The investment will enable Jscrambler to expedite PCI DSS v4 compliance for customers while supporting advanced client-side protection innovations and groundbreaking research

PORTO, Portugal, Feb. 12, 2025 — Jscrambler, a pioneer in client-side protection, today announced the completion of a $5.2M investment round subscribed to exclusively by Iberis Capital. This latest investment builds upon a previous $15 million Series A funding round led by Ace Capital Partners with participation from Sonae IM and Portugal Ventures, which also led the company’s initial Seed round.

Despite the continued growth in client-side threats, many businesses continue to lack the tools needed to keep user data safe. According to the 2024 Jscrambler report, only 36% of respondents’ companies have policies and tools to prevent data skimming. Now, with this latest investment, Jscrambler will further accelerate its efforts to help companies securely and cost-effectively achieve PCI DSS v4 compliance ahead of the  March 31, 2025 deadline. PCI DSS v4 requirements 6.4.3 and 11.6.1, are designed to prevent digital skimming attacks on websites that capture payment card data. In addition to PCI compliance, this round of funding will also support Jscrambler’s commitment to ongoing research and solution innovation.

“Merchants accepting payments face escalating threats like digital skimming, yet many lack the client-side protection tools that are vital to securing customer cardholder data,” said Rui Ribeiro, CEO and co-founder of Jscrambler. “With the PCI compliance deadline rapidly approaching, the urgency for effective client-side protection solutions has never been greater. This funding round from Iberis Capital will enable us to address this immediate pressing need while accelerating our investments in innovation and research to ensure our clients are always prepared for the challenges of tomorrow.”

João Henriques, Partner at Iberis Capital, stated: “Jscrambler delivers a world-leading technological solution that empowers businesses to protect their websites, meeting the increasing demand for robust digital security. Supported by a leadership team with extensive industry knowledge, Jscrambler is uniquely positioned to lead in client-side security. Iberis is proud to be part of Jscrambler’s journey toward success.”

Jscrambler is transforming application security, becoming an essential solution for businesses seeking to protect their applications and web pages while ensuring user trust. By enabling organizations to monitor and safeguard their front-end JavaScript code in real-time, Jscrambler is designed to make client-side security easier to implement, scalable, and focused on threat prevention.

About Jscrambler

Jscrambler is the leader in Client-Side Protection and Compliance. Jscrambler is the first to merge advanced polymorphic JavaScript obfuscation with fine-grained third-party tag protection in a unified Client-Side Protection and Compliance Platform. Jscrambler’s integrated solution ensures a robust defense against current and emerging client-side cyber threats, data leaks, misconfigurations, and IP theft, empowering software development and digital teams to innovate securely online with JavaScript. Jscrambler’s Code Integrity product safeguards first-party JavaScript through state-of-the-art obfuscation and exclusive runtime protection. Jscrambler’s Webpage Integrity product mitigates threats and risks posed by third-party tags, all while ensuring compliance with the new version 4 of PCI DSS. With Jscrambler, businesses adopt a unified, future-proof client-side security policy, all while achieving compliance with emerging security standards.  Jscrambler serves a diverse range of customers, including top Fortune 500 companies, online retailers, airlines, media outlets, and financial services firms whose success depends on safely engaging with their customers online.

For more information, visit www.jscrambler.com, or follow Jscrambler on LinkedIn or X.   

About Iberis Capital

Founded in 2017, Iberis Capital is a venture capital and private equity fund manager based in Lisbon. Iberis Capital invests in Venture Capital, Mid-Market growth and buyout, Yielding Investments and Sustainable Investments with flexible investment structures adapted to the needs of companies. With close to 600 million euros in assets under management and a base of more than 1,200 investors, Iberis Capital establishes partnership relationships and has contributed to the development of some of Portugal’s most promising technology companies, being able to support them at different stages of their growth. Find out more about Iberis Capital: www.iberiscapital.com

CONTACT:
For Jscrambler:
Doug Fraim
Guyer Group for Jscrambler
[email protected]

For Iberis Capital:
[email protected]

SOURCE Jscrambler

NEW YORK, Feb. 11, 2025 — Cambridge Wilkinson (“CW”) a leading global investment bank, has announced the growth and enhancement of their team that is focused on raising capital for data centers, power, and digital infrastructure. This strategic initiative underscores the bank’s commitment to supporting the rapid growth and transformation of the digital economy, which is driving unprecedented demand for critical infrastructure assets worldwide.

