Built out of New York City’s Foremost Venture Community, Terrarium will Accelerate and De-Risk Pathways for Founders; Launches in Partnership with Cactus and Wellstar Health System; Announces Launch of First Startup, Rota Health

NEW YORK, Feb. 19, 2025 — Company Ventures, the premier startup talent ecosystem in New York City, today announced the launch of Terrarium, a new venture studio to incubate healthcare technology startups, in partnership with Cactus, a premier innovation-focused advisory firm working with many of the largest healthcare systems in the U.S.

Terrarium will provide an accelerated and de-risked pathway for founders to build new companies by combining best-in-class research, talent, capital, and deep industry relationships. The studio aims to incubate up to ten companies over the next three years by taking a thesis-driven, research-intensive approach focused on segments of healthcare that are being transformed by technology and regulatory pressure. 

The -1 to 0 phase is often the hardest and most risky part of the startup journey with founders spending up to two years bootstrapping their companies. Terrarium accelerates this process by testing and validating multiple ideas before funding each incubation. “When founders join a Terrarium incubation, they are armed with the market validation and capital to build the next wave of great health tech companies,” said Mark Rosenblun, CEO of Terrarium.

The company is taking a more talent-centric approach to the studio model. “First and foremost, Terrarium incubations will be remarkably founder friendly from an ownership perspective. As we’ve seen for over ten years, companies succeed for a number of reasons, but chief among them is the caliber of talent on the core team,” said Nelson Schubart, managing partner at Company Ventures. “We have invested in a data-driven talent platform to find and attract the most exceptional entrepreneurs.”

“With signs of a capital investment boom in digital health and myriad compelling applications for AI across the healthcare sector, the timing is right,” said Matthew Harrigan, CEO, Company Ventures. “The opportunity for advancement in technology adoption in healthcare to impact lives is vast. Terrarium will build on Company Ventures’ successful track record in digital health which includes investments in Maven, Centivo, Octave, and Stepful and benefit from our deep network of existing co-investor relationships from downstream capital, our start-up ecosystem and founder network, and our proprietary technology.”

Terrarium was conceived in partnership with Cactus. “We partnered with Company Ventures to launch Terrarium as a smarter alternative for Health Systems to invest in venture: a less capital-intensive and de-risked model that brings the best minds in the venture community into direct collaboration with health system leaders,” said Noah Waxman, CEO of Cactus. “Cactus brings deep knowledge of U.S. health systems’ innovation agendas, strong relationships inside those organizations, and a clear understanding of which opportunities should be pursued in-house versus those best served by new, venture backed businesses.”

Terrarium is also announcing a strategic partnership with Wellstar, a Georgia health system with an expansive network that includes 11 hospitals, 5 health parks, 300+ medical office locations, numerous specialty centers, and Catalyst by Wellstar, the system’s innovation and venture arm. 

“Wellstar’s deep clinical and healthcare expertise uniquely positions our team to accelerate the timeline to positively impact patients and communities with early-stage technologies,” said Hank Capps, M.D. FAAFP, executive vice president and chief information and digital officer, Wellstar Health System, and president of Catalyst. “We sit closest to the patient which empowers Catalyst to bridge the gap between groundbreaking technology and real-world clinical application. By collaborating with Terrarium, we can provide invaluable insights, validation, and pathways for startups shaping the future of healthcare.”

The studio’s first incubation, Rota Health, aims to solve the massive problem of data interoperability in healthcare, which represents 30% of all data in the world. The company’s AI-enabled data integration platform allows healthcare organizations to seamlessly connect and analyze disparate datasets across organizations.

“Healthcare data integration is a hair-on-fire problem with a $50B unserved market,” said John Ciccio, co-founder and CEO, Rota Health. “Large healthcare enterprises are integrating with hundreds of external tech vendors which is becoming untenable even for the most sophisticated organizations. I chose to work with Terrarium because of the tremendous potential to disrupt the healthcare integration market and their impressive network of top-tier talent.”

About Terrarium
Terrarium is a venture studio seeding the next wave of transformational healthcare technology companies. The company was launched in 2024 out of Company Ventures, the premier startup talent ecosystem in New York City. Terrarium incubates companies from -1 to 0 by combining best-in-class research, talent, capital & deep industry relationships. For more information, visit us at Terrarium and follow us on LinkedIn.

