HONG KONG, 17 septembre 2026 — D-Robotics, l’un des principaux fournisseurs d’infrastructures de développement en robotique, a annoncé aujourd’hui la clôture d’un tour de table de série C de 400 millions de dollars américains. Ce tour de financement a permis d’obtenir un investissement stratégique de la part d’une entreprise mondiale de premier plan du secteur de l’internet ainsi que des plus grandes institutions d’investissement, tout en conservant la participation des actionnaires existants.

Ce financement vise à renforcer la gamme de puces Sunrise™ à tous les niveaux de calcul et à mettre au point une plateforme logicielle couvrant l’intégralité de la chaîne de développement robotique. L’ensemble constitue une infrastructure matérielle-logicielle intégrée destinée aux robots IA qui prend en charge tous les scénarios de développement, des catégories de robots arrivés à maturité aux robots humanoïdes polyvalents.

Au cours du premier semestre de 2026, le chiffre d’affaires de D-Robotics a enregistré une augmentation exponentielle en glissement annuel, les livraisons cumulées de puces de la série Sunrise™ ont dépassé les 8 millions d’unités, son activité d’IA incarnée est entrée en phase de production de masse, et son infrastructure d’IA intégrant matériel et logiciel a été validée à grande échelle.

La puce informatique Sunrise™ S600 dédiée à l’IA incarnée, lancée par l’entreprise en novembre 2025, a été adoptée en l’espace de six mois par plus de 20 clients de premier plan dans le domaine de l’IA incarnée (entre autres TARS, Spirit AI, X Square Robot, UBTECH, PaXini Tech, Astribot, FOURIER et Booster Robotics). Ces partenaires couvrent les domaines suivants : robots humanoïdes, robots industriels sur roues, fabrication flexible de produits électroniques grand public, modèles de fondation incarnés et perception omnimodale, la plupart de ces technologies faisant déjà l’objet d’une production en série.

Le programme D-Robotics Gravity, qui vient d’être mis à jour, propose aux innovateurs du secteur de la robotique un accompagnement de bout en bout, allant du développement de produits et du choix de la chaîne d’approvisionnement à la stratégie de mise sur le marché et aux tournées de présentation en vue des levées de fonds. Le programme a déjà épaulé plus de 500 innovateurs en robotique dans 10 domaines de pointe (notamment les robots humanoïdes en source ouverte, l’entraînement sportif par IA, les modèles d’IA incarnée, l’imagerie par IA et les robots d’assistance à domicile), plusieurs de ces produits étant aujourd’hui commercialisés à grande échelle à la suite de leur succès retentissant.

Plus de 500 universités et plus de 100 000 développeurs issus de plus de 20 pays ont désormais créé, sur la base de la plateforme de D-Robotics, des centaines de types de robots intelligents au service de millions d’utilisateurs à travers le monde.

À propos de D-Robotics

D-Robotics est l’un des principaux fournisseurs d’infrastructures de développement en robotique, qui propose par exemple des plateformes de calcul à haute performance, des systèmes d’exploitation et des applications. Ses plateformes alimentées par ses puces Sunrise™ et ses kits de développement robotique RDK™ sont à l’origine d’une large gamme de robots IA, allant des robots humanoïdes et quadrupèdes aux robots destinés aux services à domicile et aux robots de compagnie, en passant par les robots mobiles autonomes utilisés en logistique. À ce jour, plus de 500 universités et plus de 100 000 développeurs répartis dans plus de 20 pays ont créé sur la plateforme de D-Robotics des centaines de robots IA au service de millions d’utilisateurs à travers le monde. Pour en savoir plus, rendez-vous sur en.d-robotics.cc

*TOPS effectif avec une densité de 1/2, TPP (performance de traitement totale) < 4 800

HONGKONG, 17. September 2026 — D-Robotics, ein führender Anbieter von Infrastruktur für die Robotikentwicklung, gab heute den Abschluss einer Serie-C-Finanzierungsrunde in Höhe von 400 Millionen US-Dollar bekannt.  An dieser Runde beteiligten sich ein weltweit führendes Internetunternehmen sowie erstklassige Investmentinstitute mit strategischen Investitionen; zudem gab es weitere Folgeinvestitionen von bestehenden Investoren. 

