Latest expansion strengthens NewPower’s ability to invest in inventory, respond to market opportunities, and support customers worldwide.

NASHUA, N.H., Aug. 26, 2026 — NewPower Worldwide, one of the electronics industry’s fastest-growing distributors, today announced it has expanded its committed credit facility to $750 million, further enhancing its ability to invest in inventory, support customer growth, and capitalize on opportunities across the global supply chain.

The increase follows a period of exceptional growth for NewPower Worldwide. Since its founding in 2014, the company has rapidly expanded its global footprint, growing to 14 offices across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC, with $5 billion in annual sales, and managing more than $1 billion in inventory worldwide. The expanded facility provides additional financial capacity to support continued growth and evolving customer requirements.

In today’s rapidly changing supply chain environment, financial strength and access to capital play a critical role in securing inventory and maintaining continuity of supply. The expanded facility enhances NewPower’s ability to purchase strategically, support large-scale customer requirements, and provide greater flexibility around inventory and delivery programs.

“Our customers rely on NewPower to solve supply chain challenges quickly and at scale,” said Carleton Dufoe, Chief Executive Officer of NewPower Worldwide. “Expanding our credit facility to $750 million gives us additional capacity to secure inventory, support larger strategic programs, and respond faster when opportunities arise across the market. It further strengthens our ability to deliver solutions that help customers succeed in any market environment.”

The expanded facility strengthens NewPower’s ability to support larger and more complex customer programs while increasing the volume and scale of transactions the company can execute globally. By increasing its purchasing capacity, NewPower is better positioned to secure strategic inventory, capitalize on market opportunities, and deliver supply solutions to customers with greater speed, flexibility, and scale.

“Our expanded partnership with NewPower reflects our confidence in the company as it executes on behalf of its clients,” said Jason Upham, Senior Vice President at Citizens. “Our banking team led an increased credit facility designed to support NewPower’s goals and growth objectives.”

The expanded facility reflects NewPower’s continued financial strength and enhances its ability to convert market opportunities into tangible supply solutions for customers worldwide. Combined with the company’s global sourcing network and supply chain expertise, the added capacity positions NewPower to execute larger programs, secure critical inventory, and help customers respond to changing market conditions with speed, flexibility, and confidence.

About NewPower Worldwide

NewPower Worldwide is a leading independent distributor of electronic components and finished goods, serving OEMs, EMS providers, and supply chain partners worldwide. Privately owned and headquartered in Nashua, New Hampshire, the company is recognized for its advanced sourcing technology, global reach, and commitment to solving complex supply chain challenges. For more information, visit NewPower Worldwide.

SOURCE NewPower Worldwide

Funding led by Costanoa and joined by CVS Health Ventures and Flare Capital Partners

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 26, 2026 — Onos Health, the behavioral health clinical intelligence platform for payers today announced a $17 million Series A financing round led by Costanoa, with participation from Flare Capital Partners and strategic investment from CVS Health Ventures. The financing follows strong commercial momentum, with leading U.S. health plans, including Aetna, leveraging Onos’ AI platform to improve behavioral health outcomes while driving affordability through lower total cost of care.

Behavioral health has become one of the most pressing challenges facing the U.S. healthcare system. More than 23% of U.S. adults experience a mental health condition annually, while direct medical costs for behavioral health exceed $140 billion each year. Despite the scale of spending, health plans often lack the data systems and clinical visibility to manage quality across their populations, which forces plans into reactive oversight that can be abrasive to members and result in delays to care.

“Behavioral health care quality is difficult to understand and manage because it is recorded in unstructured clinical documentation which legacy solutions cannot process,” said Akshay Agarwal, co-founder and CEO of Onos Health. “AI has the potential to fundamentally transform how health plans manage care by making clinical quality and care pathways measurable at scale. Onos leverages proprietary AI to give plans unprecedented visibility into their populations, enabling them to proactively partner with providers, eliminate manual administrative work, and improve outcomes while driving efficiency across the healthcare system.”

