–  SignSplit cierra una ronda semilla estratégica de 400 millones de dólares con una valoración de 1.000 millones de dólares

Esta empresa emergente de tecnología permite a personas e instituciones proteger, licenciar y recibir una compensación por sus datos, obras e imagen, conectándolas con la creciente demanda de datos humanos del mundo real en los ámbitos de la inteligencia artificial, la investigación y los medios de comunicación

WILMINGTON, Del., 5 de octubre de 2026 — SignSplit PBC, una empresa tecnológica de rápido crecimiento que permite a personas e instituciones proteger, licenciar y aportar sus datos, obras e imagen, ha salido hoy del modo confidencial tras asegurar una ronda semilla estratégica de 400 millones de dólares con W Group, el ecosistema global de tecnología y fintech que presta servicios a más de 40 millones de usuarios. El compromiso de financiación, que valora a SignSplit en 1.000 millones de dólares, combina capital con un paquete plurianual de recursos estratégicos para respaldar el despliegue global de la compañía.

La próxima generación de IA dependerá cada vez más de datos, conocimientos, creatividad y experiencia humanos del mundo real, abarcando ámbitos que van desde los modelos avanzados y la robótica hasta la ciencia, la atención sanitaria, los medios de comunicación y el entretenimiento. SignSplit permite a personas e instituciones participar de forma proactiva en ese futuro mediante la protección, la concesión de licencias y la aportación de sus datos, obras e imagen, siempre con consentimiento, una procedencia clara y condiciones definidas. SignSplit denomina a esto “datos firmados”.

A través de SignSplit, las empresas de IA y robótica, los investigadores y otras organizaciones pueden acceder a conjuntos de datos y recursos de investigación creados en función de necesidades específicas, mientras que los colaboradores aportan datos del mundo real, conocimientos y habilidades, recibiendo una compensación por su participación. SignSplit también incorpora una capa de verificación de datos, trabajo e imagen, diseñada para permitir que los sistemas de IA, las plataformas de redes sociales y otros servicios digitales identifiquen contenido en lengua de signos y accedan a la información asociada sobre su procedencia, consentimiento y condiciones.

“SignSplit ofrece soluciones para un mundo en el que la frontera entre la experiencia humana y la tecnología es cada vez más difusa”, afirmó Alessandro Monterosso, cofundador y consejero delegado de SignSplit. “A medida que la IA se adentra más en el mundo real, el conocimiento, la creatividad, las habilidades y la identidad de las personas estarán cada vez más vinculados a la evolución de la tecnología y a su interacción con el entorno. Creemos que SignSplit y el uso de datos firmados pueden servir de puente entre ambos ámbitos, conectando la contribución humana con la protección, la participación y la compensación a medida que avanza la tecnología”.

“SignSplit establece un nuevo estándar para el uso de datos, trabajos e imágenes de particulares e instituciones”, comentó Volodymyr Nosov, fundador y presidente de W Group. “Creemos que todos los actores relevantes en el ámbito de la IA y la economía de datos terminarán dependiendo de la infraestructura de SignSplit. La magnitud de nuestro compromiso refleja tanto la etapa inicial en la que consideramos que nos encontramos como la gran importancia que atribuimos a estas soluciones para cualquier industria que dependa de datos de origen humano”.

SignSplit fue fundada en 2024 por Glib Denisov, cofundador, presidente ejecutivo y director de producto. “Cuando pusimos en marcha SignSplit en 2024, desarrollábamos soluciones pensando en hacia dónde creíamos que se dirigía la IA, no en el punto en el que se encontraba en ese momento”, destacó Glib Denisov. “Vimos que la próxima generación de IA necesitaría algo más que datos adicionales: requeriría datos del mundo real de mayor calidad, con una procedencia clara y con los permisos y derechos correspondientes asociados”.

Acerca de SignSplit

SignSplit PBC es una empresa tecnológica que desarrolla la infraestructura para la economía de datos firmados. Fundada en 2024 y constituida como una corporación de beneficio público de Delaware, SignSplit conecta a personas e instituciones con empresas de IA y robótica, investigadores y plataformas de medios a través de su plataforma de datos firmados. La empresa proporciona la infraestructura necesaria para proteger, licenciar y aportar datos humanos del mundo real —así como otras formas de contribución humana— garantizando el consentimiento, una procedencia clara y condiciones definidas.

