, Mixx is redefining the connectivity fabric needed to realize the full potential of tomorrow’s intelligent systems.

About Mixx Technologies

Mixx Technologies, Inc. is a deep-tech company solving the data-movement bottleneck for AI infrastructure. Mixx’s foundational multi-terabit HBxIO™ platform provides ultra-high-radix, scale-up connectivity enabling cloud service providers to deploy massive AI inference models at unprecedented speed and efficiency. Headquartered in San Jose, California, with operations in India and Taiwan, Mixx Technologies is driving the next generation of reliable, scalable and sustainable AI infrastructure.

SOURCE Mixx Technologies, Inc

Financing accelerates clinical validation and commercial readiness, as circular RNAs emerge as a new category of brain-derived blood biomarkers with best-in-class performance

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 1, 2025 — Circular Genomics, Inc., the world-leading developer of circular RNA-based precision medicine tools for neurology and psychiatry, today announced the successful closure of a $15 million Series A financing round. The financing was led by Mountain Group Partners, with participation from Poplar Grove Investors, HIP Fund, and the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF). This transformative capital will accelerate the clinical development and commercialization of Circular Genomics’ proprietary circRNA biomarker platform for the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), advancing the company’s mission to reshape the standard of care for all neurological disorders.

“This Series A financing represents a pivotal milestone in our journey to transform precision neurology, including Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis and patient care,” said Paul Sargeant, Chief Executive Officer of Circular Genomics. “The strong support from our world-class investors validates the breakthrough potential of our circular RNA platform and underscores the urgent need for accessible, comprehensive blood-based biomarkers that can detect Alzheimer’s biology at the earliest stages. With this capital, we are positioned to advance our clinical programs, expand our world-class team, and bring our first transformative test in Alzheimer’s disease to patients and physicians who desperately need better diagnostic tools.”

The Series A proceeds will be deployed strategically to advance multiple high-priority initiatives:

• Clinical Validation: Expanding clinical validation studies to demonstrate the platform’s utility across diverse patient populations and healthcare settings
• Platform Innovation: Enhancing the circRNA biomarker platform to expand beyond Alzheimer’s disease into other neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders
• Strategic Partnerships: Establishing collaborations with leading academic institutions, pharmaceutical companies, and diagnostic service providers
• Team Expansion: Recruiting world-class talent across clinical development, regulatory affairs, commercial operations, and scientific research

The Unmet Need for Early Alzheimer’s Detection

Alzheimer’s disease affects more than 7 million Americans, with diagnosis often delayed by 2-3 years after symptom onset. It is the most prevalent type of dementia, accounting for up to 80% of all dementia cases, making it the leading cause of cognitive decline among older adults. Despite this prominence, approximately 75% of all dementia cases go undiagnosed, and among patients with diagnosed dementia, roughly 50% receive no formal diagnosis. Traditional diagnostic methods, including PET imaging and cerebrospinal fluid testing, are expensive, invasive, and not widely accessible. The recent approval of disease-modifying therapies has created an unprecedented urgency for accurate, accessible blood-based biomarkers that can identify patients at the earliest disease stages—when interventions may have the most profound impact on disease trajectory.

A Transformative Solution: Circular RNA as a New Class of Blood Biomarkers

Alzheimer’s disease is now recognized as a biologically detectable condition long before clinical symptoms appear—yet current diagnostic solutions face significant limitations in accessibility, specificity, and pathway-level resolution. Despite recent advances, there remains a critical need for biomarkers that capture the full complexity of disrupted molecular pathways driving AD pathogenesis.

