Led · Debt Financing · Aug 2025

RISE Robotics develops Beltdraulic™ technology: a fluid-free, zero-emissions, autonomy-ready linear actuator that aims to deliver hydraulic-like power with lower maintenance. The company says Beltdraulic is three times faster and three times more efficient than traditional hydraulics, improving operational efficiency and resilience for defense logistics. RISE plans to refine and field its Beltdraulic SuperJammer vehicle platform for testing and demonstration in operational environments. The firm highlights collaborative work with Air Force stakeholders to address modernization of a 60+ year old lift truck platform. RISE is backed by MIT’s The Engine, Techstars, and Fortistar Capital, and runs a Reg CF campaign on Wefunder that allows both accredited and non-accredited investors to participate. The company recently earned a Guinness World Record for the “World’s Strongest Robotic Arm Prototype.” RISE Robotics is an electrification and automation company based in Somerville, MA that develops electric linear actuation solutions. Its designers build Beltdraulic systems intended to compete with hydraulic cylinders in medium- and heavy-duty machines. The Beltdraulic product line targets fuel and emissions reductions while improving productivity and extending machine life. The company is led by CEO Hiten Sonpal and COO Tom Phelps; founders include MIT mechanical engineers Blake Sessions, Aaron Acosta, and Toomas Sepp, and RISD’s Kyle Dell’Aquila. RISE raised $1.5M in funding and intends to use the proceeds to expand operations and its development efforts. The team emphasizes high-efficiency, fuel-saving actuation solutions as alternatives to traditional hydraulics. RISE Robotics develops zero-emission heavy machinery built around its patented RISECylinder, a fluid-free electromechanical alternative to hydraulic cylinders (US Patent 11255416; WO2019/014259 pending). The RISECylinder delivers hydraulic-like forces with up to 90% less energy, improving efficiency, precision, speed, and weight for medium and heavy-duty applications. The company says its machines reduce fuel, emissions, and sound while improving productivity and extending machine life. RISE targets support vehicles and handling equipment and has been selected to modernize Air Force ground support gear. Founded in 2011 by MIT and RISD graduates, the company is based in Somerville, Massachusetts. It is backed by The Engine, Greentown Labs, and Techstars. RISE recently received a $1.7 million TACFI award to modernize the MHU-083 Jammer, underscoring a market opportunity the company estimates at more than 2,000 units in service. RISE Robotics develops high-performance, cost-effective electric linear actuation solutions designed to replace hydraulic cylinders in medium- and heavy-duty machinery. Its core product, the RISE Cylinder, targets fuel and emissions reductions while improving productivity and extending machine life. The technology enables a shift from diesel-powered hydraulic systems to electric motor-to-movement solutions across industries such as construction, agriculture, waste management, and material handling. RISE has two commercial agreements—one with a major manufacturer of lifting machinery and another with the U.S. Air Force—and is working with a leading forklift manufacturer to increase performance of existing electric forklifts and enable electrification of larger diesel-fueled machines. The company was part of the Techstars accelerator and has received angel funding from Boston investors and advisors including John P. Strauss, William J. Warner, and Walter A. Winshall. Recent additional capital will support continued product deployment and electrification partnerships.

Participated · Seed · Jul 2025

Auriga Space is building an electromagnetic launcher that uses electricity-driven magnets to accelerate small rockets to over six times the speed of sound, with a steep ramped exit that lets rockets ignite engines only for the final push to orbit. The ground-based architecture is designed to be rapidly and fully reusable, with the goal of lowering launch costs and enabling much more frequent and responsive launches. The company is pursuing an initial go-to-market in hypersonic ground testing with an indoor lab-scale track called Prometheus and an outdoor accelerator called Thor; its orbital concept is dubbed Zeus. Auriga has conducted survivability studies indicating many satellite components can withstand higher G loads, and it is considering custom structural supports or longer tracks to reduce Gs depending on customer needs. The team says advances in power electronics make the concept commercially viable today. Financially, the company disclosed a $4.6M seed round plus $1.4M in AFWERX/SpaceWERX contracts and has raised $12.2M to date across VC and DOD grants.

Led · Equity · May 2024

Founded in 2017, Circle Optics designs and manufactures the Hydra line of 360-degree cameras that eliminate parallax through proprietary polygonal lenses, removing the need for post-production stitching or gimbals. The company’s current focus is the Hydra II system, which integrates GPU technology to stream high-definition panoramic video in real time over 5G networks. Circle Optics’ lens-based stitching approach frees computing resources for edge processing tasks such as image recognition, broadening use cases in aerospace, unmanned flight, defense, education, and immersive experiences. The team holds 16 patents granted and pending and draws engineering talent from IMAX, Kodak, and L3Harris. Located in Rochester, New York, the firm positions itself at the center of the region’s storied optics ecosystem. Recent non-dilutive funding from AFWERX is helping optimize the company’s software algorithms for massively parallel GPU operations, accelerating product development. No revenue or user figures were disclosed in the article, but the additional capital underscores continuing government interest in the technology.

Led · Grant · Mar 2024

Mattermost builds secure, workflow-centric collaboration software that provides integrated team messaging, audio and screen share, workflow automation, and project management on an open-source platform. It serves technology, public sector, national defense, and financial services customers, including the U.S. Department of Defense and governmental agencies. Mattermost offers self-hosted and cloud deployments and says its open-source community has over 4,000 contributors who have made more than 30,000 code improvements; the product is translated into 20 languages. The company completed a $750,000 AFWERX SBIR Phase II contract to deliver ChatOps features for command-and-control and currently has three active SBIR Phase II contracts. A recently announced integration with the Air Force Research Laboratory's Tactical Assault Kit (TAK) program is intended to further develop ChatOps capabilities for the U.S. Air Force. Mattermost is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. Mattermost offers an open-source collaboration and messaging platform as an alternative to Slack and Microsoft Teams, delivering communications across web, PC, and phone. The product is developed in partnership with a contributor community that translates the software into 16 languages and has initiated hundreds of open source projects. Thousands of companies use Mattermost, which supports archiving, search and integrations with hundreds of business applications. The company intends to use the new financing to accelerate community expansion and product development. Mattermost is led by CEO and co-founder Ian Tien and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California. Mattermost provides an open source secure collaboration software platform to accelerate DevOps workflows messaging across web, desktop and native mobile devices. Its core product is a messaging platform used by engineering teams at large organizations, including top banks, internet companies, U.S. federal agencies, semiconductor manufacturers and thousands of others across financial services, public sector, defense, online services and manufacturing. The system is delivered to high-security enterprises through a growing network of systems integration partners and also supports IT-led deployments. Led by CEO and co-founder Ian Tien, Mattermost is based in Palo Alto, CA. The company closed a $20M Series A and intends to use the funds to continue to expand its business reach.

Led · Grant · Aug 2023

Starfish Space develops in-space infrastructure and satellite-servicing missions, including its Otter program and earlier efforts like Remora and Otter Pup 2. The company has announced commercial and government contracts, naming the Space Development Agency and the U.S. Space Force as customers. Starfish plans to fly its first full Otter mission later this year. The firm is scaling operations and hiring to support growing customer demand. Recent funding from its Series B will finance mission build-and-operate activities and team expansion. The articles did not provide information on revenue, user metrics, founding year, or location.