The relationship began in 2023, when Desmond, then twenty years old, and recently dropped out of college, sent the creator of Founders Row, Jamie Weeks, formerly the largest Orangetheory Fitness franchisee and the founder of Sweathouz (SWTHZ), a direct message that said: “I’m 20 years old, dropped out of college, and have listened to all your podcasts. I’ve got a small food truck business and need to be pointed in the right direction. Would you take time to listen?” Weeks agreed, took the call, and stayed connected as Desmond refined the earliest version of Hot Box Pretzels.

Hot Box Pretzels has grown into a modern pretzel brand that began with Desmond’s pretzel food truck just three years ago and has already been spotlighted on a national stage on the second season of Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars. Built on the belief that tradition and innovation can coexist, the brand honors the nostalgic pretzel while boldly reinventing it with premium ingredients, seed-oil-free recipes, and premium dips and sauces that elevate the traditional pretzel experience. Desmond’s rapid rise, paired with his mission to deliver a cleaner, better-tasting, boldly seasoned pretzel, positions Hot Box Pretzels as one of the most exciting emerging snack brands breaking into the national spotlight, now with financial backing.

Two years after that cold DM, what began as a simple message has grown into Founders Row’s first official investment and a true partnership between Desmond and Jamie Weeks. Founders Row occupies a distinct position in the consumer landscape, shaped by Weeks’ background as both a multi-unit operator and a brand builder. The firm functions as a hybrid venture studio and early-stage investment platform, developing new concepts internally while also backing founders with strong ideas or early traction who may lack the operational discipline, financial structure, and systems needed to scale. Weeks believes early-stage founders often need support more than capital, and Founders Row was built specifically to fill that gap with a hands-on partnership rather than a passive investment.

Since launching Founders Row publicly, the firm has been inundated with founders seeking an alternative to traditional private equity. Weeks expects to close six additional deals over the coming months, including two concepts he has been wanting to launch for the last few years, now finally able to come to life because the platform exists. Founders Row itself is the platform Weeks has wanted to build for more than a decade, one capable of supporting both his own ideas and those of other emerging Founders.

Hot Box Pretzels embodies that mission. Desmond had the creativity, instinct, and founder drive, but needed the structure and support required to turn Hot Box from an idea into a durable, scalable DTC Brand.

“Roman DM’d me when he freshly dropped out of college and had one food truck selling pretzels locally in Jacksonville, but he had the ambition to take this nationwide,” said Weeks. “That’s the exact kind of founder Founders Row exists to support, someone with vision and appetite who needs a platform behind them.”

Desmond added, “Jamie saying yes to that first message completely changed the trajectory of Hot Box Pretzels and me as a founder. Founders Row isn’t just an investor; it’s the partner I needed to turn an idea into a real, scalable business. What excites me most about this partnership is the opportunity to learn, absorbing as much as I can to build the strongest foundation possible for this company and for everything I create in the future. I’m not in this for quick wins. I love building, I love the process, and being the first investment in Founders Row is something I’m incredibly proud of.”

The investment in Hot Box Pretzels marks the launch of the Founders Row portfolio and signals the firm’s commitment to backing founders early, providing hands-on operational and creative partnership to help build the next generation of consumer brands.

About Founders Row
Founded by entrepreneur and operator Jamie Weeks, Founders Row is a venture studio and platform partner built for founder-led consumer businesses. The firm partners with proven operators and early-stage concepts to help them scale thoughtfully without sacrificing control, culture, or long-term value. Founders Row operates through two complementary models: launching and incubating new brands from the ground up, and partnering with existing businesses to provide platform-level support across strategy, operations, capital planning, and growth. The firm is known for founder-first structures that preserve ownership while enabling disciplined expansion and clear paths to liquidity. Headquartered in Atlanta, Founders Row is a founder-first alternative to traditional private equity, backing entrepreneurs with institutional support while allowing them to retain control and long-term upside. For more information, visit foundersrow.co.

