Groq expands partnership with HUMAIN to deploy Next-Generation Inference Infrastructure in Saudi Arabia
Groq, the U.S. leader in ultra-low-latency inference acceleration, and HUMAIN, the PIF company delivering global full-stack artificial intelligence solutions. Announced a major expansion of their strategic partnership at the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum held in Washington, D.C. alongside the visit of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince HRH Mohammed bin Salman Al-Saud.
The agreement builds on the region’s first and largest sovereign inference cluster, powered by Groq and already serving more than 150 countries. It continues the mission to establish HUMAIN as the number three global inference provider and affirms the joint commitment to keep this Groq-powered cluster the largest in the region as demand for real-time AI grows.
As part of this deployment, HUMAIN will partner with Groq to expand the advanced Groq-powered inference infrastructure already operating in the Kingdom by more than three times the current capacity, ensuring rapid time-to-market and underscoring HUMAIN’s position in ultra-low-latency, sovereign AI compute. This proven architecture serves as the backbone of the nation’s real-time AI capabilities.
In addition, HUMAIN will partner with Groq to introduce Groq’s latest next-generation chipset and rack architecture, bringing substantial improvements in compute density, power efficiency, on-die memory bandwidth, and RealScale™ interconnect performance. This next-generation technology enables the deployment of more sophisticated, larger-scale AI models and agentic workloads with deterministic speed and efficiency.
Tareq Amin, CEO of HUMAIN, highlighted the strategic significance of the expansion.
“Our work with HUMAIN continues to advance. By combining immediate deployment capabilities with the introduction of our next-generation architecture, we are enabling real-time AI at a scale that sets a new global benchmark.” Jonathan Ross, Groq Founder and CEO
"By scaling our sovereign inference cluster and incorporating both our current high-performance infrastructure and Groq’s newest chipset innovations, together, we are building one of the world’s most advanced real-time AI platforms. This expansion accelerates our mission to bring world-leading compute capabilities directly into the Kingdom’s data centers. Tareq Amin,CEO of HUMAIN
The expanded cluster will power a new wave of national-scale AI applications across government, enterprise, healthcare, finance, industrial systems, multilingual AI, and real-time agentic workflows.
Lambda AI closed $1.5B Series E to accelerate building their superintelligence cloud infrastructure
ALSO READ about Lambda AI:
Lambda AI signs multibillion-dollar Microsoft agreement to deploy AI infrastructure powered by NVIDIA GPUs
AI superintelligence cloud Lambda doubles down on midwest expansion, to build AI factory in Kansas City
Investment will accelerate Lambda's push to deploy gigawatt-scale AI factories and supercomputers to meet demand from hyperscalers, enterprises, and frontier labs building superintelligence. Series E funding, led by TWG Global with participation from US Innovative Technology Fund (USIT) and several existing investors.
Superintelligence Cloud Lambda, closed on their $1.5B Series E funding, led by TWG Global, a holding company led by Thomas Tull and Mark Walter. Also participating in the round are Thomas Tull’s US Innovative Technology Fund (USIT) and several existing investors.
“This round of funding helps enable Lambda to develop gigawatt-scale AI factories that power services used by hundreds of millions of people every day,” said Stephen Balaban, co-founder and CEO of Lambda. “Our mission is to make compute as ubiquitous as electricity and bring the power of AI to every person in America. One person, one GPU. It’s a privilege to work with Thomas, USIT, and TWG Global to realize this vision.”
Lambda delivers large-scale AI factories that power mission-critical training and inference, just as demand for compute is rising and data center space is scarce.
“Since meeting Stephen and the Lambda team several years ago, we have been consistently impressed by their visionary focus and ability to deliver infrastructure at unprecedented scale,” said Thomas Tull, Co-Chairman of TWG Global and Chairman of USIT. “Generating enough compute power for AI is a defining infrastructure challenge of our time. We believe that Lambda is well-positioned to solve this challenge and continue to deliver in the decades ahead.”
The company’s AI specialization stems from its published machine learning founders, as well as its pioneering work in cloud supercomputers.
“As we move into a new phase of AI scale, the most valuable infrastructure will be that which converts kilowatts into tokens with minimal friction,” said Gaetano Crupi, Managing Director at USIT. “We are excited to continue supporting Lambda as it becomes a key player in the industrialization of inference and helps the U.S. master the energy-to-cognition pipeline.”
About Lambda
Lambda, The Superintelligence Cloud, is a leader in AI cloud infrastructure serving tens of thousands of customers.
