Empower Semiconductor Expands Board of Directors with Industry Veterans

Empower Semiconductor Expands Board of Directors with Industry Veterans




Empower Semiconductor Expands Board of Directors with Industry Veterans

Strengthened board brings decades of semiconductor expertise to guide and accelerate Empower’s growth phase

SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Empower Semiconductor, the world leader in powering AI-class processors, today announced the appointment of three distinguished industry veterans and executives to its Board of Directors. The new members further strengthen the board as Empower enters its next phase of growth following the recent close of its Series D financing round.

Joining the board are:

  • Richard L. Clemmer, Founding Partner at Socratic Partners and former CEO and President of NXP Semiconductor N.V. and Agere Systems Inc.
  • John Bagatelos, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales at Lumentum with former leadership roles at Monolithic Power Systems, ON Semiconductor and AMD.
  • Andrew C. Homan, Managing Partner and founder at Maverick Silicon, after leading Maverick Capital’s investments across the semiconductor, hardware and software industries.

These new directors join Empower’s four long-standing board members: Tim Phillips, CEO, President and Founder; Jeffrey R. Holland, Chairman of the Board; Kevin Leary, President of Hallador Investment Advisors; and Gene Sheridan, Founder and former CEO of Navitas Semiconductor—creating a powerful balance of continuity and fresh perspectives. Together, the board represents decades of leadership across semiconductors, datacenter infrastructure, financial markets and high-growth technology sectors.

“We are honored to welcome such accomplished executives to our Board as Empower enters a new phase of growth,” said Tim Phillips, CEO of Empower Semiconductor. “Their joining not only strengthens our board, but also reflects the industry’s recognition of our disruptive technology. Their insight and leadership will be instrumental as we move into high-volume production and accelerate adoption of our power delivery solutions for high-power AI processors.”

“I am excited to join Empower’s Board at such a pivotal time,” said Rick Clemmer, Founding Partner at Socratic Partners. “Empower’s breakthrough power delivery technology is second to none and tackles one of the most critical challenges facing the datacenter industry today. I look forward to working with the team and making an impact in an industry seeking a novel approach for power management.”

The appointments underscore Empower’s momentum and its mission to transform power delivery for the world’s most demanding AI, compute and data centers applications.

About Empower Semiconductor
Empower Semiconductor, based in Silicon Valley, powers the AI revolution with its FinFast™ technology by reducing the energy footprint and total cost of ownership of data centers. Its transformational integrated voltage regulators deliver on-demand scalable power with the speed, precision and signal integrity required by AI processors. Empower’s power-management architecture shrinks solution footprint, height and component count, achieving vertical power delivery with unprecedented power density and efficiency. Learn more at www.empowersemi.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Media Contact for Empower Semiconductor:
Sandy Fewkes
Senior Public Relations Manager
Kiterocket
+1-408-529-9685
SFewkes@kiterocket.com

Empower Semiconductor Expands Board of Directors with Industry Veterans

Empower Semiconductor Expands Board of Directors with Industry Veterans




Empower Semiconductor Expands Board of Directors with Industry Veterans

Strengthened board brings decades of semiconductor expertise to guide and accelerate Empower’s growth phase

SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 29, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Empower Semiconductor, the world leader in powering AI-class processors, today announced the appointment of three distinguished industry veterans and executives to its Board of Directors. The new members further strengthen the board as Empower enters its next phase of growth following the recent close of its Series D financing round.

Joining the board are:

  • Richard L. Clemmer, Founding Partner at Socratic Partners and former CEO and President of NXP Semiconductor N.V. and Agere Systems Inc.
  • John Bagatelos, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales at Lumentum with former leadership roles at Monolithic Power Systems, ON Semiconductor and AMD.
  • Andrew C. Homan, Managing Partner and founder at Maverick Silicon, after leading Maverick Capital’s investments across the semiconductor, hardware and software industries.

These new directors join Empower’s four long-standing board members: Tim Phillips, CEO, President and Founder; Jeffrey R. Holland, Chairman of the Board; Kevin Leary, President of Hallador Investment Advisors; and Gene Sheridan, Founder and former CEO of Navitas Semiconductor—creating a powerful balance of continuity and fresh perspectives. Together, the board represents decades of leadership across semiconductors, datacenter infrastructure, financial markets and high-growth technology sectors.

“We are honored to welcome such accomplished executives to our Board as Empower enters a new phase of growth,” said Tim Phillips, CEO of Empower Semiconductor. “Their joining not only strengthens our board, but also reflects the industry’s recognition of our disruptive technology. Their insight and leadership will be instrumental as we move into high-volume production and accelerate adoption of our power delivery solutions for high-power AI processors.”

“I am excited to join Empower’s Board at such a pivotal time,” said Rick Clemmer, Founding Partner at Socratic Partners. “Empower’s breakthrough power delivery technology is second to none and tackles one of the most critical challenges facing the datacenter industry today. I look forward to working with the team and making an impact in an industry seeking a novel approach for power management.”

The appointments underscore Empower’s momentum and its mission to transform power delivery for the world’s most demanding AI, compute and data centers applications.

