With Seed funding round led by Lightspeed, Sphinx unveils AI copilot for data scientists that thinks in statistics and patterns to find value in raw information

NEW YORK, Sept. 9, 2025 — Sphinx, the company building AI for data, launched today with a $9.5 million Seed round and an AI copilot for data professionals to transform raw information into actionable insights. The round was led by Lightspeed, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Box Group, K5, Impatient VC and others. Sphinx is also backed by Steve Cohen, Naveen Rao, and leaders from Databricks, Windsurf, and Together AI. The funding will be used to continue building agentic AI that natively interacts with data and data science workflows.

While AI has quickly become a key component of software development, data science has been underserved by the benefits of the technology. The way data scientists work is fundamentally more iterative and exploratory than the workflow of software developers. Unlike other copilots, Sphinx Copilot is purpose-built for data, with a focus on building accurate representations, rigorously verifying models, and grounding responses with quantitative evidence rather than rushing to generate code or conclusions.

“Sphinx brings frontier AI capabilities to data analysis, redefining how AI reasons with data,” said Bucky Moore, partner at Lightspeed. “Starting with the core workflows of data teams, Sphinx’s agents will continue to handle more of the tedious work that goes into deriving insights from data. It’s more critical than ever for enterprises to glean key information from their data to fuel business decisions and Sphinx enables this at record speed. Rohan and Jamie are on a mission to define how enterprises leverage AI to become truly data-driven.”

Sphinx copilot, available today, works collaboratively to transform raw information into actionable insight via autocomplete and agentic reasoning. It refines forecasts, optimizes operations, and can power applications from supply chains to sabermetrics. Built for data professionals, Sphinx integrates a benchmark-leading agent into environments including Jupyter notebooks and VSCode to meet data teams where they already work.

“AI is driving a paradigm shift for natural language and code, but traditional data has been left behind,” said Rohan Kodialam, co-founder and CEO of Sphinx. “Our researchers and engineers are aggressively innovating on the interface between AI and data to drive tangible value for our partners across industries including CPG, retail, and financial services.”

Sphinx builds on recent research breakthroughs in reasoning models, with a distinct focus on the interpretation of tabular and semi-structured information and balancing data exploration with value extraction. Sphinx is ready to accelerate over 93 million users of Jupyter worldwide, and to enable a $100 billion market for data insights.

“Sphinx has helped our data scientists uncover patterns in shopper behavior in minutes instead of hours or days,” said Brian Tate, CEO of Oats Overnight. “It’s become a powerful part of our analytics workflow, and we’re looking forward to deepening the partnership.”

Sphinx was founded by Rohan Kodialam, an AI research leader at Citadel, and Jamie Bloxham, an early technology lead at MosaicML. While leading AI research and data science teams, they confronted a persistent obstacle: frontier models remained isolated from the data-science tooling and structured datasets that inform commercial decisions. Sphinx’s mission is to close the gap through focused research in representation learning and reinforcement learning, combined with products that delight and dramatically accelerate the work of data practitioners.

For more information go to www.sphinx.ai.

About Sphinx:
Sphinx is an applied AI research firm building agents that effectively interface with data. Our agents excel at interpreting data, exploring hypotheses, and ultimately at finding commercially relevant insights from raw information. Sphinx’s copilot product is currently available on top of Jupyter, and allows data professionals to leverage our AI to accelerate their workflows. www.sphinx.ai

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

SOURCE Sphinx

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 9, 2025 — Runware, a performance & price-focused AI-as-a-Service provider, today announced a $13M fundraise led by global software investor Insight Partners, with participation from previous investors a16z Speedrun, Begin Capital, and Zero Prime. The funding will be used to expand Runware’s capabilities from image and video generation to all-media workflows, including audio, LLM, and 3D. To date, more than 4B visual assets have been generated on Runware’s inference engine and over 100K developers have been onboarded in less than a year since launch. The platform hosts +400K AI models and powers media inference for more than 250M end users through customers like Quora, NightCafe, OpenArt, FocalML.

