Artificial Intelligence

Webidoo: $25 Million Raised To Build AI Operating Layer For SMBs

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 12, 2026

Webidoo announced the closing of a $25 million funding round led by IXC3, a fund within Azimut Group, as the company expands its AI-driven technology platform for small and medium-sized businesses.

White Circle Raises $11 Million Seed Round To Scale Real-Time AI Monitoring And Control Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 12, 2026

White Circle, the Paris-based AI control platform, has raised $11 million in seed funding from a group of prominent investors drawn from the highest levels of the AI industry. Backers include Romain Huet of OpenAI; Dirk Kingma, formerly of OpenAI and now at Anthropic; Guillaume Lample of Mistral; Thomas Wolf of Hugging Face; Olivier Pomel of Datadog; François Chollet of Keras; Mehdi Ghissassi, formerly of DeepMind; Paige Bailey of DeepMind; and David Cramer of Sentry. The funding will be used to accelerate product development, expand the team across the US, UK, and Europe, and grow White Circle's global customer base.

Ciridae: $20 Million Seed Funding Closed To Bring AI Transformation To Real Economy Businesses

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 12, 2026

Ciridae, the San Francisco-based 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 team leader at Salesforce and Head of ML at Teneyx.

Orbweaver Acquires Budde Marketing To Build End-To-End Intelligence Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 12, 2026

Orbweaver, a leading provider of data integration, quoting, and sales automation solutions for the electronics industry, has acquired Budde Marketing Systems, an established leader in point-of-sale data management and channel performance analytics.

Judgment Labs Closes $32 Million In Seed And Series A Funding To Build Improvement Layer For AI Agents

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 12, 2026

Judgment Labs has raised a combined $32 million across its seed and Series A rounds to accelerate its mission of helping AI‑native teams turn production data into continuously improving agents. The funding was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, which backed both rounds less than six months apart, signaling strong conviction in the company’s approach to solving one of the most complex challenges in the AI agent ecosystem. Additional participation came from Nova Global, SV Angel, Valor Equity Partners, and Dynamic, all supporting Judgment Labs’ push to become foundational infrastructure for agent‑native companies.

Celonis Unveils The Context Model And Acquires Ikigai Labs To Power Trusted Enterprise AI

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 12, 2026

Celonis has introduced the Celonis Context Model, a new layer in the enterprise technology stack designed to eliminate the operational blind spots that prevent Enterprise AI from performing reliably at scale. The company also announced a definitive agreement to acquire Ikigai Labs, a leader in AI‑powered decision intelligence built on nearly two decades of MIT research. Together, the Context Model and Ikigai Labs’ technology aim to give AI agents the operational clarity, decision logic, and predictive capabilities needed to act with precision across complex business environments.

Embat: €30 Million Series B Raised To Expand AI-Powered Treasury Management Across Europe

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 12, 2026

Embat, the Madrid-based fintech specializing in AI-driven treasury management, has closed a €30 million Series B round led by Cathay Innovation, a Paris-based global venture capital firm with more than €2.5 billion under management. Existing investors Creandum, Samaipata, 4Founders, and Venture Friends also participated. The raise brings Embat's total funding to more than €50 million since its founding in 2021.

Adfin Raises $18 Million Series A To Build Agentic Finance Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 12, 2026

Adfin, the London-based payments and finance automation company, has closed an $18 million Series A round, bringing total investment in the company to over $30 million in less than two years. Index Ventures led the round and tripled down on its prior commitment, with existing investor Visionaries Club also participating. The round additionally welcomed Stéphane Kurgan and Miro founder Andrey Khusid as new individual investors.

Omada Identity: Interview With Field Strategist Paul Walker About Provider of Solutions for Identity Management and Access Governance

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 12, 2026

Omada is a leader in identity security and governance, helping organizations reduce risk by securing access for every identity, human and non-human. Omada’s platform uses AI-driven insights and intelligent automation to improve efficiency, compliance, and security. With unified visibility and continuous risk evaluation, Omada enables security teams to detect threats faster, strengthen control, and scale identity security without added complexity. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Omada’s Field Strategist, Paul Walker, to learn more.

