200+ e-commerce customers and plans for significant U.S. expansion, Kim.cc combines AI automation with human expertise at scale

NEW YORK, June 30, 2026 — Kim.cc, an AI-native customer support company serving over 200 e-commerce brands globally, today announced it has finalized an institutional venture funding round led by Stellaris Venture Partners to accelerate its U.S. expansion and build the next generation of AI-native customer service. The company is targeting $100M+ in annual revenue by 2028 and fueling further growth into the U.S. market.

Kim’s model combines AI systems with human-in-the-loop execution, allowing companies to improve quality, speed, and cost efficiency without depending only on either fully automated chatbots or traditional manual BPO operations.

“Customer support operations is entering a new phase,” said Sachin Jaiswal, Co-founder & CEO, Kim.cc. “The early wave of AI customer support focused heavily on automation, but full automation has not delivered on its promise for many real-world customer service. LLMs are powerful, but when the work becomes complex, high-stakes, or brand-sensitive, companies still need human judgment, quality control, and accountability. That is why we believe the next model is AI-native service delivery – where AI does the work, vetted by humans.”

Kim’s founding team brings a wealth of experience across AI, ecommerce operations and large-scale customer support, managing 2M inquiries a week. Their experience has shaped their view and helped build Kim into what it is today and what it can be in the future. They know that  AI transformation in customer support is not only a software problem. It requires deep workflow understanding, quality control, human judgment, and strong operating systems.

“We are excited to back the Kim team as they redefine what great customer support looks like at scale,” said Alok Goyal, Partner, Stellaris Venture Partners. ” Customer support is a $470B global market spanning software and services, yet a huge segment of it remains out of reach for cost-effective, high-quality service. Kim is changing that by combining AI automation with human oversight to deliver measurable outcomes at 40% lower support costs without compromising quality.”

With the latest funding, Kim can continue its expansion stateside and further build out its operations in India. By 2028, Kim plans to triple its workforce to over 100 employees. The team is actively hiring top talent for roles in sales, partnerships, customer success, and client-facing leadership roles.

“Our customers are not just looking for automation. They are looking for better outcomes – faster responses, lower cost, higher quality, and a partner who can actually run the operation,” said Phani Yedavilli, Co-founder & CBO / GTM Lead, Kim.cc. “Kim.cc brings AI and operations together, so brands can modernize support without taking on the risk of doing it alone.”

Kim.cc is already trusted by over 200 Shopify merchants globally, including TRIP Drinks, Kahawa 1893, Transformer Table and Nimi. The team recently released their AI Customer Support Sentiment Report, which found that nearly half of consumers want a blend of AI and human support for a brand’s customer service.

Kaushik Barodiya, Co-founder & CTO, Kim.cc, said, “We are building the operating system for AI-native service delivery. The goal is not to replace human expertise, but to make every workflow more intelligent, measurable, and scalable. By combining AI agents, workflow memory, quality checks, and human oversight, we can deliver a much more reliable model for customer support.”

To learn more about Kim.cc, open roles and the latest report, visit Kim.cc.

About Kim.cc
Kim.cc is an AI-native customer support built for e-commerce brands. Trusted by 200+ Shopify merchants globally, Kim.cc combines intelligent automation with human oversight to deliver fast, accurate, and brand-aligned support at significantly lower operational cost. Learn more at kim.cc

Media contact 
Connor Lynch
PANBlast for Kim.cc
[email protected]

SOURCE Kim.cc

Growth round accelerates LeapXpert’s mission to make every enterprise conversation on modern channels governed, intelligent, and actionable

NEW YORK, June 30, 2026 — LeapXpert, the leader in Governed Communication Intelligence, today announced a $180 million growth investment led by Riverwood Capital.

Enterprise communications have moved to messaging. The informal conversations that close deals, resolve problems, and build relationships now happen on channels like WhatsApp, iMessage, Signal, and WeChat. For years, these conversations sat outside enterprise systems, creating operational, regulatory, and security challenges, and leaving conversation data largely untapped. Today, AI combined with enterprise governance can turn that data into one of the most valuable assets a company owns.