Onos Health built the largest behavioral health care quality database to develop its AI platform, and partnered with leading health plans and industry medical leaders to build proprietary models to handle the immense complexity of behavioral health diagnoses and service lines. The result is a new platform capability deployed across national and regional health plans to solve some of behavioral health’s biggest challenges:

• 35% improvement in clinical standard adherence
• 75% improvement in clinical review efficiency resulting in fewer delays in care
• >6% reduction in behavioral health program costs within 12 months through improved clinical quality

“Behavioral health populations are often complex and require dedicated focus and coordination with health care providers to improve outcomes and affordability,” said Alyssa Reisner, Vice President and General Partner, CVS Health Ventures. “Onos Health helps surface actionable clinical insights from data that has historically been difficult to interpret. It provides a clearer understanding of treatment patterns and quality of care and supports more informed decision-making and collaboration with behavioral health care providers.”

Onos’ AI platform integrates claims, utilization and clinical documentation with quality guidelines to provide an actionable view of care pathways across populations. By analyzing both structured and unstructured data, the platform helps identify care patterns, treatment gaps, and areas for quality improvement. The platform demonstrates that more than 70% of behavioral health care quality signals are embedded in unstructured documentation, which Onos transforms into actionable clinical intelligence. These insights enable health plans to proactively collaborate with their provider networks to guide members toward the highest-quality, most cost-effective care options.    

“Behavioral health is one of the largest and least understood categories in healthcare, representing billions of dollars in spend and enormous variation in care costs with low correlation to care quality,” said Amy Cheetham, Partner at Costanoa. “The Onos team understands firsthand the operational challenges health plans face, and they are building critical foundational infrastructure for behavioral health care that has been historically overlooked.”

“Onos is giving health plans the behavioral health clinical intelligence they need to move from reactive oversight to value-driven healthcare,” said Margaret Malone, Partner at Flare Capital Partners. “Health plans using Onos’ AI-powered platform are seeing significant improvement in clinical quality and affordability, and we are excited to partner with Akshay and the team as they build the category”

About Onos Health

Onos Health is the behavioral health clinical intelligence platform that leverages proprietary AI to maximize health outcomes and affordability. Onos brings clarity to care quality and utilization, so payers can proactively partner with providers to identify the optimal care pathways for members and deliver the best possible outcomes across their populations. Built using the largest behavioral health quality database and trusted by 3 of the 6 largest health plans in the country, Onos enables a more collaborative and proactive approach for health plans and providers to achieve their health outcome goals. 

SOURCE Onos Health Inc. / BAM Agency

As the first and only autonomous coding platform across 23+ specialties and every health system care setting, Arintra is setting a new standard for revenue cycle management and reinventing how leading health systems like UC Davis Health, Mercyhealth, Meritus Health, Rochester Regional Health, Reid Health, Mercy Medical Center, and more get paid accurately, promptly, and in full

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 26, 2026 — Arintra, the first and only enterprise AI platform for revenue assurance in healthcare, today announced a $25 million Series B funding round, bringing the company’s total funding to $51 million. The round is led by Define Ventures, with participation from existing investors including Peak XV Partners, Yale New Haven Health (YNHH) Center for Health Care Innovation, Endeavor Health Ventures, Y Combinator, Counterpart Ventures, Ten13, and Spider Capital. Endeavor Health, based in Chicagoland, also was an early adopter of the technology, and participated in both the Series A and B rounds.

U.S. healthcare is a $5 trillion system, yet most health systems and provider groups struggle to get paid by payers for the care they deliver — predominantly due to siloed processes that are riddled with inaccuracy, costing health systems, providers, and patients every day. As a longtime function within health system operations, traditional revenue cycle management has consisted of individual point solutions and a fragmented workflow that leaves revenue on the table. Arintra is pioneering revenue assurance, an agentic AI approach built to close the gap between care delivered and revenue earned. The company’s platform has become a core piece of the enterprise health system’s infrastructure, bringing leading health systems the bottom-line impact they deserve.

Driving $5 billion in annual claim value for leading health systems, large provider groups, and academic medical centers
Arintra has deployed its platform across health systems and large provider groups, partnering directly with them to increase compliant revenue capture and lower cost to collect, reduce claim denials and processing lags, and improve coding accuracy. One of those partners is Rochester Regional Health. “At Rochester Regional Health, our vision extends beyond automating a single specialty — we’re looking at how AI can fundamentally transform coding across the enterprise,” said Karen Linder, Senior Director of Health Information Management & Coding at Rochester Regional Health. “We chose Arintra because of the breadth of its platform, its ability to support multiple specialties, and its proven experience with complex health systems. We began with a high-volume specialty, where we’ve already seen meaningful results, and are now expanding into additional areas. What’s most compelling is the opportunity to bring greater automation, consistency, and efficiency to coding at scale while giving our teams the transparency and control they need.”

