Seed-Stage Cybersecurity Fund Fast-Tracks Market Access for Disruptive Tech Startups

TYSONS CORNER, Va. and TEL AVIV, Israel, June 4, 2025 — Merlin Ventures today announced the close of its oversubscribed inaugural fund, exceeding its $75 million target. With a strong emphasis on the growing Israeli tech ecosystem, this landmark fund accelerates market opportunities for high-growth startups with next-generation cybersecurity technologies and disruptive cyber solutions.

Raised amid challenging market conditions, this fund underscores the confidence in Merlin Ventures’ unique model, and proven ability to identify and nurture high-potential, seed-stage cybersecurity startups.  Merlin Ventures Managing Partners Seth Spergel and Shay Michel, along with Merlin Group CEO David Phelps, will manage the fund. Merlin Ventures is also announcing the promotion of two longtime team members that have been key to the fund’s success, Almog Golod to Partner and Tav Spector to Operating Partner. World-class business leaders invested in and support the fund, including Ofer Smadari, founder of Torq; Ofer Ben-Noon, founder of Talon Security (acquired by Palo Alto Networks); Dan Benjamin, founder of Dig Security (acquired by Palo Alto Networks) and Lior Suchard, world-famous mentalist.

“Raising our first dedicated fund, especially in today’s economic climate, is a testament to the incredible work our team has done over the last four years and the unique value proposition we offer to both founders and investors,” said Seth Spergel, Managing Partner, Merlin Ventures. “This new fund allows us to double down on our commitment to seed-stage companies and positions us as the go-to partner for the Israeli cybersecurity ecosystem and for U.S. investors eager to invest in the Israeli market.”

Since building out its team in Israel in January 2021, Merlin Ventures has successfully exited six investments made from previous vehicles, including Talon and Dig Security, both acquired by Palo Alto Networks, and more recently, InfoSec Global, acquired by Keyfactor, and Veriti, acquired by Check Point Software. The new fund has already made its first two investments, alongside leading U.S. investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and Norwest Venture Partners.

“The cyber startup ecosystem is incredibly strong right now, driven by demand around new threats and opportunities tied to Artificial Intelligence. We are witnessing a new generation of startups leveraging generative AI to build platforms at scale that were previously unimaginable, and capitalizing on this growth is the foundation of our fund,” said Shay Michel, Managing Partner, Merlin Ventures. “Our investment track record is a testament to our unique market access and deal flow inside the Israeli market, which positions the firm to identify and support the most promising founders. We are laser-focused on making this new fund the most successful seed-stage cyber fund in the Israeli market.”

The firm’s fundraising success and market differentiation are driven by three core pillars:

• Robust Network: A community of hundreds of top Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and security executives across the U.S. who provide invaluable market insights, assist in due diligence, and accelerate the growth of portfolio companies.
• Strategic Co-Investment Partnerships: A unique model of co-investing with prominent U.S. funds, positioning Merlin Ventures as a go-to partner for accessing premier seed-stage Israeli cybersecurity talent. This enables the firm to invest ahead of the curve while giving startups the support of two top funds—a huge competitive advantage.
• U.S. Government Market Access: A strategic relationship with Merlin Group, a leading player in the U.S. federal market, provides portfolio companies with an accelerated pathway into the lucrative U.S. government market.

Merlin Ventures has built a top-tier infrastructure for market readiness, cybersecurity engineering expertise, and go-to-market strength, that is designed to withstand volatile and unpredictable market conditions. This enables startups to confidently penetrate and pursue the largest markets in the world.

“Merlin provides portfolio companies with a powerful network of cybersecurity investment, innovation, technical expertise, and go-to-market acceleration that leverages world-class security technologies and trusted relationships to facilitate and deliver trailblazing security solutions,” said David Phelps, Founder and CEO of Merlin Group. “Over the past four years, Merlin Ventures has proven itself as a VC with key differentiators that enable us to succeed where others have failed. Our unique model of co-investment allows us to build strong partnerships with some of the most recognized funds in the world. This new fund will amplify our ability to connect visionary entrepreneurs with the resources, network, and expertise they need to scale globally.”