Runware runs its AI media generation API on the proprietary Sonic Inference Engine^®, which integrates custom-designed hardware and bespoke software to achieve greater cost efficiency and generation speed. As compute intensive workloads like video generation gain popularity and GPU costs burn through budgets, consumer AI apps are increasingly looking to cut costs. Specialized solutions like Runware deliver all-media generation and provide up to 10x cost savings on implementation & inference. Alongside inference savings, Runware’s API unifies all model providers under a common data standard, reducing the time engineering teams spend on adding a new model to minutes through a simple parameter change.

All-Media Generation in one API: Images, Video, Audio, LLM

Following its recent round, Runware is investing heavily in extending its inference engine and API to all AI media workloads. The company already integrates all image and video models integrated from Black Forest Labs, OpenAI, Ideogram, ByteDance, Kling, Minimax Hailuo, Google Veo, PixVerse, Vidu, Alibaba Wan & Qwen, and is actively expanding into audio and LLM models. A full featured media generator or content creation tool can now be built with Runware’s API in minutes. Its model hub currently hosts +400K AI generation models.

By supporting all media generation on its inference engine, Runware takes the complexity out of AI integration. Its API can replace the need for tens or hundreds of individual model integrations, or massive in-house infrastructure, ML teams, and six-figure R&D budgets. Many product teams can now ship AI media features same-day, with no setup. Across media and model types, Runware aims to be the fastest, cheapest, most flexible API for any and all AI workloads.

“As more and more models launch, devs can have tens or even hundreds of endpoints to integrate with and maintain. We see model providers now moving to our platform and offering their APIs from our inference pod, because we can deliver up to 90% lower inference cost than any cloud provider.” Flaviu Radulescu, Founder at Runware

How Runware cuts generation costs by up to 90%

Runware’s ability to make fundamental hardware optimizations is based on Flaviu Radulescu’s previous 20 years of experience building bare metal data clusters for clients like Vodafone, Booking.com, and Transport for London. Runware designs and builds its own custom GPU and networking hardware, packaged in a proprietary inference pod optimized for rapid deployment and use of cost-effective renewable energy. Its vertically integrated design can reduce inference costs by up to 90%—savings passed on to clients.

“Runware is a hidden gem every serious AI application should consider. It offers incredibly competitive pricing across top models, consistently strong performance, and responsive, helpful customer support. If you’re building with AI, Runware should be on your radar.” Coco Mao, CEO at OpenArt

“The core of Runware’s advantage is its purpose-built Sonic Inference Engine®. While others often rely on commodity cloud infrastructure, Runware built its own workload-specific infrastructure — giving it control over latency, throughput, and cost at a fundamental level. That technical edge can be transformational and is what makes Runware a performance leader in AI media generation.” George Mathew, Managing Director at Insight Partners. Mathew joins Runware’s board as part of the fundraise.

Unlocking developer flexibility

Runware delivers its cost and performance edge without compromising quality or flexibility, thanks to its custom Sonic Inference Engine^® and developer API. Built for composable workflows, it lets developers mix and match models from day one, integrating new ones into existing pipelines. Features previously limited to image generation, such as batch processing, parallel inference, ComfyUI support, and ControlNet or LoRA editing, now extend to video.

“We chose Runware as our primary inference partner for their price and the flexibility of the API. NightCafe users are avid explorers of AI – they want to try all the models, hyperparameters, LoRAs and other options. On other providers there are often different endpoints for all these things, but not a single endpoint that combines them all. On Runware it’s a single endpoint that we send all the user’s options to. It also happens to be less than half – sometimes less than 1/5 – of the cost of other providers.” Angus Russell, Founder at NightCafe

“We moved to Runware on a day where we had a big traffic surge. Their API was easy to integrate and handled the sudden load very smoothly. Their combination of quality, speed, and price was by far the best in the market, and they’ve been excellent partners as we’ve scaled up.” Robert Cunningham, Co-Founder at Focal

About Runware

Runware delivers AI-as-a-Service at 90% lower cost and with higher speed than competitors. Built for scale, the service has already powered 4 billion+ creations for +100K developers and +250M end-users worldwide. Founded in 2023 and headquartered in San Francisco, Runware is backed by Insight Partners and a16z Speedrun. Learn more about Runware at runware.ai.

