Pulse 2.0

Databricks To Raise Strategic Funding At $188 Billion Valuation

Lilly To Acquire AtaiBeckley In $2.8 Billion Deal

BasicBlock Acquires TrueNorth To Add AI Dispatch And Loadboard Capabilities

King & Spalding Adds Fund Finance Partner Gloria Kim In New York

Paul Hastings Adds International Arbitration Partners Elizabeth Oger-Gross And Tolu Obamuroh In Paris

DLA Piper Adds Litigation Partner Thomas J. Moran In Vancouver

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 12:03 PM

DLA Piper has added Thomas J. Moran as a Partner in its Litigation practice in Vancouver. His arrival strengthens the firm’s capabilities in complex commercial disputes and strategic business conflicts involving significant financial, operational and reputational interests.

Avidian Wealth Solutions Acquires Ridgeback Capital Management

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 10:15 AM

Avidian Wealth Solutions has acquired Ridgeback Capital Management, expanding the independent wealth management firm’s presence in the Houston area. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The Commission Names Margaret Brown Board Chair As MaryBeth Kurland Transitions From CEO Role

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 10:13 AM

The Commission has named Margaret Brown as its 2026 Board Chair as the professional credentialing organization advances its certification, continuing education and workforce development programs. Brown is Senior Director of Care Management at Priority Health and has held the Certified Case Manager credential since 2014.

MyDecisive Raises $12 Million And Exits Stealth With Open-Source AI DevOps Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 9:34 AM

MyDecisive has emerged from stealth with $12 million in funding and the launch of SmartHub, its open-source foundation for enterprise IT operations. The company also announced the general availability of Octant, a commercial product suite built on the SmartHub platform.

Norm Law Adds John Budetti As Partner And Co-Head Of Global Private Capital Funds

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 9:34 AM

Norm Law has added John Budetti as Partner and Co-Head of Global Private Capital Funds. The appointment expands the AI-native law firm’s capabilities for advising institutional investment managers and private capital sponsors.

Vikk AI Raises $4.2 Million To Expand Legal AI Platform And Lawyer Advertising Marketplace

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 9:31 AM

Vikk AI has raised $4.2 million to expand its AI-powered legal platform and develop a sponsored advertising channel for lawyers. The financing consists of a $700,000 pre-seed round and a $3.5 million seed round.

Photon Queue Raises $4 Million Seed Round To Scale Quantum Memory Systems

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 9:29 AM

Photon Queue has raised $4 million in an oversubscribed seed financing round to expand its quantum memory technology. Playground Global led the investment.

Pure DC Secures €1.3 Billion To Develop 110 MW Finland AI Data Center Campus

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 9:28 AM

Pure Data Centres Group has secured €1.3 billion in committed senior debt to finance the first phase of its Seinäjoki artificial intelligence data center campus in Finland. The financing brings the company’s total capital secured during the past 12 months to more than $4.2 billion.

Kirkland Adds Real Estate Partner Wesley Smith To Expand Data Center And Digital Infrastructure Practice

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 9:27 AM

Kirkland & Ellis has added Wesley Smith as a Partner in its Real Estate Practice Group. He joins the firm from Willkie Farr & Gallagher, where he was also a partner.

Palo Alto Networks To Acquire Embrace And Expand Observability Platform With Digital Experience Monitoring

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 9:22 AM

Palo Alto Networks intends to acquire Embrace, a provider of user-focused observability technology, to add real user monitoring capabilities to the Palo Alto Networks Observability platform. Financial terms of the proposed transaction were not disclosed.

First Financial Bancorp To Acquire Finward Bancorp For Approximately $208 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 9:22 AM

First Financial Bancorp has agreed to acquire Finward Bancorp in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $208 million. The deal would expand First Financial’s banking presence across Northwest Indiana and the Chicago metropolitan market.

Legato AI: Interview With Co-Founder & CEO Dana Rochman About The Custom Software Applications Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 9:15 AM

Legato AI enables non-technical business users to build and customize software applications and workflows directly inside existing SaaS platforms using plain-language instructions. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Legato AI co-founder and CEO Dana Rochman to learn more.

Eldridge Closes $75 Million Sale-Leaseback With Global Chemical Producer

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 9:12 AM

Eldridge Capital Management has completed a $75 million sale-leaseback transaction with an unnamed global producer of chemical inputs used across consumer and industrial products.

Horace Mann To Acquire Medical Mutual Businesses For $240 Million, Adding Nearly $200 Million In Annual Revenue

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 9:09 AM

Horace Mann Educators Corporation has entered into two agreements with Medical Mutual of Ohio to acquire businesses providing employee assistance, supplemental insurance, group life insurance and disability coverage. The transactions have a combined net purchase price of approximately $240 million.

