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National Post
6 minutes ago
- National Post
Blue J Announces $122M Series D Financing Led By Oak HC/FT and Sapphire Ventures
Article content Blue J doubles revenue and customer base in first half of 2025, delivering comprehensive tax research to tens of thousands of tax professionals Article content TORONTO — Blue J, a leading GenAI tax research platform, today announced it has raised $122 million in U.S. dollars in a Series D funding round led by Oak HC/FT and Sapphire Ventures, with participation from Intrepid Growth Partners, and previous investors Ten Coves Capital and Coming seven months after Blue J's Series C round, this investment signals a clear market consensus that Blue J is the breakout winner in its category. Article content Article content 'We're thrilled to partner with Sapphire Ventures, Oak HC/FT, Ten Coves, and Intrepid Growth Partners — firms with exceptional track records of backing market-defining companies,' said Benjamin Alarie, CEO and co-founder of Blue J. 'Their commitment is a powerful endorsement of our vision to transform tax research. With this capital and industry support, we will accelerate innovation and deliver even greater value to tax professionals. We are building the future of tax. This is just the beginning.' Article content 'Tax research has long been a cumbersome, time-consuming task,' said Allen Miller, Partner at Oak HC/FT. 'Blue J has solved this challenge with an elegant AI solution that dramatically accelerates research while raising the bar for accuracy. We believe Blue J will become the new standard for complex tax questions — and we're proud to support Ben and the team in their next stage of growth.' Article content 'Blue J is exactly what we look for in vertical AI: deep domain expertise, proprietary data and a product that drives meaningful business impact,' said Cathy Gao, Partner at Sapphire Ventures and Blue J's newest board member. 'By applying generative AI to decades of tax rulings, Blue J reduces research that once took hours to just minutes. It's already trusted by enterprise clients, embraced by top firms, and loved by many practitioners. We believe their momentum shows the industry is ready, and we're proud to back Blue J as they build the operating layer for global tax cognition.' Article content Blue J's platform leverages advanced generative AI to deliver instant, reliable answers to complex tax questions spanning U.S. federal, state, and local tax (SALT), as well as Canadian and UK tax law. Built on a rigorously curated database of authoritative tax law, Blue J's system continuously improves by learning from millions of user queries each year. The result: practitioners can navigate even the most challenging tax issues with unmatched confidence and speed. Article content Unlike legacy keyword-based research tools, Blue J lets users ask tax questions conversationally, with no arcane syntax required. The intuitive interface delivers answers in seconds, complete with relevant source citations, making Blue J the industry's most user-friendly tax research platform. More than 70% of users log in weekly, and Blue J's Net Promoter Score (NPS) is consistently in the mid-70s. Article content In the first half of 2025, the company more than doubled its revenue and customer base, now serving tens of thousands of tax professionals across thousands of organizations that rely on Blue J for authoritative tax research, analysis, and answers. With the Series D funding, Blue J will further accelerate team expansion, product development, and market reach. Article content The company has proudly earned recognition from other generative AI leaders. 'Blue J is a leading example of effective AI deployment in one of the most complex information domains,' said Marc Manara, Head of Startups at OpenAI. 'By leveraging OpenAI's latest models, Blue J has elevated the standard for accuracy, trust, and insight in tax research. We're excited to continue working together at the forefront of innovation.' Article content This Series D follows Blue J's December 2024 Series C and comes during a period of rapid acceleration for the company. Since January 2025, Blue J has grown to over 80 employees and more than doubled its rate of new customer acquisition. With this new investment and market momentum, Blue J is poised to set the new standard for AI-driven tax research as global tax complexity continues to rise. Article content About Blue J Article content Founded in 2015, Blue J is redefining tax research with generative AI. Trusted by tax professionals across accounting firms, law firms, corporations, and government, Blue J delivers fast, verifiable analysis and answers to even the most complex tax questions — empowering experts to serve with clarity and confidence. With an intuitive conversational interface and a rigorously curated library of authoritative sources, Blue J is transforming how tax professionals work and make decisions. Leading organizations trust Blue J to streamline their research workflow and enhance decision-making accuracy. For more information, visit Article content About Oak HC/FT Article content Oak HC/FT is a venture and growth equity firm specializing in investments in fintech and healthcare. Using partnership as a foundation, Oak HC/FT guides companies and founders at every stage, from seed to growth, to create businesses that make a measurable and lasting impact. Founded in 2014, Oak HC/FT has invested in over 105 portfolio companies and has over $5.3 billion in assets under management. Oak HC/FT is headquartered in Stamford, CT, with an office in San Francisco, CA. Follow Oak HC/FT on LinkedIn and X and learn more at Article content About Sapphire Article content Sapphire is a global software venture capital firm with over $11 billion in AUM and team members across Austin, London, Menlo Park and San Francisco. For more than two decades, Sapphire has partnered with visionary management teams and venture funds to back companies of consequence. Since its founding, Sapphire has invested in more than 170 companies globally resulting in more than 30 Public Listings and 45 acquisitions. The firm's investment strategies — Sapphire Ventures, Sapphire Partners and Sapphire Sport — are focused on scaling companies and venture funds, elevating them to become category leaders. Sapphire's Portfolio Growth team of experienced operators delivers a strategic blend of value-add services, tools and resources designed to support portfolio company leaders as they scale. Article content Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content Media Contacts: Article content Blue J Article content Article content Article content