SOURCE Terrarium

OTTAWA, Canada, Feb. 19, 2025 — Hyperlume, Inc. (“Hyperlume” or the “Company”) has completed a $12,500,000 USD seed round to commercialize its high bandwidth, low latency, low power interconnects for AI data centers and high-performance computing systems. The oversubscribed round, led by BDC’s Deep Tech Venture Fund and ArcTern Ventures with participation from MUUS Climate Partners, SOSV and Intel Capital also includes a strategic investment from LG Technology Ventures. 

Hyperlume was founded in 2022 by Mohsen Asad and Hossein Fariborzi to develop breakthrough technology that addresses connectivity bottlenecks in accelerated computing and AI data centers. Hyperlume’s unique technology uses specialized, ultra-fast microLEDs and ultra-low power circuitry to achieve significant performance, cost and energy-efficiency gains relative to the traditional copper interconnects. 

“This funding represents a significant step in Hyperlume’s journey as we continue to push the boundaries of optical communication and deliver transformative solutions for the AI and semiconductor industries,” said Mohsen Asad, Co-founder and CEO of Hyperlume. “We are grateful for the trust and support of our investors who share our vision of a more efficient and sustainable future for computing.”

A New Paradigm in Computing
As AI models exceed 1 trillion parameters and high-performance computing clusters surpass 100,000 GPUs, today’s interconnect technology is becoming a critical bottleneck to computing performance. The future of computing requires a new level of connectivity—higher bandwidth, lower latency, and step-change improvements in energy efficiency.

Hyperlume’s novel technology is designed to overcome the energy and bandwidth bottlenecks inherent in traditional electronic interconnects, offering pluggable, mid-board and co-packaged optical alternatives.

With this funding, the company plans to:

• Accelerate development of optical interconnect technologies
• Expand its product, engineering and R&D teams
• Strengthen strategic partnerships with leading hyperscalers, chip manufacturers and AI infrastructure providers
• Prepare steps for production of its optical technology to meet industry demand for 800G and 1.6T interconnects.

“BDC’s Deep Tech Venture Fund is committed to supporting visionary companies that are reshaping industries through cutting-edge technology. Hyperlume’s optical interconnect technology represents a transformative leap forward in energy-efficient AI and semiconductor infrastructure. We are proud to be part of their journey as they redefine the future of computing,” said Charles Lespérance, Partner at BDC Capital’s Deep Tech Venture Fund. Murray McCaig, Managing Partner at ArcTern Ventures added, “The carbon emissions from data centers are projected to more than double by 2030, underscoring the urgent need to invest in technologies that reduce energy consumption. Hyperlume’s groundbreaking ultra-low-power microLED interconnect technology not only significantly reduces energy usage in networking but also delivers exceptional high-bandwidth performance.”

“As the demand for AI grows, so do its energy requirements, placing a significant burden on traditional copper interconnects,” said Srini Ananth, Managing Director at Intel Capital. “Hyperlume’s technology effectively tackles the bottlenecks hindering optimal performance in AI and data centers, representing a significant step forward for the semiconductor industry as it supports the demands of an AI-driven future.”

About Hyperlume
Hyperlume is a cutting-edge technology company focused on developing a low-energy optical interconnect solution to revolutionize chip-to-chip communication. The Company aims to enable efficient, low-power AI infrastructure through innovative optical solutions. For more information, visit www.hyperlume.com.

About BDC: 80 Years as Canada’s Bank for Entrepreneurs
BDC is a partner of choice for all entrepreneurs looking to access the financing and advice they need to build their businesses and tackle the big challenges of our time. Our investment arm, BDC Capital, offers a wide range of risk capital solutions to help grow the most innovative firms. BDC’s development role means we are in a state of perpetual evolution – wherever entrepreneurs go and whatever the Canadian economy needs – we will be there to help them defy the odds. 80 years later, that commitment remains very much alive. BDC’s services in 2024 alone will add an estimated $25.5 billion in GDP to Canada’s economy over the next five years. We are one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers and Canada’s Best Diversity Employers, and the first financial institution in Canada to receive the B Corp certification in 2013. For more information on our products and services and to consult free tools, templates and articles, visit bdc.ca or join BDC on social media. 

About ArcTern
ArcTern Ventures is a venture capital firm committed to addressing the climate crisis and advancing sustainability. Headquartered in Toronto, with offices in Oslo and San Francisco, ArcTern invests globally in innovative technology companies focused on climate action and sustainability—what we call Earthtech. The firm was founded on the premise that accelerating the transition to a carbon-neutral economy can disrupt industries and present an unprecedented opportunity for outsized financial returns, benefiting companies, investors, and the planet. ArcTern’s latest fund, Fund III, closed in January 2024 with US$337M from leading institutional investors, with a focus on Series A and B startups. Visit www.arcternventures.com.