Founded in 2012 by machine learning engineers published at NeurIPS and ICCV, Lambda builds supercomputers for AI training and inference.
Our customers range from AI researchers to enterprises and hyperscalers.
Lambda's mission is to make compute as ubiquitous as electricity and give everyone the power of superintelligence. One person, one GPU.
About TWG Global
TWG Global operates and invests in businesses with untapped potential and guides them to new levels of growth. For additional information, visit: twgglobal.com.
Contacts
Lambda Media Contact
pr@lambdal.com
TWG Media Contact
twg@prosek.com
AI market intelligence leader AlphaSense names Nilka Thomas as Chief People Officer
Former Lyft and Google executive joins to lead global people and culture strategy on the heels of the company surpassing $500 million in annual recurring revenue
AlphaSense, the AI platform redefining market intelligence for the business and financial world, today announced that Nilka Thomas has joined the company as Chief People Officer, following a period of record growth in which AlphaSense surpassed $500 million in annual recurring revenue (ARR)
Thomas will oversee AlphaSense's global people strategy, including talent acquisition, culture, organizational development, employee experience and inclusion, as the company continues to expand its global footprint and scale its AI and market intelligence platform. She brings more than two decades of experience building and leading high-performance, inclusive organizations at some of the world's most innovative technology companies.
Most notably, Thomas served as Chief People Officer at Lyft through their IPO and journey as a newly public company, where she led all aspects of the company's people function during a period of transformation and growth. Before Lyft, she spent more than a decade at Google, where she held senior HR and talent leadership roles focused on global staffing, culture, and inclusion initiatives.
"Nilka brings a rare combination of strategic vision, empathy, and hands-on experience leading global people organizations through high growth and scale," said Jack Kokko, Founder and CEO of AlphaSense. "Her background at Lyft and Google gives her deep perspective on how innovative cultures are built – and sustained – through times of rapid growth and transformation. As AlphaSense enters our next chapter of expansion, her leadership will be instrumental in developing the talent, systems, and culture that fuel continued innovation. I'm confident she will help us build an organization where every employee can thrive and where our people strategy remains a true competitive advantage."
"I'm passionate about building high-performing, people-first organizations that unlock both individual and business potential," said Thomas. "AlphaSense's mission to empower professionals across the business world with the insights they need to make better decisions deeply resonates with me. As the company continues to scale and surpass new milestones, we have the opportunity to shape a world-class team that reflects the vast breadth of customers and the markets we serve. I'm excited to help build an environment where world-class innovation and growth go hand in hand – and to demonstrate how a strong culture and cutting-edge AI can together redefine how people experience work."
Thomas will report directly to Founder and CEO Jack Kokko and lead the company's global people organization across North America, EMEA, and APAC.
About AlphaSense
AlphaSense is the AI platform redefining market intelligence and workflow orchestration, trusted by thousands of leading organizations to drive faster, more confident decisions in business and finance. The platform combines domain-specific AI with a vast content universe of over 500 million premium business documents – including equity research, earnings calls, expert interviews, filings, news, and internal proprietary content. Purpose-built for speed, accuracy, and enterprise-grade security, AlphaSense helps teams extract critical insights, uncover market-moving trends, and automate complex workflows with high-quality outputs. With AI solutions like Generative Search, Generative Grid, and Deep Research, AlphaSense delivers the clarity and depth professionals need to navigate complexity and obtain accurate, real-time information quickly. For more information, visit www.alpha-sense.com.
Media Contact
Pete Daly for AlphaSense
Email: media@alpha-sense.com
AI photonics leadership interview with LightMatter CEO Nick Harris on "Scaling AI with Light Not Copper"
Catch this deep-dive interview where Jose Pozo, CTO at Optica, sits down with our Founder and CEO, Nicholas Harris!
Lightmatter is on its way to becoming the NVIDIA of photonics and light-based AI infrastructure. Which is the only way AI truly enables the Orwelian flat interconnected world.
Join Jose and Nick as they discuss how Lightmatter is shaping the future of optical interconnects by mastering silicon photonics. Also, hear about Nick’s pragmatic approach to transforming the company’s bold vision into reality.
Harris explains why micro-ring resonators—tiny optical modulators just 10×10 µm in size—are central to Lightmatter’s architecture. These devices deliver exceptional bandwidth density and energy efficiency, but demand precise temperature control. Lightmatter’s engineers have mastered that stability, handling temperature shifts of more than 800 °C per second, a feat that keeps performance steady at scale.
