Artificial Intelligence

Birdsview Raises €2.5 Million Seed To Scale Avys AI Retention Agent For Retailers

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 12, 2026

Birdsview announced a €2.5 million seed round to support Avys, its AI-powered digital worker designed to help retailers grow repeat purchases. The round was backed by Fortino Ventures and Newion. Fortino Ventures has backed Billy Grace, an AI marketing platform in the Benelux, while Newion was an early investor in Parloa, an AI agent company that reached unicorn status.

Demoboost: Interview With CEO Anna Decroix About The Demo Automation Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 12, 2026

Demoboost is an all-in-one demo automation platform that allows B2B tech and software companies to create, personalize, and track interactive product demos for their sales processes. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Demoboost CEO Anna Decroix to learn more.

Beyond Capital Ventures Invests In BimaKavach To Advance AI-Native Commercial Insurance In India

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 12, 2026

Beyond Capital Ventures announced an investment in BimaKavach, a technology-first commercial insurance company focused on helping India’s micro, small, and medium enterprises access, manage, and benefit from insurance.

OpenAI Introduces ChatGPT Work And Deprecates Atlas Browser

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 12, 2026

OpenAI announced ChatGPT Work, an agent in ChatGPT designed to take action across apps and files, stay with complex projects for extended periods, and turn user goals into finished work. The new experience is intended to move ChatGPT beyond answering questions and toward completing multi-step workflows across web, mobile, and desktop.

Anthropic Reportedly Reaches $1.2 Trillion Valuation On Secondary Markets

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 12, 2026

Anthropic has reportedly reached a $1.2 trillion valuation on secondary markets as investor demand for shares in the private AI company continues to surge.

Encube: Interview With Founder & CEO Hugo Nordell About The Visual Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 12, 2026

Encube is a deep-tech company that provides an AI-powered visual platform to help hardware manufacturers simulate production steps in real time and catch design flaws early. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Encube founder and CEO Hugo Nordell to learn more.

AIsa Raises $6.5 Million To Build The Transaction Network For AI Agents

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 12, 2026

AIsa, a San Francisco–based company building what it describes as the transaction network for the AI agent economy, has raised $6.5 million in total funding to date, including a new seed round co-led by Alibaba and Tribe Capital, with participation from Draper Associates, Sumitomo Corporation, Saison Capital and other investors. The capital will be used to expand AIsa's engineering team, scale its payment infrastructure, onboard additional models, data, and API providers, and accelerate stablecoin settlement capabilities for AI agents and businesses worldwide.

Cableteque Raises $6 Million Seed To Bring AI-Powered Digital Operating System To The $100 Billion Wire Harness Industry

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 11, 2026

Cableteque, a Huntington Beach, California–based software company building what it describes as the first comprehensive digital operating system for the wire harness manufacturing industry, has closed a $6 million seed round backed by 11 Tribes Ventures, PHX Ventures and Mudita Ventures. The funding arrives during a period of rapid growth: the company reports 300% year-to-date expansion and says it is on track to double that volume by year-end, across customers ranging from agile SMB shops to multi-billion-dollar tier-1 enterprise manufacturers.

Meta Launches Muse Spark 1.1, A Multimodal Reasoning Model Built For Agentic Tasks

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 11, 2026

Meta Superintelligence Labs has released Muse Spark 1.1, a significant upgrade to Muse Spark and the latest model from the research division Meta created to pursue its personal superintelligence vision. Muse Spark 1.1 is a multimodal reasoning model built for agentic tasks, with major performance gains in tool use, computer use, coding, and multimodal understanding. The model is now available in "Thinking" mode in the Meta AI app and on meta.ai, and is accessible to developers via the Meta Model API, currently in public preview.

Lyzr AI Raises $100 Million Series B After Its Own AI Agent SivaClaw Fielded 130‑Plus Investors And Generated $400 Million In Interest

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 11, 2026

Lyzr AI, an enterprise agentic AI company that builds AI agents designed to handle mission‑critical workflows, has closed a $100 million Series B after running the fundraise largely through SivaClaw, its own proprietary AI agent. The round attracted more than $400 million in investor interest—four times the target—with SivaClaw fielding more than 130 investor conversations, drafting investment memos and managing early‑stage outreach before human team members stepped in to close.

Mistral AI Launches Robostral Navigate, An 8B Robotics Model That Steers Robots With A Single Camera And Plain‑Language Commands

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 11, 2026

Mistral AI has released Robostral Navigate, its first dedicated robotics navigation model and a key step in the French startup’s push into “physical AI” for factories, warehouses and industrial automation. Robostral Navigate is an 8‑billion‑parameter vision‑language‑action model that takes images from a single RGB camera plus a plain‑language instruction and moves a robot through complex environments, without relying on LiDAR, depth sensors or multi‑camera rigs.

