Innovation

YSE Beauty: $15 Million Series A Raised For Skincare Brand

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2025

YSE Beauty, the clinically tested skincare brand founded by entrepreneur and actress Molly Sims, has closed a $15 million Series A growth equity round to accelerate its expansion at Sephora, invest in new product development, and further scale its direct to consumer business.

Looma: $13 Million Closed To Expand In Store Retail Media Network And Rolls Out To Nearly 600 Kroger Stores

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2025

Looma, an in-store retail media platform focused on storytelling and product recommendations at the shelf, has raised $13 million in new capital to accelerate its national expansion and support a major Kroger rollout in wine and spirits departments.

Adaptive Security: $81 Million Series B Secured To Counter AI Powered Cyber Threats

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2025

Adaptive Security has raised an $81 million in Series B funding as it scales a platform designed to help organizations defend against AI-enabled impersonation, deepfakes, and multi-channel social engineering attacks. The round was led by Bain Capital Ventures and included participation from NVentures, NVIDIA’s venture capital arm, the OpenAI Startup Fund, Andreessen Horowitz, Abstract Ventures, Capital One Ventures, and Citi Ventures.

Mobius Materials: $3 Million Seed Funding Closed To Bring Transparency And Liquidity To The Secondary Semiconductor Market

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2025

Mobius Materials, a Richmond, Virginia-based startup positioning itself as a safe spot market for semiconductors, has closed a $3 million Series Seed financing round as it looks to bring more liquidity, quality control, and price transparency to the secondary market for chips and electronic components.

Vital Lyfe: $24 Million Seed Funding Raised To Scale Portable Water Making Systems

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2025

Vital Lyfe, a Hawthorne, California-based startup developing portable systems that can produce purified water from a range of natural sources, including seawater, has raised $24 million in financing to accelerate manufacturing and expand early deployments as it prepares to bring its first consumer-ready products to market in 2026.

DataLane: $22.5 Million Series A Closed To Map 20 Million Local Businesses

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2025

DataLane, a New York based startup building an identity graph for local businesses, has raised a $22.5 million Series A financing round led by Amplify Partners, as the company aims to help enterprises more accurately find, verify, and reach offline merchants across the United States.

Last Energy: $100+ Million Series C Raised For Nuclear Technology

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2025

Last Energy, an advanced nuclear technology company, said it has closed an oversubscribed Series C financing of more than $100 million to fund development of its pilot reactor and prepare for initial deployments of its micro modular nuclear plants.

PERENfra Closes $142.8 Million Oversubscribed Debut Fund to Invest in U.S. Water Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2025

PERENfra has completed fundraising for its inaugural Perennial Infrastructure Fund I with $142.8 million in committed capital, closing the vehicle at an oversubscribed level as the firm looks to scale investments across essential water infrastructure projects in high-growth U.S. markets.

Ember LifeSciences: $16.5 Million Series A Raised To Scale Cold Chain Technology For Pharmaceuticals

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2025

Ember LifeSciences announced it has raised $16.5 million in Series A financing to accelerate development and commercialization of its cold chain technology aimed at reducing temperature-related spoilage and packaging waste across global healthcare distribution.

One Equity Partners To Buy Montanhydraulik

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2025

One Equity Partners said it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Montanhydraulik GmbH, a Germany-based industrial engineering and manufacturing specialist focused on ultra-large-scale hydraulic cylinders, aggregates, and complete hydraulic systems, along with related global maintenance and repair services. Financial terms of the private transaction were not disclosed.

OpenGate Capital Sells ScioTeq To Tikehau Capital And Retains Minority Stake

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2025

OpenGate Capital has completed the sale of ScioTeq, a provider of ruggedized display and mission critical visualization systems for aviation and defense applications, to the aerospace and defense fund of alternative asset manager Tikehau Capital. OpenGate said it will retain a meaningful minority position and continue supporting ScioTeq as it enters its next growth phase.

IFS To Buy Softeon To Expand Industrial AI Into Warehouse Management

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2025

IFS has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Softeon, a provider of cloud native warehouse management, warehouse execution, and distributed order management software, in a deal aimed at extending IFS’s Industrial AI capabilities into warehouse operations. IFS said the combination will create an integrated platform that links manufacturing operations with warehouse execution, as enterprises modernize supply chains amid infrastructure constraints and labor shortages.

Main Capital Partners Appoints Jorn De Ruijter And Daan Visscher As Partners

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 23, 2025

Main Capital Partners has appointed Jorn de Ruijter and Daan Visscher as Partners, expanding the firm’s leadership team as it continues to scale internationally and further professionalize its organization.

Alphabet To Buy Intersect For $4.75 Billion For Accelerating U.S. Data Center And Energy Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 22, 2025

Alphabet has agreed to acquire Intersect, a provider of data center and energy infrastructure solutions, in a deal valued at $4.75 billion in cash plus the assumption of debt. Google previously took a minority stake in Intersect through an earlier funding round.

Ginkgo Bioworks Partnering With Carnegie Mellon On ARPA-H Award

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 22, 2025

Ginkgo Bioworks announced it has partnered with Carnegie Mellon University on an Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) award tied to the POSEIDON program, a project aimed at developing a new approach to early cancer detection that pairs an orally administered pill with an at-home testing device.

