SAN DIEGO, Aug. 26, 2025 — Debut, the biotech beauty leader, has secured $20M in investment to accelerate the expansion of its proprietary, AI-based ingredient discovery platform to advance skin longevity innovation and scale its formulation business in the US and Asia.

The funding will propel the discovery of next-generation ingredients that target the 14 hallmarks of aging and empower Debut’s global beauty partners to innovate with peak-performing biotech ingredients and formulations married to novel claims. It will also enable beauty brands at all stages of growth to outsource their formulation innovation in record time, at scale and without the heavy upfront R&D expense associated with biotech.

“Debut is laser-focused on staying at the forefront of skincare innovation and bringing cutting-edge biotech to every beauty brand with the highest-performing and most differentiated ingredients. This funding will enhance our ability to screen upward of 50 billion ingredients to explore the 99.999 percent of unknown molecules that can optimize skin health and make skin longevity a reality,” said Joshua Britton, PhD, Founder and CEO of Debut.

The predictive capabilities of Debut’s proprietary, in-house skin health datasets recently surpassed publicly available datasets, achieving 99 percent data consistency compared to 85 percent in public datasets. “This means we can predict better ingredients, faster, with our best-in-class models that we have invested in over several years. We are excited to go after novel chemical entities (NCEs), as opposed to chasing existing ingredients in nature, to pioneer skin health innovation and support the growth of beauty brands,” said Britton.

Debut’s funding raise comes at a time marked by increased investor caution. The company is poised to enter the Asian market which is driven by advanced formulations and high-performance skincare. “AI combined with an understanding of skin biology enables the creation of custom formulation solutions for different geographies that has previously not been possible,” said Britton. Debut’s expansion into Asia will begin in Singapore where the company will be partnering with leading brands to create custom ingredients and formulations for longevity skincare.

The most recent fundraising round was supported by Fine Structure Ventures, EDBI, Wealthberry, BOLD (the venture fund of L’Oréal), GS Futures, Sandbox Industries and Material Impact, among others.

Debut

The leader in biotech beauty

Debut is building the future of beauty with cutting-edge AI and biotechnology, creating high-performing, innovative ingredients and formulations that propel the industry forward. The company specializes in scientifically-discovered, clinically-proven and inherently sustainable ingredients that provide maximum efficacy. Named one of the TIME100 Most Innovative Companies 2025, Debut is redefining the beauty industry’s standards, centering on performance, potency and purity. 

SOURCE Debut Biotechnology

New funding will support partnerships, product innovation, and team growth across the U.S.

BOSTON, Aug. 26, 2025 — Eyebot, the company behind the 90-second vision test kiosk that delivers doctor-verified glasses prescriptions, today announced it has raised $20 million in Series A funding. The round was led by General Catalyst, with participation from returning investors AlleyCorp, Baukunst, Village Global, and Ubiquity Ventures.

Eyebot is redefining how people access vision care by eliminating traditional barriers like appointment delays, insurance hurdles, and inaccessibility. Its kiosks—currently in malls, universities, retail stores, and grocery chains—provide a free, 90-second vision test that can also generate a glasses prescription reviewed and verified by licensed eye doctors.

With this new round of funding, Eyebot will expand across hundreds of new retail locations, scale its clinical and engineering teams, and deepen its engagement with eye care professionals.

“Clear vision shouldn’t require months of waiting, high costs, or geographic luck,” said Matthias Hofmann, co-founder and CEO of Eyebot. “This funding will help us accelerate our expansion, strengthen our clinical partnerships, and bring accessible vision care to millions more people.”

From Pilot to National Scale

Since its seed round last year, Eyebot has completed over 45,000 free vision tests and is on track to deliver over half a million annually.

Eyebot is focused on enhancing the in-person optical journey, demonstrating that convenient, high-quality experiences can exist anywhere. With several major launches planned alongside leading retail partners and private practices, including high-profile announcements later this year, the company is set to drive nationwide adoption.

A Clinically-Sound, Doctor-Led Approach

Make no mistake though—Eyebot isn’t replacing eye doctors—it’s working with them. Eyebot aims to support eye care professionals by offering doctors new ways to scale their impact, reach untapped patients, and deliver prescriptions safely through a tech-enabled platform grounded in clinical oversight.

Every vision test is reviewed by a licensed doctor. Eyebot has tested more than 2,500 patients in IRB-approved studies, proving its accuracy matches traditional in-person exams. Eyebot’s doctor-reviewed prescriptions have shown to have higher satisfaction scores than the industry average.

To continue strengthening its clinical oversight as it scales, Eyebot has formed a Clinical Advisory Board, led by Eyebot Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Alexander Martin, that includes leaders from both optometry and ophthalmology.

Solving the Real Access Gap

In the US alone, more than 3 million people have vision impairment, and an additional 8 million more have vision impairment from uncorrected refractive error, such as nearsightedness^1,2.

Millions of Americans skip care due to cost, inconvenience, or lack of nearby eye doctors. Eyebot helps fill that gap by unlocking access to high quality vision screenings in locations people already frequent such as malls, pharmacies, grocery stores, and schools.

