Agarwal’s hire reflects OMNIA Partners’ commitment to delivering value through cutting-edge procurement solutions

FRANKLIN, Tenn., March 31, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Today, OMNIA Partners, the nation’s largest and most experienced group purchasing organization for the public and private sectors, announced that Ashish Agarwal will be joining the Executive Leadership team as Executive Vice President of Technology, reporting to Founder, President, and CEO Todd Abner.

In his new role, Agarwal will oversee IT Infrastructure, Data Engineering, Software Development, and Marketing Technology. At a time when 65% of Chief Procurement Officers (CPOs) report being only somewhat confident in their ability to effectively leverage artificial intelligence over the next 12 months, his leadership will be crucial to maintaining and improving OMNIA Partners’ data infrastructure in addition to evaluating and adopting emerging technologies across the organization.

“Ashish brings the perfect blend of technical expertise and strategic vision to accelerate OMNIA Partners’ digital transformation,” said Todd Abner, OMNIA Partners Founder, President, and CEO. “Emerging technologies and artificial intelligence are redefining what’s possible and empowering the procurement industry to thrive in a rapidly evolving marketplace.”

Agarwal comes to OMNIA Partners with more than 25 years in technology leadership with expertise in product development, digital innovation, and data and analytics across B2B and B2C digital commerce organizations. Prior to OMNIA Partners, Agarwal was focused on shaping technology strategies while driving business impact through innovative, data-driven solutions. He holds a Master of Science in Computer Science from Kent State University, a Master of Business Administration from Georgia State University, and certificates in Data Science/Machine Learning from University of California, Berkeley and Harvard University. Agarwal serves on the Executive Council of Apparo, a leading technology nonprofit organization.

“Throughout my career, I’ve seen how the right technology can transform business operations and create meaningful efficiencies,” said Agarwal. “I’m looking forward to working alongside the OMNIA Partners team to develop and implement solutions that make a tangible difference for our members.”

OMNIA PARTNERS

OMNIA Partners is the largest and most experienced purchasing organization for the public sector, private sector, nonprofit, real estate, and private equity markets. With more than $30B in B2B spending managed each year, its immense purchasing power and industry-leading suppliers have produced an extensive portfolio of procurement solutions and partnerships, making OMNIA Partners the most valued and trusted procurement resource for organizations nationwide.

www.omniapartners.com

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SOURCE OMNIA Partners

SAN FRANCISCO, March 31, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Today, creators of AI-enabled robotic systems for meal assembly Chef Robotics announced it has raised $43.1M in new Series A funding that includes $20.6M in equity and $22.5M in equipment financing debt; the latter will be used to cover the financing of Chef’s robotic systems for Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) so Chef’s customers don’t have to front CapEx for their robots.

The equity round was led by Avataar Ventures and included investments from Construct Capital, Bloomberg Beta, Promus Ventures, MFV Partners, Interwoven Ventures, HCVC, MaC Venture Capital, Red and Blue Ventures, Tau Partners, Alumni Ventures, Siddhi Capital, and BOLD Capital Partners. The new funding brings Chef’s total capital raised to $65.6M which consists of $38.8M in equity and $26.75M in equipment financing, all with Silicon Valley Bank, a Division of First Citizens Bank.

Chef has quickly cemented its standing as the industry leader in AI-enabled robotics for meal assembly. Now at over 44M servings produced and counting through robot deployments at leading brands such as Amy’s Kitchen, Sunbasket, Chef Bombay, and Cafe Spice, Chef has procured more meals than all other existing food robotics startups combined. The data that Chef collects on each meal assembled is critical to the company as it relies on real-world production data to train its AI models.

The funding round will allow Chef to accelerate production deployments of its robotic systems, providing momentum for the real-world AI data engine flywheel that the company credits for its rapid growth rate of meals produced. Given food is highly variable, Chef requires high volumes of production data over prolonged periods of time for optimal model performance. The more data Chef collects in the field, the more its systems’ performance improves, the more customers use Chef’s robotic systems, the more customers expand; this expansion in turn creates more runtime in production leading to more data from the field; it also means that when Chef approaches new customers, Chef can help manipulate their ingredients from the get-go, further accelerating the flywheel’s momentum.

“Robotics is really having a moment right now. The innovations in AI have unlocked the potential of Embodied AI for robotics. We believe we’re in the pole position to scale given all the real-world production training data we already have,” says Rajat Bhageria, Founder and CEO of Chef Robotics.

“AI in the physical world is happening right now with robotics. Food is one of the largest markets in the world. Industrial AI is already winning, and food packaging automation is quietly transforming how we get our meals. Chef has quickly cemented its standing as the industry leader in AI-enabled robotics for meal assembly at over 44M servings produced and counting. We look forward to this exciting partnership with Chef Robotics as they expand their global leadership,” said Mohan Kumar, Founder and Managing Partner of Avataar Ventures.

