BOSTON, April 28, 2026 — Teknor Apex Company, a global leader in material science solutions, today announced it has joined as a founding partner in OSS Ventures’ new investment fund, targeting €75M million to scale proven industrial software companies across North America and Europe.
Building Software Where It Matters: On the Manufacturing Floor
OSS Ventures is a venture studio located in Paris & Boston, building AI software for industrial operations
Founded in 2019 by Renan Devillieres, OSS Ventures is a venture studio building next-generation industrial software that operates at the intersection of software development and manufacturing operations. The firm’s thesis is straightforward: industrial software only drives lasting change when it’s built from the manufacturing floor up – alongside the operators, supervisors, and engineers who use it daily.
With OSS Ventures now expanding operations beyond Europe to its new office in Boston, MA, Teknor Apex will serve as the regional industrial anchor partner, becoming the first U.S. manufacturer to both invest in and operate OSS portfolio software at scale.
“This partnership reflects a shared view that the future advancements in industry will be innovated by people and technology working in tandem to create measurable impacts” said Donald Wiseman, CEO, Teknor Apex.
Teknor Apex: From Co-Builder to Co-Investor
This partnership started on the factory floor. Teknor Apex deployed three of OSS Ventures’ portfolio companies in their Rhode Island and Tennessee sites. The impact was immediate:
Oplit allows Teknor Apex to set their plants up for success through a reduction in changeovers, improved yield, and a stronger foundation for more automated planning over time.
Fabriq helps to strengthen a culture of continuous improvement, with problem-solving embedded at every level of the manufacturing organization.
Mercateam supports operators, mechanics, and lab technicians in building critical skills and advancing their careers – helping Teknor Apex better invest in its most valuable resource: its people.
Teknor Apex and OSS Ventures are aligned as both core business partners and venture partners, with Teknor Apex joining as a founding partner in the €75M amplification fund alongside DECATHLON PULSE, the investment and innovation arm of global sports company DECATHLON, and Peugeot Family Group.
“As we shape our next 100 years of manufacturing, digital transformation is the sole viable path to not only short-term efficiency, but long-term competitiveness,” said Michael Roberts, CIO, Teknor Apex.
Contact: Faustine Ladeiro Levent, Head of Marketing [email protected]
Liquid is the platform where traders can act on opportunities in real time, without being constrained by market hours, platforms, or complexity.
NEW YORK, April 21, 2026 — Liquid, a platform building the future of trading, today announced the successful closing of an $18 million Series Seed funding round. The fundraise was co-led by Neo and Left Lane Capital, with participation from Haun Ventures, K5 Global, SV Angel, AntiFund, and Sunflower Capital, in addition to existing investors Paradigm and General Catalyst. The funding comes as Liquid continues to build the go-to platform for trading every major asset class, crypto or traditional – around the clock.
Liquid is designed for a new generation of traders who operate across multiple asset classes and seek to act on short-term opportunities. While traditional platforms fragment access across brokers, exchanges, and asset classes, Liquid consolidates trading into a single interface, available on iOS, Android, and desktop, allowing users to trade over 500 markets spanning crypto, equities, commodities, FX, and pre-IPO assets in one place, with up to 200x leverage – all without surrendering custody of their assets.
The fundraise comes amid growing interest in alternative and non-traditional assets, alongside continued growth in digital asset trading. The investment thesis mirrors one of the most enduring patterns in financial services: the consumer interface captures disproportionate value relative to underlying infrastructure. Brokerages collectively exceed the market capitalization of much of the upstream value chain they sit atop. By combining elements of derivatives platforms, brokerages, and crypto exchanges into a single product, Liquid is positioned to serve traders navigating increasingly interconnected global markets.
“Markets don’t operate on a schedule anymore, but most trading platforms still do,” said Liquid CEO and co-founder Franklyn Wang. “The reality is that 24/7 trading is already happening across global markets. We built Liquid to reflect that reality, giving traders continuous access to assets and the ability to act the moment opportunity strikes. One of our primary goals for the platform is to democratize access to markets that retail traders have no real access to. By equipping everyday users with advanced tools, including AI-driven research and execution capabilities, we enable retail traders to operate with the same speed and sophistication as professional quantitative investors.”
