KAREN JOY BACUDO

Finance Editor

Improbable has invested USD $2 million in decentralised finance monitoring company Otomato, in one of the first external investments tied to its current focus on AI and web3 companies.

Otomato develops a service that tracks users’ on-chain positions and sends alerts when risks, costs or trading opportunities change. The product is aimed at decentralised finance users who manage assets across multiple protocols and blockchains and want to avoid having to check several dashboards at once.

The funding will support product development, expansion across more chains and market segments, and user growth. Backing from Improbable also includes operational support for go-to-market efforts, technical infrastructure, AI development, finance, human resources, legal, and compliance. Otomato will retain control of its intellectual property and product roadmap.

Founded by Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder Clement Hecquet and Chief Operating Officer Dylan Breugne, Otomato lets users submit wallet addresses so the system can identify positions across lending markets, tokens, NFTs and prediction markets. It currently monitors activity on Ethereum, Arbitrum, Base and HyperEVM.

Since launching as a Telegram bot, Otomato says it has grown without paid marketing. It reports more than 2,000 users, with over 1,500 actively receiving alerts, and says it integrates with more than 10 protocols, including AAVE, Pendle, Uniswap, Morpho, Euler and Hyperliquid.

The company later released a mobile app on Apple’s App Store and Google Play. It also highlighted a campaign tied to the HyperEVM ecosystem that, it said, attracted 3,690 unique users in five days, converted 81.6% of them into Telegram bot users and was shared 971 times on X without paid promotion.

Growth focus

The investment offers clearer insight into how Improbable is positioning itself following the launch of the Somnia Layer 1 blockchain, built on technology developed by the group. Improbable says Somnia has since reached a peak valuation of USD $1.9 billion and that it has delivered total exits of more than USD $179 million to date.

The Otomato deal reflects a venture-building model rather than a passive investment approach. Improbable describes itself as working alongside founders while leaving long-term control with the companies it backs.

That approach was central to its rationale for the investment.

“The opportunity Otomato is pursuing is enormous. DeFi is becoming the back-end of a larger AI-powered economy, and the first team to build the intelligence layer that understands what users actually hold and tells them what matters has the potential to win an entire category. Otomato gives customers agency and full control of their positions, something that they were lacking before. What convinced us to back Clement, Dylan, and the team was their drive. They shipped a product users genuinely love, grew it virally with no paid spend, and they are moving faster than almost any team I have seen at this stage. That is exactly the kind of founder we set out to build with,” said Herman Narula, Co-Founder and CEO of Improbable.

Market challenge

Active users of decentralised finance products often hold positions across several blockchain networks and applications, creating a fragmented view of risk. Services that promise alerts have emerged to address that problem. Still, Otomato argues that broad notifications can create too much noise and fail to reflect what an individual user actually owns.

Its product is positioned as a more personalised model, focused on portfolio-level monitoring rather than general market warnings. That places it in a part of the crypto software market that seeks to make increasingly complex trading and lending activities easier for retail and more active users to follow.

For Improbable, the investment extends a record of building businesses around emerging technology themes beyond its earlier work in gaming, virtual worlds and defence. The UK-based company has spent more than a decade developing and commercialising software businesses and is now concentrating more heavily on ventures linked to AI and web3.

Hecquet said practical support from Improbable had already influenced the company’s direction. 

“We chose Improbable because they are builders that bring more than a passive check. From day one we have had hands-on support on go-to-market, product, and scaling decisions from an executive team that has done this before. That is what moves a company like ours from 2,000 users to millions, and it is what made the decision easy. We look forward to building together as we scale Otomato,” said Clement Hecquet, CEO and Co-Founder of Otomato.

West Oxfordshire District Council has released a statement after a number of objections to a boiler breeder farm on the edge of Bampton seemed to a disappear from the planning page.

The issue was first reported on Thursday, May 21, when a member of the public said they were no longer on the planning application’s website (26/00770/FUL).

READ MORE: Around 250 objections to major Oxfordshire chicken farm

Responding to this later that day, a spokesperson for West Oxfordshire District Council said: “Application 26/00770/FUL this morning experienced a technical difficulty causing the comments to not be displayed on the website.

“However, this issue has now been resolved, and the comments are now viewable on the website.”

Deanery Farm near Bampton (Image: Google Maps)

The wider application, which is running until June 2, has proven highly controversial with more than 1,000 objections currently logged against the proposal for Deanery Farm, which would include 36,000 hens and more roosters.

Communities Against Factory Farming has raised objections including around air quality and ammonia, water supply and hydrology, waste management, and the risk of avian influenza.

Meanwhile Richard McBrien, chair of the Society for the Protection of Bampton, listed 17 specific points of opposition.