This team will leverage CW’s investor network’s expertise in infrastructure finance, energy transition, and technology sectors to provide tailored capital solutions for clients. With a focus on innovation and sustainability, the team will work closely with institutional investors, family offices, insurance companies, private equity firms, and corporate clients to fund projects that are essential to the global digital ecosystem, including data centers, renewable energy-powered facilities, and next-generation telecommunications networks. Capital raises will include debt, equity, sale-leasebacks, and merger and acquisition advisory for private and public companies. Capital raises range from $50MM-$5BLN+ per raise.

The digital revolution is fundamentally reshaping the global economy, and data centers, power, and digital infrastructure are at the heart of this transformation. CW is committed to being at the forefront of this shift, providing our clients with the expertise and capital solutions they need to succeed in this dynamic environment. In line with CW’s broader sustainability practice, the team will prioritize investments that align with the transition to a low-carbon economy.

“We have seen a significant uptick in demand for data center and digital infrastructure investment opportunities from some of the largest investors in our network. We have therefore, added significant resources in the space to raise capital for both public and private companies in the digital economy, that have track records and / or portfolios who are looking for customized capital solutions or M&A opportunities”, said Rob Bolandian, Co-Founder and Global Head of Investment Banking at Cambridge Wilkinson.

www.cambridgewilkinson.com

About Us:

Cambridge Wilkinson is a leading global investment bank with the speed, connections, and the confidence to get transactions done. With a focus on middle-market companies, we arrange debt and equity capital raises from $25 million to $5 billion and advise on mergers and acquisitions. In addition, we also provide flexible and scalable leverage facilities and credit facilities for private equity funds and alternative credit funds which range from $25 million to $2 billion. We bring deep experience working with specialty finance institutions, real estate entities, funds as well as businesses spanning a variety of other industries. We offer unique access to a broad network of capital sources including large family offices, credit funds, banks, non-bank credit groups, insurance companies, private equity, sovereigns, and endowments.

Securities offered through Finalis Securities LLC Member FINRA / SIPC. Cambridge Wilkinson LLC and Finalis Securities LLC are separate, unaffiliated entities.

Rob Bolandian, Co-Founder & Global Head of Investment Banking
[email protected]

Howard Chernin, Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer
[email protected]

SOURCE Cambridge Wilkinson

AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 12, 2025 — HPI, a leading Texas-based real estate investment firm specializing in self-storage, industrial, office and multifamily assets, today announced the successful final closing of HPI Self Storage Fund IV (“Fund IV”) with total capital commitments in excess of $58MM. The fund received strong support from many of HPI’s legacy investors as well as new investors, demonstrating continued confidence in HPI’s investment strategy and track record.

Fund IV will be targeting 10-12 institutional grade self-storage assets throughout the United States via acquisition, development, preferred equity, debt or other instruments. The fund seeks to deliver attractive, risk-adjusted returns through strategic asset selection, optimized property management, and prudent leverage, while offering limited partners the tax benefits of depreciation.

“The successful closing of Fund IV reflects the strong relationships we’ve built with our investor base and their confidence in our ability to execute in the self storage sector,” said Jon Erickson, Strategic Investments Partner at HPI. “With nearly $300 million raised across four funds and several direct investments, we continue to demonstrate our ability to identify and capitalize on compelling opportunities in this resilient asset class.”