About Hot Box Pretzels
Hot Box Pretzels is a fast-growing, founder-led food brand reimagining the classic soft pretzel. Founded by Roman Desmond in Jacksonville, Florida, the company has expanded from a single food truck into a multi-channel operation serving major festivals, large-scale catering events, and customers nationwide through its direct-to-consumer pretzel bites business. Known for fresh-baked soft pretzels and customizable pretzel bites shipped in microwave-safe packaging with seasoning packets, Hot Box delivers a premium, chef-crafted experience straight to consumers. Desmond’s national recognition as a finalist on Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars accelerated the brand’s growth into e-commerce and packaged goods, and Hot Box continues to scale with a vision of bringing bold, modern pretzel experiences to fans nationwide. For more information, visit hotboxpretzels.com.

Media Contact:

Juliana Martins
Eleven11 Media Relations
[email protected]

SOURCE Founders Row

DURHAM, N.C., Dec. 16, 2025 — Looma, a leading in-store retail media platform, today announced that it has raised $10 million in Series B funding led by Staley Capital, alongside a $3 million credit facility from Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank, bringing its total funding to $30 million. The new capital will fuel Looma’s rapid national expansion, including its recent deployment across the wine and spirits departments of nearly 600 Kroger stores nationwide.

Since 2023, Looma’s network of in-store screens – delivering storytelling, education, and personalized recommendations to shoppers – has expanded from 800 screens to more than 7,000, across 1,100 retail locations. The unique platform reaches 27 million shoppers a month across leading retailers such as Kroger, BJ’s Wholesale Club, H-E-B, Harris Teeter, Lowes Foods, and Schnucks.

Advertisers on Looma’s platform, including General Mills, P&G, Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch, and Diageo, see an average ~4x full-funnel incremental return on ad spend (Full-Funnel iROAS). This holistic understanding of impact measures awareness, discovery, conversion, and loyalty.

“We’ve spent the last decade preparing for this moment, building what we believe is far and away the strongest in-store media platform in the market,” said Cole Johnson, Founder and CEO at Looma. “We’re thrilled to welcome Staley Capital to our shareholder base as a strategic advisor during such a pivotal moment in both Looma’s journey and the industry as a whole.”

Looma’s expansion within Kroger follows a successful multi-year pilot across 50 stores, during which the platform grew category sales, improved end cap execution, and achieved a 98% customer satisfaction rating. Featured alcohol brands saw 2-4x iROAS, alongside strong gains in brand awareness and first-time customer acquisition.

“As a firm focused on the intersection of retail and media, we were impressed from day one with both Looma’s vision and exceptional execution,” said Herb Kleinberger, Operating Advisor at Staley Capital and a longtime retail industry veteran. “In 2024, in-store grocery sales represented over 86% of total grocery sales, yet in-store retail media accounted for less than 1% of total retail media ad spend. We believe in-store is retail media’s next frontier – and Looma is poised to lead it.”

Mr. Kleinberger will join Looma’s Board of Directors as part of the capital raise.

Unlike other retail media networks, Looma operates screens that are co-located with merchandise, prioritizing authentic storytelling, product education, and personalized recommendations. Looma also provides more traditional atmospheric screens located in high-traffic store areas. For more information, please visit: https://theloomaproject.com/platform/.

About Looma
Looma is an in-store retail media platform focused on storytelling, education, and recommendations. Their network of in-store video screens helps retailers modernize and monetize their stores, while enabling brands to tell their story directly at the point of decision. The content that airs on Looma’s network is produced or edited by a global network of independent filmmakers, editors, and creators who specialize in point-of-decision content.

About Staley Capital
Staley Capital is a growth-stage investment firm that partners with category-defining B2B software and technology companies at the inflection point of growth. With a long-term thematic approach, Staley Capital brings decades of investing and operating experience to support management teams achieve sustainable growth. The firm’s investments are often B2B2C, leveraging early insight into secular shifts in consumer behavior, and partnering with visionary founders who have developed market-leading enterprise solutions that transform the way businesses serve modern consumers.

SOURCE Looma

Newly raised funding allows YSE Beauty to fuel accelerating momentum at Sephora, product development and further expansion of e-commerce channel

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 16, 2025 — YSE Beauty, the results-driven, clinically tested skincare brand by Molly Sims has announced the successful close of its $15 million Series A funding round led by investment partner Silas Capital, an emerging growth equity and venture capital firm focused on next-generation consumer brands, with participation from L Catterton and existing investors Willow Growth Partners and Halogen Ventures.  The new capital infusion will be allocated strategically to fuel forthcoming expansion across all Sephora doors in the US and continued exponential growth on direct e-commerce.