Another defining move: liquid cooling. With AI chips now reaching up to two kilowatts per package and racks surpassing 600 kW, air cooling is no longer viable. Lightmatter designs its photonic platforms—like the Bobcat and M1 1000—for dense, water-cooled environments, achieving up to four times better energy efficiency than copper interconnects.
The company’s upcoming Bi-Di (Bi-directional) optical link pushes 800 Gb/s per fibre at just 2.6 pJ/bit, proving that optical interconnects can outperform copper in both speed and power.
Harris emphasises collaboration—but not with startups.
“Each new chip program costs tens of millions. We partner with large semiconductor and hyperscale companies that can invest and deliver volume.”
That said, Lightmatter is deeply engaged across the supply chain—GlobalFoundries, TSMC, Amkor Technology, Inc., and ASE Global among them—and works closely with ODMs to advance fibre management and rack design for mass deployment.
Lightspark acquires Striga to enable end-to-end payments experience for fiat and crypto
We're beyond excited to share that Lightspark has acquired Striga. As the first "MiCA"-like licensed entity in Estonia and having processed well over €200M since the first customer went live in early 2023. Striga continues to build and ship regulated payments infrastructure that covers the best of bitcoin, stablecoins, and fiat for Europe.
With the true YCombinator ethos of building something people want and finding actual product market fit, joining forces with Lightspark gives Striga the capability to make history in Europe together. With the vast resources Lightspark brings, they fully intend to grow faster and expand the breadth of capabilities under their E-Money License (EMI) and Crypto Asset Service Provider (CASP) license.
The Striga team built the platform to solve their own pain point at a time when there was no proper solution that compliantly encompassed Bitcoin & Fiat for global payments. After tackling the most regulated market on the planet (Europe), they now get to realize their ambition of operating on a truly global scale as part of a global organization led by an incredible team.
Lightspark shared that they have acquired Striga. Striga is the pioneering embedded finance and digital asset infrastructure platform with a robust regulatory footprint in Europe, operating through its VASP license across 30 countries in the European Economic Area (EEA). Striga’s deep regulatory expertise, licensing framework, and financial services stack, including direct integrations with fiat providers, card networks, and banks, will accelerate Lightspark’s ability to bring compliant, borderless money movement to millions of users and businesses worldwide.
Lightspark will work closely with Striga to bring incremental capabilities and offerings to customers, while also strengthening its regulatory positioning in Europe by applying for both e-money and MiCA licenses. Lightspark will then be able to offer a complete end-to-end experience to its customers, both for fiat and crypto across European member states.
Why Striga?
Striga was built from the ground up to solve a problem that every fintech or crypto builder knows: launching a compliant financial product is hard. Really hard.
From card issuing and Virtual IBAN creation to crypto custody and fiat ramps, Striga has built a modern payments stack that abstracts away the complexity of regulation, licensing, compliance, and integration with banks, brokers, and card schemes. Striga has led digital asset-enabled payments in Europe—enabling builders to launch sophisticated financial products in weeks, not years.
They didn’t just build the stack. They also earned the VASP license to operate in the EU. Striga was the first company approved under Estonia’s new, MiCA-style regulatory system. In a post-2022 world where regulators are cracking down, Striga has emerged as a rare success story: compliant, cash flow-positive, and trusted by over 50 companies building regulated finance apps, wallets, and card programs across the EEA.
What This Means for Lightspark
Lightspark is building open payments for the Internet, powered by Bitcoin. To unlock that, Lightspark needs to make payments as open, easy, compliant, and seamless as sending a message online, especially for financial institutions and regulated businesses. With Striga, Lightspark gains:
- A robust regulatory footprint in Europe, including a VASP license and direct integrations with card networks and banks. As part of this strategic acquisition, Striga will further strengthen its regulatory position in the EU by applying for both e-money and MiCA licenses. This will allow Lightspark to support the entire payment experience for both fiat and crypto across European countries.
- An end-to-end fintech infrastructure platform – enabling Virtual IBAN issuance, card issuing, crypto-fiat ramps, and custody, all through APIs.
- A proven team and platform – with product-market fit, with well over $200M in processed volume, and deep expertise in compliance and risk management. Jointly, Lightspark and Striga are working towards being among the first regulated e-Money institutions and Crypto Asset Service Providers in Estonia and Europe.
- A faster path to compliant go-to-market – helping partners in Europe and beyond embed Bitcoin-native payments into existing financial workflows.
