Mega raises $11.5M to give every SMB an enterprise-grade growth team, without the agency




Mega raises $11.5M to give every SMB an enterprise-grade growth team, without the agency

Mega replaces traditional marketing agencies with a network of AI agents that execute SEO, paid ads, GEO, and websites end to end, delivering predictable growth without the agency overhead.

New York, March 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Most small to medium business owners have the same relationship with their marketing agency: they pay for effort and hope it turns into outcomes. It rarely feels like a fair trade. Mega is built to fix that. Today, the company announced an $11.5 million Series A to scale a full-service AI growth engine for SMBs – a platform that replaces traditional agencies with a network of AI agents delivering predictable growth without the overhead.

Mega founders: Robbie Schneidman and Lucas Pellan.

The Series A funding round was led by Goodwater Capital with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Atreides, SignalFire and Kearny Jackson. It also includes WNBA stars Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, Kelsey Plum and Nneka Ogwumike. 

The problem is structural. SMBs today are expected to compete in a digital ecosystem built for enterprises, across SEO, paid ads, websites, and emerging AI channels. Agencies are expensive relative to SMB budgets, quality varies wildly, execution is manual, and iteration is slow.  At the same time, AI marketing tools have flooded the market, but most still require business owners to learn and operate complex software. Mega takes a different approach by delivering services via software. Instead of managing tools, customers receive execution and measurable performance.

Mega’s core product is an AI-powered growth engine designed specifically for businesses generating roughly $500,000 to $20 million in revenue. The platform uses a network of specialized AI agents to handle SEO, GEO, paid ads, and website management. From the customer’s perspective, it feels like hiring a high-quality growth team, but it runs as software. The system plans, executes, optimizes, and reports continuously. If a customer signs up and never logs in, their marketing still runs and improves.

The Mega analytics dashboard. 

Mega’s path to market was unplanned. During Covid, the team was building a video game company. When ChatGPT launched, they began experimenting early, building internal AI tools to accelerate their own growth. Organic traffic increased 100 times. Paid customer acquisition costs dropped by 80 percent. When co-founder Lucas Pellan shared the tools with founder friends, the response was immediate and repeated: can we have that. 

“We realized early that business owners do not want another AI chat tool that requires hours of prompting,” said Lucas Pellan, co-founder of Mega. “They want customers. So we built a system that actually does the work. We use AI agents to execute end to end, continuously improving performance so SMBs get predictable growth without managing agencies or juggling tools.”

The Mega inbox.

With Mega, approximately 55 percent of the work is fully automated, 35 percent is mostly automated with humans in the loop, and 10 percent is executed end to end by humans. This hybrid structure allows Mega to deliver consistent, scalable performance while maintaining quality control. Every campaign feeds data back into the system, improving creative generation, audience targeting, bidding strategies, and optimization logic across the entire customer base.

Mega’s own trajectory reflects the demand for this model. The company went from zero to $10 million in revenue in 10 months. Customers span home services, law firms, healthcare businesses, ecommerce brands, and software companies. 

In one case, Mega helped a Texas medical spa grow search traffic by 174 times. A personal injury law firm increased search visibility by 243 times and began ranking in the top three for key terms. A D2C health brand drove $120,000 in direct website revenue and surpassed its Amazon marketplace performance without increasing ad spend. On average, Mega helps customers grow 20% faster. Darin Chase, a home services business owner, added: “Since working with Mega we are finally getting a predictable lead flow. We are also able to divert our time away from Facebook marketing to other important projects because Mega manages everything.”

The market is massive and underserved. Tens of thousands of marketing agencies serve SMBs across North America, yet most businesses still struggle with unpredictable lead flow, poor ROI, and no visibility into what is working. As digital channels get more competitive and expensive, the gap keeps widening. AI now makes it possible to close it. 

“Mega represents a fundamental shift in how SMBs should think about marketing, from paying for effort to paying for measurable, repeatable growth. We’re excited to back Lucas and team as they build an AI-native enterprise-grade growth engine that any business can turn on” said Vivek Subramanian, Partner & Chief Product Officer at Goodwater Capital.

Looking ahead, Mega plans to expand beyond SEO, ads, and websites into managing the entire revenue generation engine for SMBs, including email, outbound, organic social, lead qualification, sales operations, and reporting. The long-term vision is to provide a fully automated growth infrastructure that allows small and mid-sized businesses to compete with enterprise-grade marketing capability, without enterprise overhead.

Media images can be found here. 

About Mega
Mega is an AI-powered growth engine that replaces traditional marketing agencies for SMBs. The platform uses a network of specialized AI agents to handle SEO, GEO, Paid Ads and websites. WIth Mega, customers feel like they’ve hired a high-quality growth team but it runs as software. It is built for small and mid-sized businesses ($500k–$20M in revenue) that want predictable customer acquisition and growth but don’t have the expertise, time, or budget to manage multiple tools, vendors, or agencies. For more information please visit https://www.gomega.ai/ or follow via LinkedIn, X, Facebook or Instagram. 

