At Its El Segundo Innovation Lab, EVgo Tries to Predict the Future of Car Charging

Zac Estrada

Zac Estrada is a reporter covering transportation, technology and policy. A former reporter for The Verge and Jalopnik, his work has also appeared in Automobile Magazine, Autoweek, Pacific Standard, Boston.com and BLAC Detroit. A native of Southern California, he is a graduate of Northeastern University in Boston. You can find him on Twitter at @zacestrada.

At Its El Segundo Innovation Lab, EVgo Tries to Predict the Future of Car Charging
The fastest electric car charging stations can replenish a battery from empty in about an hour. As carmakers from Volvo to Tesla race to make charges speedier and more powerful, the next 10 years mean added pressure on charging stations, from the plugs in homes to the stands at supermarkets.

But it's a delicate dance for the companies responsible for those chargers. Overheating and degradation has plagued some models over the last decade, and even Tesla has reduced the charging speed on some of its cars based on battery health and how often fast charging was used.

"The majority can't take more than a 50 kW per hour charging, and the charge rate doesn't stay at that and declines even more as the battery heats up," said Ivo Steklac, chief operations and technology officer of EVgo, one of the predominant electric vehicle charging companies in the U.S. "In order to manage this intelligently, we didn't think it was wise to dedicate this level of charger to vehicles when the majority of them can't take it."

With EV technology evolving at such a rapid clip, EVgo is grappling to make sure its charging stations are outfitted to handle the newest and most powerful electric cars. The company has been pouring resources into figuring out not only where and how many chargers should be placed across the country, but also issues that users might face when pulling up to a station to get some juice for their car. In April it opened a 4,000 square-foot Innovation Lab in El Segundo.

Engineers there are trying to work out a number of hardware, software and logistics problems — some of which exist now, and some that might become apparent later, as batteries get bigger and vehicles can charge more quickly to eventually replace the lines at gas stations.

EVgo, which went public July 2 after an SPAC merger with Climate Change Crisis Real Impact I Acquisition Corp. now has more than 800 chargers dotted across the U.S. as the Biden administration tries to jumpstart an electric vehicle revolution. But the market share remains small as Americans groan about range and access to car chargers.

"We created this lab to do a number of tests, from electric to physical and mechanical," said Steklac. "EV manufacturers are placing their charging ports in all sorts of places on the cars so they can reduce the length of wiring for these very high-powered cables."

It follows, then, that one of EVgo's tests at the lab includes a cable reach analysis to figure out not only an acceptable length for a charging cable, but also a manageable weight for not only the average driver, but shorter people or those with disabilities. EVgo wants to banish problems like pulling up to a gas pump when the car's fuel door is on the opposite side.

EVgo's lab engineers are also busy considering EV charging times. When the company was first installing chargers a decade ago, a charging rate of 50 kilowatts per hour was considered more than sufficient for drivers. Today's Tesla's Superchargers have a 120 kWh rate, while Volkswagen-owned Electrify America is building stations with 350 kWh-capable chargers. But only a few EVs on sale now can handle that charge rate, so Steklac said its chargers have to allow for significant disparities between vehicles.

Similarly, EVgo is looking at how extensive fast charging affects the longevity of an EV's battery pack.

"The majority (of models) can't take more than a 50 kW per hour charging, and the charge rate doesn't stay at that and declines even more as the battery heats up," Steklac said. "In order to manage this intelligently, we didn't think it was wise to dedicate this level of charger to vehicles when the majority of them can't take it."

Steklac said designing the next generation of chargers to go with the next generation of electric vehicles is becoming important as the market becomes less of a niche. EVgo's CEO Cathy Zoi said during the company's Wall Street debut that the EV market in the United States is estimated to grow from just over 1% share of the passenger car segment in 2020 to more than 10% by 2030, just before state mandates like California's go into effect for new vehicle sales.