“The first generation of enterprise communication software archived conversations. The next governed them. The latest uses AI to unlock value from every interaction,” said Jeff Parks, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Riverwood Capital. “LeapXpert leads that progression today, and no one is better positioned for what comes next. Riverwood Capital is excited to join the board, support the company’s next phase of growth, and work with Co-Founders Dima, Avi, and the rest of the team to drive their vision forward.”

Hundreds of organizations rely on LeapXpert today, from leading financial institutions and government agencies to global enterprises. The company was named a Visionary in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Digital Communications Governance and Archiving two years running, made the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 in 2024 and 2025, and recently joined the Financial Times’ 2026 list of the Fastest-Growing Companies in America.

“Messaging is where business happens now,” said Dima Gutzeit, Founder and CEO of LeapXpert. “The next wave of enterprise value will come from making those conversations trusted, connected, and actionable. But AI can only work with what enterprises can see and govern. Our mission is to give every organization the infrastructure to govern their conversations and the intelligence to act on them.”

“Financial services were our proving ground. Government became our fastest-growing segment. The Forbes Global 2000 is the third wave, and it has arrived,” added Avi Pardo, Co-Founder and CBO of LeapXpert. “The driver shifts vertical by vertical, but the underlying problem doesn’t: every enterprise needs its customer conversations governed and maximized. The partnership with Riverwood Capital lets us meet that demand everywhere.”

“LeapXpert saw years before most of the market that enterprise messaging would evolve from a compliance challenge into a strategic data asset. Today, the company sits at the center of one of the largest untapped sources of enterprise intelligence: trusted, governed customer conversations. As AI reshapes how organizations operate, that foundation becomes increasingly valuable, and LeapXpert is the infrastructure layer making it actionable. Our continued investment reflects our conviction in the team, the category they have created, and the scale of the opportunity ahead,” said Ricky Lai, General Partner at existing investor Portage Ventures.

LeapXpert will use the proceeds to deepen the platform’s ability to understand and act on governed conversations, accelerate growth across financial services, the public sector, and the broader enterprise market, and expand its senior leadership team.

About LeapXpert

LeapXpert is the leader in Governed Communication Intelligence. The LeapXpert Communications Platform brings enterprise-grade governance to the consumer messaging channels employees and clients already use. Every conversation is captured, governed, and understood in real time, turning client interactions into intelligence businesses can act on. Hundreds of the world’s most demanding enterprises across financial services, government, and the Forbes Global 2000 rely on LeapXpert daily. For more information, visit LeapXpert.com.

About Riverwood Capital

Riverwood Capital is one of the leading investment firms solely dedicated to AI-powered Proven Growth technology. Our mission is to invest in and support a select group of high-growth technology companies as they scale into enduring, category-defining platforms, growing from $10s of millions in revenue to $100s of millions and beyond. We manage over $6 billion and have been exclusively focused on the Proven Growth technology segment since our founding in 2008. Over the past decade, we have partnered with more than 90 exceptional companies, working closely with founders and management teams to provide deep operational, strategic, and global expertise. Riverwood has offices in Menlo Park, Calif.; Miami, Fla.; New York, N.Y.; and São Paulo, Brazil.

Advisors

Houlihan Lokey served as sole financial advisor and Cooley LLP served as legal advisor to LeapXpert on the transaction. Foley & Lardner LLP served as legal advisor to Riverwood Capital.