Fifth Dimension Raises $26 Million Series A To Scale AI Decision Intelligence Platform For Real Assets

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 12, 2026

Fifth Dimension, the decision intelligence platform built for the real assets industry, has raised $26 million in a Series A funding round led by HV Capital, with participation from Prudence, Mercia Ventures, MMC Ventures, and AFG Partners, and continued support from Speedinvest, Seedcamp, and Anthemis Group. The capital will accelerate expansion across the United States, already 70% of the company's revenue, and into Asia Pacific, where Fifth Dimension has opened a Singapore office.

Robo.ai Acquires Neurovia For $100 Million To Build AI Machine Economy Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 12, 2026

Robo.ai has announced an agreement to acquire 100% of the equity interest in Neurovia AI Limited, a technology company specializing in data processing and compression, for a total consideration of $100 million in an all-stock transaction. The deal is structured entirely through the issuance of Robo.ai Class B ordinary shares, with all issued shares subject to a complete lock-up for the first three years following closing and a gradual vesting schedule over the subsequent five years, resulting in a total lock-up period of eight years.

n8n Valuation Doubles To $5.2 Billion As SAP Makes Strategic Investment And Embeds Platform Into Joule Studio

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 12, 2026

n8n, the AI orchestration platform, has announced a strategic investment from SAP alongside a multi-year commercial partnership that more than doubles the company's valuation to $5.2 billion from $2.5 billion secured less than a year ago. Under the commercial agreement, n8n's workflow automation platform will be embedded natively within Joule Studio, SAP's agent-building environment within SAP Business AI Platform, marking n8n's arrival as enterprise AI infrastructure for one of the world's largest software companies.

Raven.io: Interview With Co-Founder & CEO Roi Abitboul On Why AI Has Made CVE-Based Security Obsolete

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 12, 2026

Raven.io provides a runtime application security platform that protects cloud-native applications by analyzing code behavior in real time to detect and block unknown attacks and supply-chain exploits without requiring instrumentation. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Raven.io co-founder and CEO Roi Abitboul to learn more.

Rialtic And Exponential AI Announce Strategic Merger To Transform Healthcare Payment Accuracy

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 12, 2026

Rialtic, a cloud-based enterprise platform for healthcare payment accuracy, and Exponential AI, a leader in real-time healthcare AI decision intelligence, have announced a definitive agreement to merge, creating a unified platform designed to meet the evolving needs of healthcare payers and providers. The combined entity will offer a comprehensive product suite covering critical moments in the claim lifecycle, from prepay editing before a claim is paid to real-time decision intelligence during and around claims processing.

Optro Acquires AI-Native SOX Automation Platform Midship To Advance Agentic Audit Transformation

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 12, 2026

Optro, formerly known as AuditBoard, has announced the acquisition of Midship, an AI-native SOX automation solution backed by Y Combinator, in a move the company said represents a significant milestone in delivering the first and only agentic system of action for governance, risk, and compliance. The acquisition immediately delivers enterprise-grade AI agents to Optro's customers, automating up to 87% of SOX program management and freeing internal auditors to focus on strategic risk rather than administrative tasks. Financial terms were not disclosed.

OpenAI Launches Daybreak To Accelerate AI-Powered Cyber Defense And Secure Software By Design

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 12, 2026

OpenAI has announced Daybreak, its vision for AI-native cyber defense designed to help defenders find vulnerabilities earlier, act faster, and build software that is resilient by design from the start. The initiative combines the intelligence of OpenAI models, the extensibility of Codex as an agentic harness, and partnerships across the security ecosystem to bring secure code review, threat modeling, patch validation, dependency risk analysis, detection, and remediation guidance into the everyday development loop.

Stardog Promotes Navin Sharma To Chief Product Officer To Lead Semantic AI Platform Growth

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 12, 2026

Stardog has announced the promotion of Navin Sharma to Chief Product Officer, reinforcing the company's leadership in powering enterprise AI through its semantic AI platform. The promotion reflects Stardog's momentum as enterprises accelerate investment in agentic AI systems that require trusted, contextual data foundations to operate reliably in complex, mission-critical environments.