YSE Beauty, designed for women 35+ seeking effective solutions without complicated routines, was inspired by Molly’s own battle with hyperpigmentation and a desire to help a generation of women who felt underserved and overlooked. Sims spent over three years in research and development, testing hundreds of formulas to perfect her regimen. Clinically tested and thoughtfully formulated, YSE Beauty launched in 2023 and quickly earned acclaim for delivering real results. The brand’s award-winning lineup launched into retail in June 2025, partnering exclusively with Sephora. The brand has earned numerous accolades including a Business of Fashion Innovation Award, an Allure Best of Beauty 2025 Award and Health Magazine 2024 Skin Awards for their bestselling Your Favorite Ex Exfoliating Pads, a 2025 Good Housekeeping Beauty Award for their Overachiever Brightening Eye Masks, a 2024 Marie Claire Skin & Hair Award and a 2024 Shape Skin Award for their Wide Awake Brightening Eye Cream, a 2024 Oprah Sun O-Wards for their Skin Glow SPF 30 Primer, and were named one of InStyle’s Best Beauty Buys in 2023 and 2025.

“There is so much synergy between our brand, the brands in the Silas portfolio and L Catterton’s deep strategic knowledge of the category.  Both firms deeply understand the kind of women we speak to… what she wears, what she values and how she moves through the world. It feels like a true alignment in vision and audience, making it the perfect fit. This partnership isn’t just strategic – it’s a shared philosophy and a mutual understanding of what’s going to fuel us and where we want to take the brand next” said YSE Beauty Founder, Molly Sims.

In 2025, YSE Beauty experienced 120% revenue growth and expects to deliver more than 80% growth in 2026. The brand is anticipating to more than double its Sephora business, while continuing its momentum in e-commerce, bringing the business to nearly $30 million in revenue next year. 

“Molly’s approachable, yet authoritative voice has been a key driver in building the loyal and engaged community supporting the incredible momentum for YSE Beauty,” said Brian Thorne, Partner at Silas Capital. “Leveraging her insider network of dermatologists, estheticians, and makeup artists, she has curated a lineup of multi-functional skincare-meets-makeup essentials that cater to an underserved Gen X customer that demands results-driven beauty. We’re thrilled to partner with Molly for this next chapter, supporting both the brand’s impressive e-commerce momentum, as well as its quickly scaling wholesale expansion with Sephora.”

About YSE Beauty: YSE Beauty is a premium skincare and beauty brand founded by Molly Sims dedicated to creating clinically informed, thoughtfully formulated products designed for real-life beauty routines. Drawing on Molly’s years of industry insight and her passion for skin confidence, YSE Beauty crafts effective, high-quality skincare that addresses concerns from hyperpigmentation and uneven tone to hydration and glow. This brand was built around conversations with real women and a deep understanding of their needs and beliefs. Fueled by Molly’s own skin experiences, YSE Beauty listens closely to its consumers, gaining loyalty and gathering insights that allow the brand to address her next set of concerns. The brand evolves with the consumer and adds value every step of the way. Rooted in results and guided by integrity, YSE Beauty empowers individuals to feel their absolute best in their skin, simply in a way that’s easy to maintain. Visit ysebeauty.com for more details.

About Molly Sims: Molly Sims is an entrepreneur, actress/producer, and podcast host known for redefining beauty, wellness and reinvention in midlife. She is the founder of YSE Beauty, a high-performance skincare brand developed for women over 40.  

