Innovation

Zèya Global Raises $2.45 Million Strategic Growth Round For P2P Barter Marketplace App

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Zèya Global, a Miami-based peer-to-peer barter marketplace app built around swipe-based item exchanges, has closed a $2.45 million strategic growth round led by Storage Innovations LLC.

Campfire Interactive Acquires Cover 4 PM To Broaden AI-Driven Profit Optimization For Manufacturers

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Campfire Interactive announced it has acquired Cover 4 PM, adding program and project management capabilities to its AI-enabled profit optimization platform for automotive suppliers and manufacturers.

Duetti: $200 Million Secured To Scale Independent Music Catalog Acquisitions And Expand Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Duetti, a music-tech and financial services company focused on helping independent creators monetize and manage their music rights, has secured $200 million in new capital to accelerate catalog acquisitions and expand its technology and services globally.

617 Collective Acquires Nominee Design, Expanding Its Founder-Led Agency Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

617 Collective, a New York-based holding company focused on founder-led marketing, PR, and creative agencies, announced it has acquired Nominee Design, an Oklahoma-based strategic brand and creative studio. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

One To One Health Partners With Frist Cressey On $12 Million Investment To Scale AI-Enabled Primary Care

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

One to One Health announced it has raised a $12 million minority growth investment from Frist Cressey Ventures to expand its employer-sponsored primary care model and accelerate development of its AI-enabled clinical platform, Intelligent Care Manager.

BV Investment Partners Launches Altimeter Solutions Group After Acquiring Alacrity’s Managed Repair Program

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

BV Investment Partners has acquired the Managed Repair Program division of Alacrity Solutions and rebranded the business as Altimeter Solutions Group, launching a standalone platform focused on property-insurance managed repair. The transaction is the first investment from BV’s $2.465 billion Fund XII, with capital also coming from BV Funds XI and XII, and was completed in partnership with Altimeter’s existing leadership team.

Transworld Business Advisors Partners With BizScout To Syndicate Active Listings

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Transworld Business Advisors, which is known as one of the largest business brokerages, has signed a multi-year strategic partnership to syndicate all of its active listings to BizScout, a fast-growing small business acquisition marketplace and data platform, in a move the companies say is designed to better match vetted inventory with verified, high-intent buyers.

Aprio Adds Denver’s TaxOps SALT Team And Names Judy Vorndran as National Practice Leader

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Aprio has expanded its national state and local tax practice with the addition of the SALT team from TaxOps, a Denver-area tax services firm, strengthening the accounting and advisory firm’s multistate tax capabilities and widening its coverage across additional jurisdictions.

Perkins Howe Innovation Center Partners With Adaptation Ventures To Expand Funding Pathways For DisabilityTech Startups

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Perkins Howe Innovation Center, the innovation hub of Perkins School for the Blind, has partnered with Adaptation Ventures to create a new pipeline that connects DisabilityTech founders to early-stage investors, aiming to speed the development and adoption of accessible products and services.

Lovell Minnick Closes Continuation Vehicle For SRS Acquiom In Carlyle AlpInvest-Led Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Lovell Minnick Partners has closed a single-asset continuation vehicle for SRS Acquiom in a transaction led by Carlyle AlpInvest, extending Lovell Minnick’s ownership partnership with the M&A and loan transaction services provider first established through a majority investment in 2018.

Blueprint Equity Closes Oversubscribed $333 Million Fund III In Single Close

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Blueprint Equity has raised a $333 million third fund, Blueprint Equity III, in a single close that the firm said was oversubscribed and completed in 12 days, pushing the San Diego-based growth equity manager past $600 million in assets under management.

True Wind Capital Backs Ultimate Knowledge Institute In Growth Investment

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

True Wind Capital has made a growth investment in Ultimate Knowledge Institute, a cybersecurity workforce readiness provider, as the private equity firm looks to back expansion of UKi’s competency-driven training and readiness platform across government and commercial customers.

PraxisPro: $6 Million Seed Funding Raised To Transform Life Sciences With AI for Commercial Intelligence

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

PraxisPro, a data intelligence company focused on improving how life sciences organizations generate and govern commercial insights, has raised a $6 million oversubscribed seed round led by AlleyCorp. Flybridge, South Loop Ventures, Zeal Capital Partners, True Ventures, Techstars, Alumni Ventures, and Daring Ventures also participated in the financing.

OpenEvidence: $250 Million Series D At $12 Billion Valuation Raised To Expand AI ‘Medical Superintelligence’ Platform for Doctors

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

OpenEvidence, an AI-powered medical search platform used by clinicians, said it has raised $250 million in a Series D financing that values the company at $12 billion, positioning it as the highest-valued healthcare AI company. Thrive Capital and DST Global co-led the financing. This round brings the total funding raised over the past 12 months to roughly $700 million. And it listed a broad roster of prior investors, including Sequoia, Google Ventures, Nvidia, Kleiner Perkins, Blackstone, Henry Kravis, Coatue, Thrive Capital, Conviction, ICONIQ, Greycroft, Breyer Capital, BOND, Craft Ventures, Goanna, Meritech, Alkeon, and Mayo Clinic, among others.

GreenFirst Secures $30 Million Federal Softwood Lumber Program Term Loan To Bolster Liquidity

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

GreenFirst Forest Products has secured a new $30 million term loan under the Canadian government’s Softwood Lumber Program, bolstering liquidity as the company navigates volatility in the North American lumber market.

