Breakthrough software addresses critical energy bottleneck challenging America’s AI infrastructure leadership

WASHINGTON, July 1, 2025 — Emerald AI announced its official launch, unveiling the results of its first commercial demonstration and $24.5 million in seed funding led by Radical Ventures, with participation from NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture capital arm), AMPLO, CRV, and Neotribe. Emerald AI is also backed by an array of notable individual investors, including Google Chief Scientist Jeff Dean, former Secretary of State John Kerry, former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, AI pioneer Professor Fei-Fei Li, and Kleiner Perkins Chairman John Doerr.

The company’s breakthrough AI software addresses an emerging challenge: the electric power system must keep up with AI’s soaring energy demand. New US data centers seek 50-100 GW of additional power by 2030, but the deep deficit in available power grid interconnections will stunt AI innovation and U.S. competitiveness. Without new solutions, the North American grid reliability regulator has warned that this increased demand challenges power system stability, while massive investments to build electricity infrastructure over the coming decades raise energy prices for American communities.

“We’re at a critical inflection point as exponential growth of AI computing pressures our electrical infrastructure,” said Emerald AI founder and CEO Dr. Varun Sivaram. “To unshackle AI technology progress from power constraints, Emerald AI transforms data centers from grid liabilities into flexible assets, enabling grid operators to swiftly interconnect AI, bolster reliability and energy security, and more efficiently harness the massive spare capacity on today’s grids.”

Emerald AI has assembled a world-class team led by Dr. Sivaram, a former Fortune 500 C-suite energy executive, senior U.S. diplomat, Rhodes Scholar, and physicist. The leadership team also includes Boston University Professor Ayse Coskun, a pioneer in flexible AI and high-performance computing, Shayan Sengupta, who brings two decades of hyperscale cloud and AI leadership from industry giants like Amazon and Intel, and Aroon Vijaykar, former energy executive at Sunrun and chief executive of AEE Solar.

The Emerald AI Conductor software platform orchestrates AI workloads in real-time, enabling data centers to dynamically adjust their energy consumption and support grid stability while assuring acceptable AI compute performance. By intelligently managing energy consumption through software, AI data centers can bypass grid interconnection queues that can stretch 7-10 years or more.

“Emerald AI’s approach accelerates AI deployment while simultaneously enhancing grid reliability and shielding consumers from escalating energy costs,” said former Secretary of Commerce and Emerald AI Advisor Gina Raimondo. “Enabling faster innovation without putting additional strain on our existing power systems is critical for maintaining America’s competitive edge in AI development.” 

“AI is driving unprecedented demand for energy. Without a solution to flexibly service that demand, innovation slows,” said John Doerr, Kleiner Perkins Chairman. “Emerald AI’s technology can unlock up to 100 GW of untapped grid capacity by harnessing the infrastructure we already have. Emerald AI’s transformational software turns AI data centers from grid stressors to grid supporters.”

The implications extend far beyond technology. “America cannot win the AI race without sufficient power,” said former Secretary of State John Kerry. “Emerald AI’s software delivers immediate impact that unlocks further AI innovation while best utilizing today’s electricity resources.”

Emerald AI’s technology is already proving effective in major, real-world demonstrations. Today, Emerald AI released results of a first-of-its-kind demonstration as part of EPRI’s DCFlex Initiative in Phoenix, Arizona alongside partners including Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), NVIDIA, EPRI, and the regional power utility Salt River Project (SRP). Emerald AI’s Conductor platform demonstrated that an AI compute cluster of GPUs in a commercial data center can reduce power consumption by 25% for 3 hours as a precise response to critical periods of grid stress such as a summer system peak load event, while assuring acceptable customer performance for AI workloads. Alongside its partners, Emerald AI is preparing for even larger-scale demonstrations in Phoenix and around the country.

“The next 6-12 months will determine the gold standard for grid-responsive computing, and we’re confident Emerald AI is uniquely positioned to set that standard,” shared Rob Toews, Radical Ventures Partner.

Emerald AI, a member of the NVIDIA Inception program for startups, is also backed by BCG Chairman Rich Lesser, Google Chief Sustainability Officer Kate Brandt, Three Cairns co-founder Mark Gallogly, Galvanize Co-Chair Tom Steyer, Crusoe CEO Chase Lochmiller, Weights and Biases CEO Lukas Biewald, and other distinguished investors.

