Innovation

First American Bank Partnering With InvestCloud To Modernize Digital Wealth Management Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2025

InvestCloud (a leader in wealth technology) and First American Bank (FAB), a regional financial institution with $7 billion in assets under management and 61 locations across Illinois, Wisconsin, and Florida, announced a strategic partnership to modernize FAB’s digital wealth management platform. And this collaboration aims to significantly enhance client engagement by offering clients, prospects, wealth advisors, and relationship managers with a unified technology platform offering tailored insights and comprehensive support.

Motorola Solutions To Buy Theatro

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2025

Motorola Solutions announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Theatro Labs, the maker of AI and voice-powered communication and digital workflow software for frontline workers, based in Richardson, Texas.

Quanterix To Buy Akoya Biosciences For Creating An Integrated Solution For Detection Of Protein Biomarkers

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

Quanterix and Akoya Biosciences announced a definitive merger agreement under which Quanterix will acquire Akoya in an all-stock transaction. The deal will create the first integrated solution for ultra-sensitive detection of blood- and tissue-based protein biomarkers.

N-Power Medicine Acquiring Syapse For Advancing Clinical Trial Process

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

N-Power Medicine, a company leading the transformation of the clinical trial process, announced the acquisition of Syapse, an innovator in precision medicine solutions for community cancer centers. N-Power’s acquisition of Syapse was completed through a stock-for-stock exchange on December 30, 2024. Innovatus Capital Partners (Syapse’s lead institutional investor) joins N-Power’s existing investors, including the Merck Global Health Innovation Fund (GHI) and a U.S.-based healthcare-focused investor, in providing ongoing funding for N-Power’s goals.

Checkbook To Buy Digital Payment Company sureti

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

Digital payment company Checkbook announced the acquisition of sureti, a digital payment solution dedicated to transforming the distribution of insurance claim proceeds. This strategic deal positions Checkbook at the forefront of the insurance-tech revolution, delivering faster, more innovative, and more secure payment solutions for insurance companies and their customers.

Constellation To Buy Calpine In $26.6 Billion Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

Constellation and Calpine announced they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Constellation will acquire Calpine in a cash and stock transaction valued at an equity purchase price of approximately $16.4 billion, which is composed of 50 million shares of Constellation stock and $4.5 billion in cash plus the assumption of roughly $12.7 billion of Calpine net debt. And after accounting for money that is expected to be generated by Calpine between signing and the scheduled closing date, as well as the value of tax attributes at Calpine, the net purchase price is $26.6 billion, reflecting an attractive acquisition multiple of 7.9 times 2026 EV/EBITDA.

hc1: $6.25 Million Raised To Transform Lab Data Into Actionable Intelligence

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

hc1, a leader in transforming lab data into actionable intelligence that improves patient health outcomes while boosting the bottom line, announced it raised $6.25 million in new financing after a successful acquisition in October 2024 of Accumen. Existing investor Health Cloud Capital led the investment with participation from health tech investment firm A1 Health Ventures. And Arsenal Capital Partners joined the investor base in the combined platform via its ownership stake in Accumen.

ThreatMark: $23 Million Raised To Fight Online Fraud

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

ThreatMark, a leading innovator in behavior-based fraud prevention, announced it has closed a $23 million funding round. The funding round includes $15 million from Octopus Ventures and Riverside Acceleration Capital (RAC), a US-based growth capital partner to B2B software companies, and an $8 million convertible note from Springtide Ventures Fund.

Raspberry AI: Fashion-Focused GenAI Company Raises $24 Million (Series A)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

Raspberry AI, a leading generative AI platform for fashion creatives, announced it secured $24 million in Series A funding led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). Existing investors Greycroft, Correlation Ventures, and MVP Ventures participated in the round, along with notable angel investors such as Gokul Rajaram and Ken Pilot.