The cybersecurity landscape is evolving at an extraordinary pace, largely driven by rapid advancements in AI. In an age where AI accelerates product development, building the right product, and getting it to market efficiently, is critical. In support of this, Merlin Ventures is launching its Genesis program, a structured initiative designed to fast-track the go-to-market growth of its portfolio companies. The Genesis program formalizes Merlin Ventures’ commitment to providing hands-on support by connecting startups with its extensive CISO network and a curated group of partners specializing in sales, go-to-market operations, and human resources. Participation allows portfolio companies to easily build products, providing the early guidance and resources founders need to quickly go from a PowerPoint concept to the first dollar of revenue.

Learn more about Merlin Ventures, their portfolio companies, and community which opens up access to the cybersecurity market, connecting CISOs and innovative startups together. 

About Merlin Ventures

Merlin Ventures is the venture capital affiliate of Merlin Group, a network of companies with nearly 30 years of success bringing technologies to the U.S. government market. Merlin Ventures rapidly scales visionary companies and introduces disruptive solutions designed to help enterprises address today’s most critical cybersecurity challenges. Its unique business model combines robust infrastructure and capital, technical advisory and engineering advisory, market readiness acceleration, and deep-rooted government and industry relationships that enable its portfolio to rapidly grow and scale. Learn more at merlin.vc.

Media Contact

Katherine Benfield
ICR for Merlin Ventures
[email protected] 

SOURCE Merlin Ventures

Flourish Ventures leads round with participation from BCV, Altai Ventures, and Accenture Ventures

NEW YORK, June 4, 2025 — Reserv, Inc., a tech-enabled third-party administrator (TPA) experiencing hypergrowth, today announced the completion of its $25 million Series B funding round. The oversubscribed round, led by Flourish Ventures with full pro-rata participation, also included Accenture Ventures, bringing Reserv’s total funding to $55 million.

Reserv combines the best of a traditional TPA – experienced adjusters, managers, and scale – with flexible, modern technology that enables better performance and better reporting. The company has achieved triple-digit year-over-year revenue growth for two consecutive years.

Since its founding in 2022, Reserv has quickly emerged as the leader of the next-generation tech-enabled TPAs, having grown to more than 350 employees in the United States and United Kingdom. Reserv supports more than 80 MGA clients and 20 carriers across nearly all property and casualty lines of business, including commercial auto, business owners’ policy, general liability, professional lines, medical malpractice, and more.

Customers choose Reserv because it is reliable, efficient, and offers a best-in-class experience for claimants and adjusters. In addition to the latest innovative technology like agentic AI, automated communications, and a tight feedback loop, Reserv has built transformative capabilities unmatched by others.

One example is Reserv’s automated rollover technology ingests data from legacy TPAs and incumbent systems and maps it to the Reserv platform automatically, reducing the typical data migration timeline from over 9 months to under two weeks. In so doing, Reserv structures unstructured data such as emails and file notes and reconciles financials to the penny, enabling unprecedented visibility — with minimal cost.

Gallagher Re’s Q1 2025 Global InsurTech Report highlighted how Reserv’s AI-driven tools, such as the claim severity model and claim summarization tool, drive massive efficiency in claims processing.

“Executives hear a lot of noise around AI. ‘The platform should be AI native’ or ‘an AI sidekick is more optimal’, ‘focus on communications’, ‘focus on compliance’,” said CJ Przybyl, CEO and co-founder of Reserv, “You won’t often hear us speaking so absolutely. We scale quickly, assess our weaknesses, and build solutions to solve our problems in a direct partnership with our customers. A great example of this is our rollover technology. No startup would pitch this idea to a VC as a scalable stand-alone business, but it has been an enabler of our scale—and building it strengthened our LLMs and data science while forging strong feedback loops between platform engineers and adjusters.”

“Reserv has demonstrated exceptional progress in a remarkably short period,” said Emmalyn Shaw, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Flourish Ventures, a leading global fintech VC firm. “They’ve successfully built modern infrastructure for an industry traditionally reliant on legacy systems, and their data-driven approach is delivering real value to carriers, MGAs, and ultimately, the policyholders they serve.”

With the investment from Accenture Ventures, Reserv joins their Project Spotlight Investments, which connects enterprise clients and emerging technology poised to solve industry-defining challenges.

“Insurance claims processing remains at the core of the customer promise and ripe for end-to-end reinvention and disruption,” Kenneth Saldanha, senior managing director and Accenture’s North America Insurance lead. “Reserv’s platform empowers insurers to act on more granular claims data for greater efficiency and accuracy, enabling faster claim processing and better customer experience. The feedback loop to risk selection and more competitive pricing drives greater resilience in the market.”