About Insight Partners

Insight Partners is a global software investor partnering with high-growth technology, software, and Internet startup and ScaleUp companies that are driving transformative change in their industries. As of December 31, 2024, the firm has over $90B in regulatory assets under management. Insight Partners has invested in more than 800 companies worldwide and has seen over 55 portfolio companies achieve an IPO. Headquartered in New York City, Insight has offices in London, Tel Aviv, and the Bay Area. Insight’s mission is to find, fund, and work successfully with visionary executives, providing them with tailored, hands-on software expertise along their growth journey, from their first investment to IPO. For more information on Insight and all its investments, visit insightpartners.com or follow us on X @insightpartners.

SOURCE Runware

Simpson will oversee the firm’s venture capital investment diligence, manager relationships, and portfolio construction

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 9, 2025 — GEM, a $12B leading provider of institutional investment solutions for endowments, foundations, sovereigns, families, and other long-term investors, announced today that Kate Simpson has joined the firm as a Managing Director on the firm’s Investment team.

In her new role, Simpson will oversee GEM’s venture capital platform, including sourcing and evaluating investment opportunities, developing manager relationships, and guiding portfolio construction. Since its inception in 2007, GEM has been a leading institutional investor in venture capital across primary fund commitments, secondary fund purchases, and co-investments. Simpson’s appointment underscores the firm’s commitment to backing talented investors who have the potential to deliver outsized returns in an ever-evolving VC landscape.¹

“Kate is a seasoned investor with demonstrated expertise across the venture spectrum,” said Jay Ripley, GEM’s Head of Investments. “We are excited to welcome Kate to the team and look forward to her invaluable leadership as we continue to pursue what we believe are the highest-quality venture opportunities on behalf of our clients.”

Simpson brings more than 20 years of investment experience to GEM. Most recently, she served as Partner at TrueBridge Capital Partners, where she worked closely with leading venture firms—with a particular focus on seed & micro-venture capital investments—and led TrueBridge’s customized solutions business. Her previous experience includes roles as an Advisor at Atlas Diligence, LLC, a Director at Parish Capital Advisors, and an Investment Associate at UNC Management Company.

Simpson added: “I am thrilled to join GEM and help further shape the firm’s venture capital strategy. GEM has built a strong reputation as a thoughtful, long-term partner to institutional investors—from long-standing OCIO clients to a growing roster of private fund investors—through its deep commitment to investment diligence, disciplined portfolio construction, and enduring manager relationships. I look forward to contributing to that work while expanding our venture platform for the future.”

Beyond her professional responsibilities, Simpson serves as Trustee and Chair of the Finance Committee at St. Andrew’s School and previously served on the Board of the John Rex Endowment. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

About GEM
GEM is a leading provider of institutional investment solutions for endowments, foundations, sovereigns, families, and other long-term investors. Since 2007, GEM has specialized in delivering the highest quality service and support to our clients, enabling them to achieve their long-term investment goals. With a global reach, broad investment capabilities, and an experienced team, GEM strategically tailors solutions to meet the unique needs of each investor we serve. For more information, visit www.geminvestments.com.

Contact
Prosek Partners on behalf of GEM: [email protected]

¹ Returns are not guaranteed.

SOURCE GEM

DENVER, Sept. 9, 2025 — Altira Group LLC (“Altira”), a leading venture capital firm investing in breakthrough industrial technology and software solutions, today congratulates its portfolio company Seeq Corporation (“Seeq”) on the appointment of Anton Chilton to its Board of Directors.

Chilton brings more than three decades of global technology leadership, including his tenure as CEO of QAD Inc., where he guided the company’s transition to SaaS, led strategic acquisitions, and oversaw its landmark take-private transaction with Thoma Bravo in 2021. His expertise in SaaS, manufacturing, and enterprise operations strengthens Seeq’s board at a pivotal stage of growth.

“Anton has a proven track record of helping companies scale through periods of growth and transformation, and his insights will be invaluable as Seeq continues to expand globally and lead the adoption of AI-driven industrial analytics,” said J.P. Bauman, Partner at Altira and Seeq Board Member. “His experience aligning technology innovation with customer needs is exactly what Seeq requires as it enters its next phase of growth.”

