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Magentic raises $18M to build the AI workforce for the physical world

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Digital workers for the physical world: funding will grow Magentic’s AI agents into a full AI workforce for global manufacturers

LONDON, Sept. 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Magentic, which provides AI digital workers for operations at large industrial companies, today announced an $18 million Series A. The round was raised a year after launch and led by Felicis, alongside existing investors Sequoia Capital and The Westly Group. Founded by McKinsey and OpenAI alumni, Magentic is leading the deployment of AI agents for the world’s largest manufacturers.

“The physical world is dealing with the biggest capex cycle in history, driven by AI demand, during a time of trade disruption and geopolitical challenges,” said Robin Van Aeken, CEO and co-founder of Magentic. “The companies that build the best intelligence into every decision they make will be the ones that compound their competitive advantage.”

The funding arrives as industrial and procurement teams face converging pressures from manufacturing demand, tariffs, and limited budget. Goldman Sachs projects roughly $8 trillion in AI capital spending between 2026 and 2031, much of it flowing into physical infrastructure that has to be sourced and built. Procurement workloads have grown roughly 10% year over year against just 1% budget growth.

AI digital workers for operations

Magentic’s AI digital workers are multi-agent systems that operate like virtual employees, working continuously inside the world’s largest manufacturers. This AI workforce works the way people do: on Microsoft Teams, on email, and inside a company’s own systems. They can take over work and own it end to end: deciding whether to buy or build, choosing the right supplier, negotiating contracts, running orders, and clearing invoices. Built for a scale only the world’s largest manufacturers face in billions of rows of data, tens of billions in spend, and decades-old fragmented systems still held together by Excel and aging ERPs, a single digital worker grows into a workforce spanning operations, with people always in command.

Magentic supports both indirect and direct spend. This includes the raw materials that go into products, where the most complex and valuable challenges lie. One customer now runs more than a million orders a year through Magentic AI agents; at another, they’ve already found $4 million in savings. Across a base of the Global 500, including three of the world’s ten largest beverage companies, Magentic typically delivers 2–5% savings, a 60% lift in data quality, and reduces tens of thousands of hours of manual work. This frees people to focus on partnering with suppliers, new product innovation, and strategy. Magentic sees human procurement teams growing bigger as their value per person goes up in the future.

“Supply chains are the least glamorous part of the economy, yet the most consequential, deciding what gets built and what does not. That’s also what makes them so hard to automate,” said Feyza Haskaraman, Partner at Felicis. “Getting an agent to understand a manufacturer’s complex systems well enough to take action inside them is no small feat, which is why we haven’t seen anyone else build autonomous AI workers for the physical economy.”

Scaling a secure AI workforce

With enterprise wary of AI agents acting inside critical systems, Magentic is built for demanding security bars. Controls include zero-data-retention agreements with major AI providers, deployment in any cloud environment, and secure, isolated deployments available in any data region.

The new funding will accelerate Magentic’s roadmap for AI agents, extend coverage across procurement and supply chain workflows, and deepen the long-horizon AI research that lets agents tackle the most complex optimization problems in procurement and supply chains.

“Bringing frontier AI to the physical world requires pushing beyond AI systems with limited context windows. We’re building AI that can diagnose problems, plan the fixes, take action, and see the work through across terabytes of multimodal data at once,” said Odhran O’Donoghue, CTO and co-founder of Magentic.

About Magentic

Magentic provides AI digital workers, advanced multi-agent systems, that work alongside procurement and supply chain teams at global companies. Rather than adding another software dashboard, AI digital workers take action inside a company’s own systems. Founded by Robin Van Aeken (CEO) and Odhran O’Donoghue (CTO), Magentic launched in July 2025, is based in London and New York, and is backed by Sequoia Capital, Felicis, and The Westly Group.

Media contact 
media@magentic.com

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SOURCE Magentic

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H.I.G. Capital Signs Definitive Agreement to Sell General Datatech

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SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — H.I.G. Capital (“H.I.G.”), a leading global alternative investment firm with $75 billion of capital under management, is pleased to announce that one of its affiliates has signed a definitive agreement to sell its portfolio company, General Datatech (“GDT” or the “Company”), a leading global provider of IT solutions and services, to an affiliate of Softcat plc (LSE: SCT) (“Softcat”) for an enterprise value of $1.05 billion. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2027.

Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, GDT is a leading global IT solutions provider delivering secure, enterprise-grade, AI-ready infrastructure and services to customers across a wide range of end markets. Founded in 1996, the Company takes a services and architecture led approach to delivering comprehensive solutions across its networking, hybrid cloud and data center, cybersecurity, and collaboration practices.

Since H.I.G.’s investment in GDT in 2021, the Company has undergone a significant transformation, strengthening its leadership team, refining its services and solutions capabilities, and establishing a global delivery platform by launching its Bangalore center of excellence. The Company also invested significantly in AI and cybersecurity capabilities, further positioning GDT as a differentiated technology partner to large and complex enterprise customers. During H.I.G.’s ownership, the Company has doubled EBITDA while expanding in high-growth sectors and increasing its mix of recurring gross profit.

Shawn O’Grady, Chair and Chief Executive Officer of GDT, commented, “H.I.G. has been an outstanding partner to GDT and has supported our team as we invested in our people, practices, and client and partner relationships. Together, we have diversified the business, brought tremendous value to our customers, and positioned GDT to capitalize on the significant opportunities created by continued enterprise IT modernization. We are proud of what we have accomplished and excited to begin our next chapter with Softcat.”

Aaron Tolson and Kevin Van Culin, Managing Directors at H.I.G., commented, “Shawn and the GDT management team have done a phenomenal job transforming the Company into a leading IT solutions provider. The strategic investments during our ownership into high-growth areas such as hybrid cloud, AI, and cybersecurity have driven exceptional growth. We look forward to following the team’s continued success.”

Guggenheim Securities, LLC and Moelis & Company LLC served as financial advisors, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to H.I.G. and GDT in connection with the transaction.

About General Datatech

GDT is a global IT solutions provider that delivers secure, enterprise-grade, AI-ready infrastructure and services to customers across a wide range of end markets. With a 30-year heritage and a people-first approach, GDT helps organizations modernize and scale their IT environments to support innovation, resilience, and growth. The Company provides services-led solutions across its networking, hybrid cloud and data center, cybersecurity, and collaboration practices. For more information, visit gdt.com.

About H.I.G. Capital

H.I.G. is a leading global alternative investment firm with $75 billion of capital under management.* Based in Miami, and with offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Stamford in the United States, as well as international affiliate offices in Hamburg, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Milan, Paris, Bogotá, Rio de Janeiro, Dubai, and Hong Kong, H.I.G. specializes in providing both debt and equity capital to middle market companies, utilizing a flexible and operationally focused/value-added approach:

H.I.G.’s equity funds invest in management buyouts, recapitalizations, and corporate carve-outs of both profitable as well as underperforming manufacturing and service businesses.H.I.G.’s debt funds invest in senior, unitranche, and junior debt financing to companies across the size spectrum, both on a primary (direct origination) basis, as well as in the secondary markets.H.I.G.’s real estate funds invest in value-added properties, which can benefit from improved asset management practices.H.I.G. Infrastructure focuses on making value-add and core plus investments in the infrastructure sector.

Since its founding in 1993, H.I.G. has invested in and managed more than 400 companies worldwide. The Firm’s current portfolio includes more than 100 companies with combined sales in excess of $53 billion. For more information, please refer to the H.I.G. website at hig.com.

*Based on total capital raised by H.I.G. Capital and its affiliates.

Contact:
Aaron Tolson
Managing Director
atolson@hig.com

Kevin Van Culin
Managing Director
kvanculin@hig.com

H.I.G. Capital
One Sansome Street
37th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94104
P: 415.439.5500
hig.com

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SOURCE H.I.G. Capital

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Accely Appoints Murali Kurra as Chief Revenue Officer for the Middle East

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DUBAI, UAE, Sept. 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Accely, a global SAP Gold Partner and enterprise transformation company, has appointed Murali Kurra as Chief Revenue Officer for the Middle East. He will lead sales across the region and own Accely’s revenue strategy, covering existing account growth, renewals and new market entry.

Murali has spent more than twenty years in enterprise applications and the SAP ecosystem, in senior sales and leadership roles at IBM, DXC Technology, Fujitsu, Bristlecone, Zensar Technologies and Edraky. He has led large, complex pursuits and built long-running customer relationships in life sciences, manufacturing, retail and distribution, construction and real estate, and public sector.