As markets grow more volatile and reactive to real-time information, the traditional 9-to-5 trading window no longer cuts it. Liquid enables traders to respond to breaking news, macro events, and price movements the moment they happen – not when markets reopen. Since its August 2025 launch, the platform has seen over $3B in trading volume across 40,000 users.
Liquid expands access to markets that have historically been difficult for retail traders to reach. Through instruments such as perpetual futures, users can gain exposure to commodities and alternative assets while easily expressing both long and short positions in volatile environments. To further simplify the trading experience, Liquid incorporates an AI-powered chat assistant that helps users navigate markets, surface insights, and execute trades at professional speeds, while delivering institutional-grade research and analysis. The feature is designed to reduce friction for both new and experienced traders, making it easier to analyze opportunities and act quickly within a single interface.
“Retail participation in financial markets has reached an all-time high, now accounting for 36% of order flow, and that cohort is increasingly seeking directional exposure without the complexity of traditional derivatives,” said Matthew Miller, Managing Partner at Left Lane Capital. “Liquid is well-positioned to meet that demand, and Franklyn and the team have shown a strong ability to translate institutional-grade infrastructure into a product that resonates with everyday traders.”
“Liquid brings ease-of-use to powerful concepts like leverage, making advanced trading tactics accessible to the everyday investor,” said Ali Partovi, CEO of Neo. “I’ve known Franklyn for years and would bet on anything he does.”
About Liquid Liquid is a single trading platform that enables users to trade any crypto or traditional asset, 24/7. Purpose-built for a new generation of traders, the platform provides access to equities, commodities, FX, crypto, and pre-IPO markets through a single interface. Liquid’s infrastructure is designed for speed, simplicity, and execution, offering aggregated liquidity, real-time pricing, and seamless cross-asset trading. Through instruments such as perpetual futures, the platform supports both long and short positioning across markets and integrates an AI-powered assistant to help users analyze markets and execute trades more efficiently. Liquid is backed by Neo, Left Lane, Haun Ventures, K5 Global, Paradigm, General Catalyst, SV Angel, AntiFund, and Sunflower Capital.
Founded in 2019, Left Lane Capital is a New York and London-based venture capital and growth equity firm investing in high-growth internet and consumer technology businesses globally. Left Lane’s mission is to partner with extraordinary entrepreneurs who create category-defining companies across growth sectors of the economy. Select investments include Bilt Rewards, M1 Finance, LemFi, Talkiatry, WeTravel, Moove, Wayflyer, Blank Street, and more. For more information, visit www.leftlane.com.
About Neo
Neo is a mentorship community and venture capital firm best known for backing Kalshi, Cursor, Bluesky, and more. Neo supports the next generation of founders and tech leaders with the industry’s best startup residency, recruiting platform, and diverse mentorship community.
17 student ventures competed live to a judging panel of early-stage investors
LA MIRADA, Calif., April 28, 2026 — TheOffice of Innovation at Biola University hosted its highly successful 12th Annual Biola Startup Competition on Friday, April 24, 2026, drawing 242 attendees from across the California innovation ecosystem, including students, alumni, investors, sponsors & donors, faculty, staff, and community advocates passionate about student entrepreneurship and redemptive innovation.
Top 5 student entrepreneurial winners of the Biola University Office of Innovation Startup Competition 2026, (left to right): Audience Choice – Common Threads ($500), Impact Award – storeybox ($1,000), 2nd Place – Ephphatha ($7,000), Director of Innovation – Dr. Silvia Mah, 1st place – Vaelr ($15,000), 3rd place – Low Steaks ($5,000)
Marie-Ange Eyoum Tagne, a Redemptive Tech AI innovator with a career spanning Meta, Amazon, Yahoo, Intel, and Roku, keynote about her book, “For Such A Time As This: From Humble Roots in Africa to Silicon Valley Leadership,” and was an interactive judge.
Led by Dr. Silvia Mah and the Office of Innovation team, the event showcased 14 student-led ventures competing for $27,000 in seed funding, culminating months of an Incubator Program that provides industry-specific mentorship, supportive business development, and quality pitch preparation. The energy in the room underscored a growing movement of students building real solutions to real-world problems.