Even without the Biden administration's 500,000 EV charger pledge, Steklac believes there needs to be 50,000 stations just to support the existing market. And that doesn't even include commercial vehicles, ride sharing services like Uber and Lyft or buses and postal delivery vans that are high on the White House's list to electrify.

EVgo's automaker partnerships currently extend to General Motors and Nissan, both of which sell EVs in the U.S., and are about to introduce new, longer-range models. The charging company touts its network as the largest for fast chargers in the country, with 800 stations across 34 states.

In California, Steklac said electric car hotbeds Los Angeles, San Diego and the San Francisco Bay areas are well-served, but acknowledges there are gaps in the infrastructure. He said the innovation lab uses an algorithm and purchase data to determine where EV owners live to determine where to put new charging stations.

Shopping and entertainment centers are EVgo's target for fast charging hubs right now. Kroger and Whole Foods are among its grocery store partners, too.

"The average American goes to the grocery store twice a week and spends 30 to 45 minutes there," Steklac said. "We target those, we target pharmacies, fast casual restaurants where you spend an hour or less. These include malls and parking garages, particularly in urban areas."

Steklac said the company is also talking with regional transit agencies, as well as Amtrak where there are EVgo charging stations at Washington, D.C.'s Union Station, because he said the mentality is still to "partner with anyone and everyone" in this still-early EV era.

Because while automakers and analysts expect home stations to be the way most EV owners will charge their vehicles in the long term, Steklac said that won't be the solution for every household and won't allow for the electrification of vehicles as quickly as lawmakers want. That's why the teams at the Innovation Lab have plenty of work to do over the next decade.

"Public charging is there to augment if you have home charging, but it's there to be a reliable source if you don't," Steklac said.

LA Tech Week 2025: Monday’s Event Lineup

LA Tech Week 2025 begins Monday, October 13, with a citywide program built to inform and connect. Start with morning coffee meetups, drop into afternoon workshops, then close with evening gatherings that keep ideas flowing. The schedule below is organized by neighborhood to help you navigate Monday efficiently and make the most of Day 1.

BEVERY HILLS

8:30 AM

11:00 AM

6:00 PM

6:30 PM

  • Tech for Good: Building Human-Centered Innovation: See Details Here
    Evolving Potential, CoachLabs.ai, Light Dao

BRENTWOOD

9:00 AM

  • How Tech Executives Can End Homelessness: See Details Here
    Better Angels United, Inc.

BURBANK

1:00 PM

CENTURY CITY

6:00 PM

CULVER CITY

8:00 AM - 6:00 PM

3:00 PM - 7:30 PM

EL SEGUNDO

10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

5:00 PM - 9:00 PM

HAWTHORNE

6:00 PM

  • Startup seed and pre-seed funding through grants: See Details Here
    Ekvacio Venture Services

MALIBU

4:30 PM – 6:45 PM

MARINA DEL REY

10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

2:30 PM – 4:30 PM

6:00 PM

  • Women in Climate Tech Happy Hour: *Invite Only*
    Sawubona

MID CITY

10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

5:00 PM – 6:00 PM

  • Return to Vision: A Female Founder's Reset for Clarity, Leadership & Growth: See Details Here
    Immersive Impact, Marketing with Mari

PASADENA

5:30 PM

  • Beautéverse: Where beauty +fashion Tech meet: See Details Here
    Beaute in Tech, The Foundry at Atelier, Candelitas

PLAYA VISTA

5:30 PM – 8:00 PM

  • Perform at your Peak: See Details Here
    Product Advisory Collective (PAC), Swift Insights

5:00 PM

  • The AI-Powered Storyteller: Making MarComms a Growth Driver for Tech Companies: See Details Here
    Arteria.io, Ketchum

SANTA MONICA

6:00 AM

7:30 AM

7:30 AM - 3:30 PM

  • Pitch Masters: See Details Here
    iNov8 Capital, Core Family Office, StartupStarter

7:30 AM

  • LA Tech Week Surfing and Tech Networking Meetup: See Details Here
    Cake Equity, Stifel Bank, DLA Piper, TenOneTen, Progression