HPI’s investment strategy focuses on:

• Acquiring Class A self storage facilities in high-growth, undersupplied markets
• Maintaining conservative debt levels to manage risk
• Creating value through strategic positioning and operational improvements
• Providing tax-efficient returns through depreciation benefits

HPI Real Estate Services & Investments brings 33 years of comprehensive commercial real estate expertise to every client engagement. As a full-service firm Texas based real estate firm specializing in development, property management, leasing, tenant representation and investment, we leverage our 360-degree industry perspective to maximize property value and overcome complex real estate challenges. Our veteran 200+ person team has built enduring client relationships through proven performance, unwavering integrity, and best-in-class service.

Please reach out to Rich Bouchner, Senior Director of Investor Relations at [email protected] with any questions or to inquire about HPI’s upcoming multifamily development investment opportunities in Fort Worth, Texas and Austin, Texas.

SOURCE HPI Real Estate Services & Investments

Pulse Fund and Social Capital lead the funding round as Mast launches a first-of-its-kind biomass burial and reforestation project, creating a new class of restorative carbon removal credits to drive ecological recovery

SEATTLE  , Feb. 12, 2025 — Mast Reforestation, North America’s leading post-wildfire reforestation company, today announced a $25 million Series B funding round to scale its expansion into biomass burial—also known as Biomass Carbon Removal & Storage (BiCRS)—an emerging durable and scalable carbon removal solution that Mast is integrating with its restorative reforestation services. Co-led by new investor Pulse Fund and existing investor Social Capital with participation from the Series A co-lead Seven Seven Six, the investment accelerates Mast’s work to restore forestland lost to high-severity wildfires across the Western United States. 

Mast is launching its first restorative biomass burial project, Mast Wood Preserve MT1, in central Montana. The company will generate carbon removal credits from the onsite burial of unmerchantable, fire-killed trees that would otherwise release stored carbon as they are piled and burned. The project also includes Mast’s restoration of approximately 900 acres of forestland that experienced severe burns during the 2021 Poverty Flats Fire, offering a unique opportunity for organizations to finance post-wildfire restoration while locking in durable credits that can be retired by 2030. To provide additional third-party validation of this new carbon removal pathway, Mast has submitted the project for a BeZero rating in addition to undergoing registration and future verification with Puro.earth. Mast plans to begin burial activities in 2025 and the project is expected to generate up to 30,000 tonnes of removal credits through 2026–now available for presale. 

After severe wildfire, landowners face hazardous landscape conditions and limited options for reforestation. With no alternative uses or value for the burned trees, many clear and pile burn in order to reduce wildfire fuel on their property. This releases greenhouse gases and has demonstrated impacts to local air quality during seasonal windows of burn opportunity. The MT1 project, located hundreds of miles from facilities that could repurpose the burned wood for lumber, biochar, or energy production, provides the most efficient and immediate pathway to carbon sequestration. Protected under a 100-year easement and rigorous monitoring, reporting, and verification requirements, the geotechnically designed, anoxic (oxygen-limited) ‘chamber’ is designed to halt the decomposition of the buried wood. This prevents the release of carbon dioxide (CO₂) for a minimum of 100 years, with research and modeling indicating preservation for as long as 3,000 years. Conservative accounting under Puro.earth ensures appropriate baseline, additionality, leakage, and operational emissions are addressed.

The company estimates that Montana alone contains 2.3 million tonnes of dead trees from wildfires in the last four years—demonstrating a significant opportunity to permanently remove this tonnage from the carbon cycle—a challenge that many other carbon dioxide removal (CDR) technologies are pursuing as a long-term goal.

This innovative approach aligns seamlessly with Mast’s expertise in reforestation, ensuring optimal site conditions for replanting resilient forests where high-severity wildfires have caused irreversible loss. The first and most expensive step in post-wildfire recovery is removing dead, burned trees to mitigate risks to replanting crews and make way for new seedlings. Mast’s reforestation operations for this property will include the restoration of native species cultivated from wild-collected seed, grown in-house, and matched to the project area’s elevation and climate to re-establish ecological function, biodiversity, and resilience.