Compliant Bitcoin-Powered Payments
Bringing Bitcoin into everyday finance isn’t just about technology—it’s about trust, compliance, and real-world interoperability. Striga’s infrastructure bridges the gap between crypto innovation and traditional financial institutions by doing the heavy lifting: onboarding users, managing compliance, issuing cards, and connecting to fiat rails. This, paired with Lightspark’s protocol-level capabilities, such as Spark, provides a powerful combination: regulated endpoints that can connect to open, global money movement.
Imagine a neobank in France issuing a debit card backed by Bitcoin. A crypto wallet in Spain offering instant Bitcoin payments with IBAN pay-ins. A cross-border payments app in Portugal onboards users and seamlessly converts euros to sats. All in a fully compliant way. That’s the future Lightspark is building—where Bitcoin isn't just an asset, but a foundation for global, open, regulated payments.
What’s Next
Lightspark’s one unified platform will deliver a fully compliant, always-on, Internet-scale payments experience for partners and their users. Of course, Striga will continue to serve existing customers with the same high level of service and support, while becoming an integral part of Lightspark’s infrastructure stack.
Lightspark is thrilled to welcome the entire Striga team, including CEO Prashanth Balasubramanian and key leaders across compliance, risk, engineering, and growth. They’ve built something exceptional—and together, Lightspark and Striga are going to take it even further.
About Lightspark
The Internet has open protocols for everything, except money. Lightspark is changing that. We're building modern, always-on payment solutions powered by Bitcoin: the only open, neutral network for moving value. With enterprise tools like Connect, UMA, and Spark, businesses can send and receive money instantly, securely, and at a fraction of the cost, anytime, anywhere. Follow on X @lightspark
About Striga
Striga has built the tools that innovators need to build compliant payment applications covering Bitcoin, stablecoins, and fiat across 30 countries in the EEA, without doing any of the heavy lifting. Backed by YCombinator, UC Berkeley, Stillmark, Fulgur Ventures, and many other notable names, Striga has enabled European businesses to move more than 2000 Bitcoin in less than 28 months, at a tiny fraction of the time and cost it takes to build an EU-compliant payment product.
Lambda AI signs multibillion-dollar Microsoft agreement to deploy AI infrastructure powered by NVIDIA GPUs
“We’re in the middle of probably the largest technology buildout that we’ve ever seen,” said Lambda CEO Stephen Balaban. “The industry is going really well right now".
- AI cloud startup Lambda announced a multibillion-dollar partnership with Microsoft to build AI infrastructure powered by Nvidia chips.
- The Nvidia-backed firm has had a relationship with Microsoft since 2018.
- Lambda provides cloud services and software for training and deploying AI models and rents out AI servers.
Lambda to deliver mission-critical AI cloud compute at scale under a multi-year contract.
Lambda Superintelligence Cloud, today announced a multibillion-dollar agreement with Microsoft to deploy AI infrastructure powered by tens of thousands of NVIDIA GPUs, including NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 systems.
The strategic collaboration represents a significant multi-year NVIDIA AI infrastructure deployment, expanding access to critical cloud-based accelerated computing resources.
“It’s great to watch the Microsoft and Lambda teams working together to deploy these massive AI supercomputers,” said Stephen Balaban, CEO of Lambda. “We’ve been working with Microsoft for more than eight years, and this is a phenomenal next step in our relationship.”
The agreement between Lambda and Microsoft highlights the significant growth in global demand for high-performance computing, driven by the surge in AI assistant use and enterprise adoption.
We believe Lambda’s push to deploy gigawatt-scale AI factories is supporting one of the most significant technological shifts in human history. This collaboration demonstrates Lambda’s position as a trusted at-scale partner for deploying compute infrastructure for the world’s leading AI products.
About Lambda
Lambda, The Superintelligence Cloud, builds gigawatt-scale AI factories for training and inference. From prototyping to serving billions of users in production, we build the underlying infrastructure that powers AI. Lambda was founded in 2012 by published AI engineers.
Lambda’s mission is to make compute as ubiquitous as electricity and give everyone in America the power of superintelligence. One person, One GPU.
Contacts
Lambda Media Contact
pr@lambda.ai
AI superintelligence cloud Lambda doubles down on midwest expansion, to build AI factory in Kansas City
Site in Kansas City, MO, to welcome new jobs and more than 10,000 NVIDIA GPUs, with additional growth opportunities
Superintelligence Cloud Lambda announced plans to transform an unoccupied 2009-built facility in Kansas City, Missouri, into a state-of-the-art AI Factory.