Chilton replaces Ashley Kramer, who resigned in July 2025 to join OpenAI as its Chief Revenue Leader. Altira extends its gratitude to Kramer for her dedicated service and contributions to Seeq’s growth.

Seeq is a global leader in advanced analytics and AI for industrial process and manufacturing companies that delivers a self-service, enterprise SaaS platform to accelerate critical insights resulting in optimized operations across efficiency, reliability, quality, and cost dimensions. Its customers span oil and gas, pharmaceutical, chemical, power and utilities, and other process industries. Investors include Altira Group, Insight Partners, Sixth Street Growth, Second Avenue Partners, Chevron Technology Ventures, and Aramco Ventures.

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 over 28 years. In partnership with its oil & gas company strategic limited partners, Altira enables the next generation of industrial technologies—driving innovation across digital, automation, and core operations. Beyond capital, Altira actively partners with entrepreneurs to scale their businesses, while also providing direct customer access, real-world validation, and collaborative go-to-market support through its strategic industry relationships. This differentiated model compresses adoption cycles, enhances company resilience, and delivers stronger investment outcomes.

For more information, visit www.altiragroup.com.

Media Contact:
Purcell Parker
(303) 592-5500
[email protected] 

SOURCE Altira Group LLC

New investment accelerates Palm Tree Crew’s global expansion while leveraging WME Group’s sports, entertainment, and licensing network for future growth

MIAMI, Sept. 9, 2025 — Palm Tree Crew, the global entertainment, hospitality, and investment holding company founded by Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll (“Kygo”) and his manager Myles Shear, today announced a strategic partnership with WME Group, a global leader in sports and entertainment representing the world’s most influential storytellers, brands, live events, and cultural experiences. WME Group led Palm Tree Crew’s $20 million Series B funding round, valuing the company at $215 million and fueling its next stage of growth across entertainment, hospitality, and lifestyle. 

“As music, hospitality, lifestyle, and live experiences converge, Palm Tree Crew has quickly established itself as a cultural force at the center of it all,” said Mark Shapiro, President & Chief Operating Officer of WME Group. “Our investment reflects both our confidence in Palm Tree Crew’s vision and the natural alignment between our companies in creating world-class experiences that captivate audiences around the globe.”

In addition to WME Group, the Series B round includes participation from a combination of existing and new investors that invested in the round.

“From day one, our goal has been to build more than a company – we set out to create a lifestyle brand that celebrates connection, culture, and the carefree spirit of the tropics,” said Myles Shear, Co-Founder of Palm Tree Crew. “With WME Group and our world-class investors behind us, Palm Tree Crew will continue to scale bigger, go bolder, and push into new territory across music, hospitality, and beyond.”

Since January 2024, Palm Tree Crew’s global scale has grown dramatically, underscoring its rise as a cultural powerhouse. In 2025, the company accelerated its hospitality expansion, opening four properties in under a year, including Palm Tree Beach Club in Las Vegas, Palm Tree Club & Hotel in Miami, Palm Tree Club Kansas City, and Palm Tree Club Orlando. Palm Tree Crew has also expanded its festival footprint with immersive new U.S. destinations in Montecito and Napa, alongside its European debut in Saint-Tropez and Sardinia. These events unite entertainment, fashion, music, and lifestyle under one unified brand.

“This past year proved the power of Palm Tree Crew as both a global festival platform and a growing hospitality company, from expanding to new markets to forging cultural partnerships with world-class brands,” said Michael Diaz, CEO of Palm Tree Crew. “Our new funding and partnership with WME Group will accelerate growth across live events and hospitality while enabling diversification into synergistic verticals. This new round of funding positions us to scale that momentum and deliver unforgettable experiences for fans around the world.”

Fresh off a sold-out European debut in Saint-Tropez, headlined by A$AP Rocky and Swedish House Mafia and attended by Rita Ora, Kyle Kuzma, and Winnie Harlow, Palm Tree Crew has proven it is more than a music collective. With partners like Amazon, DraftKings, Tequila Don Julio, and Revolve, and a celebrity-favorite merch line worn by Travis Kelce and Morgan Wallen, Palm Tree Crew has cemented itself as a year-round cultural platform.