“Wildfire-destroyed trees pose both a hazard and an opportunity,” said Grant Canary, CEO of Mast Reforestation. “By burying this biomass, we lock away additional carbon, clear the way for new seedlings to thrive, and reduce the risk of these trees fueling future wildfires. This advancement, coupled with Mast’s progress in expanding the wild seed and seedling supply for urgent reforestation needs across the West, takes us to the next frontier of the challenge of scaling responsible reforestation and carbon removal in a way that’s never been done before.”

“With wildfires worsening and communities being devastated faster than recovery has been able to keep pace, supporting Mast’s work was a clear choice for the Pulse Fund,” said Tenzin Seldon, Founder and Managing Partner of the Pulse Fund. “We are committed to restoring the most vulnerable ecosystems through Mast’s ambitious and holistic approach to forest restoration.”

“Mast Reforestation has consistently demonstrated resilience and innovation amidst the complexities of the carbon market,” said Katelin Holloway, Founding Partner at Seven Seven Six. “The company’s introduction of restorative carbon credits enables companies to achieve durable carbon removal while actively contributing to forest ecosystem recovery. Mast’s mission aligns perfectly with Seven Seven Six’s commitment to supporting founders who are leveraging innovation to change the world for the better.”

“I don’t believe in every carbon credit, but I believe in the work Mast is doing,” said Chamath Palihapitiya, Founder and CEO at Social Capital. “In a market full of uncertainty, Mast’s projects deliver real, measurable impact.”

Additional investors in the Series B round include Elemental Impact; Spero Ventures, with Tesla co-founder Marc Tarpenning as board observer; Thistledown Capital; Julius Genachowski, former Chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, and Resilience Reserve. Mast also welcomes reinvestment from several investor groups, including LGBTQ+ investors Gaingels, as well as sector-focused Climate Avengers and Climate Capital; and longtime supporters from Mast’s beginning days in Techstars, Drone.vc, Asymmetry Ventures and Massive Capital Partners also participated in the round.

Mast has been specializing in carbon-financed reforestation in the U.S. and Canada since 2020 with buyers such as Shopify and TIME CO2. Carbon buyers are invited to connect with us at [email protected] and individuals can invest in Mast’s reforestation here.

About Mast:
As intensifying wildfires destroy more forestland every year, Mast Reforestation is scaling post-wildfire reforestation in Western North America. Mast pioneers restorative carbon removal that combines resilient forest restoration with durable biomass burial to remove carbon from the atmospheric cycle. Mast owns and operates two of the largest wild tree seed and seedling nurseries in the West, 150-year-old Silvaseed and Cal Forest, which are crucial hubs in the U.S. forestry supply chain essential for wildfire recovery. Mast grows the majority of seedlings for California and manages the majority of seed for the 11 western states. Since its founding, Mast has restored thousands of acres across California, Montana, and Oregon. Producing an average of 36 million seedlings annually, Mast continues to cultivate and protect the biological legacy of Western conifer forests for future generations. Learn more or invest in reforestation today.

Media Contact:
[email protected]

SOURCE Mast Reforestation

Strategic Investment to Drive Technological Innovation and Fuel Pathify’s Continued Rapid Growth in the Higher Education Sector

DENVER, Feb. 12, 2025 — Pathify, a leading digital engagement hub for higher education, today announced it has raised $25 million in a minority investment from Five Elms Capital, a leading software investment firm.

The funding will fuel Pathify’s technology innovation including rapidly expanding its critical vendor agnostic integration library and further accelerate its remarkable 544% growth trajectory in the past three years. In addition, the company plans to leverage the new funding to enhance its platform capabilities as well as add new products, expand its customer base and drive broader adoption across the higher education landscape.

“This latest round of funding marks the beginning of a pivotal period for Pathify as institutions increasingly prioritize technology solutions that deliver measurable ROI while enabling meaningful experiences for students, faculty and admin,” said Chase Williams, CEO and co-founder of Pathify. “Partnering with Five Elms positions us to continue redefining the campus digital engagement experience and solidifying Pathify as a category leader.”