Arintra also serves large academic medical centers, where the bar for explainability is especially high, including UC Davis Health. “The future of medical coding is not about replacing coders with AI (Autonomous Coding); it’s about equipping them with tools that enable them to work at the top of their expertise,” said Tami McMasters Gomez, Executive Director, Mid-Revenue Cycle at UC Davis Health. “As healthcare organizations continue to navigate a nationwide shortage of coding professionals, AI offers an opportunity to scale operations, improve productivity, and reduce administrative burden. Equally important is ensuring that AI operates in a transparent and accountable manner. The ability to view a complete audit trail and understand the rationale behind coding recommendations directly within the EHR allows coding professionals to validate decisions efficiently and confidently. This combination of human expertise, explainable AI, and streamlined workflows has enabled our teams to audit results approximately 50% faster than traditional manual processes while preserving coding quality, compliance, and clinical integrity.”

The first to automate coding, CDI, and denials in one unified agentic platform
Arintra’s revenue assurance platform is the first of its kind, combining cutting-edge AI with deep clinical expertise. The platform is grounded in medical coding, the foundation of revenue assurance and the one place every provider dollar flows through — and unifies all revenue cycle management across American health systems, becoming the enterprise standard in revenue assurance. Key features of the platform include:

• Comprehensive care setting coverage — Coverage of key health system care settings, including ambulatory, emergency, diagnostic, and inpatient;
• Growing specialty support — 23+ specialties across these four care settings, such as emergency department, hospitalist, radiology, primary care, internal / family medicine, urgent care, and more — and adding approximately two specialties per quarter; 
• Value across the revenue cycle — Agentic AI codes every chart autonomously and extends that intelligence across the revenue cycle, from Clinical Documentation Intelligence (CDI), denial appeals, payer insights, DRG validation, and more;
• The first EHR-embedded audit trail — Justification of the codes that it generates, improving audit readiness and appeals compliance while seamlessly incorporating existing provider and revenue cycle team workflows within the EHR.

Today, Arintra processes more than $5 billion in annual claim value for leading healthcare enterprises representing over $50 billion in combined net patient revenue, all of them trusting the platform to help them get paid accurately and fairly. Arintra’s approach empowers health systems with a 5.1% increase in compliant revenue capture, 32% reduction in cost, and 43% decrease in coding-related denials. The platform is available in the Epic Toolbox and on the athenahealth Marketplace; it received an A+ performance rating in a 2026 KLAS Emerging Company Spotlight report. 

Revenue assurance at scale amidst a changing reality for health systems
As financial pressures continue to increase within American health systems and the resources that keep revenue flowing — physicians and certified coders — remain constrained, getting paid accurately has become a strategic and financial imperative for health systems across the country. “Revenue cycle management is an essential part of the modern health system, one that is only becoming more important as many face immense financial, labor, and revenue challenges,” said Chirag Shah, Partner at Define Ventures. “Though many have tried, no solution to date has been comprehensive and strategic enough to provide health systems with the bottom-line impact they need — until Arintra. We believe Arintra has cemented itself as an indispensable piece of the enterprise health system’s infrastructure, and are proud to support them as they continue to bring this technology to more health systems across the country.”

With this Series B round, Arintra will invest in expanding across more enterprise health systems, deepen its clinical and specialty coverage, and extend the platform to new areas of the revenue cycle. “Every year, U.S. health systems fail to collect billions of dollars for care they’ve already delivered, not because of the quality of care but because the systems meant to capture that value are fragmented, manual, and error-prone,” said Nitesh Shroff, Co-founder and CEO of Arintra. “We are the only company that has built agentic coding intelligence that cascades across the entire revenue cycle, not point solutions bolted together. As financial pressure on health systems continues to mount, revenue assurance isn’t optional anymore. It’s how health systems build a financial foundation that matches the quality of care they deliver.”