Palm Tree Crew’s influence extends beyond entertainment. At its first Aspen festival, hotel rates surged 37%, restaurants saw record-breaking revenue, and secondary ticket prices soared to 250% above face value – generating $88.3 million for the local economy. Today, Palm Tree Crew hosts nearly 10 flagship festivals annually across the globe, featuring artists such as Calvin Harris, A$AP Rocky, Swedish House Mafia, John Mayer, The Chainsmokers, and Kygo.

Beyond events, Palm Tree Holdings invests in early-stage consumer and technology companies, offering founders access to its global marketing platform, talent network, and business development resources. Recent investments include Ryl Tea, Cove Sodas, and SipMARGS, where Palm Tree Crew brought on Alix Earle as both a lead investor and brand ambassador.

About Palm Tree Crew
Palm Tree Crew, founded by Kygo (Kyrre Gørvell-Dahll) and Myles Shear, is a diversified holding company spanning a consumer brand, global live events and hospitality, and a multi-product investment platform. Known for its global, world-class Palm Tree Music Festivals, as well as lifestyle and fashion collaborations, Palm Tree Crew continues to innovate across industries. Its expanding hospitality portfolio currently includes Palm Tree Club Miami, Palm Tree Club Orlando, Palm Tree Beach Club in Las Vegas, and Palm Tree Club Kansas City. These ventures reflect Palm Tree Crew’s mission to blend live music, lifestyle, and hospitality into unforgettable experiences. For more, visit ptc-holdings.com.

Media Contact:
SHADOW
[email protected]

SOURCE Palm Tree Crew

Three-in-one parental leave platform utilizes insurance model to bring enterprise-level program to companies with as few as 10 employees

NEW YORK, Sept. 9, 2025 — Parento, the only provider of comprehensive paid parental leave (PPL) insurance with employee support services, today announced an oversubscribed Seed II funding round led by ResilienceVC. The round included participation from Kapor Capital, Bread & Butter Ventures, Operator Stack, Coyote Ventures, ffVC, Human Ventures, Springbank, Precursor, Cross Impact, K Street, Evidenced, and Avesta, and brings Parento’s total amount raised to $10.3M.

The funding comes as demand for paid parental leave surges among employees and employers alike, yet small and mid-sized businesses face significant financial and administrative barriers to offering parental leave. Traditional approaches expose companies to volatile cash flows when multiple employees take leave simultaneously, while alternatives like short-term disability only cover limited demographics and income replacement, leaving nearly 3 in 4 private sector employees and more than half of all employees without access to PPL.

“Parenthood is not gendered, and paid parental leave is not just for Silicon Valley or STEM, but for every workplace interested in employee wellness, talent acquisition, and retention,” said Dirk Doebler, Founder and CEO of Parento. “As demand grows and the definition of family evolves to match reality, there’s a systemic need for a true solution. Parento makes paid parental leave affordable and attainable for every company, regardless of size or budget.”

Parento’s three-in-one approach combines customizable paid parental leave insurance with parental leave management services and personalized, human-based parent coaching. This comprehensive model delivers measurable results: 95% of Parento’s parents return to work after leave, compared to just 60-65% for self-funded programs. Parento achieves 10% average engagement rates amongst all full-time employees with its one-on-one coaching services, significantly higher than typical Employee Assistance Programs which see at best 1% utilization. Furthermore, while just 5% of working men take more than two weeks off after the birth of their youngest child despite demonstrated relational and workplace benefits, 46% of claims were filed for males taking leave, with up to 33% of men utilizing 1-on-1 parent coaching services.

Unlike competitors that primarily offer consulting services on parental leave policy creation, Parento provides an actual insurance product with up to 100% financial coverage. This distinction has enabled the company to serve diverse industries often overlooked as desiring family-friendly policies—25% of Parento’s clients operate in nonprofit or manufacturing/warehousing sectors that run on tight budgets with little to no HR personnel.

“Parento aligns exceptionally well with our thesis of investing in innovative companies that close gaps of access, opportunity, and outcomes for underserved communities by tackling a critical shortfall in the U.S. benefits system, especially for businesses that traditionally lack the resources to offer paid family leave,” said Brandon Boros, Venture Partner with Kapor Capital. “Their model turns an unpredictable business expense into manageable monthly costs while delivering comprehensive support that helps companies attract and retain talented parents.”

