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

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

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.

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.

HALA raises $157m in one of the Middle East’s largest fintech Series B rounds, led by TPG and Sanabil Investments




HALA raises $157m in one of the Middle East’s largest fintech Series B rounds, led by TPG and Sanabil Investments

HALA has rapidly scaled to serve over 142,000 businesses and now processes more than $8 billion of annual transactions, cementing its position as the region’s MSME focused fintech leader.

Riyadh, Sept. 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — HALA, Saudi Arabia’s leading fintech and provider of embedded financial services to micro, small and medium enterprises, has raised $157 million in a Series B investment round — officially one of the largest fintech Series B funding rounds in the Middle East.

The funding round is led by The Rise Fund, TPG’s multi-sector global impact investing strategy, and Sanabil Investments, a wholly owned company by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), with participation from QED, Raed Ventures, Impact 46, Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), Isometry Capital, Arzan VC, BNVT Capital, Kaltaire Investments, Endeavor Catalyst, Nour Nouf Ventures, Khwarizmi Ventures, and Wamda Capital. These funds will be utilized to strengthen HALA’s position in the Saudi market and offer more embedded financial services, lending products catered to support the growth of MSMES and Freelancers as well as to expand HALA’s presence regionally.

HALA founders: Esam Alnahdi and Maher Loubieh.

This investment follows on from HALA’s impressive year-on-year growth that validates the robustness and scalability of its operating model, which is geared toward sustainable growth as well as playing a key role in its home market in supporting the Saudi Vision 2030 goal to significantly enhance the contribution of SMEs to GDP.

HALA offers a comprehensive embedded financial services offering, ranging from business accounts, card issuance, payment and transfer services, and POS solutions to financing and corporate cards. The company currently serves over 142,000 businesses and processes more than $8 billion of annual transactions.

HALA Payment Terminal.

Esam Alnahdi Co-founder and Chairman, HALA stated: “This landmark investment is a turning point for HALA, reflecting on our relentless pursuit of innovation and excellence in serving small businesses. We are honored that our new investors recognize the potential of our vision and the impact we aspire to make in the MSME landscape. Our journey is just beginning, and this support fuels our drive to create meaningful change.”

HALA mada & Visa business cards.

Maher Loubieh, Co-founder and Group CEO, HALA continued “We are honored by the continued trust and support of our existing investors – distinguished local and regional business leaders and funds – whose contributions have been instrumental to HALA’s journey so far. At the same time, we are proud to welcome all our new partners, including TPG’s Rise Fund and Sanabil, who, by joining our journey, gave a strong testimonial of the business that the team has built. As we look at the next phase of our growth, we believe that our diverse group of prominent investors bring valuable global expertise and perspective which will elevate our ambitions to execute with even greater scale and impact.”

Yemi Lalude, Partner at TPG and Head of Europe, Middle East and Africa for The Rise Funds, commented, “HALA is uniquely positioned to empower micro and small businesses, a key pillar in the region’s economy, by delivering business owners and their customers a broad and growing set of payment solutions. We are excited to support the HALA team in building a clear leader in this underserved segment. Our investment underscores our belief in the growth potential of this market, the rising demand for robust digital banking solutions, and the critical role entrepreneurs play in shaping the next generation economy, not just though innovation but by creating jobs, expanding access, and delivering meaningful social impact.”

A spokesperson for Sanabil Investments added: “We are excited to lead this landmark Series B funding round for HALA. This investment underscores our belief in HALA’s potential to reshape the future of financial services for SMEs and aligns with Sanabil’s mission to support visionary companies with patient capital and strategic guidance. We look forward to partnering with HALA and the other investors in supporting their continued success and expansion.”

Media images can be found here. 