About Goodwater
Goodwater Capital is the largest venture capital firm exclusively focused on consumer technology. Our mission is to empower exceptional entrepreneurs everywhere to change the world for good.

The firm invests across early and growth stages, managing over $3.5 billion in committed capital with the flexibility to invest from seed stage through pre-IPO. To date, Goodwater has made over 100 venture and growth investments globally, including 13 companies valued at $1 billion or more.

Before founding Goodwater, the firm’s partners helped build and scale iconic consumer technology companies, including Facebook, Spotify, Twitter, Coupang, and Activision Blizzard, as both operators and investors. Today, Goodwater’s portfolio spans financial services, healthcare, education, retail, and entertainment, with investments in companies such as Toss, Monzo, Zepto, Fever, and Weee!. The firm’s proprietary software platform and global network help founders accelerate growth across acquisition, engagement, retention, and monetization. For more information, visit www.goodwatercap.com.

About Andreessen Horowitz
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is a venture capital firm that backs bold entrepreneurs building the future through technology. The firm is stage agnostic. a16z invests in seed to venture to growth-stage technology companies, across AI, bio + healthcare, consumer, crypto, enterprise, fintech, games, infrastructure, and companies building toward American Dynamism. Founded in Silicon Valley in 2009, a16z has $46B in committed capital across multiple funds.

About SignalFire 
SignalFire is the first VC built like a technology company to better serve the needs of founders as they build and scale their startups. With ~$3B+ in assets under management, SignalFire invests in applied AI companies from pre-seed to Series B in key sectors including healthcare, cybersecurity, infrastructure, consumer, and other enterprise verticals. The firm’s proprietary Beacon AI platform tracks over 650M employees and 80M companies, giving their team an unmatched data advantage in identifying and supporting world-class startups. Learn more at www.signalfire.com

CONTACT: For further information please contact the Mega press office on press@gomega.ai 

Mega raises $11.5M to give every SMB an enterprise-grade growth team, without the agency




Mega raises $11.5M to give every SMB an enterprise-grade growth team, without the agency

Mega replaces traditional marketing agencies with a network of AI agents that execute SEO, paid ads, GEO, and websites end to end, delivering predictable growth without the agency overhead.

New York, March 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Most small to medium business owners have the same relationship with their marketing agency: they pay for effort and hope it turns into outcomes. It rarely feels like a fair trade. Mega is built to fix that. Today, the company announced an $11.5 million Series A to scale a full-service AI growth engine for SMBs – a platform that replaces traditional agencies with a network of AI agents delivering predictable growth without the overhead.

Mega founders: Robbie Schneidman and Lucas Pellan.

The Series A funding round was led by Goodwater Capital with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, Atreides, SignalFire and Kearny Jackson. It also includes WNBA stars Diana Taurasi, Breanna Stewart, Kelsey Plum and Nneka Ogwumike. 

The problem is structural. SMBs today are expected to compete in a digital ecosystem built for enterprises, across SEO, paid ads, websites, and emerging AI channels. Agencies are expensive relative to SMB budgets, quality varies wildly, execution is manual, and iteration is slow.  At the same time, AI marketing tools have flooded the market, but most still require business owners to learn and operate complex software. Mega takes a different approach by delivering services via software. Instead of managing tools, customers receive execution and measurable performance.

Mega’s core product is an AI-powered growth engine designed specifically for businesses generating roughly $500,000 to $20 million in revenue. The platform uses a network of specialized AI agents to handle SEO, GEO, paid ads, and website management. From the customer’s perspective, it feels like hiring a high-quality growth team, but it runs as software. The system plans, executes, optimizes, and reports continuously. If a customer signs up and never logs in, their marketing still runs and improves.

The Mega analytics dashboard. 

Mega’s path to market was unplanned. During Covid, the team was building a video game company. When ChatGPT launched, they began experimenting early, building internal AI tools to accelerate their own growth. Organic traffic increased 100 times. Paid customer acquisition costs dropped by 80 percent. When co-founder Lucas Pellan shared the tools with founder friends, the response was immediate and repeated: can we have that. 

“We realized early that business owners do not want another AI chat tool that requires hours of prompting,” said Lucas Pellan, co-founder of Mega. “They want customers. So we built a system that actually does the work. We use AI agents to execute end to end, continuously improving performance so SMBs get predictable growth without managing agencies or juggling tools.”

The Mega inbox.

With Mega, approximately 55 percent of the work is fully automated, 35 percent is mostly automated with humans in the loop, and 10 percent is executed end to end by humans. This hybrid structure allows Mega to deliver consistent, scalable performance while maintaining quality control. Every campaign feeds data back into the system, improving creative generation, audience targeting, bidding strategies, and optimization logic across the entire customer base.

