Innovation

Delta Expands Basic Fare Options To Premium Products

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Delta announced the expansion of its Basic fare experience to premium products. Starting July 8, the airline is offering Basic fares for Delta First, Delta Premium Select, and Delta One in select markets.

Iridium Acquires Aireon

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Iridium Communications announced that it has completed its acquisition of Aireon. Aireon operates the world’s only space-based Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast air traffic surveillance system.

Hypefy Raises $7.2 Million Series A To Scale Creator Marketing Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Hypefy announced that it has closed a $7.2 million Series A funding round. The round was led by AYMO Ventures. Returning investors Interactive Venture Partners, Oktogon Ventures, and Euroventures also participated in the financing. Their continued participation reflects ongoing investor support for Hypefy’s growth and its position in the creator marketing market.

Digiclean Raises €2.5 Million Seed Round To Improve Industrial Fluid Monitoring

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Digiclean Solutions announced that it has closed a €2.5 million seed funding round. The company said the milestone will support the next phase of its growth as it helps manufacturers gain better visibility into industrial process fluids.

SkyKnight Capital Closes Fund V At $2 Billion Hard Cap

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

SkyKnight Capital announced the final close of SkyKnight Capital Fund V with $2 billion in commitments. The fund closed on July 1, 2026, with backing from endowments, foundations, pensions, family offices, and institutional investors.

Arkenstone Defense Raises $35 Million Seed To Help Commercial Companies Enter Federal Market

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Quinbrook Closes Oversubscribed £587 Million Renewables Impact Fund II

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Quinbrook announced the final close of its second U.K.-focused Quinbrook Renewables Impact Fund. The fund, known as QRIF II, closed with £587 million of investor commitments, exceeding its £500 million target.

Avant Natural Resources Closes Fund II With Over $1 Billion In Commitments

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Avant Natural Resources announced the final close of Avant Natural Resources Fund II and related vehicles at their respective hard caps. The fundraise closed with more than $1 billion in total equity capital commitments.

Allotera Therapeutics Raises $35 Million To Advance Off-The-Shelf CAR-T Therapies

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Allotera Therapeutics announced the closing of a $35 million financing round. The financing includes equity and venture debt and brings the company’s total capital raised to $150 million.

Polyconcept North America Appoints Josh Militello As CEO

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Polyconcept North America announced the appointment of Josh Militello as Chief Executive Officer. The appointment follows a comprehensive search, and Militello will officially assume the role on July 13, 2026.

National Grid Ventures To Invest $1.75 Billion In Joulent To Power U.S. Data Centers And AI

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

National Grid Ventures announced that it has agreed to invest $1.75 billion for a 35% stake in Joulent. The deal forms a strategic partnership focused on developing contracted power and electrical infrastructure solutions for large-load demand in the U.S.

Keel Infrastructure Appoints Ganesh Aiyer As President

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Keel Infrastructure announced the appointment of Ganesh Aiyer as President. Aiyer will report to CEO Ben Gagnon and lead the company’s commercial and pipeline expansion activities.

Boris FX Acquires iZotope

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Boris FX announced the acquisition of iZotope, an audio production technology company known for intelligent audio tools including RX, Ozone, Neutron, and Nectar. The deal positions Boris FX as a broader provider of professional tools across audio and video post-production.

IQM Quantum Computers Acquires Quantistry Assets

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

IQM Quantum Computers announced that it has acquired selected assets of Quantistry GmbH. Quantistry is a Berlin-based developer of a cloud-native simulation workflow platform for automotive, aerospace, chemical, materials, and pharmaceutical industries.

ARC Intelligence Raises €4 Million In Seed Funding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

ARC Intelligence announced that it has secured €4 million in seed funding. The company is building an AI-native Finance OS for ERP-heavy businesses.

Synamedia Appoints Dr. Tzvi Gerstl As CEO

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Synamedia announced the appointment of Dr. Tzvi Gerstl as Chief Executive Officer. Paul Segre, who served as CEO for the past six years, will transition to Executive Chairman.

