Hippo Harvest has raised $30 million in a Series C funding round. These funds are intended to expand the company's robotics-based operations and increase the production of organic leafy greens.
Hippo Harvest has raised $30 million in a Series C funding round. These funds are intended to expand the company's robotics-based operations and increase the production of organic leafy greens.
Cox Farms, North America's largest greenhouse operator, led this round. The California-based company plans to use the capital to build a new 30-acre greenhouse in Hollister, pending regulatory approvals. The investments will also go toward developing the next generation of robotic growing systems and accelerating the commercial launch of indoor-grown spinach.
Hippo Harvest stated that this expansion will significantly increase production capacity. Currently, the company utilizes one acre of greenhouse space and supplies products to retailers in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest. The new funding round coincides with the launch of a new offering—indoor-grown spinach. This is another step in the company's product line development following the debut of organic salad oils last spring. All these products strengthen the firm's catalog of year-round organic produce.
Hippo Harvest employs its proprietary autonomous mobile robot technology, which controls all stages of the planting and growth cycle: plant monitoring, level regulation, and harvesting. These robotic devices also move plant modules to ensure maximum greenhouse utilization and increase yields. The company noted that the new system will boost production efficiency, reduce operating costs, and speed up the market introduction of new plant varieties.
Founded in 2019, Hippo Harvest grows vegetables in greenhouses as well as organic field crops. According to CEO Ethan Marder-Eppstein in Food Dive, this provides retailers with more options and guarantees stable year-round supply regardless of weather conditions. The farm currently distributes through stores such as Sprouts, Haggen, and Gus’s Community Markets. The company intends to use the funds to strengthen distribution across the Western United States and grow its national retail presence.
Marder-Eppstein called this investment round a major milestone for Hippo Harvest. He stated: 'Thanks to years of investing in our robotics and machine learning systems, we have created an agricultural enterprise capable of producing stable, high-quality organic produce in a cost-competitive manner.' The round was led by Cox Farms alongside Congruent Ventures, Hawthorne Food Ventures, Collaborative Fund, and Fresh Investment Club. This round attracted the largest amount of capital among all Hippo Harvest rounds, following the closing of a $21 million Series B in early 2024. Steve Bradley, President of Cox Farms, commented: 'We believe Hippo Harvest has a very promising business model for controlled environment agriculture. We think continuous innovation is crucial for creating more sustainable and reliable food production systems.'
Oxylabs, a Lithuania-based company specializing in web data infrastructure, has secured $130 million in funding from the private investment firm Warburg Pincus. This investment values the company at $3.6 billion and represents its first external capital since its founding in 2015.
The funds were received through the Warburg Pincus Capital Solutions Founders Fund. With this influx of capital, the company plans to accelerate its product roadmap, strengthen its technology stack, and continue making strategic acquisitions.
Oxylabs provides web data infrastructure that enables enterprises to obtain publicly available data from the internet in large volumes. The company's technologies, which are a provider of web analytics infrastructure, support the development of artificial intelligence due to their real-time capabilities. The system provides up-to-date information for large language models, autonomous AI agents, and augmented search generation applications, processing billions of web requests daily and holding over 160 patents on its technologies.
Oxylabs' infrastructure is utilized by entities such as e-commerce firms, the cybersecurity sector, and market research agencies. These clients use it to gather competitor pricing information, analyze consumer purchasing behavior, track cybersecurity threats, and identify fraudulent practices. Uitautas Savikas, CEO of Oxylabs, noted that the future of AI will rely on real-time internet information rather than static datasets, and stated that the company has prepared itself to serve this emerging market for many years.
The investment comes amid growing demand for AI data infrastructure, allowing Oxylabs to enhance its competitive offering. In addition to product improvements, the company intends to complete further acquisitions and establish strategic partnerships. Previously, Oxylabs expanded through two additions: Webshare in 2022 and ScrapingBee in 2025. The new agreement will fuel these initiatives and help deepen the company's technological capabilities.
Warburg Pincus emphasized that Oxylabs has become a significant player in the web analytics field, noting that this investment reflects growing confidence in European technology companies building the foundation for the global AI revolution. This move strengthens Warburg Pincus' involvement in Lithuania's tech sector, where the firm also holds investments in Nord Security, another well-known technology company founded in the Tesonet accelerator.
As web scraping grows alongside AI development, the industry faces increasing regulatory scrutiny. Issues concerning ethical data collection and residential proxy networks prompt providers to pay more attention to transparency and regulatory compliance. Oxylabs asserts that responsible data collection remains central to its business strategy. The company has contributed to the creation of an ethical web data collection initiative and implemented compliance audits through its trust center to increase client confidence. Oxylabs believes that the need for real-time internet data will grow as AI agents are more widely adopted across various industries, and the company aims to be a critical technology provider for the next generation of artificial intelligence applications.
