Innovation

Life After Debt: Interview With Founder & CEO Amber Duncan About The Financial Empowerment Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 18, 2026

Life After Debt is a financial empowerment and debt resolution platform founded and led by Amber Duncan. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Life After Debt founder, CEO, and Chief Visionary Amber Duncan to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

Africa Finance Corporation: US$100 Million Commitment Approved For Africa-Focused Technology Fund Managers

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 18, 2026

Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), the continent’s leading infrastructure solutions provider, announced that its Board has approved a commitment of up to US$100 million to invest in Africa-focused technology fund managers as part of a broader strategy to accelerate Africa’s digital industrialization.

No Barrier: Interview With Co-Founder & CEO Eyal Heldenberg About The Medical Interpretation Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 18, 2026

No Barrier is a HIPAA-compliant, AI-driven medical interpretation platform that provides real-time, clinical-grade translation to help healthcare providers bridge language gaps with patients. Pulse 2.0 interviewed No Barrier co-founder and CEO Eyal Heldenberg to learn more.

Tewke: Interview With Founder Piers Daniell About The Climate-Tech Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 18, 2026

Tewke is a London-based climate-tech company that manufactures "Tap," an intelligent, retrofit touchscreen light switch designed to optimize home energy consumption, monitor air quality, and provide advanced automation without needing a neutral wire. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Tewke founder Piers Daniell to learn more.

MiracleFeet: CEO Daphne Sorensen On Expanding Access To Life-Changing Clubfoot Care

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 18, 2026

Clubfoot is one of the most common birth defects in the world, affecting roughly 200,000 children every year. It’s also one of the most treatable defects, often corrected without surgery for around $500. In wealthy countries, it's caught early and fixed so routinely that most people never see its lasting effects. But most children born with clubfoot are in low- and middle-income countries, where that care often never arrives, and a treatable condition becomes a lifetime of pain and exclusion. MiracleFeet works to close that gap, partnering with local healthcare providers to bring the low-cost, nonsurgical standard of care to the children who need it. Pulse 2.0 spoke with MiracleFeet CEO Daphne Sorensen to learn more.

Accrual Partners With Runloop To Power Tax Preparation And Review Agents

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 18, 2026

Accrual has selected Runloop as the production infrastructure provider powering its AI agents across customer deployments. The partnership supports Accrual’s expansion of AI-driven accounting workflows for firms including Armanino, Creative Planning, and H&R Block.

Searchable: $14 Million Raised At $85 Million Valuation For AI Search Performance Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 18, 2026

Searchable, an AI performance marketing platform focused on helping businesses compete in AI-driven search, announced it has raised $14 million in funding led by Headline at an $85 million valuation.

GM: 2027 Chevrolet Bolt Built In 30-Vehicle Batches To Improve Quality And Efficiency

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 18, 2026

General Motors is using a new “batch build” manufacturing strategy at its Fairfax Assembly & Stamping plant in Kansas City for the 2027 Chevrolet Bolt, producing groups of 30 similarly equipped vehicles together to simplify operations, improve quality, and reduce production complexity.

RB Global: BigIron Acquisition Expands U.S. Agriculture Market Presence

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 18, 2026

RB Global announced it has completed the acquisition of BigIron, accelerating the company’s strategic expansion into the U.S. agriculture market.

BMW And SOLARWATT: Neue Klasse Vehicles To Power Integrated Home Energy Ecosystem Expansion

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 18, 2026

BMW Group and solar technology company SOLARWATT are expanding their long-running partnership to integrate BMW’s upcoming Neue Klasse electric vehicles into connected home energy systems, further advancing bidirectional charging and Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) capabilities.

Team Velocity: Foundation Direct Acquisition Combines Apollo Platform With Google-Pioneered Media Strategy

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 18, 2026

Team Velocity announced the acquisition of Foundation Direct, a digital agency founded by former Google automotive executives, in a move designed to combine elite media strategy capabilities with Team Velocity’s Apollo customer experience platform.

LIO: Interview With CEO Todd Haedrich

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 18, 2026

LIO is the all-in-one platform for inpatient mental health, combining digital rounding, ambient monitoring and compliance reporting. With its contactless design and FDA-cleared software, LIO supports frontline teams and hospital leaders to make data-driven decisions – improving safety and efficiency while strengthening adherence to regulatory standards. Pulse 2.0 interviewed LIO CEO Todd Haedrich to learn more.

NextEra Energy: $67 Billion All-Stock Dominion Energy Deal Creates World’s Largest Regulated Utility Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 18, 2026

NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy announced a definitive agreement to combine in an all-stock transaction that will create the world’s largest regulated electric utility business by market capitalization and one of the largest energy infrastructure companies globally.

Respan: Interview With Founder & CEO Andy Li About The AI Engineering Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 18, 2026

Respan is a proactive, full-stack AI engineering platform that provides a unified control plane for developers to trace, evaluate, and monitor LLM agent behavior while offering an AI gateway to improve production performance. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Respan founder and CEO Andy Li to learn more.

NC Community College System: Interview With VP Of Economic Development John Loyack On State’s Workforce Development Efforts

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 18, 2026

The North Carolina Community College System’s Economic Development Division provides education, training, and support for new and existing businesses, aiming to boost the state's economy through workforce development. It offers customized training (through an initiative called NCEdge), support for new ventures through programs like the Small Business Center Network, training for food and beverage and life sciences companies through BioNetwork, and apprenticeship programs like ApprenticeshipNC. The division serves as a key link between community colleges, businesses, and government agencies to drive economic growth across all 100 North Carolina counties. Pulse 2.0 interviewed the Vice President of the North Carolina Community College System’s Economic Development Division, John Loyack, to learn more.

