SEMCAP Launches SEMCAP AI to Capitalize on the Transformative Power of Artificial Intelligence

New Investment Strategy Announces Team, Advisors and First Investment in Generative AI Production Solution, Arcana Labs

/EIN News/ -- PHILADELPHIA, April 22, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SEMCAP announces its new AI investment strategy, SEMCAP AI, to capitalize on the burgeoning Artificial Intelligence revolution that is fundamentally changing the way businesses operate, while tapping its decades of strong technology investment acumen. The investor announces this new vertical investment strategy alongside its other platforms focused on Food & Nutrition and Healthcare. Notably, SEMCAP AI will absorb the firm’s legacy Education strategy, and Education will be one area of focus for SEMCAP AI.

SEMCAP AI targets influential investment stakes in high-growth, next generation AI platforms, with the majority of deals expected to be growth equity stage. This focus will include AI business applications, vertical solutions, and AI infrastructure solutions disrupting how businesses operate, increasing sales, boosting productivity and transforming entire markets.

“As a team, we’ve been fortunate to be part of early tech-driven transformations and are very excited to tap into our tech roots and embrace the power of AI as the next major wave of disruption,” said Walter “Buck” Buckley, SEMCAP co-founder and co-CIO. “Having been around this block a few times, we understand the value of coupling transformative technologies with strong operating expertise to drive outsized growth. We firmly believe that AI has the potential be the greatest wave yet—and the biggest force of change we will witness in our lifetime.”

Drawing on the team’s decades of experience investing in and leading technology businesses, SEMCAP AI takes influential positions in high growth businesses that have established product-market fit, demonstrated strong ROI for customers, have the potential to be market leaders, and the profound ability to transform entire industries. SEMCAP AI drives strong alignment with management and leverages active post-investment value creation and governance in seeking to maximize and accelerate the performance of its portfolio companies.

SEMCAP AI Investment Team

SEMCAP AI’s investment team is led by SEMCAP co-founders and co-CIOs, Buckley and Cyrus Vandrevala, as well as Managing Partner, Vince Menichelli, Managing Directors John Loftus, Erik Rasmussen and Abraham Kromah and Operating Partner, Bader Al-Rezaihan. Together members of this team have decades of shared experience building and investing in technology business while officers at Safeguard Scientifics, ICG and later Actua Corporation. SEMCAP AI has offices across the globe including in Wayne, Pennsylvania, Kuwait and Vancouver. In order to more fully capitalize on the enormous opportunity within AI, SEMCAP AI has partnered with Wayve Capital to offer public investment opportunities, in addition to their core offering of private investment strategies. The partnership also enables the teams to opportunistically source proprietary deals in the AI space through their vast respective networks.

SEMCAP AI Strategic Operating Advisors

The investor has also assembled a diverse, influential and well-connected team of Strategic Operating Advisors to assist in the sourcing and vetting of potential investment opportunities, while also working closely with portfolio companies to create value and lasting impact, post-investment. This includes providing targeted strategic support, strengthening management teams, expanding customer pipelines and providing access to the industry’s key decision makers. SEMCAP AI’s Strategic Operating Advisors hail from disparate but significant industries, ripe for transformation, and represent sectors where we expect accelerated transformation driven by artificial intelligence. SEMCAP AI’s advisors include:

• Sylvia Acevedo is an engineer, advocate for girls’ STEM education, and a lifelong Girl Scout. She worked in leadership positions at a number of technology companies, such as Apple, Dell, and IBM, and served as head of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America. In 1983 she became one of the first Hispanic students—male or female—to earn a graduate degree in engineering from Stanford University. Acevedo was named the 2018 Cybersecurity Person on the Year. She was also named a 2019 Notable Woman in Tech by Crain’s magazine and one of the 100 Most Influential Latinas by Latino Leaders magazine in 2020.
  
• Samantha Bradely serves as managing director of RealmSpark, a business unit of ASU Enterprise Partners that facilitates the capital investments necessary to fuel ASU’s modalities of learning. She brings years of experience in private equity, including with firms managing billions of dollars in assets, such as Truvvo Partners and Baron Capital.
  