Engineering Resource Group Raises Strategic Investment From Godspeed Capital

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Engineering Resource Group, a mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering consulting and design firm based in Mississippi, has received a strategic investment from private equity firm Godspeed Capital Management LP. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Sage Geosystems: Over $97 Million Series B Closed To Launch First Commercial Pressure Geothermal Power Facility

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Sage Geosystems has raised over $97 million in a Series B round co-led by Ormat Technologies and Carbon Direct Capital to advance its Pressure Geothermal power generation and energy storage platform and support development of what it says will be the world’s first commercial Pressure Geothermal power generation facility. The round included new investors SiteGround Capital and The UC Berkeley Foundation’s Climate Solutions Fund, alongside existing backers Exa, Nabors, alfa8, Arch Meredith, Abilene Partners, Cubit Capital, and Ignis H2 Energy.

Preply: $150 Million Series D At $1.2 Billion Valuation Raised To Shape the Future of Education Through AI-Enhanced Learning

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Smart Workforce AI: Interview With Co-Founder & CEO Mohamed Yousuf About The Staff Scheduling Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Smart Workforce AI provides an AI-powered, cloud-based platform that optimizes staff scheduling, predicts labor demand, and streamlines workforce management to reduce costs and improve employee satisfaction. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Smart Workforce AI co-founder and CEO Mohamed Yousuf to learn more.

Zarminali Pediatrics Raises $110 Million Series A To Transform Pediatric Care

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Zarminali Pediatrics, an outpatient pediatric provider focused on integrated primary and specialty care, has raised a $110 million in Series A funding to scale its clinic network and expand its proprietary technology platform. The round was led by Healthier Capital, with participation from existing investor General Catalyst and new investor K2 HealthVentures.

British Business Bank Commits £25 Million To Kraken Technologies

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

The British Business Bank has committed to invest £25 million in Kraken Technologies as part of Kraken’s $1 billion demerger from Octopus Energy Group, in a deal done in partnership with Octopus Group and facilitated by Octopus Ventures.

Cosmos: $15 Million Series A Closed As It Expands Social Discovery And Attribution Features

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Cosmos, a visual bookmarking and discovery app built for saving and organizing images, has raised a $15 million Series A financing round co-led by Shine Capital and Matrix as the startup rolls out a redesigned product aimed at making saving faster, discovery more social, and image credit more durable across the web. The round included participation from prior backers GV and Accel, as well as Plug and Play and Squarespace founder and CEO Anthony Casalena, according to McCune. Shine’s Ethan Daly has joined Cosmos’ board.

ErVimmune: €17 Million Series A First Close To Advance Off-The-Shelf Cancer Vaccine Into The Clinic

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

ErVimmune, a Lyon, France-based biotechnology company developing next-generation therapeutic cancer vaccines targeting “unconventional” tumor antigens derived from human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs), has raised €17 million ($19.8 million) in the first closing of its Series A financing. The round included participation from existing shareholder Seventure Partners and new investor SPRIM Global Investments, and is expected to be supplemented by additional non-dilutive funding support tied to Bpifrance and the France 2030 program.

INSPIRED: Interview With Founder & CEO Maximilian Werner About The Community Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

INSPIRED is a Zürich-based, impact-driven innovation community/social platform that connects visionaries with investors and collaborators to help groundbreaking ideas get visibility and support. Pulse 2.0 interviewed INSPIRED founder and CEO Maximilian Werner to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

BrightInsight: $13 Million Closed To Expand AI-Enabled Medication Adherence Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

BrightInsight has raised $13 million in funding to accelerate the development of its AI-enabled medication persistence and adherence solutions and scale patient support programs globally. The San Jose-based digital health company said the round included both existing and new backers: Eclipse, General Catalyst, Insight Partners, Mayo Clinic, and New Leaf Venture Partners.

Fracttal: $35 Million Closed To Advance Global Expansion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Fracttal announced it has closed a $35 million financing round led by Riverwood Capital, with participation from existing backers including Seaya Ventures, as the company looks to speed up international growth and deepen investment in AI-driven maintenance and asset-management capabilities.

Finst: €8 Million Series A Raised For Crypto Investing Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

European crypto investing platform Finst has raised €8 million in a Series A funding round led by Endeit Capital, with continued support from returning backers Eelko van Kooten, founder of Spinnin’ Records, and Mark Fransen, co-founder of DEGIRO. The new financing brings Finst’s total funding to €15 million.

Upscale AI: $200 Million Series A Raised To Build Open AI Networking Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Upscale AI announced it has raised $200 million in an oversubscribed Series A round as it works to establish what it calls the first pure-play AI networking infrastructure company, positioning networking as a primary constraint on scaling modern AI systems. The financing was led by Tiger Global, Premji Invest, and Xora Innovation, with participation from Maverick Silicon, StepStone Group, Mayfield, Prosperity7 Ventures, Intel Capital, and Qualcomm Ventures. The company said the new round brings its total funding to more than $300 million and follows a rapid fundraising trajectory, characterized by moving from a $100 million seed round to “unicorn” status within months.

RouteMyPlan: Interview With Founder Timothy Zaide About The Workforce Accountability Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

RouteMyPlan is a workforce accountability platform that helps operations teams schedule employees, track departures, and verify on-site arrivals using real-time navigation and geofencing. Pulse 2.0 interviewed RouteMyPlan founder Timothy Zaide to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

Assurant Acquires RL Circular Operations To Expand APAC Reverse Logistics Footprint

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 21, 2026

Assurant has acquired RL Circular Operations and related subsidiaries, the reverse logistics division of Australia- and New Zealand-based TIC Group, as it pushes deeper into post-purchase services and circular economy solutions across Asia-Pacific. The deal, announced January 18, 2026, adds a major regional operator—formerly known as TIC Reverse Logistics—to Assurant’s Connected Living platform, strengthening returns management, device lifecycle services, and asset recovery capabilities for retailers, manufacturers, and suppliers.