This Kansas City deployment is part of Lambda's mission to build the infrastructure backbone for the Superintelligence era. Under the agreement, Lambda is planning to develop and operate the facility as the sole tenant. The site is expected to launch in early 2026 with 24MW of capacity, and the potential to scale up to more than 100MW in the future.
"Missouri is proud to welcome Lambda as they create new, high-quality jobs and strengthen our state's technology and innovation ecosystem," said Governor Mike Kehoe. "Their decision to grow here demonstrates the confidence that leading companies have in our people, our infrastructure, and our pro-business environment. It's been said that AI is the space race of our time, and we must win. Data centers are the future and critical to our continued ability to drive technological innovation, strengthen our economy, and safeguard our national security interests. Partnerships like this ensure Missouri remains at the forefront of America's winning strategy."
"Our Kansas City development perfectly embodies Lambda's strategy: a prime location for our customers, an accelerated deployment timeline, and an unwavering commitment to on-time delivery," said Ken Patchett, VP of Datacenter Infrastructure at Lambda. "We believe this success stems from completely rethinking how AI factories should be built and operated."
Building big, shipping fast
When the facility launches in early 2026, it will initially feature more than 10,000 NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra GPUs—a footprint expected to double over time. The supercomputer is dedicated to a single Lambda customer for large-scale AI training and inference, under a multi-year agreement.
"Today in Kansas City, we are building the infrastructure to capitalize on AI's boom," said Mayor Quinton Lucas. "An investment of this scale in the Northland highlights our city's strength in technology, innovation, and job creation, and brings an empty asset back to life through creative reuse."
"This investment from Lambda showcases the Kansas City region's ability to reimagine assets and attract transformative investment creatively," said Tim Cowden, President and CEO, Kansas City Area Development Council. "Data centers are critical to powering the innovation economy, and Kansas City wields the strength of infrastructure, reliable power, and a deep IT talent pool that continues to draw leading technology companies to the region."
The project enables Lambda to repurpose unused power and transform a formerly advanced data center into an AI-ready, future-proofed facility. The initial phase of the project is expected to include upwards of half a billion dollars and several employees and contracted staff working directly on site and maintaining the extensive equipment and machinery. Future phases at the site are still being evaluated and discussed with local partners.
"Lambda's investment in the Kansas City area emphasizes our state's growing strength in technology and innovation," said Michelle Hataway, Director of the Missouri Department of Economic Development. "DED is proud to support future-focused projects like this that enhance our workforce, drive sustainable growth across the region, and create opportunities for Missourians to prosper."
"Choosing Kansas City, Missouri, for a next-generation AI data center sends a clear message: Missouri is the tech leader in the center of the country," said Subash Alias, CEO of Missouri Partnership. "We applaud Lambda for building an AI factory in the heart of the U.S. This is a generational investment that will expand opportunity for Missourians and accelerate the digital economy."
This project was made through many local partners in Kansas City including the State of Missouri, Missouri Department of Economic Development, Missouri Partnership, Kansas City Area Development Council (KCADC), Platte County EDC, City of Kansas City, Mo., Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Mo., Port KC, Evergy, Spire, KC Tech Council, Russell, Henderson Engineers, U.S. Engineering, and Capital Electric.
About Lambda
Lambda, The Superintelligence Cloud, builds gigawatt-scale AI factories for training and inference. From prototyping to serving billions of users in production, we build the underlying infrastructure that powers AI. Lambda was founded in 2012 by published AI engineers.
Lambda's mission is to make compute as ubiquitous as electricity and give everyone in America the power of superintelligence. One person, One GPU.
About Missouri Partnership
Missouri Partnership is a public-private economic development organization focused on attracting new jobs and investment to the state and promoting Missouri's business strengths. Since 2008, Missouri Partnership has worked with partners statewide to attract companies that have created 35,400+ new jobs, $1.8 billion+ in new annual payroll, and $8.4 billion+ in new capital investment. Some recent successful projects that led to major investment in Missouri include Accenture Federal Services LLC, American Foods Group, Casey's, Chewy, Inc., Google, James Hardie, Meta, Swift Prepared Foods, URBN, USDA, and Veterans United.
Lambda Press Contact | pr@lambdal.com
Groq AI infrastructure to power the HUMAIN One real-time AI operating system for enterprise
Groq's low latency inference enables HUMAIN to deliver natural, voice-driven computing at scale.
The leader in AI inference, Groq, announced that HUMAIN has selected Groq's AI inference infrastructure to power HUMAIN One, a new operating system built for the age of AI.
