SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 19, 2025 — YL Ventures, a global venture capital firm focused on Israeli cybersecurity innovation, has been named one of America’s Top Venture Capital Firms for 2025 by TIME and Statista. This acknowledgment follows the firm’s inclusion in PitchBook’s 2024 Global Manager Performance Score League Tables, where it was ranked #10 out of 350 global venture capital fund families, marking the third consecutive year YL Ventures has been named among the top 10 performing VC managers worldwide.

The firm received a gold badge, reserved for the top decile of performers in each category. YL Ventures is the only cybersecurity-focused VC in this global top tier and one of the only two Israeli-focused firms in the top 10. PitchBook’s methodology is grounded in fund-level returns, assessing both realized distributions (DPI) and total value (TVPI), as well as IRR and vintage year benchmarking, making this recognition a credible indicator of long-term value creation for limited partners.

The TIME and Statista 2025 ranking offers a complementary perspective, evaluating over 10,000 VC firms based on operational and financial performance metrics across three core pillars: fundraising strength, investment capacity, and exit outcomes. This accomplishment reflects not just name or brand visibility, but actual performance rooted in real firm behavior, portfolio execution, and capital efficiency.

“These rankings are based on realized results, not just projections on paper,” said Yoav Leitersdorf, Managing Partner at YL Ventures. “They reflect the value we create for our limited partners, founders, and co-investors through focus, technical conviction, and disciplined execution that delivers measurable outcomes. We invest at inception, shape the path to market, and stay actively involved as companies grow. This is how lasting cybersecurity powerhouses are built, and it is the model we are committed to.”

With $800M in assets under management across five funds, YL Ventures partners with cybersecurity founders at the very beginning. The firm provides early validation through its network of leading CISOs, sharpens product-market fit through real-world feedback, and helps secure initial design partners and enterprise traction. Its hands-on approach includes helping founders validate ideas with real buyers, build scalable go-to-market strategies, shape messaging, and attract top talent through its in-house team and global network.

YL Ventures’ portfolio includes leading cybersecurity startups such as Aim Security, Orca Security, Minimus and MIND, as well as past portfolio successes including Axonius, Medigate and Twistlock. Collectively, they have raised hundreds of millions of dollars in follow-on funding from top global investors, built deep enterprise adoption, and achieved highly successful outcomes, including sustained category leadership and strategic acquisitions.

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2749660/PilotAI_Alpha_Games.jpg

SOURCE YL Ventures

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 19, 2025 — Los Angeles-based venture capital firm Group 11 has been named among America’s Top Venture Capital Firms of 2025 by TIME — an inaugural ranking published by TIME and Statista recognizing the most exceptional firms shaping the U.S. venture capital landscape.

Developed in collaboration with Statista, the TIME ranking evaluated firms across three key performance pillars: fundraising strength, investment capacity and activity, as well as exit and fund performance. Group 11’s inclusion affirms its position as a catalyst for innovation, a partner to entrepreneurs, and a builder of the next generation of category-defining leaders.

Dovi Frances, Founding Partner of Group 11, said:

“To be recognized by TIME in its first-ever ranking of America’s top venture capital firms is an incredible honor. For over a decade, Group 11 has stood apart by being agile, pursuing bold opportunities, and heavily investing in Israeli-related technology. This marks the third consecutive year that Group 11 has received prestigious recognition from top-tier global evaluators- rankings based on rigorous, industry-relevant metrics where our performance speaks for itself.”

This honor adds to Group 11’s growing list of accolades, including being named the #1 Top Performing Venture Capital Fund Manager in America by Preqin (2024) and #3 Globally in the HEC Paris–Dow Jones Global Venture Capital Performance Ranking (2023).

Recent portfolio highlights include Dream Security becoming a unicorn in Q1 2025, Next Insurance‘s $2.6 billion sale to MunichRe, and Navan’s pending IPO. Several other portfolio companies are on track to join the unicorn ranks or secure significant markups later this year or in early 2026. This continued success reflects Group 11’s ability to identify category-defining companies time and again, and to be the partner of choice for the world’s most exceptional entrepreneurs.