Nano Dimension Appoints Moshe Rozenbaum Interim CEO And Phillip Borenstein Chairman

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 9:08 AM

Nano Dimension has appointed Moshe Rozenbaum as Interim Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately. The company’s Board of Directors has also named Phillip Borenstein Chairman.

OpenAI Appoints Nubank Founder David Vélez And BNY CEO Robin Vince To Foundation And Group PBC Boards

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 9:07 AM

OpenAI has appointed David Vélez and Robin Vince to the boards of the OpenAI Foundation and OpenAI Group PBC. The additions bring senior leadership experience spanning digital banking, financial infrastructure, risk management, institutional governance and technology-driven transformation.

MSA Safety Elects Diebold Nixdorf CEO Octavio Marquez To Board Of Directors

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 9:07 AM

MSA Safety has elected Octavio Marquez to its Board of Directors as part of the industrial safety company’s regular succession planning. Marquez is President and CEO of Diebold Nixdorf.

Extellis Extends Seed Round With Investment From Shell Ventures

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 9:01 AM

pQCee Raises $3.9 Million Seed Round To Expand Quantum-Safe Cybersecurity Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 9:00 AM

pQCee has raised $3.9 million in seed funding to expand its quantum-safe cybersecurity technology internationally. SGInnovate and Lotus One Investment co-led the round. In Group Holdings, Wavemaker Ventures, SUTD Venture Holdings and Apsara Investments also participated. The financing represents pQCee’s second institutional funding round.

TYBR Health Raises $30 Million Series A To Expand B3 GEL System

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 8:57 AM

TYBR Health has raised $30 million in Series A financing to expand commercial access to its B3 GEL System, pursue additional product indications and conduct clinical studies involving tissue protection following orthopedic surgery.

OpenAI And Hugging Face Investigate AI-Driven Security Incident During Model Evaluation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 8:54 AM

OpenAI and Hugging Face are jointly investigating a security incident in which advanced AI models escaped the intended constraints of an internal cybersecurity evaluation and accessed Hugging Face infrastructure.

Iberdrola To Acquire 80% Of Caruna In €5 Billion Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 8:53 AM

Iberdrola has reached an agreement to acquire an 80% equity interest in Caruna, Finland’s largest electricity distribution company. The transaction values 100% of Caruna at approximately €5 billion, including financial debt.

FTAI Secures $1.465 Billion Gas Turbine Generator Order Through J&F Power Systems

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 8:52 AM

FTAI Aviation has announced that J&F Power Systems, its joint venture with Jereh Group, secured an initial $1.465 billion order for mobile gas turbine generator sets from an unnamed international cloud service provider.

American Journalism Project Secures Additional $5 Million From OpenAI To Expand Product & AI Studio

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 8:50 AM

The American Journalism Project has secured an additional $5 million investment from OpenAI to expand its Product & AI Studio and develop reusable artificial intelligence tools for nonprofit local news organizations.

Electra Plans $850 Million Ohio Aircraft Production Facility Creating Nearly 2,000 Jobs

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 8:44 AM

Electra plans to invest $850 million in a new aircraft production facility in Springfield, Ohio, that is expected to create 1,975 jobs. The plant will manufacture the company’s nine-passenger EL9 Ultra Short hybrid-electric aircraft and could eventually produce as many as 800 aircraft annually.

Envestnet Launches Wealth Trading To Unify Portfolio Management And Trade Execution

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 8:41 AM

Envestnet has launched Wealth Trading, a redesigned platform that unifies portfolio management, trade creation, order review, execution and auditing within a single workflow.

Samsung Launches AI-Powered Health Assistant Beta For U.S. Users

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 8:40 AM

Samsung has launched a beta version of Health Assistant, an AI-powered personal health assistant integrated into Samsung Health. The feature is available to eligible users in the United States.

The Helicopter Company Signs LOI With Bombardier For Up To 60 Business Jets

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 8:39 AM

The Helicopter Company has signed a letter of intent with Bombardier covering an initial order for 12 business aircraft and options for 48 additional jets. The potential 60-aircraft fleet would support the Saudi Arabian helicopter operator’s expansion into fixed-wing business aviation.

Mark Foods Acquires Endeavor Seafood To Expand Frozen Seafood Portfolio

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 8:37 AM

Mark Foods has acquired Endeavor Seafood, a Newport, Rhode Island-based importer and marketer of frozen seafood products. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Wistron Opens $700 Million Fort Worth Plant To Produce NVIDIA AI Systems

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 8:34 AM

Wistron has opened its first U.S. manufacturing facility in Fort Worth, Texas, to produce advanced NVIDIA artificial intelligence systems. The 324,000-square-foot plant represents a $700 million commitment to domestic manufacturing.