About Empower Semiconductor
Empower Semiconductor, based in Silicon Valley, powers the AI revolution with its FinFast™ technology by reducing the energy footprint and total cost of ownership of data centers. Its transformational integrated voltage regulators deliver on-demand scalable power with the speed, precision and signal integrity required by AI processors. Empower’s power-management architecture shrinks solution footprint, height and component count, achieving vertical power delivery with unprecedented power density and efficiency. Learn more at www.empowersemi.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Media Contact for Empower Semiconductor:
Sandy Fewkes
Senior Public Relations Manager
Kiterocket
+1-408-529-9685
SFewkes@kiterocket.com

Corintis raises $24M to target the next AI bottleneck, and collaborates with Microsoft for chip cooling breakthrough

Corintis raises $24M to target the next AI bottleneck, and collaborates with Microsoft for chip cooling breakthrough




Corintis raises $24M to target the next AI bottleneck, and collaborates with Microsoft for chip cooling breakthrough

Corintis ramps up to mass-production and targets the next AI bottleneck. Earlier this week, Microsoft announced that, in collaboration with Corintis, it achieved a landmark 3x chip cooling breakthrough.

Lausanne, Sept. 25, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The growth of AI is hampered by computational power. Increasing demands for AI to become ever more powerful and ever more accessible have placed a requirement for there to be ever more powerful computer chips. However, increasingly powerful chips produce more heat, making cooling a key bottleneck.

The early versions of OpenAI’s ChatGPT were trained on NVIDIA chips, which used 400W of power. However, only 4 years later, new GPUs and AI accelerators are already looking to increase the power requirements by 10x, which requires liquid cooling. NVIDIA’s recent adoption of liquid cooling for its latest generations of data centre GPUs has highlighted this key demand. 

Corintis founders: Sam Harrison and Remco van Erp. 

Coming out of stealth mode, semiconductor cooling startup Corintis has today announced that it has raised a $24M Series A to address this problem. The round was led by BlueYard Capital with participation from Founderful, Acequia Capital, Celsius Industries, XTX Ventures, among others. Corintis also announces that it will be opening multiple US offices to better serve its American customers in addition to an Engineering office in Munich, Germany. 

To date, the company has raised $33.4M in total. As part of this funding, Chairman of Walden International and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan has joined as a board director and investor prior to becoming Intel CEO, in addition to Geoff Lyon (former CEO & Founder of CoolIT), also joining the board. With this addition to the board, Corintis doubles down on building a bridge between the worlds of semiconductor design, manufacturing, and chip-cooling.   

Lip-Bu Tan added: “Cooling is one of the biggest challenges for next-generation chips. Corintis is fast becoming the industry leader in advanced semiconductor cooling solutions to address the thermal bottleneck, as made evident by its growing customer list.”

 Microfluidic cores in chip design. 

Corintis’s technology focuses on microfluidic cooling: Optimised micro-scale liquid cooling for computer chips in data centres, which are used for advanced computation, including for generative AI. Earlier this week, Microsoft announced that in collaboration with Corintis, it has successfully achieved a breakthrough by developing an in-chip microfluidic cooling system that can effectively cool a server running core services. Tests showed that microfluidic cooling embedded inside the chip removed heat a staggering three times better than the most advanced technology commonly used today.

Corintis products (Therminator with cold plates).

Based on research conducted at the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, Corintis was co-founded by Dr Remco van Erp (CEO), Sam Harrison (COO) & Prof Elison Matioli (Scientific Adviser).

Based on research conducted at the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland, Corintis was co-founded by Dr Remco van Erp (CEO), Sam Harrison (COO) & Prof Elison Matioli (Scientific Adviser).

Remco van Erp, Co-Founder & CEO of Corintis, said: “Every chip is unique. It’s like a cityscape with hundreds of billions of transistors, connected by countless wires. Cooling today is not adapted to the chip, relying on simplistic designs where several parallel fins are carved into a block of copper with a blade. But just like in nature, the optimal design for each chip is a complex network of precisely shaped micro-scale channels that are adapted to the chip and guide coolant to the most critical regions. Finding the right design per chip to create increasingly better cooling systems under short timelines is a challenge that will only get harder.”

“Thermal engineers need to pull a rabbit out of a hat on a daily basis to make sure chips don’t overheat and break, and that’s where Corintis comes in. Our mission is to unlock 10x better cooling to enable the future of compute, in a short cycle time, and while leveraging the existing infrastructure investments in a data center today. As our recent collaboration with Microsoft highlights, there’s an industry-wide push to advance the limits of cooling to enable a future of compute that’s not limited by heat.”

Corintis’ solution relies on two main elements to achieve its mission of 10x better cooling: Firstly, “co-designed microfluidic cooling”. Corintis develops best-in-class simulation and optimization software and new manufacturing methods to design micro-scale optimized liquid cooling, or Microfluidic cooling, that is adapted to the chip to bring the right liquid to the right location. This can be supplied as either a drop-in replacement to any liquid cooling system today, or integrated together with the chip, as “co-packaged cooling”, to reach up to an order of magnitude increase in cooling performance. Their technology also enables data centers to reduce their water consumption, a key ecological concern of AI technologies.

The Corintis team in Lausanne, Switzerland. 

Corintis’ platform builds a bridge between chip and cooling design, enabling chip designers to build the next generation of AI chips with superior thermal performance. The technology platforms the company has already developed include Glacierware, to help automate the design of cooling systems, a copper microfluidic manufacturing facility to manufacture cold plates with features as small as a human hair in high volume, and its Therminator platform, allowing chip companies to physically emulate next-gen chips with millimetre accuracy on silicon test chips before production to validate their cooling solution ahead of time. 

David Byrd, general partner at BlueYard Capital added: “AI’s insatiable demand for compute is pushing chips to unprecedented power densities — Corintis is unlocking the next wave of performance by making cooling a design feature, not an afterthought.”

