Michelle Daubar joins Engine Ventures as Partner, Head of Investor Relations & Capital Formation. 5:15 am, PT, September 23, 2026 Private markets veteran brings more than 20 years of experience to Tough Tech venture firm CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-(BUSINESS WIRE)-September 23, 2026- Engine Ventures today announced that Michelle Daubar has joined the firm as Partner, Head of Investor Relations & Capital Formation. Daubar will lead the firm's institutional investor relationships and capital formation strategy as Engine Ventures continues to build the capital base required to bring breakthrough science from the lab to market. Michelle Daubar Born out of MIT nearly ten years ago, Engine Ventures is a venture capital firm backing Tough Tech. The firm invests globally in companies commercializing technological breakthroughs redefining the ways we build, heal, move, connect, and power the world. Across its investment strategies, Engine Ventures partners with companies at multiple stages of growth, from early technical validation through commercialization and industrial scale. Beyond capital, the firm offers operational expertise and a powerful academic, commercial, and governmental network to build and scale companies that unlock massive opportunities in foundational industries. Its portfolio includes companies such as Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Form Energy, Bexorg, and Celestial AI, which was acquired by Marvell Technology earlier this year. Daubar joins Engine Ventures from Oak HC/FT, where she led Investor Relations and Capital Formation. Over an 11-year tenure, she helped Oak raise multiple funds, developed and expanded the firm's institutional investor base, and oversaw its marketing, communications, and public relations strategy. Previously, Daubar served as Vice President of Investor Relations & Communications at General Catalyst and earlier held investor relations and marketing roles at Lighthouse Capital Partners and in the Private Equity group at Standard Life Investments. "Michelle has spent two decades earning the trust of institutional investors and building partnerships that last across cycles," said Katie Rae, CEO and Managing Partner of Engine Ventures. "She knows how much relationships matter, from founders all the way to LPs, and shares our ambition for what these partnerships can build. She's a perfect fit for our team." "What drew me to Engine Ventures was the combination of an extraordinary team and extensive academic network, a truly differentiated investment strategy, and a mission that matters," said Daubar. "The opportunity ahead in Tough Tech is enormous, and I am excited to work alongside Katie Rae and the broader Engine Ventures team to deepen our partnerships with existing LPs and introduce a new group of investors to what Engine Ventures is building." Daubar was named to Kayo's 2025 Top 25 Women in Private Equity Funds list and is a member of the Private Equity Women Investor Network (PEWIN). About Engine Ventures Engine Ventures manages more than $1 billion in assets, has invested in more than 70 companies, and its portfolio companies have raised more than $11 billion in capital. The firm is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Learn more at engineventures.com or follow the company on LinkedIn.

CorePower Magnetics secures $10.6M to address a critical bottleneck in AI, grid, and electrification infrastructure. Co-led by Engine Ventures and Material Impact, the oversubscribed round will scale domestic manufacturing of advanced magnetic components PITTSBURGH, PA- September 17, 2026-CorePower Magnetics, a developer and manufacturer of advanced magnetic components for power electronics, today announced it has raised $10.6 million in an equity financing co-led by Engine Ventures and Material Impact. Evergreen Climate Innovations, the Carnegie Mellon Catalyst Fund, and Baruch Future Ventures also participated in the round, which brings the company's total equity funding to $13.6 million. The company has raised an additional $27 million in non-dilutive funding through ARPA-E, Department of Energy and Department of Defense programs. CorePower will use the capital to expand manufacturing capacity, accelerate hiring, and scale commercialization of its advanced magnetic materials and components as it transitions from technology development to scaled domestic manufacturing. Needs for more efficient power electronics are surging across AI infrastructure and data centers, grid modernization, industrial electrification, and the broader energy transition. The International Energy Agency projects AI-driven data center electricity demand will more than double by 2030, and the U.S. Department of Energy estimates roughly 100 GW of additional peak-hour supply may be needed by then. As power levels rise, system designers face pressure to improve efficiency, shrink size and weight, and lower system costs. Magnetic materials and components, through which every electron on the grid passes, remain one of the least modernized parts of the power stack despite being a critical bottleneck for the flow of electricity. Higher-voltage, higher-frequency