Die Finanzierung zielt darauf ab, das Produktportfolio der Sunrise™-Chips in allen Rechenleistungsklassen zu erweitern und eine Softwareplattform zu entwickeln, die die gesamte Roboterentwicklungskette abdeckt.  Gemeinsam bilden sie eine integrierte Hardware-Software-Infrastruktur für KI-Roboter, die jedes Entwicklungsszenario unterstützt – von ausgereiften Roboterkategorien bis hin zu universell einsetzbaren humanoiden Robotern.

In der ersten Hälfte des Jahres 2026 stieg der Umsatz von D-Robotics im Vergleich zum Vorjahreszeitraum um ein Vielfaches, die kumulierten Auslieferungen der Chips der Sunrise™-Serie überstiegen 8 Millionen Einheiten, das Geschäft mit eingebetteter KI (Embodied AI) trat in die Massenproduktionsphase ein und die hardware-software-integrierte KI-Infrastruktur des Unternehmens durchlief eine groß angelegte Validierung.

Der Sunrise™ S600, der im November 2025 eingeführte Rechenchip für verkörperte KI des Unternehmens, wurde innerhalb von sechs Monaten von mehr als 20 führenden Kunden im Bereich der verkörperten KI übernommen – darunter TARS, Spirit AI, X Square Robot, UBTECH, PaXini Tech, Astribot, FOURIER und Booster Robotics.  Diese Partner decken Bereiche wie humanoide Roboter, industrielle Radroboter, flexible Fertigung von Unterhaltungselektronik, verkörperte Basismodelle und omnimodale Wahrnehmung ab, wobei sich die meisten bereits in der Serienproduktion befinden. 

Das kürzlich erweiterte D-Robotics Gravity Program (DGP) bietet Innovatoren im Bereich Robotik umfassende Unterstützung, die von der Produktentwicklung über die Auswahl der Lieferkette bis hin zur Markteinführungsstrategie und Roadshows zur Kapitalbeschaffung reicht. Bis heute hat das Programm mehr als 500 Robotik-Innovatoren in 10 Zukunftskategorien unterstützt – darunter Open-Source-Humanoide, KI-Sportcoaching, verkörperte KI-Modelle, KI-Bildgebung und Heimbegleitroboter –, wobei mehrere Produkte zu Durchbruchserfolgen wurden und mittlerweile in großem Maßstab ausgeliefert werden.

Bis heute haben mehr als 500 Universitäten und über 100.000 Entwickler aus mehr als 20 Ländern Hunderte von KI-Robotern auf der Plattform von D-Robotics entwickelt, die weltweit von Millionen Nutzern genutzt werden.

Informationen zu D-Robotics

D-Robotics ist ein führender Anbieter von Infrastruktur für die Roboterentwicklung, die Hochleistungs-Rechenplattformen, Betriebssysteme und Anwendungen umfasst.  Angetrieben von den Sunrise™-Chips und RDK™-Robotik-Entwicklerkits treiben die Plattformen eine breite Palette an KI-Robotern an – von humanoiden Robotern und Vierbeinern bis hin zu Haushalts-, Begleit- und Logistik-AMRs.  Bis heute haben mehr als 500 Universitäten und über 100.000 Entwickler in mehr als 20 Ländern Hunderte von KI-Robotern auf der Plattform von D-Robotics entwickelt, die weltweit Millionen von Nutzern zur Verfügung stehen. Weitere Informationen finden Sie unter en.d-robotics.cc

*Effektive TOPS bei einer Sparsity von 1/2, TPP (Total Processing Performance) < 4800

-D-Robotics completa una ronda de financiación Serie C de 400 millones de dólares, impulsando un auge de categorías de productos en la industria de la robótica

HONG KONG, 17 de septiembre de 2026 — D-Robotics, proveedor líder de infraestructura para el desarrollo de robótica, anunció hoy el cierre de una ronda de financiación de Serie C por valor de 400 millones de dólares estadounidenses. La ronda atrajo la inversión estratégica de una destacada empresa global de Internet, junto con un grupo de instituciones de inversión de primer nivel, y continuas inversiones de seguimiento por parte de los accionistas existentes.

La financiación tiene como objetivo mejorar la cartera de productos Sunrise™ Chip en todos los niveles de computación y desarrollar una plataforma de software que abarque toda la cadena de desarrollo de robots. Juntos, conforman una infraestructura integrada de hardware y software para robots con IA, capaz de dar soporte a cualquier escenario de desarrollo, desde categorías de robots consolidadas hasta robots humanoides de propósito general.