Mega’s own trajectory reflects the demand for this model. The company went from zero to $10 million in revenue in 10 months. Customers span home services, law firms, healthcare businesses, ecommerce brands, and software companies. 

In one case, Mega helped a Texas medical spa grow search traffic by 174 times. A personal injury law firm increased search visibility by 243 times and began ranking in the top three for key terms. A D2C health brand drove $120,000 in direct website revenue and surpassed its Amazon marketplace performance without increasing ad spend. On average, Mega helps customers grow 20% faster. Darin Chase, a home services business owner, added: “Since working with Mega we are finally getting a predictable lead flow. We are also able to divert our time away from Facebook marketing to other important projects because Mega manages everything.”

The market is massive and underserved. Tens of thousands of marketing agencies serve SMBs across North America, yet most businesses still struggle with unpredictable lead flow, poor ROI, and no visibility into what is working. As digital channels get more competitive and expensive, the gap keeps widening. AI now makes it possible to close it. 

“Mega represents a fundamental shift in how SMBs should think about marketing, from paying for effort to paying for measurable, repeatable growth. We’re excited to back Lucas and team as they build an AI-native enterprise-grade growth engine that any business can turn on” said Vivek Subramanian, Partner & Chief Product Officer at Goodwater Capital.

Looking ahead, Mega plans to expand beyond SEO, ads, and websites into managing the entire revenue generation engine for SMBs, including email, outbound, organic social, lead qualification, sales operations, and reporting. The long-term vision is to provide a fully automated growth infrastructure that allows small and mid-sized businesses to compete with enterprise-grade marketing capability, without enterprise overhead.

Media images can be found here. 

About Mega
Mega is an AI-powered growth engine that replaces traditional marketing agencies for SMBs. The platform uses a network of specialized AI agents to handle SEO, GEO, Paid Ads and websites. WIth Mega, customers feel like they’ve hired a high-quality growth team but it runs as software. It is built for small and mid-sized businesses ($500k–$20M in revenue) that want predictable customer acquisition and growth but don’t have the expertise, time, or budget to manage multiple tools, vendors, or agencies. For more information please visit https://www.gomega.ai/ or follow via LinkedIn, X, Facebook or Instagram. 

About Goodwater
Goodwater Capital is the largest venture capital firm exclusively focused on consumer technology. Our mission is to empower exceptional entrepreneurs everywhere to change the world for good.

The firm invests across early and growth stages, managing over $3.5 billion in committed capital with the flexibility to invest from seed stage through pre-IPO. To date, Goodwater has made over 100 venture and growth investments globally, including 13 companies valued at $1 billion or more.

Before founding Goodwater, the firm’s partners helped build and scale iconic consumer technology companies, including Facebook, Spotify, Twitter, Coupang, and Activision Blizzard, as both operators and investors. Today, Goodwater’s portfolio spans financial services, healthcare, education, retail, and entertainment, with investments in companies such as Toss, Monzo, Zepto, Fever, and Weee!. The firm’s proprietary software platform and global network help founders accelerate growth across acquisition, engagement, retention, and monetization. For more information, visit www.goodwatercap.com.

About Andreessen Horowitz
Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) is a venture capital firm that backs bold entrepreneurs building the future through technology. The firm is stage agnostic. a16z invests in seed to venture to growth-stage technology companies, across AI, bio + healthcare, consumer, crypto, enterprise, fintech, games, infrastructure, and companies building toward American Dynamism. Founded in Silicon Valley in 2009, a16z has $46B in committed capital across multiple funds.

About SignalFire 
SignalFire is the first VC built like a technology company to better serve the needs of founders as they build and scale their startups. With ~$3B+ in assets under management, SignalFire invests in applied AI companies from pre-seed to Series B in key sectors including healthcare, cybersecurity, infrastructure, consumer, and other enterprise verticals. The firm’s proprietary Beacon AI platform tracks over 650M employees and 80M companies, giving their team an unmatched data advantage in identifying and supporting world-class startups. Learn more at www.signalfire.com

CONTACT: For further information please contact the Mega press office on press@gomega.ai 

Mirai Robotics raises $4.2M pre-seed to build autonomous and intelligent maritime systems to master every sea




Mirai Robotics raises $4.2M pre-seed to build autonomous and intelligent maritime systems to master every sea

Europe’s first dual-use startup developing autonomous vehicles and systems for complex maritime operations.

Milan, March 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The sea is one of the most critical infrastructures on the planet. Over 80% of global trade moves by sea, more than 90% of Europe’s foreign trade depends on maritime routes, and around 95% of international internet traffic flows through subsea cables. Today, the global blue economy is worth more than $2.5 trillion and, according to international estimates, is expected to exceed $4 trillion by 2030.