architectures now entering the market have shifted the operating regime for power conversion, driving demand for transformers and inductors that can run hotter, with higher efficiency, and at higher voltages than conventional components allow. CorePower develops and manufactures the advanced magnetic components that make these systems possible. The company's foundational technology is a class of nanocrystalline alloys and a streamlined manufacturing process, first advanced by Paul Ohodnicki (co-founder, CTO) and Sam Kernion (CEO) at Carnegie Mellon University in collaboration with the US Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory, which CorePower reformulated to operate at higher temperatures and to withstand the mechanical requirements of commercial manufacturing. Unlike most companies in the magnetics industry, CorePower works across the entire value chain, from materials development and manufacturing processes through component design and production, delivering smaller, lighter, and more efficient inductors and transformers that customers can integrate directly into their systems. "The increased need for more efficient power electronics is creating a significant opportunity for advanced magnetic materials and components," said Sam Kernion, CEO of CorePower. "Along with improved performance, we're bringing greater standardization to a historically custom industry, enabling customers to move faster from design to production while accelerating adoption of next-generation power electronics." "We founded CorePower Magnetics on the belief that developing better magnetic materials was necessary, but not sufficient," said Paul Ohodnicki, CTO of CorePower. "The opportunity was to translate those advances into manufacturable transformers and inductors that solve real challenges at the system level. This financing will help us accelerate that vision, bringing advanced magnetic components into commercial production for the next generation of power electronics." Building Domestic Capacity in Pittsburgh CorePower is growing its U.S. production footprint in the Pittsburgh region, building on the area's deep history of steelmaking, materials innovation, and advanced manufacturing. The financing will support CorePower's planned manufacturing expansion in the Pittsburgh region, including investments in production capacity, equipment, and the team required to bring advanced magnetic components into volume production. CorePower was previously awarded grants from ARPA-E, and SBIR and STTR awards from the U.S. Department of Energy and Department of Defense. Recent company momentum includes: * Commercial traction: CorePower is working with leading companies, including multiple Fortune 500 companies under paid engagements, across AI infrastructure, data centers, industrial power systems, and grid modernization. * Manufacturing scale-up: The company has advanced its proprietary alloy, annealing, and component manufacturing processes from laboratory scale through intermediate scale to commercial scale production, and is moving multiple product lines toward volume production. * Board additions: Reed Sturtevant of Engine Ventures and Carmichael Roberts of Material Impact have joined the CorePower board. * Team growth: CorePower is expanding hiring across engineering, operations, and manufacturing to support customer programs moving into production. "CorePower sits at a critical and under-appreciated layer in the power stack," said Reed Sturtevant, General Partner at Engine Ventures. "We believe their unique magnetics materials technology can be the foundation of a large, successful company during the growth of data centers and the grid." "Advanced materials create value only when they can be translated into products that solve meaningful customer problems," said Carmichael Roberts, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at Material Impact. "What impressed us about CorePower is not only the strength of the underlying technology, but the team's ability to scale it into manufacturable components that address critical needs across power infrastructure, electrification, and AI-driven growth." CorePower was founded in 2020 and is headquartered at the Energy Innovation Center in Pittsburgh. For more information, including customer inquiries and open roles, visit www.corepowermagnetics.com. About CorePower Magnetics CorePower Magnetics develops and manufactures advanced magnetic components that enable the next generation of power electronics. By taking a holistic approach from magnetic materials to component design and manufacturing expertise, CorePower delivers smaller, lighter, and more efficient inductors and transformers for applications including AI infrastructure, data centers, grid modernization, and industrial electrification. Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Pittsburgh, the company is backed by Engine Ventures, Material Impact, Evergreen Climate Innovations, the Carnegie Mellon Catalyst Fund, and Volta Energy Technologies, and has support from ARPA-E and the U.S. Department of Energy. For more information, visit www.corepowermagnetics.com or follow the company on LinkedIn. Media Contact Meghan Laba