National Post
6 minutes ago
- National Post
Quintin Jones Joins Spire Global as Vice President and Head of North America
Article content Former Chief of Staff to the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to lead growth across U.S. and Canada Article content VIENNA, Va. — Spire Global, Inc. (NYSE: SPIR) ('Spire' or 'the Company'), a global provider of space-based data, analytics and space services, has appointed Quintin Jones as its Vice President and Head of North America, effective August 4, 2025. Article content Mr. Jones is a seasoned defense and operations executive with nearly 30 years of leadership experience across the U.S. military, interagency and allied commands. Most recently, he served as Chief of Staff to the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the second-highest-ranking officer in the U.S. military, from 2023 to 2025. Prior to that, he commanded the 23rd Marine Regiment from 2021 to 2023 and held senior roles with NATO and U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa from 2016 to 2020. Article content 'Quintin has a rare combination of operational excellence and strategic vision developed through years of leadership at the highest levels of government,' said Theresa Condor, Spire CEO. 'His deep understanding of mission-critical operations and ability to navigate complex stakeholder environments will be invaluable as we continue expanding the impact of our space-based solutions across essential domains.' Article content At Spire, Mr. Jones will oversee North American operations and lead the company's growth strategy across this critical region. He will be responsible for driving business expansion, ensuring operational excellence across Spire's sites in the U.S. and Canada, and strengthening engagement with U.S. federal clients and key stakeholders. Article content 'I'm deeply honored to join Spire and grateful to Theresa and the entire team for the warm welcome,' said Mr. Jones. 'Spire's mission of using data from space to solve problems on Earth reflects the kind of purpose-driven innovation I've dedicated my career to. What truly sets Spire apart, though, is its people — they are the center of the universe, and their passion and expertise are the driving force behind everything the company does. Together, we'll scale our impact across North America, strengthen critical partnerships, and accelerate growth across both commercial and government sectors, delivering trusted insights that shape decisions on Earth and beyond.' Article content Mr. Jones holds a B.S. from the U.S. Naval Academy, an M.A. in Strategic Studies from the Australian National University, an Executive MBA from the Naval Postgraduate School, and is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. Article content Mr. Jones will be based in the Company's Vienna, Virginia headquarters. Article content About Spire Global, Inc. Article content Spire (NYSE: SPIR) is a global provider of space-based data, analytics and space services, offering unique datasets and powerful insights about Earth so that organizations can make decisions with confidence in a rapidly changing world. Spire builds, owns, and operates a fully deployed satellite constellation that observes the Earth in real time using radio frequency technology. The data acquired by Spire's satellites provides global weather intelligence, ship and plane movements, and spoofing and jamming detection to better predict how their patterns impact economies, global security, business operations and the environment. Spire also offers Space as a Service solutions that empower customers to leverage its established infrastructure to put their business in space. Spire has offices across the U.S., Canada, UK, Luxembourg, Germany and Singapore. To learn more, visit Article content Forward Looking Statements Article content This press release contains forward-looking statements, including information regarding management's view of Spire's future expectations, plans and prospects, including our views regarding future execution within our business, and the opportunity we see in our industry, within the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the results of Spire to be materially different than those expressed or implied in such statements. Certain of these risk factors and others are included in documents Spire files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to, Spire's Annual Report on Form 10-K/A for the year ended December 31, 2024, as well as subsequent reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Other unknown or unpredictable factors also could have material adverse effects on Spire's future results. The forward-looking statements included in this press release are made only as of the date hereof. Spire cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Finally, Spire expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Article content Article content Article content Article content Contacts Article content For Media: Article content Article content Sarah Freeman Article content Article content Article content
National Post
37 minutes ago
- National Post
Why beans can be hard to digest, and what a Sask. researcher is doing about it