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1770411/LeapXpert_Logo.jpg

SOURCE LeapXpert

• Oversubscribed Round led by Maverick Silicon, with participation from Celesta Capital, BDC Capital, MediaTek Innovation Fund, TXC Corporation, and Ultratech Capital Partners
• Stathera silicon timing technology delivers performance demanded by modern mobile, IoT, and AI data center systems
• Proceeds to scale mass production of Stathera’s GEN2 32.768 kHz timing portfolio, launch development of GEN3 AI, communications, enterprise, and data center (CED) market solutions, and establish Silicon Valley presence to engage leading customers

MONTREAL, June 30, 2026 — Stathera Inc., a fabless semiconductor company pioneering silicon timing solutions, announced the close of an oversubscribed US$55 million Series B financing. As the market consolidates around a dominant incumbent, the round positions Stathera to become the leading independent alternative for AI data center and hyperscale customers. The round was led by new investor Maverick Silicon with continued backing from existing investors Celesta Capital, BDC Capital, MediaTek Innovation Fund, TXC Corporation, and Ultratech Capital Partners. The financing brings total funding to US$75 million.

Stathera will use the proceeds to fund mass production of its GEN2 silicon timing portfolio while accelerating development of its next-generation platform for AI data centers and growing the company’s engineering and commercial teams. With this expansion, Stathera will establish a Silicon Valley office to engage leading AI, data center, and hyperscale customers.

“Timing is the foundation of modern electronics, and AI has elevated it from a humble component into critical infrastructure,” said George Xereas, CEO and co-founder of Stathera. “AI data center performance is increasingly limited not by raw compute, but by how quickly and coherently data can move and remain synchronized across tens of thousands of processors and the networking connecting them – synchronization that must run on precision timing. For decades that timing has meant quartz, but Stathera is using semiconductor technology to move this foundational hardware to a new era of silicon. As the silicon timing market has continued consolidating around a single supplier, customers are telling us they want an independent, next-generation alternative. This is exactly what we are building as we scale Stathera’s GEN2 silicon timing into mass production today and build our next-gen product, architected from the ground up for AI.”

Proven Technology, Scaling to Volume
Stathera’s GEN2 32.768 kHz product line, built on the company’s proprietary microfabrication technology, is moving into mass production, and its broader GEN2 portfolio is now sampling with Tier 1 OEMs. The 32.768 kHz reference is one of the highest-volume and most demanding sockets in electronics, used in virtually every electronic device, such as smartphone, wearable, and IoT devices, and among the largest opportunities to replace legacy quartz with silicon.

Manufactured in standard semiconductor fabs, Stathera’s silicon oscillators replace the quartz crystal with decisive advantages: a footprint up to 85% smaller than the standard SMD quartz package, higher reliability, far greater shock and vibration resilience, and no external load capacitors, giving designers more placement flexibility. The result is high-precision, low-power timing built for the size and battery constraints of modern mobile, wearable, and IoT devices.

Targeting the AI Data Center Timing Opportunity
Precision timing has become strategic infrastructure for AI data centers, where synchronization, jitter, and resilience govern the performance of GPU clusters, networking infrastructure, switches, and optical interconnects. This has made the communications, enterprise, and data center (CED) segment the fastest-growing category in the US$11 billion annual timing market, and industry estimates put the AI data center time-synchronization opportunity alone at a cumulative US$1.5 billion by 2030 as requirements tighten from microseconds toward nanoseconds.

With Series B, Stathera is launching development of its GEN3 platform, a ground-up design based on its proprietary DualMode^® architecture and purpose-built for the performance and reliability demands of AI-CED applications. After several years of foundational work and IP development, the company is mobilizing a dedicated GEN3 program and targeting first customer samples in 2028.

“Traditional quartz-based timing has powered the electronics industry for decades, but modern AI and edge infrastructure are creating new requirements around size, power, stability, and synchronization at scale,” said Josh Miner, Principal at Maverick Silicon. “MEMS-based timing offers a fundamentally different approach, with advantages in integration, resilience, and programmability. That is what Stathera is building. As timing becomes mission-critical to AI infrastructure, the market needs a next-generation, independent leader. We are proud to lead this round and to partner with George Xereas, CEO and the Stathera team as they scale.”

“Silicon-based timing is emerging as a compelling solution to meet the precision and scale that connected systems demand, today and for the next generation,” said Nicholas Brathwaite, Founding Managing Partner of Celesta Capital. “We’re proud to back Stathera and pleased with how far the team has come. Their progress demonstrates clear technical leadership and execution and reflects the strength of Canada’s world-class engineering talent and potential for further industry-shifting deep tech investments.”