About Group 11
Founded in 2012 by Dovi Frances, Group 11 invests in visionary entrepreneurs using the unstoppable momentum of technology and AI to reshape industries across cybersecurity, enterprise software, digital infrastructure, and beyond.

Since inception, the firm has deployed $700 million across seven funds and SPVs in category-defining companies such as Navan, Next Insurance (sold to MunichRe for $2.6 billion), Tipalti, HomeLight, Sunbit, Dream Security, Masterschool, Venn City, AeroPay, Healthee, and BridgeWise. This track record reflects Group 11’s ability to repeatedly back category leaders and serve as a trusted partner to exceptional entrepreneurs.

Group 11 typically invests early, leading or co-leading rounds with the clear goal of becoming the largest investor on the cap table for the long term. The firm remains deeply engaged with founders well beyond the initial investment, leveraging its global LP network, strategic introductions, and operational expertise to help portfolio companies dominate their categories.

For more information: www.group11.vc

SOURCE Group 11

Convoke’s platform turns raw data into deliverables, helping drug developers accelerate the path from idea to market

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Aug. 19, 2025 — Today, Convoke, the AI-native operating system for biopharma, announced it has raised $8.6 million in seed capital. This financing was led by Kleiner Perkins and Dimension Capital, with participation from ACME, Comma Capital, Liquid2, Not Boring Capital, Audacious, Lux Capital, and angels including Qasar Younis, Erik Torenberg, and other leaders in AI and biotechnology.

The funding comes as biopharma companies are under pressure to reduce development cycle times and improve efficiency. New drugs spend ~45% of their development time (5 or 6 years) on planning and preparation (so-called ‘white space’), and each day of delay is $500,000 in lost sales and time patients are waiting for critical medicines.

“A surprising amount of time is lost to manual, repetitive, or burdensome tasks that could be automated with language model-based systems,” said Alex Telford, CEO and co-founder of Convoke. “Our goal with Convoke is to build software that applies recent advances in AI to unlock capacity and increase the ‘clock speed’ of biopharma organizations.”

Convoke serves as the “information factory” for biopharma knowledge work. Its platform takes in raw data and turns it into the finished work products that drive critical drug development decisions. Customers, from small biotechs to top 20 pharma teams across competitive intelligence, medical affairs, and portfolio strategy, use Convoke to:

• Bring all their information into one place: Ingest and structure internal files, proprietary databases, and external research into an ontology that’s easy to search and reason over.
• Build automations on top of that data: Create custom agents and workflows that apply decision logic, perform analysis, and transform scattered data into the outputs teams need.
• Generate critical deliverables: From manuscripts and competitive intelligence briefs to submission-ready regulatory documents, Convoke’s platform is built to fit industry workflows.

By codifying decision-making and automating repetitive, manual tasks, Convoke enables biopharma teams to complete work in-house that might otherwise require spending hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars on outsourced vendors.

“The pharmaceutical industry faces enormous pressure to get more medicines to patients as fast as possible, all while operating in one of the most complex, regulated environments in the world,” said Leigh Marie Braswell, Partner at Kleiner Perkins. “From our first conversation, it was clear that the Convoke team was building with both deep domain expertise and the technical ambition to redefine how biopharma knowledge work gets done. Their platform has already shown it can unlock capabilities for teams that would have been unimaginable even a year ago, and we’re excited to see them bring this new era of AI-native workflows to life sciences.”

To date, Convoke has rapidly grown its customer base, as biopharma organizations look for ways to compete in a tighter, more global market. “The pace of scientific and technological development in life science has never been greater, but the industry faces stiff competition from China, a shifting regulatory environment, and challenging capital markets that demand that companies do more with less,” said Nan Li, Managing Partner at Dimension. “Today’s biotechs need to be laser focused on making the right pipeline decisions and driving efficiency in internal processes. The agentic software that Convoke develops allows companies to shift towards a model where one person acts as a ‘manager of software systems’ instead of relying on sheer headcount and manual workflows.” By replacing these outdated workflows with automated processes, Convoke is already giving teams back significant time savings, which they can reinvest in getting life-saving medicines to patients faster.

Added Telford, “Every automation we build brings us closer to a world of truly ‘self-driving’ biopharma organizations, and we’re excited to see what our customers achieve with their extra time.”