Five Elms Capital, known for its investments in high-growth B2B software companies, is excited to support Pathify’s mission. “Pathify is revolutionizing the way higher education institutions engage their constituents, driving deep customer connections and long-term platform stickiness,” said Stephanie Schneider, Partner, Five Elms Capital. “Their growth reflects the increasing demand for more connected, user-centric digital solutions that enhance engagement while replacing multiple point solutions at an institution. We are thrilled to partner with Chase and the Pathify team as they scale their platform and redefine digital engagement.”

As the most widely-used, non-Student Information System (SIS), system-agnostic student portal and digital experience hub, the platform now serves over 2 million unique lifetime users across nearly 200 global institutions. Pathify has also experienced significant team expansion, growing its workforce by 25% over the past year to support its rapid scaling efforts and commitment to delivering highly effective digital engagement solutions for higher education institutions.

About Pathify
Obsessed with making great technology while developing incredible long-term relationships with customers, Pathify remains hyper-focused on creating stellar experiences across the entire student lifecycle — from prospect to alumni. Delivering cloud-based, integration-friendly software designed to drive engagement, Pathify pushes personalized information, content, and resources to the right people, at the right time — on any device. Led by former higher ed executives, entrepreneurs, and technology leaders, the team at Pathify focuses every day on the values Impact, Wit, Contrast, Technique and Care.

Learn more at pathify.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.

For more information, visit fiveelms.com.

SOURCE Pathify

NEW YORK, Feb. 12, 2025 — Lingopal.ai, a leader in real-time speech-to-speech translation, has announced it has raised $14 million in an oversubscribed Series A funding round led by global venture capital firm DCM Ventures, with participation from Scrum Ventures, Marquee Ventures, and prominent angel investors across multiple sectors. This investment will fuel the company’s expansion into new markets and further development of its cutting-edge technology. Lingopal.ai’s innovative platform offers a no-code, plug-and-play solution, enabling companies to instantly translate the audio of any live stream into over 120 languages in seconds.

High Cost and Inaccessibility of Traditional Translation Services Hinders Global Reach
Currently, organizations face significant challenges in effectively communicating with global audiences. The high cost of hiring human translators presents a substantial financial barrier, and the impracticality of relying on human translation for 24/7 content feeds further complicates the issue. The lack of a simple, plug-and-play solution for broadcasting in multiple languages has left a void in the market, hindering businesses’ ability to connect with diverse audiences and expand their global reach.

Using AI to Expand Sports Audiences 
Enter Lingopal.ai, a company that leverages six foundational AI models built in-house to translate any live stream. Given the popularity of sports broadcasts—87 of the top 100 most viewed programs were sports in 2024—Lingopal is partnering with customers in the sports industry, representing a $56B market opportunity.

Lingopal.ai’s speech-to-speech engine has extremely low latency and outperforms human translators’ accuracy. As Lingopal is a plug-and-play solution, live sporting events can be heard instantly in any language with the click of a button, allowing for seamless globalization.

“Lingopal.ai has allowed us to translate live German commentary into English for broadcast in North America in real-time for our DEL hockey team from Germany, The Berlin Eisbären, said Kelly Cheeseman, COO AEG Sports, LA Kings. “We have been highly impressed by Lingopal’s capabilities and look forward to future capabilities.”

Unmatched Accuracy and Speed: Setting a New Standard in Translation
This groundbreaking technology is already making waves globally. Lingopal’s high-performance infrastructure boasts quantized models capable of translating with remarkable accuracy and minimal latency—less than two seconds on its smallest models. The platform’s unique ability to preserve emotion, understand nuanced languages like slang and idioms, and process information rapidly sets it apart. Several customers have already implemented Lingopal’s technology, including global sports properties, high-profile rights-holders and media networks.

“Lingopal.ai’s impressive technology, coupled with its rapid growth and exceptional team, made this a compelling investment for DCM,” said Hurst Lin, General Partner at DCM. “Their real-time, high-accuracy translation across 120+ languages is transforming global, live content industries like news and sports. We look forward to partnering with Deven and the team as they grow.”