Despite its economic and geopolitical centrality, the maritime domain remains one of the most complex and least digitized environments in the world: high operational costs, limited continuous observability, significant exposure to risk, and a strong reliance on human operators. This is compounded by an increasingly structural trend: a shortage of qualified professionals, with thousands of operational roles difficult to fill and a steadily rising average age among captains and operators. A fully human-centric model is struggling to sustain continuous, safe, and scalable operations.

It is within this context that Mirai Robotics was founded — a European AI robotics lab with the ambition to build the robotic infrastructure needed to make the sea more governable, safe, and observable.

Mirai Robotics founders: Luciano Belviso and Luca Mascaro.

Mirai Robotics’ systems are designed to enable persistent surveillance, patrolling, monitoring, and control, reducing human exposure to risk and significantly lowering operational costs compared to traditional models. The company focuses on the deep integration of autonomous vehicles, advanced sensing, artificial intelligence, and control systems, approaching autonomy first and foremost as an engineering and industrial challenge — not merely a software one.

Mirai Robotics autonomous surface vehicle. 

From a product perspective, Mirai Robotics has already developed two autonomous vehicles designed for different operational needs, targeting ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) and patrolling scenarios in both coastal and offshore environments. The vehicles integrate advanced perception systems, autonomous navigation, remote control, and safety features, and are designed to operate either as standalone units or as part of distributed systems.

Alongside its proprietary platforms, Mirai Robotics also develops autonomy, navigation, and control solutions that can be integrated into third-party vehicles, enabling industrial and institutional operators to adopt autonomous technologies without having to fully redesign their existing fleets. This approach makes Mirai’s technology applicable across multiple civil and institutional use cases, following a dual-use by design logic.

The decision to start in Italy is deliberate. The country is historically a global leader in shipbuilding and maritime engineering, with internationally recognized excellence in defense, yachting, offshore, and marine infrastructure. Mirai Robotics was born at the intersection of this industrial heritage and a new generation of technologies based on advanced robotics, artificial intelligence, and autonomous systems. Mirai Robotics positions itself as an AI robotics lab, not merely a vertical solution provider. Its goal is to develop physical autonomy technologies capable of operating in extreme, mission-critical environments, where reliability, safety, and control are non-negotiable requirements.

The company was founded by Luciano Belviso (CEO), Luca Mascaro, and Davide Dattoli, board member. Luciano Belviso has previously built and led highly complex industrial companies, including Blackshape, a benchmark player in aircraft design and manufacturing, later acquired by Angel Holding. Luca Mascaro is an entrepreneur and technological designer, founder of Sketchin, later acquired by the BIP Group, where he served as Chief Innovation Officer, with extensive experience in building digital products and technology platforms at international scale. Davide Dattoli is an entrepreneur, founder of Talent Garden, and an investor in the tech and education ecosystem, with a long track record in scaling innovative companies across Europe.

Around the founding team, Mirai Robotics has assembled a pan-European team with expertise in artificial intelligence, robotics, complex systems, and mission-critical operations. The team includes top professionals and collaboration with leading universities and research centers.

The company is headquartered in Puglia, chosen as a strategic hub between the Mediterranean, industry, and research, with the ambition of building a European center of excellence for maritime autonomy.

Mirai Robotics has closed a $4.2 million pre-seed equity round, one of the largest in Italy in the robotics and deep-tech sector, led by top VC Primo Capital, Techshop and 40Jemz Ventures, with participation from leading Italian and international angel investors. The capital raised will be used to accelerate technology development, strengthen the team, and launch new pilot projects with industrial and institutional partners.

“The sea is one of the last major physical infrastructures not yet governed by software,” says Luciano Belviso, CEO of Mirai Robotics. “Autonomy is the key to finally making the oceans safe and usable, unlocking enormous resources and addressing critical security challenges. But it must be implemented through systems capable of operating continuously and safely in extreme environments. This is a technological and industrial challenge that requires a true robotics-lab approach.”

“The maritime domain is at an inflection point. We’re looking at a huge economy that still relies on operational models designed decades ago. The human capital gap alone—thousands of unfilled roles, aging workforces, increasing operational risk—makes the status quo unsustainable. What Mirai Robotics is building isn’t just automation; it’s the fundamental infrastructure layer that will allow the blue economy to scale safely and efficiently. Italy’s shipbuilding heritage combined with this caliber of robotics and AI talent creates a genuinely unique opportunity”  said Gianluca Dettori Partner at Primo Capital, lead investor in the round.

With Mirai Robotics, Italy strengthens its historic role in the blue economy, projecting it into a new phase where robotics and artificial intelligence become foundational infrastructure for security, industry, and the economies of the future.

Media images can be found here.

About Mirai Robotics 
Mirai Robotics is a physical AI and robotics company building autonomous systems and information intelligence platforms for maritime operations. Its technology delivers dock-to-dock autonomy and decision intelligence for inshore-to-offshore missions, from supervised navigation to fully uncrewed operations.

