August Secures $10 Million Series A to Scale On-Chain Finance Infrastructure

Dragonfly, 6th Man Ventures (6MV), SCB Limited, and Robot Ventures back August as it expands its institutional product suite and bridges the gap between DeFi and traditional finance.

GENEVA, March 10, 2025 — August, an on-chain prime brokerage and execution platform, today announced a $10 million Series A funding round led by Dragonfly Ventures with participation from SCB Limited, 6th Man Ventures (6MV), Foresight Ventures, FinTech Collective, Robot Ventures, Maven11, and others. This investment accelerates August’s on-chain prime brokerage capabilities, with a portfolio margin system enabling institutions to use staked assets and yield-bearing positions as collateral for structured products, OTC derivatives, and credit. With seamless cross-margining and enhanced capital efficiency, clients can hedge DeFi portfolios with CeFi rails—all within a single on-chain account. August supports 12+ blockchains, 250+ tokens, and 70 protocols, unlocking liquidity across any liquid asset.

In a world where more assets are getting tokenized, and continue to move on-chain, August provides the most capital-efficient infrastructure for trade execution, maximizing liquidity and capital optimization.

August facilitates over $7 billion in monthly transaction volume across lending, DeFi and OTC transactions, and algorithmic swaps with $400M+ in loans originated over the past year. The company rebranded to underscore its commitment to building trusted financial infrastructure for a crypto industry recovering after the collapse of centralized finance (CeFi). August provides institutions, protocols, and trading desks with a comprehensive suite of on-chain financial tools, including: smart contract multi-signature accounts, trade execution, borrowing and lending, options and structured products, tri-party collateral management, cross-margining and cross-chain DeFi strategies. Clients supported today include both institutional hedge funds and principal trading firms, as well as protocols such as Upshift, the first decentralized application built on August, with total value locked (TVL) around $300M.

“The events of 2022 following the collapse of large centralized finance counterparties, more liquidity and volume has moved on-chain over the past two years, demonstrating that transparency and risk management are non-negotiable,” said Aya Kantorovich, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of August. “August is setting a new standard for capital-efficient and institutionally viable digital asset trading, where trust is no longer assumed—it’s built into the infrastructure itself.”, said Alexandre Elkrief, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of August.

By bringing on-chain verifiability to these services, August eliminates the hidden risks that have plagued CeFi. With August, credit and counterparty risk can be monitored and mitigated in real-time.

“FTX and 3AC didn’t fail due to a lack of institutional interest in digital assets,” said Rob Hadick, General Partner at Dragonfly Capital. “They failed because risk was obfuscated, and counterparty exposure was unmanageable. August provides real-time risk measurement, programmatic collateral management, and default transparency.”

“We are thrilled to double down on August, the leader in On-chain Capital Markets. August combines the speed and composability of DeFi with the risk management tools required by the world’s largest institutions. Now these benefits will be available to the public via Upshift. The future of finance is now,” adds Carl Vogel, General Partner at 6th Man Ventures.

About August

August, an on-chain prime brokerage and execution platform that enables users to borrow, lend, trade, and clear across any DeFi and CeFi application with any form of liquid collateral. August supports all DeFi primitives, including lending, borrowing, spot execution, over the counter options, and derivatives.

Media contact:
Aya Kantorovich,
+16466009692,
[email protected]

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2636930/August_Digital_1.jpg
Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2636931/August_Digital_2.jpg
Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2636929/August_Digital_Logo.jpg

SOURCE August Digital

August sichert sich 10 Millionen Dollar in der Serie A für den Ausbau der On-Chain-Finanzierungsinfrastruktur

Dragonfly, 6th Man Ventures (6MV), SCB Limited und Robot Ventures unterstützen August bei der Erweiterung seiner institutionellen Produktpalette und der Schließung der Lücke zwischen DeFi und traditionellem Finanzwesen.

GENEVA, 10. März 2025 — August, eine On-Chain-Prime-Brokerage- und Ausführungsplattform, gab heute eine Finanzierungsrunde der Serie A in Höhe von 10 Millionen US-Dollar bekannt, die von Dragonfly Ventures angeführt wird und an der sich SCB Limited, 6th Man Ventures (6MV), Foresight Ventures, FinTech Collective, Robot Ventures, Maven11 und andere beteiligen. Diese Investition beschleunigt die On-Chain-Prime-Brokerage-Fähigkeiten im August mit einem Portfolio-Margin-System, das es Institutionen ermöglicht, gesteckte Vermögenswerte und ertragbringende Positionen als Sicherheiten für strukturierte Produkte, OTC-Derivate und Kredite zu verwenden. Mit nahtlosem Cross-Margining und verbesserter Kapitaleffizienz können Kunden DeFi-Portfolios mit CeFi-Schienen absichern – und das alles innerhalb eines einzigen On-Chain-Kontos. August unterstützt mehr als 12 Blockchains, mehr als 250 Token und 70 Protokolle und erschließt Liquidität für alle liquiden Vermögenswerte.