About Emerald AI

Emerald AI is the pioneer in AI-driven compute orchestration, transforming energy-intensive data centers into intelligent grid assets. Its AI-powered Conductor platform enables data centers to dynamically adjust power consumption by orchestrating AI workloads, such as training, fine-tuning, and inference, across networks of data centers in real-time. For more information, visit www.emeraldai.co.

SOURCE Emerald AI

NEW YORK, July 1, 2025 — The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) provides a daily pre-market update directly from the NYSE Trading Floor. Access today’s NYSE Pre-market update for market insights before trading begins. 

Kristen Scholer delivers the pre-market update on July 1st

• Stocks are fractionally lower Tuesday morning after the S&P 500 ended the first half of 2025 with a record close. The major averages are coming off a winning session, sparked by Canada walking back its digital sales tax ahead of market open.
• Investors will continue to pay close attention to trade developments out of Washington D.C., with the 90-day postponement of the White House’s latest reciprocal tariffs set to expire next week.
• The New York Stock Exchange reported an industry-leading $60 billion in total capital raised during the first half of 2025, up nearly 50% compared to the same period last year.
• The New York Stock Exchange also led the industry with an additional $165 billion added to its community’s total market cap. The NYSE listed the largest IPO by capital raised with Venture Global (NYSE: VG) and the IPO with the best price performance in Circle (NYSE: CRCL).

Opening Bell
Ralliant Corporation (NYSE: RAL) celebrates its debut as a public company

Closing Bell
TopBuild (NYSE: BLD) celebrates 10 years as a standalone public company

Click here to download the NYSE TV App

SOURCE New York Stock Exchange

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., July 1, 2025 — Wisq, the leader in Agentic HR and maker of the world’s first AI HR Generalist, today announced a $15 million funding round from existing investors Norwest Venture Partners, Shasta Ventures, and True Ventures. The raise accelerates Wisq’s mission to lead the era of Agentic HR — reinventing the way HR works, to be both AI-first and more human than ever before.

As part of the announcement, Wisq is also unveiling HRLM, the first large language model built specifically for the high-stakes, nuanced, and policy-bound world of enterprise HR. HRLM is optimized for accuracy, compliance, and speed across areas like HR service delivery, policy interpretation and enforcement, performance management, employee relations, risk assessment and more — at a dramatically lower cost than general-purpose reasoning models. Designed to power Wisq’s AI HR Generalist, Harper, HRLM delivers the speed, accuracy, and grounding necessary to meet the needs of enterprise HR teams.

“The future of AI in HR isn’t a chatbot. It’s a colleague,” said Jim Barnett, Wisq’s CEO and Co-Founder. “We built HRLM because HR requires better than general-purpose AI — and because the work HR does is too important to be handled generically.”

To anchor this launch, Wisq is also introducing Hurdle, the industry’s first benchmark designed to evaluate AI performance on HR-specific activities like employee relations, performance feedback, and policy interpretation. HRLM performs at parity on Hurdle with the most advanced reasoning models available — including OpenAI o3 and others — while operating faster, and at a fraction of the cost.

Wisq is already proving what happens when AI doesn’t just automate HR — it elevates it.

“AI First & Deeply Human — that’s the way forward for HR,” said Barnett. “And Wisq is building the agentic platform, the team, and now the LLM to make it real.”

The funding will support continued AI and platform development, as well as expansion of Wisq’s engineering and go-to-market teams.

For more information, visit www.wisq.com

About Wisq: Wisq is the Agentic HR Platform behind the world’s first AI HR Generalist and HR Language Model (HRLM). Leading enterprises use Wisq to transform HR operations with AI Agents—automating service delivery, reducing HR operations workloads by 80%+, improving employee experience, and unlocking hours of strategic capacity. Founded in 2022 by the team behind Glint, Wisq has raised $55M from leading venture capital firms Norwest Venture Partners, Shasta Ventures, and True Ventures.

