Innovation

Cast AI Surpasses $1 Billion Valuation Following Pacific Alliance Ventures Strategic Investment

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Cast AI announced it has crossed a $1 billion valuation following a strategic investment from Pacific Alliance Ventures (PAV), the U.S.-based corporate venture arm of Shinsegae Group, as the company launched OMNI Compute, a unified compute marketplace designed to help enterprises access and operate GPU capacity across clouds and regions without making code changes.

Inflexion: John DiGiovanni Named As Head Of Healthcare

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Inflexion has appointed John DiGiovanni as Head of Healthcare, adding senior sector leadership as the European mid-market private equity firm continues to build its healthcare investing capabilities. DiGiovanni will work closely with Andy Neville, a Partner on Inflexion’s Healthcare team who has served as interim head in the lead-up to the appointment.

Alvarez & Marsal: Tom Parkinson Named As Managing Director In London to Bolster Private Equity Carve-Out Work

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) has appointed Tom Parkinson as a Managing Director in its Private Equity Performance Improvement (PEPI) practice, based in London, as the firm continues to build out its European capabilities supporting private equity clients on complex carve-outs and integrations.

Mutares To Acquire SABIC Engineering Thermoplastics Business In The Americas And Europe For $450 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Mutares SE & Co. KGaA signed an agreement to acquire SABIC’s Engineering Thermoplastics business in the Americas and Europe in a deal valued at $450 million on an enterprise-value basis, marking the largest transaction in Mutares’ history by revenues. The company said the acquisition is expected to close in the second half of 2026, subject to customary regulatory and other approvals.

Aquanow: Interview With VP Of Research Sebastian Davies About The Infrastructure Provider

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Aquanow is a leading infrastructure provider that enables institutional and enterprise use-cases for digital assets. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Aquanow VP of Research Sebastian Davies to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

Tench And Simone Coxe Donate $100 Million To Launch UT Austin Academic Medical Center

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

The University of Texas at Austin said it is moving forward with its planned academic medical center after receiving a $100 million gift from Austin residents Tench and Simone Coxe, one of the largest donations in the university’s history.

Koch Companies Acquires Store Opening Solutions (SOS) To Expand Koch Logistics & Warehousing

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Koch Companies announced it has acquired Store Opening Solutions (SOS), a retail inventory consolidation specialist based in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, from Marmon Holdings, Inc., marking a strategic move aimed at accelerating growth and expanding Koch’s warehousing and fulfillment capabilities as the company approaches its 50-year anniversary in 2026.

XData Group: Interview With Founder And CEO Roman Eloshvili About AI, Expansion, And The Future Of Internet Banking

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

XData Group is a B2B software company that builds end-to-end digital banking solutions for banks and other online financial services providers, including web/mobile development, custom software, and UI/UX design. Pulse 2.0 interviewed XData Group founder and CEO Roman Eloshvili to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

Fundbox: Interview With Chief Business Officer Anchit Singh On Powering Embedded Capital For Small Businesses

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Fundbox is a leading capital infrastructure provider behind the digital SMB economy funding, using data-driven underwriting to make approval and funding quicker. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Fundbox Chief Business Officer Anchit Singh to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

Hurricane Capital Acquires Kiyomi AI, Expanding Its AI-Driven Trading Capabilities

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Hurricane Capital announced it has acquired Kiyomi AI, positioning the technology as a new portfolio-intelligence layer intended to deepen the firm’s AI-enabled institutional trading and execution workflows.

Plume Buys Sweepr To Combine Real-Time Network Intelligence With AI Customer-Care Orchestration for ISPs

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Plume Design announced it has acquired Sweepr in a bid to combine real-time home-network intelligence with AI-driven customer-care orchestration, giving internet service providers a single platform to detect issues, guide subscribers and agents, and automate fixes across digital and assisted support channels.

CloudBees: Interview With Chief Product Officer Shawn Ahmed About The DevOps Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

CloudBees provides an enterprise DevOps and CI/CD platform built around Jenkins that helps software teams automate, govern, and accelerate application delivery across cloud and on-prem environments. Pulse 2.0 interviewed CloudBees Chief Product Officer Shawn Ahmed to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

Allos: $5 Million Raised To Apply Causal AI Across Complex Drug Reformulation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Allos AI has raised $5 million in seed financing to commercialize what it calls the industry’s first “glass-box” Causal AI platform for reformulating complex generic drugs, as developers and manufacturers look for lower-risk ways to improve how established medicines are delivered and tolerated over long-term use.

Izzi Software: Interview With CEO Jennifer Nelson About The Criticality Of The Mainframe And Midrange Software Landscape

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Izzi is a technology innovator, supporting the legendary systems that power the modern world by bringing together proven companies to create a portfolio of mission-critical software applications. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Izzi Software CEO Jennifer Nelson to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

Sole Source Capital Acquires Brite In First Platform Deal From Fund III

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Sole Source Capital announced it has acquired Brite, a cybersecurity and IT managed services provider, marking the private equity firm’s first platform investment from SSC Partners Fund III as it expands into the cybersecurity and managed services market.