About Stathera
Stathera is a fabless semiconductor company building the next generation of MEMS-based precision timing. Built on its proprietary DualMode^® architecture and a portfolio of silicon timing innovations, Stathera is re-architecting the legacy quartz-based timing industry to meet the performance, power, and reliability demands of modern electronics, from smartphones and IoT to the AI data center. Headquartered in Montreal, Stathera is backed by leading deep-technology and strategic semiconductor investors. For more information, visit www.stathera.com.

About Maverick Silicon
Maverick Silicon is a division of Maverick Capital focused exclusively on the semiconductor and computing infrastructure sector. Maverick Capital is an investment adviser founded by Lee S. Ainslie III with over thirty years of operating history.

About Celesta Capital
Celesta Capital is a venture capital firm built by global deep tech operators. Since 2013, we’ve backed the foundational technologies that unlock every major technology wave: semiconductors and intelligent hardware, next generation infrastructure software, bio-convergence, and industry transformers. Founded by Silicon Valley veterans who’ve built, scaled, and exited major global technology companies, today we bring that operating experience to support deep tech founders from breakthrough to global scale. For more information, visit www.celesta.vc.

Media Contact
Trevor DeWitt
[email protected]

SOURCE Stathera

The Singapore-headquartered merchant operating system grew annualised recurring revenue 61% in 2025 and turned profitable across four Southeast Asian markets on a lean capital base.

SINGAPORE, June 30, 2026 — Qashier, a unified merchant operating system for Southeast Asia, today announced a US$6.125 million Series A+ financing round comprising equity and debt. The round was led by Cocoon Capital, IFP Securities and BlackSoil Global, with participation from strategic angel investors. The capital will support regional expansion and product development.

The raise follows a year of disciplined operating progress. Qashier now processes US$1 billion in annualised payment volume for more than 20,000 merchants across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, and has been profitable every month since December 2025. Over the year it grew annualised recurring revenue 61% and secured its Major Payment Institution licence in Singapore in February 2025. The company has reached these milestones having raised under US$20 million to date, a level of capital efficiency rare among payments businesses at its scale.

Southeast Asia is home to more than 70 million SMEs and a digital payments market exceeding US$1 trillion, yet most merchants still run their businesses on disconnected systems — separate providers for point-of-sale, payment acceptance, inventory, customer engagement and financing. That fragmentation adds cost, creates blind spots, and holds back businesses trying to grow across outlets and borders.

Qashier brings these functions onto a single platform, combining payments, business software, CRM and embedded financial services across more than 50 integrated modules — spanning ordering, inventory management, loyalty and automated marketing — and over 20 regional payment methods, including cards, QR, e-wallets and buy-now-pay-later. Crucially, Qashier owns its end-to-end payments stack — KYC, processing, payouts and cross-border settlement — giving merchants a faster, fully integrated experience and more competitive pricing, while generating the proprietary transaction data that powers the rest of the platform.

That data advantage is most visible in QashierLoans, the company’s revenue-based lending product launched in June 2025. Underwritten entirely on proprietary platform data and repaid automatically from each merchant’s daily sales, QashierLoans has disbursed more than US$10 million to over 100 SMEs since launch — extending Qashier’s role from commerce software provider to financial operating partner, and turning every transaction on the platform into a sharper credit signal.

“We are building the operating system for Southeast Asia’s SME economy — and we are building it profitably,” said Christopher Choo, Co-Founder and CEO of Qashier. “Merchants should not have to stitch together five vendors to run one business. By bringing payments, software, financial services and customer engagement into a single ecosystem, we give them clarity, lower costs and the confidence to scale across markets. This round lets us leverage that advantage into the next phase of growth.”