In einer Welt, in der immer mehr Vermögenswerte tokenisiert werden und weiterhin in der Blockchain bewegt werden, bietet August die kapitaleffizienteste Infrastruktur für die Handelsabwicklung, die Liquidität maximiert und die Kapitaloptimierung optimiert.

August ermöglicht ein monatliches Transaktionsvolumen von mehr als 7 Mrd. USD in den Bereichen Kreditvergabe, DeFi und OTC-Transaktionen sowie algorithmische Swaps mit einem Kreditvolumen von über 400 Mio. USD im vergangenen Jahr. Das Unternehmen hat sich umbenannt, um sein Engagement für den Aufbau einer vertrauenswürdigen Finanzinfrastruktur für eine Kryptoindustrie zu unterstreichen, die sich nach dem Zusammenbruch des zentralisierten Finanzwesens (CeFi) erholt. August bietet Institutionen, Protokollen und Handelsplätzen eine umfassende Palette von On-Chain-Finanztools, darunter: Smart-Contract-Konten mit Mehrfachsignatur, Handelsausführung, Kreditaufnahme und -vergabe, Optionen und strukturierte Produkte, Sicherheitenverwaltung durch drei Parteien, Cross-Margining und kettenübergreifende DeFi-Strategien. Zu den Kunden, die heute unterstützt werden, gehören sowohl institutionelle Hedgefonds und Haupthandelsunternehmen als auch Protokolle wie Upshift, die erste dezentralisierte Anwendung, die auf August aufgebaut wurde, mit einem Gesamtwert (TVL) von rund 300 Millionen US-Dollar.

„Die Ereignisse des Jahres 2022, die auf den Zusammenbruch großer zentralisierter Finanzkontrahenten folgten, haben gezeigt, dass in den letzten zwei Jahren mehr Liquidität und Volumen in die Kette verlagert wurden und dass Transparenz und Risikomanagement nicht verhandelbar sind”, sagte Aya Kantorovich, Mitbegründerin und Co-Geschäftsführerin von August. „August setzt einen neuen Standard für den kapitaleffizienten und institutionell tragfähigen Handel mit digitalen Vermögenswerten, bei dem Vertrauen nicht mehr vorausgesetzt wird, sondern in die Infrastruktur selbst eingebaut ist”, so Alexandre Elkrief, Mitbegründer und Co-Geschäftsführer von August.

Durch die Verifizierbarkeit dieser Dienste in der Kette beseitigt August die versteckten Risiken, die CeFi geplagt haben. Mit August kann das Kredit- und Gegenparteirisiko in Echtzeit überwacht und gemindert werden.

„FTX und 3AC sind nicht an mangelndem institutionellem Interesse an digitalen Assets gescheitert”, sagt Rob Hadick, General Partner bei Dragonfly Capital. „Sie sind gescheitert, weil das Risiko verschleiert wurde und das Risiko der Gegenparteien unkontrollierbar war. August bietet Risikomessung in Echtzeit, programmatisches Sicherheitenmanagement und Ausfalltransparenz.”

„Wir freuen uns dass wir uns mit August, dem Marktführer im Bereich On-Chain-Kapitalmärkte, zusammenschließen. August kombiniert die Schnelligkeit und Kompositionsfähigkeit von DeFi mit den Risikomanagement-Tools, die von den größten Instituten der Welt benötigt werden. Diese Vorteile werden nun auch der Öffentlichkeit über Upshift zugänglich gemacht. Die Zukunft des Finanzwesens ist jetzt”, ergänzt Carl Vogel, General Partner bei 6th Man Ventures.

Informationen zu August

August ist eine On-Chain-Prime-Brokerage- und Ausführungsplattform, die es Benutzern ermöglicht, über jede DeFi- und CeFi-Anwendung mit jeder Form von liquiden Sicherheiten zu leihen, zu verleihen, zu handeln und zu verrechnen. August unterstützt alle DeFi-Primitive, einschließlich Kreditvergabe, Kreditaufnahme, Kassaausführung, außerbörsliche Optionen und Derivate.