About Convoke
Convoke is the AI-native operating system for biopharma companies, offering software tools that unify internal and external data, codify decision logic, and generate critical deliverables across the drug lifecycle, helping teams move from idea to market faster. Founded by Alex Telford, Maged Ahmed, and Vikas Velagapudi — veterans of the pharmaceutical industry, Applied Intuition, and early-stage healthtech — the company’s platform has helped customers rapidly accomplish in-house what once required large teams or costly consultants.

The company has raised $8.6M to date from top investors including Kleiner Perkins, Dimension Capital, ACME, Comma Capital, Liquid2, Not Boring Capital, Audacious, Lux Capital, and angels including Qasar Younis, Erik Torenberg, and other leaders in AI and biotechnology.

Media Contact
[email protected]

SOURCE Convoke Holdings, Inc.

ISTANBUL, Aug. 19, 2025 — Midas, Turkey’s leading investment platform, has raised $80 million in its Series B funding round, the largest investment ever secured by a Turkish fintech company. This brings Midas’ total funding to date to more than $140 million.

Midas serves 3.5 million investors by providing access to Borsa Istanbul, U.S. stock markets, mutual funds, and cryptocurrencies through a single platform. The company will use the new capital to further strengthen its security infrastructure to international standards and to accelerate the launch of advanced products designed for active traders.

Global Fintech Investors Back Midas’ Vision

The round was led by QED Investors, one of the world’s most respected fintech funds. New investors include the International Finance Corporation (IFC), HSG (formerly Sequoia China), QuantumLight (founded by Revolut CEO Nik Storonsky), Spice Expeditions LP, and George Rzepecki. Existing backers Spark Capital, Portage Ventures, Bek Ventures, and Nigel Morris also joined the round, reaffirming their confidence in Midas.

The participating funds are known for early-stage investments in global technology leaders such as TikTok, Alibaba, Coinbase, Nubank, Revolut, Twitter, and Slack. The record-breaking raise highlights international investor confidence in Midas and its pioneering role in reshaping Turkey’s fintech landscape.

Yusuf Özdalga, Partner at QED Investors, said: “Midas has unlocked access to vast domestic and global investment opportunities for Turkish users, utilising cutting edge fintech tools. As QED, we are proud to lead Midas’ Series B round, and are incredibly excited to partner with Egem and his team that have created an exceptionally strong product and performance culture. We look forward to being part of this growth journey in Turkiye, the wider region, and beyond in the coming years.”

Transforming Investing in Turkey

Since its founding in 2020, Midas has fundamentally changed how individuals in Turkey access financial markets. With a commission-free, seamless, and user-friendly experience, millions of people have made their first investments through Midas. Collectively, Midas users have saved nearly $50 million in transaction fees, and half of them began their investing journey on the platform.

Midas has set new industry standards by dramatically lowering costs. After cutting U.S. trading fees by 90%, the company permanently removed all Borsa Istanbul commissions in 2025. Today, Midas offers free live market data, and instant, fee-free transfers—making it the go-to platform for Turkish retail investors.

Growth Through New Products and Security Investments

Having democratized investing for the masses, Midas is now expanding into tools for more sophisticated investors. Following the launch of margin investing, advanced analytics, and Midas Pro, the company will use its Series B funding to introduce derivatives trading in both Turkish and US equities. 

The rollout begins in September with U.S. options trading, providing investors with free real-time data, competitive pricing, and intuitive interfaces—bringing the “Midas Standard” to derivatives markets. 

In parallel, Midas is increasing its investments in security and operational resilience. With infrastructure built to meet global standards, the company remains committed to providing a safe, reliable, and uninterrupted investing experience.

“Making Investing More Accessible and Secure in Turkey“

Egem Eraslan, CEO of Midas, said: “From day one, our mission has been to make investing accessible, affordable, and seamless for everyone. Today, millions of people manage their investments through Midas. With this new funding, we are building a comprehensive ecosystem that unifies all investment needs on one platform, while further strengthening our security and technology infrastructure. This will enable us to keep growing as a fintech company that serves the needs of individual investors both in Turkey and globally.”