Mirai’s differentiation lies in its robotics-lab approach: autonomy is treated as a full engineering and industrial challenge, not merely a software layer. Our manifesto: https://miraitech.ai/manifesto

CONTACT: For further information please contact the Mirai Robotics press office: Bilal Mahmood on b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com or +44 (0) 771 400 7257.

Mirai Robotics raises $4.2M pre-seed to build autonomous and intelligent maritime systems to master every sea




Mirai Robotics raises $4.2M pre-seed to build autonomous and intelligent maritime systems to master every sea

Europe’s first dual-use startup developing autonomous vehicles and systems for complex maritime operations.

Milan, March 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The sea is one of the most critical infrastructures on the planet. Over 80% of global trade moves by sea, more than 90% of Europe’s foreign trade depends on maritime routes, and around 95% of international internet traffic flows through subsea cables. Today, the global blue economy is worth more than $2.5 trillion and, according to international estimates, is expected to exceed $4 trillion by 2030.

Despite its economic and geopolitical centrality, the maritime domain remains one of the most complex and least digitized environments in the world: high operational costs, limited continuous observability, significant exposure to risk, and a strong reliance on human operators. This is compounded by an increasingly structural trend: a shortage of qualified professionals, with thousands of operational roles difficult to fill and a steadily rising average age among captains and operators. A fully human-centric model is struggling to sustain continuous, safe, and scalable operations.

It is within this context that Mirai Robotics was founded — a European AI robotics lab with the ambition to build the robotic infrastructure needed to make the sea more governable, safe, and observable.

Mirai Robotics founders: Luciano Belviso and Luca Mascaro.

Mirai Robotics’ systems are designed to enable persistent surveillance, patrolling, monitoring, and control, reducing human exposure to risk and significantly lowering operational costs compared to traditional models. The company focuses on the deep integration of autonomous vehicles, advanced sensing, artificial intelligence, and control systems, approaching autonomy first and foremost as an engineering and industrial challenge — not merely a software one.

Mirai Robotics autonomous surface vehicle. 

From a product perspective, Mirai Robotics has already developed two autonomous vehicles designed for different operational needs, targeting ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) and patrolling scenarios in both coastal and offshore environments. The vehicles integrate advanced perception systems, autonomous navigation, remote control, and safety features, and are designed to operate either as standalone units or as part of distributed systems.

Alongside its proprietary platforms, Mirai Robotics also develops autonomy, navigation, and control solutions that can be integrated into third-party vehicles, enabling industrial and institutional operators to adopt autonomous technologies without having to fully redesign their existing fleets. This approach makes Mirai’s technology applicable across multiple civil and institutional use cases, following a dual-use by design logic.

The decision to start in Italy is deliberate. The country is historically a global leader in shipbuilding and maritime engineering, with internationally recognized excellence in defense, yachting, offshore, and marine infrastructure. Mirai Robotics was born at the intersection of this industrial heritage and a new generation of technologies based on advanced robotics, artificial intelligence, and autonomous systems. Mirai Robotics positions itself as an AI robotics lab, not merely a vertical solution provider. Its goal is to develop physical autonomy technologies capable of operating in extreme, mission-critical environments, where reliability, safety, and control are non-negotiable requirements.

The company was founded by Luciano Belviso (CEO), Luca Mascaro, and Davide Dattoli, board member. Luciano Belviso has previously built and led highly complex industrial companies, including Blackshape, a benchmark player in aircraft design and manufacturing, later acquired by Angel Holding. Luca Mascaro is an entrepreneur and technological designer, founder of Sketchin, later acquired by the BIP Group, where he served as Chief Innovation Officer, with extensive experience in building digital products and technology platforms at international scale. Davide Dattoli is an entrepreneur, founder of Talent Garden, and an investor in the tech and education ecosystem, with a long track record in scaling innovative companies across Europe.

Around the founding team, Mirai Robotics has assembled a pan-European team with expertise in artificial intelligence, robotics, complex systems, and mission-critical operations. The team includes top professionals and collaboration with leading universities and research centers.

The company is headquartered in Puglia, chosen as a strategic hub between the Mediterranean, industry, and research, with the ambition of building a European center of excellence for maritime autonomy.

Mirai Robotics has closed a $4.2 million pre-seed equity round, one of the largest in Italy in the robotics and deep-tech sector, led by top VC Primo Capital, Techshop and 40Jemz Ventures, with participation from leading Italian and international angel investors. The capital raised will be used to accelerate technology development, strengthen the team, and launch new pilot projects with industrial and institutional partners.

“The sea is one of the last major physical infrastructures not yet governed by software,” says Luciano Belviso, CEO of Mirai Robotics. “Autonomy is the key to finally making the oceans safe and usable, unlocking enormous resources and addressing critical security challenges. But it must be implemented through systems capable of operating continuously and safely in extreme environments. This is a technological and industrial challenge that requires a true robotics-lab approach.”