Medienkontakt:
Aya Kantorovich,
+16466009692,
[email protected]

Foto: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2636930/August_Digital_1.jpg
Foto: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2636931/August_Digital_2.jpg
Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2636929/August_Digital_Logo.jpg

DALLAS, March 10, 2025 — DirectH2, Inc., a pioneering hydrogen technology company, has successfully closed its seed round funding from HL Energy Ventures. This investment marks a significant milestone in the company’s journey to revolutionize modular hydrogen production.

With this funding, DirectH2 aims to accelerate the development and commercialization of its cutting-edge hydrogen solutions in collaboration with Rice University, addressing critical challenges in the clean energy sector. DirectH2 has exclusively licensed the intellectual property (IP) from Rice University that underpins its innovative technology.

“HL Energy Ventures is an excellent partner in bringing our breakthrough hydrogen technology to market,” said Michael Irwin, co-founder and interim CEO, DirectH2. “This investment validates our vision and will enable us to further develop efficient PV-based hydrogen solutions that drive the transition to sustainable energy. Rice will continue to be a critical collaborator in the technology development and commercialization journey.”

HL Energy Ventures, the spin-out of Hunt Energy’s technology venture business known for backing transformative energy technologies, sees DirectH2 as a key player in advancing next-generation hydrogen solutions. “DirectH2’s innovation to integrate renewable energy with hydrogen production opens up how green hydrogen can be produced, and we are excited to support their journey,” said Victor Liu, CEO, HL Energy Ventures.

“I am so excited by the launch of DirectH2, a product of years of perseverance, research and creativity of brilliant graduate students at Rice and dedicated collaborators at the Department of Energy laboratories. I am particularly grateful for the support of the DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office. My deepest gratitude to my research team, Materials Physics and Energy Management, and the Office of Technology Transfer and Rice Innovation, and the unwavering support of my family.” said Aditya Mohite, Professor of Chemical Engineering at Rice University. Prof. Mohite is co-founder of DirectH2 and will serve as its Chief Science Officer.

“As Rice University continues to strengthen its role in driving innovation from the lab to the marketplace, DirectH2 represents exactly the kind of transformative impact we aim to achieve. This company is a testament to the power of university breakthroughs in solving global energy challenges, and we are proud to support its journey toward commercializing game-changing hydrogen technology,” said Paul Cherukuri, Chief Innovation Officer, Rice University.

With this funding, DirectH2 is set to expand its team with additional leadership and technical resources, refine its technology, and establish key industry partnerships to bring its innovations to market.

About: DirectH2, Inc is a technology company developing modular hydrogen production solutions. For more information, please visit www.directh2.com. Rice University, officially William Marsh Rice University, is a private research university in Houston, Texas, United States. For more information, please visit www.rice.edu and mpem.rice.edu. HL Energy Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm spun-out of Hunt Energy, and focuses its investments at the early stage in decarbonized fuels, chemicals and related sectors.   The firm leverages its background in fuels, electrification and technology, as well as its relationship with Hunt Energy, to de-risk its investments.  For more information, please visit www.hlenergyventures.com. 

For media inquiries, please contact:
Michael Irwin
interim Chief Executive Officer
DirectH2, Inc.
[email protected]

SOURCE DirectH2, Inc.

HOUSTON and SILICON VALLEY, Calif., March 10, 2025 — Energy startups attending CERAWeek 2025 have a unique opportunity to catapult their innovations onto the global stage. By participating in the Energy Venture Day and Pitch Competition on March 11 and 12, 2025, in Houston, Texas, these startups can compete for a coveted spot at Startup World Cup 2025, the world’s #1 startup pitch competition, where they will vie for a $1 million investment prize and unparalleled exposure to international investors, industry leaders, and media.

Pegasus Tech Ventures, the Silicon Valley-based global venture capital firm that hosts Startup World Cup, is partnering with The Rice Alliance, the Houston Energy Transition Initiative (HETI), and TEX-E to bring this opportunity to CERAWeek. More than 40 selected energy startups will pitch their cutting-edge technologies aimed at enhancing energy efficiency, advancing industrial modernization, and driving the global energy transition.

The winner of the Pitch Competition will earn an invitation to the Startup World Cup 2025 Grand Finale in Silicon Valley in October 2025. At the Grand Finale, startups not only compete for substantial funding but also gain access to a vast network of global investors, customers, and media outlets, providing a launchpad for scaling their technologies worldwide.

