LOS ANGELES, Dec. 11, 2025 — Azio AI, the artificial intelligence compute and GPU infrastructure subsidiary of Azio, today announced its active participation in early-stage technical and infrastructure discussions supporting the Philippines’ national initiative to modernize and restructure its sovereign investment platform, including the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF) and Maharlika Investment Corporation (MIC).
The engagement follows President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s 2024 directive to pause and comprehensively restructure the MIF, initiating a renewed 2024–2025 planning cycle focused on governance reform, capital optimization, and long-term national development priorities. As part of this reset, Philippine policymakers and advisors are evaluating artificial intelligence compute, data-center infrastructure, and sovereign digital capacity as foundational components of future economic competitiveness.
Azio AI’s involvement reflects the Company’s broader corporate strategy to expand into sovereign, government, and public-sector AI infrastructure—an emerging global market driven by national data sovereignty requirements, AI industrial policy, and the need for domestically controlled compute capacity.
Strategic Positioning for Sovereign-Scale AI Infrastructure
Azio AI has been engaged in non-binding, early-stage technical discussions to assist with the evaluation of GPU-based AI data centers, sovereign compute architectures, and modular deployment models aligned with international best practices and comparable sovereign modernization frameworks.
As a certified distributor of Supermicro (NASDAQ: SMCI) high-density server systems and NVIDIA GPU platforms, Azio AI is positioned to support sovereign and public-sector stakeholders across the AI infrastructure value chain, including equipment pathway analysis, modular data-center design, and phased deployment planning.
Investor Perspective: Strategic Significance
From an investor perspective, sovereign and public-sector AI infrastructure represents a structurally attractive growth vertical characterized by large-scale deployments, phased capital investment cycles, and long-term infrastructure expansion. Governments worldwide are increasingly treating AI compute as strategic national infrastructure, similar to energy, telecommunications, and transportation.
Azio AI believes this positioning supports long-term shareholder value by aligning the Company with multi-year infrastructure initiatives that may include recurring hardware deployments, system upgrades, and expansion opportunities across multiple jurisdictions.
Outlook
Azio AI will continue supporting technical evaluations, infrastructure modeling, and deployment frameworks as Philippine authorities advance toward their 2025 MIF restructuring objectives. Any potential commercial engagement remains subject to definitive agreements, regulatory approvals, and standard corporate governance processes.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding potential future engagements, infrastructure deployments, market opportunities, and strategic positioning. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.
About Azio
Azio is a technology-focused company providing advanced computing, infrastructure, and digital solutions across enterprise, public-sector, and emerging technology markets. Through its subsidiaries, Azio supports organizations seeking scalable, high-performance systems designed to meet modern data and AI-driven demands.
About Azio AI
AZIO AI (www.azionai.ai) provides enterprise-grade GPU servers, AI compute clusters, and scalable data-infrastructure solutions. The Company supports governments, universities, media organizations, and enterprise AI teams with high-performance hardware and modular infrastructure designed for mission-critical workloads.
The startups, from a range of industries — including media, SaaS, fintech, and entertainment — were selected from a highly competitive pool of applicants across the United States. They reflect rising demand for culturally grounded innovation and scalable solutions that serve diverse populations and markets.
This second GROWTH cohort continues Geekz Ventures’ mission to back overlooked and underestimated founders building early-stage tech ventures.
“This year’s Geekz Ventures cohort is one of the most innovative and imaginative groups I’ve ever worked with,” saidGeekz Ventures Program Manager Brandon Wilkins. “Their ideas are bold, their execution is sharp, and they’re genuinely poised to make waves in their respective markets. It’s been inspiring to watch them push boundaries and build with such conviction. If the future of entrepreneurship were placed in the hands of founders like these, we’d all be in good shape.”
The GROWTH pre-accelerator combines targeted mentorship, hands-on training, and equity-free grant funding. Led by respected operators and seasoned industry experts, the program offers behind-the-scenes access and insight into what it truly takes to launch and grow a startup.
“We have an outstanding cohort this year,” said Geekz Ventures Executive Director Kunbi Tinuoye. “I am confident that our founders are now better equipped to navigate the entrepreneurial journey and scale their ventures.”
This year’s mentors include heavy hitters such as serial entrepreneurMykolas Rambus; media executiveAlex Hughes; returning mentorsKathryn O’Day, a venture partner, Derrick Williams, a strategic finance leader; and Gary Stewart, former Techstars managing director, alongside a range of other seasoned operators.
Storytelling That Wins Investor Attention
Among the standout sessions was a workshop led by Mike Lightman, founder ofHate Your Deck, who focused on the power of storytelling in pitch decks. “The best pitch decks don’t explain everything — they build curiosity one slide at a time,” said Lightman. “When founders treat their deck like a children’s book instead of a data dump, investors actually want to meet with them.”
With Geekz Ventures’ deep commitment to founder well-being, returning mentor, certified executive coach and licensed therapist, Chantel Cohen led sessions on work–life integration and sustainable leadership, helping founders build companies without burning out.