Corintis has already manufactured over ten thousand cooling systems, with deployments running in data centers on leading-edge AI chips. With new funding, the company looks to scale its team and ramp up its manufacturing footprint even further. With this scale, Corintis is ready to play a decisive role in the advancement of computational and AI power. 

Media images can be found here

About Corintis
Co-founded by Dr. Remco van Erp, Sam Harrison, and Prof. Elison Matioli, Corintis is helping address one of the key problems in delivering ever greater computer power, ever more accessible: managing the heat produced by increasingly powerful computer chips. Founded on research undertaken at EPFL in Switzerland, the company is helping address the next bottleneck for the future of compute, to accelerate the power of AI, modelling climate change, and drug discovery. ery. 

About BlueYard Capital
BlueYard Capital invests in founders building companies at the edges of technology and science—across computing, defense, biology, and crypto. The firm backs n-of-1 companies that often look unconventional at the start but define new markets over time. Founded in 2016, BlueYard is a small and equal partnership based in the US and Europe, managing $500M across three funds and investing $500K–$5M in pre-seed to Series A rounds as a lead or co-lead. Portfolio companies include Castelion, Filecoin, Flashbots, and Privy.

CONTACT: For further information, please contact the Corintis press office on press@corintis.com 

Cross Border Business Services Market Report 2025: Emerging Trends and Strategy Analysis to 2029 & 2034

Cross Border Business Services Market Report 2025: Emerging Trends and Strategy Analysis to 2029 & 2034




Cross Border Business Services Market Report 2025: Emerging Trends and Strategy Analysis to 2029 & 2034

The cross-border business services market offers opportunities from increased internet use, rising cloud service demands, globalization, and advancements in digital platforms like blockchain and digital identity verification. Key sectors such as finance, legal, and consulting are crucial to facilitating international trade.

Dublin, Sept. 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — The “Cross Border Business Services Market Report 2025” has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s offering.

The cross-border business services market is on a trajectory of robust growth, expanding from $213.41 billion in 2024 to $230.42 billion in 2025, marking a CAGR of 8%. This expansion is driven by increased internet usage, burgeoning cross-border e-commerce, the need for cloud-based business solutions, outsourcing of financial and legal services, and demand for real-time remittance solutions.

By 2029, the market is projected to reach $309.0 billion, with a CAGR of 7.6%. This growth is fueled by business globalization, higher demand for international tax compliance, increased cross-border mergers and acquisitions, the adoption of digital payment platforms, and the need for currency risk management. Emerging trends include advancements in cloud computing, blockchain, digital identity integration, and enhanced cybersecurity.

The growth of international trade plays a crucial role in the cross-border business services market, supported by globalization’s reduction of trade barriers and economic integration. Services in this sector facilitate international trade by offering legal, consulting, and financial solutions tailored to varying regulatory landscapes. In February 2023, the UK reported a 2.9% increase in goods imports for December 2022, adjusted for inflation, signifying a 1.5% growth. This surge underscores the market’s expansion fuelled by international trade.

Leading companies are leveraging innovative cloud-based models to improve service delivery efficiency and enable cost savings. For instance, Japan’s AnyMind Group Inc. launched a BPaaS solution in March 2024 for automating and optimizing global business operations. This solution integrates e-commerce and logistics platforms, enhancing market entry and operational efficiency.

In April 2025, Mastercard Inc. and Corpay Inc. collaborated to enhance global B2B cross-border payments by integrating Mastercard’s payment infrastructure with Corpay’s transaction and risk management expertise.

Key industry players include Accenture plc, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young Global Limited, PayPal Holdings Inc., and Stripe Inc., among others. In 2024, North America led the regional markets, with coverage in Asia-Pacific, Europe, South America, and the Middle East and Africa.

Report Scope

Delve into the dynamics of the largest and fastest-growing cross-border business services markets and understand their interplay with the global economy. This report provides answers to pressing questions on technological disruptions, regulatory shifts, and changing consumer behaviors that will influence the market’s trajectory.

Covering market characteristics, size, growth trends, segmentation, and regional variations, the report provides a complete view of the competitive landscape and key strategies for success. Historical and forecast market growth data by geography helps in understanding the market’s evolution.

Deliverables:

  • Markets Covered: Types include Cross-Border Tax, Mergers and Acquisitions, Remittance, among others. Service types span Legal, Accounting, Consulting, IT services, and more. Clients encompass SMEs, Large Enterprises, Startups, and various organizations.
  • Companies Mentioned: Key industry players include Accenture plc., Deloitte, PwC, Ernst & Young, PayPal, Stripe, and others.
  • Regions and Countries Covered: In-depth analysis of regions such as Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, and more, with coverage across countries including the USA, China, Germany, and others.
  • Report Format: Available in PDF, Word, and Excel formats for versatile access and analysis.

Key Attributes

Report Attribute Details
No. of Pages 250
Forecast Period 2025-2029
Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2025 $230.42 Billion
Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2029 $309 Billion
Compound Annual Growth Rate 7.6%
Regions Covered Global

The companies featured in this Cross Border Business Services market report include:

  • Accenture plc
  • Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers
  • Ernst & Young Global Limited
  • PayPal Holdings Inc.
  • Stripe Inc.
  • McKinsey & Company
  • Boston Consulting Group
  • RSM International Limited
  • Bain & Company
  • Forvis Mazars LLP
  • Nexia International Limited
  • Revolut Ltd.
  • Remitly Global Inc.
  • Payoneer Inc.
  • Convera Holdings LLC
  • World First UK Limited
  • The Currency Cloud Limited
  • Airwallex (Hong Kong) Limited
  • Grant Thornton International Ltd.