“Pegasus Tech Ventures is thrilled to bring Startup World Cup to CERAWeek”, commented Anis Uzzaman, Founder and CEO of Pegasus Tech Ventures. “We are confident that this collaboration will highlight brilliant entrepreneurs and transformative energy innovations that have the power to change the world.”

In 2025, Pegasus will host over 100 regional competitions across more than 60 countries, culminating in the Startup World Cup Grand Finale in Silicon Valley in October 2025, where the world’s most innovative startups will compete for the $1 million global investment prize.

Entrepreneurs and investors interested in participating can visit www.startupworldcup.io for more details.

About Pegasus Tech Ventures
Pegasus Tech Ventures is a global venture capital firm headquartered in Silicon Valley with over $2 billion in assets under management. Pegasus provides intellectual and financial capital to emerging technology companies worldwide. In addition to offering institutional investors a top-tier venture capital investment strategy, Pegasus enables global corporations to partner with cutting-edge startups through its Venture Capital-as-a-Service (VCaaS) model.

Pegasus has partnered with 35+ major corporate investors, including Marathon Petroleum Corporation, ASUS, Aisin, SEGA, Niterra, Sojitz, Calbee, and Denka, and has invested in over 270 companies globally, including SpaceX, Airbnb, SoFi, Doordash, and X (formerly Twitter). For more information, visit www.pegasustechventures.com.

About Startup World Cup
Startup World Cup is the #1 startup pitch competition in the world, hosted by Pegasus Tech Ventures. With over 100 regional events spanning 60+ countries, the competition provides a global platform for startups to showcase their innovations and secure funding. Each regional winner advances to the Startup World Cup Grand Finale, where they compete for a $1 million investment prize. The 2025 Grand Finale will take place on October 17 in San Francisco, California. For more details and a full list of regional competitions, visit www.startupworldcup.io.

About The Rice Alliance
The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship (Rice Alliance) is Rice University’s nationally recognized initiative devoted to the support of technology commercialization, entrepreneurship education and the launch of startups and tech companies. For more than 20 years, the Rice Alliance has served as a hub for entrepreneurial efforts at the university. We champion the adoption and growth of new programs by weaving an entrepreneurial mindset across campus—from nurturing the formation of new ideas to encouraging engineers, scientists and researchers to turn their work into commercial success to connecting founders with mentors and investors. With backing from former Rice University President, Dr. Malcolm Gillis, the Rice Alliance was founded in 2000 as a catalyst for entrepreneurship at Rice through a strategic alliance of three schools: the George R. Brown School of Engineering, the Wiess School of Natural Sciences and the Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Business in collaboration with the Vice Provost and the Office of Research. We continue to have close relationships with all three schools and aim to work with groups across campus to elevate Rice’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.

About Houston Energy Transition Initiative (HETI)
The Greater Houston Partnership is the Houston region’s principal business and economic development organization. The economic vitality of greater Houston’s economy is inextricably tied to the energy industry — an industry that is changing rapidly to meet growing global energy demand while simultaneously reducing emissions. The Partnership’s Houston Energy Transition Initiative (HETI) builds on the best of traditional energy skills and systems to leverage Houston’s industry leadership to accelerate global solutions for an energy-abundant, low-carbon future.

About TEX-E
Based in the world’s energy capital, the Texas Exchange for Energy & Climate Entrepreneurship is a thriving ecosystem for student innovation to solve the dual challenge – the world needs more energy and less emissions. It’s where students, startups, corporations, universities, and investors come together to passionately collaborate. TEX-E is leading the way nationally for creating climate tech ecosystems, driving innovative thinking about energy—how it’s produced, utilized, and stored. How it relates to industrial, transportation, agriculture, water management, and beyond. And because the future is what’s at stake, students are naturally at the center of our initiative—undergraduates through postdoc.

SOURCE Pegasus Tech Ventures

SAN FRANCISCO, March 10, 2025 — Nirvana Insurance, the leading AI-driven commercial trucking insurer, today announced an $80 million Series C funding round, valuing the company at nearly $850 million. This round came after a momentous year for Nirvana, which exceeded $100 Million in Premiums, more than doubling year over year. The round was led by General Catalyst with continued support from existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and Valor Equity Partners. This investment will fuel Nirvana’s rapid expansion and continued technological advancements in commercial fleet insurance.