The company was started in 2023 by Deven Orie and Casey Schneider, whose backgrounds at Microsoft and Tesla gave them the experience to develop infrastructure that allows hyper-quantized AI models to speak to each other with low latency while being able to process and translate human speech in seconds.

“This funding will accelerate our mission to break down language barriers and connect the world in real time,” said Deven Orie, founder and CEO of Lingopal.  “We envision a future where language is no longer a barrier to communication, and Lingopal is at the forefront of making that a reality.”

Lingopal’s technology offers several key advantages:

• High Accuracy and Low Latency: Translations are completed with exceptional precision and speed.
• Emotional Nuance Preservation: The system retains the emotional tone of the original speech.
• Contextual Understanding: LingoPal handles slang, idioms, and industry-specific jargon effectively.
• Ease of Use: The no-code, plug-and-play system is incredibly fast to set up and user-friendly.
• Extensive Language Support: The platform supports translation to over 120 languages.

With this new capital, the company plans to invest in research and development to enhance its product offerings, focus on its real-time infrastructure, and accelerate its growth into new markets. The company has experienced phenomenal growth, doubling its workforce in the past three months and projecting to grow 2x by April 2025.

About Lingopal.ai:
Lingopal.ai is a New York-based AI startup with offices throughout the US. Lingopal.ai specializes in real-time speech-to-speech translation, essentially allowing any live stream’s audio to be instantly translated into over 120 languages in real-time while preserving the tone of each speaker. Its founders Deven Orie & Casey Schneider, with a background in Cloud/AI at Microsoft & Tesla have created an AI ecosystem that optimizes for speed and accuracy. Their models can be deployed on-prem and in the cloud with no integration, purely plug-and-play.

About DCM:
DCM is a Silicon Valley-based global venture capital firm with offices in the US and Asia and with over $4.2 billion under management. DCM has invested in more than 400 early-stage technology companies globally and provides hands-on operational guidance and a global network of business and financial resources. DCM has backed industry-leading companies, including 51job, 58.com, Bill.com, BitAuto, BitTorrent, Careem (Uber), Dangdang, Fortinet, Freee, FuboTV, Happy Elements, Hims & Hers, Houchebang (ManBang), Gigacloud, Kakao Talk, Kuaishou, Matterport, Musical.ly (TikTok), Quantasing, Sling Media, Sansan, SoFi, TanTan, UCloud, Uxin, Vipshop, YSB, and Wrike. DCM has also led investments in rising startups, such as Assured, Brigit, Cherry, DXY, EvenUp, Figure Technologies, Hauto, Litmatch, Magic Moment, Opus Clip, Plenty, Zaihui, and YunQuNa. For more information, visit https://www.dcm.com.

Contact:
[email protected] 

SOURCE Lingopal.ai

BETHESDA, Md., Feb. 12, 2025 — IMB Partners (“IMB”), a private investment firm based in Bethesda, MD, today announced the final close of its inaugural institutional fund, IMB Partners SBIC I (“SBIC Fund I”). SBIC Fund I closed with a total committed capital of $125.5 million, exceeding its original target of $100 million. The Fund will continue to build upon IMB’s strategy of investing in lower middle-market companies that deliver services to the utilities and government contracting sectors.

Founded in 2010, IMB Partners executed eight platform investments as an independent sponsor, raising capital on a deal-by-deal basis. Partner companies from this period include Richmond Wholesale, Alder Foods, and Elite Brands – jointly held today as Pro Food Solutions – e&e IT Consulting, Ashburn Consulting, Carr & Duff, Farwest Corrosion Control Company, and LaFata Contract Services, which IMB exited in August 2022.

Of the fundraising outcome, IMB’s Managing Partner, Kelvin Pennington, commented, “We are honored to have the support of 100 investors and partners. From banks, pension funds, and insurance companies, to foundations, endowments, and high net worth individuals; we value each and every individual who has committed to joining us on this journey.”

IMB Partners’ CEO, Tarrus Richardson, added, “Our first dedicated fund will allow IMB to continue its mission to support companies in the government contracting and utilities & infrastructure services sectors. We look forward to providing growth opportunities to lower middle market businesses that may otherwise lack access to essential capital.”