“This competition is a reflection of what happens when students are equipped with conviction, calling, capability – and capital,” said Dr. Silvia Mah, Director of the Office of Innovation & Associate Professor at the Crowell School of Business. “We are seeing a new generation of founders step forward to create startups that are both innovative and deeply purposeful.”
2026 Startup Competition Winners
1st Place ($15,000): Vaelr. An autonomous AI platform for identifying and preventing safety risks in construction zones, with future defense applications in the U.S. and India.
2nd Place ($7,000): Ephphatha. AI-powered accessibility app translating spoken conversations into real-time ASL video on a phone, promoting inclusion for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.
3rd Place ($5,000): Low Steaks. A functional food company delivering clean, gut-health-optimized meals designed to support healing and long-term wellness.
Impact Award ($1,000): storeybox. A hybrid analog-digital storytelling platform using beautifully designed booths to capture meaningful life stories, transforming moments into memories through lasting cinematic videos and physical keepsakes.
Audience Choice Award ($500): Common Threads. An adaptive fashion brand creating stylish, accessible clothing for individuals with disabilities, featuring thoughtful design elements like magnetic closures to restore dignity and ease of wear.
A Community-Driven Ecosystem of Innovation The event was headlined by Marie-Ange Eyoum Tagne, a Redemptive Tech AI innovator with a career spanning Meta, Amazon, Yahoo, Intel, and Roku. She opened with a reflection on purpose, navigating technology, leadership, and ethical AI, signing 60 complimentary copies of her book, “For Such A Time As This: From Humble Roots in Africa to Silicon Valley Leadership.“
A distinguished panel of judges challenged teams with thoughtful, promotion-focused questions, helping founders refine their “why” and path to scale. These included the keynote, Charla Triplett of (University Lab Partners), Alexey Sokolov (Northwestern Mutual), and Byron Wang (Gumshoe Ventures). Twenty-five student and alumni volunteers helped bring the event to life, with Lote Vunibaka and Pressley Melville serving as emcees.
An Innovation Panel featuring Biola alumni founders, Thank God, by Rach, and Nobibi Buena Park, showcased the journey of entrepreneurship beyond the classroom. The Office of Innovation recognizes its donors and partners who made the event possible, including pro bono legal services by Rose Bowlus Law, marketing services by Executive Cat Herder, and event sponsors like ARKI, Double Edged Productions, Chick-Fil-A, New York Slice Deli, Origin Baking Company, The Sweets Studio, and Pizaaz.
About the Office of Innovation at Biola University The Office of Innovation exists to catalyze innovators and entrepreneurs to flourish in their giftedness and build Christ-honoring, world-changing ventures through mentorship, programming, and access to capital.
Personal investment and board appointment underscore confidence in surveillance and security technology company as it nears 20-year milestone and accelerates software and AI expansion
POMPANO BEACH, Fla., April 28, 2026 — IC Realtime, a provider of professional-grade surveillance and security technology solutions, announced today that the company successfully secured a $2 million Series A round of funding led by a personal investment from John Hatherly, founder of Wynnchurch Capital, with participation from existing investors. The funding will be used to accelerate development of IC Realtime’s software platform, designed to bring together video management, edge intelligence, and cloud-based analytics in a more unified and scalable environment.
Hatherly will also join IC Realtime’s board of directors, providing the company with valuable strategic oversight as it prepares for future developments in its software and artificial intelligence capabilities.
“The surveillance and security industry is moving toward more intelligent, software-enabled platforms,” said John Hatherly, founder of Wynnchurch Capital. “IC Realtime has built a strong business over nearly two decades of experience and innovation in the space, and I’ve personally invested in the company to help drive the transition to software-based offerings.”
“As a leader in the surveillance and security market for nearly 20 years, IC Realtime has achieved considerable success with its innovative product line,” said Matt Sailor, founder and CEO of IC Realtime. “This financing provides the company with new resources and strategic guidance to accelerate software development and deliver the next evolution of intelligent security technology solutions.”