Reserv applies the same modern, tech-native philosophy to everything in the company, including its own infrastructure – from HR to compliance, to ensure accuracy and efficiency while scaling a licensed and substantiable TPA. Reserv’s flexible technology stack partners seamlessly with multiple vendors, including multiple LLM vendors, to provide accurate, efficient and unique solutions tailored to carriers’ needs. 

The Series B funding will primarily be used to build enhanced claims automation models, accelerated integrations, and develop net-new non-claim modules that leverage the vast dataset of Reserv’s TPA arm. These evolutions will bring demonstrable enhancements to customers and claimants’ experience, as well as to Reserv’s best-in-class adjuster tools. To find out more please email [email protected].

About Reserv
Reserv is a tech-enabled and data-driven solution closing massive gaps in the insurance claims process, removing burdens for users for any property and casualty claim. Founded by industry veterans Martha Dreiling and CJ Przybyl in 2022, the company is backed by Altai Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures, Flourish Ventures, and others. Reserv has raised $55M to date and has 320 employees in the US and the UK. Reserv has been appointed a Delegated Claims Administrator (DCA) by Lloyd’s of London, named one of CB Insights’ Top 50 Most Promising Insurtechs of 2024, and awarded “Best Newcomer” by the British Insurance Awards. For more information about Reserv, visit https://www.reserv.com.

About Flourish
Flourish Ventures is an $850M global early-stage venture firm investing in entrepreneurs reshaping financial systems for the better. Our global portfolio spans 100+ companies across the U.S. and emerging markets, including pioneering fintechs such as Alloy, Brico, Chime, Clerkie, Flutterwave, Kin, Mantl, M2P, Neon, ShopUp, Skipify, Spade, and Unit. We also champion entrepreneurs shaping policy, media, and research to accelerate lasting change in financial services.

SOURCE Reserv

TEL AVIV, Israel, June 4, 2025 — Adversa AI, the leading platform for continuous Red Teaming of Agentic AI Systems, GenAI Applications, and AI Models, proudly announces that it has been named a winner in the 2025 Fortress Cybersecurity Awards, presented by the Business Intelligence Group. The company was recognized as a leading Cybersecurity solution in the AI category.

The Fortress Cybersecurity Awards program honors the industry’s leading companies and professionals who are going beyond compliance to build and maintain secure systems and processes.

“The volume and complexity of threats facing organizations today is growing by the minute,” said Russ Fordyce, CEO of the Business Intelligence Group. “The winners of this year’s Fortress Cybersecurity Awards are not only keeping up—they’re setting the pace.”

This recognition underscores Adversa AI’s continuous innovation in AI Security and Red Teaming with unique focus on Agentic AI Security—including tool-using autonomous agents and MCP Security Issues —by simulating adversarial behavior in real time to discover exploitable risks before they become breaches.

This announcement comes at a crucial time as the industry intensifies efforts around Agentic AI Security.

Adversa AI actively contributed to and reviewed the latest Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) report on Red Teaming Agentic AI, shaping emerging best practices for securing the future of AI autonomy.

In addition, CEO Alex Polyakov was recently appointed to co-lead the Agentic AI Security initiative at COSAI (Coalition for Secure AI), where helps to drive collaborative efforts to address the increasing need for systemic, standardized Red Teaming and Threat Modelling practices across agent-based systems and their protocols.

“We’re honored to be recognized for our work in Agentic AI Security. As the industry moves beyond models to autonomous agents, security challenges evolve rapidly,” said Alex Polyakov, Co-Founder of Adversa AI. “Our platform is purpose-built for this new paradigm—continuously uncovering vulnerabilities in AI reasoning, coordination, and autonomy, including zero-day weaknesses in agent interactions.”

Adversa AI’s Red Teaming engine recently uncovered unknown critical vulnerabilities in Reasoning AI systems like ChatGPT, Grok, and others—within hours of their release. The platform supports continuous attack surface monitoring for all AI assets, seamlessly integrating into enterprise workflows across security, risk, compliance, and AI development.

Adversa AI is already working with Fortune 500 companies and top solution providers across the US, EU, and Asia, helping them proactively test and secure critical AI-powered systems through automated, continuous adversarial testing.