About Intel Capital
Over three decades, Intel Capital has invested more than US $20 billion in the future of compute, funding standout, early-stage startups across four key areas of the tech ecosystem; Silicon, Frontier, Devices and Cloud. Intel Capital-funded companies created more than US $170 billion in market value in the past 10 years. For more information, visit www.intelcapital.com or follow @Intelcapital.

SOURCE Hyperlume, Inc.

Mavvrik puts an end to financial blindspots— giving CFOs, FinOps, and IT teams real-time control over every dollar spent across Cloud, AI, SaaS, and On-Prem infrastructure

AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 19, 2025 —  Mavvrik, the unified platform for IT financial control, today announces a $6.2MM seed funding round led by S3 Ventures and Flyover Capital, with participation from Tuesday Capital, ClutchVC, Amplify.LA, and Knoll Ventures. This investment fuels Mavvrik’s go-to-market expansion and product innovation. As part of this growth, Mavvrik is expanding its leadership team, including the appointments of Paul Franz, VP of Sales; Chris Paap, VP of Product Management; and Lindsey Tishgart, VP of Marketing.

FinOps teams are under mounting pressure to rein in unpredictable public cloud, private cloud, on-prem, AI, and SaaS costs. The challenge is escalating with AI workloads scaling at an unprecedented pace, GPU compute demands surging, on-prem infrastructure making a comeback, and multi-cloud environments growing increasingly complex. As IT spending becomes more fragmented, financial blind spots widen, making accurate cost allocation, forecasting, and chargebacks nearly impossible.

Mavvrik solves this problem by serving as a single source of truth for cloud, AI, on-prem, and SaaS spend, ensuring enterprises can:

• Gain full cost visibility across cloud, AI, on-prem, and SaaS ecosystems
• Automate cost allocation and chargebacks to hold teams financially accountable
• Set budget guardrails and anomaly detection to prevent cost overruns
• Optimize AI and GPU spend with per-model tracking and forecasting
• Track Cost-to-Serve at the customer, product, and feature level to maximize profitability

“Infrastructure costs are no longer just an IT problem—they’re now a financial risk,” said Sundeep Goel, CEO of Mavvrik. “Companies are investing heavily in AI, cloud, and SaaS without knowing where the money is going. Mavvrik delivers the financial visibility and automation CFOs and FinOps teams need to eliminate waste, enforce accountability, and turn IT costs into strategic investments.”

Unlike traditional FinOps tools that focus solely on cost tracking and short-term optimization, Mavvrik ensures every dollar is accounted for by tracking and managing costs across:

• Public cloud providers: AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud
• Private cloud environments: VMware, Kubernetes
• AI workloads: Meta, Anthropic, OpenAI, Mistral, Amazon Bedrock, Gemini, and more
• SaaS ecosystems: Ensuring visibility and cost control across applications such as Databricks, MongoDB, and more

“AI, multi-cloud, and SaaS sprawl have turned IT spending into a black box, making cost governance nearly impossible—until now,” said Eric Engineer, Partner at S3 Ventures. “Mavvrik is transforming IT cost chaos into financial discipline—bringing real-time transparency, unit economics, and predictive budget controls to the fastest-growing areas of IT spend. This is the end of reactive cost management. We’re thrilled to partner with Mavvrik to deliver financial governance that’s proactive, automated, and built for the scale of modern IT.”

To learn how Mavvrik helps enterprises eliminate waste, enforce financial accountability, and forecast IT spend with precision, visit https://www.mavvrik.ai/.

About Mavvrik
Mavvrik is the financial control center for modern IT, providing enterprises with complete visibility, automation, and governance across cloud, AI, SaaS, and on-prem infrastructure. Built for CFOs, FinOps, and IT leaders, Mavvrik eliminates financial blind spots, enforces accountability, and transforms IT costs into strategic investments. With real-time cost tracking, automated chargebacks, and predictive budget controls, Mavvrik helps enterprises reduce waste, optimize AI and hybrid cloud spend, and maintain financial precision at scale. Visit www.mavvrik.ai to learn more.