HUMAIN One replaces traditional applications with a voice-based interface that understands intent and completes tasks through intelligent agents. Built to help teams across HR, finance, productivity, and procurement, it makes everyday work feel more natural and connected.
Running a platform that responds to spoken intent in real time requires inference that can coordinate hundreds of AI agents with consistent speed and precision. Groq's inference architecture provides the low-latency performance needed to power that experience.
"What makes HUMAIN One possible is inference that keeps up with human thought," said Jonathan Ross, Groq Founder and CEO. "Groq provides the real-time speed and predictability required to turn spoken intent into immediate, intelligent action."
Groq's efficient, U.S.-built compute architecture allows HUMAIN to scale globally while reducing cost and energy per inference. Together, the two companies are defining a new model for enterprise computing where interaction with technology feels as natural as conversation.
"Groq delivers the performance and reliability needed to bring HUMAIN One to life," said Tareq Amin, CEO of HUMAIN. "Their technology allows us to operate in real time with the consistency our system depends on."
About Groq
Groq is the inference infrastructure that powers AI with the speed and cost it requires. Founded in 2016, the company created the LPU and GroqCloud to ensure compute is faster and more affordable. Today, Groq is a key part of the American AI Stack and trusted by more than two million developers and many of the world's leading Fortune 500 companies.
Groq Media Contact: pr-media@groq.com
About HUMAIN
HUMAIN, a PIF company, is a global artificial intelligence company delivering full-stack AI capabilities across four core areas - next generation data centers, hyper-performance infrastructure & cloud platforms, advanced AI Models, including one of the world's most advanced Arabic multimodal LLMs, and transformative AI Solutions that combine deep sector insight with real-world execution.
HUMAIN's end-to-end model serves both public and private sector organizations, unlocking exponential value across all industries, driving transformation and strengthening capabilities through human-AI synergies. With a growing portfolio of sector-specific AI products and a core mission to drive IP leadership and talent supremacy world-wide, HUMAIN is engineered for global competitiveness and national distinction.
Fintech leader LemFi partners with GCash to enable 94 million Filipinos to receive instant remittances.
LemFi has partnered with GCash, the Philippines’ leading finance app, to make cross-border payments and connections between overseas Filipinos and home easier.
LemFi has partnered with GCash, the Philippines’ #1 mobile wallet, to make remittances quicker, easier, and zero-fee. Filipinos in North America and Europe can now send money directly to their GCash wallets within the LemFi app, delivered in minutes at competitive exchange rates.
Exciting news! We partnered with GCash, the Philippines' leading mobile wallet. With this partnership and the now-concluded integration, Filipinos in North America and Europe (including the United Kingdom) can send money directly to their GCash wallets right within the LemFi app.
This partnership follows key achievements this year, including a Series B fundraise, the strategic acquisition of a money remittance license in Europe, and, more recently, the acquisition of Pillar, a credit fintech, to expand access to financial services for the broader diaspora community.
About GCash
GCash is widely regarded as the #1 finance mobile app in the Philippines, with over 94 million registered users worldwide. With expanded offerings in payments, savings, credit and insurance, GCash has become a vital tool for Filipinos at home and abroad, particularly with the introduction of its GCash Overseas service, which enables users to register using international phone numbers.
About The Global Partnership
LemFi, a leading financial technology platform serving Filipinos and other immigrants across North America, the United Kingdom, and Europe, announces its partnership with GCash, the Philippines’ renowned mobile wallet, which has 94 million active customers. This collaboration will enable Filipinos in North America and Europe (including the United Kingdom) to send money directly to their GCash wallets.
This comes after key achievements by LemFi this year, including a Series B fundraise, the strategic acquisition of a money remittance license in Europe, and, more recently, the acquisition of Pillar, a credit fintech, to expand access to financial services for the broader diaspora community, including Filipinos in diaspora.
GCash is widely regarded as the #1 finance mobile app in the Philippines, with over 94 million registered users worldwide. With expanded offerings in payments, savings, credit and insurance, GCash has become a vital tool for Filipinos at home and abroad, particularly with the introduction of its GCash Overseas service, which enables users to register using international phone numbers.
This partnership positions LemFi as one of GCash's official remittance partners in North America & Europe (including the United Kingdom). Users can load GCash wallets through the LemFi app. The integration provides Filipinos in Diaspora with a seamless and low-cost way to support their loved ones, whether paying bills, topping up mobile data, or covering everyday expenses.