Nirvana has built the first AI-powered commercial insurance platform that has reached significant scale. Nirvana has achieved best in class loss ratios with the strong support of top tier reinsurers with trillions in assets. Nirvana fully integrates IoT data that is embedded in telematics devices across fleets, and has analyzed over 20 billion miles of real world driving. This data asset powers its proprietary AI models, delivering superior risk assessment, underwriting, pricing, claims processing, and an overall better customer experience.

“Nirvana is transforming the insurance experience with AI that helps us better understand the real world risk that every individual fleet presents,” said Rushil Goel, CEO of Nirvana Insurance. “This investment allows us to scale our impact, ensuring fleets have access to personalized, real-time insurance solutions that reward safety – it’s a fairer approach for the fleets, and a more profitable approach for an insurance carrier.”

Nirvana is building AI-powered insurance for a safer, smarter industry. Nirvana’s AI permeates every aspect of its operations, delivering unprecedented efficiency and accuracy:

• Intelligent Personalized Pricing – By analyzing real-time and historical telematics data, Nirvana tailors coverage and pricing based on actual fleet safety measures, creating fairer, more dynamic policies.
• Revolutionary Claims Process – AI-powered automation streamlines claims handling, reducing administrative burden and expediting resolutions so fleets can get back on the road faster.
• Faster, Smarter Underwriting – Nirvana’s real-time risk assessment platform enables underwriters to make decisions up to 15x faster, ensuring accurate quotes in minutes, not weeks.
• Next-Generation Fleet Safety – Nirvana’s Safety Intelligence Platform provides real-time insights, automated safety alerts, and expert-driven guidance to help fleets proactively reduce risk.

Nirvana has built an AI-powered insurance platform that permeates all of its operations to provide better pricing, underwriting, claims processing, and customer service. “Our technology integrates an exceptional breadth of data from sensors and across the insurance ecosystem,” said Co-Founder and CTO Abhay Mitra. “By harnessing this data with our suite of specialized AI models—from predictive analytics to large reasoning models—we deliver what matters most: more accurate pricing, faster claims resolution, and a dramatically simpler experience for our customers that traditional insurers simply cannot match.”

“Insurance is traditionally a technologically bereft market, ripe for change. Nirvana is proving a disruptive model, finding rich data at scale and building AI around the complex steps of providing commercial insurance from quote through claims,” said Hemant Taneja, CEO and Managing Director of General Catalyst. “We’ve been excited to be a partner in their incredible results, and this investment will accelerate Nirvana even further.”

About Nirvana Insurance
Nirvana Insurance is on a mission to harness the power of data to revolutionize the commercial insurance industry. Nirvana delivers faster, fairer, and more personalized insurance solutions that reward the right behaviors and partners with insured to reduce their risks. For more information, visit nirvanatech.com.

Media Contact
[email protected]

SOURCE Nirvana Tech

James Walker Appointed as CEO, Nabeel Alamgir Executive Chairman
James Walker and Nabeel Alamgir will work as strategic partners to drive Lunchbox into its next phase of growth. Walker will lead growth and execution, leveraging decades of industry experience, while Alamgir doubles down on AI and automation, ensuring that Lunchbox remains the industry’s most advanced, operator-first platform. Together, they’re building a Lunchbox that helps operators scale faster, work smarter, and stay ahead leveraging best-in-class technology.

“We’re charting a bold new course for restaurant technology,” said Nabeel Alamgir, Executive Chairman of Lunchbox. “With James at the helm, Shift4’s backing, and our relentless focus on innovation, we’re not just building for today—we’re designing for tomorrow’s restaurant operators.”

James Walker Brings Operator Edge, Decades of Experience 
A seasoned industry leader, Walker brings 30+ years of executive experience across QSR, Fast Casual, and Casual Dining, scaling global brands like Subway®, Nathan’s Famous®, and Cinnabon®. Before stepping into the CEO role, he has served on Lunchbox’s Board of Directors for over x years, playing a key role in securing its investment and partnership with Shift4.

Walker, widely respected in restaurant tech and delivery, combines expertise in enterprise growth, AI strategy, and operations to drive Lunchbox’s next phase of growth. He holds an MBA from Duke and has completed executive programs at Harvard, Yale, and MIT, including a focus on AI strategy at MIT.