His appointment comes as organisations across the Gulf modernizing through AI-led digital transformation against fixed timelines set by national transformation agendas and regulatory mandates. Those programmes leave little room for partners who disappear after signature.

“Murali has sat across the table from enterprise buyers for two decades, and he knows what separates the deals that deliver from the ones that stall,” said Nilesh Shah, CEO, Accely Group. “The Middle East is a priority growth region for us and it needs that judgement in the sales leadership seat.”

“Customers in this region are not short of technology options. What they want is a partner who stays through the hard part of a programme, not just the sale,” said Murali Kurra, Chief Revenue Officer, Middle East, Accely. “Accely has the delivery depth to make that a credible promise. That is what I intend to build the regional business on.”

That depth includes Eerly, Accely’s own AI-driven product suite, and its Eerly Studio platform across Consultant, Insights, and Engagement.

Murali will work with Accely’s global leadership and regional delivery teams across SAP S/4HANA, SAP Business Technology Platform, SAP SuccessFactors, SAP Customer Experience, analytics, artificial intelligence, automation and SAP application services. The Middle East remains one of Accely’s core markets, served by regional teams with local delivery capability.

About Accely

Accely is a global SAP Gold Partner and CMMI Level 5 firm delivering autonomous enterprise transformation services. With 26+ years of expertise across 20+ offices in 17 countries, Accely delivers tailored SAP solutions spanning ERP, CRM, HXM, Analytics, BTP and AI. Named an ‘SAP Game Changer’, Accely supports sustainable growth through innovation and operational excellence.

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BAE Systems OneArc integrates commercial embedded training on Army combat vehicles during Force Development Innovation & Assessment (FDIA)

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Embedded system allows soldiers to train on the same system they operate, at the point of need

ORLANDO, Fla., Sept. 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — BAE Systems (LON: BA) OneArc (OneArc™) has been awarded an Other Transaction Agreement contract by the U.S. Army to integrate its Embedded Collective Training (ECT) solution on a platoon of combat vehicles at Fort Hood, Texas, as part of the Army’s Force Development Innovation & Assessment (FDIA). The integration marks the first commercially available embedded trainer installed in a U.S. Army combat vehicle.

“Crews need the ability to train wherever the mission requires, without being tied to fixed simulator facilities,” said Sergeant First Class Patrick Muir, 1st Cavalry Division Standardization Master Gunner. “The ECT supports Army FDIA by providing a single, adaptable system that enables precision and collective training across geographically dispersed locations using organic platform controls and procedures. This gives commanders greater flexibility to build and sustain readiness while reducing the costs and infrastructure requirements traditionally associated with dedicated facilities.”

Throughout the FDIA event, U.S. Army crews will train on the full range of precision gunnery progression tasks in support of platform qualification. The initiative covers weapon systems, crew-level qualification and validation of embedded training on a fielded combat platform.

The deployment comes as the Army works to close a persistent gap between the introduction of new capability and combat readiness. Historically, embedded training has arrived years after a platform enters service, if delivered at all, forcing units to rely on live-fire ranges or standalone simulators that are costly, difficult to schedule and disconnected from the vehicle crew stations.

“By integrating a commercial embedded trainer directly on a combat platform already in the fight, the Army gains a repeatable model for pairing new equipment with training capability from day one, rather than treating training as a follow-on program years down the road,” said Rahul Thakkar, President, BAE Systems OneArc. “For a force under pressure to modernize on compressed timelines, the shift, from training as only a pre-deployment activity to training as a built-in capability, is central to what FDIA is designed to prove out.”

The ECT kits are designed to scale beyond individual crew training, supporting platoon-level collective training and distributed tactical maneuver in later phases. The approach also extends to other ground platforms, both crewed and uncrewed, giving the Army a common path to embedded training across the OneArc ecosystem of capabilities and partners.

The solution was designed to support the Army’s commercial-first approach to training capability, reducing the development phase that often slows deployment of new technologies and compressing the timeline from acquisition to training into months, not years.

For more information, please contact:

Amy Nwamkpa, BAE Systems
Mobile: 703-268-9621
amy.nwamkpa@baesystems.us 

www.baesystems.com/US
@BAESystemsInc

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SOURCE BAE Systems, Inc.

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