En el primer semestre de 2026, los ingresos de D-Robotics se multiplicaron en términos interanuales, los envíos acumulados de chips de la serie Sunrise™ superaron los 8 millones de unidades, su negocio de IA incorporada en sistemas físicos entró en fase de producción en masa y su infraestructura de IA, que integra hardware y software, completó su validación a gran escala.

El Sunrise™ S600, el chip de computación para IA corpórea de la compañía lanzado en noviembre de 2025, ha sido adoptado por más de 20 clientes líderes en el sector de la IA corpórea en un plazo de seis meses, entre ellos TARS, Spirit AI, X Square Robot, UBTECH, PaXini Tech, Astribot, FOURIER y Booster Robotics. Estos socios abarcan ámbitos como los robots humanoides, los robots industriales con ruedas, la fabricación flexible de electrónica de consumo, los modelos fundacionales de IA corpórea y la percepción omnimodal, contando la mayoría de ellos ya con producción en masa.

El programa D-Robotics Gravity Program (DGP), recientemente renovado, ofrece a los innovadores del sector de la robótica un apoyo integral que abarca desde el desarrollo del producto y la selección de la cadena de suministro hasta la estrategia de salida al mercado (GTM) y las rondas de presentación para la captación de fondos. Hasta la fecha, el programa ha respaldado a más de 500 innovadores en 10 categorías de vanguardia —entre ellas, robots humanoides de código abierto, sistemas de entrenamiento deportivo basados en IA, modelos de IA corporeizada, tecnologías de imagen por IA y robots de compañía para el hogar—, logrando que múltiples productos se conviertan en éxitos rotundos que ya se comercializan a gran escala.

Hoy en día, más de 500 universidades y más de 100.000 desarrolladores de más de 20 países han creado cientos de tipos de robots inteligentes basados en la plataforma de D-Robotics, prestando servicio a millones de usuarios en todo el mundo.

Acerca de D-Robotics

D-Robotics es un proveedor líder de infraestructura para el desarrollo de robótica, que abarca plataformas de computación de alto rendimiento, sistemas operativos y aplicaciones. Impulsadas por sus chips Sunrise™ y sus kits de desarrollo robótico RDK™, sus plataformas potencian una amplia gama de robots con IA, desde modelos humanoides y cuadrúpedos hasta robots de servicio doméstico, de compañía y robots móviles autónomos (AMR) para logística. Hasta la fecha, más de 500 universidades y más de 100.000 desarrolladores en más de 20 países han creado cientos de robots con IA utilizando la plataforma de D-Robotics, prestando servicio a millones de usuarios en todo el mundo. Obtenga más información en en.d-robotics.cc

TOPS efectivos con dispersión (sparsity) de 1/2, TPP (rendimiento de procesamiento total) < 4.800

HONG KONG, Sept. 17, 2026 — D-Robotics, a leading provider of robotics development infrastructure, today announced the closing of a US$400 million Series C funding round. The round attracted strategic investment from a leading global internet company, alongside with top-tier investment institutions, and continued follow-on investments from existing shareholders.

The funding aims to enhance Sunrise™ Chip product portfolio across all computing levels, and to develop a software platform spanning the entire robot development chain. Together, they form an integrated hardware-software infrastructure for AI robots, supporting every development scenario, from mature robot categories to general-purpose humanoid robots.

In the first half of 2026, D-Robotics’ revenue grew several times year-over-year, cumulative shipments of the Sunrise™ series chips exceeded 8 million units, its embodied AI business entered the mass production stage, and its hardware-software integrated AI infrastructure completed large-scale validation.

The Sunrise™ S600, the company’s embodied AI computing chip launched in November 2025, has been adopted by more than 20 leading embodied AI customers within six months — including TARS, Spirit AI, X Square Robot, UBTECH, PaXini Tech, Astribot, FOURIER and Booster Robotics. These partners span humanoid robots, industrial wheeled robots, flexible consumer electronics manufacturing, embodied foundation models and omni-modal perception with the majority already in mass production.

The newly upgraded D-Robotics Gravity Program (DGP) provides robotics innovators with end-to-end support, spanning product development and supply-chain selection to GTM strategy and fundraising roadshows. To date, the program has backed more than 500 robotics innovators across 10 frontier categories — including open-source humanoids, AI sports coaching, embodied AI models, AI imaging and home companion robots — with multiple products becoming breakout successes now shipping at scale.