• Harry Keiley currently serves as chairman of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) Investment Committee, the largest educator-only pension fund in the world, with more than $300 Billion in assets under management. His previous positions include Chaiman of the Board of CalSTRS and multiple terms as President of the Santa Monica Classroom Teachers Association.

SEMCAP AI’s Investment in Arcana Labs

In conjunction with the launch of this new vertical investment strategy, SEMCAP AI recently announced that it led a $5.5 million investment round in Arcana Labs, a leading generative AI creative studio transforming the film and production industry. Arcana is revolutionizing key steps in the filmmaking process with its all-in-one generative AI tools, which were purpose-built for the film industry’s unique creative needs from pre-production to post-production. Buckley will join the Acana Board of Directors and Menichelli will serve as a Board observer.

“From our first meeting with Buck and the SEMCAP team, we knew we had found partners who truly understood our vision for revolutionizing the creative industry with AI,” said Jonathan Yunger, co-founder and CEO of Arcana Labs. “Their deep expertise and strategic networks across multiple verticals, combined with their genuine enthusiasm for empowering artists through technology, makes them the ideal partner for Arcana's next phase of growth. In a time when AI's potential seems limitless, SEMCAP shares our commitment to putting Arcana's powerful tools in the hands of artists while preserving the unmatched power of human creativity. SEMCAP’s partnership and guidance will help us accelerate our mission of making artist-driven AI accessible to creators and professionals everywhere.”

“We are thrilled to officially launch SEMCAP AI and announce our investment in Arcana, which exemplifies the type of company that SEMCAP AI will seek to invest in moving forward. Arcana is delivering significant ROI to its customers and unequivocally transforming the film and production industry. Beyond that we believe it has the power to also completely upend multiple other markets like advertising, branding, interior design, and gaming,” said Buckley. “Additionally, I have been fortunate enough to witness firsthand how Arcana’s platform is revolutionizing the nearly $300 Billion global film industry through my work on a docuseries about George Washington. Using their platform, we were able to reduce our production time and costs by almost 90%, while producing a historically accurate and realistic end-product. We look forward to collaborating with Jonathan and the Arcana team to support and accelerate their growth and help transform the industry.”  

About SEMCAP

SEMCAP AI invests in high-growth, next-generation AI companies that are disrupting how businesses operate, boosting productivity and transforming markets. Led by a highly skilled investment team with deep operating and investing experience in technology and AI, the team provides unique deal insight and support for strategic partnering and enhanced growth. SEMCAP AI is one of SEMCAP’s three platforms – AI, food & nutrition and health. SEMCAP is a growth equity platform committed to investing across sectors that have the greatest impact on society.

About Arcana

Arcana Labs is an artist-driven AI company that empowers creators with model agnostic AI-powered creative tools. Founded by a braintrust of tech nerds and Hollywood blockbuster filmmakers, Arcana Labs is revolutionizing the AI art space by marrying traditional creative processes with the magic of AI, empowering Artist-driven AI, rather than AI-driven art. The company's flagship product, Arcana AI, gives artists an all-in-one, “AI production company in a box,” with sleek, easy-to-use tools that assist artists rather than replace them. https://www.arcanalabs.ai/

This release is provided for informational purposes only, and does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation or an offer or solicitation to purchase or sell any securities to any person in any jurisdiction in which an offer, solicitation, purchase or sale would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction. This material may contain estimates and forward-looking statements, which may include forecasts and do not represent a guarantee of future performance. This information is not intended to be complete or exhaustive and no representations or warranties, either express or implied, are made regarding the accuracy or completeness of the information contained herein. The views expressed are as of April 22, 2025, and are subject to change without notice. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the reader. Investing involves significant risks.

©2025 Seminal Capital Holdings, LLC. All rights reserved. SEMCAP is a trademark of Seminal Capital Holdings, LLC.

Media contact:
Michelle Musburger
michelle@musburger.com
773.230.0629