About HALA
HALA, co-founded by Esam Alnahdi (Chairman) and Maher Loubieh (CEO), is a leading fintech company based in Saudi Arabia, dedicated to empowering micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with innovative financial services. Since its inception, HALA has rapidly grown its footprint by offering a comprehensive suite of embedded financial solutions, including business accounts, card issuance, payment and transfer services, and point-of-sale solutions. With a vision to transform the financial landscape for businesses, HALA has already supported over 140,000 enterprises, processing more than $8 billion in annual transactions. The company’s commitment to innovation and excellence has solidified its position as a pioneer in the MSME fintech space, driving both economic growth and social impact across the region. For more information, please reach visit www.hala.com or reach out to ir@hala.com

About TPG and The Rise Funds
TPG is a leading global alternative asset management firm, founded in San Francisco in 1992, with $261 billion of assets under management and investment and operational teams around the world. TPG invests across a broadly diversified set of strategies, including private equity, impact, credit, real estate, and market solutions, and our unique strategy is driven by collaboration, innovation, and inclusion. Our teams combine deep product and sector experience with broad capabilities and expertise to develop differentiated insights and add value for our fund investors, portfolio companies, management teams, and communities.

The Rise Funds are a core pillar of TPG’s global impact investing platform. Founded in 2016 by TPG in partnership with Bono and Jeff Skoll, The Rise Funds invest behind impact entrepreneurs and growth-stage, high potential, mission-driven companies that are focused on building and scaling solutions to the world’s most complex challenges. The Rise Funds deliver capabilities and expertise across a wide variety of sectors and countries at scale, focusing on opportunities in climate and decarbonization, education, financial inclusion, healthcare, and impact technology. 

TPG’s Impact Platform is the world’s largest of its kind, managing approximately $29 billion in assets across a family of funds that pursue non-concessionary returns and social and environmental impact at scale through growth equity, private equity, and infrastructure investing strategies.For more information, visit https://www.tpg.com/platforms/impact/the-rise-funds 

About Sanabil
Sanabil is a financial investment company, wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), that commits more than $3 billion in capital per annum into global private investments that include VC/Growth. Sanabil is a dynamic, nimble, and highly experienced team of investment professionals. Sanabil provides partners with patient capital, the ability to invest across multiple funding rounds, and access to the region. At Sanabil, we invest in great ideas, great minds, and great companies.

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

HALA raises $157m in one of the Middle East’s largest fintech Series B rounds, led by TPG and Sanabil Investments




HALA raises $157m in one of the Middle East’s largest fintech Series B rounds, led by TPG and Sanabil Investments

HALA has rapidly scaled to serve over 142,000 businesses and now processes more than $8 billion of annual transactions, cementing its position as the region’s MSME focused fintech leader.

Riyadh, Sept. 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — HALA, Saudi Arabia’s leading fintech and provider of embedded financial services to micro, small and medium enterprises, has raised $157 million in a Series B investment round — officially one of the largest fintech Series B funding rounds in the Middle East.

The funding round is led by The Rise Fund, TPG’s multi-sector global impact investing strategy, and Sanabil Investments, a wholly owned company by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), with participation from QED, Raed Ventures, Impact 46, Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP), Isometry Capital, Arzan VC, BNVT Capital, Kaltaire Investments, Endeavor Catalyst, Nour Nouf Ventures, Khwarizmi Ventures, and Wamda Capital. These funds will be utilized to strengthen HALA’s position in the Saudi market and offer more embedded financial services, lending products catered to support the growth of MSMES and Freelancers as well as to expand HALA’s presence regionally.

HALA founders: Esam Alnahdi and Maher Loubieh.

This investment follows on from HALA’s impressive year-on-year growth that validates the robustness and scalability of its operating model, which is geared toward sustainable growth as well as playing a key role in its home market in supporting the Saudi Vision 2030 goal to significantly enhance the contribution of SMEs to GDP.

HALA offers a comprehensive embedded financial services offering, ranging from business accounts, card issuance, payment and transfer services, and POS solutions to financing and corporate cards. The company currently serves over 142,000 businesses and processes more than $8 billion of annual transactions.

