Pulse 2.0

Angelini Pharma: $4.1 Billion Catalyst Pharmaceuticals Acquisition Expands Rare Disease And U.S. Market Presence

Bayer: Up To $2.45 Billion Perfuse Therapeutics Acquisition Expands Ophthalmology Pipeline

Troutman Adds Real Estate Partner Kate Pennartz In Dallas To Strengthen National Platform

VitalEdge Technologies: Interview With CEO Vikram Savkar About The Deal Management Software Company

Spacial: Interview With Co-Founders Maor Greenberg & Ami Avrahami About The AI-Based Engineering Platform

Campbell’s Completes Acquisition Of 49% Interest In La Regina To Advance Rao’s Homemade Growth

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 2:10 PM

The Campbell's Company has completed the acquisition of a 49% interest in La Regina di San Marzano di Antonio Romano S.p.A. and La Regina Atlantica, LLC, the privately held maker of Rao's Homemade tomato-based jarred pasta sauces. Based in Scafati, Italy and founded by Antonio Romano in 1972, La Regina has been a key production partner of Rao's Homemade since 1993 and produces all of the brand's tomato-based sauces today, with an additional facility in Alma, Georgia. The transaction is expected to be neutral to Campbell's fiscal 2026 adjusted earnings per share.

Wingreens World Acquires Safe Harvest To Expand Pesticide-Free Food Movement Across India

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 2:09 PM

Wingreens World, the parent company of Wingreens Farms and Raw Pressery, has acquired Safe Harvest, one of India's leading pesticide-free food brands built on a foundation of natural farming and direct farmer partnerships. The acquisition brings Safe Harvest founder Rangu Rao and the broader Safe Harvest team into the Wingreens Farms family. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Macerich Acquires Annapolis Mall For $272 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 2:08 PM

Macerich, a leading owner, operator and developer of major retail properties, has acquired Annapolis Mall, a Class A retail center totaling approximately 1.5 million square feet in Annapolis, Maryland, for $260 million, plus the adjacent 13.1-acre vacant Sears parcel for $12 million, bringing the total transaction value to $272 million. The off-market transaction was funded with cash on hand, including approximately $85 million of proceeds through the company's ATM program, and $150 million of borrowings on its revolving line of credit. The acquisition is accretive to Macerich's Path Forward Plan and its 2028 target FFO ranges.

K2 Insurance Services Expands Small Commercial Market Offerings With Acquisition Of Oculus Underwriters

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 2:06 PM

K2 Insurance Services, the Warburg Pincus-backed insurance services holding company, has announced the acquisition of Oculus Underwriters, a specialized underwriting management program focused on delivering tailored insurance solutions for the small commercial market. Following the acquisition, Oculus Underwriters will operate under Vikco Insurance Services, a premier brand within the K2 portfolio. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Humankind Acquires The Mintable To Strengthen Leadership Training Capabilities

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 2:00 PM

Humankind, the organizational design and leadership consultancy, has acquired The Mintable, an Australia-based leadership training platform backed by Blackbird Ventures. The Mintable is trusted by a range of high-growth companies including Tracksuit, Sharesies, LION and Notion. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Seaga Manufacturing Acquires Three Square Market

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 1:58 PM

Seaga Manufacturing, a global leader in automated retail and intelligent inventory control solutions, has announced the acquisition of Three Square Market, one of the most recognized innovators in the micromarket segment of the convenience services industry. The deal strengthens Seaga's capabilities in micromarkets and expands its integrated vending ecosystem, combining Three Square Market's industry-leading micromarket kiosks, software platforms, secure payment technology, and market design and build services with Seaga's existing automated retail portfolio.

Kennedys Bolsters Corporate And Commercial Practice With Double Partner Hire In London

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 1:52 PM

Kennedys, the global law firm, has expanded its corporate and commercial practice with the appointment of two partners in London, strengthening its capabilities in financial crime and corporate transactions. Lowri Jones joins from Cripps, and Will White joins from DLA Piper, bringing combined decades of experience across M&A, financial crime, compliance, and regulatory matters. The hires follow the February appointment of commercial disputes partner Samson Spanier, making 2026 a year of continued expansion for the practice.

