Innovation

Nudge Security Raises $16.5 Million To Help Manage SaaS Security And Governance At Scale

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 8, 2024

Nudge Security, a leading provider of modern SaaS security and governance, announced new funding from Forgepoint Capital. This funding, which joins Ballistic Ventures, brings the startup's seed funding to $16.5 million. Forgepoint Co-Founder and Managing Director Alberto Yépez will join the Nudge Security board in connection with the funding round.

Akamai To Buy Noname Security In $450 Million Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 8, 2024

Akamai Technologies, a cloud company that powers and protects life online, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire application programming interface (API) security company Noname Security.

Lincoln Financial Completes Sale Of Wealth Management Business To Osaic In $650 Million Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 8, 2024

Lincoln Financial Group announced that it has completed the sale of its wealth management business, including all ownership interests in the Lincoln subsidiary entities comprising that business, to Osaic - one of the nation’s largest providers of wealth management solutions. And the sale also provides Lincoln with about $650 million of capital benefit - which the company will use primarily to increase its risk-based capital ratio. Lincoln also plans on using part of the capital benefit to reduce its leverage ratio.

Docusign Buying Lexion In $165 Million Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 8, 2024

Docusign announced it has agreed to buy Lexion for $165 million in cash, subject to customary conditions. Lexion's simple agreement workflow platform has helped companies streamline and centralize the contracting process by using AI. Lexion customers include in-house legal teams and users across sales, procurement, finance, marketing, HR, etc.

Zuora To Buy Metering And Rating Solution Company Togai

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 7, 2024

Zuora, a leading monetization suite for modern business, announced its planned acquisition of metering and rating solution Togai, enhancing its usage-based offerings. And with Togai’s low-code builder and developer-friendly interface to configure metering and rating of raw events quickly, the acquisition will help Zuora unite developers and finance teams to launch, iterate and adapt usage-based models.

RunReveal: Security Information And Event Management Company Raises $2.5 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 7, 2024

RunReveal, a Security Information And Event Management (SIEM) built to detect threats faster, announced general availability and a $2.5 million seed round led by Costanoa Ventures.

Peregrine: $30 Million Secured To Help Institutions Solve Urgent Problems

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 7, 2024

Peregrine, a data integration platform that enables state and local government agencies to protect and serve their communities, announced a $30 million Series B funding round led by Friends & Family Capital and Fifth Down Capital with participation by existing investors Goldcrest Capital, Craft Ventures, Godfrey Capital, and other committed partners.

Rocket Software Completes $2.275 Billion Acquisition of OpenText’s Application Modernization And Connectivity Business

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 7, 2024

Rocket Software, a global technology leader in modernization software, announced the closing of the acquisition of the Application Modernization and Connectivity (AMC) business of OpenText (formerly part of Micro Focus). Rocket Software now offers customers modernization software solutions spanning the mainframe to the cloud. With a total purchase price of $2.275 billion (before taxes, fees, and other adjustments), the deal increases the company’s revenue by over 60% and expands its customer base to 12,500+ companies and network to 750+ partners worldwide.

Jeeves: Cross-Border B2B Payments And Corporate Card Platform Raises $75 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 7, 2024

Jeeves, a B2B payments and corporate card platform for businesses in Latin America, announced it had closed a $75 million credit facility with Community Investment Management (CIM), which is a prominent global impact-focused investment manager actively investing in Latin America. Along with supporting the company's rapid scaling, this financing will enhance Jeeves' financial product suite in its primary Latin American markets - Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico.

Remepy: Hybrid Drug Company Secures $15 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 7, 2024

Remepy, a pioneer in hybrid drugs, announced that it closed a $10 million seed investment round, totaling $15 million when combined with earlier funding. This funding round was led by NFX and was joined by Vine Ventures, PsyMed Ventures, Supernode Ventures, and Firstime Ventures, while joining previous pre-seed lead investors TechAviv and Fresh.fund, Samsung Next, StageNext Fund, and 97212 Ventures.

StepSecurity: $3 Million Closed To Protect CI/CD Pipelines And Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 7, 2024

StepSecurity, a leader in protecting CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure, announced the closing of its $3 million seed funding round, led by Runtime Ventures. Inner Loop Capital, SaaS Ventures, DeVC, and several notable industry leaders participated as angel investors.

Anetac: Identity And Security Platform Company Secures $16 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 7, 2024

Anetac, a company that protects companies from blind spots of service accounts in hybrid environments, announced its emergence from stealth mode and $16 million in funding. This latest round of funding was led by Liberty Global, and additional funding was provided by Shield Capital and The General Partnership, along with Anetac CEO Tim Eades and cybersecurity expert Jason Witty.

Nanochon: Orthopedic Device Biotech Company Secures $4 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 7, 2024

Nanochon, a Washington, DC-based orthopedic device biotech company, announced it has raised $4 million in its series seed prime fundraising round. The funding round was led by The University of Virginia Licensing and Ventures Group Seed Fund, with participation from Cultivate (MD), Alumni Venture Group, Mountain State Capital, and others.

ALLETE To Go Private In $6.2 Billion Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 7, 2024

ALLETE - a leading energy company and provider of safe, reliable, and competitively priced energy with a national footprint - and a partnership led by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which the partnership will acquire ALLETE for $67 per share in cash, or $6.2 billion including the assumption of debt.

Oasis: $35 Million Raised To Automate Non-Human Identity Security

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 7, 2024

Oasis Security, a leading provider of non-human identity management (NHIM) solutions, announced that it has raised a Series A Extension of $35 million just three months after emerging from stealth. The funding round was co-led by existing investors Accel, Cyberstarts, and Sequoia Capital, doubling the company’s Series A valuation. To date, Oasis has raised a total of $75 million.