HALA Payment Terminal.

Esam Alnahdi Co-founder and Chairman, HALA stated: “This landmark investment is a turning point for HALA, reflecting on our relentless pursuit of innovation and excellence in serving small businesses. We are honored that our new investors recognize the potential of our vision and the impact we aspire to make in the MSME landscape. Our journey is just beginning, and this support fuels our drive to create meaningful change.”

HALA mada & Visa business cards.

Maher Loubieh, Co-founder and Group CEO, HALA continued “We are honored by the continued trust and support of our existing investors – distinguished local and regional business leaders and funds – whose contributions have been instrumental to HALA’s journey so far. At the same time, we are proud to welcome all our new partners, including TPG’s Rise Fund and Sanabil, who, by joining our journey, gave a strong testimonial of the business that the team has built. As we look at the next phase of our growth, we believe that our diverse group of prominent investors bring valuable global expertise and perspective which will elevate our ambitions to execute with even greater scale and impact.”

Yemi Lalude, Partner at TPG and Head of Europe, Middle East and Africa for The Rise Funds, commented, “HALA is uniquely positioned to empower micro and small businesses, a key pillar in the region’s economy, by delivering business owners and their customers a broad and growing set of payment solutions. We are excited to support the HALA team in building a clear leader in this underserved segment. Our investment underscores our belief in the growth potential of this market, the rising demand for robust digital banking solutions, and the critical role entrepreneurs play in shaping the next generation economy, not just though innovation but by creating jobs, expanding access, and delivering meaningful social impact.”

A spokesperson for Sanabil Investments added: “We are excited to lead this landmark Series B funding round for HALA. This investment underscores our belief in HALA’s potential to reshape the future of financial services for SMEs and aligns with Sanabil’s mission to support visionary companies with patient capital and strategic guidance. We look forward to partnering with HALA and the other investors in supporting their continued success and expansion.”

Media images can be found here. 

About HALA
HALA, co-founded by Esam Alnahdi (Chairman) and Maher Loubieh (CEO), is a leading fintech company based in Saudi Arabia, dedicated to empowering micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) with innovative financial services. Since its inception, HALA has rapidly grown its footprint by offering a comprehensive suite of embedded financial solutions, including business accounts, card issuance, payment and transfer services, and point-of-sale solutions. With a vision to transform the financial landscape for businesses, HALA has already supported over 140,000 enterprises, processing more than $8 billion in annual transactions. The company’s commitment to innovation and excellence has solidified its position as a pioneer in the MSME fintech space, driving both economic growth and social impact across the region. For more information, please reach visit www.hala.com or reach out to ir@hala.com

About TPG and The Rise Funds
TPG is a leading global alternative asset management firm, founded in San Francisco in 1992, with $261 billion of assets under management and investment and operational teams around the world. TPG invests across a broadly diversified set of strategies, including private equity, impact, credit, real estate, and market solutions, and our unique strategy is driven by collaboration, innovation, and inclusion. Our teams combine deep product and sector experience with broad capabilities and expertise to develop differentiated insights and add value for our fund investors, portfolio companies, management teams, and communities.

The Rise Funds are a core pillar of TPG’s global impact investing platform. Founded in 2016 by TPG in partnership with Bono and Jeff Skoll, The Rise Funds invest behind impact entrepreneurs and growth-stage, high potential, mission-driven companies that are focused on building and scaling solutions to the world’s most complex challenges. The Rise Funds deliver capabilities and expertise across a wide variety of sectors and countries at scale, focusing on opportunities in climate and decarbonization, education, financial inclusion, healthcare, and impact technology. 