Cocoon Capital has backed Qashier since its early days. “We have been proud to support Qashier since its beginning, and this latest round is a testament to what the team has built,” said Michael Blakey of Cocoon Capital. “What continues to impress us is their ability to navigate every obstacle placed in their path with resilience and ingenuity. Qashier’s cofounders, Christopher Choo and Franklin Zhao, have an exceptionally clear and compelling vision for what Qashier is becoming, ‘the default operating infrastructure for commerce across Southeast Asia,’ and we remain firmly committed to supporting that journey.”

With the new funding, Qashier will focus on enhanced omnichannel payments, broader embedded financial services, and AI-enabled insights and workflow automation. It will also expand its offering for larger, multi-outlet businesses, particularly in food and beverage and beauty and wellness, where merchants require sophisticated workflows, consolidated reporting and a consistent customer experience across locations and markets. Qashier is preparing for a Series B round to fund its next phase of growth, with milestones expected in recurring revenue, payment licensing and loan disbursements.

About Qashier

Qashier is a unified merchant operating system that brings together payments, business software, embedded financial services and customer engagement tools on one platform. Operating across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, Qashier supports more than 20,000 SMEs with an integrated ecosystem built for Southeast Asia’s digital economy.

About Cocoon Capital

Cocoon Capital® is a Singapore-based venture capital firm focused on early-stage investments in enterprise software and deep tech across Southeast Asia. Founded in 2016, Cocoon has more than USD 90 million assets under management and has made over 30 investments to date. The firm backs companies building transformative solutions in sectors including medtech, advanced manufacturing, logistics, diagnostics, and climate tech. With its slogan “Dare to Change™”, Cocoon stands apart by leading early, taking concentrated positions, and working hands-on with founders from Seed through Series A. Portfolio companies include Aprisium, TransTRACK, Shomvob, Augmentus, Bioactivx, BuyMed, See-Mode Technologies, and Volt14. Learn more at www.cocooncap.com.

SOURCE Cocoon Capital; Qashier Pte. Ltd.

Rev1 Doubles Scaleup Suite Residents and Sees Continued Growth in Membership

COLUMBUS, Ohio, June 30, 2026 — Rev1 at The Peninsula is emerging as the hub for AI innovation in downtown Columbus, with the addition of Spearfish, Symmitri and jakib.ai to its growing roster of Scaleup Suite residents. The companies join RWX in establishing a presence at the founder-focused innovation space, creating a concentrated community of high-growth technology companies, investors, and experienced operators under one roof.

Since launching earlier this year, the innovation hub designed to help software and advanced technology startups grow faster has grown to nearly 90 members, reflecting strong demand for founder-focused workspace, community, and resources in downtown Columbus.

“When ambitious companies share a space with experienced operators, investors, and mentors, ideas move faster, partnerships form more naturally, and founders gain access to the kinds of relationships that can change the trajectory of a business,” said Tom Walker, CEO of Rev1 Ventures. “That’s the environment we’re intentionally creating here and why we’re seeing such high-demand so quickly.”

For Spearfish, the decision to join The Peninsula was driven by the unique concentration of experienced founders and AI-focused activity under one roof.

“The magic of Rev1 at The Peninsula is collision,” said Ray Bohac, founder and CEO of Spearfish. “Proven founders and AI-centric capital in one building, running into each other by chance, sharpening each other constantly. Rev1 has fused seasoned operators with the energy of AI investment into a single hyper-focused place, and the spontaneous connections that come out of it are impossible to replicate anywhere else. Getting to participate in that is a dream.”

The Peninsula’s second-floor Scaleup Suites are designed for companies ready to scale, while its first floor features 14,500 square feet of flexible workspace, including a founder lounge, event space, meeting rooms, and membership options designed to foster collaboration among entrepreneurs.

“What stood out to us was not just the space itself, but how intentionally it is designed for interaction,” said Jonathan Poma, founder and CEO of Symmitri. “We’re building alongside other companies at a similar stage upstairs, and downstairs there is always something happening in the founder lounge or event space that pulls you back into the broader Rev1 community. That constant connection between focused work and spontaneous collaboration is exactly what we were looking for. As an AI company, this move is about putting us in an environment that matches the pace we are trying to operate.”