For nearly two decades, IC Realtime has delivered advanced surveillance and security technology products to dealers, integrators, commercial accounts, and end-users throughout the United States. With a proven track record in the industry, IC Realtime has become a trusted name among leading brands and has received significant industry recognition, including “Product of the Year” honors from Security Products, CE Pro’s Best of CES, Reuters recognition, and the CTA Mark of Excellence award, in recent years.
IC Realtime’s product portfolio includes cameras, digital video recorders, and software solutions designed for dealers, integrators, commercial end users, and consumers. The company’s products are sold in all 50 states and Canada. At retail, a limited selection is available through select Best Buy stores, while commercial offerings are distributed through Wesco, one of the nation’s largest distributors, serving professional and commercial buyers rather than the general public
For more information about IC Realtime products and availability, visit www.ICRealtime.com.
About IC Realtime
Founded in 2006, IC Realtime is a U.S.-based surveillance and security technology company specializing in advanced video surveillance solutions for residential, commercial, and enterprise facilities. Over nearly 20 years, the company has built a reputation for professional-grade technology, reliability, privacy, and innovation. Today, IC Realtime is expanding its next-generation AI and software capabilities to redefine how video intelligence is managed, analyzed, and applied. For more information about IC Realtime products and availability, visit www.ICRealtime.com.
CHICAGO, April 28, 2026 — Moderne Ventures is pleased to announce its Spring 2026 Passport Class. Moderne Ventures is a strategic venture capital firm that invests in transformative technologies like AI, robotics, fintech and digital transactions and brings them to antiquated, trillion-dollar industries like real estate, finance, insurance and beyond. The Moderne Passport Program is an intensive six-month industry immersion program providing its participants with education, exposure, insight, and relationships to drive customer growth.
Moderne Ventures 2026 Passport Kickoff
2026 Spring Passport Class
“Moderne is a generalist investor with vertical expertise. We are intentionally looking for breakthrough technologies that can transform our core industries and expand beyond them to capture larger venture returns,” said Constance Freedman, Founder and Managing Partner of Moderne Ventures. “This latest Passport cohort brings innovations that range from advanced risk assessment platforms to spatial AI, knowledge management, and complex due diligence and compliance tools.”
We are pleased to announce the eight new companies joining Moderne Passport:
Chateauz (chateauz.io) – (San Diego, CA): 5D Cognitive Simulation Infrastructure:Simulation infrastructure for decision-critical environments, determining outcomes before deployment
Darcy Solutions(darcysolutions.com) – (New Brighton, MN): Next Generation Geothermal Energy:Transforms groundwater into a low cost and high-performance thermal energy system
Geolava (geolava.com) – (San Francisco, CA) Predictive Value with Spatial AI: Models the evolving physical world, continuously translating spatial features into competitive advantage
Hologram Media Network (hologrammedia.net) – (Cary, NC): The World’s First Holographic Ad Network: Redefining in-person media through life-size holograms, intelligent infrastructure, and human-centered engagement
Sigma360 (sigma360.com) – (New York, NY): AI-Powered Compliance Platform:The new standard in KYC and financial crime compliance automation
Orbital (orbital.tech) – (New York, NY): AI for Complex Due Diligence:Transforming the $140B+ global real estate legal market
On3.ai (on3.ai) – (Madison, WI): Knowledge Management Built for the Frontline:A central hub that captures critical information and expertise and puts it in the hands of field teams
3V Infrastructure (3vinfrastructure.com) – (New York, NY): EV Charging without the Cost or Complexity:Enabling EV charging across portfolios by eliminating the upfront capital investment and operational complexity
“We are excited to welcome our 27th Passport cohort, marking a significant milestone as we surpass 160 companies guided through the program. At Moderne, we partner with founders to break into complex industries—connecting them to the right customers, backing them with strategic investment, and equipping them with real-time insights from our network of top operators. Our deep industry relationships help companies open new doors, expand distribution, and scale with confidence,” said Carolyn Kwon, Managing Director at Moderne Ventures.