“The maritime domain is at an inflection point. We’re looking at a huge economy that still relies on operational models designed decades ago. The human capital gap alone—thousands of unfilled roles, aging workforces, increasing operational risk—makes the status quo unsustainable. What Mirai Robotics is building isn’t just automation; it’s the fundamental infrastructure layer that will allow the blue economy to scale safely and efficiently. Italy’s shipbuilding heritage combined with this caliber of robotics and AI talent creates a genuinely unique opportunity”  said Gianluca Dettori Partner at Primo Capital, lead investor in the round.

With Mirai Robotics, Italy strengthens its historic role in the blue economy, projecting it into a new phase where robotics and artificial intelligence become foundational infrastructure for security, industry, and the economies of the future.

Media images can be found here.

About Mirai Robotics 
Mirai Robotics is a physical AI and robotics company building autonomous systems and information intelligence platforms for maritime operations. Its technology delivers dock-to-dock autonomy and decision intelligence for inshore-to-offshore missions, from supervised navigation to fully uncrewed operations.

Mirai’s differentiation lies in its robotics-lab approach: autonomy is treated as a full engineering and industrial challenge, not merely a software layer. Our manifesto: https://miraitech.ai/manifesto

CONTACT: For further information please contact the Mirai Robotics press office: Bilal Mahmood on b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com or +44 (0) 771 400 7257.

Predigy Announces The Launch of “Predigy Edge”, a First-of-its-Kind Prediction Market Equivalent Technology, Designed For State Regulated Markets




Predigy Announces The Launch of “Predigy Edge”, a First-of-its-Kind Prediction Market Equivalent Technology, Designed For State Regulated Markets

RENO, Nev., March 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Predigy, the AI-powered gaming technology venture founded by industry visionary Kent Young, today announced the launch of Predigy Edge. This groundbreaking prediction technology (patent pending), is designed specifically for state-regulated gaming markets in the United States, providing operators with a compliant, competitive alternative to federally regulated event contract platforms.

Predigy Edge enters the market as an industry first, allowing state-licensed operators to license and deploy a sophisticated prediction market equivalent product within existing regulatory frameworks. While traditional prediction markets have primarily operated under CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) jurisdiction, Predigy Edge bridges the gap, empowering state-regulated entities to offer these high-demand applications directly to their players. Predigy Edge offers prediction equivalent products, including and beyond sports applications, utilizing a binary bet weighted application.

Utilizing advanced liquidity and proprietary ‘edge’ functionality, unlike standard “exchange” models that often struggle with thin liquidity, Predigy Edge features a proprietary LMSR (Logarithmic Market Scoring Rule) engine. This advanced automated market maker provides:

• Guaranteed Liquidity: Continuous pricing and availability, ensuring users can always enter or exit positions without waiting for a counterparty.
• Superior Competitive Application: A robust feature and content set that rivals or exceeds the prediction markets currently offered by CFTC-regulated operators.
• Adaptive Pricing: An AI-driven environment where prices reflect real-time probabilities with smooth price impact, even during volatile events.

“The launch of Predigy Edge represents a pivotal moment for state-regulated markets,” said Kent Young, Founder of Predigy. “As prediction markets explode in popularity, our technology ensures that state operators aren’t left behind. We’ve built a product that doesn’t just mimic an exchange; it uses a high-performance LMSR engine to create a dynamic, immersive wagering experience that is tailor-made for the nuances of state regulation.”

The introduction of Predigy Edge marks a milestone for Young and Predigy, being the first of many disruptive products the company will be launching based on identifying and capitalizing on major market shifts. With Predigy Edge, the company continues its mission of leveraging generative and adaptive AI to develop alternative gaming content and technology that moves beyond traditional casino floor and Igaming applications.

About Predigy

Predigy is a gaming technology development company dedicated to the creation of AI-driven alternative gaming applications. Founded by industry veteran Kent Young, the company focuses on next-generation technology and alternative content that utilizes artificial intelligence to create dynamic, adaptive, and immersive player experiences for the global gaming and vertical markets.

Media Contact: contact@predigy.com  www.predigy.com

Predigy Announces The Launch of “Predigy Edge”, a First-of-its-Kind Prediction Market Equivalent Technology, Designed For State Regulated Markets




Predigy Announces The Launch of “Predigy Edge”, a First-of-its-Kind Prediction Market Equivalent Technology, Designed For State Regulated Markets

RENO, Nev., March 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Predigy, the AI-powered gaming technology venture founded by industry visionary Kent Young, today announced the launch of Predigy Edge. This groundbreaking prediction technology (patent pending), is designed specifically for state-regulated gaming markets in the United States, providing operators with a compliant, competitive alternative to federally regulated event contract platforms.