Oxfordshire farmer Patrick Hook

He said: “In the absence of robust, site-specific evidence demonstrating that odour, air quality, and environmental impacts can be effectively controlled, and having regard to the proximity of sensitive receptors including residential properties and a primary school, the proposal gives rise to a clear and unacceptable risk of harm.”

Deanery Farm was purchased by P D Hook Group, a leading UK poultry breeder and rearer, in 2023 with broiler breeder farms raising parent-stock chickens (hens and roosters) to produce fertile eggs, which are then sent to hatcheries to become broiler chickens (chickens bred for meat).

Patrick Hook, owner of the 75-year-old family-owned poultry farming business, said: “We have nearly 40 farms in the south and north of England with a strong positive reputation with local residents, retailers and the agricultural industry.”

The meeting in Bampton about the chicken farm (Image: Contributed)

He added it would be built to strict environmental standards, which means wastewater is captured in tanks, litter is taken from the farm and a natural fertiliser is used.

Furthermore, Mr Hook spoke to residents at a meeting on Wednesday, May 20, to try and ease fears of concerned locals.

One spectator said he spoke “eloquently” and tried to calm concerns about an ammonia hotspot around the Primary School in Bampton.

READ MORE: UK firm defends plans for 36,000-chicken Oxfordshire farm

“The UK chicken market is seeing strong demand for Red Tractor British Chicken,” Mr Hook told this newspaper.

He continued: “If we fail to get planning to build more poultry farms, we are increasing the risk of sub-standard imports coming in from countries such as China, which is now the eighth largest importer of poultry meat into the UK.

“With increasing global volatility we must support growth in British agriculture to help the country’s food security.”

SOFIAH NICHOLE SALIVIO

News Editor

HiBob has appointed Yael Klass as Vice President of Brand as it expands its global business.

Klass joins the workforce software group from Similarweb, where she led corporate marketing and worked on the company’s brand during a period of growth and preparation for a public listing. Earlier in her career, she held senior roles at Promo.com and Wix, overseeing campaigns, partnerships and brand projects for international markets.

At HiBob, she will lead brand strategy as the company looks to sharpen its position in a market increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence and changing employer expectations. Her remit includes strengthening market presence and refining how HiBob presents its approach to work, employees and AI.

HiBob sells software spanning HR, payroll and finance, and says more than 5,400 companies use its Bob platform. Named customers include Uala, DWF, Fiverr, The&Partnership and VaynerMedia.

The appointment comes as many employers reassess how software and automation fit into hiring, performance management and day-to-day operations. Technology suppliers across the sector are trying to show how AI tools can be introduced without sidelining workforce concerns.

Leadership view

Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder Ronni Zehavi outlined HiBob’s view of that shift.

“The world of work is being transformed by AI, but the companies that succeed won’t be the ones that simply automate faster. They’ll be the ones that use technology to help people perform better, grow faster, and feel more connected to their work. That’s the future we’re building toward at HiBob. Yael brings the creativity, strategic thinking, and commercial instinct to help us tell that story in a bold and distinctive way. We’re thrilled to have her join us as we enter this next phase of growth,” said Zehavi.

HiBob has positioned itself around the idea that employers need connected systems linking people management with broader business outcomes. Its software combines HR administration with payroll and finance functions, reflecting a wider trend among workplace technology providers to offer broader platforms rather than stand-alone HR tools.

Klass is based in Tel Aviv and is originally from Minnesota. Her background in brand leadership and corporate storytelling has shaped her approach to building long-term recognition and customer connection.

Brand focus

The appointment also reflects the growing emphasis software companies are placing on brand as competition intensifies in crowded enterprise markets. In recent years, many technology groups have expanded senior marketing and communications teams to distinguish similar products and explain their position on AI to customers and investors.

Klass described her reasons for joining in a statement accompanying the announcement.

“We’re entering a moment where every company is talking about AI, but very few are talking about people with the same level of urgency. That’s what drew me to HiBob. There’s already a strong brand and an incredible foundation here, but the opportunity now is to build something much bigger, a brand that creates demand, shapes conversation, and reflects the reality of modern work. My focus is to make HiBob unmistakable in the market by building a brand that feels human, ambitious, emotionally resonant, and deeply connected to the people it serves. The future of work shouldn’t feel cold or transactional, and neither should the brands shaping it,” said Klass.

The hire is part of a broader push to strengthen HiBob’s position as it grows internationally. The company is targeting organisations that want systems connecting employee data, performance and financial information at a time when businesses are under pressure to justify technology spending and measure the impact of new AI tools.

HiBob’s customer base is concentrated among multinational companies seeking software for distributed workforces. Its platform is designed for businesses looking to manage HR, payroll and finance operations through one system rather than separate products.

Klass joins the senior leadership team as HiBob seeks to define how it wants to be seen in a market where software groups are competing not only on product breadth, but also on their interpretation of how people and AI should work together.