Truemed Closes $34 Million Series A To Unlock HSA/FSA Funds For Lifestyle Interventions

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 22, 2025

Truemed, a marketplace and payments platform that helps eligible consumers use HSA and FSA funds for preventive health purchases, has raised a $34 million Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Long Journey Ventures, BoxGroup, and Trust Ventures.

GI Partners To Buy Netwatch

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 22, 2025

Netwatch, a global provider of AI-powered security services, said it has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by GI Partners. The companies announced the transaction on December 17, 2025.

Clearwater Analytics Agrees To $8.4 Billion Take-Private Deal Led By Permira And Warburg Pincus

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 22, 2025

Clearwater Analytics said it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired in a transaction valued at approximately $8.4 billion by an investor group led by Permira and Warburg Pincus, with participation from Temasek and support from Francisco Partners. The Boise, Idaho-based company said the deal follows a review that included engagement with certain strategic parties and financial sponsors.

FemHealth Ventures: $65 Million Fund II Closed To Expand Investing Across Women’s Health

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 22, 2025

FemHealth Ventures has closed its second venture fund at $65 million, an oversubscribed raise that more than doubles the size of the firm’s inaugural fund and brings assets under management to $100 million across two funds. The women’s health-focused venture capital firm said Fund II drew significant backing from existing limited partners and new investors aligned with its mission to advance women’s health innovation alongside financial performance.

Hiya Health: Interview With Co-Founder & CEO Darren Litt About The Children’s Nutrition Brand

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 22, 2025

Hiya Health is a children’s nutrition brand that makes sugar-free, non-gummy chewable vitamins and other kid-focused supplements designed to help fill common nutrient gaps. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Hiya Health co-founder and CEO Darren Litt to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

Steward Partners: $475 Million Raised From Ares In Strategic Capital Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 19, 2025

Steward Partners has secured $475 million in strategic capital from Ares Credit funds in a transaction that combines an expanded lending relationship with a non-controlling minority investment, providing the employee-owned wealth management firm with additional resources to support its next phase of growth.

Thomson Reuters Ventures: Interview With Managing Director Tamara Steffens About 2026 Predictions

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 19, 2025

Thomson Reuters Ventures, the corporate VC fund of Thomson Reuters, invests in early-stage technology companies and helps them scale by connecting founders with Thomson Reuters products, expertise, and customer channels across areas like legal tech, tax and accounting, fintech, and risk/fraud/compliance. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Thomson Reuters Ventures Managing Director Tamara Steffens to discuss 2026 predictions.

InfiniteWatch: $4 Million Pre-Seed Raised To Launch Agentic Customer Interaction Intelligence Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 18, 2025

InfiniteWatch, an AI native platform for customer interaction intelligence, has emerged from stealth with $4 million in pre-seed funding led by Base10 Partners, with participation from Sequoia and A16Z scouts, Kibo Ventures, Kfund, LifeX, and four unicorn founders.

Future Fund Oman Reaches $1.2 Billion In Commitments

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 18, 2025

Future Fund Oman announced it has approved 141 projects in 2025 and lifted total commitments to $1.2 billion, marking a year of record activity as the fund scales investment to support Oman’s economic diversification agenda.

CranioSense: $5.5 Million In Federal Grants Won To Validate Noninvasive Intracranial Pressure Monitoring

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 18, 2025

CranioSense, a Massachusetts-based neurotechnology startup developing what it calls the world’s first noninvasive intracranial pressure (ICP) diagnostic and monitoring system, has been awarded approximately $5.5 million in non-dilutive federal grant funding to advance device development and clinical validation ahead of a planned market launch.

Fixated: $50 Million Strategic Investment Raised From Eldridge Industries To Expand Creator-Led Entertainment Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 18, 2025

Fixated, a digital talent and content studio focused on creator representation and monetization, said it has secured a follow-on strategic investment from Eldridge Industries that brings its total available capital to more than $50 million. The company said the expanded partnership builds on Eldridge’s initial investment and is intended to help Fixated scale a creator-first model that integrates talent, content creation, production, and distribution.

Nirvana: $100 Million Series D At $1.5 Billion Valuation Raised For Commercial Insurance Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 18, 2025

Nirvana Insurance announced it has raised a preemptive $100 million Series D financing led by Valor Equity Partners, with existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and General Catalyst doubling down significantly as the company positions its telematics-driven platform as a new foundation for commercial insurance.

Industrious Ventures Names Matt White As Stoke Space Board Member

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 18, 2025

Industrious Ventures has appointed Matt White, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Linde, to the board of directors of Stoke Space, where he will serve as the venture firm’s representative. White succeeds Steve Angel, chairman of Linde and a longtime advisor to Industrious Ventures, who has held the board seat since Industrious led Stoke Space’s Series B round in October 2023.

HG Ventures: Ginger Rothrock Named As Managing Director

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 18, 2025

HG Ventures, the corporate venture arm of The Heritage Group, has named Ginger Rothrock managing director, a move the firm said reflects her leadership in building the HG Ventures platform and supporting an expanding portfolio of investments.

Coursera To Buy Udemy In $2.5 Billion All Stock Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 18, 2025

Coursera and Udemy said they have signed a definitive merger agreement that will combine the two online learning platforms in an all stock transaction aimed at building a larger skills and workforce development business as demand rises for AI related training.