Innovation

First Connect Hits $500 Million GWP As Centana Investment Accelerates Growth

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 9, 2025

First Connect had crossed a significant growth threshold after surpassing $500 million in gross written premium in 2025, marking a pivotal milestone one year after Centana Growth Partners acquired a majority stake in the company. The achievement reflects a year of accelerated expansion, new carrier relationships, and heightened adoption of its technology-driven insurance distribution platform.

dacadoo: Interview With Founder, CEO, And President Peter Ohnemus About The Digital Health Technology Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 9, 2025

dacadoo is a Swiss-based digital health technology company that licenses a science-backed health scoring and lifestyle engagement platform (for insurers, banks, healthcare providers, and other enterprises) to help measure, motivate, and manage wellness and health risk across populations. Pulse 2.0 interviewed dacadoo founder, president, and CEO Peter Ohnemus to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

Brookfield And Qai Launch $20 Billion Joint Venture To Build Global AI Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 9, 2025

Brookfield Asset Management and Qatar’s AI company Qai, a subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority, have formed a new $20 billion strategic investment partnership aimed at accelerating the development of artificial intelligence infrastructure in Qatar and select global markets.

Checkmarx Buys Tromzo To Advance Agentic Application Security

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 9, 2025

Checkmarx announced a significant expansion of its agentic application security capabilities with the acquisition of Tromzo, a Silicon Valley startup known for its AI native autonomous triage and remediation technology.

xtype: Interview With Founder & CEO Ron Gidron About The Technical Governance Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 9, 2025

ECI Software Solutions Acquires Amper Technologies To Expand Manufacturing Capabilities

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 9, 2025

ECI Software Solutions has acquired Amper Technologies, a Chicago-based manufacturer of manufacturing execution systems, in a deal that strengthens ECI’s expanding portfolio of AI-driven tools for industrial operations. The acquisition introduces Amper’s FactoryOS platform into ECI’s suite of cloud-based products, enabling manufacturers to link enterprise planning systems with real-time production floor intelligence.

Simular: $21.5 Million Closed To Advance Autonomous Computer Agent Development

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 9, 2025

Simular, a San Francisco-based artificial intelligence company founded by former DeepMind researchers, has secured a $21.5 million Series A round to advance its autonomous computer agent platform. The funding was led by Felicis Ventures, with participation from NVentures, Basis Set Ventures, Flying Fish Partners, South Park Commons, and angel investor Lenny Rachitsky. The raise follows the company’s $5 million seed round, which Basis Set led.

PolyPid: Interview With Chief Operating Officer – U.S. Operations Ori Warshavsky About Preventing Surgical Site Infections

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 9, 2025

PolyPid is a biopharmaceutical company developing localized, controlled-delivery antibiotic therapies to prevent surgical site infections. Pulse 2.0 interviewed PolyPid Chief Operating Officer – U.S. Operations, Ori Warshavsky, to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

NextEra Energy And Google Cloud Sign Strategic Energy And Technology Partnership

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 9, 2025

NextEra Energy and Google Cloud have unveiled a significant expansion of their longstanding collaboration, launching a broad national initiative that links extensive scale data center development with advanced energy infrastructure and AI-driven modernization.

Generative Bionics: €70 Million Raised To Advance Intelligent Humanoid Robots

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 9, 2025

Generative Bionics has raised €70 million in one of Europe’s largest deep tech funding rounds focused on humanoid robotics. The funding strengthens the company’s position as a leading Italian spin-off in advanced robotics, founded out of the Italian Institute of Technology and guided by CEO Daniele Pucci. The round was led by CDP Venture Capital’s Artificial Intelligence Fund and included participation from AMD Ventures, Duferco, Eni Next, RoboIT, and Tether.

Quali: Interview With CEO Lior Koriat About The Infrastructure Automation Tools Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 9, 2025

Quali is a company that provides AI-powered tools that design, provision, orchestrate, and manage cloud and infrastructure environments so DevOps, SRE, FinOps, and data teams can automate complex tasks, accelerate delivery, and reduce costs.

Metal: Interview With Software Engineer Pablo Ríos About The AI-Based Private Equity Diligence Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 9, 2025

Corintis: $25 Million Raised For Advancing Expansion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 9, 2025

Applied Digital has made a significant strategic investment by leading a $25 million funding round for Corintis, a Swiss technology company developing microfluidic chip cooling solutions for high-performance computing and artificial intelligence environments. The funding increases Corintis’ total funding to $58 million and positions both companies to advance next-generation cooling technologies required for increasingly dense GPU systems.

USA Compression Partners To Acquire J-W Power Company In $860 Million Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 9, 2025

USA Compression Partners announced it has entered a definitive agreement to acquire J-W Power Company for approximately $860 million, marking one of the most significant transactions in the natural gas compression sector in recent years. The move expands USA Compression’s position as one of the largest independent providers of compression services in the United States. It gives the partnership enhanced scale, geographic reach, and service flexibility across multiple basins.

Warmly: Interview With CEO Maximus Greenwald About The Revenue Orchestration Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 9, 2025

Warmly is an AI-powered revenue orchestration platform aimed primarily at B2B SaaS companies and revenue teams. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Warmly CEO Max Greenwald to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

Scowtt: $12 Million Series A Raised For Advancing AI-Driven Advertising Optimization

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 9, 2025

Scowtt has raised $12 million in Series A financing as the Seattle-based startup works to reshape performance marketing through predictive artificial intelligence technology designed to improve paid media returns for enterprise advertisers. Inspired Capital led the round with participation from LiveRamp Ventures, Angeles Investors, and Angeles Ventures.