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/oagwq1

About ResearchAndMarkets.com
ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world’s leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

CONTACT: 
CONTACT: ResearchAndMarkets.com 
         Laura Wood,Senior Press Manager 
         press@researchandmarkets.com
         For E.S.T Office Hours Call 1-917-300-0470 
         For U.S./ CAN Toll Free Call 1-800-526-8630 
         For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 

Bastion Surpasses $40 Million in Funding Amid Explosive Growth in the Stablecoin Market

Bastion Surpasses $40 Million in Funding Amid Explosive Growth in the Stablecoin Market




Bastion Surpasses $40 Million in Funding Amid Explosive Growth in the Stablecoin Market

The company has raised an additional $14.6 million in a strategic financing round with participation from investors across technology, financial ecosystems and enterprise-focused ventures.

NEW YORK, Sept. 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Bastion, a regulated stablecoin infrastructure provider, today announced it has exceeded $40 million in total funding to date following a $14.6 million strategic financing round. The most recent funding round is led by Coinbase Ventures, with participation from Sony Innovation Fund, a16z crypto, Samsung Next and Hashed. The strategic financing round will support adoption of Bastion’s product offerings, which provide enterprises and financial institutions the tools to issue, hold and utilize stablecoins at scale within their ecosystems in a way that is efficient, safe, and fully compliant.

“Bastion is growing to meet significant demand for regulated stablecoin infrastructure from some of the world’s largest enterprises,” said Nassim Eddequiouaq, Co-Founder and CEO of Bastion. “The evolution of our financial system will continue to accelerate as digital assets and stablecoin adoption proliferates, and Bastion is positioned to help businesses build world-changing financial products.”

The strategic fundraise marks an important milestone as Bastion furthers its core mission as the trusted partner for global enterprise stablecoin issuance and crypto trading and underscores the realized institutional support for stablecoins as a cornerstone of next-generation finance.

“Trusted digital asset infrastructure is the bedrock for the creation of scalable digital financial products that enterprises increasingly seek,” said Shan Aggarwal, Chief Business Officer at Coinbase. “We continue to invest in the businesses building crypto products safely and scalably, and are energized by change-makers like Bastion who are making enterprise stablecoin adoption a reality.”

Bastion was built from the ground up with compliance at its core to give enterprises everything they need to issue, hold, and use stablecoins in their ecosystems. Bastion’s Stablecoin-as-a-Service platform enables enterprises to issue and manage stablecoins with ease, covering issuance, reserve management and liquidity management with built-in regulatory licensing and compliance. It also provides custodial wallets and seamless on- and off-ramps—delivering end-to-end infrastructure with no additional regulatory lift.

“Sony Innovation Fund invests in companies actively advancing transformative technologies, and Bastion embodies that. Nassim and the team are laser-focused on revolutionizing digital financial infrastructure for enterprises globally,” said Austin Noronha, Managing Director, Sony Ventures – U.S. “Their approach to stablecoin solutions, led by compliance, security and product innovation, is setting the industry standard. We’re thrilled to support this team fundamentally reinventing how transactions flow, and we look forward to seeing them cultivate new opportunities.”

Bastion’s growth is in line with a surge in demand for enterprise-grade stablecoin solutions across industries worldwide. With over $40 million in funding, and additional commitments currently in progress, Bastion has made several strategic hires, enhancing its leadership team with the appointments of Jared Klee, Head of Revenue, Vince Tejada, Head of Treasury and Strategic Finance, Beth Gibson, General Counsel and Rohan Kohli, Chief Risk & Compliance Officer.

“We’ve seen meaningful growth at Bastion over the last year, and we’re encouraged by the overwhelming interest and engagement from major industry stakeholders and enterprises,” added Caroline Friedman, COO and Founding Member of Bastion. “The momentum around stablecoins is undeniable. This strategic financing round will propel Bastion into its next growth phase to power the future of enterprise stablecoin technology at scale.”

About Bastion
Bastion provides regulated infrastructure for enterprises, fintechs, and brokerages to launch and scale digital asset products. With an NYDFS trust charter and additional state licenses, Bastion enables enterprises to offer branded stablecoins to their users, support compliant crypto buy/sell flows, and move value globally within a secure, licensed framework. Visit Bastion.com to learn more.

Contact
Alethea Jadick
ajadick@sloanepr.com 

Epic Padel secures $10M to turn the U.S. into the next padel powerhouse

Epic Padel secures $10M to turn the U.S. into the next padel powerhouse




Epic Padel secures $10M to turn the U.S. into the next padel powerhouse

Virginia-based padel operator and investor closes oversubscribed round to launch its first clubs and back category-defining ventures across the global padel ecosystem

Arlington, Sept. 24, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Padel is the fastest-growing sport in the world with 30m players in 130 countries on over 63,000 courts. But in the U.S., it’s still gaining traction. Epic Padel is here to change that. Inspired by padel’s meteoric rise across Europe (where Spain has 17k courts, Italy has over 9k Sweden 4k, the UK now has 1k+ courts) – compared to fewer than 700 in the U.S. – the Virginia-based operator is on a mission to close that gap. Today, the company announced $10 million in funding to accelerate U.S. expansion and support the next wave of padel innovation worldwide.