“Lunchbox is a pioneer in restaurant innovation, and I’m honored to lead the charge alongside Nabeel Alamgir,” said James Walker, CEO of Lunchbox. “Restaurants deserve technology that works for them, not against them. My focus is on scaling our solutions to meet the evolving needs of enterprise brands, ensuring they have the tools to compete and succeed in today’s digital-first landscape.”

Record Growth and a Focus on the Future
Lunchbox has experienced record-breaking growth, with a 340% increase in average deal size since 2022, as it continues moving upmarket with brands like Paris Baguette, Pei Wei, Friendly’s, Hawaiian Bros, Biscuitville, and Papa John’s. The company’s long-standing partners—including Clean Juice and other multi-unit brands—have contributed to 300% growth in product adoption, with the average number of products per client rising from 1 to 4 since 2022.

Strategic Investment Led by Shift4
Fueling this momentum, Lunchbox has secured a new round of funding, led by Shift4, further validating its market leadership and profitability strategy. This funding will accelerate product development, enhance enterprise capabilities, and reinforce Lunchbox’s commitment to helping restaurant brands scale seamlessly. With the strategic partnership, Shift4 will prioritize Lunchbox as the enterprise solution for its SkyTab POS system.

“We’re excited to partner with Lunchbox as they set the standard for order management and other enterprise restaurant solutions,” said Taylor Lauber, President of Shift4. “By integrating their powerful capabilities into SkyTab POS, we’re able to enhance our product ecosystem to better serve the needs of enterprise restaurants and deliver a unique differentiator to this customer segment. Our investment reflects our confidence in Lunchbox’s vision to continue to transform the restaurant technology landscape.”

With a sharpened focus on AI, automation, and the evolving needs of enterprise brands, Lunchbox is redefining what restaurant technology can achieve. Built by operators, for operators, the platform continues to evolve, with its customers having a direct seat at the table in shaping the roadmap.

About Lunchbox
Lunchbox is the premier restaurant technology solution for enterprise brands, enabling them to scale their digital presence efficiently. With a suite of products specializing in app and web ordering, catering, order aggregation, guest engagement, marketing, and an open API platform, Lunchbox empowers over 5,000+ restaurant locations nationwide, including Firehouse Subs, Torchy’s Tacos, Taco Bueno, and Clean Juice. For more information, visit www.lunchbox.io.

About Shift4
Shift4 (NYSE: FOUR) is boldly redefining commerce by simplifying complex payment ecosystems across the world. As the leader in commerce-enabling technology, Shift4 powers billions of transactions annually for hundreds of thousands of businesses in virtually every industry. For more information, visit shift4.com.

Media Contacts:
Lunchbox
Adriana Desmond
[email protected]

Shift4
Nate Hirshberg
[email protected]

ICR for Shift4
Sara Davis
[email protected]

SOURCE Lunchbox

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., March 10, 2025 — Shoulder Innovations, a leader in shoulder replacement technology, today announced the closing of a $40 million Series E equity financing round. The financing was led by existing investor U.S. Venture Partners (USVP), with support from additional existing investors including Gilde Healthcare Partners, Gilmartin Capital, and Aperture Venture Partners. New investors Arboretum Ventures and Sectoral Asset Management also participated.

Proceeds from the financing will be used primarily to advance commercialization of the Company’s InSet™ Total Shoulder and Reverse Shoulder Arthroplasty Systems and support new product development, as well as for general corporate purposes.

“Over recent years, we have significantly expanded our product line, strengthened our sales organization, and emerged as a pure-play leader in shoulder arthroplasty,” said Rob Ball, CEO of Shoulder Innovations. “We appreciate the support of our new and existing investors and see this financing as well-timed as we hone our focus on accelerating commercial momentum and advance our mission of enabling best-in-class outcomes for shoulder specialists and their patients.”

“Shoulder Innovations has established compelling clinical credibility with its disruptive and highly differentiated InSet™ technology, and U.S. Venture Partners is pleased to continue supporting the Company by leading this financing round,” said Casey Tansey, General Partner at U.S. Venture Partners. “Looking ahead, we believe Shoulder Innovations is well-positioned to further advance patient outcomes while delivering economic benefits to healthcare practitioners as a leading innovator in the shoulder arthroplasty market.”

About Shoulder Innovations:

Shoulder Innovations is a shoulder arthroplasty-focused medical device development company that designs and commercializes innovative products that demonstrate the potential for improved patient care and reduced overall cost to the healthcare system. 