About Arintra
Arintra is an enterprise AI platform for revenue assurance in healthcare, empowering health systems to get paid accurately, promptly, and fairly. Combining agentic AI with deep clinical expertise, Arintra autonomously codes every chart, explainably, across 23+ specialties and every care setting a health system operates — then cascades that intelligence across the revenue cycle through documentation intelligence (CDI) and denial appeals. Leading enterprise health systems including UC Davis Health, Mercyhealth, Meritus Health, Rochester Regional Health, Reid Health, Mercy Medical Center, and more use Arintra as their centralized, audit-ready revenue cycle platform. Arintra is available in the Epic Toolbox and on the athenahealth Marketplace, is HITRUST e1 certified, and earned a 93/100 with A+ performance rating from KLAS Research.

Claire Schillings
[email protected]

SOURCE Arintra

LOS ANGELES, August 26, 2026 — PATH, the premium purified-water brand in reusable aluminum bottles, announced today the close of a funding round of an undisclosed amount backed by a group of investors, including Agility’s corporate venture arm, Agility Ventures.

The funding will accelerate PATH’s expansion across the United States and international markets, strengthen brand investment, and support continued product and operational innovation.

“This investment marks an important step in PATH’s global expansion,” said Shadi Bakour, CEO of PATH. “We’re building a brand that travels across borders, retail formats, and consumer segments. The momentum we’ve built in the U.S. is just the beginning, and this round gives us the capital and confidence to accelerate our international ambitions and bring PATH to consumers around the world.”

Scaling a Global Platform

PATH continues to gain momentum across national retail, e-commerce, and strategic partnerships, with accelerating velocity in key accounts and increasing consumer demand.

Proceeds from the round will support:

• Rapid expansion of U.S. and international distribution
• Increased brand investment and consumer awareness
• Continued product innovation
• Further optimization of the supply chain and operations

Positioned for Strategic Growth

PATH is positioning itself for long-term opportunities with leading global beverage and consumer companies through expanded distribution, strong brand positioning, and increased strategic relevance.

The company is preparing for its next phase of growth, supported by strong fundamentals and developing interest from both institutional and strategic investors. Advisory support from Jordan Bray and Griffin Joseph with JG Partners focuses on laying the foundation for PATH’s scaled growth and success.

About PATH

PATH is a premium bottled water brand on a mission to eliminate single-use plastic. Packaged in sleek, reusable aluminium bottles, PATH offers purified water for modern consumers seeking both sustainability and convenience. The brand is available nationwide across major retailers, hospitality venues, and direct-to-consumer channels. More information at drinkpathwater.com.

SOURCE PATH

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 26, 2026 — Scrum Ventures, a San Francisco and Tokyo-based venture capital firm, and its subsidiary Scrum Studio, today announced 8 startups selected to join the second year of Hokkaido F Village X (HFX), a global co-creation program designed to foster innovation among international startups, leading Japanese corporations, and local municipalities in Hokkaido. The program is based at the Hokkaido Ballpark F Village in Kitahiroshima City, Japan, and aims to leverage new technology to enhance the region’s appeal and address local challenges.

Year 2 attracted hundreds of applications from 36 countries worldwide. The program accepted startups across five categories: Sports, Entertainment & Stadiums; Food & Agriculture; Mobility; Sustainability; and Wellbeing. These startups will now enter a business co-creation phase with HFX partners, including Yamato Holdings Co., Ltd., JTB Corp., Tokyu Land Corporation, The Hokkaido Bank, Ltd., NH Foods Ltd., and Hokkaido Gas Co., Ltd., as well as the municipal partner Kitahiroshima City. Operational support is provided by Fighters Sports & Entertainment Co., Ltd.