Sims also hosts the award-winning podcast Lipstick on the Rim, where she brings together leading voices in beauty, health, and culture for candid, expert-driven conversations. Through her banner, Something Happy Productions, Molly Sims has produced Kinda Pregnant, starring comedic powerhouses Amy Schumer and Will Forte (Netflix; co-produced with Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison), as well as the upcoming adaptation of the bestselling thriller The Last Mrs. Parrish, starring Jennifer Lopez and directed by Robert Zemeckis (Netflix). Her upcoming slate features the smash-hit bestseller The Tenant from Freida McFadden with United Artists and Amazon; Lisa Jewell’s gripping, NYT chart-topping None of This Is True at Netflix; and Desperation Wedding, a sharp, laugh-out-loud romantic comedy led by the always-fearless Nikki Glaser. Guided by a female-forward mission, Something Happy Productions champions elevated and resonant stories that amplify women’s voices on and off screen. 

A longtime philanthropist and advocate, Sims sits on the board of Jhpiego, supporting global health access for women and families, and works closely with Baby2Baby, a nonprofit providing basic essentials to children living in poverty across the U.S.

About Silas Capital: Since 2012, Silas Capital has been a go-to growth equity and venture capital investor — partnering with next generation brands to drive revenue, profitability, and brand value. The firm’s Partners bring a unique blend of startup, growth equity and operating experience, enabling them to provide hands-on support beyond capital investment. Silas actively helps consumer companies scale through e-commerce, wholesale and retail channels. Previous and current investments for Silas Capital include Bare Snacks, Bellroy, Boll & Branch, Business & Pleasure, DÔEN, Hello Cake, Herbivore, ILIA Beauty, Makeup By Mario, Oak Essentials, RŌZ, Sakara Life, Vacation, Violette_FR and Wonderbelly to name a few. Learn more at www.silascapital.com.

SOURCE YSE Beauty

ROCHELLE PARK, N.J., Dec. 16, 2025 — Curalta Foot & Ankle (Curalta), one of the nation’s fastest-growing networks of foot and ankle care providers, today announced a new round of financing led by SharpVue Capital. The company’s existing investors—including NewSpring Capital, BPEA Private Equity, North Haven Capital, and Bluwave Capital—also participated in the fundraise and continue to support Curalta’s strategy and long-term vision.

The investment will enable Curalta to further expand its presence across the Northeast, build out additional specialty services, and continue developing the infrastructure needed to provide comprehensive, integrated foot and ankle care at scale.

“As we continue to grow, our mission remains focused on elevating the standard of care for foot and ankle health,” said Burt Rubin, CEO of Curalta. “This new partnership with SharpVue Capital strengthens our ability to execute on that mission. Their team recognizes the importance of a coordinated, outcomes-driven care model, and we are thrilled to work with investors who share our vision for transforming this specialty.”

Curalta has rapidly expanded to become the largest fully integrated network of podiatrists and foot and ankle care specialists in the northeastern U.S. The company now operates more than 70 locations across New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, offering patients access to high-quality, multidisciplinary care for a wide range of lower-extremity conditions.

“At Curalta, we’re building a collaborative, team-based care model that elevates both patient outcomes and physician experience,” said Oren K. Isacoff, MD, MBA, Chief Growth Officer at Curalta. “Our growth is powered by partner-physicians who seek clinical excellence, coordinated care pathways, and a platform that supports providers in building dynamic, rewarding careers. This investment helps us bring that model to more communities and more patients.”

SharpVue Capital, a leading private investment firm focused on long-term value creation, will support Curalta as it accelerates its expansion strategy.

“We are excited to partner with Curalta at this pivotal stage in the company’s growth,” said Jarrett Wood, Principal at SharpVue Capital. “Curalta’s integrated approach, strong clinical leadership, and proven track record of scaling high-quality care uniquely position the company to lead this specialty. We look forward to supporting the team as they continue building a best-in-class platform.”

About Curalta

Curalta Health is the largest and foremost network of podiatrists and foot and ankle specialists in the Northeast, delivering comprehensive, high-quality care across more than 70 locations in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Curalta’s providers combine decades of experience with a forward-thinking, innovative approach designed to maximize patient outcomes across all lower-extremity conditions. Through best-in-class administrative support, collaborative clinical programs, and a commitment to coordinated care, Curalta empowers its providers to deliver exceptional patient experiences. For more information, please visit www.curalta.com.