Media contact: [email protected]

SOURCE Wisq

STOCKHOLM, July 1, 2025 — Partinc, a European investment company with offices in Stockholm and Amsterdam, has in June closed two new follow-on investment rounds for promising SaaS, Service as a Software, companies ProptechOS and Seidat.

ProptechOS investment to strengthen growth opportunities

The funding round for ProptechOS, the SaaS platform, was initiated and led by existing investors, including Partinc and Vasakronan.

ProptechOS is a Swedish software company that, with its operating system, streamlines all data handling within properties. With ProptechOS’s strong momentum and increasing market potential, the new investment significantly strengthens the company’s position and enables it to capitalize on growth opportunities in the coming years.

“Partinc made its initial investment in ProptechOS at the end of 2023. Since then, the company has developed very well, and with this investment from existing partners, the company is allowed to further increase its scale-up”, said Per Nordling, Founder and Partner at Partinc.

Seidat funding aims to establish market leadership

The investment round for Seidat was led by Partinc and secured €1 million in seed funding from notable European investors. Seidat is a rising star in hospitality sales enablement technology. Earlier this year, the company merged with 360Visualizer, an immersive virtual tour platform specializing in hotel sales.

The merger has proven successful, and Partinc, together with the board, is now ready to accelerate the company’s growth. This investment will fuel its ambition to become the market leader in digital sales room solutions tailored specifically for hotel sales teams across Europe.

“This funding marks a pivotal step in our journey to redefine sales enablement within the hospitality sector,” said Kimmo Kaitala, Chief Executive Officer at Seidat. “The investments not only secure critical growth capital but also bring invaluable experience in scaling B2B SaaS companies internationally.”

In conclusion, Partinc continues to back promising SaaS companies through long-term partnerships. The follow-on investments in ProptechOS and Seidat reflect Partincs’s commitment to supporting high-performing teams with strong traction and clear market potential.

“We believe both ProptechOS and Seidat are on clear paths to becoming market leaders in their respective fields,” concludes Per Nordling. “Our role is to support them every step of the way and help them achieve that goal.”

Contact Information:

Per Nordling, Founder and Partner at Partinc
Email: [email protected], Phone: +46(0)733-50 79 21

Per Karlberg, Founder and CEO at ProptechOS AB
Email: [email protected], Phone: +46(0)704-93 23 61

Paulus Perkkiö, CEO of Seidat
Email: [email protected], Phone: +358 50 3249 248

About Partinc:

Partinc is a European investment company focusing on investments in SaaS and AI B2B companies that provide software services for business-to-business relationships. Partinc is an active investor that works closely with its portfolio companies. The company has offices in Sweden and the Netherlands. The company invests in the Nordics and in the Benelux. See also www.partincapital.com

For more information about ProptechOS, please visit https://proptechos.com
For more information about Seidat, please visit https://www.seidat.com

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/partinc-capital/r/partinc-reinvests-in-rising-portfolio-companies-proptechos-and-seidat,c4176670

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GUIMARÃES, Portugal and ACTON, Mass., June 30, 2025 — Today TMG Automotive of Guimarães, PT and Haartz Corporation of Acton, MA announce their joint venture TMG & Haartz Solutions (www.tmghaartzsolutions.com) and investment in a new manufacturing site for automotive surface materials. Strategically located in Bostic, NC, the facility will occupy the sustainably renovated former Milliken Golden Valley plant and will consist of nearly 300,000 square feet of world-class synthetic leather manufacturing space. Focused on the localized supply of surface materials for seat covers, instrument panels, door pillars, and shift gear boots, the joint venture will serve customers across the Americas with a combined automotive industry experience of more than 150 years. 

“TMG is pleased to formally announce the next phase of a longstanding and successful partnership with The Haartz Corporation: the joint establishment of a new manufacturing facility in the United States,” said Jose-Antonio Texeira, Co-CEO of TMG Automotive. 

“This strategic decision is the result of a deep-rooted relationship built on mutual trust, aligned values, and a shared commitment to excellence in the automotive sector. Both companies have consistently demonstrated a strong understanding of the industry’s evolving demands and a dedication to delivering superior value to customers worldwide. 

