Innovation

FCH Acquires Axiflow Technologies To Expand Twin-Screw Pump Capabilities

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 21, 2026

FCH has completed the acquisition of Axiflow Technologies, a specialist in sanitary twin-screw pump solutions serving the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industries. The transaction expands FCH’s presence in hygienic process applications and strengthens its position as a technology-driven manufacturer in high-purity fluid handling.

EncorVita Health Acquires Assets From Eterna To Expand Training In Aesthetic Clinics

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 21, 2026

EncorVita Health, a women’s health company focused on expanding care for women navigating perimenopause and menopause, has acquired provider-facing menopause and sexual health education and clinical assets from Eterna. The assets include intellectual property originally developed through more than a decade of clinical practice across multi-state women’s health clinics at HerMD.

Bain & Company Appoints Tom De Waele As Regional Managing Partner For Europe, Middle East And Africa

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 21, 2026

Bain & Company has appointed Tom De Waele as its new regional managing partner for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), effective January 26. The announcement comes as the firm reports strong expansion across the region, delivering robust double-digit growth across its practices and capabilities.

Google: America-India Connect Initiative Expands Fiber-Optic And Subsea Infrastructure Across Four Continents

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 21, 2026

Google announced a major expansion of its global digital infrastructure with the launch of the America-India Connect initiative, a program designed to strengthen fiber-optic and subsea connectivity between the United States, India, and regions across the Southern Hemisphere. The initiative builds on the company’s previously announced five-year, 15 billion AI infrastructure investment in India and aims to increase the reach, reliability, and resilience of global digital networks.

Remitly Appoints Sebastian Gunningham As Chief Executive Officer

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 21, 2026

Remitly Global announced the appointment of Sebastian J. Gunningham as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors, effective February 19, 2026. He succeeds Co-Founder Matt Oppenheimer, who is transitioning from the CEO role after nearly 15 years leading the company’s growth and will continue to serve as Chairman of the Board.

Energy Vault Raises $135.5 Million Financing And Reports First Positive Adjusted EBITDA

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 21, 2026

Energy Vault, a sustainable grid-scale energy storage and AI power infrastructure company, announced it has closed a financing transaction generating $135.5 million in proceeds, net of initial purchaser commissions. The company also previewed selected Q4 2025 financial results, highlighting its first positive quarterly Adjusted EBITDA and continued expansion into AI infrastructure and long-duration energy storage projects in Australia.

PolyGone Systems: Princeton University Spinout Raises $4 Million Seed Round To Scale Microplastic Monitoring And Removal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 21, 2026

PolyGone Systems, a cleantech company and Princeton University spinout focused on microplastic monitoring and removal, announced it has raised $4 million in Seed funding to expand its filtration and water analysis capabilities. The round was led by FYRFLY Venture Partners, with participation from Tech Council Ventures, Interstate Fusion Ventures, Golden Seeds, and angel investors. The New Jersey Innovation Evergreen Fund matched $1.65 million of the raise.

Novig: $75 Million Series B Raised For Sports Prediction Market Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 21, 2026

Novig has raised $75 million in a Series B round to expand its trader-first sports prediction market and accelerate its push toward federal regulation. The round was led by Pantera Capital, with participation from Multicoin Capital, Makers Fund, Edge Equity and existing investors Forerunner Ventures, Perceptive Ventures and NFX. The financing brings Novig’s total capital raised to more than $105 million.

Sift Biosciences Raises $3.7 Million Pre-Seed To Advance T-Cell Booster Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 21, 2026

Sift Biosciences has closed an oversubscribed $3.7 million pre-seed financing round to accelerate development of its next-generation peptide immunotherapy platform designed to activate pre-existing memory T cells. The round was co-led by Freeflow Ventures and Lifespan Vision Ventures, with participation from Valuence Ventures, Eisai Innovation, SBI US Gateway Fund, and other early supporters.

RF Investment Partners Backs Recapitalization Of Fire & Life Safety Services Platform NSG-Norel

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 21, 2026

RF Investment Partners announced it has partnered with Prairie Capital to support the recapitalization of NSG Life Safety and Norel Service Company, which together operate as NSG-Norel, a provider of fire, life safety, and security solutions across New England.

Aliro Raises $15 Million In Oversubscribed Round To Advance Physics-Based Cybersecurity

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 21, 2026

Aliro announced that it has raised $15 million in an oversubscribed funding round aimed at advancing what it describes as the next major paradigm shift in cybersecurity: moving digital trust from mathematical assumptions to the laws of physics. The round was led by Gutbrain Ventures, with participation from existing investors including Cisco Investments, as well as new investors Argon Ventures and Wonderstone Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Murata. The capital will support expanded deployments, ecosystem partnerships, and the company’s broader mission to redefine global security infrastructure.

Battery Ventures Raises $3.25 Billion For Fund XV To Back AI And Software Innovation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 21, 2026

Battery Ventures announced the close of a new $3.25 billion fund, Battery Ventures XV, to continue backing technology companies globally, with a focus on the U.S., Europe, and Israel. The oversubscribed fund was completed in a single close and comes as the firm continues investing across both the venture capital and buyout markets. The raise follows 15 announced exit events for Battery in 2025 and more than $10 billion in liquidity realized over the past five years, reflecting the firm's stage-diversified approach.

Polymarket Acquires Prediction Market API Startup Dome

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 21, 2026

Polymarket announced that it has acquired Dome, a Y Combinator-backed prediction market API startup, in a move aimed at expanding its developer infrastructure and strengthening its data and tooling ecosystem.