Selected Startups

• GUDEA (U.S.) https://gudea.ai
  Category: Sports, Entertainment & Stadiums
  An AI platform that captures online information spread and shifts in public opinion, supporting risk response and decision-making for brands.
• IXON (Hong Kong) https://ixon.com.hk
  Category: Food & Agriculture
  Proprietary low-temperature aseptic packaging that achieves long-term food preservation without preservatives or refrigeration, while retaining taste, texture, and nutritional value.
• Kyomei (England) https://kyomei.co.uk
  Category: Food & Agriculture
  Biotechnology company extracting Rubisco, a highly nutritious and functional food protein, from underutilized agricultural sidestreams.
• Lumana (U.S.) https://lumana.ai
  Category: Sports, Entertainment & Stadiums
  An AI video security platform that enhances security, safety, and operations by transforming existing cameras into intelligent AI agents.
• Sonic Fire Tech (U.S.) https://sonicfiretech.com
  Category: Sustainability
  A next-generation fire defense system that uses low-frequency sound to prevent ignition and suppress fires.
• ThermoShade (U.S.) https://getthermoshade.com
  Category: Wellbeing
  Low-power, water-free cooling shade panels that reduce heat and improve thermal comfort for outdoor spaces, facilities, livestock, and temperature-sensitive equipment.
• Tidal Metals (U.S.) https://tidalmetals.com
  Category: Sustainability
  Proprietary technology that sustainably harvests magnesium from seawater or desalination brine at scale and low cost.
• Transreport Limited (England) https://transreport.co.uk
  Category: Mobility.
  A platform that connects people with diverse mobility needs, including elderly individuals and people with disabilities, with transportation operators, providing integrated information and services tailored to passenger needs.

HFX Kickoff Week in Hokkaido

From August 25, the selected startups gathered in Hokkaido for HFX Kickoff Week. The program included site visits across the region and meetings with corporate and municipal partners, giving startups a deeper understanding of Hokkaido and an opportunity to explore how their technologies can support the region and help solve local challenges.

About Scrum Ventures
Scrum Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm with offices in San Francisco and Tokyo. The firm has invested in more than 150 startups across AI & robotics, climate tech, mobility, healthcare, commerce, and sports & entertainment. Scrum Ventures provides portfolio companies with hands-on business development support, co-investor introductions, and global expansion resources. scrum.vc

About Scrum Studio
Scrum Studio is a Scrum Ventures subsidiary that drives business co-creation between global Japanese corporations, global startups, and municipalities. Through programs such as Hokkaido F Village X and Full Bloom, Scrum Studio facilitates open-innovation partnerships that move from concept to commercial reality. The company also supports international startups navigating Japan market entry. scrum.vc/ja/studio

Press inquiries: [email protected]

SOURCE Scrum Ventures

Funding will accelerate manufacturing, customer deliveries and deployment of SiFly’s record-setting Q12 aircraft

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Aug. 26, 2026 — SiFly Aviation today announced a $20 million Series A financing led by Shield Capital with participation from Qudit, BBK Capital, and Alumni Ventures, among others. The funding will accelerate production and customer deliveries of SiFly’s Q12 long-endurance electric aircraft and advance development and field validation of its DronePort multi-drone infrastructure system.

SiFly has validated the Q12’s performance through thousands of flights and hundreds of hours of testing. The aircraft flies 4x longer and up to 10x farther than leading enterprise drones while carrying payloads of up to 10 pounds. This performance includes a flight of 3 hours, 11 minutes and 54 seconds, earning SiFly the Guinness World Record for the longest flight by an electric multirotor aircraft in its weight class.

“Most multirotor drones were designed for short flights close to the operator. We built the Q12 to combine the agility, precision hover and vertical takeoff and landing of a multirotor drone with the efficiency, range and speed of a fixed wing aircraft,” said Brian Hinman, Founder & CEO of SiFly. “This financing allows us to scale production, fulfill our growing backlog and support successful customer deployments.”

SiFly is targeting markets where greater endurance can directly improve operating performance and economics. For public safety agencies, the Q12 expands response coverage and time on station and, when paired with DronePort, supports more capable Drone-as-First-Responder operations. Utilities and infrastructure operators can inspect more miles per flight, while agricultural customers can map and analyze more acres with fewer aircraft, launches and operators.

“For drone operators, greater endurance translates into faster response, broader coverage and lower cost per mission,” said Ray Rothrock of Shield Capital. “SiFly is positioned to redefine how drones are used across mission-critical applications—including public safety, critical infrastructure and agriculture—where value is directly tied to the productive work each aircraft can deliver.”

The financing comes as geopolitical competition and supply-chain concerns are increasing demand for high-performance drones designed and manufactured in the United States. Commercial operators and public agencies are seeking trusted domestic alternatives that deliver greater capability at economics that support widespread deployment. SiFly is building that alternative by combining record-setting aircraft performance, scalable U.S. manufacturing and a price point designed for real-world operations.