The $10 million seed round was led by NowaisWorld (the sports investment arm of Nowais Inc.) and Stryde Ventures with participation from 305 Ventures, High Water Venture Partners, Lane Holdings, Off Court Ventures, Silverback Capital Group and influential angel investors Elias Sultan and Sharam Gulzad. The round also included a roster of cultural icons and elite athletes such as Omar Nour, Tre Boston, and Nicklas Bäckström. 

Epic Padel team: Maryam Muslehi (Founder & Board Member), Hala Sarkis (Co-foudner and CEO) and Tim Bainton (COO).

Founded by Maryam Al Muslehi and Hala Sarkis, Epic Padel is building a vertically integrated platform for the sport: combining club operations, early-stage investments, and tech-enabled infrastructure under one roof. The company is already operating its first club in North Carolina as proof of concept and will use the fresh capital to launch 4-6 clubs. Prospective locations will include Virginia, Milwaukee (Wisconsin), South Carolina and Utah, with a focus on scalable indoor/outdoor formats, sustainable builds, and integrated technology. That includes transforming underutilized spaces – from existing racquet clubs to parking lots or even indoor warehouses – into high-energy racquet sport destinations, in some cases using zero capex from the site owners.

Epic Padel opens first club iin North Carolina. 

“Our ambition is to create the leading padel platform in North America – not just by building clubs, but by investing across the sport’s ecosystem: from events and equipment to tech and talent,” said Hala Sarkis, Group CEO of Epic Padel. “This funding positions us to scale with speed, strategy, and strong backing.”

Epic’s model is a direct response to the fragmented, elite-driven racquet sport landscape in the U.S. While much of the market focuses on luxury experiences in major metros, Epic is targeting underserved tier-2 cities and rethinking access entirely. Its pricing, formats, and locations are designed for inclusivity – turning underutilized real estate into vibrant community hubs for racquet sports enthusiasts, students, and families.

“We saw padel explode across the MENA region, and realized how far behind the U.S. was,” said Maryam Al Muslehi, Epic Padel’s Founder and Board Member. “We want to bring the sport to all 50 states through clubs, leagues, and investments that build long-term foundations.”

Epic is already partnering with operators, leagues, and startups to accelerate growth across the ecosystem. Its portfolio includes stakes in the Pro Padel League and its’ New York franchise, The New York Atlantics. As well as padel clubs: Ultra Padel (Miami), Padel 39 (Texas), Padel Haus (NYC, DN, NA, & GA), Padel India, and The Padel Hub (UK). And technology ventures like Clutch AI (which offers real-time video and data), Two Two (Sweden, a premium padel gear and apparel innovator), and Red Padel that owns and operates the World Padel Rating,  all contributing to a global network of accessible, tech-forward padel experiences.

Kareem Anabtawi, Co-Founder & CIO, Epic Padel.

“Our portfolio gives us strategic value across operators, technology, leagues, teams, and tournaments. We’re able to collaborate on initiatives that lift the entire ecosystem, not just one operator. In many ways, we’re creating a ‘Padel Index,’ investing in the sport as a whole rather than a single bet. As padel begins to institutionalize globally, putting the sport at a stage where its most exciting growth is still ahead.” added Kareem Anabtawi, Co-Founder & CIO, Epic Padel.

The company is also incubating the College Padel League (CPL) to bring the sport into campus ecosystems, and will soon launch Zero.40, a member app powered by Clutch AI and Red Padel that integrates smart booking, analytics, ratings and community engagement. Epic’s upcoming merch line will draw on collaborations with athlete-investors and be distributed through e-commerce and retail channels.

Led operationally by Tim Bainton – a veteran of the racquet sport industry – the Epic team is focused on speed, scale, and sustainability. “Padel is more than a sport, it’s a lifestyle,” said Tim Bainton. “We’re building clubs that welcome everyone, not just the elite. And through tech, partnerships, and real community engagement, we’re making it possible.”

Looking ahead, Epic plans to continue expanding across the U.S. while deepening its international footprint through investments, collaborations, and cross-border access. Its long-term vision: to close the 30,000-court gap Deloitte forecasts for the U.S. by 2030, and to make padel part of everyday life for millions of Americans.

Media images can be found here

About Epic Padel
Epic Padel is a Virginia-based padel tennis owner, operator, and investor committed to expanding the sport of padel across North America. With a vision centered on inclusivity, sustainability, and innovation, EPIC Padel is dedicated to building world-class padel facilities and investing in companies that are shaping the future of the sport. By partnering with leading operators, tournaments, and tech companies, EPIC Padel is helping foster a thriving padel community. For more information, visit: www.epic-padel.com

CONTACT: For further information, please contact the EPIC Padel press office: Bilal Mahmood | b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com  | +44 (0) 771 400 7257

Prosper AI raises $5M to be the default voice AI platform for healthcare’s $450B admin crisis

Prosper AI raises $5M to be the default voice AI platform for healthcare’s $450B admin crisis




Prosper AI raises $5M to be the default voice AI platform for healthcare’s $450B admin crisis

Built for hospitals, billing companies, and medical practices, Prosper AI is emerging as the voice infrastructure for patient access and revenue cycle management

New York City, Sept. 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — A third of the workforce in US hospitals and physician offices is administrative staff, a cost that tops $450 billion annually. The system depends on armies of people answering phones, calling insurers, and chasing claims. Patients wait, providers lose appointments, and teams spend almost as much on billing work as they do on care. Healthcare voice AI platform Prosper AI is changing that equation. 

The company today announced $5 million in seed funding to accelerate its voice AI platform, which builds specialized AI agents for healthcare’s most critical front and back-office workflows. The round was led by Emergence Capital, the first backers of Salesforce, Veeva, and Doximity, with participation from Y Combinator, CRV, and Company Ventures.