8:15 AM – 10:30 AM

  • HIIT the Ground Running: Founder + Investor Bootcamp @ Barry’s: See Details Here
    Fenwick

8:00 AM

  • 7500 sq ft venue & speakeasy available: *Invite Only*
    Sportsfest

8:00 AM

9:00 AM

10:00 AM

  • Ganas Ventures Coffee
    Ganas Ventures

10:00 AM - 9:00 PM

  • STARTUP WORLD CUP REGIONAL PITCH 25: See Details Here
    Syndicate AI, Startup World Cup, Alumni Ventures, Hustle Fund

10:00 AM - 11:30 AM

  • 🇧🇷 Brazil Tech for Earth - Innovation & Sustainability: See Details Here
    Brazil California Chamber of Commerce

11:00 AM

  • 2nd Annual LADYDAYDAO #buildinpublic event LA TECH WEEK: *Invite Only*
    TYME INC., SilverDoor / AZOS

12:00 PM

  • Investors at the Cutting Edge Luncheon: See Details Here
    Actuate Ventures, Mercury

12:15 PM

12:30 PM - 2:30 PM

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

2:00 PM - 3:00 PM

4:00 PM

4:00 PM

4:00 PM - 6:30 PM

  • Mission 008: WhizGirls Academy x Two Bit Circus present : The Great LA Tech Week Mystery 2025: See Details Here
    PlayWerks Inc presents WhizGirls Academy, Two Bit Circus, Startup Starter

4:00 PM - 8:00 PM

  • The Wealth Salons Presents: OGs & LPs.: See Details Here
    The Wealth Salons, DVRGNT Ventures, Musa Capital

4:00 PM

  • Ask a Psychic Medium: Tapping Into your Intuition in Tech: See Details Here
    What to Where

5:00 PM

  • The Wealth Salons Presents: OGs & LPs - LA: *Invite Only*
    The Wealth Salons, DVRGNT Ventures, Musa Capital

5:00 PM - 7:30 PM

5:00 PM - 8:00 PM

  • The Future of Developer Experience: See Details Here
    Deskree, Arthur AI, Grafana Labs, Runware

5:00 PM

  • Unlock Apple's Corporate Advantage for your Startup!: See Details Here
    iStore by St. Moritz

5:00 PM

  • Founders' Happy Hour at Esters: See Details Here
    Objective, AllianceBernstein, Law Office of Langston A. Tolbert

5:30 PM

  • OBLIVIOUS: DEATH OF A JOB....The Movie Premiere: See Details Here
    AI Music Video Show, Death of a Job

5:30 PM

  • Techstars Startup Weekend: Consumer x AI by DigitalOcean: See Details Here
    Catalyst Bay, Empat, Techstars

5:30 PM – 8:00 PM

  • AI Builders & Innovators in Healthcare: See Details Here
    Product Advisory Collective (PAC), Coalition for Health AI (CHAI)

5:30 PM - 8:30 PM

  • Mission Matters: AI’s impact on Entertainment Investing: See Details Here
    Mission Matters

6:00 PM

6:00 PM - 8:30 PM

6:00 PM

  • Speed Networking for Tech Professionals: See Details Here
    Feathr, Los Angeles Fun Events

6:00 PM

6:00 PM

6:00 PM

6:00 PM - 8:00 PM

6:00 PM - 8:30 PM

  • Cinema 2.0: Technology, Storytelling, and the Future of Film: See Details Here
    Strelitzia Entertainment Syndicate

6:00 PM

6:00 PM - 9:00 PM

6:30 PM

  • Black LA Tech Week Mixer: See Details Here
    Tech Circles: The Gathering Spot, Tec Leimert, NSBE| LA, Black Professional Network

6:30 PM

7:00 PM

  • Decoded: The Tech Behind Music
    HITMKR

7:30 PM

  • Comedy- Tech Pitch Roast Show- Oct. 13: See Details Here
    Tech Pitch Roast Comedy LLC