“The Geekz Ventures GROWTH pre-accelerator program provides a unique opportunity for early-stage founders to receive mentorship and guidance from seasoned professionals in various industries, and I’m glad to return as a mentor to the 2025 cohort,” said returning mentorCandice Washington.
Hayti founder and Geekz Ventures alum Cary Wheelous, who also worked with this year’s founders, added: “This year’s Geekz Ventures cohort is about tackling fundamental market gaps and economic barriers that the mainstream tech ecosystem continues to overlook. It’s essential because it provides the focused capital and networks required to scale solutions built by and for the culture into powerful, high-value assets.”
The 10-week program includes sessions on MVP development, customer discovery, audience growth, business operations, preparation for competitive accelerators, founder financing, and brand visibility. By the end of the program, participants are ready to thrive in an ever-changing tech landscape.
Below are the ten startups selected for the 2025 Geekz Ventures GROWTH pre-accelerator.
Troodie
Troodie is an AI-powered social commerce platform that transforms how restaurants grow and retain customers. The platform enables creators to share and monetize their recommendations, helping diners discover locally trusted spots. Founded byTaylor Davis, Troodie sits at the intersection of food culture, influencer marketing, and community-driven discovery.
Beebz
Beebz is building a video-first marketplace that changes how people find and book local businesses. Instead of scrolling through long text listings, users browse short-form videos and can book instantly, merging discovery and action in a single step. The company was founded byHabeeb Ayangbade and is designed for Gen Z and younger consumers who trust real video over static reviews and images.
Black Launch
BlackLaunch is a culture-first professional networking platform designed to strengthen connections, collaboration, and economic mobility for Black professionals, creators, and entrepreneurs. The platform offers a dedicated digital ecosystem where users can find community, exchange opportunities, and expand their networks. Led by founderTitus Colloway, BlackLaunch reflects the growing demand for spaces built around cultural identity and shared advancement.
PaintLabs
PaintLabs, publicly known as PaintCo, is reinventing fan engagement by replacing traditional, slow, labor-intensive face painting with high-precision, fast-printed body art. The company enables stadiums and sports venues to offer rapid, customizable designs that boost revenue while creating a standout fan experience. Led bySueAnn Hollowell, whose background in sports and immersive technology anchors the startup’s vision, PaintCo is on a mission to modernize on-site sports art.
ConcordeApp
ConcordeApp is a B2B SaaS platform that transforms networking from an inconsistent, manual activity into a structured and data-driven growth engine. By quantifying relationship-building efforts, the platform helps companies turn connections into real, measurable business outcomes. Founded byChaste Christopher Inegbedio, ConcordeApp draws on her enterprise operations experience to streamline how professionals develop and maintain business relationships.
Runwei
Runwei is a chat-based, multilingual, voice-enabled platform designed to democratize access to non-dilutive, non-debt capital. Through a single streamlined system, entrepreneurs can search for, apply to, and track grants, fellowships, awards, and other funding opportunities. Built byAixa Elgazwe to remove friction from the process, Runwei is powered by a deep commitment to equitable access to capital.
CloutBank
CloutBank is creating what founderTodd Sheridan calls the world’s first AI-native credit infrastructure. The platform helps digital creators build credit profiles that reflect the realities of modern online income, addressing a major gap in the traditional financial system. CloutBank’s model aims to ensure creators are recognized as legitimate economic actors with access to predictable financial tools and returns.
Fanatech
Fanatech is developing an all-in-one sports engagement platform where athletes, teams, and fans connect through interactive technology. Its tools deepen fan involvement, enhance loyalty, and unlock new monetization opportunities across the sports ecosystem. Founded byJonathan Makonnen, Fanatech sits at the intersection of sports culture and modern engagement tech.
Tykoon AI
Tykoon AI is an NIL creator-growth platform that supports emerging and often overlooked student-athletes as they build, monetize, and manage their personal brands. Using AI-powered tools, the company simplifies brand development and unlocks opportunities traditionally out of reach for underserved talent. The platform is led by founderPeter Lwuh, who is focused on helping athletes fully realize the value of their name, image, and likeness.
Budget University
Budget University is an online edtech platform delivering accredited financial literacy education to middle and high school students, homeschooling families, and underserved communities. Through its learning management system, students can access coursework on budgeting, investing, student loans, real estate, and long-term wealth building. Founder Shelby Patrice aims to equip young people with the tools they need to navigate modern financial systems with confidence.
About Geekz Ventures
Geekz Ventures is a Techstars Foundation-backed, registered 501(c)(3) non-profit virtual pre-accelerator that supports underestimated entrepreneurs who are launching early-stage tech-enabled startups. Other partners include Village Capital and Black Innovation Alliance. The program provides community, curriculum, coaching, funding, and resources designed to help founders validate their ideas, secure early customers, and prepare for follow-on funding opportunities. The accelerator is industry-agnostic, with a particular focus on media, connectivity, entertainment, and mobile technology.