About S3 Ventures
Founded in 2005, S3 Ventures is one of the largest and longest-serving venture capital firms in Texas. We empower visionary founders with the patient capital and true resources required to grow extraordinary, high-impact companies in Business Technology, Digital Experiences, and Healthcare Technology. Learn more at www.s3vc.com.

Media Contact:
Rick Medeiros
510-556-8517
[email protected]

SOURCE Mavvrik

BELMONT, Calif., Feb. 19, 2025 — Guidde, the pioneer in AI-powered video documentation, today announced a $15 million expansion of its Series A funding round, bringing total funding to $30 million. The round was led by Qualcomm Ventures, with participation from existing investors including Norwest Venture Partners, Entrée Capital, Honeystone Ventures, Tiferes Ventures, and Inkberry Ventures. The investment coincides with the launch of Guidde Broadcast, a revolutionary autonomous video platform that personalizes and automates digital adoption across enterprises.

The funding follows Guidde’s exceptional growth, with revenue increasing 4X in the last 12 months. The platform now serves over 100,000 users across more than 2,000 organizations, including global brands like American Eagle Outfitters, Carta, Siemens Energy and Nasdaq, who rely on Guidde’s autonomous platform to transform software training, onboarding, and support.

“We’re entering a new era where AI doesn’t just assist with video creation – it autonomously drives digital adoption,” said Yoav Einav, Co-Founder and CEO of Guidde. “With Guidde Broadcast, we’ve built the first platform that truly understands user context and automatically delivers knowledge exactly when and where it’s needed. This investment enables us to accelerate our vision of making software adoption completely seamless and intuitive for everyone.”

Guidde Broadcast represents a paradigm shift in digital adoption by embedding an AI-powered video platform directly within any application. The platform’s intelligent engine analyzes user behavior, role, and location to automatically generate, curate, and surface relevant video first training content, eliminating the friction between learning and doing.

“The future of enterprise AI lies in autonomous systems running at the edge, and Guidde’s approach aligns with this vision,” said Boaz Peer, Senior Director, Qualcomm Israel Ltd., and Managing Director of Europe and Israel, Qualcomm Ventures . “Their innovative use of autonomous AI not only enhances performance and security but also sets a new standard for how enterprises approach digital adoption and training.”

Early adopters of Guidde Broadcast report transformative improvements in user engagement and reduced training time. “Guidde has redefined how we enable digital adoption at Nayax,” said Michal Sever, VP Marketing , Product Marketing & Education at Nayax. “By providing efficient, self-sufficient tools that deliver personalized video content autonomously, Guidde has reduced our video production time by 90% and brought down costs. This innovation ensures a superior customer experience and allows our teams to channel their energy into high-impact creative projects that advance our business goals.”

The new funding will accelerate Guidde’s mission to build the world’s first fully autonomous digital adoption platform through:

– Advanced development of autonomous AI capabilities for content generation and delivery

– Expansion of edge computing infrastructure for enhanced performance

– Growth of enterprise sales and customer success operations

– Acceleration of global market presence

– Development of strategic integration partnerships

Guidde Broadcast is available immediately for enterprise customers. For more information, visit www.guidde.com or reach out to [email protected]

About Guidde

Guidde is building the world’s first autonomous video platform for digital adoption. By harnessing the power of generative AI and edge computing, Guidde enables organizations to automate the creation, delivery, and optimization of video training content across any software or process. Founded in 2020 by repeat entrepreneurs Yoav Einav and Dan Sahar, Guidde is transforming how enterprises approach software adoption, engagement, and retention through autonomous, contextual learning experiences.

Media Contact
Gavin Horwich
[email protected]

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2622296/Guidde_Co_Founders.jpg

SOURCE Guidde

Led by climate tech fund Systemiq Capital, strategic round investors also include global energy corporate funds Equinor Ventures and Shell Ventures

CHICAGO, Feb. 19, 2025 — ElectronX, a new energy exchange created to help accelerate the U.S. grid transition to renewable sources, today announced it has raised a $10 million strategic investment round led by Systemiq Capital, with participation by Equinor Ventures, Shell Ventures LLC (“Shell”) and Innovation Endeavors. 

Former U.S. Commodity Futures and Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman J. Christopher Giancarlo also joins ElectronX as a strategic adviser.

ElectronX’s newest investors reflect the growing global need for regulated financial infrastructure whereby power providers, consumers and energy innovators can manage volatile short-term price exposure to electricity. In June 2024, ElectronX announced it had secured a $15 million seed round led by Innovation Endeavors.