Circular Genomics’ circRNA platform directly addresses this gap.  Circular RNAs—highly stable, brain-enriched non-coding RNAs—regulate many of the core biological and pathogenic pathways altered in AD, including neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, synaptic dysfunction, neural plasticity, and amyloid/tau pathology. The company’s generated data demonstrated:

• Robust prediction models benchmarked against CSF, amyloid PET, and leading plasma biomarkers
• Identification of pre-symptomatic individuals at risk for progression to symptomatic AD
• Specificity for AD relative to other dementias, addressing a major barrier in early-stage diagnosis

This unique molecular signature reflects disease biology across the full AD continuum and provides a holistic, real-time window into brain health unprecedented among existing diagnostic modalities.  “The convergence of disease-modifying therapies and innovative blood-based diagnostics is creating a transformational moment in Alzheimer’s disease care,” added Andrew Lechleiter, Chief Executive Officer at Poplar Grove Investors, LLC. “Circular Genomics’ circRNA platform stands out for its ability to capture the complex biology of Alzheimer’s disease across multiple pathogenic pathways, which can provide clinicians with actionable insights, potentially even before memory and thinking issues emerge, that can fundamentally change patient care trajectories. The team’s progress in building a best-in-class biomarker signature, coupled with their strategic vision for market development, gives us tremendous confidence in their ability to execute and positively impact the lives of people affected by Alzheimer’s disease.”

Robust Data Generating a Potentially New Standard of Care

Building on the company’s recent presentation at the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease (CTAD) Conference, where findings demonstrated the platform’s potential to shift AD diagnosis from a reactive, late-stage process to an early, proactive, biologically grounded assessment, Circular Genomics is now positioned to deliver a new class of precision neurology diagnostics.

The company’s whole-blood transcriptomic models capture a broad landscape of disease-relevant circRNA signatures, enabling:

• Earlier detection before cognitive decline becomes clinically apparent
• More precise patient stratification for disease-modifying therapies
• Improved longitudinal monitoring of disease progression and therapeutic response
• Integration into primary care, expanding access to early intervention

These capabilities have the potential to fundamentally transform AD patient management—from identification of early disease biology and risk assessment to treatment selection and disease monitoring. By providing an accurate, accessible, and comprehensive molecular assessment of Alzheimer’s disease, Circular Genomics empowers physicians to identify patients at the earliest stages of the disease—even before symptoms appear—and match them with appropriate preventative interventions or disease-modifying therapies.

“Circular Genomics represents a rare opportunity to invest in a truly transformative diagnostic platform that addresses one of healthcare’s most pressing unmet needs,” said Joe Cook III, Managing Director at Mountain Group Partners. “The company’s circular RNA technology provides a fundamentally different and more comprehensive view of Alzheimer’s disease biology than existing biomarkers. Combined with the team’s world-class scientific expertise and the compelling clinical data they have generated; we believe Circular Genomics is uniquely positioned to become the leader in precision neurology diagnostics. We are honored to support their mission to enable earlier detection and better treatment outcomes for millions of patients.”

About Circular Genomics

Circular Genomics is the world-leading developer of circular RNA-based precision medicine tools, data and diagnostics for precision neurology and psychiatry. Leveraging exclusive licenses and pioneering technologies in circular RNA, Circular Genomics is aiming to reshape the standard of care for the early identification of neurological and psychiatric diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, major depressive disorder, and bipolar disorder. Initial products include assays to assess and tailor optimal patient management care pathways resulting in more personalized and effective delivery of care. The company’s proprietary circRNA biomarker platform integrates advanced transcriptomics to generate sophisticated models of disease risk and progression, providing comprehensive insights into the multiple disrupted pathways critical to disease biology and pathology. For additional details, please visit www.circulargenomics.com. 

SOURCE Circular Genomics

“Like Sentry, but for AI Agents” – Funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners will enable Raindrop to meet enterprise demand and become the default monitoring solution for AI agents.

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 1, 2025 — Raindrop, the monitoring platform for AI agents, announced $15M in seed funding led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. The funding will enable Raindrop to meet enterprise demand, and continue defining the frontier of production monitoring and issue detection for AI agents.