Microsoft Xbox CEO Asha Sharma Announces Major Restructuring

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announced what she described as the most significant restructuring in Xbox history. In a message to employees, Sharma said the company plans to reduce its team by approximately 3,200 roles throughout FY27.

xAI Rebrands As SpaceXAI

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

SpaceXAI announced a brief rebrand message on X, posting: “We are now @SpaceXAI.” The short update signals the next step in the public identity shift following SpaceX’s earlier acquisition of xAI. The update also included a new logo.

Control Devices Acquires Solenoid Solutions

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Control Devices, a portfolio company of HBM Holdings, announced the acquisition of Solenoid Solutions. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Expeditions Closes €197 Million Fund II To Back European Security Technologies

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Expeditions announced the final close of its second fund at €197 million. The fund will invest in technologies and founders shaping the future of European defense, security, and sovereignty.

The AmeriFlex Group Adds More Than $1.7 Billion In Client Assets In First Half Of 2026

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

The AmeriFlex Group announced that it welcomed 18 advisors representing more than $1.7 billion in total client assets to its platform during the first half of 2026. The firm is an advisor-owned hybrid RIA known for its planning-first approach and succession solutions.

inKind: Liberty Mutual Investments Commits $320 Million To Support Restaurant Growth

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Liberty Mutual Investments announced a strategic financing partnership with inKind, a restaurant commerce enablement platform and technology company. LMI provided more than $320 million in financing, serving as both a senior and mezzanine lender.

Even Realities Raises $150 Million At $1 Billion Valuation To Build AI Smart Glasses

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Even Realities Technology raised $150 million in a pre-Series B funding round. The round valued the Chinese smart-glasses company at $1 billion. The financing included investors such as Meituan and Tencent. The funding makes Even Realities a unicorn as it looks to compete in the AI wearable market.

Quaise Energy Raises $134 Million Series B Initial Close To Build Superhot Geothermal Power Plant

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 8, 2026

Quaise Energy announced the initial close of its Series B financing, raising $134 million. The round was led by Prelude Ventures, with strategic investments from JERA and Idemitsu, two of Japan’s largest energy companies. Nearly all existing investors, including Safar Partners, also participated in the round. The Series B brings Quaise Energy’s total funding raised to date to $230 million, with additional equity and debt capital expected to close soon.

Spense Raises $2.8 Million Seed Round To Build Agentic Credit Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 7, 2026

Spense announced that it has raised a $2.8 million seed round. The round was led by Arkam Ventures, with participation from Razorpay, GrowthCap Ventures, AtriumVC, and a group of operators and angel investors.

Aylight Raises €4.5 Million Pre-Seed To Address AI’s Optical Bottleneck

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 7, 2026

Aylight announced that it has raised €4.5 million in pre-seed funding. The company is developing laser technology designed to address the optical bottleneck created by the rapid scaling of AI infrastructure. The round was co-led by Elaia and Swisscom Ventures. Verve Ventures and Plug and Play also participated in the financing.

Storika Closes Seed Round To Scale AI-Native Creator Marketing Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 7, 2026

Storika announced the closing of a seed funding round to scale its AI-native creator marketing platform. The round terms were not disclosed. The round included a strategic investment from Amorepacific. Additional participants included Schmidt, Hustle Fund, BonAngels Venture Partners, and Krew Capital.

Permutable: Interview With Founder & CEO Wilson Chan About How The Company Is Turning Real-Time Narratives Into Market Intelligence

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 7, 2026

Permutable is a London-based AI-driven market intelligence company that analyzes global narratives, macroeconomic developments, and real-time news flows to generate explainable market intelligence for institutional investors, hedge funds, and commodities trading teams. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Permutable founder and CEO Wilson Chan to learn more.

H.I.G. Capital Is Acquiring A Majority Stake In TERRAS

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 7, 2026

H.I.G. Capital announced that one of its affiliates has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a majority stake in TERRAS Group. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Thales Acquiring Exail For €3.9 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 7, 2026

Thales announced that it has signed a binding agreement to acquire the Gorgé family concert’s combined 35.51% stake in Exail Technologies. The transaction is being pursued with a view to acquiring 100% of Exail through a mandatory tender offer at €134 per share.