Combining workspace, community, mentorship, and access to capital, Rev1 at The Peninsula delivers an environment where founders can accelerate growth while contributing to the broader Columbus innovation economy.

“I’ve learned throughout my career that what matters most in an innovation ecosystem isn’t mass or volume – it’s talent density,” said Andy Jenks, co-founder of Jakib.ai. “When exceptional people are brought together and put shoulder to shoulder, even across different companies, it can create magic. That’s what we were looking for in Columbus, and it’s exactly what we found at The Peninsula. You can see it in the founders and people on the scale-up floor every day.”

Rev1 at The Peninsula is supported by the City of Columbus and Downtown Columbus, Inc. (DCI), and is a key component of the region’s economic development strategy to attract and retain high-growth companies in downtown Columbus.

To explore membership opportunities or learn more about Rev1 at The Peninsula, visit rev1ventures.com/peninsula.

About Rev1 Ventures
Rev1 Ventures is where founders go to build. As a Midwest venture studio, Rev1 partners with innovators in Saas/AI, deep tech, and life sciences to turn bold ideas into scalable companies. From day one, Rev1 helps startups move faster and grow smarter by validating markets, gaining traction, and becoming venture ready. A catalyst for early-stage growth, Rev1 connects founders to the mentors, partners, and early customers that accelerate progress and position startups to attract investors. With hands-on support, a powerful network, and collaborative spaces designed for growth, Rev1 gives startups the foundation to build stronger and scale. For more information, visit https://www.rev1ventures.com.

SOURCE Rev1 Ventures

FORT COLLINS, Colo., June 30, 2026 — The landscape of American entrepreneurship is shifting away from labor-intensive startups toward high-tech, automated systems that work even when the owner is asleep. At the center of this evolution is Healthy Smart Mart™, the pioneer of the micro-market franchise industry. For the ambitious entrepreneur, these markets represent more than just a refreshment stand; they are a sophisticated wealth engine designed to transform a side hustle into a scalable business empire.

The Power of Automated Retail

Unlike traditional vending, which is often limited by mechanical spirals and cash-only hurdles, the Healthy Smart Mart™ model utilizes seamless, cashless convenience. For the entrepreneur, this means the end of “trading time for money.” By placing an unmanned, high-tech market within a corporate office, owners tap into a captive audience of professionals who prioritize quality and speed. The result is a business that operates 24/7 without the overhead of a payroll or the headaches of traditional staffing.

Why Office Markets are the Ultimate Asset

The strategy is simple: target the professional environment where employees are already looking for better breakroom options. While an office sees a market as an amenity, the entrepreneur sees it as a consistent revenue stream.

• Low Overhead: No rent for the space is typical, as offices provide the footprint to benefit their staff.
• Data-Driven Growth: Integrated technology allows owners to track inventory and sales in real-time from a smartphone.
• Premium Positioning: By offering healthy, fresh options, owners command higher margins than traditional “junk food” vendors.

Scaling to the Next Level

Healthy Smart Mart™ provides the blueprint for those who want to lead the industry rather than just participate in it. Because the model is so lean, the transition from one location to ten is remarkably fluid. This scalability is what turns a modest investment into a true wealth engine. For the next generation of entrepreneurs, the path to financial independence isn’t found in a cubicle—it’s found in owning the market right outside of it. By leveraging the pioneering technology of Healthy Smart Mart™, savvy owners are reclaiming their time and building a legacy of automated success.

About Healthy Smart Mart™

Healthy Smart Mart™ offers a premier business opportunity for entrepreneurs ready to enter the micro market industry. By transforming traditional workplace break rooms into modern, cashless convenience stores, they help operators build profitable businesses. The company provides a proven model, innovative technology, and a unique funding program to ensure success.