The selection of the state of North Carolina as the location for this new facility reflects a careful and thorough evaluation of the conditions necessary to support sustainable growth, operational efficiency, and proximity to key markets. This investment will not only enhance our capacity to serve the North American automotive industry, but also reinforce our global supply chain and innovation capabilities. 

We are confident that this initiative will generate long-term benefits for our organizations, our employees, and the local communities in which we operate. It marks a significant step forward in our joint pursuit of industrial excellence and customer satisfaction.”

“Haartz is delighted to announce our joint effort with TMG, a strategic continuation of the great collaboration between our two companies,” said John Millea, President of The Haartz Corporation.

“Bringing a passion for innovation, creativity, and sustainable growth to North Carolina provides all of us with a great sense of excitement and optimism for the future. 

Haartz and TMG Automotive both know what it takes to support the automotive industry; our track records speak for themselves. Whether separately or together, our two companies have shown a willingness to tackle and solve the most complex of challenges. Adding Synthetic Leather capabilities in this region will expand our product offerings for customers in the Americas. 

TMG & Haartz Solutions is truly looking forward to engaging with the local community to bring a first-class manufacturing operation to a fantastic location in the Southeastern US.” 

TMG & Haartz Solutions unites the strengths of two family-owned leaders built on a shared legacy of innovation and over a century of high-performance materials expertise. By combining global experience with regional agility, TMG & Haartz Solutions seeks to deliver premium service while reducing the environmental impact of a global supply chain. Each and every product reflects a commitment to precision, local stewardship, and a lighter footprint—driving the next generation of automotive design. 

TMG & Haartz Solutions: Driven by Performance. Local by Choice. 

For more information, visit www.tmghaartzsolutions.com

TMG Automotive (TMG), a business unit of the TMG Group, is a world leader in automotive interior surface materials, notably synthetic leathers. The company’s headquarters is based in Portugal, São Cosme do Vale (V.N. Famalicão) and European operations are based in Guimarães and São Cosme do Vale (V.N. Famalicão), with an office in Shanghai. The company is also part of the HaMinGi joint venture of Ningbo, China alongside Haartz Corporation and Minth Group. First supplying materials to the automotive industry in 1971 and today accounting for more than 100 published patents, the company has established itself as a world leader in sustainable manufacturing, now employing over 750 people worldwide. For more information visit www.tmgautomotive.pt 

The Haartz Corporation (Haartz) is a world leader in highly engineered and uniquely designed convertible toppings and interior surface materials. The company’s world headquarters and North American manufacturing operations are located in Acton, Massachusetts, with additional manufacturing in Mannheim, Germany. The company also is part of HaMinGi – Ningbo, China, having joined with TMG Automotive and Minth Group in 2020. Beyond these manufacturing locations, Haartz maintains offices in Detroit, Munich, Tokyo, and Irapuato, Mexico. Employing over 400 people worldwide, Haartz has been a trusted automotive supplier since 1907, and continues to be privately owned and operated by the Haartz family. For more information, visit www.haartz.com. 

Media Contact: 
Brittany Bagnoli 
Corporate Communications 
+1-508-808-4364 
[email protected] 

Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2721185/TMG_Haartz_Solutions_Logo.jpg

Funding Powers Industry-First FinOps for Smarter, More Sustainable Cloud Management

NEW YORK, June 30, 2025 — North.Cloud has successfully closed its Series A funding round, raising $5 million led by Companyon Ventures. The company also launched North 2.0, a suite of new products merging FinOps, GreenOps, and AI to tackle the cost and complexity of multi-cloud infrastructure.

“This funding allows North.Cloud to deepen its commitment to solving the most pressing challenges in cloud cost management,” said Matt Biringer, Co-Founder and CEO. “We’re grateful to our investors for recognizing the immense opportunity to accelerate savings, tackle complexity, and deliver sustainability-focused solutions tailored to our customers’ needs.”

Over the past year, North.Cloud has collaborated with the world’s preeminent engineering teams to monitor AWS and GCP bills, usage spikes, and commitments across fragmented dashboards. The newly released platform offers industry-first tools, including AI-powered recommendations, real-time fleet intelligence, and a sleek, user-first design, to deliver unprecedented clarity and actionability in cloud management.