Prosper AI cofounders: Xavier de Gracia and Josep Mingot.

Prosper AI agents are executing hundreds of thousands of calls, working with industry leaders such as a Providence-affiliated hospital (125,000 employees), a Fortune 50 pharmaceutical hub, a 30,000-employee medical billing company serving Top 10 US Health systems or a leading Electronic Health Record system with +100,000 medical providers. 

The measurable impact across clients has fueled Prosper’s rapid growth, with revenue climbing 4x since Q2 2025 alone.

Prosper AI builds AI voice agents that speak like humans, connect directly into practice management software, and handle tasks from patient scheduling and billing to insurance benefit verification and prior authorizations. Unlike generic voice AI tools, Prosper’s agents are healthcare-specialized, with deep EHR integrations and battle-tested blueprints for both patient-facing and back-office workflows. They can skip IVR menus, wait on hold with insurers, extract information in minutes, and transfer calls to staff when necessary. 

Cofounders Josep Mingot and Xavier de Gracia met in Boston while studying at MIT and Harvard. In 2023, they founded Prosper, applying their expertise in call centers and regulated industries to tackle one of today’s most pressing challenges: improving access to healthcare. “Our mission is to unlock universal access to care by empowering healthcare organizations to achieve unprecedented efficiency with AI Agents”, said Xavier de Gracia, co-founder of Prosper AI. 

At Synergy Healthcare Associates, a leading multispecialty group, Prosper automates over 50% of front desk calls, from scheduling to waitlist management, with expansion underway into benefits and claims. “Prosper has redefined how our call center runs by simplifying intricate processes, shortening patient wait times and boosting efficiency, all the while sounding very human,” said Nathan Woelfel, COO at Synergy Healthcare Associates. “The team’s ability to deliver at speed, and customize to our needs has been incredible.”

Prosper AI serves a wide range of healthcare organizations, including health systems, billing companies, healthtech vendors, insurers and pharma hubs. With Prosper AI, these organizations gain a single partner for battle-tested AI voice agents built for healthcare front and back office use cases alongside a flexible voice platform that can be tailored to any custom need. Every deployed agent is adapted to the workflows, SOPs, and integrations of the client.

Unlike generic AI voice solutions, Prosper AI’s platform is engineered specifically for healthcare enterprises, offering:

For patient phone calls:

  • Automated scheduling, billing inquiries, and follow-up workflows
  • 50-70% automation rate for inbound patient calls
  • Reduced call center strain and improved patient satisfaction

For payor phone calls:

  • Benefits verification, prior authorizations and claims follow-ups phone calls 
  • 99% accuracy in navigating payer IVRs and extracting information
  • Sub-2-hour turnaround for complex payer interactions

Every deployment is customized to each organization’s specific workflows, standard operating procedures, and existing technology stack, ensuring seamless integration and immediate value.

“Xavier and Josep have achieved remarkable enterprise traction by building battle-tested AI voice agents specifically for healthcare’s complex requirements.” said Jake Saper, General Partner at Emergence Capital. “They’re creating the most sophisticated voice AI platform to make quality healthcare accessible and affordable at scale”. 

Looking ahead, Prosper plans to extend beyond voice into a broader AI workforce for healthcare, with AI Agents already being trained to read faxes, connect to APIs, and take actions directly in EHR systems. The company’s vision is clear: to become the AI Workforce for healthcare organizations, eliminating waste and unlocking the resources needed to provide universal healthcare.

Media images can be found here

About Prosper AI
Prosper AI is the voice AI platform purpose-built for healthcare organizations. The company’s AI agents automate patient access and revenue cycle phone calls and workflows, integrating seamlessly with existing healthcare IT systems to deliver immediate operational improvements and cost savings. Founded in 2023 by MIT and Harvard alumni Xavier de Gracia and Josep Mingot, Prosper AI is backed by Emergence Capital, Y Combinator, CRV, and Company Ventures. For more information, visit www.getprosper.ai 

CONTACT: For further information please contact the Prosper AI press office on xavier.degracia@getprosper.ai

Empower Semiconductor Secures Over $140M in Series D Financing

Empower Semiconductor Secures Over $140M in Series D Financing




Empower Semiconductor Secures Over $140M in Series D Financing

Led by Fidelity Management & Research Company, the round’s capital will support upcoming high-volume production and next-generation innovation in power delivery solutions for AI processors

SAN JOSE, Calif., Sept. 22, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Empower Semiconductor, the world leader in powering AI-class processors, today announced the closing of more than $140M in Series D financing. The investors, led by Fidelity Management & Research Company, include Maverick Silicon, CapitalG, Atreides Management, Socratic Partners, Walden Catalyst Ventures, Knollwood and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA). Barclays Capital acted as exclusive placement agent on the transaction.

The financing will accelerate Empower’s unprecedented growth in the AI space and drive continued technology breakthroughs in how AI processors are powered. “The syndicate we now have backing Empower underscores the strength of our technology lead, market opportunity and depth of customer adoption,” said Tim Phillips, Founder & CEO of Empower Semiconductor. “Over the coming quarters, we’re set to transform the AI market with our revolutionary technology, enabling gigawatts of energy savings and improved throughput of AI platforms across data centers worldwide.”