“Unprecedented demand for electricity, particularly from high-volume consumers like data centers, continues to strain the capabilities of the shifting U.S. grid,” said Sam Tegel, CEO of ElectronX. “The resulting price volatility is now a critical worldwide challenge for the energy ecosystem. This follow-on strategic round, with participation from Equinor’s and Shell’s venture arms—both globally significant energy corporations—is a consequential step for ElectronX that greatly strengthens our ability to develop market-driven solutions for the industry at large. Systemiq Capital’s deep climate tech knowledge and power markets expertise will also help sharpen our approaches to technology, product and market structure.

“I look forward to collaborating with our new investors, and continuing to work with Innovation Endeavors, as we build the necessary financial tools to support increased investment in clean energy and grid modernization,” said Mr. Tegel.

When approved by the CFTC to operate as a regulated derivatives exchange, ElectronX will offer granular derivatives products, featuring fully collateralized and centrally cleared contracts, that allow electricity market participants of all sizes to more precisely hedge intraday price risk on a highly accessible platform.

“We are thrilled to invest in ElectronX and partner with Sam and the leadership team to accelerate the expansion of intraday power trading,” said Irena Spazzapan, managing partner of Systemiq Capital. “Over the past few years, intraday power markets in Europe have seen remarkable growth, revolutionizing energy trading and enhancing market flexibility and responsiveness. By optimizing the integration of renewable energy and storage, intraday trading is pivotal to building a cleaner, more efficient energy grid. We are proud to support a platform driving this transformation in the U.S., unlocking innovative opportunities for the future of green energy.”

Katherine Peachey, head of Equinor Ventures, commented, “Equinor Ventures is pleased to make a new investment in ElectronX. We look forward to supporting the team in commercializing critical trading infrastructure and delivering liquidity amid increasing volatility to strengthen growing renewables portfolios.”

Quennie Co, managing partner of Shell Ventures, said, “Shell Ventures aims to accelerate the energy and mobility transformation by investing in companies that electrify our energy system. We are excited to support ElectronX as they aim to address key challenges in the U.S. power market. With the increased price volatility and the growth of intermittent renewable energy sources, we believe that ElectronX offers an innovative building block for the future energy system.”

Mr. Giancarlo, who served as a CFTC commissioner from 2014 to 2019, and as chairman from 2017 to 2019, joins ElectronX’s roster of industry veterans appointed to help guide the exchange in markets, regulatory and corporate matters. Mr. Tegel commented, “I’m very pleased to welcome Chris to our advisory board, where his respected tenure in regulated markets will no doubt make a material impact.”

“The energy and climate industry interest in ElectronX’s premise reflects the ongoing need for innovation in regulated financial derivatives markets that I’ve long championed,” said Mr. Giancarlo. “Sam and his team are addressing an acute and growing concern with electricity pricing that affects millions of American businesses and individuals. I look forward to working with ElectronX through the regulatory process and beyond as they build an exchange that not only serves current energy traders, but also brings participants to derivatives markets.”

Upon regulatory approval, ElectronX will offer intraday bounded futures and binary options for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) market, with additional geographies pending.

About ElectronX
ElectronX (EXI) is the electricity exchange for the energy transition, providing power market participants with innovative trading products to manage price risk against short-term volatility. With offices in Chicago and New York, ElectronX is building the U.S.-regulated financial infrastructure necessary to support increased investment in clean energy development. For more information, please visit www.electronx.com.

About Shell Ventures
The companies in which Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this press release, “Shell” is sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general.

SOURCE ElectronX

LUCERNE, Switzerland and TOKYO, Feb. 19, 2025 — Momenta Ventures is pleased to announce that Nippon Steel Solutions, the leading provider of innovative IT solutions in Japan, has made a strategic investment in Momenta’s Digital Industry IV venture capital fund.

The Digital Industry Fund IV focuses on Industrial Impact, accelerating early growth stage industrial innovators across energy, manufacturing, smart spaces, and supply chains. Anchored by Rockwell Automation, the world’s largest company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation, the fund delivers investment and direct value-creation to entrepreneurs in Europe and North America.

Switzerland-based Momenta launched this fund in 2023 in support of the EU Commission’s Industry 5.0 initiative, of which Momenta has been a founding member. The fund supports innovative start-ups working to advance the transition to a sustainable, human-centric, and resilient industry. Key focus areas include Artificial Intelligence, Integrated Robotics, Software Defined Automation, Industrial IoT, and Cybersecurity.