Collision Partners Completes First Acquisitions And Launches Quality-First Growth Strategy

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Collision Partners, a collision-repair platform focused on acquiring and scaling independent collision-repair businesses, announced it has completed its first two acquisitions—Fantastic Finishes and Chassis Master—kicking off what the company described as a disciplined growth strategy across the Southeastern United States.

Amphenol Closes Acquisition Of CommScope’s CCS Business

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Amphenol Corporation announced it has completed its previously announced acquisition of CommScope’s Connectivity and Cable Solutions (CCS) business, expanding Amphenol’s footprint in fiber optic and industrial interconnect products across data communications, communications networks and building infrastructure connectivity markets.

Curi Bio Establishes Asia-Pacific Hub Following Full Acquisition Of South Korea’s Quvit Bio

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Curi Bio announced it has formally established Curi Bio Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary that will serve as the company’s commercial and operational hub in the Asia-Pacific region, following its full acquisition of South Korea-based Quvit Bio.

FIS Closes $13.5 Billion Deal For Global Payments’ Issuer Solutions And Sells Remaining Worldpay Stake

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

FIS announced it has completed its acquisition of Global Payments’ Issuer Solutions business, formerly known as TSYS, in a transaction valued at $13.5 billion in enterprise value. The company said the deal carries a net purchase price of $12 billion, including $1.5 billion of net present value from tax assets.

Aspen Power Secures $200 Million Strategic Capital Commitment From Deutsche Bank

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Aspen Power announced it has closed a $200 million capital raise from Deutsche Bank, bolstering the Carlyle-backed distributed generation platform’s financial capacity as it scales development of solar and storage projects across the U.S.

Bakkt To Buy Distributed Technologies Research In Stablecoin Payments Push

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Bakkt Holdings announced it has agreed to acquire Distributed Technologies Research Ltd. (DTR), a global stablecoin payment infrastructure provider, in a deal the company says will accelerate its stablecoin settlement and programmable payments strategy.

VelaFi: $20 Million Series B Raised To Expand Global Stablecoin Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

VelaFi, a stablecoin-powered financial infrastructure platform under Galactic Holdings, announced it has raised $20 million in a Series B financing to expand its regulated payments and settlement capabilities across Latin America, the U.S., and Asia.

Vibrant Therapeutics: $61 Million Closed And Han Lee Named As Co-CEO

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Vibrant Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech developing “logic-gated” therapeutics designed to activate selectively in diseased tissue, announced it has raised $61 million in new financing and appointed Han Lee, Ph.D. as co-chief executive officer as the company prepares to broaden global development of its lead solid tumor program. The round brought in new investors, Pfizer Ventures and Apricot Capital, and included participation from Bayland Capital, HSG, Northern Light Venture Capital, and First Principle Venture Limited, according to the company. With the latest proceeds, Vibrant said its total capital raised now stands at $100 million.

Mirador Therapeutics: $250 Million Series B Raised And Multi-Asset Immuno-Fibrotic Pipeline Advanced

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Mirador Therapeutics announced it is advancing multiple clinical-stage programs across Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, with more than 10 clinical readouts expected by the end of 2027.

Victra: Interview With Founder & CEO Rich Balot About The Largest Verizon Wireless Retailer

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Victra is the largest exclusive authorized retailer for Verizon Wireless, operating nearly 1,800 stores across the U.S. to sell Verizon products, services, and accessories. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Victra founder and CEO Rich Balot to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

Eli Health: Interview With Co-Founder & CEO Marina Pavlovic Rivas About The Hormone Monitoring System

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Eli Health is the healthtech company behind Hormometer, the first-of-its-kind saliva-based hormone monitoring system that uses a smartphone-enabled test to deliver near real-time hormone insights for wellness and overall health. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Eli Health co-founder and CEO Marina Pavlovic Rivas to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

AccessiWay: Interview With Co-Founder & CEO Amit Borsok About The Digital Accessibility Solutions Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

AccessiWay provides digital accessibility solutions that help organizations make their websites and digital products compliant with accessibility standards such as WCAG, ensuring inclusive access for people with disabilities. Pulse 2.0 interviewed AccessiWay co-founder and CEO Amit Borsok to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

AZIO AI Lands $107 Million Southeast Asia Government GPU Order

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

AZIO AI announced it has received a binding purchase order for 256 Nvidia B300 GPUs, a milestone the company said advances completion of a major government procurement program in Southeast Asia and represents approximately $107 million in contractual revenue.

GTCR Completes $24.25 Billion Sale Of Worldpay To Global Payments

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

GTCR announced it has closed the previously announced sale of Worldpay to Global Payments in a three-way transaction that also includes FIS, marking what the firm described as one of the largest strategic sales in private equity history.

Autolus Posts $75 Million In First-Year AUCATZYL Sales, Guides Up To $135 Million For 2026

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 12, 2026

Autolus Therapeutics announced it expects preliminary unaudited net product revenue from AUCATZYL (obecabtagene autoleucel; obe-cel) of about $24 million for the fourth quarter of 2025 and about $75 million for the full year, marking its first year of commercial sales following the CD19 CAR T therapy’s U.S. approval in November 2024.