“We’ve been blown away by the speed and efficiency of the North team. Their unique approach consistently delivers significant savings over traditional cloud cost and visibility tools,” said Andrew Berg of Companyon Ventures. “With AI adoption accelerating, companies are seeing a surge in cloud usage and infrastructure complexity. North is perfectly positioned to meet this moment, helping teams stay agile and cost-efficient through automation that scales with demand.”

New Platform Highlights Include:

• Arctic – Real-Time Commitment Automation: Arctic dynamically reallocates AWS and GCP commitments based on real usage, cutting compute costs by up to 55%—no forecasts or lock-ins needed.
• Coststreams – Cost Allocation Without Tags: Coststreams offers real-time cloud spend visibility by team or environment, without relying on inconsistent tags. Budgets are built-in and actionable.
• Agent North – AI-Powered FinOps Copilot: Ask plain-language questions in Slack or the app to analyze spend, flag anomalies, and generate instant FinOps insights, with no analyst required.
• GreenOps Impact Visualizations: Track carbon, energy, and water usage alongside cost metrics to align spend with environmental impact.
• Expanded Support for GCP: North now supports AWS and GCP optimization in a unified workflow, bringing automation, savings, and visibility across multi-cloud environments.

Since its launch in late 2023, the platform has delivered extraordinary outcomes, including:

• Generating $0 to $6M in ARR in just 14 months.
• Achieving up to 50% savings on AWS compute spend.
• Onboarding customers in under 5 minutes, with first savings surfaced within 30 minutes.
• Ranking in the top 1% of AWS savers globally.

Already supporting verticals like content platforms, healthcare, fintech, and e-commerce, North.Cloud supports innovators like Brave and Stayntouch, helping organizations modernize infrastructure and simplify financial operations.

The public cloud today handles $200 billion in annual technology spend. Despite being one of the most complex licensing ecosystems ever made, over 95% of this spending is still managed with a credit card and a spreadsheet. With the AI boom poised to supercharge this category to over $1 trillion by 2030, the need for better tools has never been greater. Visit North.Cloud for more information.

About North.Cloud

North.Cloud is an AI-powered cloud optimization platform tackling the rising costs and inefficiencies of modern cloud infrastructure. By eliminating manual FinOps processes and rigid cost models, North delivers real-time, automated savings across AWS and GCP. Its dynamic platform helps companies reduce waste, improve efficiency, and gain transparency over their cloud spend. To learn more, visit North.Cloud.

Contact: [email protected]

SOURCE North.Cloud

As AI reshapes enterprise software, Campfire’s rapid growth signals a new era for finance and accounting teams.

SAN FRANCISCO, June 30, 2025 — Campfire, the rapidly emerging leader in AI-native enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, today announced it has raised $35 million in Series A funding led by Accel, with participation from existing and new investors including Foundation Capital, Y Combinator, Capital 49, and angel investors including, Marten Abrahamsen, CFO at Vercel, Dan Kang, CFO at Mercury, Alex Estevez, Former CFO at Atlassian, Michael Gordon, Former CFO at MongoDB, Sowmya Ranganathan, Former Controller at OpenAI, and Jack Zhang, Co-Founder & CEO at AirWallex.     

The round accelerates the company’s mission to redefine finance for the AI era—fueling deeper product development, major investments in GenAI, and expanded reach to serve more ambitious companies globally.

ERP is one of the largest and most established markets in enterprise software, with a market capitalization of over $1 trillion across legacy incumbents such as Oracle, SAP, and Intuit. These platforms, built decades ago, have struggled to keep pace with the demands of today’s fast-moving, modern businesses. Campfire is seizing this moment of massive disruption, building a fully modern, AI-first ERP platform that is already winning over customers from established players like NetSuite and SAP.

“I founded Campfire because, as a customer, I lived through the pain of a legacy ERP that was holding us back. Our team has rebuilt ERP from the ground up, leveraging the latest in AI and modern architecture so finance teams can accelerate their monthly close, unlock deeper financial insights, and make smarter decisions,” said John Glasgow, Campfire CEO and Founder. “Accel was a great partner and investor from my time at Invoice2go, where I was an exec and led the company’s $625M sale to Bill.com. I’m thrilled to be partnered with the Accel team again. Their conviction and partnership provide credibility and confidence for the next stage of growth.”