“Wider access to high quality eye screenings will lead to more doctor visits, which in turn will allow for earlier detection of diseases and save sight”, said Eyebot’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Martin.

The Eyebot kiosks also allow emerging and online eyewear retailers to open physical storefronts with a fraction of the footprint needed today—creating new models for delivering care and driving retail efficiency. At the same time, Eyebot allows established brick-and-mortar retailers to expand their capacity for vision testing by embedding Eyebot into the places people already shop.

“We invested in Eyebot because they’ve built something simple, scalable, and incredibly impactful,” said Caitlin Donovan, Partner at General Catalyst. “They’re tackling a real access challenge in healthcare and doing it in a way that supports clinicians, retailers, and consumers alike.”

About Eyebot

Eyebot is transforming how people access vision care. Its 90-second vision test helps patients get the prescriptions they need—fast, affordably, and without the need for insurance or appointments. Every test is reviewed by a licensed eye doctor to ensure accuracy and clinical oversight. With a mission to make vision care accessible to everyone, equally, at the touch of a button, Eyebot is pioneering a new future for vision care.

About General Catalyst

General Catalyst is a global investment and transformation company that partners with the world’s most ambitious entrepreneurs to drive resilience and applied AI.

We support founders with a long-term view who challenge the status quo, partnering with them from seed to growth stage and beyond.

With offices in San Francisco, New York City, Boston, Berlin, Bangalore, and London, we have supported the growth of 800+ businesses, including Airbnb, Anduril, Applied Intuition, Commure, Glean, Guild, Gusto, Helsing, Hubspot, Kayak, Livongo, Mistral, Ramp, Samsara, Snap, Stripe, Sword, and Zepto.

For more: www.generalcatalyst.com, @generalcatalyst

Media Contact:
Gretchen Pahia
Pitch Public Relations
[email protected]
602-309-4286 

References

1. Varma R, Vajaranant TS, Burkemper B, et al. Visual impairment and blindness in adults in the United States: demographic and geographic variations from 2015 to 2050. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2016;134(7):802-809. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2016.1284
2. Vitale S, Cotch MF, Sperduto RD. Prevalence of visual impairment in the United States. JAMA. 2006 May 10;295(18):2158-63. doi: 10.1001/jama.295.18.2158. PMID: 16684986.

SOURCE Eyebot

The fastest-growing Voice AI and Customer Experience Platform for car dealerships secures funding led by Autotech Ventures

VIENNA, Va., Aug. 26, 2025 — Each year, U.S. dealerships lose more than $2 million in potential service and sales revenue due to unanswered calls, unread texts and disconnected communication workflows. Nearly one-third of dealerships fail to answer at least 20% of incoming calls, with some missing up to half, leaving consumers frustrated and more likely to take their business elsewhere. Almost 25% of leads go without follow-up for 24 hours, and 13% are never logged into a CRM at all.

Pam, the fastest-growing Voice AI and customer experience platform (CXP), is specifically designed to help dealerships address this issue. Pam integrates directly with dealer systems, including CDK, Xtime, WiAdvisor, DealerFX, MyKaarma, TCC, Autoloop, RedCap, Auto.live, and Tekion. Pam and Tekion also maintain a strategic partnership that drives faster adoption. The inspiration for the platform’s name comes from Pam Beesly, the affable receptionist from the hit television series The Office. Pam manages calls, texts, chats, and emails 24/7, ensuring no lead is missed, appointments are booked and confirmed, and every customer interaction is handled seamlessly.

“Every dealership wants to create great in-person experiences. From greeting customers to handing over keys, staff are focused on building trust and keeping customers happy. But those moments only happen if the digital connection works first,” said Abdullah Baig, Pam co-founder. “The reality is it doesn’t. Pam closes that gap and is reinventing the way communication is handled in our industry.”

After 18 months embedded in dealership operations, shadowing service advisors, sitting in BDCs, and analyzing day‑to‑day communication gaps, Pam has emerged as a platform purpose‑built to deliver results. That hands-on approach fueled rapid growth, scaling from thousands of calls to millions of calls and now connects customers with dealerships across 33 states and 3 Canadian provinces.

“We’ve been heads down building and connecting with dealers around the U.S. and have proven results. On average, Pam drives over $50,000 in monthly service revenue for each dealership, without adding headcount,” said Samee Khan, Pam’s CEO and co-founder. “By managing calls end-to-end, booking appointments and automating follow-ups, the platform saves an average of 35 hours of phone time monthly and has powered more than $100 million in repair orders.”

“Pam completely sets all service appointments, sends a follow-up text and logs it directly into our service scheduler,” said Kevin Farrish, owner of Farrish Automotive.”Our appointments are way up, and consumer satisfaction has increased.”

“With Pam, we’ve eliminated the need for a full-time receptionist, or more accurately, three of them,” said Peter Bartlett, CTO, Hennessy Auto Group. “To maintain high phone availability, you typically need coverage for simultaneous calls, breaks, sick days and no-shows. Pam handles all of that seamlessly, without the overhead. It’s a major operational cost savings.”