Commerzbank: €39 Billion UniCredit Takeover Offer Formally Rejected

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 18, 2026

Germany-based Commerzbank has formally rejected a €39 billion takeover offer from Italy’s UniCredit, escalating a months-long standoff that has become one of Europe’s most closely watched banking battles.

Gentrack: NZ$24 Million Acquisition Of Factor Expands AI-Powered Pricing Intelligence In g2 Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 17, 2026

Gentrack announced it has completed the acquisition of Factor, embedding AI-powered pricing intelligence capabilities into its g2 utilities platform as the company expands its offering for global energy retailers.

IBM: New Forward Deployed Units Model Aims To Accelerate Enterprise AI Deployment

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 17, 2026

IBM announced the launch of a new AI delivery model called Forward Deployed Units (FDUs), which the company says is designed to help enterprises move artificial intelligence initiatives from experimentation into large-scale production environments faster and more efficiently.

SpaceX: 5-For-1 Stock Split Reportedly Approved Ahead Of Expected IPO

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 17, 2026

SpaceX shareholders have approved a 5-for-1 stock split as the Elon Musk-led aerospace and satellite company moves closer to what could become one of the most highly anticipated initial public offerings in recent years. The decision, first reported by Bloomberg and confirmed by sources familiar with the matter, marks another major milestone for the private company as investor attention surrounding a potential public listing intensifies.

Prudential: $389 Million Bharti Life Stake Acquisition To Expand India Insurance Presence

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 17, 2026

Prudential announced it has agreed to acquire a 75% stake in Bharti Life Insurance Company Limited from Bharti Life Ventures Pvt Ltd and 360 ONE Asset Management as part of a strategic repositioning of its India operations. The transaction, which remains subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions, involves an initial cash consideration of ₹3,500 crore, approximately $389 million.

Santa Clara University: $175 Million Gift Launches Mark & Mary Stevens School Of Medicine

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 17, 2026

Sutter Health and Santa Clara University announced the launch of the Mark & Mary Stevens School of Medicine, which will become the first new medical school established in California’s San Francisco Bay Area in more than a century. The school is being funded in part through a $175 million gift from Santa Clara University alumna Mary (Mathews) Stevens and her husband, venture capitalist Mark Stevens.

Publicis: $2.2 Billion Acquisition Of LiveRamp To Accelerate AI Data Co-Creation And Smarter Agents

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 17, 2026

Publicis Groupe announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire LiveRamp in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $2.2 billion in enterprise value, as the advertising and technology giant accelerates its push into AI-driven data co-creation and agentic business transformation.

Assertio: $166.4 Million Acquisition By Zydus Worldwide DMCC Announced

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 17, 2026

Assertio Holdings announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Zydus Worldwide DMCC, a subsidiary of Zydus Lifesciences Limited, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $166.4 million.

Fasset: $51 Million Series B Raised To Expand AI-Enabled Financial Infrastructure Network

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 17, 2026

Fasset announced that it has raised a $51 million Series B funding round with participation from SBI Group, Investcorp, Arz Portföy, and several additional strategic partners.

OpenAI Partners With Malta To Provide Free AI Access For Citizens

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 16, 2026

OpenAI and the Government of Malta announced a partnership to provide ChatGPT Plus access to all Maltese citizens through a new national initiative focused on AI literacy and practical skills development.

Onramp: $12.5 Million Series A Raised At $135 Million Valuation For Multi-Institution Bitcoin Custody Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 15, 2026

Onramp, a bitcoin-centric financial services platform built on Multi-Institution Custody (MIC), announced it has raised a $12.5 million Series A round at a $135 million valuation led by Early Riders, with participation from strategic angel investors. The Austin-based company said it now custodies more than $1 billion in assets and has experienced zero security incidents since its founding.

RxUtility: Interview With Founder & CEO Miriam Paramore About The Healthcare API Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 15, 2026

RxUtility is a company that provides a healthcare technology API that integrates real-time, AI-powered prescription savings, manufacturer copay assistance, and price transparency directly into provider, pharmacy, and health-tech workflows to make medications more affordable for consumers. The company recently published its annual medication affordability benchmark report, “Medication Affordability: Trends, Transparency, and Predictions.” Pulse 2.0 interviewed RxUtility founder and CEO Miriam Paramore to learn more.

Cumming Group: RGD Project Management Acquisition Expands Advanced Technologies Division

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 15, 2026

Cumming Group announced the acquisition and merger of RGD Project Management, expanding its Advanced Technologies division and strengthening its position in the life sciences manufacturing sector across the United States.

Sprouts.ai: $9 Million Pre-Series A Raised To Scale AI Revenue Agents For B2B Enterprises

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 15, 2026

Sprouts.ai announced that it has raised $9 million in a Pre-Series A funding round led by True Global Ventures and Accel, bringing the company’s total funding to $14 million. The company is building AI-native Revenue Agents powered by a proprietary go-to-market data layer designed for B2B enterprises.

Rapido: $240 Million Raised At $3 Billion Valuation To Advance In India’s Mobility Ecosystem

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 15, 2026

Prosus announced it has increased its stake in Rapido through a combination of primary and secondary investments, including a $240 million primary funding round that values the company at $3 billion post-money. The investment builds on Prosus’ existing partnership with Rapido and highlights the firm’s continued confidence in India’s expanding digital economy and mobility ecosystem.