Predigy Edge enters the market as an industry first, allowing state-licensed operators to license and deploy a sophisticated prediction market equivalent product within existing regulatory frameworks. While traditional prediction markets have primarily operated under CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) jurisdiction, Predigy Edge bridges the gap, empowering state-regulated entities to offer these high-demand applications directly to their players. Predigy Edge offers prediction equivalent products, including and beyond sports applications, utilizing a binary bet weighted application.

Utilizing advanced liquidity and proprietary ‘edge’ functionality, unlike standard “exchange” models that often struggle with thin liquidity, Predigy Edge features a proprietary LMSR (Logarithmic Market Scoring Rule) engine. This advanced automated market maker provides:

• Guaranteed Liquidity: Continuous pricing and availability, ensuring users can always enter or exit positions without waiting for a counterparty.
• Superior Competitive Application: A robust feature and content set that rivals or exceeds the prediction markets currently offered by CFTC-regulated operators.
• Adaptive Pricing: An AI-driven environment where prices reflect real-time probabilities with smooth price impact, even during volatile events.

“The launch of Predigy Edge represents a pivotal moment for state-regulated markets,” said Kent Young, Founder of Predigy. “As prediction markets explode in popularity, our technology ensures that state operators aren’t left behind. We’ve built a product that doesn’t just mimic an exchange; it uses a high-performance LMSR engine to create a dynamic, immersive wagering experience that is tailor-made for the nuances of state regulation.”

The introduction of Predigy Edge marks a milestone for Young and Predigy, being the first of many disruptive products the company will be launching based on identifying and capitalizing on major market shifts. With Predigy Edge, the company continues its mission of leveraging generative and adaptive AI to develop alternative gaming content and technology that moves beyond traditional casino floor and Igaming applications.

About Predigy

Predigy is a gaming technology development company dedicated to the creation of AI-driven alternative gaming applications. Founded by industry veteran Kent Young, the company focuses on next-generation technology and alternative content that utilizes artificial intelligence to create dynamic, adaptive, and immersive player experiences for the global gaming and vertical markets.

Media Contact: contact@predigy.com  www.predigy.com

Students from JA Ecuador Win 2026 De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award 




Students from JA Ecuador Win 2026 De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award 

BOSTON, March 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Founded in 2021 by tech-legend Ralph de la Vega, former President and CEO of AT&T Mobile and Business Solutions, the De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award is the highest global award for the JA Company Program. The winning JA Company of the Year student teams from JA’s six regions—JA Africa, JA Americas, JA Asia Pacific, JA Europe, INJAZ Al-Arab/JA MENA, and Junior Achievement USA—automatically become finalists.

The JA Company Program is JA’s flagship youth-entrepreneurship experience, helping students develop real companies that create products or services to meet a specific need; build, market, and deliver products; and earn real profits. Student companies compete at the local level, and some move on to national and regional competitions. Until this award was established, the highest prize that a JA student company could earn was the coveted first place at one of JA’s six regional competitions.

The 2026 De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award competition included SmartGenix, representing Africa from JA Nigeria; Sacky JA, representing the Americas from JA Ecuador; Zester, representing JA Asia Pacific from JA Hong Kong SAR—China; VerifyID, representing Europe from Fonden for Entreprenøskab (JA Denmark); EcoRock, representing the Middle East and North Africa from INJAZ Palestine; and InnovaQuest, representing the United States from Junior Achievement of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

Last week, award sponsor Ralph de la Vega announced the 2026 winner: Sacky JA, who are students at International Scholastic Model (ISM) and winners of the 2025 JA Americas Company of the Year Competition. The team won US$15,000 cash prize for its product, Sacky, a reusable lunchbox made of recycled water bottles that features friendly characters inspired by endangered animals. The five other JA student companies also won US$5,000 each, courtesy of the de la Vega Family Foundation.

The team behind Sacky JA created their product to address three interconnected challenges in Ecuador: plastic pollution, limited awareness of wildlife conservation, and unhealthy lifestyle habits among children. The company’s Sackies—sustainable lunchboxes designed as both practical products and educational tools—are made from eco-friendly materials, including Lafayette-certified R-PET waterproof fabric that recycles approximately seven plastic bottles per unit, and each lunchbox highlights an endangered species to encourage environmental awareness. Built around circular economy principles, the product incorporates durable and repairable components such as a removable hydrophobic inner lining, detachable thermos holder, adjustable straps, and a clip hook for backpack attachment, allowing individual parts to be replaced and extending the product’s lifecycle while reducing waste. Local textile artists are employed to sew and finish each lunchbox.

Mr. De La Vega addressed all six JA student companies with a message of encouragement: “Today, we celebrate more than competition. We celebrate courage, we celebrate creativity, and we celebrate the willingness to step forward when others hesitate. Each of you saw a problem and chose not to walk past it. You chose to build. You chose to lead. You chose to take the risk of turning an idea into action. That mindset, that willingness to create value where none existed before, is the essence of entrepreneurship.”