“This is more than convenience—it’s connection,” said Paul Albano, GCash International General Manager. “Our kababayans abroad want speed and reliability. This partnership delivers both, while making financial support feel immediate and intentional.”
“As the largest mobile wallet in the Philippines, GCash plays a critical role in the financial lives of Filipinos,” said Patricia Estrella, Growth Manager at LemFi. "With this partnership, we're giving the Filipino diaspora in North America, the United Kingdom, and the EU the tools to take care of their families and feel even closer to home."
Through the LemFi app, “Customers can deposit funds, converted automatically into their GCash wallet, at zero transfer fees, competitive exchange rates, no minimum transfer limits, and delivery in minutes”, added Raymund Abog, LemFi’s Head of Growth for South East Asia. “For millions of Filipinos using GCash, this partnership represents convenience, connection and a commitment to serve Filipinos wherever they are.”
Philip Daniel, LemFi’s Head of Global Expansion and Growth, emphasised the broader vision: “Our mission is to make international payments easier, quicker, and more inclusive. This partnership with GCash is a milestone for us, especially in connecting global Filipinos to trusted financial tools they already use. We are proud to support communities like those in North America, the UK, the EU, and soon, even more countries across the globe.”
This announcement was made at a community brunch in Toronto, hosted by LemFi and GCash. The event brought together 50 key Filipino community leaders, including organisers behind major cultural festivals, professionals across healthcare and finance, and long-time remitters.
As LemFi grows globally, its mission remains clear: To improve the financial life of the next generation of immigrants. This partnership is a significant step in delivering on that promise for the Filipino diaspora.
To learn more about LemFi and their work, please visit www.lemfi.com. For enquiries, contact legal@lemfi.com.
Ayoola Salako
LemFi
email us here
Visit us on social media:
LinkedIn
Ark Invest and BlackRock backed tokenization platform Securitize to go public via SPAC at $1.25 Billion valuation
ALSO READ
Securitize, the Leading Tokenization Platform, to Become a Public Company at $1.25B Valuation via Business Combination with Cantor Equity Partners II CEPT:NASDAQ
- Establishes the first public securities-focused tokenization infrastructure company
- Industry-leading end-to-end tokenization platform with blue-chip institutional partnerships including BlackRock, Apollo, Hamilton Lane and VanEck
- Upsized $225 million in committed common stock PIPE financing led by new and existing blue-chip institutional investors, including Arche, Borderless Capital, Hanwha Investment & Securities, InterVest, and ParaFi Capital
- Transaction values Securitize at a $1.25 billion pre-money equity value, with existing Securitize equity holders rolling 100% of their interests into the combined company, including ARK Invest, BlackRock, and Morgan Stanley Investment Management
Securitize, Inc. ("Securitize" or the "Company"), the world's leading platform1 for tokenizing real-world assets, and Cantor Equity Partners II, Inc. (Nasdaq: CEPT) ("CEPT"), a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by an affiliate of Cantor Fitzgerald, today announced that they have entered into a definitive business combination agreement through which Securitize will become a publicly-listed company. The Company will be uniquely positioned to participate in a $19 trillion TAM for tokenization of real-world assets.
The transaction values Securitize at a $1.25 billion pre-money equity value. Existing equity holders including ARK Invest, BlackRock, Blockchain Capital, Hamilton Lane, Jump Crypto, Morgan Stanley Investment Management and Tradeweb Markets will roll 100% of their interests into the combined company. The combined company will be renamed Securitize Corp. and its common stock is expected to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "SECZ".
In connection with the transaction, Securitize plans to tokenize its own equity, an industry first designed to demonstrate how the public company process and trading can move onchain.
"This is a defining moment for Securitize and for the future of finance," said Carlos Domingo, Co-Founder and CEO of Securitize. "We founded this company with a mission to democratize capital markets by making them more accessible, transparent, and efficient through tokenization. This is the next chapter in making financial markets operate at the speed of the internet and is another step in our mission to bring the next generation of finance onchain and tokenize the world."
"We believe that blockchain technology has massive potential to transform finance, and partnering with Securitize underscores our confidence in tokenization as a foundational force in the next era of capital markets" said Brandon Lutnick, Chairman and CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald and Chairman of Cantor Equity Partners II.
A Trusted Ecosystem for Tokenization
Securitize's platform powers the end-to-end relationship between issuers and investors, combining regulatory compliance, digital asset infrastructure, and broad ecosystem integrations across major blockchains, custodians, prime brokers, and DeFi protocols.
