Startup news, 26 September 2026

9 briefs

• Vanderbilt adopts Okta-based governance for AI agents

  Vanderbilt University has extended its identity-governance platform to AI agents, using the OneVU single sign-on system powered by Okta. The change reflects the growing reality that agents now operate

  Reported by siliconangle.com

• Boston lures $197M-funded biotech from Philly

  A Philadelphia-based biotech startup has relocated its U.S. operations to Boston after closing a $197 million funding round. The company, which hasn’t been listed in StartupReader’s directory, said th

  Reported by bizjournals.com

• Mark Wahlberg joins TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 to talk startup investing

  Mark Wahlberg will take the TechCrunch Disrupt stage in October 2026 alongside Bruce K. Lee to discuss investing, entrepreneurship, and building businesses, not his acting career. The session, announc

  Reported by techcrunch.com

• Notre Dame’s AI push starts with ripping out a decade of network debt

  Notre Dame has spent the last eighteen months replacing its entire campus network. The project finished last month, dramatically expanding bandwidth and slashing latency. There was no press release.

  Reported by siliconangle.com

• Two $400M rounds cap cybersecurity’s record funding week

  This week saw two $400 million funding rounds for cybersecurity startups, according to reports, marking a notable moment for the sector. The deals, if confirmed, would represent some of the largest si

  Reported by news.crunchbase.com

• Public funding fuels AI internships for small business

  The federal government has allocated significant funding to Mitacs for a program placing thousands of students and recent graduates in paid AI-related internships at small companies. Announced recentl

  Reported by betakit.com

• Collibra launches runtime governance for enterprise AI agents

  Collibra has rolled out a suite of tools designed to govern AI agents as they operate across enterprise systems in real time.

  Reported by siliconangle.com

• Laura Lenz takes OMERS Ventures helm after leadership churn

  OMERS Ventures has named Laura Lenz as its new head, replacing Saar Pikar amid the firm’s third leadership change in three years.

  Reported by betakit.com

• HumanX debuts AI "eyes to stomach" pipeline at Amsterdam demo

  HumanX, an AI startup operating in stealth, used last week’s HumanX conference in Amsterdam to showcase a prototype system that reportedly pipes live video from smart glasses into a small on-prem appl

  Reported by siliconangle.com