Maverick Silicon highlighted Empower’s unique position in the rapidly expanding AI and data center markets. “Empower is solving the critical bottleneck in modern AI computing with a platform that combines technical leadership and commercial momentum,” said Andrew Homan, Managing Partner at Maverick Silicon. “As power demand in data centers continues to rise, a new technology is required to enable the next generation of AI performance and Empower is setting the standard. We are thrilled to participate in their journey and success.”

“Empower has demonstrated a clear vision, execution and leadership in power delivery, one of the most critical enablers of AI infrastructure,” added James Luo, General Partner at CapitalG, Alphabet’s independent growth fund. “We’re excited to support the Empower team as their highly differentiated technology is having a tremendous impact on the scaling of Data Centers and performance of AI.”                   

About Empower Semiconductor
Empower Semiconductor, based in Silicon Valley, powers the AI revolution with its FinFast™ technology by reducing the energy footprint and total cost of ownership of data centers. Its transformational integrated voltage regulators deliver on-demand scalable power with the speed, precision and signal integrity required by AI processors. Empower’s power-management architecture shrinks solution footprint, height and component count, achieving vertical power delivery with unprecedented power density and efficiency. Learn more at www.empowersemi.com and follow us on LinkedIn.

All trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Media Contact for Empower Semiconductor:
Sandy Fewkes
Senior Public Relations Manager
Kiterocket
+1-408-529-9685
SFewkes@kiterocket.com

Buscaro raises $2M to scale safe, tech-enabled commuting across Pakistan

Buscaro raises $2M to scale safe, tech-enabled commuting across Pakistan




Buscaro raises $2M to scale safe, tech-enabled commuting across Pakistan

From one bus in a living room to over 900,000 bookings a month, Buscaro is reshaping daily travel for students and employees in Pakistan’s largest cities

Karachi, Sept. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In Pakistan’s sprawling cities, the simple act of getting from home to work or school is one of the country’s most complex challenges. Public buses are overcrowded, rickshaws are unsafe, and ride-hailing apps are expensive and unreliable for daily use. For millions of commuters, the lack of safe and structured options has meant wasted hours and constant stress. Buscaro was built to change that. 

The company today announced a fresh $2 million round led by Daman Investments with participation from Cartography Capital, Epic Angels, Wahed Ventures, Accelerate Prosperity, and notable angels. Buscaro is now powering more than 900,000 monthly bookings and is projected to close 2025 at $8.6 million in annualized revenue.  The round brings Buscaro’s total funding to $3.5 million.

Buscaro founder: Maha Shahzad.

Buscaro partners with companies, schools, and institutions to deliver safe, reliable daily commuting for employees and students. Unlike fragmented transport providers, its model dedicates routes to specific organizations and is powered by a four-part technology stack: live tracking for passengers and parents, financial transparency for businesses, operational visibility for administrators, and safety-first systems that build trust. With over 80 corporate partners across Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, and Rawalpindi, Buscaro retains more than 97% of its clients year after year.

The story began in founder and CEO Maha Shahzad’s living room, with a single bus and three people. When global player Swvl exited Pakistan, she saw the gap left behind and decided to act. “Students, parents, and employees needed a dependable way to travel every day, and no one was stepping up,” Maha Shahzad said. “We built Buscaro to be that solution – safe, affordable, and structured.” From that single bus, Buscaro has scaled to one of the largest mass transit platforms in Pakistan, growing revenue from $2 million in 2023 to more than $6.3 million today.

Buscaro app. 

For commuters, the impact is immediate. Parents use Buscaro to send their children to school with peace of mind, aided by live ride tracking. Women passengers consistently rate the service safer than alternatives. Companies report reduced absenteeism, improved punctuality, and lower transport costs. And drivers – or “captains” – earn higher, steadier incomes thanks to guaranteed demand and long-term partnerships.

Buscaro user Miss Iqra Shabbir said “I use BusCaro’s service because their vehicles show up on time, rides are comfortable and I feel safe.” And parent Mr Abdul Majid said: “My two children use BusCaro for their school commute. The service is reliable and makes our morning routine much easier. I feel a sense of security about my children’s safety.”

The Buscaro team.

The funding comes as Pakistan’s urban transport needs are surging. With outdated regulations, volatile fuel prices, and a largely informal vendor market, reliable mass transit remains out of reach for millions. Buscaro’s structured, tech-enabled model offers a credible alternative, bridging the gap between traditional buses and modern mobility solutions.

“At Daman Investments, we back visionary founders who are solving real challenges at scale, and Buscaro is a standout example. By making commuting safe, structured, and technology-driven, Maha and her team are improving lives every day. With our investment, we look forward to helping them accelerate growth, expand into new cities, and redefine urban mobility across the region.” said Ahmed Khizer Khan, CEO, Daman Investments.

Looking ahead, Buscaro plans to expand into tier-2 cities across Pakistan, where industrial and educational hubs are underserved, and to pursue partnerships with government bodies to upgrade public transport networks with its technology. International expansion is also on the horizon, leveraging the company’s scalable platform and operational expertise.

“Our vision is simple,” Maha Shahzad concluded. “We want to make commuting safe, reliable, and affordable for every family and every company in Pakistan and beyond. What started in my living room is now a nationwide movement, and this funding will help us take it even further.”

Bilal Azhar Kayani, Finance Minister in the Government of Punjab, commented: “There is a real need for safe and affordable public transport for the underserved segments of society in Pakistan, especially women. I have witnessed this gap firsthand in my own constituency in District Jhelum. I believe that such services will help address that gap and empower women across the country. I look forward to the arrival of such services in my district for the girls and women of Jhelum.”