TPG’s Impact Platform is the world’s largest of its kind, managing approximately $29 billion in assets across a family of funds that pursue non-concessionary returns and social and environmental impact at scale through growth equity, private equity, and infrastructure investing strategies.For more information, visit https://www.tpg.com/platforms/impact/the-rise-funds 

About Sanabil
Sanabil is a financial investment company, wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), that commits more than $3 billion in capital per annum into global private investments that include VC/Growth. Sanabil is a dynamic, nimble, and highly experienced team of investment professionals. Sanabil provides partners with patient capital, the ability to invest across multiple funding rounds, and access to the region. At Sanabil, we invest in great ideas, great minds, and great companies.

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

Coinchange and Utila Join Forces to Deliver Institutional Grade Yield Solutions




Coinchange and Utila Join Forces to Deliver Institutional Grade Yield Solutions

Toronto, Canada, Sept. 11, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Coinchange, the leading digital-asset management platform for institutional yield, today announced a strategic collaboration with Utila, the secure, all-in-one digital asset operations platform for institutions. 

Coinchange has recently joined Utila’s ecosystem and will leverage its institutional wallet infrastructure to power compliant, multi-strategy yield offerings for businesses worldwide. This collaboration enables Utila’s institutional customers to access Coinchange’s comprehensive suite of yield-as-a-service offerings, providing secure, compliant, and customizable digital asset yield strategies for treasury management and portfolio optimization.

As institutions increasingly seek sophisticated yield solutions for their digital asset holdings, the collaboration addresses critical needs around risk management, regulatory compliance, and operational efficiency. Coinchange and Utila jointly deliver an approach that combines Utila’s enterprise-grade custody and controls with Coinchange’s institutional yield strategies to provide secure, transparent, and risk-managed returns.

Key Value for Utila Clients

• Institutional-Grade Yield: Coinchange’s multi-strategy engine delivers risk-managed returns across CeFi and DeFi, designed for treasury, fintech, and institutions.
• Compliance First: Regulatory-ready architecture aligned with FATF, MiCAensures yield products can be deployed responsibly at scale.
• Comprehensive Asset Support: Yield generation across USDC, USDT, BTC, ETH, and other major digital assets with daily liquidity and transparent pricing.
• Flexible Delivery: Custody-agnostic models via Utila wallets let institutions define compliance, reporting, and payout workflows while Coinchange powers the yield backend.
• Operational Efficiency: Daily liquidity, audit-ready reporting, and seamless treasury integration simplify adoption for financial institutions and fintech platforms.

“Our mission has always been to abstract away the complexity of yield generation and make it effortless for institutions,” said Maxim Galash, CEO of Coinchange. “We’re excited to work with Utila’s institutional clients who are seeking sophisticated yield solutions for their digital asset portfolios, while maintaining the security and compliance standards they require.”

“Coinchange represents the new wave of yield infrastructure – compliant, transparent, and designed for institutions,” said Bentzi Rabi, Co-founder & CEO of Utila. “As the fastest-growing all-in-one institutional wallet platform, we’re excited to partner with Coinchange to give our customers access to institutional-grade yield products, optimize treasury operations, and generate meaningful returns.”

The collaboration enables Utila’s institutional clients to focus on their core business operations while accessing institutional-grade yield solutions through Coinchange’s battle-tested platform. With Coinchange’s track record of over $1 billion traded, 100M+ AUM and comprehensive regulatory framework across multiple jurisdictions, institutional clients can confidently optimize their digital asset yields with appropriate risk controls and transparency.

About Utila
​​​​Utila is the secure, all-in-one digital asset operations platform for institutions. Utila enables organizations of all sizes to securely manage and build on digital assets. Designed for PSPs, stablecoin products, neobanks, custodians, OTC desks, exchanges, and institutional investors, Utila offers secure MPC wallets, granular policy controls, robust APIs, payments and tokenization engine, and integrations with banking, AML, exchanges, DeFi, and more. Trusted by industry leaders, Utila processes over $15B monthly and has secured $90B+ in transactions – growing rapidly. ​​​​​​Learn more at https://utila.io