Nestle In Advanced Negotiations To Sell Remaining Ice Cream Business To Froneri

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 21, 2026

Nestle announced it is in advanced negotiations to sell its remaining in-house ice cream business to Froneri, the joint venture it established with PAI Partners, as part of a broader strategic shift to sharpen its portfolio focus.

Herbalife: Cristiano Ronaldo Acquires 10% Stake In Pro2col Technology With $7.5 Million Investment

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 21, 2026

Herbalife announced that global sports icon Cristiano Ronaldo has acquired a 10% equity interest in HBL Pro2col Software, LLC, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary that holds the company’s Pro2col technology. Ronaldo invested $7.5 million in the platform and committed to provide services and sponsorship rights to Pro2col Software.

Scopely To Buy Majority Stake In ‘Pixel Flow!’ Studio

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 21, 2026

Scopely announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in the Istanbul-based development studio behind the breakout mobile puzzle game “Pixel Flow!” The hybrid casual title launched in late 2025 and has already been played by more than 10 million people globally, becoming the only casual game released in the past 12 months to break into the monthly top-20 grossing charts in the U.S.

Hims & Hers Health To Acquire Eucalyptus In Up To $1.15 Billion Cash-And-Stock Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 21, 2026

Hims & Hers Health announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Eucalyptus, an international digital health company, in a transaction valued at up to $1.15 billion. The deal is designed to accelerate Hims & Hers’ strategy of becoming the leading global consumer health platform and expand its footprint beyond the United States.

Nitrogen Launches Nucleus Agentic AI And Expands Tax Planning Tools

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 20, 2026

Nitrogen, an advisor software leader, announced the launch of Nucleus, an agentic AI engine embedded directly into its platform, along with upgrades to its AI-powered tax planning tools. The unveiling took place during the company’s Winter 2026 product release keynote at the Fearless Investing Summit.

Adronite: $5 Million Raised For AI Codebase Intelligence Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 19, 2026

Adronite, an AI-powered codebase intelligence platform, announced it has secured $5 million in Series A funding in a round led by Gatemore Capital Management. As part of the transaction, Gatemore Managing Partner Liad Meidar has been appointed Chair of Adronite’s Board of Directors.

Marathon Asset Management Provides $235 Million Senior Mortgage Loan To Refinance Multi-State Senior Housing Portfolio

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 19, 2026

Marathon Asset Management announced that its Commercial Real Estate platform has originated a $235 million senior mortgage loan to an affiliate of Lone Star Funds to refinance an eleven-property, mixed-acuity senior housing portfolio.

Elumn8 Medical Closes Initial Series C Financing And Rebrands From Simpson Interventions

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 19, 2026

Elumn8 Medical, Inc., formerly known as Simpson Interventions, announced the successful initial close of its Series C financing and a corporate rebrand reflecting its broader vision for image-enabled coronary interventions.

Decart: Interview With General Manager Noy Levinson About The AI Research Lab

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 19, 2026

Decart is an AI research lab that specializes in video and world models optimized for efficiency and real-time performance. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Noy Levinson, Decart’s General Manager of Strategy and Business, to learn more.

Grotto AI: $10 Million Seed Funding Raised For Leasing AI Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 19, 2026

Grotto AI announced it has raised a $10 million seed round as it targets what it calls one of housing’s most measurable drags on revenue: roughly $500 billion of value lost each year due to vacancy. The round was led by ICONIQ, with participation from Asymmetric Capital Partners. The company also cited advisors and angel investors, including David Dear, Caren Maio, and Avi Dorfman.

Hope For The Warriors Awarded $3 Million Grant From Lilly Endowment

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 19, 2026

Hope For The Warriors has received a $3 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. to strengthen its organizational foundation and expand access to evidence-based support for military families nationwide.

Moonfare Closes $83 Million Co-Investment Fund II

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 19, 2026

Global private markets investment platform Moonfare announced it has closed its second-generation co-investment vehicle, Moonfare Co-Investment Fund II (MCF II), at $83 million, surpassing its fundraising target within 12 months.

Synchrony Medical: $5 Million Raised To Expand At-Home Airway Clearance Device

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 19, 2026

Synchrony Medical, a respiratory care technology company and creator of the FDA-cleared LibAirty™ Airway Clearance System, announced it has closed an oversubscribed $5 million funding round to accelerate commercial expansion and clinical adoption across the U.S.

Zenyard Launches From Stealth With Pre-Seed Funding For AI Reverse Engineering Technology

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 19, 2026

Zenyard, a cybersecurity startup building what it describes as the first purpose-built AI agent for software reverse engineering, has emerged from stealth following a pre-seed funding round led by Mindset Ventures. The round also included participation from TAU Ventures, Zuk Avraham, Raanan Raz, and additional investors.

Resurrect Bio Raises $8.1 Million Initial Close Of Series A Led By Corteva

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 19, 2026

Resurrect Bio announced the $8.1 million initial close of its Series A funding round, led by Corteva through its Corteva Catalyst platform. Additional participants in the round include Calculus Capital, Pymwymic, UKI2S, SynBioVen, and AgFunder.

FINTRX Expands C-Suite Amid Rapid Growth

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 19, 2026

FINTRX has expanded its executive leadership team as the private wealth intelligence platform continues to scale its client base and product capabilities.

Cardinality.ai Appoints Phil Agee As CEO To Lead Next Phase Of Growth

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 19, 2026

Cardinality.ai, a public-sector AI and analytics company, has appointed Phil Agee as chief executive officer as it prepares for its next phase of disciplined, scalable growth. The leadership transition comes as artificial intelligence, advanced analytics, and data-driven modernization continue to reshape how government health and human services agencies deliver services and improve outcomes.