Pam doesn’t ask dealers to change how they work. She adapts to them. Onboarding takes days, not months, and support continues long after go-live. Dealers consistently describe Pam’s support as the fastest they’ve received from any tech partner. With a 95 percent retention rate and performance tuned to each store’s unique workflows, Pam delivers a platform that just works.

Funding Led by Autotech Ventures to Accelerate Growth

Today, Pam announced new funding led by Autotech Ventures, with participation from HF0 (backers of Ramp), Ali Rowghani’s First Harmonic, Idris Mokhtarzada of RocketMoney, Geneva Pacific, and other leading investors and angels.

“Pam addresses one of the most persistent operational pain points in retail automotive, communication breakdowns that cost dealers revenue daily,” said Alexei Andreev, managing director at Autotech Ventures. “What stands out is how quickly Pam has integrated into dealer systems, enabling the company to expand quickly into new AI-driven functions.”

The new investment will accelerate Pam’s hiring in engineering and go-to-market roles, deepen its integrations with dealer technology providers, and expand its capabilities beyond service into sales and parts.

“We specifically chose Autotech Ventures as our lead investor because of their deep industry expertise and their track record with category-defining companies like Lyft, Outdoorsy and SpotHero,” Khan added. “This partnership is about more than funding; it’s about scaling the right way.”

Looking ahead, Pam is evolving into the industry’s complete customer experience platform — uniting inbound and outbound communication, service, parts, and sales in one intelligent system, positioning the company as the seamless connective layer between dealerships and their customers.

About Pam

Pam is the fastest-growing AI voice and customer experience platform (CXP) helping car dealerships win at the digital doors. She’s always on, never tired, and trained to work the way each store does, with no scripts and no cookie-cutter logic. From phones to follow-up, Pam captures revenue, saves time, and helps dealers deliver the kind of service that keeps customers coming back.

Read more about Pam’s vision at www.pamhq.com

SOURCE Autotech Ventures

The Fast-Growing Brand Fuels a Health-Forward Movement in Dairy with Explosive Market Momentum

WESTFIELD, Pa., Aug. 26, 2025 — Painterland Sisters, the mission-driven dairy brand founded by sisters and fourth-generation dairy farmers, has closed its seed funding round led by angel investment groups The Angel Group, its partner fund Supernatural Ventures, and Spacestation Investments. Scoop Ventures also joined the round, as well as independent angel investors such as Olympic medalists, professional athletes, lifestyle entrepreneurs, and industry leaders.

The funding marks a major milestone for the fast-growing, female-founded brand, known for its organic skyr-style yogurt and its broader efforts to elevate dairy from the ground up. Painterland Sisters’ impressive momentum has captured the attention of mission-aligned athletes and Olympic medalists, including Shawn Johnson and husband Andrew East, Tara and Hunter Woodhall, and Jakob and Olivia Chychrun. Packed with natural protein and billions of probiotics, its skyr has become a staple among many professional sports teams and training facilities, including the Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers, with more partnerships on the horizon.

“Painterland Sisters checks every box for us,” said Adam Spriggs, Founding Member at The Angel Group and Managing Partner at Supernatural Ventures. “It’s a brand with proven traction, strong fundamentals, and founders who are all-in on a mission that truly resonates. Their immediate resonance and momentum in the market spoke to the first-to-believe, first-to-move ethos that sets our investment ethos apart.”

Painterland Sisters was founded by sisters Stephanie and Hayley Painter, fourth-generation farmers on a mission to preserve their family’s organic regenerative dairy farm — and others like it — while connecting consumers to the direct source of their food and restoring the health of the land, communities, and people. In less than three years, Painterland Sisters’ organic, high-protein, lactose-free skyr yogurt has resonated nationwide with health-conscious consumers seeking real, nutrient-dense options. The brand is now sold in over 5,000 stores across all 50 states and sold more than 5.7 million cups in 2024 alone. Painterland Sisters is the fastest growing dairy brand in terms of dollar growth, up 161.8% among the top 15 brands in the last 12 weeks compared to a year ago (Data Source: SPINS Total US | Natural Expanded Channel Last 12 weeks | Ref Yogurt & Plant Based / Sub Category: RF Yogurt | 05.18.25 vs SPINS Total US | Natural Expanded Channel Last 12 weeks | Ref Yogurt & Plant Based / Sub Category: RF Yogurt | 06.16.24).

The brand’s rapid rise reflects growing consumer interest in sustainable, nutrient-dense dairy rooted in transparency and impact. Every cup supports organic regenerative agriculture, rural revitalization, and a more intentional food system for the future.

“We were immediately drawn to the founders’ authenticity, mission-driven approach, and explosive early traction,” said Jaxon Stuart, Principal at Spacestation Investment. “In a category long dominated by legacy players, Painterland Sisters stood out by combining best in class product quality with a refreshingly transparent, farmer-owned brand story. The product is so good in fact, that many of our investors doubled or tripled their allocation after tasting.”