Today, more than 500 universities and over 100,000 developers from more than 20 countries have created hundreds of types of intelligent robots based on the D-Robotics’ platform, serving millions of users worldwide.

About D-Robotics

D-Robotics is a leading provider of robotics development infrastructure, spanning high-performance computing platforms, operating systems, and applications. Powered by its Sunrise™ chips and RDK™ robotics developer kits, its platforms drive a broad range of AI robots, from humanoids and quadrupeds to home-service, companion, and logistics AMR robots. To date, more than 500 universities and over 100,000 developers across 20+ countries have created hundreds of AI robot on the D-Robotics’ platform, serving millions of users worldwide. Learn more at en.d-robotics.cc

*Effective TOPS with 1/2 Sparsity, TPP(Total Processing Performance)<4800

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore., Sept. 16, 2026 — Rapta^®, a company transforming precision manufacturing through AI-powered quality assurance and process intelligence, today announced the closing of an $8 million funding round. The round was co-led by Voyager Capital and Access Venture Partners, with participation from DeepWork Capital, LongKnife, Elevate Capital, Ringbolt Capital, Portland Seed Fund, BVC, and other existing investors.

The investment will accelerate deployment of Rapta’s Manufacturing Intelligence Platform across defense, aerospace, and other high-precision production environments.

As part of the financing, Diane Fraiman, Managing Director at Voyager Capital, and Kirk Holland, Managing Director at Access Venture Partners, have joined Rapta’s Board of Directors.

“The biggest hurdle to optimizing manufacturing operations isn’t ambition – it’s proprietary, siloed data architectures that scatter production data across systems and make harmonizing processes, scaling, or integrating new technology far harder than it should be,” said Aaron Brown, CEO of Rapta. “Rapta unifies that data into a single, traceable production record so manufacturers can modernize without re-platforming. Diane and Kirk join us at a critical moment in that work, and their experience will help ensure we deliver on our commitment to transform manufacturing in a dramatically changing marketplace.”

Trusted by five of the top ten U.S. defense primes, Rapta builds computer vision and manufacturing intelligence technology that helps keep America’s most critical production lines operating efficiently and reliably.

“Manufacturing has lagged in automation, but robotics, AI/ML, and computer vision are now delivering on the assembly line at scale. By targeting quality – a leading cause of delays and cost overruns – Rapta delivers immediate ROI,” said Diane Fraiman. “The company’s strong growth, experienced team, and ability to deliver measurable value in complex manufacturing environments give us tremendous confidence in its potential. We are excited to support Rapta as it expands its platform and helps strengthen the future of American manufacturing.”

Rapta helps these manufacturers scale production while improving quality, traceability, and workforce performance. Legacy data architectures and proprietary controls limit the automation and agile, modular processes that manufacturers need to meet modern production demands.

For high-precision manufacturers and industries with strict compliance requirements, process traceability is critical. Rapta automates the tracking of parts, process steps, tools, operators, and quality evidence while connecting traceability across production lines. This approach reduces manual documentation, limits human error, and replaces fragmented tracing procedures with a unified production record.

“Rapta provides work instructions and quality verification, in real time as the work happens, to error-proof the manufacturing process. We contextualize data across IT and OT systems to provide complete execution visibility, traceable build intelligence, and real-time decision making,” said Matthew Thornton, Co-Founder and CMO of Rapta.

“As a leading Tier 2 manufacturer of RF microwave and antenna solutions for mission-critical defense programs, TRAK TECOM knows that manufacturing excellence is built on precision, technical expertise, and uncompromising quality,” said Carole Hutchins, President of TRAK TECOM. “Rapta provides our teams with real-time visibility throughout the manufacturing process, helping us capture critical manufacturing knowledge and make it readily available across our organization. That allows our employees to complete complex builds more efficiently, shortens the learning curve for new team members, and strengthens first-pass quality. The result is greater operational efficiency, increased manufacturing confidence, and a trusted digital record that supports our customers and supply chain.”

About Rapta
Rapta helps aerospace, defense, space, electronics, advanced manufacturing, and sustainment organizations improve production readiness, quality, traceability, and workforce performance. Its Manufacturing Intelligence Platform delivers real-time guidance, verification, and operational decision support where work happens, helping manufacturers accelerate ramp-rates, expand capacity, standardize expert workforce performance, and generate trusted evidence for qualification, certification, and audit requirements. Rapta deploys on premises within the customer’s existing network, keeping production data on the customer’s infrastructure.