Alexander & Baldwin Being Taken Private In $2.3 Billion Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 9, 2025

Alexander & Baldwin is set to be taken private in a $2.3 billion all-cash acquisition, following the entry into a definitive merger agreement with a joint venture backed by MW Group and funds affiliated with Blackstone Real Estate and DivcoWest. The transaction values the Honolulu-based real estate firm at approximately $2.3 billion in enterprise value, including outstanding debt. Shareholders will receive $21.20 per share in cash, representing a 40% premium to the company’s closing stock price on December 8, 2025.

HF Sinclair To Buy Industrial Oils Unlimited In $38 Million Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 9, 2025

HF Sinclair announced that its Lubricants and Specialties subsidiary has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Industrial Oils Unlimited, a Tulsa-based provider of industrial lubricants and specialty fluids.

SPX Technologies To Acquire Crawford United In $300 Million Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 9, 2025

SPX Technologies has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Cleveland-based Crawford United Corporation for approximately $300 million. The deal calls for Crawford United to merge with a SPX subsidiary, providing holders of its Class A and Class B common stock with an estimated cash consideration of about $83.42 per share, after adjustments for debt and expenses.

Antero Resources Buying HG Energy For $2.8 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 9, 2025

Antero Resources has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the upstream assets of HG Energy II for total consideration of $2.8 billion in cash, along with the assumption of HG Energy’s commodity hedge book. The transaction, subject to standard closing adjustments, is scheduled to close in the second quarter of 2026 and will be effective January 1, 2026. At the same time, Antero has agreed to sell its Ohio Utica Shale upstream assets for $800 million in cash, a deal expected to close in the first quarter of 2026 with an effective date of July 1, 2025.

National Storage REIT To Be Acquired For A$6.7 Billion By Brookfield And GIC

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 8, 2025

National Storage REIT has agreed to be acquired by a consortium led by Brookfield Asset Management and GIC in a deal that values the business at approximately A$6.7 billion in enterprise value and about A$4 billion in equity.

ContextLogic To Buy US Salt In $907.5 Million Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 8, 2025

ContextLogic announced that it has agreed to acquire US Salt Parent Holdings, marking a significant step in the company’s multiyear transformation into a diversified business ownership platform. The transaction values US Salt at an enterprise value of $907.5 million and represents the company’s most substantial strategic move since divesting its e-commerce operations in 2024.

Blue Current: Over $80 Million In Series D Extension Secured And James Hamilton Added To Board

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 8, 2025

Blue Current has closed a Series D extension totaling more than $80 million, a round anchored by Amazon and joined by Koch Disruptive Technologies, Piedmont Capital, Rusheen Capital Partners, and Allen & Company.

Westwood Financial: $145 Million Credit Facility Upsize Closed To Advance Long-Term Growth Strategy

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 8, 2025

Westwood Financial has expanded its corporate credit facility by $145 million, bringing the total to $470 million as the Los Angeles-based retail real estate investment firm accelerates its long-term growth plans. The firm, which marked its 55th anniversary this year, said the expanded facility strengthens its financial flexibility, enhances liquidity, and positions it to capitalize on new investment opportunities across its nationwide portfolio of more than 125 neighborhood shopping centers.

Airwallex: $330 Million Series G At $8 Billion Valuation Raised For Fintech Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 8, 2025

Lemurian Labs: $28 Million Series A Raised To Accelerate Hardware Agnostic AI

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 8, 2025

Lemurian Labs has secured $28 million in an oversubscribed Series A round to accelerate the rollout of its software-first platform designed to make artificial intelligence run faster, more efficiently, and on any hardware. The funding includes capital previously raised through convertible securities and positions the Santa Clara-based company to expand engineering efforts, advance product development, and deepen collaboration with ecosystem partners focused on sustainable compute and open AI innovation.

Red River Acquires Invictus To Expand National Security And Cyber Modernization Capabilities

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 8, 2025

Red River has acquired Invictus, a national security services provider known for its cyber, intelligence, and enterprise modernization expertise, in a move that significantly strengthens Red River’s role across the Department of War, Intelligence Community, and federal civilian missions. Invictus will now operate as “Invictus, a Red River Company."

Guide Labs: $9 Million Seed Funding Closed To Build Interpretable Large Language Models

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 8, 2025

Guide Labs has raised $9 million in seed funding led by Initialized Capital to advance what it describes as the first large-scale interpretable large language model.

Tata Communications Buys Majority Stake In Commotion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 8, 2025

Tata Communications has acquired a 51 percent stake in Commotion, marking a significant expansion of its AI capabilities across its global Digital Fabric portfolio. The deal, executed as a cash-only acquisition on a fully diluted basis through a Stock Purchase Agreement, brings an AI-native enterprise SaaS platform directly into Tata Communications’ offering as the company accelerates its shift toward becoming an AI-first organisation.

Marsh Mclennan Agency Expands In Hawaii With Acquisition Of Three Brokerages

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 8, 2025

Marsh McLennan Agency announced a significant expansion of its presence in Hawai‘i with the acquisition of three Honolulu-based insurance brokerages from Tradewind Group. The deal includes Atlas Insurance Agency, Pyramid Insurance Centre, and IC International, each of which has long served businesses and individuals across the Hawaiian islands. Financial terms were not disclosed.