SiFly will use the funding to scale Q12 production, expand its manufacturing and supply-chain capabilities, and support initial customer deliveries and deployments. The investment will also advance DronePort development and field validation while expanding the go-to-market, customer-operations and regulatory capabilities required for broader adoption.

About SiFly

SiFly, headquartered in Santa Clara, California, delivers helicopter-like performance at drone economics through long-endurance autonomous aerial systems. Its cloud-connected, U.S.-made platforms enable persistent coverage for public safety, critical infrastructure inspection and enterprise operations—unlocking faster response, broader coverage and lower operating costs.

Discover more and request a demonstration at www.sifly.co.

Media Contact

Taylor Vaughn
408-809-9538
[email protected]

SOURCE SiFly

New workflow replaces a multi-day, manual payout process with one auditable flow from funding to LP receipt

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 26, 2026 — 6lock, the Verified Money Movement™ platform purpose-built for private equity firms, today announced Same Day Distributions, a new workflow that enables private equity firms to create, fund, and complete an LP distribution in a single day. Using an existing waterfall schedule, a firm can create the distribution and, with a single wire, securely disburse funds to every limited partner – individuals and entities alike – from one place. LPs receive their funds that same day through their designated payment method.

Paying a distribution has traditionally required firms to collect updated bank details, confirm accounts by phone, verify micro-deposits, and reconcile each payment manually in a spreadsheet. It has also meant callbacks: phoning each recipient to confirm account details by voice. Callbacks are slow and costly, and voice confirmation no longer proves identity when a familiar voice can be cloned from seconds of audio. Same Day Distributions removes the callback, verifying bank accounts and approvals inside the platform, with funding and payment status tracked in one workflow.

“Private equity firms move significant amounts of money using processes that are still far too manual,” said Todd Sorrel, Co-Founder and CEO at 6lock. “Same Day Distributions gives fund teams the speed they need without sacrificing control or visibility. What once required days of coordination can now be completed through one secure, auditable workflow.”

Private equity firms need flexibility in how they fund and execute distributions. They can fund a distribution in full or in parts, send multiple payments against the same distribution as capital becomes available, or approve and stage a distribution before funding arrives. Each distribution is funded through a unique, single-use account, so there are no standing account details to intercept or reuse.

“Finance teams have always used a phone call to verify payment details. We wanted to remove that,” said Trey Anderson, Head of Product at 6lock. “Same Day Distributions verifies the account itself before money moves, so a firm can take days out of the process without compromising controls.”

Firms also require complete, real-time visibility into all aspects of their money movement. 6lock provides a live view of the total distribution amount, the amount funded and paid, each LP’s approval and bank-account status, and which recipients have received funds. The result is a clear record from initial upload through final settlement, replacing manual reconciliation and fragmented payment records.

Same Day Distributions is available now within 6lock’s existing distribution workflow. To learn more, visit https://www.6lock.com/.

About 6lock

6lock delivers Verified Money Movement™ (VMM) to lock fraud and human error out of fund flows for private markets. The platform enables identity-verified, secure, and real-time execution of capital calls, distributions, deals, and vendor payments. 6lock is SOC 2 Type II compliant and built to reduce fraud risk, operational burden, and friction across the PE ecosystem.

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

SOURCE 6lock

Hardshell Named Grand Prize Winner in National Veteran-Led Startup Event

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 26, 2026 — VetsinTech, the leading national nonprofit dedicated to supporting U.S. veterans through tech-based programs and opportunities in education, employment and entrepreneurship, today announced the winners of its sixth annual Startup Pitch Contest. The event, hosted by VetsinTech with presenting sponsor J.P. Morgan, showcased five early-stage startups founded by veterans.

From a competitive field of semi-finalists, Hardshell was named the grand prize winner and awarded $25,000 during a live, in-person pitch event held at Andreessen Horowitz’s San Francisco office on August 20, 2026.

Hardshell, co-founded by Hunter Moore and Andrew Schoka, is an AI data security company that helps enterprises safely use sensitive and proprietary data with AI systems while keeping that data within their own environments. Its platform identifies and tests for data-exposure vulnerabilities, monitors how AI systems retrieve and use enterprise data, and applies protections designed to prevent leakage or unauthorized extraction without compromising AI performance.