Parento will use the new capital to expand across product development, sales, and marketing teams while launching additional insurance offerings and new products. The funding announcement coincides with several key growth milestones, including a partnership with the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), one of the 20 largest unions in the nation, marking Parento’s expansion into serving blue-collar workforces in non-paid family leave states. Parento’s parents-first approach has also enabled it to expand internationally for the first time through its IUOE partnership, serving union members in Canada.

The company has also launched partnerships with Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs), including one of the largest in the country serving more than half a million clients. These partnerships enable Parento to reach small businesses through established distribution channels, furthering its mission to democratize parental leave access.

The round brings ResilienceVC to Parento’s board, joining an all-female selection aside from Doebler. This composition reflects the company’s focus on addressing workplace challenges that disproportionately impact women, while maintaining its gender-neutral and inclusive approach to parental leave that covers birth, adoption, and foster placement equally.

“We’re thrilled to join Parento’s board and support a company that’s tackling one of the most critical workplace equity issues of our time,” said Tahira Dosani, co-founder and managing partner at ResilienceVC. “Parento’s inclusive approach to parental leave, combined with their proven ability to make these benefits accessible to businesses of all sizes, aligns perfectly with our mission to build financial resilience for all Americans. We’re excited to support Parento to democratize parental leave access across industries and enable employees to maintain income stability.”

Founded in 2019, Parento raised $10.3 million total and serves companies across professional services, healthcare, law firms, nonprofits, and municipal organizations.

About Parento: 
Parento helps every company support working parents through the only comprehensive paid parental leave insurance combined with expert leave management and personalized parent coaching. By converting unpredictable leave costs into predictable premiums, Parento makes parental leave benefits accessible to small and mid-sized businesses nationwide. For more information, visit https://www.parentoleave.com/.

SOURCE Parento

MIAMI, Sept. 9, 2025 — Waterpoint Lane (“WPL”), a premier venture capital and growth equity firm with a proven track record of backing transformative innovation opportunities, proudly announces its lead investor role in Heritable Agriculture Inc. (“Heritable”), a pioneering company delivering breakthrough solutions to revolutionize agriculture.

Waterpoint Lane’s leadership is deeply rooted in innovation. Brad Zamft, CEO of Heritable and former project lead at X, the Moonshot Factory—Google’s elite innovation arm famed for developing “moonshot” technologies—brings expertise in identifying and scaling technologies that have the potential to  reshape entire industries. At X, Brad led high-impact projects focused on audacious goals with massive market potential, equipping him to drive Heritable’s next phase of growth in the agtech sector.

Heritable, an emerging leader in genetic and computational technologies, has developed proprietary tools that significantly accelerate the timelines and lower the cost of crop improvement, unlocking applications to enhance crop resilience, reduce environmental footprints, and improve yield efficiency, positioning the company to transform global agriculture supply chains.

“At X, I witnessed firsthand how bold ideas, combined with visionary investment, can create game-changing outcomes,” said Brad Zamft. “Heritable channels this ethos, marrying cutting-edge science with scalable impact potential. Partnering with Waterpoint Lane accelerates our mission to deliver solutions addressing urgent global challenges while creating meaningful value for stakeholders.”

Waterpoint Lane’s Fund I, successfully closed at the end of 2024, has already secured stakes in multiple high-potential companies poised at the forefront of food and agriculture innovation. The firm’s approach integrates rigorous financial discipline with a deep passion for scalable impact, demonstrating that sustainable innovation and thoughtful investment can coexist.

Meifan Shi, Co-Managing Partner and CSO at Waterpoint Lane, emphasized the firm’s strategic focus:
“Our strategy centers on identifying visionary founders and breakthrough platforms with the capacity to scale and lead entire sectors. We seek companies with differentiated technology, strong leadership, and a fundamental ability to drive systemic change in all aspects of the food systems. Heritable fits our approach, and we are excited to actively support its growth journey within our broader portfolio.”