Arkenstone Defense has emerged from stealth mode after securing $35 million in a seed funding round. The capital is intended to streamline the process of securing government contracts for commercial technology enterprises.
The Menlo Park-based startup develops an operating system that assists companies in managing complex operational requirements when selling products to the U.S. government. This platform integrates workforce management, regulatory compliance, payroll calculation, personnel security, and accreditation into a single service.
CEO Peter Dixon noted that many venture-backed companies face difficulties entering the defense market because procurement systems were not originally designed for modern technology startups. Government contracts require companies to meet strict regulatory and operational standards before receiving federal orders. These requirements include cybersecurity certifications, classified information clearances, audited payroll systems, and compliance programs.
Arkenstone packages all these requirements into one manageable platform. Instead of building proprietary internal systems, companies can leverage Arkenstone's infrastructure to become operationally ready within months. The company believes founders should focus on technology development rather than navigating government bureaucracy. The platform supports businesses from their first federal opportunity through long-term government agreements.
The funding comes amid a continued surge in demand for commercial technologies in defense. Annual Pentagon procurement spending approaches $300 billion, creating massive opportunities for startups involved in robotics, autonomy, artificial intelligence, and advanced manufacturing. However, in recent years, insufficient commercial companies have secured contracts through the Department of Defense, as many enterprises refrain from entering the defense sector due to high compliance costs and increasing regulatory complexity.
One of the most challenging aspects is obtaining Level 2 Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification. Some companies with this credential estimate the cost at 'hundreds of thousands of dollars' and the time to achieve it at 'years.' The platform developed by Arkenstone provides clients with integrated compliance within a single platform, rather than multiple products, thereby eliminating the complexity of dealing with several disparate vendors.
The company is led by Peter Dixon and Chief Operating Officer William Trezeder, who has spent over 15 years helping connect Silicon Valley companies with the U.S. defense sector through programs like Hacking for Defense and the Marine Innovation Unit. Trezeder stated that many promising technologies fail to reach government customers because startups cannot build the necessary operational infrastructure quickly enough. Dixon added: 'The Pentagon has made it clear it wants more commercial innovation. The problem is that the procurement system was not built for venture startups.'
More than two dozen defense technology companies are already using the Arkenstone platform. The company expects the new funding to allow it to expand its operations and support additional commercial enterprises entering government markets. Alexander Hurstick, Managing Partner and Co-founder of J2 Ventures, noted that the startup solves a long-standing problem between commercial innovation and government procurement. He believes Arkenstone provides the missing infrastructure required for commercial tech companies to compete at scale.
As governments increasingly seek innovation from the private sector, platforms that simplify compliance and contracting may play a more significant role in modernizing defense procurement. Arkenstone aims to become the operational backbone that allows more commercial technologies to reach government customers faster.
General Motors (GM) announced an extra financial injection of R$ 3.5 billion in Brazil this Wednesday, the 24th, in Brasília. This investment raises the automaker's overall plan for the country until 2028 to a total of R$ 10.5 billion. The resources will be primarily allocated to the production of electrified Chevrolet vehicles and the modernization of the company's facilities in the state of São Paulo.
This new capital complements the R$ 7 billion previously disclosed in 2024 and strengthens the manufacturer's strategy for energy transition in the Brazilian market. GM stated that the funds will be used to update its portfolio, integrate new technologies, and expand engineering and manufacturing capabilities, although it did not specify which São Paulo factories will benefit.
Thomas Owsianski, President of GM South America, declared that this investment aims to increase the capacity to develop and manufacture competitive vehicles in Brazil, accelerating the acceptance of new technologies and fostering the creation of crucial jobs for the future of automotive mobility.
The financial move paves the way for the introduction of the first national hybrid models from Chevrolet, as the brand currently does not have such options in its lineup. Candidates for this technology include the Tracker SUV and the Montana pickup, both manufactured in São Caetano do Sul. For these vehicles, GM is developing a 48-volt mild hybrid system in Brazil, which will be coupled with three-cylinder turbo engines, such as the 1.2 flex, which currently generates 141 hp and 22.9 kgfm.
Although Chevrolet has not yet confirmed which models will receive the hybrid technology, this initiative occurs in a scenario of growing competition. Electrified vehicles already account for approximately 16% of vehicle registrations in the country, with brands such as BYD, GWM, and Toyota leading this segment.
Additionally, the move is encouraged by the Mover program, promoted by the federal government, which offers tax advantages to companies that produce electric and hybrid vehicles within the national territory. Since the initial 2024 plan, GM had already updated the Onix and Tracker models, increased the supply of electric vehicles with the Spark EUV and Captiva EV, produced at the Ceará Automotive Hub, and plans a new stage of electrification for the brand.
This decision also reflects a change in the automaker's global strategy. After focusing on fully electric cars in recent years, GM has redirected its efforts towards hybrid systems. While Brazil will receive mild hybrids (MHEV), the company plans to launch plug-in hybrids (PHEV) in North America by 2027.