Resources:
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Full list of winners: https://www.bintelligence.com/posts/securing-the-future-these-companies-are-redefining-what-cyber-defense-looks-like 

About Adversa AI
Adversa AI is a leading company in continuous AI Red Teaming and proactive security testing for Generative AI and Agentic AI systems. Its platform automates GenAI security validation, helping enterprises uncover vulnerabilities, prioritize risks, and defend AI innovations before attacks occur. Trusted by Fortune 500 companies and global technology leaders, Adversa AI bridges cybersecurity and AI development, building resilience by design.

About Business Intelligence Group
www.bintelligence.com
The Business Intelligence Group was founded with the mission of recognizing true talent and superior performance in the business world. Unlike other industry award programs, these programs are judged by business executives with real-world experience. The organization’s proprietary scoring system measures performance across multiple business domains and rewards companies whose achievements are significant and measurable.

Contact:
Adversa AI PR
+97504794776
[email protected]

SOURCE Adversa AI

EASTHAMPTON, Mass., June 4, 2025 — The Treehouse Foundation, a nonprofit focused on intergenerational community living to improve foster care and create permanency for children, has announced plans to launch a three-year community research initiative this spring. Funded by a $495,000 grant from the Next50 Foundation, the initiative will assess the impact of Treehouse’s existing Easthampton intergenerational neighborhood and inform their planned expansion to the Boston and Worcester communities. The research will focus on how their affordable intergenerational communities address the social, emotional, and economic needs of youth with care experience, their limited-income caregivers, and limited-income older adults. Treehouse’s Easthampton community offers 60 affordable rental homes for families and adults age 55 and older who foster or adopt.

“This grant will lead the way for intergenerational living models across our sites, resulting in a better understanding of how we can support and promote vital aging,” said Ann Augustine, Chief Program Officer, Treehouse Foundation. “I am excited to see where the research will take us and future generations.”

The Next50 Foundation grant will provide $165,000 each year for three years. This funding will support research with academic partners and an internal Community Feedback and Research Advisory Group. The research aims to gather insights and build a rich data repository that will allow for ongoing program improvements as well as informing Treehouse’s planning for future communities.

This investment from Next50 Foundation follows an investment of $100,000 from the Lennox Foundation to support a documentary-style video library focusing on Treehouse community members and revisions to the organization’s “Theory of Change” framework.

Over the next three years, Treehouse will develop a feedback system to assess the impact, challenges, needs, and community vision of its model. This initiative involves partnerships with Dr. Cal Halverson (Washington University, Harvard University TH Chan School of Public Health, CoGenerate) and the Public Health Initiative of Western Mass.

The historic grant comes on the heels of installing a new chief executive in January to lead the organization into its third decade. Erika Kuester, the second-ever CEO in the organization’s 23-year history, stepped into the role as interim CEO last summer following the departure of Treehouse’s founder/CEO, Judy Cockerton. As a foster parent, Cockerton founded the Treehouse Foundation to address the national “aging out” crisis in foster care. Her vision led to the ReEnvisioning Foster Care movement in Easthampton, sparking national conversations about foster care and child welfare resource gaps.

“The unwavering support and shared purpose among our board, staff, and partner organizations is deeply encouraging and a testament to what we can achieve together,” said Erika Kuester. “At Treehouse, we are committed to advancing lasting, positive change—by the community, for the community.”

As CEO, Kuester brings a strong commitment to social justice and community organizing. At Leadership for Educational Equity (LEE), she built infrastructure to support 40,000 national members over six years. Previously, at the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC), she managed organizers for nationwide bank accountability campaigns. As lead organizer for a DART Center affiliate in Sarasota, Florida, Kuester organized campaigns addressing recidivism, homelessness, and educational disparities. She also has experience leading and participating in diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.

About The Treehouse Foundation
Founded in 2002, the Treehouse Foundation is a nonprofit organization that seeks to improve the lives of those in foster care. The organization creates intergenerational communities as a model for ways to support families in raising children who have been in foster care and serves as an environment for older adults. Treehouse Foundation created the ReEnvisioning Foster Care Movement led by those with lived experience to educate, inspire and promote collaboration.

Media Contact (The Treehouse Foundation)
Kerri Tallman, Half Street Group
401-658-6604 | [email protected]

SOURCE Treehouse Foundation

LOS ANGELES, June 4, 2025 — Manhattan West, a modern investment firm offering a fully integrated platform of wealth management services and proprietary alternative investments, is pleased to announce the appointment of Kevin Cohen as Managing Director of the firm’s Late-Stage Venture Capital group. A pioneer in the secondary venture market, Cohen brings nearly two decades of experience in sourcing and executing strategic investments in high-growth private companies.