About Coinchange
Founded in 2018, Coinchange is a leading digital-asset management platform delivering compliant, risk-managed yield for fintechs, wallets, and institutions. Coinchange abstracts hedge-fund-grade strategy engines into regulated, partner-facing infrastructure that integrates via API, web app, or smart contracts, allowing businesses to launch white-labeled or embedded earn products in weeks. With over $1B traded, 100M+ AUM, multiple regulatory licenses, and partnerships across top custody and compliance providers, Coinchange powers stablecoin yield with daily liquidity, transparency, and audit-friendly reporting. Learn more at https://coinchange.io 

CONTACT: Serge Ovsyanik
pr@coinchange.io
Coinchange Financials Inc.

Google security veterans raise $13M seed round for AegisAI to fix email security




Google security veterans raise $13M seed round for AegisAI to fix email security

Accel and Foundation Capital lead seed round in AegisAI which offers the most accurate protection against phishing, malware, and social engineering attacks.

New York, Sept. 10, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — AegisAI, a cybersecurity startup founded by former Google Safe Browsing and reCAPTCHA leaders Cy Khormaee and Ryan Luo, today announced its public launch and funding round with a radical approach to email security: autonomous AI agents that eliminate Phishing, Malware, and Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks before they reach user inboxes — while reducing false positives by up to 90% compared to traditional solutions.

The $13m seed funding round was led by Accel and Foundation Capital. The funding will accelerate product development, expand the engineering team, and support go-to-market efforts as the company scales its autonomous email security platform.

AegisAI founders: Ryan Luo and Cy Khormaee.

AI has created a new wave of threats that rule-based systems are not prepared for. Adversaries can rotate graphics, messaging, and fabricate supporting content to create lures that look more real than ever. A 2024 study showed LLM-generated phishing messages had a significantly higher click-through rate (54%) than human-written ones (12%), proving their effectiveness. 

Modern attackers are also increasingly abusing trusted platforms like Salesforce, Zoom or Google to deliver malicious content, exploiting the inherent trust these services carry to bypass traditional reputation-based security filters and rules that would typically block suspicious domains or unknown senders.

AegisAI autonomous AI agents eliminate Phishing, Malware, and Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks before they reach user inboxes.

AegisAI introduces a paradigm shift: an orchestrated network of real-time AI agents that inspect, analyze, and neutralize email threats autonomously, eliminating the need for static rules, extensive user training, or complex playbooks.

“We’ve spent almost a decade each protecting  billions of users at Google, we’ve seen firsthand how enterprise email defenses are falling behind” said Cy Khormaee, co-founder and CEO at AegisAI. “We’re seeing the sophistication of AI powered attacks increase rapidly while existing email security defences are standing still.  This leaves security leaders without the tools they need to defend their organizations.”

The AegisAI platform integrates seamlessly with Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace via API deployment. Unlike traditional rule-based gateways, its AI agents continuously learn from real-world adversarial behavior and share threat intelligence across organizations, enabling rapid detection and remediation of emerging phishing, spoofing, and executive impersonation tactics.

“We don’t believe in creating more alerts — we believe in creating better security outcomes,” said Ryan Luo, CTO and Co-Founder of AegisAI. “Our mission is to protect organizations without adding operational burden and to give security teams the reliable intelligence they need to focus on what matters most.”

Core Platform Capabilities:

• Autonomous Threat Detection – Real-time analysis of every message component including links, attachments, metadata, QR codes and behavioral patterns.
• Intelligent False Positive Suppression – Customers in production environments have seen up to 90% reduction in False positives (good emails being quarantined) compared to traditional solutions.
• Zero-Configuration operation – Autonomous response, escalation, and policy enforcement requiring minimal SOC setup or maintenance.
• Security-First Design – Built with enterprise-grade encryption and data minimization principles.

AegisAI dashboard.