Painterland Sisters has also gained support from lifestyle brand entrepreneurs Shea and Syd McGee of Studio McGee, as well as prominent CPG industry leaders backing the brand as the future of dairy, including Kari Pedriana, Co-Founder and CEO of Green Spoon Sales — a leading natural food broker and people and planet first organization; and early investors from a previous round, Terry Brett, Founder of Kimberton Whole Foods, and Kimberton Whole Foods — a chain of family-owned, independent natural food stores, known for pioneering organic retail in southeastern Pennsylvania; and David Hollinger, Founder of Four Seasons Produce — a leading organic and conventional produce distributor in the Northeast, known for championing independent retailers and sustainable farming practices. Additional angel investors include Maddie Serviente — an investment analyst at The Angel Group — and her partner Scott Eastwood.

The investments secured during this funding round will be used as working capital to support operations and innovation as the company forges ahead after its national launch into Whole Foods Market last month. In 2024 alone, the brand used over 8.7 million pounds of milk, reinforcing its deep-rooted commitment to dairy farmers and sustainable supply chains.

“We’re strong believers that dairy isn’t going anywhere — in fact, it’s primed for a renaissance,” continues Spriggs. “As consumers become more educated about supply chains, ingredient quality, nutrition, and gut health, we expect a new wave of interest in elevated dairy products. Painterland Sisters is well-positioned to lead that charge — not only with a differentiated product, but with a story and mission that resonate on a deeper level. Consumers are pushing brands to deliver higher quality and nutrition without sacrificing taste or experience — Painterland Sisters meets that demand head-on.”

This funding follows a $1.2M raise completed through Wefunder in 2024, with 700+ investors supporting the female-founded mission to bridge the gap between people and the source of their food: the American farmer.

“We see massive potential in the premium yogurt space,” continues Stuart. “Today’s consumer craves clean transparent ingredients, gut health benefits, and brands with a mission. Painterland Sisters is not just riding that wave, they’re defining it.”

For more information about Painterland Sisters, please visit www.painterlandsisters.com.

About Painterland Sisters
Painterland Sisters is a woman-owned, family-owned and farmer-owned organic lactose-free skyr yogurt brand. Their mission is to connect consumers with the direct source of their food while restoring the health of the land, communities, and people through the use of organic regenerative agriculture practices. With their simply yummy and nutrient-dense yogurt sourced from their organic family farm and others like it, Painterland Sisters is dedicated to supporting American farmers and providing consumers with a wholesome and delicious product.

About The Angel Group & Supernatural Ventures
Founded in 2020, The Angel Group is a private network of seasoned professionals and investors in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry. The group is known for its early backing of breakout brands such as Siete, Poppi, Goodles, Bubble Skincare, Bachan’s, and more recently, Painterland Sisters, Garage Beer, Jesse & Ben’s, and Ayoh!

In 2025, Supernatural Ventures was launched as a venture fund to invest alongside The Angel Group in the next generation of high-potential CPG brands, supporting founders with a powerful ecosystem of hands-on support, deep industry experience, and early belief.

About Spacestation Investments
Spacestation Investments backs breakout consumer brands from pre-seed to Series A. We’ve supported companies like Oura Ring, Olipop, Magic Spoon, MrBeast, and Hyperice. Our model blends a traditional venture fund with SPVs powered by top creators, influencers, and athletes — bringing not just capital, but distribution, cultural credibility, and an unfair advantage to every brand we back. We partner with founders to help them break through the noise, unlock strategic partnerships, and scale faster than traditional capital alone ever could.

About Scoop Ventures
Scoop Ventures is a private investment firm that backs ambitious founders building transformative businesses. Across various stages, Scoop supports teams in achieving operational and strategic excellence — whether they’re elevating everyday experiences or pioneering complex breakthroughs. The firm empowers organizations to scale with intention and deliver meaningful, enduring value.

MEDIA CONTACT
Chloe Schwartz | Colleen Rooney Heltemes
516-941-5671
[email protected]
www.startrco.com

SOURCE Painterland Sisters

Company building next-generation ships, half a football field in length, which can cross the Pacific at unmatched endurance, carrying significant Navy payloads

BOSTON, Aug. 26, 2025 — Blue Water Autonomy, a Boston-based technology and shipbuilding company designing and building highly producible unmanned ships for the U.S. Navy, announced today $50 million in Series A funding led by GV. All existing investors, Eclipse, Riot, and Impatient Ventures, participated. Today’s announcement follows Blue Water’s $14M seed round announced in April 2025, bringing the company’s total funding raised to $64M. As part of today’s news, GV Managing Partner Dave Munichiello joins the company’s Board of Directors.

With this funding, Blue Water Autonomy will build and deploy its first long-range, full-sized autonomous ship next year. Since the seed round, the team has quadrupled in size, completed successful on water engineering tests, and started acquiring long lead material from more than 50 selected suppliers.