“Winning the VetsinTech Startup Pitch Competition is meaningful validation of the problem we’re solving and the company we’re building,” said Andrew Schoka, Co-Founder and CEO of Hardshell. “As enterprises move quickly to adopt AI, protecting the sensitive data that powers those systems has become mission-critical. We’re grateful to VetsinTech and J.P. Morgan for backing veteran entrepreneurs and giving companies like ours the opportunity to turn ambitious ideas into businesses with real-world impact.”

The second place winner, Bandelier Technologies, was awarded the $10,000 prize. Bandelier Technologies is a New Mexico-based deep-tech company commercializing quantum sensing, imaging and networking technologies originating from U.S. national laboratories. Its technology is designed to deliver advanced detection, precision navigation and more resilient communications for defense, national security and commercial applications, particularly in complex or contested environments where conventional sensing systems can fall short.

Third place went to Hyperios Technologies, which was awarded $5,000. Hyperios Technologies is a defense and space technology company developing physics-aware AI and distributed sensor-fusion software for space domain awareness and missile warning. Its cloud-native platform combines data from existing, disparate sensor networks to provide earlier detection and more confident characterization of threats, including rocket launches, ballistic missiles and spacecraft re-entry events—without requiring additional sensor hardware.

Each participating startup was required to be founded by a U.S. military veteran offer a tech solution with applications in cybersecurity, AI, space, fintech or enterprise SaaS and more. A focus on volunteerism and positive community impact was also a judging criteria. Winners were selected by a panel of industry experts, investors and tech executives.

Veteran-owned businesses comprise about 5.3%–5.4% of U.S. businesses, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. 

“Every year our founders raise the bar, and this year’s winners are no exception. What struck me was the range of problems these veteran entrepreneurs are taking on, and the discipline they bring to solving them. We’re proud to give their work a national stage. And we’re most grateful to J.P. Morgan for standing with this community, year after year,” said Katherine Webster, Founder and CEO of VetsinTech.

About VetsInTech
Based in San Francisco with more than 125,000 veterans and 28 chapters across the country, VetsinTech is the leading national non-profit devoted 100% to springboarding veterans into tech careers. VetsinTech harnesses the national technology ecosystem to help veterans returning from active military duty pursue new technology careers by applying their exceptional training, skills, and experience. Comprising technology industry leaders and former service members, VetsinTech is the only non-profit supporting veterans and military spouses through tech-based education, employment, and entrepreneurship programs. Learn more at www.vetsintech.co.

Press Contact:
Carmen Hughes
Ignite X
[email protected]
650.576.6444

SOURCE VetsinTech

– Series C Fundraise Also Includes Investment from Jenny Just and Reinvestment from Carmelo Anthony, Geno Auriemma, the Berman Family, Bessemer Venture Partners, Ashton Kutcher, Alex Morgan and Trybe Ventures, Dan Rosensweig and Trae Young –

– Core to the League’s Mission, Players Remain the League’s Largest Equity Group with Player Equity Pool Now Valued at nearly $200 Million –

MIAMI, Aug. 26, 2026 — Today, Unrivaled announced its Series C fundraise led by Ten Pillars Sports Fund (backed by UC Investments) has surpassed an initial $100 million target and is now oversubscribed at a league valuation of $650 million. Founded in 2023 by women’s basketball stars Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart, Unrivaled was born from a shared vision to empower athletes as real stakeholders whose voices and ownership position shape the league’s direction and capitalize on its performance. 

A key element of the league’s business model is its player-first compensation structure, which provides participating players with equity opportunities in addition to competitive salaries and benefits. As Unrivaled continues to scale, so too does its investment in its athletes, who remain the league’s largest shareholder group. Since the onset, the value of the player equity pool has increased more than 550% and is now worth close to $200 million.

“This raise is fueling the next stage of Unrivaled’s growth and expanding our impact across the women’s basketball ecosystem,” said Unrivaled CEO & Co-Founder Alex Bazzell. “We’re partnering with investors who share our vision to create lasting value and greater opportunity for the best players in the world, while continuing to elevate the game for fans. Unrivaled was built by players and for players, and their ownership, leadership and ambition continue to drive the league forward and define a new model for the sport.” 