Cohen joins Manhattan West following a distinguished career at Manhattan Venture Partners (MVP), where he served as Partner and played an instrumental role in building one of the most recognized platforms in the secondary venture market. During his tenure, Cohen played a key role in helping MVP complete over $2 billion in transaction volume, carving a path for investor access to pre-IPO companies and providing liquidity solutions for shareholders.

“Having been instrumental in building successful secondary businesses at both Wedbush Securities and MVP, I’m thrilled about this next chapter,” said Cohen. “I’m particularly excited to join Manhattan West’s exceptional team and build upon the strong foundation the firm has already established.”

As Managing Director, Cohen will lead Manhattan West’s initiatives in the late-stage venture and secondary markets, expanding the firm’s presence in a rapidly evolving sector. His appointment marks a significant milestone in the firm’s commitment to delivering differentiated investment opportunities in the private markets.

“The secondary market for late-stage venture has never been more vital,” Cohen added. “As companies stay private longer, there’s growing demand for thoughtful, strategic liquidity solutions—especially for early investors, employees, and founders. It’s a pivotal time to be operating in this space.”

Lorenzo Esparza, CEO and Founding Principal of Manhattan West, commented on the appointment, saying, “Kevin’s addition reflects our continued commitment to expanding Manhattan West’s investment platform. We’re focused on providing our clients with access to compelling, differentiated opportunities across a broad range of asset classes, and venture capital remains a key pillar in that strategy.”

Cohen’s background spans institutional trading, venture capital, and private market investing. Before MVP, he was Senior Vice President and Head of the Private Company Strategies Group at Wedbush Securities, where he executed some of the earliest direct secondary investments in companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Earlier in his career, he held roles at Merrill Lynch and Wedbush’s Institutional Equities group, with a focus on the technology, media, and consumer sectors.

“With cutting-edge breakthroughs emerging from sectors like artificial intelligence, space exploration, and defense tech, I believe we’re still in the early innings of what will be a transformative and prosperous era for growth investing,” said Cohen. “Money managers, both professional and individual, are increasingly turning to private markets for outsized returns—a trend that shows no sign of slowing.”

Cohen holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis, and has passed FINRA Series 7, 63, 65, and 55 exams. He resides in Manhattan Beach, CA, with his wife and two sons.

About Manhattan West
Manhattan West is a wealth management and alternative investment firm for individuals and institutions founded by former J.P. Morgan executives. One of the firm’s key value-adds comes from exclusive access to direct, private investment opportunities. Contrary to many firms that only outsource underwriting work to external fund managers, Manhattan West also internally sources, underwrites, finances, and executes transactions with a key focus on private equity and venture capital. Clients benefit from an increased investment opportunity landscape and can selectively add exposure to a broad spectrum of asset classes to their investment portfolios.

Media Contact:
Jim McCoy
Chief Operating Officer
[email protected] 

SOURCE Manhattan West

Expedition Growth Capital leads growth equity funding to accelerate Fabriq’s global expansion

BOSTON, June 4, 2025 — Fabriq, the Lean Daily Management (LDM) SaaS platform empowering frontline manufacturing teams, today announced that it has closed a $25 million growth equity investment led by Expedition Growth Capital, alongside existing investor OSS Ventures. Fabriq will use the funding to accelerate hiring, scale sales efforts in Europe and North America, and advance product development to become the operating system of the shop floor.

“In manufacturing, especially in regulated industries like pharma or aerospace, every detail matters from daily targets to long-term performance goals,” said Octave Lapeyronie, co-founder and CEO of Fabriq. “Yet too often, frontline teams are expected to drive excellence without the right tools. Fabriq changes that. We give teams the structure, visibility and agility they need to act fast and improve. With this new funding, we’re accelerating our roadmap toward an AI-powered shop floor operating system that supports every layer of operations.”

Despite industry-wide investments in machinery, manufacturers have underinvested in their people. Most frontline teams still rely on outdated tools such as Excel, SharePoint and whiteboards for daily operations. As a result:

• Wasted time on administrative tasks instead of problem-solving.
• Issues go unnoticed or are solved repeatedly with no data trail.
• Continuous improvement efforts stall, and engagement suffers.