Kaon AI Raises Series B To Build A Vertically Integrated “Customization Engine” For AI‑Native Entertainment

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 11, 2026

Kaon AI, a generative AI platform and research lab building interactive entertainment experiences, has closed a Series B round backed by B Capital, Redpoint Ace, Goodwater Capital and DCM. The funding, whose size is undisclosed but reported by Variety and others to be around $60 million, will fuel Kaon’s push to define a new content engine for the generative AI era, built on long‑horizon, hyper‑personalized narratives rather than static recommendations.

OpenAI’s AGI Deployment Chief Fidji Simo Steps Down From Full‑Time Role Amid Ongoing Health Battle

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 11, 2026

Fidji Simo, one of OpenAI’s top executives and the company’s CEO of AGI deployment, is stepping down from her full‑time role and will become a part‑time advisor after an extended medical leave. Simo announced the move in a post on X, saying a “severe exacerbation” of a chronic neuroimmune illness she has lived with for seven years made clear that the road to recovery would be “much longer and more complex” than anticipated and that she needed to focus on it fully.

Oratomic Raises $300 Million Series A To Build Fault‑Tolerant Neutral‑Atom Quantum Computers Straight To ‘Endgame’

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 11, 2026

Oratomic, a Pasadena‑based quantum computing startup founded by leading neutral‑atom and fault‑tolerant quantum researchers, has raised a $300 million Series A round to accelerate development of a utility‑scale, fault‑tolerant quantum computer. The financing, announced in the company’s Series A blog post, was co‑led by ARCH Venture Partners, Spark Capital and Khosla Ventures, with participation from Bezos Expeditions, Index Ventures, General Catalyst, Lowercarbon Capital, Bain Capital, Formation, Nebular, David and Scott Aaronson, Les Kohn, Baiju Bhatt, Infleqtion, Genius Ventures, 7i Capital and Global Frontier Investments.

Super.com Raises $65 Million Series D At $1.2 Billion Valuation To Scale AI‑Powered Savings For Everyday Americans

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 11, 2026

Super.com, a savings “super app” aimed at everyday Americans, has raised a $65 million Series D round led by TPG at a $1.2 billion valuation. The new capital will fund AI‑driven product development and the expansion of its Super+ membership as the company surpasses $200 million in net revenue and reports more than $1 billion in direct savings returned to customers since 2016.

Savi Security Raises $7 Million Seed And Launches AI‑Native App To Protect Families From Digital Scams

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 11, 2026

Savi Security, a Los Angeles‑based consumer technology company focused on AI‑powered scam protection, has launched Savi, an iOS and Android app designed to screen calls, messages and digital communications before users engage, and has raised 7 million dollars in seed funding to accelerate development of its behavioral AI platform. The seed round is led by Acrew Capital, with participation from Magnify Ventures, TTCER and Resolute Ventures.

Octozi Raises $3 Million Seed To Bring Agentic AI Into Clinical Trial Data Operations

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 11, 2026

Octozi, a New York City-based artificial intelligence company that automates clinical development workflows for pharmaceutical sponsors, has raised 3 million dollars in seed funding. Surface Ventures led the round, with participation from Remarkable Ventures, building on a prior strategic investment from the venture arm of Swiss pharmaceutical company Debiopharm. The capital will be used to expand Octozi’s agentic AI platform and deepen its integrations with clinical systems used by pharmaceutical, biotech and medtech companies.

Perfect Corp. Agrees To $2‑Per‑Share Going‑Private Merger Led By Founder Alice Chang

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2026

Perfect Corp., a New York Stock Exchange–listed AI and augmented reality software company serving the beauty, fashion, and creative industries, has entered into a definitive merger agreement to go private in a transaction valuing its ordinary shares at $2.00 per share in cash. The deal is structured as a merger between Perfect and ProjectNY, a Cayman Islands company controlled by founder and chairwoman Alice H. Chang, with ProjectNY merging into Perfect, which will survive as a privately held entity.

Luffy AI Raises £8.1 Million Series A To Bring Neuroplastic AI Into Industrial Electric Motors

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2026

Luffy AI, a UK-based startup developing “neuroplastic” AI for real-time adaptive control, has raised £8.1 million in a Series A funding round to accelerate deployment of its technology in industrial electric motors and other physical systems. The company argues that while AI has transformed language and image generation, it has yet to make a substantial impact in industry, despite electric motor systems accounting for roughly half of global electricity consumption.