Obtenga más información y regístrese en SignSplit en signsplit.com.

Acerca de W Group

W Group es un ecosistema global de empresas que da forma al futuro a través de la tecnología, la innovación y productos ambiciosos. Actualmente, W Group reúne a 11 empresas, más de 1.500 colaboradores en 15 sedes alrededor del mundo y más de 40 millones de clientes en 150 países. Para más información, visite https://www.w.group/.

Declaraciones prospectivas

Este comunicado de prensa contiene declaraciones prospectivas relativas a los planes de SignSplit, su relación estratégica con W Group y las perspectivas de evolución del mercado. Dichas declaraciones se basan en las expectativas actuales y están sujetas a riesgos e incertidumbres; los resultados reales podrían diferir sustancialmente, y ninguna de las empresas asume obligación alguna de actualizarlas. Ninguna parte de este comunicado de prensa constituye una oferta o solicitud en relación con ningún valor o activo digital.

The technology startup enables people and institutions to protect, license and receive compensation for their data, work and likeness — connecting them with the growing demand for real-world human data across AI, research and media.

WILMINGTON, Del., Oct. 5, 2026 — SignSplit PBC, a fast-growing technology company that enables people and institutions to protect, license and contribute their data, work and likeness, today emerged from stealth with a $400 million strategic seed round secured with W Group, the global fintech and technology ecosystem serving more than 40 million users. The financing commitment, which values SignSplit at $1 billion, combines capital with a multi-year package of strategic resources to support SignSplit’s global rollout.

The next generation of AI will increasingly depend on real-world human data, knowledge, creativity and experience across fields ranging from advanced models and robotics to science, healthcare, media and entertainment. SignSplit enables people and institutions to proactively participate in that future by protecting, licensing and contributing their data, work and likeness with consent, clear provenance and defined terms. SignSplit calls this “signed data.”

Through SignSplit, AI and robotics companies, researchers and other organizations can access data and research pools built around specific needs, while contributors provide real-world data, knowledge and skills and receive compensation for their participation. SignSplit also includes a verification layer for data, work and likeness, designed to enable AI systems, social media platforms and other digital services to identify signed content and access its associated provenance, consent and terms.

“SignSplit provides solutions for a world where the boundary between human experience and technology is becoming increasingly fluid,” said Alessandro Monterosso, Co-Founder and CEO of SignSplit. “As AI reaches further into the real world, human knowledge, creativity, skills and identity will become increasingly connected to how technology evolves and interacts with the world around us. We believe SignSplit and the use of signed data can become the bridge between the two, connecting human contribution with protection, participation and compensation as technology advances.”

“SignSplit brings a new standard for the use of individuals’ and institutions’ data, work and likenesses,” said Volodymyr Nosov, Founder and President of W Group. “We believe that every serious participant in AI and the data economy will come to rely on SignSplit’s infrastructure. The scale of our commitment reflects both how early we believe we are, and how important we believe these solutions are for every industry that relies on human data.”

SignSplit was founded in 2024 by Glib Denisov, Co-Founder, Executive Chairman and Chief Product Officer. “When we started SignSplit in 2024, we were building for where we believed AI was going, not where it was at the time,” said Glib Denisov. “We saw that the next generation of AI would need more than additional data — it would need higher-quality, real-world data with clear provenance, permission and rights attached to it.”

About SignSplit

SignSplit PBC is a technology company building the infrastructure for the signed-data economy. Founded in 2024 and incorporated as a Delaware Public Benefit Corporation, SignSplit connects people and institutions with AI and robotics companies, researchers and media platforms through its signed-data platform. The company provides infrastructure for protecting, licensing and contributing real-world human data and other forms of human contribution with consent, clear provenance and defined terms.

Learn more and sign up for SignSplit at signsplit.com.

About W Group

W Group is a global ecosystem of companies shaping the future through technology, innovation and ambitious products. Today, W Group brings together 11 businesses, 1,500+ team members across 15 locations worldwide, and more than 40 million clients across 150 countries. For more information, please visit https://www.w.group/. 

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding SignSplit’s plans, its strategic relationship with W Group and expected market developments. These statements are based on current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties; actual results may differ materially, and neither company undertakes any obligation to update them. Nothing in this press release constitutes an offer or solicitation with respect to any security or digital asset.