The round includes participation from leading AI companies including Figma Ventures, Vercel Ventures, founders of Replit (Amjad Masad and Michele Castata), Cognition (Walden Yan), Framer (Koen Bok and Joen van Dijk), Speak (Andrew Hsu), Notion (Akshay Kothari), and YC.

“AI agents are more capable than ever. They’re reasoning longer, using more tools, and connecting to MCP servers. Some agents now run autonomously for hours,” said Raindrop CEO Zubin Koticha. “Traditional testing methods, like evals, aren’t capable of handling the complexity of these long trajectories. This leaves engineering teams in the dark – unable to discover or track issues. Raindrop is the first monitoring platform to solve this problem.”

AI agents are increasingly entrusted with high-stakes tasks and deployed across critical sectors like healthcare and financial services; failures mean business-critical or even life-threatening issues. Recent headlines have been flooded by issues like ChatGPT encouraging users to stop taking medication or Air Canada being sued because their chatbot promised refunds they couldn’t honor.

Legacy monitoring tools for AI agents simply provided latency or token usage metrics. At best, they offered unreliable or generic metrics like toxicity or user sentiment. These metrics were not effective at revealing errors in AI agents.

Raindrop established the new standard for monitoring AI agent behavior: small, custom models that adapt to the unique shape of each AI product. This enables engineers to monitor signals that were previously invisible. For example, in addition to Raindrop’s default signals like “User Frustration,” customers can define custom signals like “UI Aesthetic Complaints” or “Agent Stuck in a Loop” and see incident rates over millions of events. Raindrop then triggers Sentry-style notifications when problems emerge.

To discover hidden issues, Raindrop’s AI agents work in the background to triage and investigate potential issue patterns. When a new issue is detected, like the agent encouraging toxic user behavior, Raindrop collects information on the issue and generates step-by-step explanations of what happened.

“We keep seeing AI engineering teams struggling with agent failures in production, and traditional evals are not really helping,” said Bucky Moore, Partner at Lightspeed. “We invested in Raindrop because they defined monitoring for AI agents. They made an early bet that monitoring would be the most critical part of building reliable agents, and they’ve been right. They’re growing fast as Raindrop is being embraced by some of the most forward-thinking engineering teams in AI. Lightspeed is thrilled to partner with Alexis, Ben, Zubin, and team to help them scale Raindrop into the default agent observability platform for enterprises and startups alike.”

Today Raindrop works with frontier AI customers processing millions of events each day to help quickly discover, monitor and resolve critical issues. Many of these teams use Raindrop Experiments, the first A/B testing platform for agents, to validate and iterate on solutions (tool, model or broader pipeline changes) and see if their fixes actually worked.

“Raindrop has been invaluable as we’ve been growing quickly,” said Evan Goldschmidt, CTO Tolan. “It’s critical for us to keep issue incidence below an acceptable threshold and become aware of any spikes. It’s like if we see an iOS crash report in Sentry, but for our AI capabilities.”

“Our founding team was building a coding agent ourselves and kept running into silent agent failures in production. When we did YC we saw everybody building agents in our batch had the same problem,” said Zubin Koticha, Raindrop’s CEO.

Raindrop was founded by Ben Hylak, Zubin Koticha and Alexis Gauba. Alexis and Zubin are second-time founders (previous company acquired by Coinbase); Ben was an engineer at Apple, before joining Apple’s elite Human Interface (HI) Design team where he worked for four years.