AegisAI customer Bam Azizi, CEO at Mesh commented: “As a former security founder, I’ve seen the cat-and-mouse game play out for decades—especially in email security, where attackers constantly evolve to trick employees. Aegis is the first solution that truly changes the game. They came into Mesh and stopped attackers in their tracks. Our dashboard shows everything from fuzzing attempts to AI-generated spear phishing and BEC, and Aegis catches them all—without my team wasting time managing rules.” While Ian Cohen, CEO at Lokker said: “ We immediately saw threats to our accounting, engineering, and executives teams in the dashboard. Aegis enabled us to see and stop these threats without our team manually hunting them down.”

The founding team brings deep expertise from Google. Following a successful stealth phase with pilot customers across fintech and tech companies, AegisAI has demonstrated significant improvements in threat detection accuracy and operational efficiency.

Eric Wolford, Partner at Accel, added: “The AI era will inevitably drive disruption in email – the easiest attack vector. We were looking for a team that was AI-native – people who didn’t just whitewash with AI – people who had the DNA and career investments in the development of AI. Cy and Ryan were that right team.  They are both AI-native and have spent an enormous amount of time in email security at Google”

Media images can be found here. 

About AegisAI
AegisAI is pioneering the next generation of email security through autonomous AI agents that detect and respond to email threats without human intervention. Founded by former Google engineers and product leaders with deep expertise in large-scale threat detection, the company delivers radically simplified and more accurate protection against phishing, malware, and social engineering attacks. AegisAI is backed by leading venture capital funds and angel investors. Learn more at https://aegisai.ai.

CONTACT: For further information please contact the AegisAI press office: Cy Khormaee on cy@aegisai.ai 

Valley Wellness to open luxury behavioral health facility in Corona, CA




Valley Wellness to open luxury behavioral health facility in Corona, CA

CORONA, Calif., Sept. 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Valley Wellness, a California-based behavioral health treatment company, has announced the opening of its first facility in Corona, CA. The company has selected a 4.2-acre estate in Corona Hills, and work is almost complete in transforming it into a private luxury wellness retreat. Alex Fuentes, CEO of Valley Wellness, said, “We are thrilled to have this property.” The private 4-acre estate features a 4,500-square-foot house, complete with a pool, spa, and basketball court. “When you think of a private luxury wellness retreat, this is exactly what comes to mind,” Alex said.

Valley Wellness caters to affluent and high-profile professionals seeking discreet, high-level personalized treatment. Their patients pay fees out of pocket with cash, rather than going through insurance, which ensures privacy and anonymity. Top facilities in CA charge up to $100k a month for this level of accommodation, treatment, and discretion. Valley Wellness has assembled a top-notch team of psychiatrists, therapists, and addiction specialists to provide highly personalized treatment, teaching patients how to live after addiction, how to avoid triggers and relapse, and how to create new healthy routines, including proper diet and exercise.

Behavioral health is the fastest-growing sector of healthcare, worth an estimated $42 billion. Treatment facilities that in the past only treated substance and alcohol abuse are now rebranding under behavioral health and treating depression, social anxiety, PTSD, trauma, and abuse, as well as substance and alcohol dependency. This has opened a much larger patient pool and created a huge demand for new facilities. Valley Wellness plans to meet that demand and create a new type of treatment facility, not just focused on the bottom line, but instead treating the root cause of the addiction or disorder.

Valley Wellness has launched an equity crowdfunding offering on PicMiiCrowdfunding, providing investors with the opportunity to be part of this exciting venture. “Everyone has someone close to them that’s battled one of these issues,” Alex said. “People want to give back and help others heal, and being a part of Valley Wellness gives them that opportunity.” Investors in their crowdfunding offering receive equity in the property that helps secure the investment and share in the profits made from patients’ treatment fees. “Imagine knowing that every check you receive means a person healed,” said Alex.

The facility has already obtained all the required licenses and permits to operate and is expected to begin treating patients by the start of the new year.