The company’s GenAI conversational interface, Ember AI, powered by Anthropic’s Claude models, enables finance teams to interact with their data using natural language, run advanced reporting, and automate manual tasks—delivering real productivity gains and financial insights.

“At Accel, we have a long history of backing transformative software companies—including CrowdStrike, which redefined cybersecurity; Slack, which revolutionized workplace productivity; and Scale AI, which set the standard for AI infrastructure. We believe Campfire has the potential to reshape the ERP market similarly,” said John Locke, Partner at Accel and Campfire Board Director. “We have worked with John Glasgow previously, and believe his deep experience in finance gives him unique insight into the challenges CFOs face and how AI can elevate finance teams. Campfire’s rapid product execution, customer traction, and vision for an agentic future make them uniquely poised to lead this next wave of innovation.”

Campfire’s platform has already displaced legacy products at a number of enterprises, with customers such as Replit, Trust & Will, Coder, and others praising its ease of use, automation features, and ability to support complex, global organizations.

“I’ve implemented Campfire entirely in-house, not once, but twice. Both times, we closed our books just three weeks after signing,” said Brian Ehrlich, Finance Director at Flex. “At Flex, Campfire saved us over $300K in implementation costs, avoided hiring 1–2 full-time staff, and provided us with a scalable system that supports us through 1,000+ employee growth. With Campfire, we went from incomplete reconciliations to full GAAP accrual accounting and significantly faster close. It’s a modern, AI-powered platform that will grow with us well into the future—automating what used to take teams of people, with no consultants required.”

“As a lean team with complex, high-volume needs, NetSuite created more friction than momentum as we continued to scale,” said Zach Doyle, Accounting Manager at Advisor360. “Campfire was the modern ERP that could move at our pace. Campfire has helped us streamline financial processes, increase velocity, and build the foundation to scale with the business, while helping us stay lean as we grow.”

“As a fast-growing AI software development company, our accounting team manages complex customer contracts,” said Daniel deCoen, Controller at Coder. “Campfire is the AI-native ERP flexible enough to keep up, automating complex revenue logic and providing us with clarity as we scale.”

“At Trust & Will, our rapid growth introduced complex financial challenges that required a modern, flexible infrastructure. As an AI-native ERP, Campfire uniquely matched the speed, complexity, and ambition of our business,” said Ron Wangerin, CFO at Trust & Will. “By automating manual processes and delivering deeper financial insight, Campfire has given our team the clarity and time to focus on strategic work and partner with us as we scale.”

The ERP market is at an inflection point, with a “great unbundling” opportunity emerging as AI and cloud-native architectures reshape the landscape. Campfire’s San Francisco-based team has rapidly developed a category-defining AI-native ERP designed to support companies from startup through IPO. This funding will further accelerate the company’s mission.

As part of this next chapter, Campfire is launching Finance Forward, the first summit dedicated to empowering finance and accounting teams with the tools, knowledge, and community to thrive in the AI era. Sign up here to learn more.

About Campfire
Campfire is the AI-first ERP powering modern finance and accounting teams. A full replacement to legacy ERPs, it offers a general ledger, revenue automation, close management, and so much more—all on one unified platform. Campfire empowers finance teams with powerful, intuitive software that saves time on the monthly close, unlocks deeper financial insights, and scales with you. The company is headquartered in San Francisco and is backed by Accel, Foundation Capital, Y Combinator, Capital49 and notable finance execs from public and private companies. For more, visit www.campfire.ai.

About Accel
Accel is a global venture capital firm that is the first partner to exceptional teams everywhere, from inception through all phases of private company growth. Atlassian, Bumble, CrowdStrike, Fiverr, Flipkart, Freshworks, Qualtrics, Scale, Segment, Slack, Spotify, Squarespace, Tenable, and UiPath are among the companies Accel has backed over the past 40+ years. We help ambitious entrepreneurs build iconic global businesses. For more, visit www.accel.com or www.X.com/accel.

Campfire Media Contact
[email protected]

SOURCE Campfire Software, Inc.