Moderne Ventures is a strategic venture capital firm with an 18-year track record, generating top-tier returnsacrossfivefunds with over$600M AUM. Moderne is a generalist investor with vertical expertise – the firm invests in transformational technologies like AI, robotics, fintech, and digital transactions and brings them to antiquated, trillion-dollar industries like real estate, finance, insurance and beyond. Moderne’s unfair advantage: theModerne Passport Program– a proprietary network of 1,500+ executives and corporations we activate systematically to drive explosive growth for portfolio companies. Moderne’s platform de-risks venture investing, consistently producing top-tier VC returns while maintaining a Private Equity/Buyout risk profile.
Moderne has invested in 50+ companies with additional equity in 170+ Moderne Passport companies including lead investments in market leaders like DocuSign, ICON, Caribou, Mesh, Proof, Porch, and Xeal.
Funding to accelerate continued adoption of Visual AI among leading global electronics OEMs
TEL AVIV, Israel, April 28, 2026 — Cybord AI, a leader in Visual AI for electronic component inspection and supply chain resilience, today announced it has raised an additional $7 million in an extended Series A round. The current round is led by Capri Ventures, with participation from new and existing investors. The company also announced the formation of a dedicated U.S. sales management team, reinforcing its commitment to scaling operations and deepening engagement with North American and global OEMs.
Hardware security risks are becoming more visible and consequential amid growing geopolitical tensions and increasing supply chain complexity. Reports of rogue components discovered in critical infrastructure, such as unauthorized communication devices found in solar inverters, highlight the real-world implications of insufficient component-level verification. These risks are further amplified by ongoing supply chain disruptions, from memory shortages to increased reliance on secondary markets. Together, these trends are pushing OEMs to adopt real-time, data-driven approaches to ensure product integrity at the component level.
Cybord’s Visual AI platform enables manufacturers to inspect, authenticate, and trace every electronic component directly on the production line, using existing SMT equipment. By leveraging AI-driven analysis of component imagery, Cybord’s software empowers leading global OEMS to detect defects, counterfeits, tampering, and unauthorized substitutions before they become costly field failures or large-scale recalls. The new funding will be used to accelerate Cybord’s expansion across key industries where product integrity and supply chain trust are mission-critical, including data center infrastructure, aerospace & defense, automotive, telecom equipment, and medical devices.
Alongside the funding, Cybord is establishing a strengthened U.S. commercial presence with the appointment of a new sales leader:
Tyler York is joining Cybord as Chief Business Officer. Tyler brings extensive leadership experience across go-to-market strategy, enterprise sales, and revenue operations, having led marketing and sales functions for high-growth organizations and managed multimillion-dollar budgets and pipelines. Most recently, he drove 50% annual growth and significant profitability improvements at AdLeg, following senior leadership roles at Altium where he contributed to scaling a $250M annual revenue business.
“Our expansion is being driven by Fortune 500 OEMs who understand that hardware integrity can’t rely on assumptions,” said Oshri Cohen, CEO of Cybord. “These OEMs are flooded with data, but still lack true visibility into what’s actually happening on the production line. Cybord’s visual AI bridges this gap, by transforming data into meaningful insights that enhance product integrity and supply chain resilience.
“We are pleased to welcome Tyler to lead our commercial organization and support our next phase of growth. The expansion of Cybord’s sales organization will focus on building closer relationships with OEM decision-makers across operations, supply chain, engineering, and quality functions, delivering tailored solutions for high-reliability environments.”
About Cybord
Cybord provides a Visual AI platform that ensures the integrity, authenticity, and traceability of every electronic component used in manufacturing. By analyzing components directly on SMT production lines, Cybord’s software enables OEMs to detect defects, prevent counterfeits, and enforce supply chain compliance without adding hardware or slowing production. The company serves leading organizations across industries where reliability and trust are paramount. For more information visit www.cybord.ai.
DENVER, April 28, 2026 — Altira Group LLC (“Altira”), a Denver-based venture capital firm investing in breakthrough energy and industrial technology solutions, today congratulated ResFrac Corporation (“ResFrac”) on its platform investment. In connection with the transaction, Altira has fully exited its investment in ResFrac, marking another strong exit for Altira Technology Fund VI LP, further validating Altira’s pioneering strategy of backing differentiated technologies at the intersection of energy, software, and industrial operations to produce top tier returns.