For more information on Valley Wellness or to invest in their crowdfunding venture, please click here. You can also contact the company directly at Investor@ValleyWellnessTreatment.com

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at: 

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f44a2ae3-a5de-4aab-af28-1948baf3e96e

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c1ba966d-9abc-41c0-8ffd-e7efd747c3ce

CoreNest Kicks Off Global Accelerator in El Salvador with $25M Tokenized VC Fund, Eyes $100M to Power LATAM’s New Silicon Valley




CoreNest Kicks Off Global Accelerator in El Salvador with $25M Tokenized VC Fund, Eyes $100M to Power LATAM’s New Silicon Valley

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, Sept. 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In a landmark moment for the region, CoreNest, a global venture capital firm, officially announces the launch of its operations in El Salvador, with one clear goal: to transform the country into the new Silicon Valley of Latin America.

CoreNest’s arrival brings a pioneering structure to the region: the very first tokenized venture capital fund, a $25 million fund legally incorporated in El Salvador and tokenized on the Coreum chain, paired with a world-class startup accelerator aimed at supporting 300 high-potential startups over the next five years. The initiative is further backed by a $100 million follow-on fund dedicated to scaling the most promising ventures across Latin America.

This milestone has been made possible through a collaborative effort with the Government of El Salvador and key ecosystem partners.

“We’re not here to follow Silicon Valley’s playbook, we’re here to build something bigger. Under the bold leadership of President Bukele, El Salvador has become a global beacon for innovation, freedom, and ambition. Supported by the government and powered by the very first tokenized VC fund on the Coreum chain, CoreNest is here to do more than fund startups. We’re here to transform El Salvador into the Silicon Valley of Latin America, a launchpad for frontier technologies, world-class founders, and region-defining innovation.” Bob Ras, GP & Co-Founder of CoreNest

A new era for Latin America’s tech talent

CoreNest aims to attract startups from across the region, focusing on verticals such as AI, Fintech, Web3, SaaS, E-commerce, and Telecommunications. Each startup will receive $125,000 in equity investment, access to a 12-week in-person acceleration program, global mentorship, and networking with seasoned investors and corporate partners.

The first cohort begins in February 2026, concluding in May with a global Demo Day featuring investors, media, and key ecosystem stakeholders.

Startups will also be able to run real innovation pilots with regional corporate partners, validate solutions, gain traction, and unlock future investment from CVCs and institutional funds.

El Salvador: a new hub for innovation and investment

This launch comes as El Salvador emerges as one of the most exciting destinations for global investment. Thanks to the vision of President Nayib Bukele, the country has become a safe, stable, and forward-looking home for innovation.

“This is not just a launch, it’s the start of a movement. From El Salvador, CoreNest is shaping the future of Latin America. The world will see this nation as a global hub for innovation, talent, and opportunity. El Salvador has already proven it’s ready to lead, and CoreNest is both a result and a driver of that transformation. Our $25 million fund is only the beginning, with a clear vision to scale it to $100 million in the coming years.” – José Roberto Rodríguez, CEO, CoreNest Accelerator

To support global founders, CoreNest will offer a soft landing program, including tax benefits, visa support, and collaborative workspaces.

Apply now: corenest.com/sv

CoreNest: Building LATAM’s future from El Salvador.

About CoreNest
CoreNest Capital is a global venture capital firm investing in bold founders building next-generation infrastructure across AI, robotics, medtech, fintech, and Web3. With a focus on high-impact technologies and long-term value creation, CoreNest provides capital, operating expertise, and deep ecosystem access to support its portfolio at every stage of growth.

CoreNest’s existing portfolio includes category-defining companies such as OpenAI, xAI, SpaceX, Neuralink, and Safe Superintelligence (SSI), among others. Visit www.corenest.com for more information.

A video accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/52d628d2-de41-40dc-958a-aa334972cef9 

CONTACT: Pedro Crespo
Pedro.crespo@corenest.com