• Gallant raises $18 million in Series B financing, led by Digitalis Ventures, to advance the first ready-to-use stem cell therapy through conditional FDA approval.
• NovaQuest joins as a new investor, bringing deep experience from the first human FDA-approved allogeneic stem cell therapy, to support Gallant’s leadership in veterinary regenerative medicine.
• Continued significant support from BOLD Capital and Hill Creek Partners, further validating Gallant’s potential by sophisticated investors and animal health industry insiders.

SAN DIEGO, June 30, 2025 — Gallant, an animal health biotechnology company pioneering off-the-shelf stem cell therapies for pets, announced the successful closing of its $18 million Series B financing. The round was led by Digitalis Ventures, with continued support from BOLD Capital and Hill Creek Partners, and new participation from NovaQuest Capital Management.

Gallant is creating a new category in veterinary care with ready-to-use stem cell therapies that target the root cause of the most common and underserved diseases in dogs and cats. Its first product for refractory Feline Chronic Gingivostomatitis (FCGS) is on track for FDA conditional approval in early 2026, and could become the first FDA-labeled, allogeneic stem cell therapy in veterinary medicine.

With this funding, Gallant accelerates its path to initial commercial rollout of its lead product for FCGS, while advancing a pipeline of therapies for Canine and Feline Osteoarthritis (COA and FOA), Canine Atopic Dermatitis (CAD), and Feline Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) – conditions where current standards of care manage symptoms rather than address the underlying disease.

“We have been continually impressed by Gallant’s team, clarity of vision, and ability to deliver. They’re tackling some of the most persistent needs in animal health using their proprietary technology platform to bring truly differentiated solutions to veterinarians and pets in need – meaningful innovation that targets the disease, not just symptoms,” said Dr. Cindy Cole, Technical Partner at Digitalis Ventures.

“Gallant has made significant strides in a short time, advancing a new class of therapies grounded in science and built for scale,” said Teymour Boutros-Ghali, Managing Partner at BOLD Capital. “As it moves through FDA review toward commercialization, we’re excited to stand behind a team pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in veterinary care.”

NovaQuest Capital Management’s participation brings notable category experience with their investment in Mesoblast. Their first product, RYONCIL^®, became the first-ever FDA-approved human allogeneic mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) therapy in the U.S. in December 2024.

“Regenerative medicine is entering its prime – we’ve seen it firsthand with the success of allogeneic stem cell therapies in human healthcare,” said Brian Axe, Partner at NovaQuest. “Gallant is bringing that same caliber of science to animal health with off-the-shelf therapies for pets targeting the root cause of disease where current care falls short. We’re thrilled to help bring these pioneering therapies to market.”

Gallant’s research, focused on canine and feline osteoarthritis, feline chronic kidney disease, and feline chronic gingivostomatitis, found that only 56% of veterinarians are satisfied with treatments for canine OA – and just 8% for FCGS. Most veterinarians understand that current therapies manage symptoms, not the underlying disease, and roughly half of veterinarians express a strong interest in using regenerative medicine across conditions. Gallant’s therapies are designed to meet that demand: ready-to-use, science-backed, and developed under FDA oversight.

“We’re honored to have the backing of partners who share our vision in creating this new category of medicine that doesn’t just help pets feel better, but helps pets get better,” said Dr. Linda Black, CEO of Gallant. “The FDA approval of the first human allogeneic stem cell therapy was a historic milestone, and we’re looking forward to delivering this breakthrough therapy for animal health.”

Gallant’s proprietary stem cell platform harnesses the unique potential of uterine-derived mesenchymal stem cells. The anticipated conditional approval of the FCGS therapy would offer new hope to cats facing this debilitating disease and help lay the regulatory roadmap for future off-the-shelf stem cell therapies. This work is part of Gallant’s larger mission: to make stem cell therapy accessible to every pet who needs it.

About Gallant

Gallant is an animal health biotechnology company creating a new category of veterinary medicine with a pipeline of off-the-shelf stem cell therapies targeting the root causes of diseases in pets. Led by pioneers in veterinary regenerative medicine with deep expertise in development, manufacturing, and commercialization, Gallant is making regenerative medicine accessible – moving beyond symptom management to restoring health at the source. Learn more at https://www.gallant.com/.