This productivity gap has only widened amid reshoring efforts and a growing talent crisis. The World Economic Forum predicts that 44% of workers’ skills will be disrupted within the next five years, pressuring manufacturers to equip frontline teams with the right tools for continuous improvement that fosters innovation.

“Fabriq helps frontline teams move faster, work smarter, and scale operational excellence—exactly what manufacturers need as they face rising complexity and labor pressure,” said Steven Twomey, Partner at Expedition Growth Capital, who is joining Fabriq’s board of directors. “Its strong adoption by global brands and high user satisfaction reflect the quality of the product and the urgency of the problem it solves.”

Founded in 2019, Fabriq enables manufacturers to scale operational excellence by digitizing lean management practices and giving frontline teams modern, intuitive tools. Deployed across 600+ sites in 43 countries and used by organizations such as Bel, Collins Aerospace, Danone, Safran, Airbus, Medtronic, Merck and LVMH Fragrance Brands, Fabriq helps organizations achieve more reliable operations, less scrap and less downtime.

“At Medtronic, we’ve embarked on an exciting journey to deploy Fabriq across 13 manufacturing sites in the EMEA region,” said Didier Perrin, VP Manufacturing in Global Operations at Medtronic. “In a few months, we’ve successfully digitized our tier management processes, fostering engagement, building meaningful connections from operators to leaders, and driving significant efficiencies. Fabriq is more than just a digital tool; it’s a catalyst for rapid and effective standardization across all sites.”

To learn more about how Fabriq can transform manufacturing operations, visit Fabriq’s solutions page. Interested job candidates, especially in Boston, can explore opportunities to support Fabriq’s growth.

About Fabriq
Fabriq empowers manufacturing organizations to meet daily performance targets, drive continuous improvement, and scale operational excellence. The platform digitizes daily management for frontline teams, delivering a 30% boost in productivity through more reliable operations and better team engagement. Fabriq is deployed across 43 countries by organizations including Scania, John Deere, Elanco, Bulgari, Renault, and Collins Aerospace.

To learn more or request a demo, visit www.fabriq.tech

About Expedition Growth Capital
Expedition is a software specialist growth equity firm, with offices in London and Boston. Expedition partners with ambitious, rapidly growing software companies that have achieved significant traction with little or no external funding. The firm brings capital for growth initiatives and shareholder liquidity, highly relevant operational expertise, and a trusted track record of respectfully partnering with founders on their path to category leadership. For more information, please see Expedition.capital or follow Expedition on LinkedIn.

Media Contacts
Fanny Guillou
Fabriq
[email protected]

Jake Doll
PANBlast
[email protected]

SOURCE Fabriq

Led by Paladin Capital Group and Crosspoint Capital Partners, MIND is already serving Fortune 1000 companies across diverse industries

SEATTLE, June 4, 2025 — MIND™, the upcoming leader in data loss prevention (DLP), today announced $30M Series A funding, just seven months after emerging from stealth, led by Paladin Capital Group and Crosspoint Capital Partners with participation from Okta Ventures and existing investor YL Ventures. This round brings MIND’s total funding to over $40M and will fuel MIND’s strategic growth and enhance its data security platform capabilities.

In the past seven months, MIND has achieved 500% customer growth, gained significant traction among Fortune 1000 companies, prevented sensitive data loss across hundreds of thousands of endpoints through its proprietary endpoint agent and delivered immediate value by protecting the sensitive data of leading enterprises. Recently, MIND was named one of the top 10 finalists – and the only DLP startup – for the 20th annual RSAC™ 2025 Conference Innovation Sandbox contest.

“MIND was founded to help organizations thrive in the AI era and navigate the exponential growth of sensitive data in complex IT environments,” said Eran Barak, Co-Founder and CEO of MIND. “Our rapid growth reflects a clear market shift toward smarter, faster and fully automated approaches to DLP and insider risk. This funding validates both our product and the market demand. With the backing of our new investors, each bringing deep expertise in data security, we’re positioned to revolutionize the DLP category, empower secure innovation and double our R&D and go-to-market teams by year’s end.”