Shionogi & Co., Ltd. and Teikoku Ventures, Inc. Join the Round to Accelerate 
U.S. Clinical Trial Preparations for CLD-001

TOKYO, Oct. 4, 2026 — Celaid Therapeutics Inc. (Head Office: Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan; President and CEO: Nobuyuki Arakawa; “Celaid”) today announced the completion of the second close of its Series B financing round. The round welcomed Shionogi & Co., Ltd. and Teikoku Ventures, Inc. as new investors, raising a total of JPY 400 million (approximately USD 2.6 million). In addition, Celaid passed the second stage-gate review of AMED’s “Strengthening Program for Pharmaceutical Startup Ecosystem” and was selected for Stage 3 funding. With this financing and AMED support, Celaid’s cumulative funding raised to date, including grants, now totals approximately JPY 3.42 billion (approximately USD 22.1 million).

The participating investors cited CLD-001’s development progress and its therapeutic potential as key factors in their investment decisions. The new participation from pharmaceutical companies represents significant momentum for Celaid as it advances the U.S. development of CLD-001.

CLD-001 is a novel ex vivo-expanded hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) therapy product being developed for severe pediatric non-malignant diseases. Celaid is advancing the CLD-001 program toward the initiation of a first-in-human clinical trial in the United States, with preparations underway across the nonclinical, cell manufacturing and CMC (Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls), clinical, and regulatory activities. To date, the CLD-001 program has achieved the following key milestones:

Key Development Milestones for CLD-001

• Positive nonclinical data supporting the efficacy and safety profile of CLD-001 in animal models
• Established the manufacturing process for CLD-001 and completed technology transfer to a U.S. contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO)
• Completed a Pre-IND Meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and advanced preparations toward an IND submission and clinical trial initiation

Proceeds from this financing will be allocated primarily to manufacturing, safety assessment, clinical development, and regulatory activities in support of CLD-001’s IND application and the initiation of clinical trials in the United States. Celaid will also continue to strengthen its proprietary hematopoietic stem cell expansion platform and pursue its application to new therapeutic modalities and business opportunities in the cell and gene therapy field.

“We are greatly encouraged by the participation of Shionogi & Co. and Teikoku Ventures as new investors in this round. We are also deeply grateful for AMED’s approval of our advancement to Stage 3 under the “Strengthening Program for Pharmaceutical Startup Ecosystem” and for its continued support. Through this financing and AMED’s support, we will steadily advance our preparations toward initiating clinical trials for CLD-001 in the United States. Our goal is to become a global leader in the hematopoietic stem cell field and, from Japan, deliver innovative treatment options to patients worldwide by advancing both our HSC-based pipeline and our platform business.”
— Nobuyuki Arakawa, President and CEO, Celaid Therapeutics, Inc.

Series B Second Close Overview

Amount Raised: JPY 400 million (approximately USD 2.6 million)
Method: Third-party allocation of new shares (private placement)
New Investors (Underwriters):

• Shionogi & Co., Ltd.
• Teikoku Ventures, Inc. (a corporate venture capital company within the TEIKOKU SEIYAKU Group)

Grant Awarded:
AMED “Strengthening Program for Pharmaceutical Startup Ecosystem” – Stage 3

Comments from Investors

“Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation can offer the only curative treatment option for certain serious hematologic and inherited diseases, particularly in pediatric patients. However, significant challenges remain, including donor shortages and post-transplant complications.
We believe Celaid’s hematopoietic stem cell expansion technology represents an innovative approach with the potential to overcome these challenges and provide treatment opportunities to more patients. We highly value Celaid’s technology and vision, which strongly align with SHIONOGI’s commitment to protecting people’s health and addressing societal challenges through the creation of new value. For these reasons, we have decided to invest in Celaid Therapeutics Inc.
We look forward to Celaid’s continued progress in global development and hope that CLD-001, an innovative cell therapy, will ultimately reach as many patients as possible.”
— Keisuke Kusumoto, Director, Head of CVC, Corporate Planning Department, Corporate Strategy Division, Shionogi & Co., Ltd.