BBT.live: Secure Connectivity Company Raises $11.5 Million (Seed)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

BBT.live, an innovator in secure connectivity over public infrastructure, announced the expansion of its seed funding round to $11.5 million, driven by an additional $2 million investment. Accel Solutions Group led the funding round.

Kerna Labs: Seed Funding Raised To Develop Novel RNA-Based Medicines

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

Kerna Laboratories - a San Francisco-based AI biotech startup - announced it emerged from stealth with the launch of an AI platform for developing novel RNA-based medicines. Kerna Labs has recently closed an oversubscribed seed funding round, with investors including Gradient, Humba Ventures, Tau Ventures, Pioneer Fund, Focalpoint Partners, and prominent angels including Patrick Hsu (Arc Institute) and Jacob Kimmel (NewLimit).

Airspan: $42.7 Million NTIA Grant Received For Advancing Open RAN Technology Development

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

Airspan Networks - a US-based leader in wireless innovation and development - announced it has been awarded $42,729,740 from the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund. And this award, provided by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), reinforces Airspan's commitment to driving U.S. leadership in next-generation wireless technologies.

First Ascent Biomedical: $6 Million Raised For Personalized Cancer Treatments

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

First Ascent Biomedical, a pioneer in personalized cancer treatment, announced a $6 million investment from Vidal Duart Enterprises, with an additional co-investment from Techstars. And the funding round will accelerate First Ascent Biomedical’s mission to transform medical oncology with highly individualized, prospective treatment planning technologies that improve patient survival.

Fermata: $10 Million (Series A) Raised For Computer Vision Agriculture Solutions

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

Fermata, a data science company specializing in computer vision agriculture solutions, announced it closed $10 million in a Series A funding round backed by Raw Ventures. This funding will support the company's vision of developing a centralized digital brain for the horticulture industry, enabling autonomous management of crops through advanced data analysis and creating a system that continuously learns from available data.

Caidya: Clinical Research Organization Raises $165 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

Caidya, a leading global mid-sized clinical research organization (CRO), announced the closing of a strategic growth investment of $165 million from funds managed by Rubicon Founders, a U.S.-based healthcare investment firm focused on building transformational companies.

Windward Bio: Drug Development Company Raises $200 Million (Series A)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

Novo Holdings, a leading life science investor, announced that it has invested in a $200 million Series A launch financing for Windward Bio. This oversubscribed Series A launch financing was co-led by OrbiMed, Novo Holdings and Blue Owl Healthcare Opportunities, and joined by SR One, Omega Funds, RTW Investments, Qiming Venture Partners, Quan Capital, and Pivotal bioVenture Partners.

Xapien: Interview With Co-Founder & COO Dan Secretan About The Research And Due Diligence Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

Xapien is a research and due diligence platform that combines artificial intelligence and natural language processing to emulate the traditionally complex research and report writing process. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Xapien co-founder and COO Dan Secretan to learn more about the company.

RAAPID: Series A Funding Raised From Microsoft’s M12

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

Healthcare AI company RAAPID announced a significant Series A investment from M12, which is Microsoft's venture fund. And this strategic funding positions RAAPID to expand its groundbreaking Neuro-symbolic AI platform that reshapes healthcare risk adjustment.

Alphi Capital: Inaugural Fund Closed At C$295 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

Alphi Capital - a lower middle-market private equity firm focused on partnering with service-based companies in Canada - announced the final closing of its debut fund, Alphi Capital I, LP with total limited partner commitments of C$295 million. This fund had strong interest from investors and significantly exceeded its C$200 million target.

Recognize Announces Majority Investment in Sprout

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

Recognize - a private equity firm focused on investing in digital services businesses - announced that it has made a majority investment in IT asset disposition (ITAD) provider Sprout. And New Capital Partners, an investor in Sprout since 2019, will continue as a minority investor.