Learn more at rapta.ai

Mission: Systematically reduce the barriers to trusted, scalable manufacturing.

Small Business | CAGE 9DL78

For more information, visit www.rapta.ai or contact [email protected]

Rapta^® is a registered trademark of Rapta, Inc.

SOURCE Rapta

NEW YORK, Sept. 16, 2026 — Haymaker Acquisition Corp V (the “Company”) announced today the pricing of its initial public offering of 25,000,000 units at a price of $10.00 per unit. The units are expected to be listed on The New York Stock Exchange LLC (“NYSE”) and begin trading on September 17, 2026, under the ticker symbol “HYACU.” Each unit consists of one Class A ordinary share and one-third of one redeemable warrant, each whole warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one Class A ordinary share at a price of $11.50 per share, subject to certain adjustments. No fractional warrants will be issued upon separation of the units and only whole warrants will trade. An amount equal to $10.00 per unit will be deposited into a trust account upon the closing of the offering. Once the securities constituting the units begin separate trading, the Class A ordinary shares and warrants are expected to be listed on NYSE under the symbols “HYAC” and “HYACW,” respectively. The offering is expected to close on September 18, 2026, subject to customary closing conditions. The Company has granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 3,750,000 units at the initial public offering price to cover over-allotments, if any.

The Company is a blank check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, amalgamation, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses. The Company may pursue an acquisition opportunity in any business or industry or at any stage of its corporate evolution. The Company’s primary focus will be on companies in the industrial, consumer and consumer-related products and services industries.

The Company’s management team is led by Christopher Bradley, its Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer. The Board includes Christopher Bradley, Brian Shimko, Harris Heyer, Walter McLallen, William Heyer and James Heyer.

Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. and William Blair are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering. Roth Capital Partners is acting as co-manager of the offering.

The offering is being made only by means of a prospectus. When available, copies of the prospectus may be obtained from Cantor Fitzgerald & Co., Attention: Capital Markets, 499 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10022, or by email at [email protected]; William Blair & Company, L.L.C., Attn: Prospectus Department, 150 North Riverside Plaza, Chicago, Illinois 60606, by telephone at 1-800-621-0687 or by email at: [email protected]; or by accessing the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov. 

A registration statement relating to the securities has been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and became effective on September 16, 2026. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that constitute “forward-looking statements,” including with respect to the expected closing of the proposed initial public offering and search for an initial business combination. No assurance can be given that the offering discussed above will be completed on the terms described, or at all.

Forward-looking statements are subject to numerous conditions, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including those set forth in the “Risk Factors” section of the Company’s registration statement and prospectus for the Company’s initial public offering filed with the SEC. Copies of these documents are available on the SEC’s website, www.sec.gov. The Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for revisions or changes after the date of this release, except as required by law.

Investor Contacts
Haymaker Acquisition Corp V
[email protected] 
Attn: Christopher Bradley

SOURCE Haymaker Acquisition Corp. V

QUÉBEC CITY, Sept. 16, 2026 — Linearis Labs has been selected to receive funding in two of the 14 pan-Canadian project teams announced today by the Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI) under its Digital Health Innovation Fund, a program led by TFRI’s Digital Health & Discovery Platform (DHDP). The 14 funded projects represent a combined investment of $40.9M and bring together 55 partners across Canada to advance AI-driven health data sharing for precision medicine.

In its announcement, TFRI President and Scientific Director Dr. Jim Woodgett said the initiative reflects “research and enterprise coming together to drive innovation.” (Full release: www.dhdp.ca)

Linearis Labs’ two funded projects are:

Multi-Omics Data to AI Disease Signature Discovery. In association with MRM Proteomics, Simmunome, the Jewish General Hospital/CIUSSS du Centre-Ouest-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, and Nova Scotia Health. The project applies AI to integrated genomic, proteomic, and metabolomic data to predict which treatments are most likely to work for patients with lung, breast, or colorectal cancers.

AI-Enabled Biomarker Discovery and Therapeutic Monitoring in Neurodegenerative Disease. In collaboration with Nanil Therapeutics, the project uses secure, standardized health data and AI to identify biological signals that can improve how neurodegenerative diseases are studied and monitored.