“We are highly encouraged by Celaid Therapeutics’ novel ex vivo hematopoietic stem cell expansion technology, which has the potential to serve as a foundational platform for cell and gene therapies targeting hematologic malignancies, other severe hematologic disorders, and genetic diseases, as well as for ex vivo hematopoietic stem cell gene therapies.
We also view this investment as an important opportunity to support a Japan-originated startup with innovative scientific capabilities. Furthermore, we believe it represents a significant milestone in our efforts to advance open innovation and contribute to the creation of new treatment options for patients.”
— Mitsuhiro Matsumura, Chief Executive Officer, Teikoku Ventures, Inc.

About Hematopoietic Stem Cells

Hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) are stem cells capable of differentiating into the various blood and immune cell types, including red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. HSCs also possess the capacity for self-renewal, ensuring lifelong maintenance of the hematopoietic system. Because HSCs are typically present only in very limited quantities within the body or within collected samples, securing a sufficient quantity for therapeutic use remains a significant challenge.

About CLD-001

CLD-001 is being developed as an HSC product for severe pediatric non-malignant diseases. For serious diseases such as primary immunodeficiency, inherited metabolic disorders, aplastic anemia, and sickle cell disease, allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation represents an important treatment option with curative potential. However, allogeneic HSC transplantation continues to face significant unmet needs, including donor-related challenges such as a shortage of matched donors and HLA mismatches, as well as serious complications following transplantation, including graft failure, transplant-related mortality, and graft-versus-host disease (GvHD).

Using frozen umbilical cord blood stored in cord blood banks as its cell source, CLD-001 applies Celaid’s proprietary hematopoietic stem cell expansion technology to overcome the limited number of hematopoietic stem cells contained in cord blood, while enabling greater flexibility in selecting cord blood units with more favorable HLA matching. Through this approach, Celaid aims to contribute to improved overall survival following allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

About Celaid Therapeutics Inc.

Celaid Therapeutics Inc. is a biotechnology startup originating from the University of Tokyo and the University of Tsukuba, with proprietary technology for the selective ex vivo expansion of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), which give rise to all blood cells. By enabling the safe and efficient expansion of human HSCs, Celaid aims to advance next-generation cell and gene therapies, including HSC-based therapies for hematologic and genetic diseases, ex vivo HSC gene therapies, and regenerative therapies for ischemic diseases.

Contact Information
Celaid Therapeutics Inc.
Address: UTokyo Entrepreneur Lab., South Clinical Research Bldg., 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8485, Japan
E-mail: [email protected]
URL: https://celaidtx.com/en/

SOURCE Celaid Therapeutics Inc.

Strong demand leads to expanded funding, new rebate options

DIAMOND BAR, Calif., Oct. 2, 2026 — Following strong public demand and a successful launch, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (South Coast AQMD) Governing Board today approved $60.2 million in additional funding for the GO ZERO Incentive Program.

The expansion builds on the program’s initial $21 million pilot, which has already helped more than 3,000 single-family homes and 700 multifamily units replace gas furnaces and water heaters with zero-emission heat pumps for space and water heating.

The GO ZERO pilot program launched in September 2025, offering rebates to single-family homeowners, multifamily property owners, and small businesses* to switch from gas to zero-emission space and water heating units. Demand quickly exceeded available funding. Multifamily funding was fully reserved within two weeks of the program launch, and single-family funding was exhausted in less than 6 months.

“GO ZERO has shown just how eager our communities are to move away from polluting gas appliances when we make it more affordable to do so,” said South Coast AQMD Governing Board Chair Michael A. Cacciotti. “This expansion lets us build on that momentum and provides this opportunity for more residents across our region.”

The increased funding will provide $20 million each for single-family and multifamily rebates, plus $20 million in funding to allocate to either category based on demand. Other changes to the program include:

• More Options: Solar water heating will now qualify for rebates along with heat pump water heaters. 
• New Rebate** Tiers: Rebates will range from $500 to $1,000 for most single-family households, depending on system type and size, with higher amounts of $1,000-$2,000 available in overburdened communities. Multifamily rebates will range from $500-$1,000 per unit, with a $300,000 cap per property. New tiers will also support smaller systems such as mini-split and window heat pumps, making electrification more accessible for smaller homes and apartments.
• More Access to Multifamily Funding: Updated reservation requirements and limits will be implemented to help distribute funding across more properties.