“There is an urgent need for autonomous ships designed specifically for maritime security and logistics. This funding gives our team the resources to build long-range autonomous ships from the keel up that will operate on the open ocean for months at a time,” said CEO Rylan Hamilton. “Blue Water Autonomy is laser-focused on perfecting a single platform class. This intentional strategy ensures unmatched quality, speed to market, and reliability from day one.”

China is dominating global shipbuilding with over 200 times greater shipbuilding capacity than the U.S., growing its combat fleet with new naval tonnage while U.S. warship production stalls. Pentagon leadership has accelerated plans for autonomous vessels that will help bolster the fleet, leveraging $2.1B in new Congressional funding for the medium-sized unmanned surface vessels like those Blue Water Autonomy builds.

Future unmanned ships must be producible, affordable platforms that can deliver varied payloads, while complementing and supporting the advanced capabilities of traditional naval assets. While focused on initial naval applications, Blue Water’s leadership sees massive opportunity in commercial maritime markets that are replete with dull, dangerous, and dirty jobs at sea.

Blue Water Autonomy’s team consists of proven founders and Navy veterans, bringing the deep understanding, urgency, and experience necessary to help deliver overdue innovation to America’s sailors and warfighters. The team recently opened a Washington D.C. office and has grown to include shipbuilding veterans with a track record of delivering 30+ ships to the U.S. Navy, including complex destroyers and amphibious ships, and DARPA’s fully autonomous NOMARS. Fusing shipbuilding and robotics talent gives Blue Water Autonomy unique credibility and ability to innovate, iterate, and scale.

“I’ve had the privilege of working with Rylan for nearly two decades, from our time at Kiva Systems through Shopify’s acquisition of his robotics company,” said Dave Munichiello, Managing Partner at GV. “As a former military officer myself, I’ve seen how great leaders are forged through experience, and Rylan exemplifies that—pairing vision with disciplined execution. At Blue Water, he’s assembled a world-class team to autonomize maritime defense, addressing a mission as urgent as it is consequential.”

About Blue Water Autonomy
Founded in 2024, Blue Water Autonomy is making unmanned ships a reality. Blue Water’s autonomous ship design fully-integrates hardware, software, and AI allowing the vessel to operate on the open ocean for months at a time. For more information about Blue Water Autonomy, visit: www.blw.ai 

SOURCE Blue Water Autonomy

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 26, 2025 — Scrum Ventures and Scrum Studio today announced 11 startups selected to join Hokkaido F Village X (HFX), a global acceleration program designed to foster collaboration between international startups, leading Japanese corporations, and local municipalities in Hokkaido, Japan. The program will focus on implementing cutting-edge technologies in Hokkaido and within the F Village, a mixed-use urban development project and home of the Nippon-Ham Fighters professional baseball team. The goal is to leverage innovative technology to enhance the region’s appeal and address local challenges.

The program attracted more than 300 applications from 29 countries, from which 11 startups were selected. Through the program, these startups will collaborate with HFX partners, including Yamato Holdings Co., Ltd., JTB Corp., and newly joined Tokyu Land Corp. and The Hokkaido Bank, Ltd., as well as municipal partner Kitahiroshima City, to drive business co-creation.

Operational support is provided by Fighters Sports & Entertainment, Co., Ltd. Moreover, Hokkaido Startup Future Creation Development by Mutual Support Networks (HSFC), led by Hokkaido University, has joined HFX as a resource partner.

Selected Startups

• Apptronik (U.S.) — Developing and commercializing a general-purpose, AI-powered humanoid robot called Apollo that is designed to collaborate thoughtfully with humans and transform the way we live and work
• Eztia (U.S.) — Advanced material HydraVolt that can be integrated into clothes and gear to cool user skin passively by up to 10°C for up to 8 hours
• Fainders.ai (South Korea) — The most economical retail AI automation.
• Mori (U.S.) — Makes food more resilient with a natural and edible protein from silk
• Nature Coatings (U.S.) — High-performance, bio-based black pigments that are both carbon negative and devoid of toxic chemicals
• Pontosense (Canada) — AI-based wireless sensing for safety, health, and wellness
• Seoul Dynamics (South Korea) — Autonomous robots for heavy-duty tasks with a foundation model trained on real industrial data
• STREAMING HOUSE (THE HYUIL) (South Korea) — Regional development and revitalization workation platform connecting companies, local governments, and communities
• Trip to Japan (Iceland) — Bookable trip builder for an effortless Japan trip, combining tours, transfers, and hotels into a personalized itinerary
• TechMagic (Japan) — AI and robotics solutions for commercial kitchens and food factories
• Waymap (U.K.) — Accessible, step-by-step navigation indoors, outdoors, and underground, with no external signals or special equipment required

HFX Kickoff Week in Hokkaido

On August 25, all 11 startups gathered in Hokkaido for HFX Kickoff Week. The week featured working sessions on go-to-market strategy, sharing of best practices for implementing new technologies in the region, site visits to local organizations, and business development meetings with corporate and municipal partners. The goal was to help startups understand how their technology can address local needs and contribute to Hokkaido’s prosperity.