Organizations are overwhelmed by a surge in unstructured data and legacy DLP tools can’t keep up. They rely on manual policies, produce excessive false positives and lack the context to detect real risk. In 2024, over 1.7 billion individuals were affected by data breaches, with the average breach costing $4.88 million, marking a 10% increase from the previous year and the highest ever recorded. In addition, insider risk is top of mind for every organization with the current macro environment, corporate and federal layoffs, and high-profile incidents with North Korean IT workers and manipulated employees, such as the recent data breach at Coinbase. For security teams, the pressure is higher than ever. Real-time insider threat detection and rapid response are no longer optional; they’re essential.

As the first AI-native DLP platform, MIND puts DLP and insider risk management (IRM) programs on autopilot to autonomously find sensitive data, fix data risk issues and stop data leaks at machine speed. MIND takes a unique approach by combining data security posture and data loss prevention in one unified platform. MIND AI, the company’s multi-layer classification engine, delivers posture through the discovery and classification of sensitive data that matters and reduces DLP false positives to nearly zero. It automates workflows to enable security teams to proactively remediate data risks with minimal manual effort. Prevention starts with the real-time detection and blocking of attempts – whether malicious or inadvertent – to exfiltrate sensitive data out of an organization’s digital environments. MIND’s immediate and autonomous decision-making uses both the sensitivity of the content, combined with the understanding of the business context, to determine normal user behaviors versus high-risk behaviors that should be stopped.

“AI is transforming how enterprises access and leverage data – but also how they lose it. As large language models make sensitive data instantly available to employees through natural language prompts, DLP has re-emerged as a critical, hair-on-fire problem. MIND has built an AI-native solution designed for this new era, unifying real-time posture and prevention in a single, modern platform,” said Gibb Witham, Senior Vice President, Paladin Capital Group. “Led by Eran and his team, who have built some of the most successful machine learning–driven cybersecurity automation companies of the past decade, MIND has quickly established itself as the market leader in protecting sensitive enterprise data and redefining DLP for the age of AI.”

“As the former CEO of Symantec, which, at the time, led the market for CASB and DLP, it’s clear that today’s existing tools need to evolve in this new AI era. Enterprises need a modern and unified approach to DLP, and MIND is delivering a much-needed solution,” said Greg Clark, Managing Partner, Crosspoint Capital Partners. “We were impressed with the company’s capabilities at this year’s RSAC Innovation Sandbox contest, and with Crosspoint Capital’s investment in its team and technology, we are confident MIND will continue to deliver the industry’s most cutting-edge DLP platform. It’s time for an AI-led disruption to legacy DLP.”

“MIND is not just improving DLP, they are fundamentally transforming it,” said Justin Somaini, Partner at YL Ventures, who led MIND’s seed round and participated in this Series A. “This fundraise signals that the market is ready for a new generation of data protection built for the AI era. We are doubling down on MIND because we believe they have the vision, technology and team to redefine how enterprises safeguard their most sensitive data. This is a pivotal moment, and MIND is perfectly positioned to lead the future of DLP.”

For more information, visit www.mind.io.

About MIND
MIND is on a mission to help organizations thrive in a digital world in the AI era by protecting their most sensitive data, mitigating risks and preserving brand reputation. MIND is the first-ever data security platform that puts data loss prevention (DLP) and insider risk management (IRM) programs on autopilot to deliver both data security posture and data loss prevention. We enable businesses to mind what really matters—their most sensitive data. Founded and led by cybersecurity leaders and industry veterans, MIND is based out of Seattle, WA. For more information, contact us at [email protected].

Media Contact:
Michelle Kearney
Hi-Touch PR
443-857-9468
[email protected]

SOURCE MIND

Revenue-based transaction will fund expansions of the Michigan-based company through an innovative, shareholder-friendly financing structure

WARREN, Mich., June 3, 2025 — Conquest Flamebar, a leading provider of fire-rated duct and fire-rated A2L refrigerant enclosures, has secured a multi-million dollar growth investment from Decathlon Capital Partners. The funding will be used to support capacity expansion and fuel the company’s ongoing growth initiatives. Further details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in Warren, MI, Conquest Flamebar specializes in delivering code compliant fire-rated architectural and engineered duct systems for infrastructure projects across a variety of industries. With proven experience, globally recognized approvals, and advanced manufacturing capabilities, the company helps ensure the safety of building occupants and first responders in the event of fire in commercial and industrial building systems.

James Miller, CEO of Conquest Flamebar, said the company is committed to advancing fire protection solutions that meet the highest industry standards. “At Conquest, we are focused on delivering fire-rated duct systems that are tested and rated to rigorous standards,” Miller said. “From design through delivery we take pride in supporting the success of our customers’ projects and are excited to continue growing our capabilities to meet rising demand.”