MCLEAN, Va., Dec. 11, 2025 — Veteran Ventures Capital (VVC) announces its participation in the $60 million Series A financing of Vatn Systems (Vatn), a defense technology company building autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) for the US military, allied nations, and commercial customers. The investment marks Vatn’s entry into VVC’s Fund II portfolio, underscoring the firm’s growing focus on scalable, dual-use autonomous systems that strengthen national security.
VATN Series A Announcement
Founded in Rhode Island by lifelong maritime practitioners and seasoned defense engineers, Vatn Systems is redefining how undersea missions are conducted. The company develops low-cost, modular AUVs designed to operate in large numbers—enabling distributed sensing, rapid ISR, mine countermeasures, and emerging undersea effects missions. Vatn’s platforms leverage a proprietary inertial navigation system and plug-and-play payload architecture, allowing operators to rapidly tailor vehicles for military, commercial, and scientific applications.
“Vatn exemplifies the kind of mission-driven innovation VVC was created to support,” said Derren Burrell, Founder and Managing Partner of Veteran Ventures Capital. “Their team is fielding the undersea mass our national security enterprise urgently needs, and they’re doing it with a level of technical rigor and operational intuition that’s rare in this sector. We’re proud to partner with BVVC, and to join Lockheed Martin Ventures, SAIC Ventures, Airbus Ventures, and other strategic investors who recognize the decisive advantage Vatn brings to the undersea domain.”
“We’re honored to partner with Veteran Ventures Capital,” said Nelson Mills, CEO and co-founder of Vatn Systems. “Their team understands the pace and demands of the national security landscape, and they bring the operational and strategic insight that companies in this sector need as they scale. This investment accelerates our ability to build and deliver undersea mass for customers who require reliable, rapidly deployable systems at a fraction of the cost.”
Vatn Systems has demonstrated rapid technical and commercial progress throughout 2025, delivering vehicles to U.S. government customers, conducting successful open-water demonstrations, and expanding production capacity to meet accelerating demand. The company’s modular design philosophy allows new mission profiles to be integrated in days rather than months—an advantage that resonates across defense, offshore energy, port security, and environmental monitoring.
“Vatn represents exactly the kind of founder-led ingenuity we seek to back,” said Craig Jaques, General Partner at Veteran Ventures Capital. “Their team has blended deep ocean experience with modern autonomy and manufacturing discipline, resulting in undersea systems that can be produced affordably and deployed at scale. As naval operations shift toward attritable, unmanned architectures, Vatn is exceptionally well positioned to become a category-defining player.”
Beyond its defense mission set, Vatn’s technology opens meaningful opportunities in civilian markets. Low-cost AUVs enable more persistent monitoring of coastal infrastructure, improved maritime domain awareness, expanded access for scientific research, and new tools for environmental stewardship—all areas where demand is growing as ocean resources become increasingly vital and contested.
About Veteran Ventures Capital
Veteran Ventures Capital invests in dual-use national security technologies, focusing on companies led by veteran entrepreneurs and leaders. Committed to advancing U.S. technological superiority, Veteran Ventures Capital provides capital, mentorship, and strategic guidance to high growth companies serving critical government and commercial markets. VVC’s portfolio includes leading companies in defense, aerospace, cybersecurity, and other sectors essential to national security, including notable investments in Hidden Level, Cambium,Agile Space Industries, and Asylon Robotics, amongst others. For more information, visit www.veteranventures.us and follow the firm on LinkedIn.
About Vatn Systems
Vatn Systems is a leading defense technology company building autonomous underwater vehicles that can be deployed at scale for the US military and allies. Founded in 2023 by a team of maritime experts and military leaders, Vatn Systems is on a mission to be the next underwater defense prime in a world where autonomous systems dominate naval battlefields. Vatn’s flagship products include the Skelmir S6 compact modular underwater effector and the Skelmir S12, a 12.75-inch diameter platform that merges the capabilities of a traditional AUV with the agility and performance of a lightweight torpedo, designed to attrit threats, deploy sensors and decoys, and support electronic warfare missions at scale. Both vehicles are powered by INStinct, Vatn’s proprietary inertial navigation system that delivers precise, GPS-free navigation in harsh maritime environments at a fraction of the cost of traditional systems. For more information, visit www.vatnsystems.com and follow the company on LinkedIn.
LONDON, 11. Dezember 2025 — Sir Nick Clegg, Yann LeCun und weitere Experten schließen sich HIRO III an, einem auf Großbritannien und Europa ausgerichteten Multi-Stage-Risikokapitalfonds mit Fokus auf Spatial AI, Robotik, Langlebigkeit, Games, Raumfahrt und Verteidigung.
HIRO Capital, eine gründergeführte VC-Firma, gab heute bekannt, dass Sir Nick Clegg, ehemaliger President Global Affairs bei META und ehemaliger stellvertretender britischer Premierminister, dem Fonds als General Partner für den Start von HIRO III beigetreten ist. HIRO III ist ein großer Multi-Stage-Fonds, der jeweils zwischen 5 Mio. und 50 Mio. Euro in vielversprechende Innovatoren investieren kann und die Scale-up-Finanzierungslücke in Großbritannien und Europa adressiert.