Leveraging its breakthrough, patented InSet™ glenoid design, Shoulder Innovations developed a shoulder replacement implant system focused on improving outcomes related to the greatest cause of anatomic shoulder replacement failure: glenoid loosening.

The InSet™ technology has been shown in testing to significantly reduce glenoid implant micro-motion and simplifies the surgical technique, potentially reducing complications or increasing implant longevity. 

Beyond addressing one of the biggest problems in anatomic shoulder arthroplasty, Shoulder Innovations has also developed the anatomic reverse shoulder system, designed to work with and maximize the available rotator cuff instead of substituting for it. 

For more information about Shoulder Innovations and the Power of One™ visit https://shoulderinnovations.com/.

SOURCE Shoulder Innovations

Leading real estate firms Silverstein Properties, First Service Residential, BNE, Ironstate and Charney leverage AI-powered platform to deliver hotel-quality home services to residents

NEW YORK, March 6, 2025 — Today, Faireez is officially launching with $7.5M in funding from leading investors including Aristagora VC, Longevity Venture Partners, Hetz Ventures, Secret Chord Ventures, including Gigi Levy-Weiss, RE Angels and other investors from the tech and real estate space. Faireez’s innovative housekeeping platform brings 5-star hotel-quality service to residential buildings by combining dedicated professionals with cutting-edge AI technology. This personalized approach transforms the home care experience for every resident through the enablement of short daily visits that are focused on specific chores and not just deep clean lengthy and costly visits.

Founded by hospitality and technology experts, Faireez introduces a first-of-its-kind subscription model where each building is assigned a dedicated housekeeper—called a ‘fairy’—who provides consistent, personalized service to every subscribed resident. Using proprietary AI technology, the platform enables residents to customize their housekeeping plans while ensuring hotel-grade quality and reliability. As Faireez fairies are dedicated to specific buildings, they arrive in just a few minutes, contrary to the market standard of next-day or next-week service.

“The residential cleaning industry has remained surprisingly unchanged for decades, leaving both residents and service providers frustrated with inconsistent experiences and outdated systems,” said Omer Agiv, CEO and Co-founder of Faireez. “We’re transforming this experience by bringing together the warmth of dedicated human service with the precision of AI technology. For the first time, residents can enjoy hotel-quality housekeeping in their own homes, with the consistency and reliability they deserve and all through an easy to use mobile app.”

The platform features several groundbreaking innovations, including an AI-powered “auto scan” technology that analyzes residents’ homes through video to create tailored cleaning plans, and an AI quality assurance system that ensures consistent 5-star service. Each cleaning visit is documented with time-stamped photos and real-time notifications, providing unprecedented transparency and peace of mind.

• Dedicated Housekeeping Teams: Each building receives a designated “fairy” who provides consistent service to all subscribed residents, creating a trusted, familiar presence while ensuring hotel-quality cleaning standards are maintained.
• Real-Time Quality Assurance: Every cleaning task is documented with before and after photos, analyzed by AI for quality control, and shared through instant notifications, giving residents complete visibility into their service delivery.
• Customizable Service Plans: Residents can tailor their cleaning experience by simply selecting any combination of services.
• Robotic Assistance: Combining human expertise with teleoperations, Faireez introduces robotic companions to assist their fairies with basic chores. The company is also pioneering teleoperations, enabling professional housekeepers in locations like Mexico to remotely operate these robotic companions in U.S. homes—bringing global collaboration into every clean.
• AI-Powered Home Analysis: Available later this year, Faireez will also feature “auto scan” technology that acts like a housekeeping Shazam—residents simply video their space and receive instant, personalized cleaning plans with transparent pricing based on their specific lifestyle needs.

Faireez is transforming residential housekeeping services through strategic partnerships with leading property management companies and landlords across major metropolitan areas. Working with industry leaders including Silverstein Properties, First Service Residential, BNE, Ironstate and Charney Companies, Faireez has established itself as a trusted service provider in many of the market’s most prestigious properties.

At a time when residential buildings are actively seeking ways to enhance their value proposition and differentiate themselves, Faireez’s technology platform offers a timely solution. The company has set an ambitious goal to service one million multifamily units by 2030, aiming to become the leading housekeeping platform across the United States.

The platform’s early success with top-tier real estate partners has created a strong foundation for rapid expansion across the U.S. market, demonstrating the growing demand for streamlined, technology-driven housekeeping solutions in the multifamily sector.