Noteefy Acquires Metolius Golf To Build Golf’s First Unified Demand And Revenue Intelligence Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2026

Noteefy, a leading demand and revenue management platform for the golf industry, has acquired Metolius Golf, a data intelligence company serving more than 600 golf courses. Together, the combined business now powers roughly 1,500 courses, pairing Noteefy’s demand optimization tools with Metolius’s data and analytics layer to give operators a single system for managing both demand and revenue.

Meta Breaks Ground On C$13 Billion AI-Optimized Data Center In Alberta

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2026

Meta is breaking ground on its first data center in Canada, a 1‑gigawatt, AI‑optimized facility in Sturgeon County, Alberta that will serve as a major hub for the company’s expanding artificial intelligence and core product infrastructure. The site is Meta’s 33rd data center globally and represents an investment of more than C$13 billion (about US$9.2 billion), making it one of the company’s largest projects outside the United States.

Amazon Taps US Bond Market Again With $25 Billion Sale To Fund AI Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2026

Amazon has returned to the US bond market with a new offering of at least $25 billion, adding another jumbo deal to a growing wave of AI‑linked corporate debt. The sale, structured in as many as eight tranches with maturities ranging from three to 40 years, is intended to support Amazon’s massive capital spending plans as it builds out data center and AI infrastructure for itself and its AWS cloud customers, according to Bloomberg.

Cursor Integrates SpaceXAI’s New Grok 4.5 Model For Coding And Agentic Work

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 10, 2026

Cursor has rolled out support for Grok 4.5, SpaceXAI’s latest large language model optimized for coding, agentic tasks, and complex knowledge work. Grok 4.5 is now available as a core engine inside Cursor’s AI coding environment, giving developers access to a high‑capacity model directly within their editor and workflows.

Paylocity Acquiring AI-Native Aidora To Simplify Leave Management

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 9, 2026

Paylocity announced it has acquired Aidora, an AI-native leave management compliance software company, as part of its strategy to automate complex HR processes and improve employee experience. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Norm Ai Raises $120 Million Series C At $1.2 Billion Valuation To Expand AI-Native Legal Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 9, 2026

Norm Ai announced it has raised $120 million in Series C funding at a $1.2 billion valuation in a round led by Khosla Ventures. The financing included participation from Blackstone, Bain Capital Ventures, Craft Ventures, Coatue, Vanguard, New York Life, TIAA, Tony James, Jeff Hammes, and Fenwick LLP. Since launching less than three years ago, the company has now raised more than $260 million.

Duck Creek Acquires Send To Create AI-Powered Underwriting And Core Insurance Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 9, 2026

Duck Creek Technologies announced it has acquired Send Technology Solutions, an AI-native underwriting orchestration platform serving commercial, specialty, reinsurance, MGA, delegated authority, and London Market insurers. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Hostie Raises $12 Million Series A To Expand AI-Powered Restaurant Concierge Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 9, 2026

Hostie, an AI-powered virtual concierge platform for restaurants, announced it has raised a $12 million Series A funding round led by Obvious Ventures, with participation from Gradient, Scribble Ventures, Burst Capital, and Behind Genius Ventures. The financing brings the San Francisco-based company's total funding to $16 million.

ONTO Health Acquires LEVY Health To Expand AI-Powered Fertility Care

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 9, 2026

ONTO Health announced the acquisition of LEVY Health, a clinical decision support software company specializing in precision diagnostics and patient intake for reproductive medicine. The acquisition strengthens ONTO Health's technology platform as it accelerates expansion across the U.S. and internationally following its recent $20 million Series A funding.

Empower AI Acquires Highlight Technologies To Expand AI-Powered Federal IT Capabilities

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 9, 2026

Empower AI announced it has acquired Highlight Technologies, a Fairfax, Virginia-based federal IT services company, strengthening its ability to deliver AI-driven and cloud-enabled mission solutions for U.S. federal agencies.

Tangos Raises $20 Million Seed Round To Automate Financial Crime Investigations With AI

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 9, 2026

Tangos AI, an autonomous AI platform for financial crime investigations, announced it has raised $20 million in seed funding to expand its technology and help financial institutions accelerate complex compliance and investigative workflows. The funding round was led by Red Dot Capital Partners, with participation from Leaders Fund, Clarim, Venture Israel, Signal Fire, Clutch Capital, Selah Ventures, and a strategic investment from Bright Data.