Das Gründerteam von HIRO, bestehend aus Luke Alvarez, Cherry Freeman und der britischen Spiele-Legende Sir Ian Livingstone CBE, verfügt über eine starke Erfolgsbilanz als Gründer-Unternehmer, die zusammen mehrere Exits und Börsengänge mit einem Gesamtvolumen von mehr als 10 Mrd. Euro durchgeführt haben. Diese Erfolgsbilanz basiert auf technischem Fachwissen und Scale-up-Know-how aus jahrzehntelanger Erfahrung im Aufbau von und Investitionen in Start-ups.
Als Investor im Bereich der räumlichen Datenverarbeitung ist HIRO bestens für das neue Technologiezeitalter gerüstet, in dem wir in ganz Europa eine außerordentliche Wertschöpfung in Bereichen wie räumliche KI und Robotik bis hin zu Verteidigung und Langlebigkeit erleben werden.
Sir Nick Clegg kommentierte: „Ich bin zu HIRO gekommen, weil ich wie die Gründer an den Aufstieg von Immersive Computing und Spatial AI glaube. Wir werden uns nicht mehr nur das Internet anschauen – wir werden im Internet leben. Mit der Konvergenz von Raumfahrttechnologien und Weltmodell-KI der nächsten Generation befinden wir uns gerade in der Anfangsphase dieses Plattformwechsels. Im Gegensatz zu anderen Fonds konzentriert sich HIRO ganz auf diese Themen, und zwar ausschließlich in Europa.
Dies ist eine große Chance für das britisch-europäische Technologie-Ökosystem. Wir haben einige der herausragendsten Forschenden und Universitäten der Welt, aber auch großartige Ingenieurinnen und Ingenieure und Unternehmerinnen und Unternehmer. Unser Problem ist nicht ein Mangel an Innovation, sondern ein Mangel an Kapital in großem Umfang. Europa mag seine Kritiker haben, aber wir haben eine lebendige Start-up-Szene, die jetzt bereit ist, durchzustarten – ich glaube, das HIRO-Team hat die einzigartige geografische und technologische Reichweite, um dazu beizutragen.”
Neben der Ernennung von Clegg zum General Partner wird das Team von HIRO auch durch den neuen Beirat verstärkt. Der Beirat verfügt über außergewöhnliche Fachkenntnisse in jedem der vier Kernbereiche von HIRO: Räumliche KI und Cloud, Autonomie und Robotik, Raumfahrt und Verteidigung sowie Augmentation und Langlebigkeit.
Professor Yann LeCun sagte: „Ich freue mich sehr, dem HIRO-Beirat beizutreten. Wir treten in eine neue Phase der KI ein – eine Ära von Systemen, die die physische Welt verstehen, ein dauerhaftes Gedächtnis haben und komplexe Handlungen planen können. HIROs Erfolgsbilanz bei Investitionen in räumliche Technologien, 3D-Technologien, Wearables und Spiele bedeutet, dass das Unternehmen hervorragend aufgestellt ist, um von dieser neuen Welle von Möglichkeiten in Europa zu profitieren.”
Dem neuen Beirat gehören an: Professor Yann LeCun, ehemaliger Chief Scientist von Meta und Turing-Preisträger für Deep Learning AI; Malcolm Turnbull, ehemaliger Premierminister Australiens und führender Tech-Investor; Major Tim Peake, Wissenschaftler, Testpilot und erster britischer ESA-Astronaut; Laurent Solly, Vice President Europe bei META; Sicherheits- und Verteidigungsexperte Professor Deeph Chana vom Imperial Institute in London, Gründungsdirektor von NATO DIANA und des Nato Innovation Fund; Hannah Gladman, Strategy & Special Projects bei Google DeepMind; Dr. Jack Scannell, Biotech-Investor, Begründer der Langlebigkeit und Schöpfer von Eroom’s Law; Edward van Cutsem, Chairman of Private Markets bei Westerly Winds und ehemaliger MD bei BlackRock; Professor Paul Newman, Professor für Information Engineering in Oxford und Gründer des Oxford Robotics Institute; Caroline Daniel, ehemalige Journalistin und Strategin der Financial Times; Loredana Crisan, Chief Design Officer bei Figma.
Luke Alvarez, Managing Partner von HIRO, sagte: „Ich freue mich, Sir Nick Clegg in unserem Team willkommen zu heißen, zusammen mit Yann LeCun und allen weiteren hochkarätigen Beiratsmitgliedern. Wir befinden uns heute in der Anfangsphase einer Ära massiver technologischen Innovation mit einer beispiellosen Dynamik, die durch die zunehmende Konvergenz der Datenverarbeitung mit der physischen Welt, mit dem menschlichen Körper und mit autonomen Agenten angetrieben wird. Wir alle glauben an das Potenzial Europas, an der Spitze der Technologiebranche zu stehen, und wollen mit derselben Leidenschaft zum Erfolg Großbritanniens und Europas beitragen. Unser neuer Beirat wurde aufgrund seines Weitblicks, seines technologischen Fachwissens und seiner weltweiten und europaweiten Netzwerke ausgewählt. Wir freuen uns darauf, die ersten HIRO-III-Investitionen im Jahr 2026 anzukündigen.”