Additionally, this infusion of funds will enable Chef to scale its go-to-market team and efforts. The funding round equips Chef to further invest in non-engineering functions like sales and marketing to scale its deployments.

Chef currently serves customers in the U.S. and Canada, with plans to expand to the U.K. market in 2025. For more on customer impact, visit www.chefrobotics.ai/customer-impact.

About Chef Robotics
Chef is the first company to have commercialized a scalable AI-driven food robotics solution. With over 44 million servings made in production, Chef leverages ChefOS, an AI platform for food manipulation, to offer a Robotics-as-a-Service solution that helps industry-leading food companies increase production volume and meet demand. Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Chef aims to empower humans to do what humans do best by accelerating the advent of intelligent machines.

About Avataar Ventures
Avataar Venture Partners is a growth-stage B2B fund focused on investing in companies at their inflection point for scaling. Avataar’s full-stack Operating team works closely with portfolio companies across Strategy, Global GTM, Inorganic growth via M&A, Business Finance and IPO-readiness. We invest in Software, Deep Tech, AI in Industrial Automation and Robotics and Capital Efficient B2B2C businesses. More at www.avataar.vc.

Media Contacts
Rajat Bhageria
rajat@chefrobotics.ai

Sarah Mowad
sarah@chefrobotics.ai 

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SOURCE Chef Robotics

Data Leaders Converge to Champion Evidence-Based Policy at Critical Time

WASHINGTON, March 31, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The Coleridge Initiative hosted its 5th Annual National Convening in Arlington, VA, from March 26-28, bringing together nearly 300 data experts, policymakers and thought leaders to explore the transformative power of administrative data in shaping public policy. This year’s Convening, titled Empower Collaboration, Unlock Innovation, and Drive Impact, underscored how strategic partnerships and groundbreaking technology are impacting decision making for state, federal, and private sectors and unlocking the potential of data for public good.

“We stand at a pivotal moment when the need for secure, accessible, and elegant data has never been more critical,” said Dr. Ahu Yildirmaz, President and CEO of the Coleridge Initiative. “This Convening highlights that need and the huge opportunity we have to work in partnership to advance data infrastructure, governance, and accessibility to drive better policies that improve lives.”

The keynote address by Mark Zandi, Chief Economist at Moody’s, emphasized the urgent need for data-driven policymaking amid funding constraints and workforce reductions. “We have seen the quality of data eroding, and it is increasingly difficult to trust traditional sources,” said Zandi. “Data is critical to understanding what is going on and how we respond.”

Yildirmaz celebrated five years of growth and looked to the future: “We are building something greater than a platform – we’re working to generate a network effect,” said Yildirmaz. “Coleridge is not just building a technology platform—we’re helping shape a national data ecosystem. One where every dataset, every agency, every partner contributes to something larger than itself.”

Attendees rose to the challenge, focusing on collaboration between organizations and groundbreaking innovations in data integration to achieve meaningful impact on a range of societal issues. Discussions included:

Empowering Collaboration Across the Public and Private SectorsData Innovation to Drive Opportunity and Access in Higher EducationUnlocking Responsible AI Uses with State and Federal DataBest Practices for Data Sharing, Governance, and InfrastructureMulti-State Data Collaborative (MSDC) Real-World Outcomes

View the full Convening agenda

A standout moment of the Convening was the presentation of the Data Champion of the Year Award to Robert McGough, Chief Data Officer for the state of Arkansas. The award recognizes exceptional leadership in advancing data-driven innovation in the public sector.

“I am honored to be recognized as Data Champion of the Year, especially among the many incredible data professionals from whom I have learned so much,” said McGough. “Mike Rogers (Chief Workforce Officer), Dr. Jake Walker (Chief Research Officer), and I sincerely appreciated the opportunity to share how Arkansas is digitally transforming learning, employment, and advancement through new platforms and improving whole-person care through the Arkansas Integrated Referral and Outcomes System (AIROS). The Coleridge Initiative has been a vital partner in Arkansas’ data journey, and I am excited about the new efforts we have underway this year and the value they will provide to Arkansas and beyond.”

About The Coleridge Initiative, Inc.

The Coleridge Initiative is a nonprofit organization working with governments to ensure that data are more effectively used for public decision-making. Coleridge provides agencies with the opportunity to enhance their data literacy and collaborate within and across states to develop new technologies through the secure access and sharing of confidential microdata. Coleridge provides secure data enclave services to a diverse range of clients, including 24 state government agencies and several federal agencies, through the Administrative Data Research Facility (ADRF). The ADRF is a FedRAMP-authorized cloud-based platform that enables government agencies to link their longitudinal data with other states and agencies. To learn more, visit
www.coleridgeinitiative.org

Media Contact: Nick Obourn, nick.obourn@coleridgeinitiative.org

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SOURCE Coleridge Initiative