Ben Gibbons, Co-Managing Partner and CIO at Waterpoint Lane, shared insight on the firm’s investment philosophy:

“Our financial discipline is grounded in thorough due diligence and portfolio construction that balances innovation and risk. We look for companies with compelling economics, scalable business models, and capital efficiency. Heritable’s unique positioning and growth potential align closely with our philosophy of supporting entrepreneurs who can deliver disciplined, sustainable growth.”

This partnership further cements Waterpoint Lane’s role as a top-tier investor at the forefront of innovation, combining integrity, financial rigor, and a vision for transformative global impact across the agrifood ecosystem.

About Waterpoint Lane

Waterpoint Lane is a venture capital firm investing in the technologies shaping the future of food, health, and wellness.  We partner with entrepreneurs building transformative solutions, from next-generation food platforms to health and wellness innovations, that redefine how people eat, live, and thrive.

Our approach combines disciplined investing with a forward-looking vision: targeting high-growth opportunities at the intersection of science, technology, and consumer demand. Waterpoint Lane is dedicated to delivering lasting value for our investors, empowering our portfolio companies, and strengthening the communities we serve.

Media Contact:
[email protected]

SOURCE Waterpoint Lane

DALLAS, Sept. 9, 2025 — MCatalysis, Inc., a pioneering deep tech company poised to disrupt the sustainable fuels and chemicals sector, today announced the successful closing of its seed funding round led by HL Energy Ventures (HLEV). The investment will accelerate the development and scale-up of its innovative microwave catalysis technology, for which MCatalysis has secured an exclusive worldwide license agreement from Oxford University Innovation (OUI), the technology transfer arm of the University of Oxford.

MCatalysis is on a mission to produce low-cost, clean synthetic fuels and chemicals by upcycling waste carbon resources, such as agricultural residues, plastic waste, and waste gas streams. The technology, born out of world-class research from the University of Oxford, utilizes high-efficiency industrial microwave processes combined with unique catalysts. This novel approach promises to significantly enhance processing times and product selectivity, yielding more cost-effective and energy-efficient production for a wide range of sustainable fuels and chemicals.

“This seed funding from HLEV and exclusive licensing agreement with OUI mark a pivotal moment for MCatalysis,” said Michael Irwin, CEO of MCatalysis, Inc. “We are now positioned to rapidly advance our vision of a circular economy, where waste carbon is upcycled, or transformed into new, valuable products, democratizing the petrochemical supply chain. The investment from HLEV provides not only the necessary capital but also invaluable expertise in scaling deep tech ventures.”

“MCatalysis represents the very best of what HLEV looks for in an investment: creative and brilliant co-founders with a game-changing technology that has the potential for both substantial commercial success and profound positive impact on our planet,” stated Victor Liu, CEO of HLEV.

The exclusive licensing agreement with OUI grants MCatalysis the global rights to the foundational intellectual property in microwave catalysis developed at the University of Oxford. OUI has over 30 years of experience commercializing the University’s ground-breaking knowledge and research.

“At OUI, our mission is to enable impact – for the economy, for people, and for the planet – by licensing Oxford’s world-leading knowledge and research to ambitious and capable partners,” said an OUI spokesperson. “The exclusive agreement with MCatalysis exemplifies how existing companies can be powerful engines of innovation when paired with Oxford IP. We are proud to support the journey of this ground-breaking technology from lab to market, where it can contribute meaningfully to a more sustainable future.”

About MCatalysis, Inc. MCatalysis, Inc. is a Dallas-based deep tech company founded in 2025. The company develops novel, high-efficiency industrial microwave processes and catalysts to produce low-cost, clean synthetic fuels and chemicals from waste carbon resources. By commercializing these breakthrough technologies, MCatalysis aims to accelerate the transition to sustainable, circular economies. https://www.mcatalysis.com/

About HL Energy Ventures HLEV is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in mission-driven founders building inspiring and valuable companies. With a focus on deep tech and impactful solutions, HLEV partners with entrepreneurs from inception to exit, providing not just capital but also hands-on support to navigate the challenges of scaling a business. https://www.hlenergyventures.com/