About SharpVue Capital

SharpVue Capital is a private investment firm focused on partnering with high-quality businesses and management teams to drive sustainable, long-term value creation. With deep experience across healthcare and other essential industries, SharpVue provides flexible capital solutions and strategic support to help companies accelerate growth, enhance operational excellence, and build enduring market leadership. The firm is committed to investing in organizations that improve outcomes and deliver meaningful value to the communities they serve.

SOURCE Curalta

NEW YORK, Dec. 16, 2025 — Adaptive Security today announced it has raised an $81 million Series B funding round led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture capital arm), OpenAI Startup Fund, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Abstract Ventures, Capital One Ventures, and Citi Ventures. The investment is Adaptive’s third financing announcement this year and brings the firm’s total capital raised to $146.5 million.

In April, the Company announced a $43 million Series A led by OpenAI Startup Fund and Andreessen Horowitz, making it OpenAI’s first and only cybersecurity investment. The OpenAI Startup Fund later led an additional $12 million follow-on investment announced in September.

Adaptive’s rapid fundraising activity reflects rising investor and customer concern over AI-powered cyber threats. In less than one year since its public launch in January 2025, Adaptive has grown to more than 500 enterprise customers and reports a world class NPS score of 94. Customers include PayPal, Xerox, Bose, the National Hockey League, the Professional Golfers’ Association, Figma, Ramp, Vimeo, TaylorMade Golf, and Perplexity, among others.

AI Impersonation Threats Accelerate

Adaptive was founded by Brian Long and Andrew Jones after they saw AI-enabled impersonation move quickly from a niche risk to a practical problem for companies, employees, and consumers. The two entrepreneurs, who previously founded and grew Attentive to $500 million in annual revenue, started the company because legacy security training was not built for cutting-edge generative AI deception.

“Over the past year, we have watched AI impersonations evolve from experimental to everyday,” said Brian Long, CEO and co-founder of Adaptive Security. “A few seconds of audio or a short video clip is now enough for anyone to generate a convincing clone. That shift forces organizations to prepare for scenarios where even familiar voices, faces, or messages can no longer be taken at face value.”

Social engineering accounts for more than 95% of successful cyber breaches and traditionally came through email. In recent years, malicious activity over phone calls, text messages and video chat has surged. Deepfake incidents grew 17 times from 2023 to 2024, with more than 100,000 occurring in the U.S. alone. In 2025, Adaptive reported a rise in AI deepfake activity and said more than half of its customer discussions included reports of deepfake incidents. These incidents affect employees across all levels of an organization and increasingly affect consumers through cloned voices, fabricated videos and personalized scams.

Deepfake Phishing Simulations and AI Security Awareness

The company uses AI to simulate deepfake and impersonation scenarios across voice calls, text messages, video and email. These simulations identify where existing controls are likely to break down and provide individualized training based on employee responses. The platform also includes automated threat triage and AI-driven executive risk scoring to help organizations identify their most exposed teams and processes.

“Our task is to give organizations clarity in a landscape that is changing extremely quickly,” Long said. “The threat is evolving in real time. Our responsibility is to move at least as fast.”

Leading AI Companies and Investors Support Adaptive’s Approach to Next-Gen Security

With support from NVIDIA, Adaptive is advancing efforts to secure AI systems and protect the people who work with them. OpenAI Startup Fund’s continued participation reflects growing attention among leading AI researchers to the security and safety implications of generative models. Together, the investors point to a widening consensus that AI impersonation is becoming a mainstream risk for businesses and consumers.

“Brian and Andrew have been longtime members of the Bain Capital Ventures portfolio spanning TapCommerce, Attentive and now Adaptive, and we have deep conviction in their ability to build and scale category-defining products,” said Enrique Salem, partner at Bain Capital Ventures. “The surge in AI-enabled threat vectors has elevated human-layer security to a board-level priority, and Adaptive is emerging as the platform organizations rely on to stay ahead of these threats. We are proud to support this team as they tackle one of the most important challenges facing businesses and consumers today.”

About Adaptive Security

Adaptive Security is the leading provider of AI-powered social engineering prevention solutions, specializing in protection against deepfake personas, AI-driven phishing and multi-channel social engineering threats. By combining advanced AI simulations, real-time risk assessment and security awareness training, Adaptive empowers organizations to proactively defend against emerging cyber threats.