About Hokkaido F Village X (HFX)

Launched in March 2025, HFX is a three-year global acceleration program running through 2028. Scrum Ventures and Scrum Studio manage the program in partnership with Fighters Sports & Entertainment Co., Ltd. Program partners include Yamato Holdings Co., Ltd., JTB Corp., and newly joined Tokyu Land Corp. and The Hokkaido Bank, Ltd., with support from JETRO, ERIA, Smart City Institute Japan, British Embassy Tokyo, HSFC (Hokkaido Startup Future Creation), along with municipal partners Startup Hokkaido and Kitahiroshima City. Hideki Kuriyama, Chief Baseball Officer of the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters, serves as a program advisor. Official website: https://hfx.jp/

About Scrum Ventures

Scrum Ventures is a U.S.-Japan venture capital firm investing in early-stage startups across sectors such as mobility, fintech, sports & entertainment, healthcare, and deeptech. With a portfolio of more than 140 companies worldwide, it supports founders with capital, global market access, and connections to strategic partners. Website:https://scrum.vc/ja/

About Scrum Studio

Scrum Studio helps Japanese corporations co-create new businesses with global startups. Leveraging open innovation, it runs global co-creation programs, supports international market entry, and accelerates new business development. Website: https://scrum.vc/ja/studio/

Media Contact
Scrum Ventures
Contact: Mie Yaginuma
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Scrum Ventures

Over the past two years, Attio has grown to 5,000 paying customers, including AI leaders like Lovable, Granola, Modal, and Replicate

Funding from GV accelerates Attio’s mission to reinvent CRM for the AI era

LONDON and SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 26, 2025 — Attio, the AI-native CRM for the next era of companies, today announced it has raised $52 million in Series B funding. The round was led by GV (Google Ventures), with participation from existing investors Redpoint Ventures, Balderton Capital, Point Nine, and 01A. Attio has raised $116 million to date.

This investment will accelerate Attio’s mission to build the first AI-native CRM that understands every customer and gives teams the power to build their go-to-market systems exactly as they need, at scale.

“CRM is one of the most important categories in B2B, but it’s been stuck in the past,” said Nicolas Sharp, CEO and co-founder of Attio. “AI-native CRM needs a completely different foundation — one that allows you to truly understand every customer, take action fast, and gives you the freedom to build the exact go-to-market systems you need at scale. That’s what we’re building with Attio, and this funding will allow us to accelerate our vision.”

Since its launch two years ago, Attio has become the CRM of choice for the next generation of companies. 5,000 customers are now building their go-to-market on the platform, including leading AI companies like Lovable, Granola, Modal, and Replicate. The company is on track to 4x ARR this year.

Shaping the next era of CRM

CRM has been the backbone of B2B software for decades, but its foundations haven’t kept up with how business actually works today. As a result, many core go-to-market capabilities were built outside the system, spawning a fragmented ecosystem of thousands of point tools that companies have had to stitch together at great cost. The result for go-to-market builders has been inflexible systems, expensive integrations, and slow innovation.

That era is ending. Two powerful forces are colliding to reshape the market:

1. AI is exposing the limits of legacy architecture. Today’s CRMs were built for a world of static workflows, manual data entry, and human-only operators. Bolting AI onto those foundations can automate tasks, but it can’t remove the structural constraints.
2. AI is empowering a new generation of go-to-market builders and leaders. They’re building alongside AI, creating in days what once took months, and are no longer constrained by vendor roadmaps or 12-month rollouts.

“Today’s go-to-market builders expect platforms that they can shape to fit their vision, not rigid systems they’re forced to work around,” said Alexander Christie, CTO and co-founder of Attio. “To truly capture the opportunities AI creates in CRM, it has to be deeply integrated into the architecture of the platform, not just bolted on as an afterthought. Retrofitted solutions will always be less effective because the foundations of legacy CRMs weren’t designed for the scale, autonomy, and extensibility that AI demands.”

That’s why Attio was built differently from day one: to remove those constraints entirely and give teams an AI-native CRM platform for go-to-market (GTM) that has complete customer context, is endlessly adaptable, and can be shaped by its users.

The primitives of AI-native CRM

To make this possible, Attio is built from the ground up on a new foundation, with AI-native primitives that give teams the freedom to build go-to-market systems that fit exactly how they work. These core building blocks define all next-generation software and are essential for any AI-native CRM:

• Native data ingestion – clean, real-time GTM data from every source, unified in one place — no duplicates or stale records
• Intelligent workflow engine – powerful automation that scales across systems and teams, end-to-end
• Programmable surfaces – APIs, SDKs, and natural language interfaces for building applications, features, integrations, and workflows directly inside the CRM
• Agent collaboration – designed for humans and AI to operate together across every GTM process
• Granular permissions – fine-grained access control across users, data, and AI agents
• Predictive intelligence – context that continuously learns and surfaces the right insights and actions at the right moment

Customers are using native data ingestion to unify accurate, real-time data from across their go-to-market stack, intelligent workflows to automate complex processes in record time, and programmable surfaces like Attio’s App SDK (now in beta) to build and launch apps and new features directly within the platform. Additional primitives, including agent collaboration and advanced permissions, are in active development and will expand capabilities even further as they are released.