About Midas

Founded in 2020, Midas is Turkey’s leading investment platform. It offers access to Turkish and U.S. equities, mutual funds, and cryptocurrencies through a single platform. Since launch, Midas has grown rapidly and now serves more than 3.5 million investors.

Midas enables trading on U.S. exchanges at a competitive flat fee of $1.50 per transaction, while permanently eliminating all commissions and account-related charges, including clearing and custody fees, for Borsa Istanbul. In addition, the platform provides real-time market data at no cost to its users.

To date, Midas has raised over $140 million from global investors including QED Investors, International Finance Corporation (IFC), HSG, Spark Capital, QuantumLight, Spice Expeditions LP, Portage Ventures, Bek Ventures, and Revo Ventures.

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2753633/Egem_Eraslan_Midas_Founder_CEO.jpg
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2753634/Midas_App.jpg
Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2753632/Midas_logo.jpg

Contact: [email protected] 

SOURCE Midas

MIAMI LAKES, Fla., Aug. 19, 2025 — Yourway Learning, a leader in AI-powered K-12 education, has closed a $9 million equity round to accelerate growth and advance its mission of transforming teaching and learning with trusted, educator-first technology. This investment follows a $6 million equity round and is backed by leading EdTech and growth-stage investors, underscoring the rising demand for purpose-built AI that addresses schools’ most pressing challenges.

The funding will:

• Accelerate the rollout of Yourway Spark, the real-time AI student environment for K-12 classrooms, now in limited district pilots
• Deepen integrations with district systems for efficient, policy-aligned implementation
• Expand targeted Yourway professional development and customer success to deliver measurable impact—eschewing technology for technology’s sake

Fueling the Next Level of Growth in K-12 Education

Over 53% of educators in recent state pilots reported AI reduced workload and supported high-dosage tutoring. More than half of U.S. states are advancing policies for responsible AI integration, emphasizing both equity and educator support.

Education leaders increasingly reject generic, one-size-fits-all technology in favor of solutions built for real classroom challenges, such as limited time, diverse student needs, policy complexity, and administrative and operational demands.

“Purposeful innovation—rooted in what helps teachers and students—is what separates Yourway from the crowd,” said Jerry Weissberg, CEO of Yourway Learning. “We’re committed to putting pedagogy before hype. That’s why the nation’s most forward-thinking districts are choosing Yourway as their partner for scalable impact.”

The Yourway Learning AI platform, which includes the recently announced Yourway Spark for students, addresses top educator pain points:

• Streamlining lesson planning, differentiation, grading, and communications
• Personalizing learning at scale with research-backed frameworks like the Learner Variability Navigator
• Providing adaptive, real-time instructional support by enhancing—not replacing—the human connection between teacher and learner

Sasha Kovriga, Managing Partner at Greybull Stewardship, one of Yourway’s committed investment partners, notes, “Districts aren’t just checking the AI box—they want results that improve learning and engagement.”

The AI-Driven Education Movement

As districts nationwide seek to do more with less, Yourway Learning stands ready as a strategic partner—not just another vendor. The company is inviting additional districts to apply for fall pilots and early access opportunities, helping education leaders confidently integrate AI for teaching, learning, and system-wide coherence to drive impact at scale.

Relevant Resources:

About Yourway Learning
Yourway Learning, the leader in AI-powered K-12 education, empowers joyful, limitless learning through educator-first, research-backed AI solutions. Follow Yourway Learning on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.

About Greybull Stewardship
Greybull Stewardship is a private investment firm supporting established, small businesses on their way to scalable and sustainable success. With decades of operational experience and financial acumen, their team of multi-disciplinary operators provides a suite of tailored resources and strategic guidance extending beyond just capital. Greybull proudly cultivates partnerships with motivated entrepreneurs to realize their full potential and confidently navigate the complexities of expansion. Founded in 2010, Greybull is headquartered in Jackson, Wyoming, with team members located throughout the U.S. to effectively support the firm’s investments. To learn more about Greybull, visit www.greybullstewardship.com.

