Welcome back to our round-up of global startup news from the past month. We entered September off the back of some interesting developments.
As we mentioned last month, the IPO market has steadily been improving. Events since then look to confirm this trend, with Klarna, Gemini, Legence, and Black Rock Coffee all launching roadshows to go public.
This is good news for startups from early-stage to Series-C, with the promise of a high-value exit in the long term likely to bolster confidence with investors and VCs looking for the next success story to add to their portfolios.
Although there was a slowdown in dealmaking in August, familiar names like General Catalyst, Sequoia Capital, and Andreessen Horowitz were still very active, suggesting that this was the fallout from the summer period of vacations and not a prevailing headwind.
Given Anthropic’s $13 billion round in September, the investor landscape indicates we have room to be quietly optimistic.
However, it seems not all is equal here. A new analysis found that men made up the overwhelming majority of executives at companies recently looking to go public. These individuals comprised 84% of board directors, compared to 76% the prior year, while 27% of the companies looking to go public have no women at all on their boards.
After years of progress in this regard and numerous studies that show how diversity supports robust companies, the startup community should take steps to maintain a balance in leadership and buck the emerging trend noted in larger tech firms.
To close the August edition, here’s a further roundup of startup stories you might have missed:
Viking Pure Solutions Showcases Value of CleanTech Products
The CleanTech narrative often focuses on high-impact ideas that tackle sustainability challenges at the thick end of the wedge.
Yet startups often find the most success when products are closely refined to solve a specific set of important challenges. Viking Pure Solutions is a great example of how CleanTech products can make a big impact within verticals.
In the United States, a rapidly aging population means that demand for assisted living facilities and senior care is skyrocketing. There are approximately 32,231 assisted living communities here, with a further 4,000 new senior living units under development.
As the number of residents per unit grows, providers will need to change how homes are managed to avoid the spread of highly infectious diseases. For example, a study collected swabs from 1,400 residents in 28 nursing homes in Southern California found 50% were colonized with multidrug-resistant organisms. On September 24th, Viking Pure Solutions is set to host an online seminar titled “It Smells Clean in Here!” to break down the most common misconceptions around cleaning in these communities.
Prezent’s Articulate Conference To Explore the Future of AI in the Enterprise
We have more event activity on the horizon, as AI-powered communication platform Prezent announced its 2025 conference Articulate.
This exclusive, in-person conference will take place at the St. Regis in San Francisco on September 25th and will see enterprise leaders from the Fortune 2000 converge to explore how AI is revolutionizing business communication.
The conference promises to tackle pressing questions for the modern corporate enterprise, including what skills matter most in an AI-first future and how enterprises can realize an ROI from AI.
Tony Colon, SVP of Customer Excellence at ServiceNow, will deliver the opening keynote, while Janet Dorling, Senior Vice President, Intercontinental Region and Gilead Patient Solutions at Gilead Sciences, is set to join a panel to explore how communication can bridge the gap in a fireside chat moderated by Prezent CEO Rajat Mishra, among other speakers.
Visit the conference page to learn more about Articulate 2025.
First City Credit Union Uses Fintech to Humanize Financial Services
First City Credit Union, a credit union in California, believes that empathy is equally important as innovative technology when it comes to providing customer service that goes above and beyond.
Their mission to deliver an emphatic revolution in financial services hit the headlines this month when William McSweeney, a respected LA County Sheriff’s Deputy, sadly passed away. Using the platform Ribbon, the team sent Mrs. McSweeney a beautiful bouquet alongside a heartfelt card acknowledging the loss of her husband. As a result, Mrs. McSweeny decided to become a member of the Union herself.
“Our mission goes beyond finances and accounts—we believe in building relationships rooted in care and understanding. When our members and their loved ones face life’s hardest moments, we want to be present for them in meaningful ways. Mrs. McSweeney’s story shows what is possible when we empower our people, process, and technology to choose empathy.”