About Oxford University Innovation OUI is the research commercialisation office of the University of Oxford, recognised worldwide for its ability to engage academic prowess through licensing, catalyse innovative solutions through consulting services, and support the creation of spinouts, start-ups, and social ventures. OUI is dedicated to showcasing these transformative technologies on the global stage, bridging the realms of academia and the commercial world, thereby weaving a future where knowledge, innovation and partnership drive forward solutions to global challenges. https://innovation.ox.ac.uk/

Media Contact: Michael Irwin, [email protected]

Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2766878/MCatalysis_Logo.jpg

–  Follows successful completion of pre-clinical activities by Alchemab as part of earlier licensing deal with Eli Lilly and Company for ATLX-1282 
–  Financing included participation from Eli Lilly and Company and Ono Venture Investment alongside significant support from world-class existing investors  

CAMBRIDGE, England, Sept. 9, 2025 — Alchemab Therapeutics (Alchemab), a biopharmaceutical company which identifies and develops naturally occurring therapeutic antibodies from resilient individuals, today announced initiation of a Phase 1 first-in-human study of ATLX-1282. ATLX-1282 was licensed to Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) in May 2025 as part of an exclusive global licensing agreement, which included a milestone payment to Alchemab following the initiation of the Phase 1 first-in-human study. Alchemab will conduct the first-in-human study for ATLX-1282 and Lilly will lead further development and commercialisation of the therapy. The Company also announced a $32 million Series A extension financing, bringing the Company’s total Series A investment to date to $114 million. The round included participation from Ono Venture Investment (OVI) alongside a blue-chip syndicate of existing specialist investors which includes RA Capital, SV Health Investors, DCVC Bio and Lightstone Ventures and strategic investment by Lilly. 

Alchemab’s proprietary, AI-enabled platform is transforming drug discovery by identifying protective auto-antibodies and novel targets from individuals that are naturally resilient to various diseases. The platform operates like a search engine for the immune system, leveraging advanced machine learning models and proprietary data to interrogate the largest database of patient-derived antibodies, known as the DataCube, comprising over 6,000 highly curated patient samples from more than 30 global collaborators across metabolic, immune and neurological conditions.

The additional capital will enable Alchemab to advance ATLX-2847, a wholly-owned program for muscle atrophy derived from the platform, into clinical development. ATLX-2847 is a first-in-class program targeting the prostaglandin pathway. The financing will also support Alchemab to advance highly novel earlier programs for immune and neurological conditions towards clinic, and further expand its AI-enabled, disease resilience-led platform.  

This financing follows a separate research collaboration with Lilly announced in January 2025 for the discovery, development and commercialisation of up to five novel therapeutic candidates for neurodegenerative disease.   

“As a founding investor in Alchemab, we are thrilled to close this financing and initiate clinical development, which together mark a very successful year for Alchemab and the Company’s novel platform to identify protective auto-antibodies,” said Kate Bingham, Alchemab Chair and SV Health Investors Managing Partner. “We’re extremely pleased to welcome new investors who share our commitment to novel drug discovery and development approaches and are proud to support Alchemab’s continued progress.”   

Jane Osbourn, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Alchemab, commented: “Reaching the key milestone of our first drug candidate into the clinic is great validation of Alchemab and our AI enabled next generation antibody platform. Through our collaboration with Lilly, we hope to get this, our first clinical candidate and a potentially transformative therapy, to as many patients as possible, as quickly as possible.”

Mike Hutton, Senior Vice President, Genetic Medicines and Neurodegeneration at Lilly, commented: “I am excited about the rapid progress we have made with this candidate as part of a joint team effort with Alchemab and look forward to seeing its performance in the clinic.”

About Alchemab

Alchemab studies the natural antibody responses of individuals who are highly resilient to disease and identifies antibodies uniquely shared in the resilient groups and not seen in disease progressors. The targets to these antibodies are then identified and the antibodies developed into therapies for hard-to-treat diseases which do not have disease modifying approaches. Alchemab’s platform integrates data mining and machine learning models of patient-derived immune responses with in vitro and in vivo drug discovery approaches to understand what keeps people well. The goal is to unlock nature’s immunological response to disease and harness our highly evolved human immune system to find breakthrough drugs.  Alchemab was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in London, UK with labs in Cambridge, UK.   

For more information, visit www.alchemab.com.

SOURCE Alchemab Therapeutics