Informationen zu HIRO Capital
HIRO Capital ist eine gründergeführte Risikokapitalgesellschaft mit Sitz in London und Luxemburg, die in die superabundante Zukunft der Menschheit investiert. HIRO investiert von Serie A bis Serie C / Scale-Up in seinen spezialisierten Themenbereichen KI, Spatial Computing, Autonomie, Robotik, Langlebigkeit, Augmentation, Spiele, Simulation sowie Raumfahrt- und Verteidigungstechnologien. Wir konzentrieren uns auf Unternehmer und Innovatoren in der weit gefassten Region Europe+, die die EU, Großbritannien, Norwegen, die Schweiz und die Ukraine umfasst. Wir sind Gründer und Führungskräfte, die Founder Leaders unterstützen. Wir sind Optimisten und Futuristen. Wir glauben, dass Europe+ in der nächsten Phase der menschlichen Entwicklung, die durch die Technologie ermöglicht wird, weltweit führend sein kann und sollte. Wir wissen, dass die Kreativität, der Ehrgeiz und der Unternehmergeist der Menschen bessere Gesellschaften schaffen werden. https://hiro.capital/
HIRO ist nach dem Helden benannt, zu dem man wird, wenn man ein Spiel spielt oder Sport betreibt, nach dem Helden, der man ist, wenn man ein Unternehmen aufbaut – und es ist eine Hommage an Hiro Protagonist, den Hacker-Helden aus Neal Stephensons „Snow Crash”, der die digitale 3D-Welt codiert und die Menschheit gegen alle Widerstände rettet.
With over $50 million raised to date and a team of 100+ employees, LI.FI Protocol has surpassed $60 billion in lifetime transaction volume.
BERLIN, Dec. 11, 2025 — LI.FI Protocol, a powerful toolkit that enables developers to build on-chain swaps and cross-chain bridging within their applications, today announced the close of a $29 million Series A extension funding round. The latest round, led by Multicoin and CoinFund, brings total capital raised to $51.7 million.
The funding will fuel the further expansion of company operations and new product development. LI.FI has grown to 100+ employees worldwide and is scaling its team to best serve customers across the digital asset and integrated finance landscape. The LI.FI Protocol is nearing the 1,000 B2B partner milestone and has continued to be a leading infrastructure layer for key customers, including Robinhood, Binance, Kraken, MetaMask, Phantom, Ledger, Hyperliquid, Circle, Alipay, and more, growing monthly volume by 595%, from $1.15 billion in October 2024 to $8 billion in October 2025.
LI.FI will continue to tackle the growing fragmentation across blockchain infrastructure, token standards, and interoperability solutions by providing an enterprise-grade platform that continues to fuel its growth and success. The funding will support the next stage of innovation, including developing infrastructure for AI agents and stablecoins, as well as the planned launch of an open intent and solver marketplace in Q1 of 2026 to broaden access to third-party liquidity.
Philipp Zentner, Co-Founder & CEO of LI.FI commented on today’s news: “Over the past year, we’ve significantly expanded our product suite to strengthen our position in the market and provide a more seamless experience for both B2B partners and their users. This growth allows LI.FI to continue laying the foundation for the next generation of crypto applications, enabling developers and companies to access liquidity across all blockchain ecosystems in ways that were previously overly complex or inaccessible. The increased funding showcases investor confidence in LI.FI’s growth and vision as our goal remains to make composability invisible and reliable, enabling the entire industry to build on it confidently.”
LI.FI Protocol recently surpassed $60 billion in lifetime transaction volume and continues to abstract away complexity to meet the accelerating need for unified, secure, and developer-friendly liquidity infrastructure, allowing businesses to offer onchain capabilities without needing to build it themselves. In doing so, LI.FI is enabling the next wave of products that will bring millions of users into a truly interconnected Web3 ecosystem.
Spencer Applebaum, Investment Partner at Multicoin Capital, said: “As crypto trading becomes a core feature inside mainstream fintech apps, the hardest problem is no longer user demand – it’s making fragmented blockchains, liquidity, and execution work seamlessly together,” said Spencer Applebaum, Investment Partner at Multicoin Capital. “LI.FI Protocol gives fintechs and web3 wallets a single API to offer both trading and cross-chain asset movement, handling on-chain routing and execution behind the scenes. By hiding that complexity from both developers and end users, they make it far easier for financial apps to launch truly multi-chain crypto products at scale. This investment reflects our continued conviction in Philipp and his team as long-term category builders in the DeFi space.”
David Pakman, Managing Partner & Head of Venture Investments at CoinFund, added: “Crypto adoption is rapidly increasing just as the blockchain infrastructure underneath fragments and proliferates into multiple L1s, L2s, and protocols. LI.FI is a universal layer that solves this fragmentation problem, allowing for true global cross-chain liquidity and asset interoperability,” said David Pakman, Managing Partner and Head of Venture Investments at CoinFund. “Founders like Philipp see fragmentation as an opportunity to build solutions that give developers access to infrastructure without having to choose between networks. This investment reflects our continued conviction in LI.Fi, Philipp, and his extraordinary team, and we believe they are well equipped to dominate the market for cross-chain products.”