For more information, visit www.adaptivesecurity.com

Media Contact:
[email protected]

SOURCE Adaptive Security

SANTA ANA, Calif., Dec. 16, 2025 — Synergetics.ai, pioneer of the Agent Economy and creator of the world’s first AI Agent Wallet and decentralized Agent Commerce infrastructure, today announced Taisu Ventures’ strategic investment in its Seed Round token fundraise. The funding will accelerate the SGTX token launch, ecosystem expansion, and upcoming token generation event (TGE).

The SGTX token powers payments, staking, governance, and commerce across the Synergetics Agent Network. It enables trustless settlement, usage-based billing, and seamless transactions for agents, creators, enterprises, digital twins, and automated systems in industries like telecom, e-commerce, healthcare, banking, and entertainment.

Key SGTX utilities include:

• Agent-to-agent payments and micro-transactions.
• Staking for network security and rewards.
• Governance for protocol upgrades.
• Commerce in the Agent Marketplace.

Takashi Hayashida, Managing Partner at Taisu Ventures, said: “Synergetics.ai is building essential infrastructure for agent-to-agent commerce at scale, an inevitable evolution of the AI economy. We believe SGTX will become foundational for how autonomous agents transact globally. Our investment reflects conviction in the technology and team.”

Synergetics.ai CEO Raghu Bala added: “The AI Agent Economy is here, and it needs a new transactional fabric. SGTX is that fabric. Taisu Ventures’ Web3 expertise makes them an ideal partner as we deliver the world’s first end-to-end Agent Commerce platform.”

The investment supports expansion of the Agent Marketplace, development of patented protocols like AgentTalk for secure multi-agent communication, and adoption of AgentWallet for enterprise workflows, digital twins, and real-time collaboration.

About Taisu Ventures
Taisu Ventures is a global early-stage firm focused on Web3 infrastructure, digital assets, and frontier technologies. Learn more at www.taisu.io.

About Synergetics.ai
Synergetics.ai enables creation, orchestration, deployment, and monetization of autonomous AI agents via AgentTalk protocol, AgentWallet, Agent Marketplace, and AgentWorks suite. Visit www.synergetics.ai.

Visit token.synergetics.ai to explore SGTX and join the Agent Economy.

SOURCE Synergetics.ai

Company accelerates investments in Agent Bricks, Lakebase and Databricks Apps to power Data Intelligent Applications

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 16, 2025 — Databricks, the Data and AI company, today announced it is raising a >$4 billion Series L investment, valuing the company at $134 billion. Additionally, the company crossed a $4.8 billion revenue run-rate during its Q3, growing >55% year over year, including >$1 billion revenue run-rate from its Data Warehousing business and >$1 billion revenue run-rate from its AI products — all while delivering positive free cash flow over the last 12 months.

The parallel rise of vibe coding and generative AI is accelerating the development of Data Intelligent Applications in the enterprise. Databricks will use this new capital to help customers build AI apps and agents on their proprietary data, leveraging Lakebase as the system of record, Databricks Apps as the user experience layer, and Agent Bricks to power multi-agent systems.

The round was led by Insight Partners, Fidelity Management & Research Company, and J.P. Morgan Asset Management with additional participation from Andreessen Horowitz, funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, funds managed by Blackstone (“Blackstone”), Coatue, GIC, MGX, NEA, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, Robinhood Ventures, accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc., Temasek, Thrive Capital and Winslow Capital. This new investment builds on Databricks’ accelerating financial results and underscores the company’s vision to make data and AI accessible to all organizations.

Databricks’ Financial Momentum
This funding follows continued strong momentum across Databricks’ business, including:

• Surpassing $4.8 billion revenue run-rate, growing >55% year over year.
• Continuing to achieve positive free cash flow over the last 12 months.
• Achieving >$1 billion revenue run-rate for its AI products.
• In its first six months, Lakebase already has thousands of customers and is growing revenue at twice the pace of its Data Warehousing product.
• Achieving >$1 billion revenue run-rate for its Data Warehousing product in less than four years from general availability.
• Net retention rate sustaining >140%.
• >700 customers consuming at over $1 million annual revenue run-rate.