What’s next

With its Series B, Attio will scale engineering, fast-track product development, and deliver on its vision to build the CRM that powers the next generation of go-to-market — one that understands every customer, adapts to any team, and gives them the power to shape it to their business.

On the engineering side, Attio will invest heavily in R&D to ship product faster than ever before, with a focus on advanced agent collaboration, granular permissions, and predictive intelligence.

On the go-to-market front, the company will double down on reaching the new generation of GTM builders — giving them the freedom to build and deploy the exact tools they need, without waiting for vendor roadmaps or long implementation cycles.

As part of the round, Michael McBride, General Partner at GV and former CRO of GitLab, joins Attio’s Board of Directors, bringing deep expertise in scaling one of the most successful software companies of the last decade.

“It’s been 25 years since the last major platform shift in CRM, one of the largest software markets. Attio has the AI-native architecture, vision, and rapid customer growth to define the future of CRM and go-to-market software,” said Michael McBride, General Partner at GV. “For decades, innovation in go-to-market software was incremental and fragmented across countless point solutions. With the ability to build, automate and extend directly in the platform, Attio is the foundation for go-to-market for the AI era.”

About Attio

Attio is the AI-native CRM for the next era of companies. Built to adapt to any business, Attio gives companies the power to understand every customer, automate at scale, and build their go-to-market systems exactly as they need. Thousands of companies, including category-defining AI leaders like Lovable, Granola, Modal, and Replicate use Attio to power their go-to-market. Learn more at attio.com.

Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2757690/Attio_logo.jpg

SOURCE ATTIO LIMITED

Kira builds the all-in-one infrastructure powering Fintech 3.0, where AI agents meet stablecoins

MIAMI, Aug. 26, 2025 — Kira, the global payments infrastructure platform, today announced the closing of a $6.7 million seed funding round led by Blockchange Ventures, Vamos Ventures, Stellar Blockchain, Grit Ventures, Credibly Neutral Ventures, Michael Seibel, and Oso Trava.

Strategic investment for regional expansion

The funding will accelerate Kira’s expansion across Latin America, with initial focus on South America. Kira provides the underlying infrastructure that allows companies to quickly launch fintech products in emerging markets. The capital will also finance the technical team’s growth and development of new fintech products.

Kira, founded by Edrizio De La Cruz (former founder of Arcus, acquired by Mastercard), Beto (payments and blockchain expert), and Camilo (fintech specialist), has operated in stealth mode for over a year, developing its payments infrastructure that combines stablecoins, artificial intelligence, and enterprise APIs.

Revolutionizing Global Fintech Access

Kira enables big enterprises or small startups to offer their customers blockchain powered financial services through an all-in-one API. Kira opens up a wide variety of financial products, including payments, remittances, savings, and more

“This funding allows us to accelerate building the infrastructure, starting in Latin America needs to compete in the global digital economy,” said Edrizio De La Cruz, CEO and co-founder of Kira. “Our vision is to leverage stablecoins and AI to provide modern financial services to the 1 billion underbanked.”

Strategic investor backing

The round includes participation from Blockchange Ventures, a venture fund focused on blockchain-enabled businesses that will define new categories and dominate their markets.

“Bringing blockchain powered financial services to any enterprise is a potentially massive new category of business,” commented Rob Schmults, General Partner at Blockchange Ventures. “The team at Kira was not only well positioned to have seen this, but bring an ideal combination of experience, expertise, and connections to actually make it happen”

Stellar Development Foundation’s participation reinforces Kira’s technical strategy, leveraging Stellar’s blockchain for fast, low-cost payments. Vamos Ventures brings Latin American market expertise, while Oso Trava adds his experience as an entrepreneur and reach within the region’s tech ecosystem.

Post-Funding Roadmap

The company will accelerate strategic partnerships with regional banks and payment processors to expand its reach, positioning Kira’s AI agent infrastructure as the backbone for Latin America’s digital financial transformation.

About Kira

Kira is a next-generation fintech infrastructure platform enabling any businesses – enterprises or startups – to launch embedded financial products — seamlessly powered by stablecoins and Vertical AI Agents. With $3 million in revenue in its first year, Kira provides a unified stack that includes AI-driven payments, treasury automation, compliance workflows, and global payouts. Its infrastructure removes technical friction, allowing clients to build compliant, scalable fintech solutions across use cases like remittances, global payroll, and treasury management. Founded by veteran fintech leaders from Arcus, Clip, Stori, and Littio, Kira is backed by proven execution and trusted by large enterprises and startups.

Learn more: kirafin.ai

Press Contact

Catalina Valencia
Kira
9173923137
[email protected]

For general inquiries:
[email protected]

About the Investors

Blockchange Venture Capital is a venture capital fund focused on blockchain infrastructure and enterprise fintech, with a portfolio including startups that have democratized financial services globally.