Ribbon, the platform enabling this process behind the scenes, provided seamless automation for the condolence flow, allowing staff to focus on human connection.
Startup Launches First AI-Integrated CMMS
In August, Fracttal unveiled its AI-integrated assistant for Fracttal One. This Chilean-founded startup has geographically expanded to many cities in Latin America and Spain and is using tech innovation to transform the task of managing maintenance workflows.
The launch marks the first time a Computerized Maintenance Management System features native artificial intelligence, and empowers teams with faster, more precise decision-making, helping prevent downtime and streamlining workflows by summarizing tasks and automating alerts.
The smart assistant in particular reviews technical data, past issues, recent fixes, and spare parts to evaluate an asset’s condition and recommend actions based on its use and importance.
The company’s solutions are used by over 50,000 users, managing 20 million assets and executing more than 30 million transactions daily, collaborating closely with leaders such as SAP, Amazon Web Services, and Oracle.
San Francisco’s Create the Future Summit
San Francisco’s Werqwise venue played host to the Create the Future Summit on August 14th. The one-day gathering saw tech leaders, investors, policymakers, and creatives converge to chart the next chapter in innovation. Highlights included thought-provoking discussions on AI, sustainable development, and evolving investment trends, driving home the message that the future isn’t coming; it’s already arriving.
One standout panel was ”The New Playbook for Running and Growing Businesses,” moderated by Stephen Baiter, which featured César DOnofrio, CEO of Making Sense, and Dr. Shalabh Gupta, CEO of Unicycive Therapeutics. They emphasized adaptability as the core of modern strategy, with DOnofrio urging businesses to “transform every day” to seize AI-driven opportunities. He emphasized flexibility as critical, and that “with AI reshaping industries, leaders must adapt, learn, and rethink business models continuously.”
Making Sense has played an important role in driving digital transformation for some of the largest private equity firms in the US, including Bain Capital and Softbank.
Startups Meet at ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition in Los Angeles to Reshape Education
On August 12, 2025, at the ASAE Annual Meeting & Exposition in Los Angeles, startup Kryterion took center stage with a forward-looking session on how AI is reshaping credentialing and education. Led by Leslie Thomas, Ph.D., Kryterion’s Chief Psychometric Officer, alongside industry experts Rory McCorkle and Chris Scandlen, the discussion explored AI-driven item generation, scalable exam delivery, and ways associations can modernize programs without compromising psychometric integrity.
Year after year, the ASAE Annual Meeting provides an opportunity for those who support the power of the association community to partake in authentic and positive community-building experiences. Kryterion is one of the companies that has become a leader in test development and delivery, providing comprehensive solutions for global assessments and high-stakes certifications.
PurpleLab Expands its Offering to Advertising
Healthtech company PurpleLab announced a series of major partnerships with Experian, DeepIntent, InsightsRx, and Comscore. The collaborations are expected to allow advertisers to use data in more innovative ways, ensuring advertising ROI.
Today, pharmaceutical advertising spend continues to increase, reaching $2.97 billion on national TV alone in the first half of 2025. With privacy regulations tightening, signal loss and walled gardens obscuring patient journeys, brands will increasingly need clinically precise data that can move seamlessly from discovery to delivery.
PurpleLab is meeting this demand by aligning its healthcare dataset with these partners to enhance the full marketing journey from activation to measurement. The company’s data has long been fit for purpose for clinical and commercial life science needs.
Startup Stellar Named Best Data Recovery Tool
Startup Stellar Data Recovery was named of the most popular data recovery services for businesses. The platform, which comes with a host of scan options, provides the ability to tailor a scan for the type of data loss that has occurred.
The solution also comes with additional search capabilities, making it easier for users to find the most critical data.
Another important feature of Stellar Data Recovery is its support for all file formats and drives. The company has an adaptable provider that can recover data from hard drives, memory cards, flash drives and optical media.