As humans, we've gone to great lengths to overcome legumes ' natural defences. We have the tenacity of our forebears to thank every time we fill a bowl with chili or swipe refried beans with a tortilla. Take lupins, which require boiling and washing for a week while frequently changing the water to make them palatable. Even then, they don't soften, but no need to worry. Do as the Italians do and pop them like olives as a bar snack. Article content Article content For less needy legumes, such as pinto beans or chickpeas, the question of whether to soak or not often rears its head. There are supporters in both camps, and though it's not strictly necessary, there's one compelling reason to soak beans and peas: digestibility. Article content Article content Legumes contain 'antinutrients,' such as oligosaccharides — the reason beans can't shake the 'musical fruit' moniker — that prevent animals (including humans) from fully digesting them. Soaking helps reduce these compounds, making legumes more digestible. Article content With a little bit of planning, soaking is perfectly doable at home. (Forethought isn't always required to enjoy beans, of course. Just open a can.) But it complicates things in an industrial setting, says Tolen Moirangthem, a PhD student at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) College of Engineering and the lead author of a recent study published in Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies that found a better method with big potential. Article content Article content Soaking beans overnight — 'even two days, let it ferment a little bit' — does the trick at home, says Moirangthem. But on an industrial scale, with multiple tons of legumes, that's a huge amount of time and risk. 'If water is involved, there are microbes coming in, there's bacteria coming in, all sorts of stuff coming in. So if anything goes wrong, my entire sample is off. It's gone,' says Moirangthem. Article content Article content 'We're always looking for an alternative. Is it less time-consuming, faster, easier to handle? Those are the things that matter when it comes to scaling up.' Article content Moirangthem and a team of researchers from the USask Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering devised a heating method using radio frequency (RF) waves. Instead of up to two days, their process takes five minutes. In addition to being efficient, it's also more effective at reducing antinutrients and eliminating negative flavours than current techniques. Article content The large ovens that food processing companies currently use to heat beans and peas can burn the outside of the legumes before the inside is hot enough to deactivate the antinutrients. The USask researchers found that their selective heating method, which Moirangthem compares to microwaves, reduced the amount of an antinutrient (trypsin inhibitors, proteins) by 81 per cent. Article content Since their method works without water, there's no soaking or boiling. 'We're trying to explore how we can do it in a dry way,' says Moirangthem. The goal is to produce a digestible, plant-based protein that can be used as an ingredient in burger patties and protein powders and added as a flour in bakeries. Article content Moirangthem has been studying food for the past 15 years, driven by a mission to bolster food security. 'With the global population increasing at this exponential rate, there will be times, in the near future, that we don't have enough food for people,' he says. 'How can we fight this? How can we (make sure) everybody gets a little bit to eat, at least to survive, and it has to be nutritious.' Article content He sees potential in legumes to meet the world's protein needs cost-effectively and sustainably. Since dairy and meat are perishable, they're more fragile to work with, Moirangthem highlights. On the other hand, dried peas and beans are non-perishable, have a long shelf life and 'can still deliver similar nutritional protein content.' Article content With all their promise, Moirangthem adds that legumes present a few challenges. For one, the functional properties of the protein. 'It's way easier to make a dairy-based protein supplement or dairy-based protein product because the functional property supports product manufacturing, and it doesn't require a lot of processing before we can utilize it.' Plant-based protein takes more work. 'We're trying to find how we can enhance the functional properties of proteins in beans so that we can actually go on par with (animal protein).' Article content Then, there's digestibility and the issue of antinutritional properties, which interfere with our ability to absorb all of the legumes' nutrients. Article content Moirangthem's research has shown that antinutrients can be reduced using RF heating. 'My study just scratched the surface, but it has potential.' He plans to continue researching the method and explore what other food processing operations it could replace. He also wants to go deeper into antinutrients and study the effect of RF heating on specific properties. Article content Article content Moirangthem highlights that Canada's ample farmland could make it a global nutrition hub. 'If we come together and invest in the right places and work on the right ideas, I think we can do a lot of good things,' he says, noting that he'd like to see more collaboration between academia and industry. Article content 'Otherwise, all the research we do in the lab remains in the lab. We need to work hand in hand, and government policies to encourage such projects or such sustainable approaches would be a good stepping stone.' Article content Should you soak your beans? Article content Radio frequency machines like the one Moirangthem and his colleagues use in the lab are meant for industrial use. 'It's a huge setup.' So, what's the best way to ensure that the legumes you cook from dried at home are as digestible as possible? Article content 'The best thing is traditional, very traditional, and easy to do. Soak it in water for a couple of days (at room temperature). That's it,' says Moirangthem. Cooks in his native India push it even further, fermenting legume-based batters for dishes such as dosa or idli. 'It's very easily digested.'