Bill Way, CEO, is a recognized authority in the field and a number-one Wall Street Journal bestselling author. Most notably, his latest book, Micro Markets – Profit From The Automated Convenience Store BOOM! outlines the future of the vending and micro market industry and is the first and ONLY book in print on the subject. Mr. Way is available for interviews, which tend to be quite fun and extraordinary. For more information, please visit HealthySmartMart.com.

Contact Information
Name: Bill Way
Email: [email protected]
Phone Number: (970) 222-8582

SOURCE Healthy Smart Mart™

The recognition caps a year in which several BFF portfolio companies were acquired and another listed on Nasdaq.

SINGAPORE, June 30, 2026 — Blockchain Founders Fund (BFF), an early-stage venture capital firm backing pre-seed and seed Web3 founders globally, has been named Best Early-Stage Blockchain Venture Capital Fund 2026 at APAC Insider’s Singapore Business Awards, its third consecutive year of recognition by the program.

The award caps a standout year for the firm’s portfolio. Backed Finance, a tokenized-asset platform BFF backed early, was acquired by Kraken; Roundtable (RTB Digital), another early BFF investment, became publicly traded; and portfolio companies including TransFi and Kredete crossed eight-figure annual revenue. BFF joins past honorees including Singtel, Trust Bank, NTT, YouTrip, Antler, and Avis Budget Group among organizations recognized for driving innovation across the region.

“We back founders rebuilding how money and value move, often years before the market catches on, and we stay hands-on from the first prototype to real revenue,” said Aly Madhavji, Managing Partner at BFF. “The proof is in what they go on to build: companies that reach millions of users, cross eight-figure revenue, and go on to acquisitions and public listings. That impact is what we work for, and it is good to see it recognized.”

BFF’s operator-led investment model pairs capital with hands-on company building across business model design, market positioning, go-to-market execution, and strategic hiring. This differentiated approach was again cited as a key factor in the selection process.

“We back founders building the infrastructure that will define how value moves across the internet,” said Mansoor Madhavji, Partner at BFF. “Our job is to compress the distance between a working prototype and real commercial traction.”

BFF’s portfolio spans 200 startups across DeFi, infrastructure, and enterprise blockchain, with the firm continuing to deploy globally into pre-seed and seed opportunities.

About Blockchain Founders Fund

Blockchain Founders Fund is a leading early-stage Venture Capital fund that invests in top-tier founders globally. Backed by a strategic mix of leading firms across Web3 and traditional finance, BFF pairs capital with hands-on company building, curating partnerships, hiring talent, accelerating growth, and helping ensure portfolio founders are well capitalized. The team is comprised of builders and operators who have scaled many of the leading blockchain startups.

Press Contact
Mansoor Madhavji, Partner
Blockchain Founders Fund
60178799291
[email protected]

SOURCE Blockchain Founders Fund

SAN DIEGO, June 30, 2026 — Harpoon Ventures , the early-stage venture capital firm founded by former Navy SEAL and Olympic medalist Larsen Jensen, today announced the final close of its oversubscribed Fund IV with $155 million in committed capital, bringing the firm to over $450 million in total assets under management.

Fund IV will continue Harpoon’s strategy of partnering with founders at the frontier, building mission-critical technologies across artificial intelligence, deep tech, and defense. The new fund comes as technological leadership, industrial capacity, and national security increasingly converge.

“The next generation of companies will not just build great products – they will solve problems that matter to our nation’s long-term competitiveness,” said Larsen Jensen. “Harpoon was built to help founders move faster across both commercial and government markets, and Fund IV gives us more firepower to back the teams building what the future demands.”

Harpoon has built a platform designed to help founders convert government adoption into a growth engine. The firm has helped its founders unlock over $1 billion in government contract opportunities, from non-dilutive grants to major programs of record, supporting them as they navigate government, defense, and enterprise markets.

Fund IV builds on Harpoon’s track record as an early backer of breakout critical technology companies. The portfolio counts multiple unicorns such as Aalo Atomics, Astranis, Kodiak, MatX, n8n, Solugen, and Starcloud, in addition to earlier-stage companies building technologies in markets shaped by technical complexity, urgency, and scale.