At least 75 percent of single-family and multifamily rebate funding will continue to be prioritized for applicants in overburdened communities. GO ZERO rebates may also be combined with other eligible incentives, helping residents and property owners further reduce the cost of installing qualifying heat pump technologies.

Zero-emission heat pumps provide both heating and cooling and operate up to three to four times more efficiently than traditional gas systems. Replacing gas furnaces, air conditioners, and water heaters with heat pumps—or qualifying solar systems—can reduce energy use and air pollution.

Applications and updated program details including portal reopening date will be available at www.aqmd.gov/gozero. Rebates will be processed while funding lasts; property owners and small businesses are encouraged to apply early.

*Eligible small businesses include independently owned and operated businesses that meet at least one of the following: 100 or fewer employees, annual gross receipts of $5 million or less, or, nonprofits exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3).

**Qualified units installed on or after September 4, 2026 will be eligible for Phase 2 rebate funding.

South Coast AQMD is the regulatory agency responsible for improving air quality for large areas of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, including the Coachella Valley. For news, air quality alerts, event updates and more, please visit us at www.aqmd.gov, download our award-winning app, or follow us on Facebook, X (formerly known as Twitter) and Instagram.

SOURCE SOUTH COAST AQMD

The agentic infrastructure leader is adding support for millions of new agents each month as AI accelerates software creation

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 2, 2026 — Supabase, the leader in agentic infrastructure and open source Postgres development platform, today announced $150 million in new funding led by GIC, with Alphabet’s independent growth fund CapitalG, IronArc, and SquarePeg also participating. The investment comes just four months after the company’s $500 million Series F, as AI coding tools and agents drive another major uptick in Supabase’s growth. Supabase also announced it is acquiring Turso, a platform that allows developers to access higher volumes of databases for agentic workloads.

The round and acquisition will accelerate Supabase’s continued product development around agent-driven databases. This round will also provide liquidity for employees, which the founders think is an important and vital part of being the best company for engineers.

“The past year has been the fastest growth in our history by a wide margin. We’re grateful for the support from our existing and new investment partners like CapitalG. Their connections to the broader Alphabet ecosystem will be invaluable as we build for our next level of growth,” said Paul Copplestone, Co-founder and CEO of Supabase. “The future is agents and the architecture Turso provides will help us accelerate Supabase as the backend platform for supporting that future.”

INVESTING IN BUILDERS AND THE SUPABASE COMMUNITY

Supabase is now adding more than 1M users and 4M databases per month with 70% of new databases created by agents or AI-driven tools. The growth follows a 600% year-over-year increase in databases reported in June, when agents were already deploying the majority of new databases on the platform.

Claude Code, Codex, and other AI coding tools are expanding both the number of people who can build software and the amount of software they can create. Supabase has seen successive waves of growth as AI app builders opened software development to a broader audience, followed by another major acceleration as coding agents became capable of building increasingly sophisticated applications. Supabase’s goal is to become the first place developers and agents turn when they need backend support.

“Supabase has established itself as the critical open infrastructure layer powering the AI revolution,” said Derek Zanutto, general partner at CapitalG. “We’re proud to back one of the fastest growing private database companies on the planet as Paul and the team empower millions of developers and agents to build at unprecedented speed.”

SUPABASE ACQUIRING TURSO

As AI labs and builders continue scaling agentic deployments, the need for large numbers of databases compounds. An agent should be able to create a database instantly, and platforms should be able to launch enormous numbers of isolated databases without the overhead of provisioning a dedicated machine for each one.

These evolving requirements are why Supabase is acquiring Turso, whose team built a tremendously successful architecture that offers databases at a low cost. Their architecture enables the provisioning of on-demand per-agent databases both in the public Cloud and BYOC, for customers like Superhuman, Sauna.ai, CTO.new, and Mastra.

Both companies have a strong focus on open source, developer experience, a willingness to tackle hard problems, and a shared understanding for how infrastructure will evolve to support the future of agentic AI. The Turso platform will continue operations, with a clear graduation path into the rest of the Supabase ecosystem.

According to Glauber Costa, founder of Turso who will join Supabase as Head of Agentic Services alongside his co-founder Pekka Enberg and the rest of the Turso team: “From the start of our journey, I’ve had as a goal to serve upwards of a billion databases to our customers. Being a part of Supabase, with its gargantuan developer success and ever-growing partner ecosystem will bring this goal closer.”