Thomas Webster, Managing Partner at Pacific Growth Investors, said the funding provides Conquest Flamebar with resources needed to capitalize on growing market opportunities. “This investment gives Conquest the flexibility to scale operations and meet increasing demand while maintaining full control over the company’s future,” Webster said.

John Borchers, Managing Director of Decathlon Capital Partners, expressed excitement about supporting Conquest’s next phase of growth. “Conquest Flamebar has built a strong reputation for quality, reliability, and innovation in the fire protection space,” Borchers said. “We’re proud to support their expansion efforts and look forward to seeing their continued success.”

About Conquest Flamebar
Conquest Flamebar specializes in manufacturing fire-rated duct and A2L enclosure systems for a wide range of commercial, industrial, and multi-family residential projects. With a commitment to precision, performance, and occupant safety, Conquest provides solutions that meet the highest global standards. The company is headquartered in Warren, Michigan. Learn more at www.conquestflamebar.com.

About Decathlon Capital Partners
Decathlon Capital Partners provides growth capital for companies seeking alternatives to traditional equity investment. Through the use of highly customized growth-debt financing solutions, Decathlon provides long-term growth capital without the dilution, loss of control and operational overhead that often comes with equity-based funding. With offices in Palo Alto and Park City, Decathlon is active across a wide range of sectors and geographies. Learn more at www.decathloncapital.com.

SOURCE Flamebar

ANN ARBOR, Mich., June 3, 2025 — Akadeum Life Sciences, a pioneer in buoyancy-based cell separation technology, today announced the successful close of a $20 million+ financing round. The round was led by Michigan Capital Network, with strong participation from Arboretum Ventures, NYBC Ventures, and other investors.

This capital infusion comes at a pivotal moment for Akadeum, following the recent launch of a GMP-compliant product suite designed for use in clinical trials—a critical step in advancing next-generation cell therapies. The company also recently unveiled the integration ability of microbubbles to go into many existing cell therapy manufacturing tools.

“We’re grateful for the support of our investors, who share our belief in a future where everyone can access transformative cell therapies—a future that requires better cell separation technology to unleash its full potential” said Brandon McNaughton, PhD, CEO and Founder of Akadeum.

The funding will be used to scale commercial operations and especially support customers entering clinical trials. Akadeum has gained strong industry momentum, with growing interest from leading biopharma and partners including Catalent, Charles River Laboratories, ElevateBio, and Lonza, who have featured Akadeum’s technology in recent conference talks and poster sessions.

“Akadeum is delivering some of the most innovative and disruptive technologies we’ve seen in this space,” said Paul D’Amato, CEO and Managing Director at Michigan Capital Network. “With the company recently winning the Disruptor of the Year Award during Advanced Therapies Week, word is spreading about Akadeum’s platform which is redefining how cells are isolated and prepared for therapeutic use. We’re proud to support this next stage of growth.”

Akadeum’s proprietary platform has already demonstrated therapeutic relevance, including successful use in preclinical animal models for cancer treatment, and is poised for broader adoption in human cell therapy pipelines. The company is seeing adoption due to high-impact data returning from customers.

“The data speaks for itself: Akadeum’s platform consistently delivers more viable cells, higher yields, and easier workflows compared to conventional methods, which are critical advantages in therapeutic manufacturing,” said Dan Kidle, Managing Partner at Arboretum Ventures. “This kind of performance isn’t just incremental—it’s transformative and why we are seeing rapid adoption and commercial momentum. Akadeum’s commitment to quality, scalability, and preserving cell health is setting a new benchmark for the industry.”

About Akadeum
Akadeum Life Sciences is pioneering flotation-based separation technologies that enable more effective, scalable, and gentle cell isolation. As the first to commercialize flotation-based cell separation, Akadeum has introduced industry-first innovations—including scalable negative selection, multiplex separation, microbubble-based nucleic acid extraction, and the highest-capacity T cell separation chamber ever built. Driven by a mission to advance human health, Akadeum envisions a world where innovative separations empower researchers and clinicians to unlock breakthroughs in diagnostics, therapeutics, and basic research.

Media Contact: Brandon McNaughton, CEO, [email protected]

SOURCE Akadeum Life Sciences Inc