SOURCE Yourway Learning

The AI-powered household assistant also debuts their revolutionary School Calendar Upload integration this back-to-school season

NEW YORK, Aug. 19, 2025 — Ohai.ai, the AI-powered household assistant founded by Care.com’s Sheila Lirio Marcelo, today announced a new round of strategic funding led by Muse Capital. The round, co-led by Muse Capital’s founding partners Rachel Springate and Assia Grazioli-Venier, brings together a powerhouse group of high-profile backers and investors including Wisdom Ventures; Olivia Munn, actress and producer; Monique and Melvin Rodriguez, Co-Founders of Mielle Organics; Mindy Kaling, writer and actress; Abby Wambach, Olympian and entrepreneur; Sarah Harden, CEO of Hello Sunshine; Hannah Bronfman, influencer and wellness entrepreneur; Jenny Mollen, writer and actress; Lavinia Errico, Co‐founder of Equinox; and Abby Miller Levy, Co‐Founder of Primetime Partners. This funding builds on Ohai’s strong foundation of support from early supporters, including NEA, Eniac Ventures, Bright Ventures, and LifeX Ventures, and leading women investors like Amy Griffin of G9 Ventures, all of whom participated in the company’s seed round.

Founded by Sheila Lirio Marcelo, a pioneer in the caregiving and famtech space for over a decade, Ohai.ai powers your day by helping your whole household run smoothly — from syncing schedules to managing everyday to-dos and reminders — so you can do less juggling and spend more time living. The platform is designed to be the operating system for busy households with both AI-powered assistance and human-in-the-loop design.

“As a mom, caregiver, and entrepreneur, I know the crushing mental load of running a family — especially during back-to-school season — so our mission at Ohai is to reduce the cognitive overload families experience every day,” said Sheila Lirio Marcelo, Founder and CEO of Ohai.ai. “When we make invisible work visible, we can then make it disappear. This new funding allows us to move faster on building the tools families need, starting with something as simple but powerful as instantly syncing your child’s school calendar.”

This latest investment will fuel product development and accelerate Ohai.ai’s mission to reduce mental overload for families, beginning with the launch of a new, first-of-its-kind feature that allows parents to automatically upload and sync school calendars from across the U.S. into their Ohai app, saving time and eliminating the hassle of manually entering school breaks, holidays, early dismissals and special events. No more copying dates from a paper flyer into your phone at midnight. Parents can find their school by zip code or upload a flyer or PDF, and Ohai will automatically add the events to their calendar. With one click, they can share it with a spouse, grandparent, or babysitter so everyone stays on the same page

“Our goal at Muse Capital has always been to back visionary companies building for the modern household, and Ohai.ai is doing exactly that,” said Rachel Springate, Founding Partner at Muse Capital. “Sheila [Lirio Marcelo] and her team are not only reimagining the future of household productivity, but doing so with a deep understanding of the emotional and logistical realities of care. We’re thrilled to support a female-founded company with such an important mission.”

The round’s high-profile backers also reflect Ohai.ai’s growing cultural momentum. The high-profile investor group backing this round reflects Ohai’s growing cultural relevance and momentum. Since launching in beta, Ohai.ai has helped thousands of families streamline their day-to-day lives, scheduling hundreds of thousands of calendar events and reminders. In preparation for the back-to-school season, Ohai.ai has built a database of over 67,000 school calendars and more than 27 million local events, allowing parents to easily sync relevant events to their calendars.

“Ohai.ai has genuinely changed the way I manage family life with two kids,” said Olivia Munn. “It means fewer calendar conflicts and more space in my brain in my day for what matters.”

With Muse Capital’s investment and the support of their growing network of high‐profile investors, Ohai is positioned to become a must‐have for every parent, caregiver, and household manager looking for more time, less stress, and better coordination.

For more information, visit www.ohai.ai. For media inquiries, please contact [email protected].