By investing in this fund, Nippon Steel Solutions aims to join Rockwell in advancing innovative industrial solutions that positively impact industrial efficiency, sustainability, and competitiveness. The investment marks a significant step in Nippon Steel Solutions’ commitment to driving digital transformation and fostering innovation in the industrial sector in Europe and North America.

“We are thrilled to partner with Momenta in their Digital Industry IV venture capital fund,” said Atsushi Hasegawa, Director of Industrial Innovation Center of NS Solutions. “This investment aligns with our strategic vision of leveraging digital technologies to create value for our customers and stakeholders. We believe that this collaboration will not only advance our digital initiatives but also contribute to the broader industrial ecosystem.”

“We are honored to welcome Nippon Steel Solutions as a strategic investor in our Digital Industry Fund IV,” said Ken Forster, Founding Partner of Momenta. “Their deep experience across industrial and societal innovation aligns well with our mission to accelerate the digital transformation of industry. With their extensive industrial expertise and deep networks, particularly in Japan, the partnership is poised to identify and nurture the next generation of innovators.”

The Digital Industry Fund IV has already invested in Industrial AI innovators, including Composabl, DataHow, Luffy.ai, minds.ai, Phantasma Labs, and Sprayvision. The fund is actively scouting and investing.

About Nippon Steel Solutions:

NS Solutions is a leading provider of comprehensive IT solutions, specializing in digital transformation, system integration, and software development. With a strong focus on innovation and customer satisfaction, NS Solutions delivers cutting-edge technologies and services that drive operational excellence and business growth. (www.nipponsteel.com).

About Momenta:

Momenta is the leading Industrial Impact® venture capital firm, accelerating industrial innovators across energy, manufacturing, smart spaces, and the supply chain. For over a decade, our team of deep industry operators has helped scale industry leaders and innovators to improve critical industries, the environment, and people’s quality of life. (www.momenta.one).

SOURCE Momenta Ventures

Saronic to inaugurate Port Alpha, a next-generation shipyard designed to build autonomous ships for the hybrid fleet

AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 18, 2025 — Saronic Technologies today announced it has closed $600 million of funding for its Series C round to advance its mission of redefining maritime superiority for the United States and its allies. The round was led by Elad Gil and values the company at $4 billion. This most recent round quadrupled Saronic’s valuation just seven months after the company hit unicorn status in July 2024. Saronic welcomes General Catalyst as a new investor and recognizes commitments from existing investors, including a16z, Caffeinated Capital, and 8VC.

The raise marks a new phase in advancing autonomy for naval and maritime missions. With this funding, Saronic plans to build Port Alpha, a next-generation shipyard capable of delivering new classes of unmanned ships at the speed and scale needed to protect and defend the maritime domain. Port Alpha will enable the expansion of Saronic’s Autonomous Surface Vessel (ASV) fleet into medium and large-class autonomous ships for defense applications. With this move, Saronic is addressing gaps in U.S. shipbuilding capacity and investing in the critical infrastructure to deliver the range and volume of autonomous ships needed to create and sustain the U.S. military’s hybrid fleet.

“A core principle of Saronic is that we design our vessels for autonomy from the keel up,” said Saronic CEO and Co-Founder Dino Mavrookas. “We will take the same approach with Port Alpha, designing a shipyard from the ground up to produce at a speed and scale not seen since World War II. Port Alpha will reflect the apex of America’s shipbuilding past – generating new opportunities for the country’s shipbuilding workforce, forging public-private partnerships to accelerate growth, and bringing innovation and ingenuity to an essential industry. We will bring these elements together with a single goal: to rapidly build a fleet of autonomous vessels in America that redefines maritime superiority and guarantees freedom of the seas for generations to come.”

“The last years have seen a degradation in the capacity for the United States to build ships and to manufacture core needs of the country. I am excited to back Saronic and its focus on revitalizing shipbuilding in America, while also building products to defend those interests,” said Elad Gil, CEO, Gil Capital.

Securing America’s Maritime Future with the Hybrid Fleet

America’s security and prosperity rely on the freedom of navigation guaranteed by the U.S. Navy and our allies, and the maritime domain has increasingly become a focus of international conflict and economic influence. To stay ahead of our adversaries, now is the time for America to reexamine its historic reliance on exquisite, expensive, and aging manned vessels and the analog industrial base that supports them.