IMB was approved for its license from the SBA to operate SBIC Fund I as a Small Business Investment Company (“SBIC”) in October 2023. SBIC Fund I closed on December 31, 2024.

Placement agents for the fund were Thomas Capital Group and Commerce Street Capital, LLC (Dallas, TX). Winston & Strawn LLP provided legal counsel.

About IMB Partners: Founded in 2010, IMB is a private equity sponsor focused on investing and partnering with management teams to grow lower middle market companies serving government agencies and utilities. IMB believes in people and partnership first and takes an entrepreneurial approach to building companies of scale. IMB seeks platform investment targets with $10–$100 million in revenue. Learn more at imbpartners.com or connect with us on LinkedIn.

SOURCE IMB Partners

MESA, Ariz., Feb. 11, 2025 — Northrim Horizon (“Northrim”), a permanent capital investment firm, today announced the successful close of Northrim Horizon Fund III, L.P. (“Fund III”) with total committed capital of $235 million (the hard cap). Raised over a period of five months, Fund III was oversubscribed with commitments from leading global investors, including insurance companies, endowments, fund-of-funds and family offices.

Consistent with the strategy of Funds I and II, Fund III will focus on partnering with well-run, enduring platforms within business and consumer services, healthcare services, and software and tech-enabled services.

“We are thrilled to share the successful close of Fund III and deeply appreciate the trust our investors have placed in us,” said Brad Gulbrandsen, Managing Parter of Northrim Horizon. “With this additional capital, we are well-positioned to grow our portfolio and drive enduring value for our partners and stakeholders.”

Since its inception, Northrim has invested in 47 companies, including 11 platforms and 36 strategic add-on acquisitions. Northrim targets mature, cash-generative businesses with EBITDA between $1 to $5 million in its areas of focus.

DLA Piper served as legal counsel.

About Northrim Horizon

Northrim Horizon is a permanent capital investment firm that acquires and operates well-run, profitable service and software businesses. Northrim builds long-term value by reinvesting its earnings into its companies and people. The firm is based in Mesa, Arizona. For more information, please visit www.northrimhorizon.com.

Contact:

Eli Kapsack
[email protected]

SOURCE Northrim Horizon

With $7.6 Million Round Led by Norwest, Former Talkdesk Executives Release Generally Available Solution that Empowers Anyone to Create Automations Using Natural Language Conversation

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 11, 2025 — Pinkfish AI, pioneer of Generative Automation, today launched a platform that radically changes how enterprises create and manage automations. Now available for use by enterprises anywhere, the Pinkfish Generative Automation platform combines the intuitive interface of generative AI with enterprise-grade reliability to empower anyone – including those in operations, services and other business units who have no coding experience – to create powerful automations through natural language conversations.

Customers, including IPSY, Humach, Sage Publications, Elevate, Talkdesk and others, are already leveraging Pinkfish’s Generative Automation Platform to drive significant efficiency gains. Use cases span critical business functions across operations, services organizations and IT teams, with new automations deployed in hours rather than months.

The company also announced that it closed a $7.6 million pre-seed funding round led by Norwest Venture Partners to accelerate product innovation and usher in general availability. Storm Ventures and angel investors joined the round. Norwest Partner Scott Beechuk will join the board of directors.

Scalable Generative Automation for Deterministic and Agentic AI Use Cases
Despite significant investments in automation tools, enterprises continue to struggle with widespread manual, repetitive tasks that drain resources and slow business operations. Traditional automation platforms require specialized expertise and lengthy deployment cycles – leaving most automation needs unaddressed as tickets pile up in IT backlogs.

“With Generative Automation, Pinkfish introduces a new approach that makes creating enterprise-grade automations as simple as having a conversation,” said Charanya “CK” Kannan, Pinkfish’s co-founder and CEO. “Unlike traditional low-code platforms that become unwieldy with complex workflows, Pinkfish allows users to simply describe what they need, and the platform collaborates to quickly build a solution. The result is a reliable automation that seamlessly scales from one to a million runs with perfect consistency, whether for deterministic or AI agent use cases.”