About Raindrop
Raindrop is an applied AI research company building “Sentry for AI agents” – monitoring infrastructure that catches when AI agents fail silently in production. Raindrop allows AI engineering teams to discover, track, and fix issues with their agents. Raindrop is backed by Lightspeed Venture Partners and other leading investors. https://www.raindrop.ai/

About Lightspeed Venture Partners
Lightspeed Venture Partners is a multi-stage venture capital firm focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends in the Enterprise, Consumer, Health, and Fintech sectors. Over the past 25 years, the Lightspeed team has backed hundreds of entrepreneurs and helped build more than 500 companies globally, including Abridge, Affirm, Anthropic, Cato Networks, Epic Games, Glean, Mistral, Moveworks, Navan, Netskope, Rubrik, Snap, Wiz and more. Lightspeed and its global team currently manage $30B in AUM across the Lightspeed platform, with investment professionals and advisors in the U.S., Europe, India, Israel, and Southeast Asia. www.lsvp.com

SOURCE Raindrop

CINCINNATI, Dec. 1, 2025 — Omni Fiber, a leading provider of high-speed fiber optic Internet services in the Midwest, today announced the closing of $150 million in incremental debt financing from Stonepeak Credit and Oak Hill Advisors (OHA), alongside an incremental $50 million equity investment from Oak Hill Capital. Additionally, Omni Fiber has closed a $10 million working capital facility with Republic Bank & Trust Company.

Founded in 2022 by management and Oak Hill Capital, Omni Fiber has invested over $400 million in building an XGS-PON fiber network and is on track to reach approximately 340,000 locations by the end of the year. The incremental financing from Stonepeak Credit and OHA, which follows a previous $150 million in debt financing from Stonepeak Credit announced in July 2024, will fund Omni Fiber’s continued expansion into more communities throughout the Midwest and Texas.

Omni Fiber provided service to its first community in December 2022 and now serves residential and business customers in approximately 60 small and mid-size communities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Texas. Construction is in progress in approximately 25 communities, and network design and engineering activities are ongoing in many others.

Omni Fiber’s founding CEO, Darrick Zucco said, “We are grateful that the additional funds will accelerate our rapid expansion to bring fiber-optic connectivity to those who have been previously underserved. We welcome our new funding partners OHA and Republic Bank.”

Scott Baker, Managing Partner at Oak Hill Capital, added, “We are proud of our strong operating performance driven by the Omni Fiber management team and very pleased with the company’s continued growth. The Oak Hill additional equity investment, together with the incremental financing from debt partners, underscores our belief in the Omni Fiber business model.”

Ryan Roberge, Senior Managing Director at Stonepeak, added, “We continue to be impressed with the Omni Fiber team’s execution of their business plan. We are excited to upsize our investment and continue supporting the team and the high-quality fiber network they are deploying for customers in the Midwest.”

Greg Leveto, Portfolio Manager and Partner at OHA, said, “Omni Fiber has demonstrated strong execution and a clear commitment to expanding high-quality fiber broadband access in underserved communities. We are pleased to partner with Stonepeak and Oak Hill Capital Partners to support the company’s next phase of growth.”

About Omni Fiber
Founded in 2022, Omni Fiber is backed by Oak Hill Capital, one of the largest investment firms in the telecommunications industry. Based in Ohio, Omni Fiber is led by a leadership team with 100+ years of combined industry experience and provides 100% fiber-optic broadband Internet, TV, and Phone services to residential and business customers in the United States. Omni Fiber offers symmetrical speeds of up to 10 Gbps, no hidden fees, no data caps, Premium Wi-Fi included, local customer service, and competitive pricing. For more information, please visit www.omnifiber.com.

About Oak Hill Capital
Oak Hill Capital is a thematic, middle-market private equity firm focused primarily on investing in resilient, defensive growth-oriented services businesses in North America. The firm takes a systematic approach to identifying and building enduring franchises aligned with high conviction themes in (i) digital infrastructure; (ii) financial services; and (iii) essential services. Headquartered in New York City, with offices in Menlo Park and Stamford, over its ~40-year history, Oak Hill has invested in over 110 companies and has raised over $24 billion of initial capital commitments and co-investments since inception. For more information, please visit www.oakhill.com.

