Startup Name: Upscale AI

Industry: AI

Region: United States

Amount (USD): $100 million

The problem it is solving: Current AI networking infrastructure is dominated by Nvidia’s closed NVLink standard, which limits interoperability and choice. AI workloads require ultra-low latency, predictable performance, and high bandwidth — needs that current CPU-to-CPU or CPU-to-storage networks cannot handle effectively. Upscale AI aims to provide an open, standards-based networking solution that supports GPU-to-GPU communication and reduces dependency on proprietary systems.

What the Funds Will Be Spent On: Developing scale-out networking products using merchant silicon and management tools. Building custom ASICs for scale-up AI applications. Creating full-stack solutions (silicon, systems, software, racks). Advancing open-standard networking technologies (SONiC, UEC, UALink, SAI

Startup Name: Obot AI

Industry: AI

Region: United States

Amount (USD): $35 million

The problem it is solving: Enterprises face growing challenges in adopting AI due to fragmentation, governance concerns, and security risks. Existing tools make it difficult to manage AI assistants and integrate them safely at scale. Obot AI aims to solve this by building enterprise-ready platforms around the Model Context Protocol (MCP) — enabling IT teams to securely manage AI deployments, streamline adoption, and ensure compliance.

What the Funds Will Be Spent On: Expanding development of the Obot MCP Gateway (a control plane for managing MCP servers). Advancing the Nanobot MCP Agent Framework (for building AI agents with dynamic UIs in chat environments). Scaling the engineering and product teams to accelerate innovation. Delivering enterprise-ready, secure, open-source AI solutions

Startup Name: Unbound Potential

Industry: Energy

Region: Switzerland

Amount (USD): $16 million

The problem it is solving: Global demand for batteries is expected to triple by 2040, but current supply chains and conventional battery manufacturing methods cannot keep up. Traditional redox flow batteries are expensive and complex due to reliance on membranes. Unbound Potential addresses this with membrane-free redox flow battery technology that simplifies production, reduces costs, and makes scalable, stationary energy storage more practical and affordable.

What the Funds Will Be Spent On: Accelerating the development of its membrane-free redox flow technology. Building and testing pilot projects with partners (e.g., Amazon logistics, FlexBase’s major European storage project). Demonstrating scalability and commercial viability of the technology