The U.S. Navy has declared the need for a hybrid fleet – one that integrates a significant number of unmanned systems operating alongside manned platforms. Achieving this will require a transformation in how we approach shipbuilding and a dedicated focus on scaling the production of advanced technologies and autonomous systems that can extend the operational reach of the fleet, deter conflict, protect sailors and assets, and be quickly produced at a fraction of the cost.

Port Alpha: The Next Generation Shipyard to Build the Fleet of Tomorrow

Saronic has invested heavily in developing and expanding its manufacturing capabilities for its small ASVs over the past two years. Port Alpha will build on that foundation and deliver an advanced waterside facility designed from the ground up around a first-principles approach to shipbuilding. This approach will focus on eliminating inefficiencies, optimizing workflows, and creating a production system that maximizes quality, scalability, and speed. Saronic will leverage the processes and best practices that have revolutionized commercial manufacturing industries to redefine how ships are built in the autonomy era.

With this raise, we will invest into the U.S. shipbuilding infrastructure and work with federal and state legislators to establish public-private partnerships. Together, we’ll develop the next-generation shipyard right here in America.

“At General Catalyst, our mission is to help modernize our nation’s defense and industrial resilience,” said Paul Kwan, Managing Director, General Catalyst. “The velocity and economics of warfare have fundamentally evolved and several of our own team have witnessed firsthand how unmanned systems became true force multipliers in Afghanistan and in other theaters of conflict. Saronic represents a paradigm shift for our maritime resilience. GC is proud to help Saronic transform our shipbuilding industry and provide the capabilities needed for the Navy’s modern hybrid fleet.”

“As a founder of Palantir and Addepar, and an investor in every funding round at Anduril, I’ve seen many exceptional companies and intense cultures,” said Joe Lonsdale, Founder and Managing Partner, 8VC. “Saronic goes toe to toe with any of these legendary companies on its exceptional talent, intensity of effort, and mission-driven passion. We are proud to have supported Dino from day one. Saronic is one of the most important, and most impressive companies in the USA. It is critical to our national security, and to the future of the free world!”

This announcement comes on the heels of a strong 2024 for Saronic that included the development and delivery of Corsair, its largest ASV model to date; the acquisition of a ~420,000-square-foot production and manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas, to support the growing demand for its existing family of ASVs; a successful Series B funding round; and continued growth with U.S. government customers.

For more information about Saronic, please visit: https://www.saronic.com.

Media Contact: [email protected] 

SOURCE Saronic

STEINHAUSEN, Switzerland, Feb. 18, 2025 — RoomPriceGenie, a leading provider of revenue management systems (RMS) for independent hotels and groups, is proud to announce a $75 million USD investment from Five Elms Capital to accelerate international expansion and further enhance its award-winning platform. As part of this next phase of growth, experienced technology executive Chas Scarantino has been appointed as CEO. Co-Founder and current RoomPriceGenie CEO, Ari Andricopoulos, will transition to Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), focusing on product innovation and strategic partnerships.

“According to Skift Research, only about 10% of hoteliers use a dedicated RMS for pricing, with adoption historically skewed toward larger properties and branded chains,” said Andricopoulos. “RoomPriceGenie was founded in 2017 to make automated pricing more accessible and intuitive for independent properties. While we’ve grown and expanded our functionality, our core philosophy of simplicity and efficacy remains. With our new OpenAPI PMS integration and investment from Five Elms Capital, combined with Chas’ leadership and expertise, we’re positioned to help more independent hotels and groups maximize revenue through automated pricing technology.”

RoomPriceGenie has grown into a global business, with nearly 100 employees and 3,000 hotel clients across 65 countries. The company has achieved rapid, efficient growth while maintaining profitability, proving that its approach—prioritizing innovation and exceptional customer support—resonates with the market.

RoomPriceGenie’s excellence has been widely recognized, earning multiple top rankings in the HotelTechAwards, including second place for “Best Revenue Management System (RMS)” and third place for “Best Place to Work” for two consecutive years. In 2025, it was also named the 7th “Most Recommended Solution” across all hotel technology categories.

“Five Elms identified RoomPriceGenie as a category leader in revenue management, both technologically and operationally,” said Ryan Mandl, Partner at Five Elms Capital. “The launch of RoomPriceGenie’s OpenAPI—the first of its kind in the RMS space—underscores the team’s commitment to innovation, allowing PMS providers to integrate its solution seamlessly without the typical costs or complexities. We are excited to support the company as it continues to scale.”