“Cancer and neurodegenerative diseases are complex, and no single type of data can capture them holistically. By combining genomics, proteomics, and TMIC’s 1,780 metabolomics GigaKit™ panel with our AI reasoning layer, we can finally see the whole picture of a disease, not just a fragment, so patients can be diagnosed sooner and treated with what actually works for them,” said Alexandre Le Bouthillier, CEO, Linearis Labs.

Both projects will draw on the DHDP’s federated learning infrastructure, allowing researchers to analyze data across institutions without moving it, preserving privacy while enabling AI-driven discovery and creating new investment opportunities.

More information on funded projects and participating organizations is available at www.dhdp.ca/projects

About Linearis

Linearis, with its tandem Ventures Fund and Laboratory, is pioneering and supporting discoveries to prevent, detect, and cure diseases through direct investments in innovative AI-powered life sciences companies. To learn more about Linearis, visit www.linearis.com

SOURCE Linearis

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Sept. 16, 2026 — Lincoln Avenue Communities (“LAC”), one of the nation’s largest owners, private investors, and developers of affordable housing, today announced the launch of the ~$260 million Wilshire Core Plus Housing Impact Fund LP (the “Fund”). The national fund will be managed by an affiliate of Lincoln Avenue Communities and has received an anchor investment from Morgan Stanley.

“The launch of the Wilshire Core Plus Housing Impact Fund supports our long-term strategic vision for impact investing across multiple platforms with the broader ambition of addressing affordable housing needs across the country,” said Co-Founder and CEO Jeremy Bronfman. “For more than a decade, LAC has worked to deliver high-quality, affordable homes in communities that have been impacted by the nationwide housing crisis. This Fund allows us to scale that work in a meaningful way, creating lasting returns for residents, neighborhoods and investors alike.”

As the Fund’s investment manager, LAC will draw on its years of experience developing, rehabilitating and operating affordable housing communities across the country. LAC currently owns affordable housing assets with a total value of more than $7 billion across 33 states and has been recognized as the nation’s leading developer of affordable housing for the past two years in a row by Affordable Housing Finance. As the Fund’s anchor investor, Morgan Stanley is continuing its commitment to help drive meaningful impact in underserved communities nationwide.

The Wilshire Core Plus Housing Impact Fund will leverage LAC’s institutional approach toward impact investing, drawing on industry knowledge, relationships and scale to purchase income restricted multifamily communities nationwide. By preserving the affordability of existing homes and improving the quality of housing in underserved neighborhoods, the Fund aims to provide lasting benefit to the residents and communities it serves.

The Fund further builds on LAC and Morgan Stanley’s long-term partnership to invest in and strengthen communities. For the past six years, LAC and Morgan Stanley have collaborated with the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum on a landmark multi-year educational outreach program, hosting after-school programs using award-winning Hall of Fame curriculum for students living in LAC affordable housing communities.

“Together with LAC we are working to generate much needed quality affordable housing in this country,” said Mike Mantle, Head of Community Development Finance, Morgan Stanley. “This fund will also support residents through programs such as educational outreach in collaboration with the Baseball Hall of Fame, furthering our broad efforts to help communities thrive.”

Together, LAC and Morgan Stanley are committed to addressing the nation’s housing crisis by investing in communities and supporting the residents who call our properties home. The Wilshire Core Plus Housing Impact Fund will expand that reach, delivering quality, affordable homes to thousands of families, seniors and individuals nationwide.

About LAC: Lincoln Avenue Communities (LAC) is one of the nation’s leading developers, investors, and operators of affordable and workforce housing, providing high-quality, sustainable homes for lower- and moderate-income individuals, seniors, and families nationwide. LAC is a mission-driven organization with a presence in 33 states and a portfolio of 200+ properties comprising 35,000+ units housing over 100,000 residents.

SOURCE Lincoln Avenue Communities

With $5 million in seed funding from True Ventures, Wicklow Capital, and angels, the voice-first tutoring platform serves students ages 13–18.

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 16, 2026 — Aristotle, a voice-first AI tutoring platform, today announced $5 million in seed funding. The round was led by True Ventures with participation from Wicklow Capital and angel investors from Anthropic, OpenAI, Sierra, Ramp, Cognition, and others to build the tutoring product that actually helps students learn.

The company is launching nationwide after a closed beta in which over 1,000 students completed over 1,500 hours of one-on-one tutoring.