7:30 PM - 9:30 PM

8:00 PM

  • AfterHours.LA - The Official Unofficial LA Tech Week Nightcap: See Details Here
    Salesbricks, StreetStop, Trinet

VENICE

9:00 AM – 11:00 AM

9:00 AM – 5:00 PM

10:00 AM

10:00 AM

11:00 AM

5:30 PM - 7:00 PM

  • The Human House: Connect By Design: See Details Here
    Human To Human, House of Coda

5:30 PM - 7:00 PM

6:00 PM

  • Product & Design Happy Hour: *Invite Only*
    Product Managers Association of Los Angeles

6:15 PM - 9:00 PM

6:30 PM

VIRTUAL LA

8:00 AM

8:00 AM

8:00 AM

9:00 AM - 9:30 AM

WEST HOLLYWOOD

8:30 AM

  • AI that Amplifies Human Connection: See Details Here
    Wildwood Ventures, Entrepreneur VC, Mostest

5:30 AM – 8:00 PM

  • Hollywood’s New Golden Age: Thriving in an Age of Disruption: See Details Here
    Workday, Boston Consulting Group, Globalization Partners

6:15 PM

  • ElevenLabs - Cocktails & Convos: *Invite Only*
    ElevenLabs

7:00 PM

  • Apply to Pitch Influencers -Influence Meets Venture Dinner: See Details Here
    Bulletpitch, Justworks, UBS

WESTSIDE

2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Each session is a chance to learn, connect, and explore the ideas shaping LA’s tech ecosystem. For full details, RSVP information, and any venue specifics, visit the official Tech Week calendar. Enjoy the kickoff to LA Tech Week 2025!

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California Passes Landmark AI Law as Russell Westbrook Backs Eazewell

🔦 Spotlight

Good Morning Los Angeles,

What do a new California law and Russell Westbrook’s latest startup have in common? AI at its most powerful and most personal.

California has officially passed the nation’s first AI safety law (SB 53). Signed by Governor Gavin Newsom, the measure requires companies developing large scale AI models to disclose risk assessments and safety testing. On the surface, it sounds procedural. But in practice, it is a potential reset on how quickly AI companies ship new products. For years, the narrative has been “innovation first, oversight later.” With this law, California is betting that transparency can move in tandem with progress. Whether it becomes a model for federal policy or a cautionary tale depends on how the industry responds.

Meanwhile, Eazewell, a newly launched startup co-founded by NBA All Star Russell Westbrook, is tackling one of the most difficult spaces in tech: end of life planning. The company offers an AI platform designed to guide families through complex care transitions. It is not the kind of space most founders rush into. It is emotional, often uncomfortable, and full of fragmented systems. But precisely because of that, the potential impact is significant. By blending AI with healthcare navigation, Eazewell is aiming to make one of life’s hardest processes less overwhelming. Westbrook’s involvement draws attention, but the real story is a startup willing to bring technology into conversations many people would rather avoid.

Taken together, these stories capture the stretch of AI right now. On one end, lawmakers are moving to contain its risks. On the other, founders are pushing it into the most intimate corners of our lives. It is not often that state legislation and end of life care land in the same conversation, but that is the reality of AI in 2025.