The Rise of Data Intelligent Applications 
Databricks’ Series L funding will advance product development across three strategic products, helping customers build Data Intelligent Applications.

• Lakebase is the first serverless Postgres database purpose-built for the age of AI.
• Databricks Apps offers world-class speed and security to build and deploy data and AI applications.
• Agent Bricks makes it easy for organizations to build and scale high-quality agents on their data.

In addition to fueling its growth, this capital is expected to be used to provide liquidity for employees. The investment is also expected to support future AI acquisitions and deepen AI research.

“Enterprises are rapidly reimagining how they build intelligent applications, and the convergence of generative AI with new coding paradigms is opening the door to entirely new workloads. With this investment, we’re deepening our commitment to help every organization innovate with AI on their own data,” said Ali Ghodsi, co-founder and CEO of Databricks. “By anchoring transactional data in Lakebase, delivering intuitive experiences through Databricks Apps, and enabling advanced multi-agent systems with Agent Bricks, we’re giving customers a unified foundation to build trusted, high-performance Data Intelligent Applications at scale.”

“Our continued investment in Databricks reflects our deep conviction in their extraordinary momentum today and their ambitious vision for the future,” said John Wolff, Managing Director at Insight Partners. “Databricks leads the way in turning AI innovation into enterprise impact. We’re thrilled to deepen our investment in a team that continues to pair strong financial performance with real customer results, setting the standard for how AI creates value for businesses. Databricks is just getting started.”

About Databricks
Databricks is the Data and AI company. More than 20,000 organizations worldwide — including adidas, AT&T, Bayer, Block, Mastercard, Rivian, Unilever, and over 60% of the Fortune 500 — rely on Databricks to build and scale data and AI apps, analytics and agents. Headquartered in San Francisco with 30+ offices around the globe, Databricks offers a unified Data Intelligence Platform that includes Agent Bricks, Lakeflow, Lakehouse, Lakebase and Unity Catalog. To learn more, follow Databricks on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, and Instagram.

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Databricks

Led by Sea Court Capital, investment round to foster innovation, transform medicine storage

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 16, 2025 — Ember LifeSciences, Inc., a leading provider of revolutionary cold chain technology, today announced a $16.5 million Series A funding round, led by Sea Court Capital, with participation from Cardinal Health, Carrier Ventures and other influential investors, including former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The round underscores strong investor confidence in Ember LifeSciences’ ability to redefine global medicine distribution through its proprietary temperature control technology.

The global pharmaceutical cold chain ecosystem faces $35 billion in financial loss each year due to temperature excursions, and 330 billion pounds of waste are generated annually from single-use cold chain packaging.

“Our breakthrough cold chain technology ensures life-saving medicines reach their destination safely, reliably and sustainably,” said Clay Alexander, founder and CEO of Ember LifeSciences. “This investment marks a major step forward in advancing the future of healthcare, allowing us to accelerate our next-generation product development, and expand into global markets.”

This funding will progress Ember LifeSciences’ innovation pipeline, including the launch of the Ember Cube 2, which builds off learnings captured from the first-generation Ember Cube, a first-of-its-kind digital shipping box that features cloud-based temperature reporting, GPS location tracking and return-to-sender technology.

Further optimized for scale and efficiency, the second-generation Ember Cube serves organizations shipping high volumes of temperature-sensitive therapies using a version of the Ember Cube with highly efficient vacuum insulation and proprietary bio-based organic phase change material (PCM) packs for thermal control. By evolving into a configurable passive platform, this new model will extend to broader healthcare networks and enable patient-focused adoption across the supply chain.

The $16.5 million investment will also support high volume deployments with domestic customers as the company prepares to introduce patient-focused products that enhance medicine storage and transportation at the consumer level.

Ember LifeSciences’ cold chain technology is rapidly being adopted by leading pharmaceutical distributors, specialty and infusion pharmacies and testing laboratories including CVS Health, Chartwell and USADA.