Aristotle grew out of its founders’ own tutoring practice. Shan Reddy, Jaiden Reddy, and Vivek Vajipey — all Stanford alumni — spent nearly a decade tutoring students on platforms like Wyzant and Varsity Tutors. Shan and Jaiden grew up in Clark County, Nevada, a district that ranked among the lowest in the nation for per-student funding; they taught themselves through Khan Academy and continued that pattern through college and into their careers.

Shan, previously was an early product hire at Cometeer and early-stage investor at True Ventures, then went on to watch edtech underwhelm for years — a category with outsized importance but historically meager outcomes. Tutoring in particular remained a services business that technology had barely touched. He saw AI as the first real opportunity to change that: not another chatbot, but a product that could actually replicate and ultimately surpass what a great human tutor does.

“A tutor for every child in the world is one of the holy grails of AI,” said Mike Montano, partner at True Ventures. “When Shan first walked me through the idea, the framing was simple: we’re not reinventing learning, we’re putting great teachers into software and giving one to every kid.”

When LLMs went mainstream, the founders encouraged their students to try them. The results were consistent: students got answers, but they didn’t learn. Vivek, who had been researching LLM reasoning at Noah Goodman’s Computation and Cognition Lab at Stanford, recognized the pattern from a different angle: the models were optimized to resolve questions, not to hold students in the productive struggle where learning actually happens.

“Learning happens when you’re held right at the edge of your understanding – struggling, but not stuck,” said Shan Reddy, co-founder and CEO. “Great tutors allow you to sit in that discomfort and guide where most helpful. Even best-in-class LLMs today are incapable of doing this.”

Aristotle’s voice-first experience is designed to feel like a Zoom call with a tutor who remembers past sessions, adapts to each student’s learning style, and knows when to push and when to wait.

“My son told me yesterday that we should cancel his human tutor, because Aristotle is doing a better job,” said Kim L., a parent in Milwaukee whose son Andy, 13, has used Aristotle since May. “The human tutor was $250/hour.”

The funding will be used to expand the product, grow the team, and bring Aristotle to general availability.

About Aristotle

Aristotle (heyaristotle.com) is a voice-first AI tutoring platform that delivers the high-quality caliber of a premium human tutor to students ages 13–18. Founded in 2025 by Stanford alumni Shan Reddy, Jaiden Reddy, and Vivek Vajipey, Aristotle serves families across STEM, standardized testing, language learning, and more. The company is based in San Francisco, CA.

About True Ventures

Founded in 2005, True Ventures manages $4 billion in committed capital across over 450 teams spanning AI, software, hardware, and more. Notable investments include Veza, Enveda, Iceye, Handshake, Peloton, Duo Security, and HashiCorp. Learn more at trueventures.com.

Full Angel Investor List

Puneet Agarwal — GP, True Ventures
Mike Montano — Partner, True Ventures
Rohit Sharma — Partner, True Ventures
Dan Tierney — Founder, Wicklow Capital
Tom Duterme — GP, Wicklow Capital
Kian Katanforoosh — CEO/Founder, Workera; Adjunct Lecturer, Stanford
Ben Broca — CEO/Founder, Polsia.ai
Andy Wang — Head of Network, World
Armaan Goel — Agents, Anthropic
Angela Winegar — SVP of Marketing, Invisible
Mayank Mehta — CEO/Co-founder, BeHeard Labs
Marco Lorenzon — VP, Stripes Growth
Justin Quan — CEO/Co-founder, Tomo.ai
Theo Strauss — Incubations, BCV
Advait Marathe — Agent Engineer, Sierra
Brandon Gell — COO, Every
Santiago Hernandez — Research, OpenAI
Veeral Patel — Founding Engineer, Ramp
Bryce Hunt — Founding GTM, Cognition
Anant Gupta — CTO, Mixpanel
Michelle Qin — Product, OpenAI
Miles McCain — Impacts, Anthropic
Austin Petersmith — CEO/Co-founder, Howie
Kush Pandey — Head of Ops, Crosby.ai
Drew Wadsworth — Research, Together AI
Chetan Patil — Data Engineering, Roku
John O’Connell — Investor, Proof Group
Advay Pal – Engineering, Modal Labs
Max Digiacomo-Castillo – Engineering, Latent Health
Takao Yatagai – Engineering, Crusoe
Mani Vajipeyajula – Founder, Banyan Nation

SOURCE Aristotle