Abry Private Debt Acquires $330 Million Private Credit Portfolio In Partnership With Coller Capital

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 1:50 PM

Abry Private Debt, the private credit strategy of Abry Partners, has announced the closing of its acquisition of a $330 million diversified private credit portfolio, completed in partnership with Coller Capital, a leading secondaries platform. The portfolio is highly diversified, consisting primarily of first-lien, senior-secured loans across commercial and professional services, healthcare, and consumer discretionary, with all underlying investments backed by established private equity sponsors. Abry will assume an active management role, working directly with sponsors, lenders, and management teams throughout its hold period.

365 Retail Markets Completes Acquisition Of Cantaloupe

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 1:47 PM

365 Retail Markets, a leading innovator in unattended retail technologies and portfolio company of Providence Equity Partners, has completed its acquisition of Cantaloupe, a global technology leader offering end-to-end solutions for self-service commerce. The combined business will operate under the 365 Retail Markets name, bringing together Cantaloupe's payments, telemetry, and global device network with 365's self-checkout, smart store, and software systems. The combination expands the range of environments 365 can serve, from traditional vending and food service operations to hospitality, entertainment venues, and transit hubs.

Meatly Raises £10.4 Million Series A To Build Europe’s Largest Cultivated Meat Facility

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 1:44 PM

Meatly, Europe's first company to sell cultivated meat, has raised £10.4 million in Series A funding to build Europe's largest cultivated meat production facility. The round was led by three European VC funds — Oyster Bay Venture Capital, Clean Growth Fund and JamJar Investments — joining existing investors Agronomics and Pets at Home. The latest raise brings Meatly's total funding to date to £17.4 million, building on £7 million in seed funding from founding investor Agronomics.

Lyrie Completes $2 Million Pre-Seed Round To Build Security Layer For The AI Agent Era

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 1:44 PM

Lyrie.ai, the autonomous cybersecurity platform developed by OTT Cybersecurity LLC, has completed a $2 million pre-seed funding round and officially exited stealth. The raise will support continued platform development, security research team expansion, and the operationalization of the Agent Trust Protocol across Lyrie's platform and partner ecosystem. The company is headquartered in Dubai, UAE, and is already preparing a Series A round to scale deployment across enterprise and government markets.

Espa Launches AI-Powered Executive Assistant For Founders, Executives, And Families Without The Cost Barrier

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 1:42 PM

Deon Nicholas, founder of Forethought, has announced the public launch of Espa, an AI-native executive assistant built to manage the logistics of work and personal life in one place. Espa is backed by angel investors spanning tech, entertainment, and business, including Henry Shi of Anthropic, Adam D'Angelo of Quora, Tekedra Mawakana of Waymo, Scott Wu of Cognition, Anu Bharadwaj of Atlassian, and LL COOL J, as well as institutional investors Axiom Partners, Village Global, Neo, SV Angel, Zapier, and Harlem Capital. The platform is available today at espa.ai with subscription plans starting at approximately $20 per month.

Antier Solutions Secures $3 Million To Scale Enterprise Blockchain Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 11:37 AM

Antier Solutions, an enterprise blockchain engineering firm headquartered in Mohali, India, has secured $3 million in its first institutional funding round, led by GVFL, India's pioneer venture capital firm.

MY DR NOW: Interview With Founder & CEO Payam Zamani, MD, About the Omnichannel Primary Care Model

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 11:00 AM

MY DR NOW is an Arizona-based independent primary care group that operates an "omnichannel" model, providing comprehensive care through walk-in clinics, in-home visits, and telemedicine services to make healthcare easily accessible. Pulse 2.0 interviewed MY DR NOW founder and CEO Payam Zamani, MD, to learn more.