About Ember LifeSciences
Ember LifeSciences initially launched as an offshoot of Ember Technologies’ “Ember,” the design-led temperature control brand and maker of the award-winning temperature control mug, which has surpassed half a billion dollars in total sales to date. Ember LifeSciences seeks to redefine global medicine distribution through leveraging Ember’s proprietary temperature control technology to improve the way we transport life-saving medicines and vaccines around the world. To learn more about Ember LifeSciences, visit emberlifesciences.com.

Media Contact
Meghan Bianco
RF|Binder
[email protected] 

SOURCE Ember LifeSciences

SILVER SPRING, Md., Dec. 16, 2025 — The TSC Alliance Endowment Fund, a supporting organization of the TSC Alliance, has invested in Aeovian Pharmaceuticals as part of their Series B financing in support of their Phase 2 trial of AV078, a first-in-class CNS-penetrant selective mTORC1 inhibitor in tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC).

“This equity stake is in line with the TSC Alliance Endowment Fund investment policy, which allows for investments in venture capital and private equity that are directly related to advancing the TSC Alliance mission of catalyzing new treatments and driving research toward a cure,” shared Rita DiDomenico, TSC Alliance Endowment Fund Chair. “Any earnings of this investment will go right back into fulfilling the mission of the organization.”

In 2018, the TSC Alliance partnered with Aeovian Pharmaceuticals by co-funding research through the TSC Preclinical Consortium. This marked a significant step towards the development of innovative mTORC1-specific inhibitors for TSC, particularly in addressing TSC-associated epilepsy.  mTORC1 is a protein complex involved in cell growth and proliferation, known to play a pivotal role in TSC pathology. The TSC Preclinical Consortium provides a screening platform to identify lead clinical drug candidates through a systematic testing process in robust and reproducible models of TSC. Since 2016, the Preclinical Consortium has worked with 27 industry partners screening 97 compounds.

“AV078 represents the first drug candidate developed using the TSC Preclinical Consortium as the preclinical efficacy engine throughout the lead development processto identify a novel clinical candidate,” said Steven L. Roberds, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer at the TSC Alliance. “We are thrilled our early investment to create the TSC Preclinical Consortium and ongoing partnership has helped enable Aeovian’s groundbreaking work with AV078.”

Following positive results in the first mouse study in 2018, Aeovian developed improved clinical candidates in partnership with the Preclinical Consortium over the next three years. From 2024 to 2025, AV078 completed Phase 1 testing in healthy volunteers.

“Our collaboration with the TSC Preclinical Consortium was instrumental in identifying and advancing AV078,” said Allison J. Hulme, Ph.D. President & CEO, Aeovian Pharmaceuticals. “The Consortium’s rigorous and disease-relevant models allowed us to rapidly evaluate selectivity, CNS penetration, and efficacy, giving us the confidence to move AV078 into clinical development. This partnership was critical in accelerating our path to Phase 2 trials.”

Aeovian Pharmaceuticals will be moving into Phase 2 clinical trials of AV078. Information on the trial can be found at www.aeovian.com.

About Aeovian Pharmaceuticals

Aeovian Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing targeted and highly selective small molecules that restore cellular metabolic quality control by inhibiting mTORC1 or CD38. The company’s lead candidate, AV078, is a first-in-class CNS-penetrant selective mTORC1 inhibitor currently in Phase 2 development for refractory epilepsy associated with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), a rare genetic disorder driven by hyperactive mTORC1 signaling. Aeovian has also developed a proprietary library of potent, highly selective inhibitors with the potential to address multiple rare and age-related diseases. For more information, visit www.aeovian.com.

About the TSC Alliance Endowment Fund

The TSC Alliance Endowment Fund is a separate fiduciary organization specifically chartered to receive gifts that will be invested to generate an income stream that will help fulfill the mission of the TSC Alliance. The Endowment Fund ensures a permanent source of funding to better serve families touched by TSC through research, family services, and education. For more information, visit tscalliance.org/endowment.

About the TSC Alliance

The TSC Alliance is an internationally recognized nonprofit that improves quality of life for everyone affected by tuberous sclerosis complex by catalyzing new treatments, driving research toward a cure and expanding access to lifelong support. For more information, visit tscalliance.org.

Contact
Dan Klein
Senior Director, Communications
TSC Alliance
(301) 562-9890
[email protected]

SOURCE TSC Alliance