JA Worldwide CEO Asheesh Advani agreed: “Young people everywhere have the capacity to shape the future when they are given the opportunity to lead. These young entrepreneurs saw challenges in their communities and responded with creativity, discipline, and purpose. Through the JA Company Program, they’re learning that leadership is not defined by age but by the courage to take initiative and create solutions that improve lives.”

About JA Worldwide
As one of the world’s largest and most-impactful youth-serving NGOs, JA provides hands-on, immersive learning in entrepreneurship, work readiness, and financial capability.

Delivering more than 23 million student experiences each year through 750,000+ teachers and business volunteers, JA Worldwide is one of few organizations with the scale, experience, and passion to build a brighter future for the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders. Visit us at jaworldwide.org.

A video accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9723ecbd-b66d-44f2-b1f4-997d739b45e5

CONTACT: Contact
Tere Stouffer
Chief Marketing Officer, JA Worldwide
+1-212-641-0747
tere.stouffer@jaworldwide.org

Students from JA Ecuador Win 2026 De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award 




Students from JA Ecuador Win 2026 De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award 

BOSTON, March 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Founded in 2021 by tech-legend Ralph de la Vega, former President and CEO of AT&T Mobile and Business Solutions, the De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award is the highest global award for the JA Company Program. The winning JA Company of the Year student teams from JA’s six regions—JA Africa, JA Americas, JA Asia Pacific, JA Europe, INJAZ Al-Arab/JA MENA, and Junior Achievement USA—automatically become finalists.

The JA Company Program is JA’s flagship youth-entrepreneurship experience, helping students develop real companies that create products or services to meet a specific need; build, market, and deliver products; and earn real profits. Student companies compete at the local level, and some move on to national and regional competitions. Until this award was established, the highest prize that a JA student company could earn was the coveted first place at one of JA’s six regional competitions.

The 2026 De La Vega Global Entrepreneurship Award competition included SmartGenix, representing Africa from JA Nigeria; Sacky JA, representing the Americas from JA Ecuador; Zester, representing JA Asia Pacific from JA Hong Kong SAR—China; VerifyID, representing Europe from Fonden for Entreprenøskab (JA Denmark); EcoRock, representing the Middle East and North Africa from INJAZ Palestine; and InnovaQuest, representing the United States from Junior Achievement of Southeastern Pennsylvania.

Last week, award sponsor Ralph de la Vega announced the 2026 winner: Sacky JA, who are students at International Scholastic Model (ISM) and winners of the 2025 JA Americas Company of the Year Competition. The team won US$15,000 cash prize for its product, Sacky, a reusable lunchbox made of recycled water bottles that features friendly characters inspired by endangered animals. The five other JA student companies also won US$5,000 each, courtesy of the de la Vega Family Foundation.

The team behind Sacky JA created their product to address three interconnected challenges in Ecuador: plastic pollution, limited awareness of wildlife conservation, and unhealthy lifestyle habits among children. The company’s Sackies—sustainable lunchboxes designed as both practical products and educational tools—are made from eco-friendly materials, including Lafayette-certified R-PET waterproof fabric that recycles approximately seven plastic bottles per unit, and each lunchbox highlights an endangered species to encourage environmental awareness. Built around circular economy principles, the product incorporates durable and repairable components such as a removable hydrophobic inner lining, detachable thermos holder, adjustable straps, and a clip hook for backpack attachment, allowing individual parts to be replaced and extending the product’s lifecycle while reducing waste. Local textile artists are employed to sew and finish each lunchbox.

Mr. De La Vega addressed all six JA student companies with a message of encouragement: “Today, we celebrate more than competition. We celebrate courage, we celebrate creativity, and we celebrate the willingness to step forward when others hesitate. Each of you saw a problem and chose not to walk past it. You chose to build. You chose to lead. You chose to take the risk of turning an idea into action. That mindset, that willingness to create value where none existed before, is the essence of entrepreneurship.”

JA Worldwide CEO Asheesh Advani agreed: “Young people everywhere have the capacity to shape the future when they are given the opportunity to lead. These young entrepreneurs saw challenges in their communities and responded with creativity, discipline, and purpose. Through the JA Company Program, they’re learning that leadership is not defined by age but by the courage to take initiative and create solutions that improve lives.”

About JA Worldwide
As one of the world’s largest and most-impactful youth-serving NGOs, JA provides hands-on, immersive learning in entrepreneurship, work readiness, and financial capability.

Delivering more than 23 million student experiences each year through 750,000+ teachers and business volunteers, JA Worldwide is one of few organizations with the scale, experience, and passion to build a brighter future for the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders. Visit us at jaworldwide.org.

A video accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/9723ecbd-b66d-44f2-b1f4-997d739b45e5

CONTACT: Contact
Tere Stouffer
Chief Marketing Officer, JA Worldwide
+1-212-641-0747
tere.stouffer@jaworldwide.org