Key Investment Highlights:
- Trusted by the World's Leading Institutions – Partner to blue-chip financial institutions including BlackRock, Apollo, KKR, Hamilton Lane, and VanEck.
- Comprehensive and Regulated Stack – First platform with SEC-registered transfer agent, broker-dealer, ATS, investor advisor, and fund administration.
- Massive Addressable Market – Positioned to participate in a $19 trillion opportunity in tokenization across equities, fixed income, and alternative assets.
- Deep Ecosystem Integration – Securitize supports fifteen major blockchains, and is connected to leading DeFi protocols, stablecoin infrastructure, and digital custodians to enable secondary market liquidity.
Modernizing Capital Markets
Founded in November 2017, Securitize has built the most comprehensive and trusted infrastructure for tokenizing financial assets onchain. The company operates a fully regulated, end-to-end platform for the issuance, trading and servicing of tokenized securities. As the only vertically integrated tokenization provider with SEC-registered entities across a transfer agent, broker-dealer, alternative trading system (ATS), investor advisor and fund administration, Securitize uniquely enables a complete lifecycle for tokenized assets.
Today, Securitize has tokenized more than $4 billion in assets through partnerships with leading asset managers, including Apollo, BlackRock, Hamilton Lane, KKR, and VanEck. The firm's launch of KKR's Health Care Strategic Growth Fund II in 2022 marked the first time a major global investment manager tokenized a fund onchain, while BlackRock's BUIDL, tokenized by Securitize in 2024, became the largest tokenized real-world asset in the world.
Beyond institutional funds, Securitize has also pioneered the tokenization of equities, beginning with Exodus, the first U.S.-registered company to tokenize its common stock, and more recently, FG Nexus, a new framework for tokenizing stocks for publicly listed companies.
Transaction Overview
The proposed business combination values Securitize at a pre-money $1.25 billion equity value and is expected to deliver up to approximately $469 million2 of gross proceeds to Securitize, consisting of:
- $225 million pursuant to a fully committed PIPE, anchored by new and existing blue-chip institutional investors including Arche, Borderless Capital, Hanwha Investment & Securities, InterVest, and ParaFi Capital
- $244 million of cash held in CEPT's trust account, assuming no redemptions
Net proceeds from the transaction will strengthen the company's balance sheet with significant capital, enabling Securitize to accelerate its commercial roadmap, scale customer adoption, and unlock key growth opportunities. No existing Securitize shareholders will sell any shares or receive cash consideration as part of the transaction, and all existing Securitize shareholders will be locked up at close of the transaction. The transaction has been unanimously approved by both companies' boards of directors and is expected to close in the first half of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
1 https://app.rwa.xyz/platforms (Oct 2025)
2 Amounts exclude $50 million in incremental gross proceeds, of which $30 million was funded in October 2025 and $20 million that is expected to be funded at closing pursuant to an existing option issued pursuant to a prior funding round.
Advisors
Citigroup Global Markets Inc. ("Citi") is acting as financial and capital markets advisor to Securitize. Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. ("CF&Co.") is acting as financial and capital markets advisor to CEPT. Citi and CF&Co. are acting as co-placement agents for the PIPE.
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is serving as legal advisor to Securitize. Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP is serving as legal advisor to CEPT. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is serving as legal advisor to Citi and CF&Co in connection with their roles as co-placement agents.
About Securitize
Securitize is tokenizing the world with $4B+ AUM (as of Oct 2025) through tokenized funds and equities in partnership with top-tier asset managers, such as Apollo, BlackRock, Hamilton Lane, KKR, VanEck and others. Securitize, through its subsidiaries, is a SEC-registered broker dealer, digital transfer agent, fund administrator and operator of a SEC-regulated Alternative Trading System (ATS). Securitize has also been recognized as a 2025 Forbes Top 50 Fintech company.
For more information, please visit:
Website | X/Twitter | LinkedIn
About Cantor Equity Partners II
Cantor Equity Partners II, Inc. (Nasdaq: CEPT) is a special purpose acquisition company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization, or other similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities. CEPT is led by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brandon Lutnick and sponsored by an affiliate of Cantor Fitzgerald.
About Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P.
Cantor Fitzgerald, with more than 14,000 employees, is a leading global financial services and real estate services holding company and a proven and resilient leader for more than 79 years. Its diverse group of global companies provides a wide range of products and services, including investment banking, asset and investment management, capital markets, prime services, research, digital assets, data, financial and commodities brokerage, trade execution, clearing, settlement, advisory, financial technology, custodial, commercial real estate advisory and servicing, and more.