About Ohai.ai

Ohai.ai is the smart helper that powers your day. Founded by serial entrepreneur Sheila Lirio Marcelo, who previously founded and took Care.com public, Ohai.ai was born out of her deep experience in caregiving and her mission to ease the invisible labor that families, especially women, carry every day. Ohai.ai combines the power of artificial intelligence with thoughtful human design to help families coordinate calendars, to-dos, logistics, and reminders. Whether it’s syncing multiple school schedules, managing appointments, or planning everyday routines, Ohai’s goal is to reduce mental load and give families back time for what matters most. With a vision to become the personal operating system for every household, Ohai.ai is building a future where care, connection, and productivity can thrive together. @ohaidotai

About Muse Capital
Muse Capital is a Los Angeles–based early-stage venture firm co-founded by Assia Grazioli-Venier and Rachel Springate. The firm focuses on identifying overlooked investment opportunities across how we Care, Play, and Live, with core areas including parenting, elder care, women’s sports, and a long-standing emphasis on women’s health. With deep operating experience, the team brings hands-on expertise in go-to-market strategy, commercialization, and strategic partnerships, helping portfolio companies secure brand-defining deals with Fortune 500s, influencers, sports teams, major tech platforms, and more. Since launching in 2016, Muse Capital has invested in over 50 companies, including category-defining startups like Midi Health, Eli Health, CoFertility, Future Family, Conceivable Life Sciences, GoHenry, and Beekeeper’s Naturals. Through their advisory arm, Muse Sport, the firm has also made direct early investments in sports assets such as the NWSL’s Washington Spirit and SailGP Italy, where they hold a majority ownership stake.

SOURCE Ohai.ai

Just 18 months post-launch, Keychain adds capital and unveils its second major product: a first-of-its-kind, AI-powered operating system designed to help manufacturers run their facilities more efficiently

NEW YORK, Aug. 19, 2025 — Keychain, the AI-powered manufacturing platform for the consumer packaged goods industry, today announced a $30 million Series B funding round led by Wellington Management and existing investor BoxGroup, alongside other major returning investors. The new capital supports the rollout of KeychainOS, an AI based operating system that helps manufacturers manage their production cycle with greater speed, visibility, and intelligence.

This brings Keychain’s total funding to $68 million just 18 months post-launch. The momentum reflects Keychain’s rapid adoption by the industry: 8 of the top 10 retailers, and 7-Eleven and Whole Foods, use Keychain, along with 7 of the top 10 CPG brands, including General Mills. The funding also reflects Keychain’s evolution from a sourcing platform into a full-scale operating system addressing the $1 trillion market for manufacturing CPG goods.

“We’ve grown quickly because the demand is clear. Manufacturers are being asked to do more with less, and the systems they rely on simply aren’t built for today’s complexity,” said Oisin Hanrahan, Co-founder and CEO of Keychain. “Applying AI allows KeychainOS to give manufacturers a smarter, faster way to run their facilities, and it’s already delivering real results.”

Unlike traditional enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems like Oracle, QAD or Plex–which take months or years to implement, and then require add ons like TraceGains or Redzone to be usable–KeychainOS deploys in days and is purpose-built for CPG. Manufacturers are already using it to manage safety, reduce waste, predict bottlenecks, and improve planning in real time.

“Keychain is an ambitious new approach to connect buyers with manufacturers,” said Tom Hermes, Vice President Sourcing & Product Development, Whole Foods Market. “The tool allows our teams to better identify prospective manufacturers who can meet the requirements of our product roadmap.”

Since its launch in February 2024, Keychain’s AI powered sourcing platform has grown to facilitate more than $1 billion in manufacturing projects monthly and brought over 20,000 brands and retailers into the ecosystem. The company recently expanded into the beauty and personal care sector, demonstrating its applicability across consumer goods categories.

“Keychain has demonstrated a strong ability to bring new products to market quickly while scaling their operations effectively,” said Molly Breiner, Sector Lead, Private Climate Investing at Wellington Management. “Their approach addresses clear gaps in the CPG supply chain by offering a more streamlined and connected alternative to traditional ERP systems to create a more efficient, resilient, and connected ecosystem for manufacturers.”

With this new funding and the launch of KeychainOS, Keychain will continue to expand into new CPG verticals and advance its AI offerings to meet growing demand, further establishing itself as the ultimate modern operating system for manufacturing.

Interested brands, retailers, and manufacturers can apply to join at www.keychain.com.