“The residential services market is ripe for innovation, and Faireez’s unique combination of dedicated human touch with AI-powered technology positions them to lead this transformation,” said Moshe Sarfati, Managing Partner at Aristagora VC. “What impressed us most was their vision to elevate everyday living experiences through technology while maintaining the personal connection that’s essential in home services. We believe Faireez will fundamentally change how residential buildings approach amenities and service delivery.”

“Faireez has been an impactful offering that we have been able to bring to our residents at a time when delivering a personalized hospitality experience has played a larger role than ever before in customer satisfaction and resident retention,” said Marc Pollac, Managing Director, Asset Management at First Service Residential.

“At the end of the day, we are as happy as our residents are, and the numbers don’t lie: our residents choose Faireez every month to take care of their daily-chores,” Gil Eyal, Head of Marketing and Innovation, Silverstein Properties.

About Faireez

Faireez is an AI-based housekeeping platform that delivers personalized, hotel-quality home care solutions to multi-family building residents. For more information, please visit https://faireez.com/

SOURCE Faireez

WASHINGTON, March 6, 2025 — Shield AI, the deep-tech company building state-of-the-art autonomy software products and defense aircraft, today announced it has completed a $240 million, F-1 strategic funding round, raising the company’s valuation to $5.3 billion.

The financing was completed with major participation from strategic investors L3Harris (NYSE: LHX) and Hanwha Aerospace (KRX: 012450), as well as participation from existing investors including Andreessen Horowitz, U.S. Innovative Technology, and Washington Harbour. The funds will enable Shield AI to expand the deployment of Hivemind Enterprise to OEMs, governments, and companies to empower the larger robotics and drone industrial base to build autonomy products.

“Developing autonomy is both complex and costly. Hivemind Enterprise solves this widely known problem and enables the rapid and efficient proliferation of resilient, high-performance autonomy for intelligent machines across industries,” said Nathan Michael, Shield AI’s Chief Technology Officer. “Hivemind Enterprise is about supercharging the industrial base to build and monetize autonomy, enabling a world of millions of autonomous systems in the next ten years.”

Hivemind Enterprise is an autonomy software suite for developers and organizations building, testing, evaluating, and deploying autonomy for intelligent machines. It accelerates autonomy development by delivering a multi-year head start with platform products, AI-powered toolsets, and leveraging Shield AI’s proven edge autonomy work enabling unmanned systems to operate in GPS- and comms-denied environments. The Hivemind Enterprise product suite includes an integrated autonomy factory, industrial-grade production ready middleware, a rich autonomy catalogue, and seamless mission control, empowering developers to build and own their mission-ready autonomy solutions with unprecedented speed and flexibility.   

“The same tools that make up Hivemind Enterprise have already enabled Shield AI to autonomously fly F-16s, MQ-20s, MQM-178s, operate V-BATs in GPS- and communications-denied environments, and have quadcopters explore buildings and tunnels for U.S. and Israeli forces. Partnerships with strategics like L3 Harris and Hanwha Aerospace further accelerate efforts to proliferate resilient autonomy,” said Brandon Tseng, Shield AI’s President and Co-Founder.

Industry leaders recognize the growing demand for autonomy at scale. Christopher E. Kubasik, Chair and CEO of L3Harris, emphasized this:

“The need for advanced autonomy has never been more urgent, and Shield AI is proving that autonomy at scale is not only possible but inevitable. Their commitment to pushing the boundaries of AI-driven autonomy aligns with our Trusted Disruptor strategy, where we partner to accelerate the delivery of AI-enabled solutions and emerging technologies to meet our customers’ needs faster and more efficiently.”

The significant interest and participation from investors are a testament to Shield AI’s momentum after a year of successful milestones and recent technology integration announcements, including mission autonomy work with L3Harris. The company is pleased to have received support from a number of other strategic investors as part of this fundraising round.

About Shield AI

Founded in 2015, Shield AI is a venture-backed deep-technology company with the mission of protecting service members and civilians with intelligent, autonomous systems. Its products include Hivemind Enterprise—EdgeOS, Hivemind Pilot, Hivemind Commander, and Hivemind Forge—as well as V-BAT and Sentient Vision Systems (wide-area motion imaging software). With offices in San Diego, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Abu Dhabi (UAE), Kyiv (Ukraine), and Melbourne (Australia), Shield AI’s technology actively supports U.S. and allied operations worldwide.For more information, visit www.shield.ai. Follow Shield AI on LinkedIn, X, and Instagram.   

Media Contact: Lily Hinz; [email protected]

SOURCE Shield AI