Meanwhile, Junaid Iqbal, economist and ex-founding MD of ride hailing app Careem said: “Urban mobility is completely broken. Mass transit systems are still being built and operate in an inefficient manner. In such a scenario, 2 wheelers dominate the work travel space, which are costing us over $5bn in fuel imports. We need solutions for daily commute and BusCaro’s strategy to start by focusing on B2B use cases is on point.”

Media images can be found here.

About BusCaro
BusCaro is a tech-based mobility company aimed at simplifying daily commutes. Paired with a technology stack, and the mission to drive a positive change in the mobility sector, BusCaro is a seamless solution for the daily pick and drop. The dedicated team has streamlined operations to provide users with a hassle-free experience.

About Daman Investments
Daman Investments stands as the UAE’s preeminent regional investment firm, distinguished for its comprehensive suite of non-banking financial services catering to institutional clients, corporations, SMEs, and high-net-worth individuals. Our overarching objective is to assume a pivotal role in shaping opportunities within the burgeoning Arab World economy while extending our reach across dynamic global growth markets. Propelled by an unwavering commitment to ethics, excellence, and client-centricity, we offer innovative and bespoke solutions to assist you in not only meeting but surpassing your financial aspirations. With a legacy spanning over 27 years, Daman Investments has consistently redefined the contours of the financial services landscape.

CONTACT: For further information please contact the Buscaro press office: Bilal Mahmood on b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com or +447714007257.  

Scalekit gets $5.5m as it launches authentication stack for AI agents

Scalekit gets $5.5m as it launches authentication stack for AI agents




Scalekit gets $5.5m as it launches authentication stack for AI agents

Built by the team behind Freshworks’ auth, Scalekit offers a developer toolkit for agent identity and secure tool-calling

San Francisco, Sept. 16, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — For two decades, software assumed humans would log in to use applications. The next wave will be AI agents invoking business apps and APIs—on behalf of users or autonomously. Identity and access systems now have to prove who those agents are and what they’re allowed to do.

To address this shift, Scalekit today launched an authentication stack purpose-built for agentic apps and announced a $5.5 million seed round led by Together Fund and Z47, with angel backing from Adam Frankl, Oliver Jay, Jagadeesh Kunda, and others.

Scalekit founders: Satya Devarakonda and Ravi Madabhushi.

Gartner predicts that by 2028, 25% of enterprise breaches will be traced to compromised AI agents (Gartner Research, July 2025). Yet today’s identity systems still assume a human logs in through a browser and manually clicks “log out.” That model breaks when agents spin up, complete a task, and vanish, forcing developers to over-privilege agents or build brittle workarounds.

“For years, software focused on blocking bots. Now business apps must let authenticated agents in and decide exactly what data they can read or write,” says Satya Devarakonda, co-founder and CEO. “Scalekit sits at that intersection of verifying every agent’s identity and enforcing precise, least-privilege access through a single drop-in toolkit.”

Scalekit secures incoming and outgoing agentic flows.

“AI agents are emerging as first-class users of business software, and current identity stacks can’t keep up,” said Girish Mathrubootham, Founding Partner, Together Fund. “Scalekit spotted the shift early and built the missing agent identity infrastructure. We believe that foundation will power the next billion agent identities.”

Scalekit secures both sides of agentic flows – incoming authentication for MCP servers and outgoing agent actions to third-party tools. Teams building Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers can add a turnkey OAuth 2.1 authorization server in minutes. Agent builders can plug in an encrypted token vault and a tool-calling layer that lets agents act on a user’s behalf in Gmail, Slack, HubSpot, and Notion without custom token plumbing.

Ravi Madabhushi, co-founder and CTO, adds, “After scaling auth for 50,000 businesses at Freshworks, we saw the next challenge coming: agent identities that live in code, not in user directories. Scalekit delivers short-lived scoped tokens and plug-in tooling that make agentic workflows secure.”

Scalekit – auth stack for AI Apps.

While agent identity is the headline need, many teams still need friction-free authentication for human users. Scalekit’s à-la-carte modules like email magic links, two-factor OTPs, single sign-on, and machine-to-machine service tokens—drop into an app in minutes. Developers can layer in user-to-agent delegated consent, step-up approvals, and ship agentic workflows before their coffee goes cold.

“Scalekit lets developers adopt only what they need with no forklift migration required. That modular model, paired with lightweight implementation, is why teams building agentic workflows are standardizing on Scalekit,” says Pranay Desai, Managing Director, Z47.

Teams such as Fello, Sifthub, Napkin, Unstract, Hubbl, and Aerchain use Scalekit as auth service for their AI-native applications and SaaS apps adding agentic features.

Harsh Vakharia, head of technology at SiftHub, an AI-native sales solution, shares, “We needed auth that just works so we could focus on our core AI features. Scalekit eliminated months of auth complexity and let us ship in a couple of weeks.” 

Suman Varanasi, CTO at Fello, adds, “We plugged in Scalekit’s passwordless auth module without any refactoring. That lego-style flexibility got us live in two weeks.”

Looking ahead, Scalekit plans to deepen its agent-centric identity roadmap with capabilities such as background agent support, deepen tool-calling, granular auth logs, and prebuilt connectors for over 1,000 external apps.

Ends 

Notes to the editor
Media images can be found here. For further information please contact the Scalekit press office on press@scalekit.com 

About Scalekit
Scalekit provides AI developers with authentication and tool-calling infrastructure. Founded by the team behind Freshworks’ original auth platform, the company is backed by Together Fund, Z47, and a network of operator investors. Now live and GA at scalekit.com.