About LI.FI
LI.FI is a non-custodial, open-source protocol that connects decentralized liquidity across multiple blockchain ecosystems. By aggregating access to third-party bridges and decentralized exchanges, LI.FI enables developers to integrate seamless multi-chain functionality into their applications through a single point of connection. This infrastructure reduces the complexity of navigating fragmented blockchain networks while ensuring users always maintain self-custodial control of their assets. It has built a connective layer that powers intuitive, multi-chain experiences on the front end, while preserving the decentralized principles that define Web3. After being founded in 2021, LI.FI has seen extensive growth globally with over 800+ partners in the market currently.
About Multicoin Capital
Multicoin Capital is a thesis-driven investment firm that makes long-term, high-conviction investments in category-defining companies and protocols on behalf of sophisticated families, foundations, endowments, and institutional investors. Founded in 2017, the firm leverages a deep understanding and accumulated knowledge of blockchain technology and crypto markets to deliver strong, risk-adjusted returns. Multicoin Capital manages several billion across its funds, and has established a track record of deploying capital across market cycles in both public and private markets.
About CoinFund
CoinFund is one of the world’s first crypto-native investment firms and a registered investment adviser founded in 2015. The firm champions the leaders of the new internet, powered by foresight as active investors to achieve extraordinary outcomes. CoinFund invests in seed, venture, and liquid opportunities within the blockchain sector with a focus on digital assets, decentralization technologies, and key enabling infrastructure.
NEW YORK, Dec. 11, 2025 — Keeper, the world’s most effective AI matchmaker, today announced it closed a $4 million pre-seed funding round in October 2024. The round was led by Lightbank and Lakehouse Ventures, with participation from Champion Hill Ventures, Goodwater Capital, and others. The funding has powered a year of R&D to automate Keeper’s revolutionary matching methodology and accelerate the company’s destiny to find lasting love for every person on Earth.
Keeper’s AI matchmaker helps users find highly compatible, long-term partners by screening thousands of options and presenting one tailored match at a time.
Founded in 2022, Keeper is the only matchmaking product that is singularly focused on outcomes, with a matching approach that emphasizes quality over quantity in the extreme and a business model that aligns the company’s incentives with user success. In beta, Keeper’s comprehensive intake and psychometric approach attracted more than 1.5 million signups and produced the best success rate of any product in history with 1-in-10 first dates leading to marriage.
Since closing the round in October 2024, Keeper has focused on turning its human-in-the-loop, AI-assisted process into a fully automated AI matchmaker. With the recent launch of Keeper V2, Keeper’s AI performs the heavy lifting–searching, ranking, and proposing matches–before an expert human matchmaker performs a brief final review. This preserves accuracy while compressing time-to-match as Keeper completes the transition to full automation.
“In beta, we proved that our method works. This past year has been about scale, speed, and accessibility,” said Jake Kozloski, Founder & CEO of Keeper. “Our AI is becoming the matchmaker that understands you better than you understand yourself–so your first match can be your last first date. This funding helped us build the foundation for a fully automated AI matchmaker that can address loneliness at a global scale.”
Keeper uses open-ended data collection and rigorous relationship science to assess compatibility across preferences, personality, values, intelligence, and other predictors of long-term success. The company’s algorithms–developed with guidance from Stanford evolutionary scientists and psychometricians–learn from real-world outcomes to continuously improve matching performance.
John Neamonitis at Lakehouse Ventures recognizes Keeper’s promise: “Dating apps have one of the lowest NPS among all consumer apps–users are tired and frustrated and ready for something new. With advances in large language models, an AI matchmaker isn’t just possible, but as Keeper is proving, infinitely better than incumbent solutions.”
The new capital is being used to scale Keeper’s unrivaled matching engine, expand distribution, and introduce self-improvement features like coaching and feedback so Keeper can defeat industry incumbents whose products don’t work and make human loneliness a thing of the past.
Keeper is the AI matchmaker committed to finding everyone their soulmate. By combining advanced AI with relationship science and a business model aligned to user success, Keeper aims to end loneliness and give everyone the opportunity to build a happy, healthy family.
New funding accelerates the company’s North American expansion, strengthens passive income opportunities for drivers and enhances partnerships with nationwide brands and agencies
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 11, 2025 — Stic, the technology-enabled platform that connects brands with everyday drivers to power measurable out-of-home (OOH) advertising, today announced it has raised a $10 million Bridge funding round led by Accretion Capital and notable entrepreneurs like Phil Hellmuth, Adam Waheed and Chris Detert. Advisory support came from experts such as Lucy Guo, Maurice Maschmeyer, Tanya Cohen, Collins Key, Devan Key, Kamo Jurn and the Global Wealth Solutions Group of Raymond James.