FusionIQ Launches FIQ Freedom, Enabling Breakaway Advisors To Transition To Independence

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 7, 2024

FusionIQ, a leader in delivering cloud-based wealth management solutions with an all-in-one digital platform for financial advisors and institutions, announced the launch of FIQ Freedom, the latest addition to its suite of innovative products on the FusionIQ One platform.

SES Buying Intelsat In A $3.1 Billion Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 7, 2024

SES S.A. and Intelsat S.A. announced an agreement for SES to buy Intelsat through the purchase of 100% of the equity of Intelsat Holdings S.a.r.l. for a cash consideration of $3.1 billion (€2.8 billion) and certain contingent value rights.

Shutterstock Buying Envato In $245 Million Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 7, 2024

Shutterstock, a leading global creative platform that offers creative content for transformative brands, digital media and marketing companies, announced that it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Envato Pty Ltd., a leader in digital creative assets and templates. Envato's flagship product Elements is an innovative subscription offering unlimited downloads of various assets, templates, etc.

Kelly Buying Specialty Talent Company Motion Recruitment Partners In $425 Million Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 7, 2024

Global specialty talent solutions provider Kelly announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to buy Motion Recruitment Partners (MRP) from Littlejohn & Co., a private investment firm based out of Greenwich, Connecticut.

EQT Buying Perficient In A Deal Valued At About $3 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 6, 2024

Global digital consultancy company Perficient announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by a BPEA Private Equity Fund VIII (EQT Asia) affiliate in an all-cash deal that will value Perficient at about $3 billion.

Netskrt Systems: Content Delivery Network Provider Raises C$10 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 6, 2024

Netskrt Systems, a Content Delivery Network (CDN) provider uniquely focused on improving over-the-top (OTT) streaming video quality at the network edge, announced that it has secured C$10 million equity financing from Yaletown Partners, InBC Investment Corp, and Credit Mutual Equity.

Synopsys To Sell Software Integrity Business To Clearlake And Francisco Partners In $2.1 Billion Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 6, 2024

Synopsys announced it has entered into a definitive agreement with Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. and Francisco Partners to sell its Software Integrity Group business in a transaction valued at up to $2.1 billion. Up to $475 million in cash will be payable upon Francisco Partners and Clearlake hitting a specified rate of return in connection with one or more liquidity transactions. Upon the deal’s completion, the business will emerge as a newly independent application security testing software provider.

CoreWeave: AI Cloud Provider Company Raises $1.1 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 6, 2024

CoreWeave, a leading specialized cloud provider for AI, announced it raised $1.1 billion in new funding led by Coatue, with participation from Magnetar, who led the last primary round, and Altimeter Capital, Fidelity Management & Research Company, and Lykos Global Management. The new funding round will support the rapid growth across all business areas and CoreWeave's expansion into new geographic regions to meet the explosive demand for GPU-accelerated cloud infrastructure worldwide.

Baselayer: $6.5 Million Raised To Use AI For Fighting Fraud In The Banking System

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 6, 2024

Baselayer, a B2B platform company that leverages proprietary Graph AI technology to combat fraud and optimize business onboarding, announced it emerged from stealth mode with a $6.5 million seed round. The seed funding round was 5x oversubscribed and included investments from Torch Capital, Afore Capital, Founder Collective, Picus Capital, Gilgamesh Ventures, and notable financial industry executives, including Eric Woodward, former President of Early Warning Services, Jason Mikula, executives from Stripe, Brex, Valley Bank, Airbase, and 15 other fintech founders.

Colbeck Capital: Jared Talisman Joins As Managing Director And Head Of Originations

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 6, 2024

Colbeck Capital Management, a middle-market private credit manager focused on strategic lending, announced today that Jared Talisman has joined the firm as a Managing Director and Head of Originations. Talisman most recently served as a Managing Director at Principal Alternative Credit, where he led and managed the sourcing, structuring, and due diligence of non-sponsored private credit investments.

Securitize: Real World Asset Tokenization Company Raises $47 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 6, 2024

Securitize, a leader in tokenizing real-world assets, announced the successful completion of a $47 million funding round led by BlackRock. This strategic investment also includes funding from Hamilton Lane, ParaFi Capital, and Tradeweb Markets. In connection with the financing, Joseph Chalom, BlackRock's Global Head of Strategic Ecosystem Partnerships, has been appointed to Securitize's Board of Directors.

Cartherics: An Innovative Company Developing Cellular Immunotherapy Cancer Treatments

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 6, 2024

Cartherics is a biotechnology company focused on developing innovative cancer therapies. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Cartherics CEO Prof. Alan Trounson to learn more about the company.

BAXUS: Collectible Spirit Marketplace Company Raises $5 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 6, 2024

BAXUS, a global marketplace for collectible spirits, announced a $5 million seed round led by Multicoin Capital. Significant contributions came from Solana Ventures, Narwhal Ventures, FJ Labs, and some high-profile angel investors.

Lendbuzz: $100 Million Warehouse Facility With Mizuho Americas Secured

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 6, 2024

Lendbuzz, an AI-based fintech company that helps consumers attain better access to credit when buying a vehicle, announced today that it has closed a $100 million warehouse facility with Mizuho Americas.

Infinitopes: Cancer Biotechnology Company Raises £12.8 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2024

Infinitopes Precision Immunomics, an integrated cancer biotech integrating sophisticated platforms in precision antigen discovery with vaccine vectors capable of durably stimulating protective immune responses, announced the completion of a £12.8 million seed funding round led by Octopus Ventures.