🤝 Venture Deals

      LA Companies

      • Midi Health raised $50M in a Series C round led by Advance Venture Partners. The women’s health startup, which focuses on perimenopause, menopause, and midlife care, claims a $150 million revenue run rate and is now building its own AI powered search engine tailored for women’s health. The funding will support scaling operations, expanding the longevity and care services it offers, and investing in AI and infrastructure to advance its platform. - learn more
      • PINC Technologies, a Caltech spinout, announced a $6.8M Seed+ round led by Quantonation, with backing from investors including Wilson Hill Ventures, Freeflow Ventures, Hamamatsu Ventures, Qubits Ventures, Santec, and the Caltech Seed Fund. The company develops integrated nonlinear photonic devices and circuits aimed at making scalable nonlinear photonics practical for real-world applications. The funding will be used to accelerate commercialization, scale the team, and bring the technology built in Caltech’s Nonlinear Photonics Lab into broader markets. - learn more
      • Swan announced a Series C financing to support the launch of Swan International, expanding its concierge Bitcoin wealth services globally under U.S.-regulated custody. The company also added a Head of Private Wealth to its team to lead this expansion into new markets. This move aims to position Swan as a high-touch, cross-border wealth platform anchored in crypto. - learn more
      • Vatom announced a strategic investment led by the Hilton Family Office, supporting its mission to power next-generation digital finance engagement. The funding will help Vatom deepen its infrastructure for tokenized assets, NFTs, and blockchain experiences across Web3 ecosystems. This injection positions the company to expand its reach and build tools that make digital finance more immersive and user-centric. - learn more

      LA Venture Funds

      • Powerhouse Capital led a growth funding round for Five Iron Golf UAE’s franchisees, backed by a network of investors and professional athletes. The capital is targeted to fuel expansion, new venues, and enhanced operations across the UAE market. This investment reflects confidence in pairing tech-driven sports entertainment with scalable hospitality models. - learn more
      • MTech Capital remains a backer as CyberCube announces a fresh infusion of more than $180M led by Spectrum Equity. The cyber risk analytics firm is using the capital to accelerate product innovation, expand globally, and deepen its presence across insurance, reinsurance, and broking markets. The investment will help CyberCube scale solutions that quantify cyber risk at portfolio levels and power smarter underwriting decisions. - learn more
      • Helena participated in Phaidra’s $50M Series B round, joining lead investor Collaborative Fund and backers like Index Ventures and NVIDIA. Phaidra builds AI systems to optimize energy, cooling, and operational efficiency in data centers, striving to help infrastructure run smarter. The new funding will be used to scale its platform, deepen customer deployments, and expand its reach in facility control and AI automation. - learn more
      • Lasagna joined DeepWork Capital, Florida Opportunity Fund, and Lookout Ventures in backing Circuitry.ai’s seed financing round. Circuitry.ai offers a Decision Intelligence platform that powers “Autonomous Service Journeys” for manufacturers, layering AI advisors, agents, and analytics to optimize service operations. The funding will help scale engineering and go-to-market teams, deepen integrations with service platforms, and expand the solution across industries like automotive, industrial systems, and medical devices. - learn more
      • B Capital led a $64M seed round in Axiom Math, the startup founded by a Stanford dropout aiming to build an AI system that not only solves the hardest math problems, but also invents new ones. Axiom has pulled talent from top places like Meta to push toward next-gen mathematical reasoning. The funds will support scaling research, expanding the team, and accelerating their vision of AI that thinks deeper in pure and applied math. - learn more
      • Alexandria Venture Investments and Wedbush Healthcare Partners joined the $205M capital raise for Crystalys Therapeutics, which emerged from stealth mode to fund late-stage trials of its gout treatment. The San Diego based biotech is pushing forward dotinurad, a once-daily oral drug being tested across U.S. and European trials for patients who don’t respond to first-line therapies. With this backing, Crystalys aims to fast-track clinical development and bring a needed second-line gout treatment to market. - learn more
      • GordonMD Global Investments joined new and existing backers in Star Therapeutics’ oversubscribed $125M Series D financing round. The biotech, co-led by Sanofi Ventures and Viking Global, is deploying the capital to push forward its lead program VGA039, a monoclonal antibody targeting bleeding disorders. The funds will help accelerate its clinical trials and advance its pipeline toward commercialization. - learn more
      • Hawke Ventures joined a funding round in Tie, which raised $10M in Series A to support its AI identity platform for e-commerce brands. Tie helps retailers reclaim hidden website visitors by identifying and enriching anonymous traffic to build better marketing audiences. The capital will go toward scaling the team, deepening integrations with commerce and marketing stacks, and expanding reach among D2C brands. - learn more
      • Foxhog Ventures led a ₹44.37 crore (~$5.3M USD) seed investment in Assessli, a Kolkata deep-tech startup developing what it calls “Large Behavioural Models” (LBMs) that combine genomics, psychology, and digital life data into highly personalized AI twins. The funding will support Assessli’s expansion into the U.S. and U.K., accelerate product commercialization, and increase its technical hiring to scale out its platform. - learn more
      • Bonfire Ventures participated in Alvys’ $40M Series B round, alongside RTP Global, Alpha Square Group, Titanium Ventures, Picus Capital, and others. Alvys offers an AI powered transportation management system (TMS) that streamlines freight operations including dispatch, load management, billing and analytics by automating workflows and integrating across platforms. The funding will help the company build out enterprise features, scale engineering, deepen integrations, and accelerate growth in the logistics and freight sector. - learn more
      • M13 participated in an $11M Series A round for Anything, an AI platform that turns natural-language prompts into production-ready mobile and web applications. Rather than just generating prototypes, Anything’s backend includes infrastructure like authentication, payments, and storage under the hood. With this funding, the company will scale development, expand its user base (now over 700,000), and deepen its platform capabilities to support full app deployment. - learn more
      • Halogen Ventures closed a $30M Fund III and has committed to invest in early stage startups in Alabama, becoming the first out of state VC to partner with Innovate Alabama’s InvestAL program. They have already begun deploying capital into the state, backing startups like Moxi, Auditocity and Croux, and are actively running pitch events to build a local pipeline. - learn more