About Stonepeak Credit
Stonepeak Credit is the credit investing arm of Stonepeak, a leading alternative investment firm specializing in infrastructure and real assets with approximately $80 billion of assets under management. Stonepeak Credit targets credit investments across the transportation and logistics, energy and energy transition, digital infrastructure, and social infrastructure sectors that provide essential services with downside protection, high barriers to entry and visible, recurring revenue generation. We seek to provide capital solutions that are flexible across the capital structure while generating cash yield through majority senior secured credit investments.

Stonepeak is headquartered in New York with offices in Houston, Washington, D.C., London, Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Abu Dhabi, and Riyadh. For more information, please visit www.stonepeak.com.

About OHA
Oak Hill Advisors (OHA) is a leading global credit-focused alternative asset manager with over 30 years of investment experience. OHA works with institutions and individuals and seeks to deliver a consistent track record of attractive risk-adjusted returns. The firm manages approximately $108 billion of capital across credit strategies, including private credit, high yield bonds, leveraged loans, stressed and distressed debt and collateralized loan obligations as of September 30, 2025. OHA’s emphasis on long-term partnerships with companies, sponsors and other partners provides access to a proprietary opportunity set, allowing for customized credit solutions across market cycles.
With over 400 experienced professionals across six global offices, OHA brings a collaborative approach to offering investors a single platform to meet their diverse credit needs. OHA is the private markets platform of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc. (NASDAQ – GS: TROW). For more information, please visit www.oakhilladvisors.com.

Omni Fiber Media Contact:
Andres Tovar
[email protected]
513-480-9610

SOURCE Omni Fiber

COSTA MESA, Calif., Dec. 1, 2025 — CerraCap Ventures and Impact Venture Capital today announced their merger to form CerraCap Impact Venture Capital (CIVC), creating one of the most globally connected venture platforms in the industry. The combined firm brings together an unmatched network of corporate customers, corporate investors, and strategic acquirers—positioning CIVC as a first-of-its-kind partner for founders needing rapid commercial validation and scalable enterprise adoption.

CIVC integrates CerraCap’s Sales & Scale™ commercialization engine with Impact Venture Capital’s Corporate Intelligence Platform™, a deep corporate development and investment network, spanning Fortune 500 companies and global strategic investors. Together, the platform gives startups accelerated access to enterprise customers, co-investors, corporate venture groups, and potential acquirers—shortening the path from early-stage innovation to revenue and ultimately to exit.

Operating at the intersection of enterprise AI, cybersecurity, digital health, national security, and advanced computing, CIVC will support founders building mission-critical technologies in sectors where commercial traction often depends on complex buyer landscapes. The firm’s combined global footprint across North America, Europe, India, and emerging markets enables founders to access international customer and investor networks far earlier in their journey.

CIVC’s leadership emphasized that the merger formalizes a long-standing collaborative relationship built on aligned values and complementary strengths.

Saurabh Ranjan, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, CerraCap Ventures, said:
“This merger creates a global institution built to deliver predictable, repeatable commercial outcomes for founders and investors.”

Saurabh Suri, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, CerraCap Ventures, added:
“Our cultural alignment and shared belief in value-creation beyond capital made this the natural next step.”

Eric Ball, Founding General Partner, Impact Venture Capital, noted:
“CIVC reflects the future of venture capital—global, integrated, and institutionally mature.”

Jack Crawford, Founding General Partner, Impact Venture Capital, stated:
“By unifying our platforms, we’re giving startups unparalleled access to corporate customers, investors, and strategic acquirers. Our goal is simple: shorten the time between innovation, adoption, and successful exit.”

CIVC and its partners are actively involved with the National Venture Capital Association’s CVC programs and serve as leaders in the Kauffman Fellows Corporate Venture Capital Special Interest Group, reinforcing the firm’s commitment to elevating corporate–startup collaboration across the global innovation ecosystem.

CerraCap Impact Venture Capital will continue building partnerships that connect founders directly to the enterprises and governments shaping the next decade of innovation.

More information is available at https://cerracapimpact.vc.

Contact: Nikki Arora, [email protected]

SOURCE CerraCap Ventures