About Keychain
Keychain is an AI-powered platform for CPG manufacturing that works with brands and retailers to bring clarity and convenience to the process of creating products that consumers love. The company is backed by leading investment firms Lightspeed Venture Partners, BoxGroup, Wellington, SV Angel and industry leaders General Mills, The Hershey Company, Schreiber Foods, and Rich’s Food. Keychain has built a network of over 30,000 manufacturers and over 20,000 brands and retailers. The company’s proprietary, AI-powered platform helps brands quickly find the perfect manufacturing partners. Keychain is headquartered in New York, with offices in Austin and Delhi.

Media Contact
Devin Walsh
[email protected]

SOURCE Keychain

At One Ventures and Overture Ventures co-lead investment to accelerate ChemFinity’s sorbent technology for low-cost, high-purity metal refining

BROOKLYN, N.Y., Aug. 19, 2025 — ChemFinity Technologies, a company pioneering high-performance recovery systems for critical minerals, today announced it has raised an oversubscribed $7 million Seed round. The round was co-led by At One Ventures and Overture Ventures, with participation from Closed Loop Ventures Group, Pace Ventures, WovenEarth Ventures, and Climate Capital. The funds will accelerate the company’s piloting efforts and scale deployment of its breakthrough sorbent-based technology, which can selectively recover over 20 targeted minerals from complex waste streams at low cost.

Over 80% of critical minerals essential to key U.S. industries, including defense, manufacturing, and energy, are imported. The escalating demand for critical minerals is also accompanied by declining ore quality, higher associated processing costs in primary sourcing, and stricter environmental regulations for these materials. ChemFinity’s refining systems meet this need by providing low-cost, energy-efficient, and modular recovery processes that are tunable and durable across a wide range of domestic feedstocks, producing high-purity metals.

“In a world increasingly dependent on critical minerals, the ability to extract and refine them domestically, cleanly, and affordably is paramount,” said Dr. Adam Uliana, Co-founder and CEO of ChemFinity Technologies. “Our platform addresses one of the most difficult bottlenecks in both national security and the energy transition: reliable, local access to high-purity critical minerals, all while dramatically lowering the cost and environmental footprint of recovery.”

Founded as a spinoff from research performed in Prof. Jeffrey Long’s laboratory at the University of California, Berkeley, ChemFinity has invented sorbents that uniquely offer record-breaking recovery efficiencies and exceptional durability, including in hydrometallurgical conditions. Engineered with atomically tunable pore structures for precision separations, these sorbents have been validated for selective capture of target metals from low-grade, highly complex mixtures, recovering critical minerals such as platinum-group metals, rare earth elements, base metals like copper, and even emerging contaminants like PFAS (“forever chemicals”).

“With support from this Seed round, we’re scaling production, expanding our team, and deploying pilot systems to recover high-value metals that would otherwise be lost,” said Dr. Ever Velasquez, Co-founder and CTO. “Our systems are designed to integrate readily into existing infrastructure, and we look forward to expanding deployment with other industrial leaders who share our mission of onshoring a circular minerals supply chain.”

With support from Breakthrough Energy Fellows and non-dilutive grants from over 10 U.S. agencies, the company has already scaled up its technology 1,000x from lab beakers to pilot reactors. The company has engaged in projects with leading recyclers and refiners to produce high-purity metals from domestic wastes, such as catalytic converters, mining feedstocks, spent solar panels, and wastewaters.

“With their high selectivity and fast reaction kinetics, ChemFinity’s engineered sorbents extract critical metals orders of magnitude faster than conventional methods, achieving market-grade purity with minimal energy and water use,” said Helen Lin, Partner at At One Ventures. “This can unlock exciting new value streams and is a true step-change in metal circularity.”

“ChemFinity re-enables domestic refining of metals critical to the national interest,” said Allison Hinckley, Senior Principal at Overture Ventures. “Their process features a dramatically smaller chemical and energetic footprint than global incumbents, resulting in superior economics.”

ChemFinity will be hiring key roles in Brooklyn, NY.

About ChemFinity Technologies
ChemFinity Technologies is building critical mineral recovery systems to produce over 20 minerals from domestic feedstocks at low cost using its proprietary, high-performance sorbent filters. Spun out of UC Berkeley in late 2022 and based in New York City, ChemFinity has been backed by over a dozen top government and philanthropic agencies, such as the U.S. Department of Energy, ARPA-E, and Breakthrough Energy Fellows. The company’s mission is to enable recyclers and miners to produce critical minerals domestically, cleanly, and cost-effectively—starting with high-value metals such as platinum and gold.