Pinkfish was co-founded in 2024 by Kannan, who previously served as chief product and technology officer (CPTO) at Talkdesk, where she was instrumental in growing the company from Series A to a $10 billion valuation in just six years; and CPTO Ben Rigby, who was Talkdesk’s senior vice president of AI.

At the Forefront of a Fast-Growing AI Agent Market
The nascent AI agent market is poised for substantial growth, from just $5 billion last year to more than $47 billion by 2030, according to a recent study. The use of generative AI and other technologies will combine to automate work activities that take up as much as 70% of employees’ time today, McKinsey noted.

“In a sea of AI companies, where so few have products in production generating measurable ROI for customers, Pinkfish really stands out. While most companies are either focused on self-service for SMBs or heavy lifting implementation for the enterprise market, Pinkfish has cracked the code on self-service for the enterprise,” said Norwest’s Beechuk. “CK and Ben have leveraged their deep technology expertise and experience from Talkdesk to deliver real value for customers, especially in complex environments. We see incredible potential in Pinkfish to transform the way enterprises automate.”

The Pinkfish Generative Automation Platform represents a breakthrough in enterprise automation by combining:

• Natural language automation development that eliminates the need for coding or specialized training
• Deterministic execution that ensures consistent, reliable results at enterprise scale
• Self-healing capabilities that detect environmental changes and automatically suggest and implement fixes
• Seamless handling of both simple workflows and complex AI agent scenarios
• Enterprise-grade governance and team collaboration features
• 200+ integrations, browser automation, large language model (LLM) and document processing all in one platform

Build Automations for Your Enterprise Faster – Sign up for Pinkfish Today!
If you are ready to speed up your enterprise automation and help shape the future of software development, visit www.pinkfish.ai today and start building smarter, faster automations with Pinkfish.

Customer Quotes:

Sree Sreedhararaj, CTO of IPSY, the world’s largest beauty subscription; Ex-CTO of Sephora
“Pinkfish has revolutionized how we operate, combining the creativity of generative AI with the precision of automation. What used to take days is now accomplished in moments—delivering personalized experiences that delight our customers and drive measurable results. With PinkFish, innovation isn’t just a goal; it’s our daily reality. The IPSY team has been leveraging Pinkfish for automations in instances across the company, from mission-critical real-time pricing workflow automation to employee offboarding automation. Our teams love the platform because it saves them time and resources without compromising results. It’s clear that the future of automation lies in what Pinkfish is building—reimagining automation from the ground up for the AI generation”

Tim Houlne, CEO of Humach, a customer experience (CX) customer contact center provider
“Pinkfish is our premium partner, and we’ve leveraged their platform for many of our customers. We’ve used the Pinkfish Generative Automation Platform to build digital workers faster and with consistent results. We are now using Pinkfish to expand our digital worker and automation practice. This partnership is opening up exciting opportunities for both of our companies, and we look forward to growing together.”

About Pinkfish AI
Pinkfish AI makes enterprise automation creation as simple as describing your ideas with the company’s Generative Automation Platform. Pinkfish combines the best practices of API integrations and browser automation with the potential of generative AI. This approach enables users to effortlessly create automations through natural language descriptions, seamlessly connecting hundreds of systems, files, data and browser automations. The platform empowers anyone to solve problems and drive change without the need for technical skills or coding knowledge, making businesses more agile and putting the power of automation into the hands of those who know their workflows best. Pinkfish was co-founded in 2024 by CEO Charanya Kannan, who previously served as chief product and technology officer (CPTO) at Talkdesk, and CPTO Ben Rigby, who was Talkdesk’s senior vice president of AI. Headquartered in San Francisco, Pinkfish has raised more than $7.6 million in funding from Norwest Venture Partners, Storm Ventures and angel investors. For more information, visit www.pinkfish.ai.

SOURCE Pinkfish