Unrivaled’s latest fundraise comes on the heels of a second season marked by significant growth across the business including in ticketing, merchandise, social and fan engagement, record-setting attendances, and continued expansion of the league’s digital ecosystem.

“The moment for women’s sports is here,” said Jagdeep Singh Bachher, UC Investments’ chief investment officer. “Young people get it. We get it. Anyone who’s watched Unrivaled knows this game is every bit as thrilling as any other sport out there. We’re excited to help propel that momentum forward.”

Unrivaled’s Series C Round includes but is not limited to investment from:

• Carmelo Anthony
• Geno Auriemma
• The Berman Family
• Bessemer Venture Partners 
• Jenny Just
• Ashton Kutcher
• Alex Morgan and Trybe Ventures
• Dan Rosensweig
• Ten Pillars Sports Fund
• Trae Young 

“We work across a range of different leagues and teams, and what Unrivaled has accomplished in just two years is truly unprecedented,” said Maddie Winslow, Director, Inner Circle Sports, a William Blair Business. “Unrivaled has been innovative from day one across every part of its business model, and they’ve backed their ambition with a real track record of execution which created incredible demand for this fundraise. The raise undoubtedly marks a significant chapter in the league’s accelerated growth trajectory.”

Unrivaled’s Series C fundraise builds on earlier investor momentum generated since its announcement in May 2024, including an oversubscribed Series B investment in September 2025 that increased the league’s valuation to $340 million. Early investors in Unrivaled include a notable list of institutional investors, industry titans, and sports legends including but not limited to Giannis Antetokounmpo and Build Your Legacy Ventures, Amy Banse, Dan Benton, Stephen Curry, Moira Forbes, Coco Gauff, Linda Henry, Tyus & Tre Jones, Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss, David Levy and Horizon Sports & Experiences, Next Legacy Partners, Amy Banse, Ann Sarnoff, Richard Sarnoff, John Skipper, Dawn Staley, Wanda and Alex Sykes, JuJu Watkins, Gary Vaynerchuk, and Warner Bros. Discovery.

“This raise reflects the confidence investors have in what we set out to build at Unrivaled: a league where the best players in the world have a real stake in the value they create,” said Unrivaled co-founder Breanna Stewart. “Moving forward, this investment gives us even more resources to support our players, elevate the experience for fans, and grow a league that is shaping the future of women’s basketball.”

This milestone follows a record-setting second season for the women’s basketball league earlier this year, in which it expanded to eight clubs and 54 players ahead of schedule. Unrivaled’s sophomore season also included major attendance records as the league took its product on the road for the first – and second – time, playing in front of sold-out crowds at both Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia and Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. As a testament to fan excitement around the league, Philly is Unrivaled presented by Xfinity set records for the highest attended regular season professional women’s basketball game and the highest attended event of all time at Xfinity Mobile Arena. 

“From the beginning, our goal has been to raise the standard for what players and fans should expect from women’s basketball,” said Unrivaled co-founder Napheesa Collier. “This investment allows Unrivaled to keep pushing that standard higher, creating the best possible environment for players to compete and thrive, while making the experience bigger and better for the fans who continue to show up for women’s basketball.”

Unrivaled was represented in this fundraise by Inner Circle Sports. Unrivaled season three tips off in January 2027 and will air nationally across TNT Sports. For more information and to stay up to date with league news, visit unrivaled.basketball and follow @UnrivaledBasketball.

About Unrivaled:
Unrivaled is a professional women’s basketball league redefining the model for professional sports through athlete ownership, world-class competition and a player-first approach to building long-term enterprise value. Co-founded by basketball icons Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier, Unrivaled provides participating players equity opportunities, aligning athletes directly with its growth and success. Since the league’s debut in 2025, Unrivaled has quickly emerged as one of the fastest-growing properties in sports, bringing together the world’s top women’s basketball players across eight clubs and delivering an innovative 3-on-3, compressed full-court style of play. With a rapidly expanding fan base, premier media and brand partnerships, and backing from leading institutional investors, sports legends, and business leaders, Unrivaled is building a new standard for how professional sports leagues are created, owned and scaled. To learn more, visit unrivaled.basketball or contact [email protected].

SOURCE Unrivaled