ResFrac has become a leader in physics-based subsurface simulation, helping operators improve how they design, optimize, and execute complex development programs. The company’s platform uniquely integrates hydraulic fracturing and reservoir simulation in a single continuous model, enabling engineers to evaluate completion design, production performance, and subsurface interactions across the life of a well.
“ResFrac is exactly the type of company Altira was built to support,” said Dirk McDermott, Founder and Managing Partner of Altira. “When we first invested, the technical foundation was already exceptional. The opportunity was to help translate that capability into a scalable, mission-critical software platform embedded in how oil and gas operators make subsurface decisions. The founding team was also exceptional. Mark McClure and the ResFrac team have executed on that vision, and this transaction reflects the strength of the platform and the business they have built.”
Altira identified ResFrac as a differentiated technical asset with the potential to become foundational to subsurface decision-making. Over the course of its investment, the company evolved from a high-fidelity simulation engine into a broader subsurface platform, expanding its capabilities to include automated history matching, optimization, interference analysis, DFIT interpretation, and a growing suite of applications designed for everyday engineering workflows.
“ResFrac is a good example of how technical differentiation alone isn’t enough—you have to translate it into how operators actually work,” said Sean Ebert, Senior Partner at Altira. “From early on, our oil and gas operating partners helped pressure-test the product in real field development decisions, refine workflows, and accelerate adoption. That’s what ultimately drove the shift from a highly capable simulation tool to software that engineers rely on day-to-day.”
He added, “ResFrac has already proven the core technology and its relevance in the field. Their new investor partnership positions the company to scale commercialization, deepen account penetration, and extend the platform into adjacent subsurface workflows and energy applications. We’re very happy to have had the opportunity to work in partnership with Mark and the team and excited to see what comes next!”
ResFrac is trusted by energy operators globally, from independents to supermajors and national oil companies. The platform is deployed across major unconventional basins and is increasingly being adopted for enhanced geothermal systems and other subsurface applications, expanding its addressable market and reinforcing the importance of advanced simulation in the future of energy development.
This exit reinforces Altira’s ability to identify and scale deeply technical, energy-native software businesses that become strategic assets within their industries. ResFrac represents another example of technology developed within the oil and gas ecosystem evolving into critical infrastructure for operators and investors alike.
About ResFrac ResFrac Corporation provides a fully integrated hydraulic fracturing and reservoir simulation platform purpose-built for complex unconventional reservoir development, enhanced geothermal systems, and conventional oil and gas applications. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, ResFrac is trusted by operators across major unconventional regions in North and South America, the Middle East and a growing number globally.
About Altira® Altira Group is a Denver-based venture capital firm that has invested in advanced technology solutions across the energy and industrial value chain for more than 28 years. In partnership with its oil and gas company strategic limited partners, Altira enables the next generation of industrial technologies, driving innovation across digital, automation, and core energy operations.
Beyond capital, Altira actively partners with entrepreneurs to scale their businesses, providing direct customer access, real-world validation, strategic guidance, and collaborative go-to-market support in partnership with its strategic industry investors and other relationships.
As venture capital rebounds with greater discipline, investors are prioritizing efficiency and scalability. Startups are rethinking workforce structures to support faster execution while controlling costs, with distributed talent models emerging as a key strategy to scale operations without increasing fixed overhead or slowing growth.
OVERLAND PARK, Kan., April 28, 2026 — Global venture capital investment reached $120.7 billion in the third quarter of 2025, marking the fourth consecutive quarter of strong funding activity, according to the KPMG Venture Pulse Report. As capital returns to the market, investors are placing greater emphasis on how companies deploy that capital. 1840 & Company, a global staffing and business process outsourcing provider, is helping venture-backed and growth-stage firms build distributed workforce models that support rapid scaling without increasing fixed overhead.
“We’re moving from location-based companies to capability-based companies. Instead of building teams around a single office or region, companies are building around access to the best talent for each function, regardless of geography.” – Bryan DiGiorgio, Founder and CEO of 1840 & Company
As venture markets stabilize, companies are facing increased pressure to translate funding into execution efficiently. Investors are no longer focused solely on growth targets. They are asking how companies can scale output while maintaining discipline around cost structure and operational efficiency.