About At One Ventures
At One Ventures invests in deep-tech startups catalyzing a world where humanity is a net positive to nature. At One Ventures finds, funds, and grows companies that are using disruptive deep tech to upend the unit economics of established industries while dramatically reducing their planetary footprint. To date, At One Ventures has invested in 40 startups, including battery recycler Ascend Elements, de-extinction company Colossal Biosciences, and biodegradable packaging supplier Cruz Foam.

About Overture Ventures
Overture Ventures is an early-stage venture fund focused on energy, artificial intelligence, resilience, and industrial transformation startups critical to the national interest. The firm provides deep technical and government affairs support to help founders unlock federal, state, and municipal resources and navigate regulatory complexity. Overture’s team includes former senior political appointees from the U.S. Department of Energy and White House and has deployed over $670M across startups in climate tech and industrial innovation.

Contacts
[email protected]

SOURCE ChemFinity Technologies, Inc.

Flagship event connects Midwest tech founders, investors and corporates around the theme Built on Ambition

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Aug. 19, 2025 — Flyover Capital, a Kansas City-based venture fund building tech success stories outside coastal hubs, today announced the fourth annual MidxMidwest (MXMW), taking place Nov. 13 at Hotel Kansas City in Kansas City, Missouri. Organized with support from Iron Prairie Ventures and Polsinelli, MXMW will connect selected founders, investors, community and corporate leaders for curated one-on-one meetings, breakout sessions and networking under the theme Built on Ambition.

MXMW prioritizes meaningful connections between pre-seed to Series B founders and investors from leading venture firms nationwide. Participants are curated through an application and invitation process to ensure each year’s event expands networks with relevant and high-quality introductions. As the “Crossroads of the Venture Community,” MXMW draws investors from both coasts and major Midwest cities, including Silicon Valley, New York, Boston and Chicago, for a uniquely concentrated networking experience.

“We started MXMW because we saw incredible founders in our region who should have the same opportunities as entrepreneurs in more traditional tech hubs,” said Dan Kerr, managing partner at Flyover Capital. “This year’s theme, Built on Ambition, reflects the drive behind every breakthrough company. As AI and corporate innovation reshape the market, ambition is the foundation that will carry bold founders and corporate leaders forward — and MXMW is where those partnerships begin.”

The event comes at a critical time as corporate leaders navigate rapid changes like the AI transition, where preparedness among many Midwest businesses remains underdeveloped. MXMW offers a crucial bridge to emerging technologies and direct access to early-stage founders shaping these solutions. For corporate innovation leaders, it’s a chance to explore practical applications of AI and other transformative tools, influence how promising startups adapt to enterprise needs and build partnerships that accelerate digital transformation.

For investors actively deploying capital, MXMW has become a proven source of vetted deal flow. Last year’s event led to Flyover Capital’s first 2025 investment, and other institutional investors have also made commitments to companies discovered through MXMW. Over the past four years, the event has facilitated more than 2,000 introductions, and this year alone is expected to generate 500 in-person meetings in a single afternoon.

“I’ve been to six other conferences in the past two months, but MidxMidwest still facilitated numerous new connections,” said Cooper Winrich of Nashville-based FINTOP Capital. “The quality of attendees was excellent — ambitious founders, engaged investors and corporate leaders from across the Midwest and Southeast.”

To apply to attend MXMW or learn more about sponsorship opportunities, visit www.MidxMidwest.com.

About Flyover Capital
Founded in 2014, Flyover Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm dedicated to building the next generation of technology success stories outside the coasts. With 49 investments into companies and funds across 19+ states, Flyover backs tech founders from pre-seed through early growth. Beyond capital, the firm connects founders to customers, talent, and strategic partners through its Platform and flagship initiatives like MidxMidwest, which has become a cornerstone for driving connections across the central U.S. tech ecosystem.

Media Contact
PANBlast for Flyover Capital
Ryan Hecker
[email protected]

SOURCE Flyover Capital