Apollo Funds To Acquire Emerald And Questex To Create Leading North American B2B Events Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 10:59 AM

Apollo-managed funds have entered into separate definitive agreements to acquire Emerald Holding and Questex with the intention of combining the two businesses into a leading North American B2B experiential events and media platform in an all-cash transaction. Under the terms of the agreement with Emerald, stockholders will receive $5.03 per share in cash, representing a 42.1% premium to Emerald's unaffected share price and implying an estimated closing enterprise value of approximately $1.5 billion. The Emerald Board of Directors unanimously approved the transaction, and Onex, which beneficially owns over 90% of Emerald's outstanding shares, has entered into a support agreement to vote in favor of the deal.

Franklin Templeton Launches Private Model Portfolios With Corastone To Help Advisors Access Private Markets

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 10:53 AM

Franklin Templeton, a global investment leader with more than $1.74 trillion in assets under management, has announced the launch of its Private Markets Model Portfolios, developed in collaboration with Corastone, a digital infrastructure platform and permissioned blockchain network built to streamline and scale private market investments.

Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies Launches Homebuilder Lending Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 10:51 AM

Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies, known as BREDS, has launched a lending platform designed to provide capital and flexibility to homebuilders across the United States, with expectations of enabling the construction of more than 50,000 for-sale homes annually.

Ciridae Raises $20 Million Seed Round Led By Accel To Bring AI Transformation To Real Economy Businesses

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 10:26 AM

Ciridae, an AI transformation firm building operating systems for real economy businesses, has raised $20 million in seed funding led by Accel, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, Sunflower Capital, and Backcountry Ventures. The company was founded by CEO Jack Soslow, a former partner at Andreessen Horowitz and data scientist at Meta, and CTO Jack Weissenberger, a former engineering leader at Salesforce and Head of ML at Teneyx. Ciridae will use the new capital to expand its engineering team and advance its mission of bringing AI transformation to mid-market companies that have largely been left behind by the broader AI boom.

Ripple Prime Secures $200 Million Debt Facility From Neuberger Specialty Finance To Expand Institutional Capacity

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 10:21 AM

Ripple, the blockchain-based enterprise solutions provider, has closed a $200 million debt facility from funds managed by Neuberger Specialty Finance, the asset-based investment team within Neuberger, a global investment management firm. The facility will support the continued growth of Ripple Prime, Ripple's multi-asset prime brokerage platform, amid rising client demand for institutional-grade prime services and margin financing solutions.

Cowboy Space Corporation Raises $275 Million Series B At $2 Billion Valuation To Build Orbital Data Centers and Rockets

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 10:18 AM

Cowboy Space Corporation, the orbital infrastructure company founded by Robinhood co-founder Baiju Bhatt, has raised $275 million in Series B financing at a $2 billion valuation. The round was led by Index Ventures, with participation from new investors IVP, Blossom Capital and SAIC, alongside existing backers Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Construct Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, NEA, Interlagos and Bhatt himself. The company, which operated under the name Aetherflux since its founding in 2024, also unveiled a new name and brand alongside the funding announcement.

Sparkling Bins: Interview With CEO John Conway About The Cleaning Systems Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 10:00 AM

Sparkling Bins is the global leader in manufacturing high-quality, eco-friendly trash bin cleaning systems while also providing a turnkey business model that empowers entrepreneurs to start and scale their own profitable sanitation services. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Sparkling Bins CEO John Conway to learn more.

OFA Group: Interview With COO Thomas Gaffney About The Architectural And Technology Firm

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 8:15 AM

OFA Group is a Cayman Islands-based architectural and technology firm that provides traditional design and fit-out services while developing proprietary AI-driven platforms, such as "QikBIM," for generating coordinated BIM models for early construction project development, and PlanAid for building code compliance automation. Pulse 2.0 interviewed OFA Group COO Thomas Gaffney to learn more.