About Supabase

Supabase is the leader in agentic infrastructure and open source Postgres development platform. More than 13 million developers use Supabase to build and scale applications. Founded in 2020, Supabase provides a complete backend — Postgres database, authentication, storage, edge functions, real-time subscriptions, and vector search — alongside a growing marketplace of 100+ integrated partner tools. Learn more at supabase.com.

SOURCE Supabase

Some of the most hotly contested midterm races are in Texas, where Democratic donors are showing up in force — the state ranks third in fundraising volume since the last midterm in 2022.

BOSTON, Oct. 2, 2026 — ActBlue, the one-stop shop for campaign tools, today announced major Democratic fundraising milestones following the close of Q3 2026. What began as a fundraising platform in 2004 has evolved into the premier campaign technology provider for candidates up and down the ballot, with total fundraising past $20 billion – demonstrating the urgency and momentum everyday Americans feel in supporting Democratic candidates in 2026.

“Crossing $20 billion is a milestone, but the real story is the pace and the people behind it. We hit $19 billion in May and $20 billion in September. In Q3 alone, more than 3 million donors made over 19 million contributions, averaging just $44 each. That’s small-dollar democracy at scale, and it’s building real power heading into the midterms,” said ActBlue CEO and President Regina Wallace-Jones.

By the numbers

• $833 million total raised
• $601 million raised for federal campaigns
• $180 million raised for state and local campaigns
• 3 million+ donors
• 19 million contributions
• $44 average contribution
• Hundreds of thousands of new donors

Compared to Q3 2022 (last non-presidential cycle):

• $187 million more raised (up 29%)
• Nearly 5 million more contributions

By the states

• State-by-state breakdown of Q3: Top 10 states in order of most fundraising volume to least are: CA, NY, TX, FL, MA, MI, WA, IL, VA, and NC, ranging from $132 million raised in California to $25 million in North Carolina.
• State-by-state breakdown of 2026: Top 10 states in order of most fundraising volume to least are: CA, NY, TX, MA, FL, IL, WA, VA, NC, MI, ranging from $326 million raised in California to $59.6 million in Michigan.
• State-by-state breakdown of 2022 midterms to date: Since the beginning of the 2022 cycle, the top 10 donating states (most to least in terms of fundraising volume) are: CA, NY, TX, MA, FL, WA, IL, PA, VA, MD.

Ready to do your part? Visit www.actblue.com to get involved.

For more than two decades, ActBlue has been a trusted, secure, and vital part of American democracy, providing Democratic campaigns, organizations, and donors with a full suite of tools to participate and win at every level of the ballot. To learn more about ActBlue, visit www.actblue.com.

SOURCE ActBlue, LLC

PALO ALTO, Calif., Oct. 1, 2026 — PaleBlueDot AI (“the Company”), a Silicon Valley-based Super Intelligence platform founded in 2024, today announced the completion of a $200 million Series C financing led by ComputeCore at a valuation of $3.2 billion.

The round follows the Company’s $150 million Series B financing announced in January. B Capital, an existing shareholder, participated in the Series C along with other global investors.

Founded in 2024 and headquartered in Palo Alto, PaleBlueDot AI’s Super Intelligence Infrastructure Platform brings together self-owned GPU clusters, GPU marketplace and serverless inference businesses. Its mission is to make intelligence universally accessible, with a vision of empowering AI everywhere for everyone.

The Company owns and operates dedicated GPU clusters, which it customizes for global customers with large or specialized workloads. Its B300 cluster in Japan recently earned NVIDIA Exemplar Cloud status, validating its performance against NVIDIA’s reference benchmarks. Through its marketplace, PaleBlueDot AI provides customers with on-demand access to compute across a global network of supply partners, while its serverless inference offering delivers flexible Super Intelligence compute for developers and enterprises.

This year, PaleBlueDot AI has diversified both its data-center capacity and its customer base. As of the end of September 2026, PaleBlueDot AI had signed over $5 billion in customer contracts. Customers from the U.S. and Japan together accounted for more than half of monthly revenue.

PaleBlueDot AI’s clusters are located across multiple regions, with customers spanning markets worldwide. The Company’s supply chain has been built for efficiency and security, enabling customers to bring capacity online quickly and operate it with confidence.