The Vistria Group: $3 Billion In Commitments Closed For Fifth Flagship Private Equity Fund

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

The Vistria Group, LP, a middle market private investment firm seeking to deliver superior financial returns and meaningful societal impact, announced that it completed the final closing of Vistria Fund V, LP, its most significant private equity fund with $3 billion of total capital commitments. And Vistria now manages almost $16 billion across its funds and co-investment vehicles, more than doubling its AUM in just over three years.

EQT To Buy Distributed Energy Company Scale Microgrids

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

EQT announced that EQT Transition Infrastructure agreed to buy Scale Microgrids, a leading vertically integrated developer, acquirer, owner, and operator of microgrids and distributed energy resources for commercial & industrial, EV fleet, data center, municipal, university, hospital, and agricultural customers, developers and communities, from Warburg Pincus and other existing shareholders.

AEP: Stake Sold Of Transmission Companies For $2.82 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

Investment funds managed by KKR and the Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments), which is one of Canada’s largest pension investors, announced an agreement to acquire a 19.9% interest in American Electric Power’s (AEP) Ohio and Indiana & Michigan transmission companies for $2.82 billion.

Palm Beach Capital: Strategic Investment In MBI Companies

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

Palm Beach Capital Fund VI - through one of its investment entities - announced that it has made a strategic investment in MBI Companies, a leading architecture and engineering design firm based in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Luster: Interview With Co-Founder & CEO Christina Brady About The Predictive Enablement Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

Luster is a company enabling the world’s top sales teams with Predictive Enablement technology. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Luster co-founder and CEO Christina Brady to learn more about the company.

512Financial Buying HR And Recruiting Firm AustinPeopleWorks

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

Fractional business services company 512Financial announced the acquisition of AustinPeopleWorks (APW), a respected HR and recruiting firm serving growing businesses and nonprofits nationwide and internationally. And this strategic acquisition expands 512Financial’s overall HR capacity and client list while boosting service offerings to include recruiting and talent sourcing.

Timberlyne: $180 Million (Series A) Raised To Develop Novel Therapies For Autoimmune Disorders

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

Timberlyne Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies for autoimmune disorders, announced the closing of a $180 million Series A financing to advance CM313, a potentially best-in-class monoclonal antibody targeting CD38, for diseases of high unmet medical needs. The funding was led by investors Abingworth, Bain Capital Life Sciences, and Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, with participation from Boyu Capital, Lilly Asia Ventures, Braidwell LP, and 3H Health Investment.

Swift Ventures: Interview With General Partner Brett Wilson About The AI-Focused Firm Of Founders Backing Founders

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

Swift Ventures is a venture capital firm with roots in Berkeley, California that primarily invests in early-stage AI startups. Investments by Swift include Arize AI, Dash Bio, GrayMatter Robotics, Superhuman, SafelyYou, Tubi (acquired), and others. Started by the founders of TubeMogul – which was acquired by Adobe in 2016 – Swift touts “garage-to-IPO building and scaling expertise.” Pulse 2.0 interviewed Swift Ventures general partner Brett Wilson to learn more about the firm after its recent launch of a new AI Index.

nsave: $18 Million (Series A) Raised For Launching Investment Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

nsave, a provider of compliant accounts abroad to people from countries with high inflation, announced launching an investment product, enabling people at risk of financial exclusion to protect and grow their wealth. The company also confirmed an $18 million Series A funding led by TQ Ventures with participation from Sequoia Capital, Y Combinator, ACE Ventures, and Proton Foundation to drive their growth.

RhyGaze: $86 Million (Series A) Raised To Develop Gene Therapies For Retinal Diseases

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 13, 2025

RhyGaze, a biotechnology company based in Basel, Switzerland, and Philadelphia, PA, announced that it has raised a Series A funding round of $86 million. The funding round was led by GV (Google Ventures), alongside Arch Venture Partners, F-Prime Capital, and founding investors BioGeneration Ventures and Novartis Venture Fund, who contributed $11 million to an earlier seed round.