Driive Raises Pre-Seed Round To Build AI Scheduling Platform For Home Service Trades

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 7:45 AM

Driive, the Lincoln, Nebraska-based AI-native booking and scheduling platform built for the home service trades, has closed a pre-seed funding round with investment from Nebraska Angels, Nelnet, Move Venture Capital, and Luke Hansen, founder and CEO of CompanyCam. The company is building what it describes as the scheduling layer for the trillion-dollar U.S. home services industry, targeting HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, pest control, and other home service contractors.

Grand Games Raises $70 Million Series B To Scale Hybrid Casual Mobile Gaming Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 7:18 AM

Grand Games, the Istanbul-based mobile gaming company, has raised a $70 million Series B funding round, bringing total funding raised to $103 million. The round was led by Balderton's Growth Fund, which doubled down on its Series A investment from January of last year. Existing investors Bek Ventures and Laton Ventures also followed on, alongside mobile gaming serial entrepreneur and exited founder Mert Gür as an angel investor. The company's valuation has increased approximately 6x since its previous round just over 12 months ago, with only single-digit dilution, putting it within reach of unicorn status.

Cellply Secures €7.15 Million In Funding To Accelerate Global Expansion Of Cell Therapy Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 7:13 AM

Cellply, a Bologna-based deep tech company developing analytical tools for cell therapy and regenerative medicine, has secured €7.15 million in funding and opened a round extension to support its international growth plans. The round was led by Enea Tech and Biomedical Foundation, with participation from CDP Venture Capital and existing investors. The company is developing tools to characterize immunotherapies and cell-based therapies at single-cell resolution, with its flagship VivaCyte platform at the center of its commercial strategy.

CMI Financial Group Secures Senior Financing Facility From Royal London Asset Management

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 7:12 AM

CMI Financial Group, a leading Canadian alternative mortgage lender and financial services platform, has closed a senior financing facility with Royal London Asset Management, expanding its origination capacity in the Canadian residential mortgage market. RLAM, which manages approximately £199 billion in assets, is one of the United Kingdom's largest asset managers, and the transaction signals positive institutional sentiment toward the Canadian residential lending sector and real estate environment.

Macnica ATD Europe Acquires Indesmatech To Deepen Engineering Presence Across Northern Europe

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 7:10 AM

Macnica ATD Europe, the European division of global semiconductor distributor Macnica Holdings, has acquired Indesmatech, a pan-European technology and advisory company specializing in advanced semiconductor representation, design-in support, consulting, and point-of-sale buying services. The acquisition strengthens Macnica ATD Europe's commercial and engineering presence across Scandinavia and Northern Europe, adding established regional relationships and in-house engineering capabilities to its existing footprint in the region.

Verdane Closes €635 Million Continuation Vehicle Anchored By Arrive Group

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 7:08 AM

Verdane, the European specialist growth buyout investment firm, has closed a €635 million multi-asset continuation vehicle anchored by Arrive Group, alongside Talentech and Pet Media Group. Coller Capital served as the sole lead investor in the transaction, with StepStone acting as co-underwriter. The vehicle was significantly oversubscribed, reflecting strong interest from high-quality institutional investors.

Restive Ventures Closes $45 Million Fund III To Back AI-Native Financial Services Startups

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 7:06 AM

Restive Ventures, the early-stage venture firm, has closed its third fund with $45 million in committed capital, targeting what the firm projects will be a $1 trillion market opportunity in AI-native financial services. Fund III attracted a mix of returning limited partners and new institutional investors, including endowments and global asset managers, as well as strategic partners across banking, insurance, payments, and technology.

Algorithmiq Closes €18 Million Funding Round And Moves Global HQ To Milan

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 7:04 AM

Algorithmiq, a quantum computing software company, has closed an €18 million strategic funding round and relocated its global headquarters to Milan, Italy. The round was led by United Ventures, with participation from Inventure VC, and marks the largest venture capital investment into an Italian quantum startup to date.