This fund will additionally support Harpoon’s Black Flag program, backing companies at the earliest stages with capital, mentorship, and go-to-market acceleration. Through three cohorts, the program has invested in 12 companies building across various industries strategically important to national security.

Harpoon’s limited partners include leading U.S. pensions, endowments, and family offices that share the conviction that critical technologies will define the next era of Western competitiveness.

About Harpoon Ventures

Harpoon Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm based in San Diego backing bold founders building critical technologies to restore and maintain Western strategic advantage for future generations. Founded in 2018 by former Navy SEAL and Olympic medalist Larsen Jensen, Harpoon invests across artificial intelligence, deep tech, and defense. Harpoon provides founders with hands-on operational support, including expertise in government contracting, procurement, and strategic partnerships. For more information, visit: www.harpoon.vc.

Media Contact

[email protected]

SOURCE Harpoon Ventures

Led by Georgian, the round is the largest Series A in Canadian defence history and backs Dominion’s drive to revive the country’s tradition of building world-defining technology

OTTAWA, ON, June 30, 2026 – Dominion Dynamics, a defence technology company building next-generation defence systems for extreme environments, today announced a $139M CAD ($100M USD) Series A financing led by Georgian. The round included participation from Valor Equity Partners, Expeditions, Lakestar, OMERS, Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Deloitte Ventures (Canada), JDY Capital and existing investors British Columbia Investment Management Corporation (BCI), Bessemer Venture Partners, Garage Capital, Golden Ventures and Silent Ventures. It marks the largest Series A funding round in the history of Canadian defence. Dominion has now raised $169M CAD since launching in June 2025.

“Canada once built technology the rest of the world wanted, then convinced itself that was someone else’s role. We started Dominion to show the capability never left, and this round lets us build at the scale and speed the moment demands,” said Eliot Pence, founder and CEO of Dominion Dynamics.

The financing follows a period of rapid execution and growth. Earlier this year, Dominion deployed its flagship software platform, AuraNet, with the Canadian Armed Forces during Operation Nanook-Nunalivut.

Over two months, across the High Arctic, Canadian Rangers used AuraNet with Dominion’s Arctic-hardened sensors to turn scattered communications and data into a single operating picture, supporting mission tracking, planning, and real-time communications. The exercise was entirely self-funded and an example of Dominion’s approach to working alongside operators to drive iterative development.

Dominion will use the Series A to accelerate AuraNet and Scout, its Autonomous Collaborative Platform (ACP), which extends the reach of crewed fighter planes into austere environments. The raise will also support Dominion in growing its team to over 100 by the end of the year. Dominion has recruited senior engineering talent from Anduril, Tesla, Rheinmetall, Google, and Rivian, as well as veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces.

“Starting in the Arctic means starting with the hardest problem set on Earth,” said Pence. “The engineers joining Dominion understand that technology proven in the world’s toughest environment can succeed anywhere.”

Now in a significant growth phase, the company moved into a 25,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Kanata, Ontario, in June and opened a Toronto development office.

Dominion’s fundraise lands at an inflection point for Canadian defence. Canada has now met NATO’s 2 per cent defence-spending benchmark and has committed, alongside allies, to reach NATO’s new 5 per cent target by 2035. Earlier this year, the Government of Canada released its first Defence Industrial Strategy and established the Defence Investment Agency. Ottawa has also pledged to direct 70 per cent of defence spending to Canadian firms, increase defence R&D by 85 per cent, boost exports by 50 per cent, and create 125,000 new jobs. Together, these initiatives represent the most ambitious defence industrial expansion in modern Canadian history.

About Dominion Dynamics
Backed by leading angels, venture funds, and Canadian pension capital, Dominion Dynamics is building the digital backbone for next-generation command and control. Our team draws talent from some of the world’s leading defence and technology companies, combining Silicon Valley velocity, Waterloo-calibre engineering, and a hard national security mission focus. Learn more at www.defendthedominion.com.

SOURCE Dominion Dynamics