      LA Exits

      • Griffin Club has been acquired by Bay Club, deepening Bay Club’s footprint in Los Angeles. Griffin Club is a legacy athletic, aquatic, and social club in West LA, known for features like tennis and pickleball courts, pools, wellness classes, and high-end amenities. Bay Club intends to bring Griffin into its LA campus and integrate it into its broader network of fitness and lifestyle clubs. - learn more
      • Beverly Hills Rejuvenation Center has been acquired by Motivant, with Sarah Gabriel installed as its new CEO. The deal brings the med spa franchise into Motivant’s portfolio, aligning it with a growth-focused investment platform. Gabriel’s appointment signals a strategic push to leverage new leadership and scale operations under Motivant’s guidance. - learn more

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            Salt AI Secures $10M to Untangle Healthcare’s Toughest Workflows

            🔦 Spotlight

            Hello Los Angeles,

            Not every startup raise deserves the spotlight, but this week’s news from Salt AI is worth paying attention to. The LA based company just closed a $10 million round led by Morpheus Ventures with participation from Struck Capital, Marbruck Investments and CoreWeave. The goal is to expand what it calls “contextual AI,” and if it works, it could quietly change how some of the most complex corners of healthcare get untangled.

            Healthcare is notorious for slow, clunky systems. Even the smallest workflow, like drug trial data, clinical documentation, or compliance reviews, can drag on for weeks because the tools were never built for speed. Salt AI is betting that the fix is not flashy consumer apps or billion parameter models, but something more practical: AI that slots directly into the day to day grind of life sciences. Their platform lets non technical teams visually build and deploy workflows that would normally take months of coding. Drag, drop, done.

            It sounds simple, but the implications are not. Imagine a biopharma team testing a new drug, able to cut through compliance hurdles in days instead of months. Or clinical researchers spinning up experiments and seeing usable results in real time. Salt AI’s pitch is not about replacing scientists, it is about giving them back time in an industry where time can literally mean lives.

            The new capital will help scale engineering, grow its customer footprint, and push further into healthcare and biopharma. But more importantly, it gives Salt AI the chance to prove that “contextual AI” is more than a buzzword. If they succeed, the company will not just chip away at bottlenecks, it could reshape how innovation itself moves through one of the world’s most heavily regulated and mission critical industries.