Scarantino, who steps into the CEO role, brings extensive experience building and scaling technology companies, leading global expansion efforts and driving operational excellence. Over the course of his career, he has successfully led teams to market products across the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, Japan and Australia, in addition to founding and scaling his own ventures.

“My passion is scaling teams, developing talent, and fostering a culture that drives both innovation and execution,” said Scarantino. “RoomPriceGenie has built an outstanding platform, a strong company culture and a team deeply committed to helping hotels optimize their revenue. The company has already established itself as the best RMS for independent hotels and a forward-thinking integration partner for PMS providers. I’m excited to build on this success and expand our reach while preserving the unique Genie Culture that makes RoomPriceGenie exceptional.”

About RoomPriceGenie
RoomPriceGenie is an innovative, award-winning revenue management system (RMS), originally created for a small, independent inn and now used by more than 3000 hotels and groups of all types and sizes in 65 countries worldwide. The RoomPriceGenie RMS is the best way to ensure that every room is priced right, every day, to increase bookings, maximize revenue opportunities and ensure ongoing profitability. With the company’s 65+ integrations with top operational systems, RoomPriceGenie can empower more hotels than ever with the automated revenue management solution necessary to consistently achieve their business and revenue goals.

Find out more about the RoomPriceGenie at www.roompricegenie.com.

About Five Elms Capital
Five Elms is a growth investor in software businesses that users love, providing capital and resources to help companies accelerate growth and further cement their role as industry leaders.

With $3 billion in assets under management and a global team of over 75 professionals, Five Elms has invested in more than 70 software platforms globally. The firm’s operational value creation team supports the portfolio, working alongside companies to accelerate growth, build out executive teams, increase customer retention, improve sales & marketing efficiency, upgrade analytical infrastructure, and expand into new markets.

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SOURCE Five Elms Capital

Funds will support productization and clinical testing of Resonance Sonomanometry™ technology for calibration-free, noninvasive, continuous blood pressure monitoring. 

IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 18, 2025 — Esperto Medical™, Inc. a healthtech startup specializing in critical care and remote patient monitoring, announces the closing of an oversubscribed Series A investment round co-led by Catalyst Health Ventures and Bold Capital Partners, with support from Wavemaker Three-sixty Health, Free Flow Ventures, Fund@Caltech and Maverick Ventures. 

The funds will support productization and clinical testing of Esperto’s new Resonance Sonomanometry™ (RSM) technology.  RSM uses sound waves at different frequencies to directly measure blood pressure within arteries, avoiding the variability of other approaches – and requires no calibration, making it easy to set up and use.  Details of the technique are published in PNAS Nexus.

Cofounder and Chief Medical Officer, Alaina Rajagopal, MD, PhD added, “RSM’s flexibility to work all over the body – on the arms, legs, even the neck – allows it to accommodate a wide range of patients. It has the potential to enhance cardiovascular monitoring for everyone.”

“RSM is a truly new monitoring technology and has significant competitive advantages. I am excited for its application not just in the hospital setting but in personal use, as well,” said Joshua Phillips, cofounder and Managing Partner of Catalyst Health Ventures.

Phillips, and Helen McBride, PhD, Partner at Bold Capital Partners, are also joining Esperto’s board of directors to support the company as it brings RSM closer to commercialization.  Phillips brings his experience as an investor and founder, having led multiple investments and successful exits while at CHV.  McBride brings her experience as a healthcare technology investor and operator, having led life science investing for the Fund@Caltech for several years. 

“I have had the chance to track this technology from early days at Caltech. Esperto has built a great team to bring RSM to the clinic and beyond.  I look forward to helping them continue their rapid progress toward transforming patient monitoring across hospital settings.” said McBride.

“We are pleased to welcome CHV, Bold Capital Partners and others to Esperto as we work to advance RSM for the benefit of patients, providers, health care systems, and payors,” said Aditya Rajagopal, PhD, cofounder and CEO of Esperto Medical. “We are thrilled to have the chance to bring forward a solution to a longstanding clinical problem: accurate, noninvasive, calibration-free, continuous blood pressure monitoring.”

About Esperto Medical™ 

Named Octane’s Best Emerging Disruptor of 2024, Esperto is dedicated to delivering the future of healthcare and expanding access by creating revolutionary noninvasive diagnostic technologies. Medicine is ready for huge breakthroughs, yet the burden of some essential tasks, like vital sign monitoring, hinders efficiency. Esperto aims to free clinicians and patients from the limitations of outdated technology. Learn more at www.esperto.health.

SOURCE Esperto Medical