“In prior cycles, hiring was often tied to growth targets without as much scrutiny on structure,” said Bryan DiGiorgio, Founder and CEO of 1840 & Company. “Now, investors are pushing for efficiency at the unit economics level, and that naturally forces companies to rethink how they build teams. It’s less about reducing headcount and more about redesigning how work gets done.”
Efficiency Pressures Are Reshaping How Companies Scale
As venture funding becomes more concentrated, companies are under greater scrutiny to demonstrate operational performance. Investors are prioritizing sustainable growth, and that is changing how organizations approach hiring, cost structure, and execution.
While capital remains available, it is being deployed more selectively. Companies are expected to move quickly after funding, but traditional hiring processes can slow that momentum.
“Capital doesn’t translate into growth unless a company can deploy it quickly into execution,” DiGiorgio said. “Traditional hiring processes, especially in competitive local markets, can slow that down significantly.”
This shift is making workforce strategy a central consideration in how companies scale. Organizations are increasingly looking for ways to expand capacity without adding long-term infrastructure or overhead.
To meet these demands, companies are turning to distributed workforce models that provide access to global talent and reduce dependency on local hiring markets.
These models are helping organizations accelerate hiring timelines and improve operational flexibility:
Faster deployment of talent: Teams can be built in weeks instead of months, allowing companies to act quickly after funding.
Reduced fixed costs: Distributed teams eliminate the need for large office spaces, facilities, and international subsidiaries.
Expanded talent access: Companies can tap into specialized skills globally rather than competing in constrained local markets.
Flexible scaling: Workforce size can be adjusted based on business needs without long-term commitments.
“They do, but only when implemented correctly,” DiGiorgio said, referring to whether distributed teams improve operational attractiveness. “A distributed model signals that a company is thinking intentionally about cost structure, scalability, and access to talent.”
He added, “Not all distributed models are equal. Shared or fragmented outsourcing structures can introduce inefficiencies and turnover. The companies that stand out are the ones building dedicated, fully integrated global teams that operate as an extension of their core business.”
Workforce Strategy Becomes Core Infrastructure for Modern Companies
As companies evolve, workforce strategy is becoming part of the foundational infrastructure that supports growth. In the first half of 2025, approximately 9.7 percent of global venture capital funding went to workforce and staffing-related companies, reflecting growing interest in scalable talent solutions.
“It signals that workforce infrastructure is becoming a core part of how modern companies are built,” said DiGiorgio. “For a long time, hiring was treated as a function, not as infrastructure. Now investors are recognizing that access to talent, and how that talent is deployed, directly impacts growth, efficiency, and ultimately valuation.”
This shift reflects a broader change in how organizations are structured.
“We’re moving from location-based companies to capability-based companies,” DiGiorgio said. “Instead of building teams around a single office or region, companies are building around access to the best talent for each function, regardless of geography.”
1840 & Company supports this transition by helping organizations design and implement distributed workforce strategies. Operating in more than 150 countries, the firm provides access to experienced global professionals while managing compliance, payroll, and workforce operations.
“The companies that succeed approach global hiring as an operational strategy, not a cost decision,” DiGiorgio concluded. “When done correctly, global hiring isn’t just cheaper. It becomes a structural advantage in how the business operates and scales.”
About 1840 & Company
Bryan DiGiorgio is the Founder and CEO of 1840 & Company, a global staffing and business process outsourcing provider headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas. Transitioning between industrial revolutions, the year 1840 inspired the company’s focus on helping businesses excel between their different phases of growth. Today, he leads 1840 & Company in helping businesses scale with flexible talent solutions, from nearshore/offshore staffing to complete business process outsourcing solutions. With a proprietary Agentic AI global talent cloud, 1840 & Company sources, contracts, compensates and operates in 150+ countries delivering workforce solutions that reduce costs, ensure compliance, and accelerate growth.
Inspired Capital leads the seed round for the company building the context graph for your people — an AI-native system built on a simple bet: the biggest workforce transformation in a generation is a people problem, and HR is the function best equipped to lead it.