About Digitalis Ventures
Digitalis Ventures backs founders solving critical problems in health. The firm invests in early-stage companies across the healthcare ecosystem with the goal of supporting them through multiple rounds of financing. Digitalis is headquartered in New York City. Learn more at https://www.digitalisventures.com/.

About BOLD Capital
BOLD Capital is a venture capital firm focused on partnering with entrepreneurs and companies that share a bold vision for a brighter future. The firm invests primarily in two transformative areas: health and life sciences, and deep tech and productivity. BOLD identifies emerging science and technologies with the potential to disrupt and democratize massive markets, creating innovative solutions to some of humanity’s most pressing challenges. The firm is headquartered in Santa Monica, California. Learn more at https://boldcapitalpartners.com/.

About NovaQuest Capital Management
NovaQuest Capital Management, located in North Carolina’s Research Triangle, is a life science investment firm with a specialization in biopharmaceuticals. Founded in 2010, and with more than $2.5 billion raised across multiple funds, NovaQuest provides tailored capital solutions that fund innovation in biopharmaceutical development and invests in compelling healthcare companies with products and technologies aimed at helping humans and animals live healthier, longer, more productive lives. Learn more at https://www.novaquest.com/.

Contact:
Galyna Danylenko
+1 (443) 254-7567
[email protected]

SOURCE Gallant

Alexandros Petkos awarded $100K to develop open-source general-purpose robots for hazardous and repetitive tasks 

GREENWICH, Conn., June 30, 2025 — O’Shaughnessy Ventures LLC (OSV), an investment firm that empowers creators, has awarded a $100,000 O’Shaughnessy Fellowship to Alexandros Petkos, a robotics engineer based in Athens, Greece.

Petkos will use the fellowship to build open-source, general-purpose autonomous robots capable of performing hazardous or repetitive tasks, potentially addressing labor shortages across multiple industries. To achieve this, he will gather extensive robotics data to train advanced AI models, which he will integrate into the robots.

Petkos brings extensive robotics experience to the fellowship. At age 20, he built the hardware and software for a robot capable of physical tasks such as lifting and placing cardboard boxes. He fabricated most of the robot’s parts, assembled it himself, and collected datasets to train the AI model powering it. Earlier, at age 17, he built a four-legged robot capable of walking and navigating. This achievement earned him recognition in Forbes Greece’s ’30 Under 30′ list in 2022. Petkos was also a lead engineer at PNOĒ Inc., a Y Combinator-backed health technology startup.

OSV’s founder and CEO, Jim O’Shaughnessy, commented, “The fact that Alexandros has already built two functioning robots speaks volumes. We’re here to give him the support he needs to take his work to the next level.”

“Surrounding yourself with driven, ambitious people is essential for making real progress,” said Petkos. “I’m truly grateful to the OSV team for the opportunity to learn from and be inspired by the exceptional individuals in this community.”

About the O’Shaughnessy Fellowships Program

Launched in 2023, the O’Shaughnessy Fellowships program discovers and empowers the world’s boldest creatives, builders and researchers. Fellows receive a $100,000 grant and gain access to OSV’s network of founders, investors and experts.

OSV will award 12 fellowships in 2025. Applicants will also be considered for the O’Shaughnessy Grants program, which provides 20 additional $10,000 grants to promising innovators.

Petkos is the eleventh fellow announced in 2025. More information about previous fellows is available at OSV’s website.

Applications for the fellowships are now closed and will reopen on Jan. 1, 2026. Individuals interested in learning more can do so via OSV’s website.

About O’Shaughnessy Ventures

OSV is a creative investment firm that empowers creators to bring their ideas to life. Founded by Jim O’Shaughnessy, a pioneer in quantitative investing, founder of O’Shaughnessy Asset Management, and author of five books, OSV aims to provide financial support and to partner in growing the next life-changing creative ideas.

OSV combines Jim’s deeply rooted interest in all things art, science, investing and technology with his long-held desire to establish scenarios designed to help promising creators and their inspiring ideas succeed, regardless of age, location, job history or level of education. For more information, visit OSV’s website.

Media Contact:
Ena Gong
O’Shaughnessy Ventures LLC
(917) 355-7420
[email protected]

SOURCE O’Shaughnessy Ventures