OpenAI Confirms Deployment Company Launch With More Than $4 Billion Backing, Acquires AI Consulting Firm Tomoro

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 11, 2026

OpenAI has confirmed the launch of the OpenAI Deployment Company, a new business unit designed to help organizations build and deploy AI systems across their most critical workflows, backed by more than $4 billion in initial investment. The venture is a committed partnership between OpenAI and 19 leading global investment firms, consultancies, and system integrators, led by TPG with Advent, Bain Capital, and Brookfield as co-lead founding partners. Additional founding partners include B Capital, BBVA, Emergence Capital, Goanna, Goldman Sachs, SoftBank Corp., Warburg Pincus, and WCAS, alongside consulting and systems integration firms Bain & Company, Capgemini, and McKinsey & Company.

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

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 11, 2026

Spacial is an AI-powered engineering platform that transforms 2D residential architectural drawings into a coordinated set of structural and MEP drawings within days, rather than months. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Spacial co-founder and CEO Maor Greenberg and co-founder and Chief Product Officer Ami Avrahami to learn more.

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

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 11, 2026

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.

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

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 11, 2026

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.

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

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 11, 2026

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.

Dishio: $2.5 Million Seed Funding Raised At $20 Million Valuation To Help Restaurants Turn Guest Data Into Repeat Revenue

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 10, 2026

Dishio, an AI growth engine for restaurants, has announced a $2.5 million seed round at a $20 million valuation. The Miami-based company said the funding will support expansion of its platform, which helps restaurant operators capture, own, and activate guest data across the entire customer journey by unifying the fragmented restaurant tech stack into a single customer intelligence and growth layer.

Scale AI Expands Pentagon AI Partnership To $500 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 10, 2026

Scale AI has announced a five-fold expansion of its enterprise agreement with the U.S. Department of War's Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, increasing the total potential contract value from $100 million to $500 million. The expansion follows rapid uptake of the Production Other Transaction Authority agreement since its original award in September 2025, with demand across the Department exceeding the original contract ceiling.

MoneyFlare Launches AI Crypto Trading App With One-Click Automated Quant Trading

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 9, 2026

MoneyFlare has launched an AI-powered cryptocurrency trading app designed to give everyday investors access to fully automated quantitative trading without coding skills or professional trading experience. The platform, operated by Ai Actuarial Limited — a company registered with UK Companies House — aims to lower the barrier to entry for crypto quant trading by condensing the process into three steps: register an account, choose an AI quantitative trading plan, and activate automated trading with a single click.

Grant Thornton Launches gtap To Modernize AI-Enabled Audit Delivery

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 9, 2026

Grant Thornton announced the launch of gtap, a proprietary cloud-based audit infrastructure platform designed to modernize audit execution through AI, analytics, and automation technologies.

OpenAI Expands Trusted Access For Cyber With GPT-5.5 And GPT-5.5-Cyber Launch

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 8, 2026

OpenAI announced the rollout of GPT-5.5-Cyber in limited preview alongside expanded Trusted Access for Cyber capabilities designed to support cybersecurity defenders securing critical infrastructure and enterprise systems.

Fazeshift Raises $17 Million Series A To Automate Accounts Receivable Workflows With AI Agents

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 8, 2026

Fazeshift announced that it has raised $17 million in Series A funding led by F-Prime, bringing the company’s total funding to $22 million. Investors in the round also included Gradient, Y Combinator, Wayfinder, Pioneer Fund, Ritual Capital, and additional angel investors.

Phoenix Tailings Acquires Machinery Partner To Expand AI And Automation Capabilities For Rare Earth Processing

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 8, 2026

Phoenix Tailings announced the acquisition of Boston-based industrial technology company Machinery Partner as the rare earth manufacturer expands its AI, automation, and digital manufacturing infrastructure capabilities.

eSleuth AI Appoints Former Secret Service Director Julia Pierson To Advisory Board

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 8, 2026

eSleuth AI announced the appointment of former United States Secret Service Director Julia Pierson to the company’s Advisory Board as the company expands its AI-driven investigative technology platform for law enforcement agencies.