NEW YORK, April 28, 2026 — While the AI industry is racing to replace people, Windmill is building the technology to make them irreplaceable.
Windmill, the context graph for your people, today announced an $12M fundraise led byInspired Capital, with participation from Primary Venture Partners, Founder Collective, and Oceans Ventures. The company has grown to over 100 customers including Kalshi, Rho and Merge, since launching their performance reviews product in November 2025.
“There’s no question that AI tools will transform how we all work,” said Max Shaw, CEO and co-founder at Windmill. “We’re building the infrastructure to make sure that the people don’t get left behind, by giving companies tools to support their people, not replace them”
Why People Matter More, Not Less in the Age of AI
Every company in the world is being restructured around AI. Management layers are disappearing, roles are merging, and entire functions are being redefined by what AI can now do.
As AI gives individuals leverage that used to require entire teams, the value of each person is going up. Every employee is doing more complex, creative, higher-judgment work. Companies are now tasked with managing capability, potential, and the uniquely human skills that AI makes more important by the day.
“I’ve had upwards of 10,000 people come through companies I’ve run,” said Brian Distelburger, co-founder at Windmill. “Talk to any executive and they’ll talk about how important people are. When you drill down a few levels into what they’re doing to make sure they have the right people, in the right roles, working on the right things, there’s not much depth there.”
But most companies have no system for understanding any of it. The knowledge of who’s doing what, who’s growing, who’s underutilized, who elevates the people around them — that lives in the heads of a handful of managers and nowhere else. It’s lossy, biased, and impossible to act on at scale. You can’t ask an AI agent to identify your highest-performing teams, surface bottlenecks, or help you staff the right people on a critical project, because the context doesn’t exist. Companies have a system of record for every asset except the one that matters most.
“Every headline right now is about AI replacing workers. We think that’s the wrong bet. The best organizations of the next decade won’t be the ones that eliminate the most headcount. They’ll be the ones that use AI to build workforces that are continuously supported and developed. Doing so requires new infrastructure, and that’s exactly what Windmill is building. Max, Brian, and Mark have the conviction and the depth to go after this problem the right way, and we’re proud to be on the journey with them.”
— Alexa von Tobel, Managing Partner, Inspired Capital
HR’s Moment
There’s a function that understands org design, talent development, change management, and culture better than anyone else in the building. The AI transformation just handed HR the most strategic mandate in the company: lead the people side of the biggest workforce shift in a generation.
As organizations get flatter and faster, the strategic adjustments companies used to make annually now need to happen more frequently. That means having the right people in the right roles, operating effectively in your specific environment, has never mattered more, and has never been harder to get right.
But you can’t lead a transformation like this with annual surveys and spreadsheets. You need to actually know what’s happening with your people in real time.
What Windmill Is Building
Windmill started with one of the most broken processes in the workplace: performance reviews. It rebuilt the review process to match how modern companies actually work. The platform integrates with Slack, GitHub, Google Workspace, and 30+ other tools where work already happens, so reviews never start from a blank page and are completed 90% faster with 93% employee satisfaction.
AI Performance reviews are just the first proof point. Underneath them is what Windmill calls the context graph — a continuously updated, cited understanding of the workforce:
People — who they are and how they connect
Evidence — what actually happened
Expectations — what good looks like
Perspectives — what people think
Every insight traces back to a specific Slack thread, pull request, or piece of documentation. “At most companies, the most important context about work and people isn’t captured in one place,” said Shaw. “It’s scattered across apps, notes, conversations, and in the minds of managers. That makes important decisions about people far too dependent on memory and intuition alone. And if you want agents anywhere near those decisions, you first need a systematic way to organize the underlying context. We’re building that layer.”
The context graph is accessible through Windy, Windmill’s AI agent, the Windmill web app, and full MCP and API support, making context about your people available wherever a company needs it.
About Windmill
Windmill is the context graph for your people. A continuous, cited understanding of your workforce that enables HR to lead strategically, managers to see their teams clearly, and every person’s work to speak for itself. It starts with performance reviews that write themselves. Free for up to 10 users. Learn more atgowindmill.com.
