Vantora, formerly known as UP.Labs, has secured more than $100 million in growth investment from Silversmith Capital Partners. The announcement marks the first time the profitable, founder-led company has raised outside capital since its founding in 2022. The funding will support expanded corporate partnerships, further development of its proprietary data ontology product, and additional hiring across artificial intelligence and commercial roles.
Strategic Use of Growth Capital
The growth capital will be used to expand Vantora’s corporate partnerships across essential industries such as energy, aviation, logistics, manufacturing, and automotive. It will also support continued development of COSMOS, the proprietary data ontology product that underpins its ventures. The company intends to hire additional talent across artificial intelligence and commercial roles to meet growing demand.
The Origin and Operating Model
Vantora was founded in 2022 by John Kuolt, who spent years building corporate ventures at BCG X, to solve the innovator’s dilemma from inside the enterprise. Teams of seasoned founders and senior product and AI engineers embed inside a partner enterprise and work with operators and their data. They identify the problems carrying the most value to the core business, typically representing $50 million to $100 million of annual EBITDA contribution.
A Founder’s Perspective on Sovereign AI
Kuolt said the world’s largest enterprises are sitting on enormous value disguised as problems. He explained that equity alignment solves a conundrum between world-class tech entrepreneurs and the massive problem sets of important companies. Vantora calls the result Sovereign AI because the enterprise must own the intelligence layer built on its operations and data.
Partnerships and Early Traction
Porsche AG served as the launch partner when the company debuted as UP.Labs in 2022. Vantora has since expanded its partnerships to include Alaska Airlines, J.B. Hunt, Wabash, and TDG, the parent of Ashley Furniture. The company has launched 17 ventures to date, is targeting 20 by the end of 2026, and has grown revenue 79 percent year over year.
Closing the AI Value Gap
Vantora’s model addresses a persistent gap in enterprise AI adoption, with McKinsey reporting that 94 percent of organizations still do not derive a significant share of earnings from AI. The company argues that generic tools layered onto legacy systems rarely reach the operational areas where value is concentrated. Its work runs on COSMOS, a proprietary ontology product that unifies operating data and makes it usable by AI-driven processes and autonomous agents.
What Partners Say
Brad Delco, Chief Financial Officer of J.B. Hunt, observed that there is no shortage of new ideas and emerging technologies competing for attention. He said Vantora’s disciplined approach to testing opportunities against real business needs is what J.B. Hunt values. That approach helps ensure the company is focused on solving the right problems for customers while creating long-term value.
Investor Perspective and Board Changes
Danielle Waldman, Principal at Silversmith Capital Partners, said John and his team have demonstrated ROI and earned the trust of leading industrial enterprises. She noted that they were doing Physical AI before there was even a name for it. As part of the investment, Todd MacLean, Danielle Waldman, and Annie Cory of Silversmith Capital Partners will join Vantora’s Board of Directors.
With this first institutional investment, Vantora is positioned to accelerate a model that lets large industrial companies own the intelligence layer of their operations. The company combines entrepreneurial talent, proprietary technology, data, and domain expertise to deliver measurable new value across critical industries. Its expansion of corporate partnerships and continued development of COSMOS are expected to deepen its impact as AI-native operating companies become central to industrial strategy.