The latest investment brings Stic’s total valuation to $200 million and supports the company’s mission to create simple, passive earning opportunities for everyday drivers while giving brands a more measurable, and cost-efficient approach to OOH. Over the next year, Stic will use the new capital to expand operations across more than thirty US states and Canada, deepen relationships with brands and agencies running national campaigns and strengthen its operational capabilities in new markets.
“By combining a fast-growing driver network with powerful analytics, we’re giving brands a scalable way to run OOH campaigns while putting money back into people’s pockets,” said Adam Cohen, founder and CEO of Stic. “Stic makes it easier for people to earn passive income without changing their daily routines and this funding helps us bring that opportunity to more communities while giving brands a more measurable way to reach high value audiences in the real world.”
Founded in 2023, Stic’s platform brings greater measurement, transparency and scale to a part of OOH that has long been fragmented and difficult to track. Brands can use the platform to activate campaigns across Stic’s driver network, and drivers earn money per mile for participating. Stic uses a mix of proprietary systems and industry-standard mapping, mobility and analytics tools to model routes, traffic patterns and campaign performance, delivering modern transparency from streets to the screen.
The company currently works with a broad range of national and emerging brands across the insurance, retail, technology, CPG, QSR and entertainment categories. Since its inception, Stic’s driver network has grown by 600%, helping transform the gig economy with a model that eliminates the time, labor and constant engagement required by most platforms while giving brands a uniquely human and highly efficient advertising channel. The platform supports real people, brings enhanced transparency to the industry and elevates expectations for what OOH advertising can deliver.
“As a partner, working with Stic supports the best of both human empowerment and smart technology,” said Lucy Guo, CEO/founder of Passes and co founder of Scale AI. “In today’s economy, people are looking for meaningful ways to earn income and seek advertising that isn’t disruptive to their daily lives. Stic’s platform empowers gig workers while delivering smarter advertising in the real world, unlocking growth opportunities for all sides of the marketplace— from drivers to brands and agencies.”
About Stic Stic is a VC-backed adtech startup transforming the way brands and consumers think about outdoor advertising by turning everyday vehicles and gig economy vehicles into measurable, mobile media. Founded in 2023, Stic enables drivers to earn money simply by going about their daily routines, using removable, technology-enabled stickers that track mileage, optimize ad placement, and calculate real-time impressions.
Salesforce Ventures, Motivate Ventures, DCG, ex/ante, and Cambrian Ventures invest as Cyphlens expands its advisory board with leading security and intelligence experts.
NEW YORK, Dec. 11, 2025 — Cyphlens is defining the next generation of enterprise security with visual encryption, a groundbreaking layer of protection that lives everywhere the eye meets the screen. Today, the company announced the close of its oversubscribed $3.8 million seed round and the expansion of its world-class advisory board. The round includes participation from Salesforce Ventures, Motivate Ventures, DCG, ex/ante, and Cambrian Ventures — underscoring strong investor conviction in this new category of data protection.
Cyphlens’ patented visual encryption technology introduces a new layer of defense to enterprise security by protecting information at the moment it’s viewed — the last mile where traditional encryption stops. The company’s flagship product, Cyph-lens, transforms sensitive data into encrypted visual ciphers readable only through a secure decoding lens, preventing exposure even when displayed on screen. This technology addresses the rapid rise of AI-driven phishing, credential theft, screen-scraping malware, and insider risks across complex digital supply chains.
In a cybersecurity market crowded with incremental advances, Cyphlens stands apart by securing what others overlook – the moment data is viewed. Its visual encryption technology fills a critical gap left open by traditional encryption and access management solutions, delivering true end-to-end protection for the AI era.
“In a cybersecurity market full of incremental improvements, Cyphlens is solving a blind spot: data exposure at the point of view,” said Rob Keith, Partner at Salesforce Ventures. “Their visual encryption architecture extends true zero-trust security to the last mile — where data is most vulnerable — and arrives at exactly the right moment as enterprises grapple with AI-accelerated threats.”
“Our mission is to make the strongest security invisible – so adoption becomes instinctive,” said Rocky Motwani, CEO of Cyphlens. “With Cyphlens, visual encryption can be added to existing systems in minutes, extending zero-trust protection to every endpoint and every user.”
Industry Leaders Join Cyphlens Advisory Board
Cyphlens has appointed several leading figures from cybersecurity, intelligence, and fintech to its advisory board:
Chris Moretti, VP of Global Technology & AI Infrastructure Enablement at Cigna – bringing an enterprise-scale perspective on secure data access and digital transformation.
Chris Novak, Founder of the Verizon Threat Research Advisory Center, a globally recognized authority on cyber risk and threat intelligence.
William MacMillan, a former Chief Information Security Officer at the CIA, offers decades of experience in national security and intelligence operations.
Richard Grogan-Crane, CEO of XTRM, contributes deep expertise in financial services and payments security.
Together, these advisors strengthen Cyphlens’ position as a leader in visual encryption and next-generation identity access management.
“Cyphlens is building for the future of enterprise security – one where AI, scale, and usability must coexist,” said Chris Novak. “Their architecture anticipates tomorrow’s threats while simplifying how enterprises protect what matters most.”