            🤝 Venture Deals

                LA Companies

                • Bonsai Health raised $7M in a seed round led by Bonfire Ventures and Wonder Ventures. The Santa Monica based company builds an agentic AI platform that automates front office healthcare workflows, things like patient outreach, scheduling and clinical follow-ups, working behind the scenes to keep patients connected to care and reduce administrative burden. It plans to use the funding to accelerate its specialty AI agents, expand into new medical specialties, and scale its commercialization nationwide. - learn more
                • Genstore raised a $10M Seed round led by Weimob, with participation from Lighthouse Founders’ Fund. The Los Angeles based startup is building an AI-native e-commerce platform that lets merchants launch and run online stores using conversational prompts, automating everything from product listings and copywriting to customer service. The funds will go toward accelerating product development, expanding into new markets, and refining features that simplify online commerce for small and midsized sellers. - learn more
                • TransAstra secured a $5M investment to scale its asteroid capture technology in partnership with NASA. The company aims to advance systems that can snag and repurpose small bodies in space, contributing to sustainable space infrastructure and debris mitigation. With this funding, TransAstra will expand development, deepen its relationship with NASA, and accelerate deployment of its capture hardware. - learn more

                LA Venture Funds

                • Fika Ventures led a seed round investing in MaxHome, joining BBG Ventures, Four Acres and 1Sharpe Ventures. MaxHome is building an AI-native platform focused on automating real estate transaction coordination, the messy, manual work that slows deals. Fika backed the team because it sees a huge opportunity in streamlining broker workflows, reducing errors, and improving the experience for agents and homebuyers alike. - learn more
                • MANTIS Ventures joined NEA, Sequoia, NVIDIA, J.P. Morgan and others in leading a $50M Series B for Factory, valuing the AI coding company at $300 million. Factory builds “droids,” AI agents that automate software development tasks across environments, and claims their platform now tops the Terminal Bench benchmark. With this capital, Factory aims to expand enterprise adoption, deepen integrations, and scale its engineering team globally. - learn more
                • SafeHill (formerly Tacticly) announced a $2.6M pre-seed round led by Mucker Capital, with participation from Chingona Ventures, Techstars, Chicago Early Growth Ventures, The Source Groups, and others. The Chicago-based cybersecurity startup is launching from stealth with SecureIQ, a continuous Threat Exposure Management platform that blends AI-driven testing with human validation to help organizations find and shore up attack paths. The funding will be used to expand engineering, enhance AI-assisted ethical hacking, deepen enterprise partnerships, and broaden compliance and monitoring capabilities. - learn more
                • Prototype Capital was among the investors in Nilo Technologies’ $4M seed round, alongside backers like Supercell, a16z Speedrun, KFund, and Flex Capital. Nilo is building an AI native 3D creation platform that makes game development more accessible, letting creators build interactive worlds in their browser without complex tooling. The funding will help accelerate product development, bring in more users as “Founding Builders,” and expand the platform’s capabilities for real time, multiplayer creation. - learn more
                • Rebel Fund participated in a $7.5M funding round for Indian fintech Gold Firm Gullak backed by Y Combinator. Gullak offers digital gold savings and lending solutions targeted at underbanked consumers in India. Rebel Fund’s investment will help Gullak scale operations, deepen financial inclusion, and expand its product offerings. - learn more
                • B Capital joined Wellington Management, General Catalyst and others in a $400M funding round for Capital Rx, which is rebranding as Judi Health. The company, which operates a pharmacy benefits management platform, will use the capital to expand into full-spectrum health benefits, integrating medical, dental and vision claims processing with its existing PBM capabilities. The move positions Judi Health as a unified tech backbone for benefits administration across employer and plan clients. - learn more
                • Supply Change Capital joined a seed funding round that raised $4.7M for Helios AI, a startup building the first AI co-pilot for food and agriculture supply chains. Helios’ platform combines climate modeling, commodity forecasting, and real-time data to help buyers and suppliers make smarter decisions in volatile markets. The funding will be used to scale the product, expand data coverage globally, and bring its AI tools to more players across the agri-food sector. - learn more

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