Proceeds from the Series C will fund additional Super Intelligence compute capacity, giving customers greater choice in locations and hardware.

Stephen Watts, CEO of PaleBlueDot AI, expressed confidence in the company’s future plans: “We will continue to broaden our customer base, with a focus on frontier labs, Neolabs and enterprises in the U.S., and we will invest in our full-stack and go-to-market teams.”

About PaleBlueDot AI
PaleBlueDot AI is a Silicon Valley-based Super Intelligence Infrastructure Platform with a growing global footprint. The company delivers high-performance Super Intelligence compute through a unified platform designed for enterprise-scale deployment. Guided by its mission to make intelligence universally accessible, PaleBlueDot AI enables organizations to build, deploy, and scale Super Intelligence faster, better, and cheaper. Named after the image of Planet Earth taken on the 1990 Voyager space mission coined by Carl Sagan as “a pale blue dot,” the company shares a belief in the transformative potential of Super Intelligence technology to benefit all of humanity.

Contact:
[email protected]

SOURCE PaleBlueDot AI

The founder behind one of restaurant tech’s biggest success stories joins Slang AI as the company builds on its momentum and enters its next phase of growth

NEW YORK, Oct. 1, 2026 — Slang AI, the leading voice AI platform built for restaurants, today announced that BentoBox co-founder and former CEO Krystle Mobayeni has joined its Board of Directors.

Few technology leaders have had a closer view into how restaurants adopt, scale and ultimately depend on new technology. Mobayeni co-founded BentoBox in 2013 and spent more than a decade building technology specifically around the needs of restaurants and their guests. Under her leadership, BentoBox grew from an early-stage startup into a platform serving more than 15,000 restaurants globally before its acquisition by Fiserv in 2021.

At BentoBox and later as Senior Vice President, Head of Restaurants at Fiserv, Mobayeni worked across thousands of restaurants as technology became increasingly central to how operators run their businesses and connect with guests. She brings to Slang AI deep experience identifying where technology can remove operational friction without compromising hospitality, and what it takes to turn those solutions into products restaurants adopt at scale.

“Krystle understands this industry from every angle: from the operator, to the guest, to the technology,” said Alex Sambvani, co-founder and CEO of Slang AI. “She saw early how technology could fundamentally change the relationship between restaurants and their guests, then built a company that helped make that shift happen. As AI creates another major inflection point for the industry, there are very few people whose perspective I’d rather have around the table.”

Slang AI is applying that same restaurant-first approach to one of the industry’s most persistent and overlooked challenges: the phone. Its AI-powered voice platform handles guest conversations around the clock, helping restaurants capture demand while giving teams more time to focus on hospitality. As Slang AI expands its platform and grows its work with multi-location and enterprise restaurant brands, Mobayeni will bring firsthand experience scaling restaurant technology from an emerging solution into infrastructure used across the industry.

“Slang is solving a massive, universal problem for restaurants while creating a better experience for guests,” said Mobayeni. “I’ve spent my career building technology around the needs of restaurants, and I believe purpose-built AI, starting with voice, can enable restaurants to deliver more hospitality, giving teams more time to focus on the guests in front of them. Slang has the team, technology and restaurant-first approach to lead that shift, and I’m thrilled to be part of what they’re building.”

Mobayeni is currently an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Female Founders Fund and on the James Beard Foundation Awards Committee. Her work and leadership have been recognized by Inc., Entrepreneur, Business Insider and Nation’s Restaurant News, and she was named to New York Business Journal’s Women of Influence.

About Slang AI

Founded in 2019 by Alex Sambvani and Gabe Duncan, Slang AI is the first and leading AI platform purpose-built for the hospitality industry. Slang AI’s Superhost answers every call with precision, warmth, and professionalism, booking reservations, handling inquiries, routing high-value requests, and recognizing returning guests, so restaurant staff can stay fully present with the guests in front of them. Serving thousands of restaurant locations globally with 95%+ guest satisfaction, Slang AI integrates with leading platforms including OpenTable, SevenRooms, Tripleseat, and Yelp. For more information, visit slang.ai.