Cyphlens will use the new funding to accelerate product development across its visual-encryption platform, deepen enterprise integrations, and expand engineering and customer-success teams. The company is also scaling go-to-market efforts to meet rising demand from financial services, government, and healthcare organizations seeking stronger protection against AI-driven data exposure.
About Cyphlens
Cyphlens pioneers visual encryption to combat emerging threats in identity access management and data security. Its technology protects information even when viewed – safeguarding against AI-driven phishing, insider threats, and supply-chain vulnerabilities.
Cyphlens’ solutions are deployed across financial services, government, and healthcare sectors, helping organizations safeguard critical data, strengthen authentication, and maintain trust in an era of accelerated digital and AI risk.
The company continues to expand its platform capabilities with upcoming products, including CypherFile, which extends visual encryption to files and shared documents, and CypherMFA, a next-generation multi-factor authentication system that leverages visual encryption and delegation by design for seamless, zero-friction identity verification.
Emerging leader in security data pipelines has raised $22M in 15 months, expanded headcount 250%, and helped CISOs slash six figures in SIEM ingestion costs
BOSTON, Dec. 11, 2025 — Realm.Security, the company pioneering the industry’s first AI-native Security Data Pipeline Platform (SDPP), today announced a $2M strategic investment from Presidio Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Japanese-headquartered Sumitomo Corporation. A global integrated trading company with a history spanning 400 years, Sumitomo operates numerous subsidiaries around the world, including SCSK, a leading global system integrator, providing managed IT and cybersecurity services to more than 8,000 enterprise customers. Realm will use the investment and access to Sumitomo’s network to accelerate its Asia-Pacific expansion through channel partners and further strengthen its executive team.
“We’re excited to bring on Presidio Ventures as a strategic investor as we meet rising global demand for our platform from security teams who are drowning in data noise and facing spiraling storage and compute costs,” said Pete Martin, co-founder and CEO of Realm.Security. “This investment caps an impressive first full calendar year for Realm, and we believe Sumitomo’s deep connections will help us enter the Asia-Pacific market and scale quickly in 2026. The region is now the third-largest cybersecurity market globally, and Japan is a particularly compelling entry point for our channel-led strategy, given that many enterprises there outsource their Security Operation Centers.”
“Realm is using AI to give every enterprise security team the ability to manage, filter, and normalize security data in ways that, until recently, were only possible for Fortune 1000 companies with dedicated cybersecurity data engineering teams,” said Ross Leav of Presidio Ventures. “We’re excited to join their mission to democratize this capability as the cybersecurity industry faces a data crisis. At the same time, the industry also faces a human resource crisis. Especially in Japan where talented cyber professionals are becoming an increasingly scarce resource, enterprises need to find ways to do more with less. This is a perfect opportunity to employ AI, both to meet the challenge of data overload but also to enable cyber professionals to focus their attention on the most critical threats. We believe Realm can be an essential tool for modernizing our own security operations services while at the same time improving outcomes for the many customers who rely on us.”
The strategic investment follows a $15M Series A round for Realm in October, led by Jump Capital and including participation from Glasswing Ventures and Accomplice. Other recent milestones include Realm being recognized as an “Emerging Leader” in the SDPP category in analyst firm SACR’s “The Rise of Security Data Pipeline Platforms as a Control Plane for the SOC report,” as well as receiving a BostInno 2025 Fire Award as one of the 50 companies having a major impact on the local startup ecosystem. More impressively, Vensure Employer Solutions, a 10,000-person benefits and payroll provider, recently reported using Realm’s platform to cut firewall log volumes by 83%, saving $250,000 annually.
To fuel its momentum and global expansion, Realm.Security is continuing to scale its team, increasing headcount by 250% in 2025. Recent leadership appointments include Holly Cappello as Chief Revenue Officer and Colin Jermain as Vice President of Data Science. Cappello brings more than a decade of cybersecurity sales experience, most recently serving as SVP of Global Sales at Cado Security, which was acquired by Darktrace. She previously held senior sales roles at Menlo Security and Carbon Black. Jermain joins from SecurityScorecard, where he was Senior Director of Data Science, and previously served in multiple senior data science roles at Vectra AI. These appointments underscore Realm’s continued investment in revenue, data, and AI leadership as it enters its next phase of growth.
About Realm.Security
Realm.Security helps security teams cut costs and improve outcomes by transforming how they manage and route security data. Headquartered in Boston, the company was founded by industry veterans with decades of experience defending against evolving threats. Realm’s AI-native Security Data Pipeline Platform is radically simple to deploy and operate, embedding artificial intelligence across the platform to deliver faster, smarter outcomes without the manual overhead. Learn more atwww.realm.security.
About Presidio Ventures Presidio Ventures is the corporate venture capital arm of Sumitomo Corporation, one of the world’s leading integrated trading companies. With offices in Silicon Valley, Boston, New York, London and Los Angeles, it has invested in more than 200 companies, providing both financial backing and business development expertise to help startups scale globally. www.presidio-ventures.com.