Stellar Development Foundation is a non-profit organization supporting the development and growth of the Stellar network, an open blockchain platform for payments and digital assets.

Vamos Ventures invests in Latin American technology startups, focusing on fintechs and platforms that drive regional financial inclusion.

SOURCE Kira

With over 3 gigawatts of grid assets already under management, Splight aims to use the fresh capital to accelerate the deployment of Dynamic Congestion Management™ on grid systems across U.S. and Europe

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 26, 2025 — Splight, a U.S.-based grid technology company deploying machine-learning solutions that unlock capacity on congested electric grids, today announced a $12.4 million SAFE funding round led by Blue Bear Capital, with participation from ZOMA Capital. The funding will support Splight’s continued expansion in North America and Europe, with a focus on scaling both its commercial and technical teams at a time of unprecedented growth in demand for power from electric grids across the globe.

“Our technology solves one of the most urgent problems facing the grid today: how to deliver more electricity without waiting years for new transmission to be built,” said Fernando Llaver, CEO and co-founder of Splight. “This new capital allows us to scale deployments of our flagship Dynamic Congestion Management™ product, unlocking the kind of transmission capacity that is urgently needed by grid participants like AI data centers and utility-scale grid resources.”

The new funding will enable Splight to:

• Accelerate the deployment of its Dynamic Congestion Management™ (DCM) in the U.S., where grid congestion and decades-long transmission construction timelines are resulting in the curtailment of renewable energy resources and multi-year grid interconnection queues for new generation and large loads alike.
• Launch new technical capabilities, including:
  • AI-Enabled Electrical Studies for Data Centers: Splight’s brand-new approach to electrical studies brings the antiquated process into the 21st century and considers new capabilities based on real-time data to shorten data center interconnection timelines.
  • Enhanced DCM™ algorithms: New capabilities to help grid participants navigate the evolving requirements for integrating new large loads.
  • DCM™ Sandbox: A new modeling tool that streamlines the ability of operators to visualize potential DCM-enabled transmission gains in a virtual grid environment, which will include a demo control center in Splight’s expanded SF office.
  • Real-Time Simulation (RTS): A new feature for solution validation which allows engineers to conduct Hardware-in-the-Loop testing directly in the Splight Technology platform.
• Expand the footprint of its headquarters in San Francisco, relocating to a new office space along the Embarcadero and growing the headcount of its Bay Area-based technology and product teams.

Using its advanced machine-learning algorithm to safely and reliably unlock capacity on existing transmission lines, Splight’s DCM™ solution has seen rapid adoption across various geographies and regulatory environments. Unlike Dynamic Line Rating (DLR) solutions – which depend on weather and other variable conditions, resulting in a limited increase to capacity – DCM™ introduces an entirely new layer of grid reliability by ingesting real-time grid data and using a proprietary machine-learning algorithm to turn every Fast-Responding Asset (FRA) on the grid into a source of added robustness for the system. Using Splight’s DCM™ technology, FRAs, such as battery storage and data centers, become operational tools that can reliably respond to varying grid conditions to consistently unlock up to 100% more transmission capacity on existing infrastructure (dependent on system characteristics).

“From the moment we met the Splight team, we were impressed with the team’s deep operational knowledge of the grid and their machine learning expertise,” said Carolin Funk, partner at Blue Bear Capital. “That unique background and their proven track-record of global deployments provide operators of critical energy infrastructure with the confidence to deploy Splight’s cutting-edge technology across grid assets that form the backbone of our economies and societies.”

Commercially, the new capital will support Splight’s go-to-market strategy for its DCM™ technology as the company works to alleviate transmission congestion for both renewable generators and large loads in specific nodes across North America and Europe. DCM™ can be deployed by utilities to provide extra transmission capacity or to increase operational reliability across their systems, or by individual renewable power plants or large loads that are constrained by their inability to access transmission, providing them with a targeted approach to achieve speed to power and the option to BYOTC (Bring Your Own Transmission Capacity).

About Splight
Splight is a grid technology company headquartered in San Francisco, CA, with offices in Texas, Chile, and Spain. Its flagship product, Dynamic Congestion Management™ (DCM™), safely unlocks more transmission capacity to accelerate the deployment of clean energy and interconnection of new loads without requiring new lines or hardware. Splight works with utilities, renewable developers, and large loads to reduce curtailment, shorten interconnection timelines, increase reliability and maximize the use of existing infrastructure. To learn more, visit www.splight.com.

About Blue Bear Capital
Blue Bear is a venture capital and early growth equity firm driving digital technologies and machine intelligence into multibillion-dollar verticals across the energy, infrastructure, and climate industries. The team comes from leading energy private equity firms, startups, and large industrial technology developers. Blue Bear typically leads Seed through Series B rounds, with a portfolio covering operational AI, IoT, and cybersecurity technologies, all deployed with enterprise customers to drive connectivity and intelligence across the world’s most critical industries. More information can be found at www.bluebearcap.com.

SOURCE Splight