SOURCE Slang AI

CHICAGO, Oct. 1, 2026 — Ziegler, a specialty investment bank, is pleased to announce the successful closing of Lourdes Senior Community’s $32,453,000 Series 2026 financing, consisting of $14,453,000 Series 2026A Refunding Revenue Bonds and $18,000,000 Series 2026B Bank Draw Down Bonds (collectively, the “Series 2026 Bonds”), for the Senior Living Finance Practice.

Lourdes Senior Community (Lourdes) is a single-site, not-for-profit senior living community in Waterford, Michigan, that has served older adults and their families since 1965. Located on a 38-acre lakefront campus in Oakland County, Lourdes provides a full continuum of care. The community consists of 55 independent living units at Fox Manor on the Lake, six independent living villas, 60 assisted living units at Joseph T. Mendelson, 20 memory care units at Clausen Manor, and 80 skilled nursing beds at the Lourdes Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center, for a total of 221 units and beds. The campus is also home to a 15-room inpatient hospice center operated by Angela Hospice, further enhancing the continuum of services available to residents and the surrounding community.

Lourdes is operated by Dominican Health Care Corporation and is sponsored by the Dominican Sisters of Peace. The community is governed by a board of directors and operates as a nonprofit organization, with its continuum spanning independent living, assisted living, memory care, skilled rehabilitation, and long-term nursing care.

Proceeds of the Series 2026 Bonds will be used to refinance Lourdes’ outstanding Series 2019 Bonds as well as finance the construction of a new 60-unit independent living building. The Series 2026 Bonds were structured as a tax-exempt direct placement with WesBanco with a 100% swap. The Series 2026 Bonds have a 10-year bank credit commitment period through September 1, 2026 and have a final maturity of September 1, 2046. Ziegler acted as both the placement agent and swap advisor, shepherding the proposal to ensure competitive, on-market terms for Lourdes.

Tom Meyers, Senior Managing Director in Ziegler’s Senior Living Finance Practice said, “Despite heightened market volatility and an increasingly uncertain interest rate environment, Lourdes was able to secure strong financing terms that reflect the strength of its mission-driven management team and organization. Ziegler was pleased to help Lourdes secure a competitive and customized financing solution with WesBanco, including a tailored interest rate hedge designed to meet Lourdes’ specific needs. We are honored to have had the opportunity to serve Lourdes for the third time and are grateful for the continued trust they have placed in Ziegler.”

Rich Acho, President and CEO of Lourdes Senior Community added, “We are incredibly excited to reach this important milestone as we prepare to begin construction of our new independent living building next month. As the Baby Boomer generation continues to drive growing demand for high-quality senior living, this project allows Lourdes to expand our mission and ministry to serve more older adults for generations to come. We are thankful to the Ziegler team for their expertise in structuring a financing in today’s interest-rate environment that positions Lourdes for long-term financial strength.”

Ziegler is the nation’s leading underwriter of financing for not-for-profit senior living providers.¹ Ziegler offers creative, tailored solutions to its senior living clientele, including investment banking, financial risk management, merger and acquisition services, seed capital, FHA/HUD, capital and strategic planning as well as senior living research, education, and communication.

For more information about Ziegler, please visit us at www.ziegler.com.

¹ Based on full credit given to senior managers of lead-managed underwriting principal volume for senior living transactions completed nationally. Rankings and amounts through LSEG data as of 12/31/25. Note: For-profit bond financings are excluded.

About Ziegler:

Ziegler is a privately held, national boutique investment bank, capital markets, and proprietary investments firm. It has a unique focus on healthcare, senior living, and education sectors, as well as general municipal and structured finance. Headquartered in Chicago with regional and branch offices throughout the U.S., Ziegler provides its clients with capital raising, strategic advisory services, fixed income sales, underwriting and trading as well as Ziegler Credit, Surveillance, and Analytics. To learn more, visit www.ziegler.com.

Certain comments in this news release represent forward-looking statements made pursuant to the provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This client’s experience may not be representative of the experience of other clients, nor is it indicative of future performance or success. The forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, in particular, the overall financial health of the securities industry, the strength of the healthcare sector of the U.S. economy and the municipal securities marketplace, the ability of the Company to underwrite and distribute securities, the market value of mutual fund portfolios and separate account portfolios advised by the Company, the volume of sales by its retail brokers, the outcome of pending litigation, and the ability to attract and retain qualified employees.

SOURCE Ziegler