Innovation

Simple AI: $14 Million Seed Funding Raised For Voice AI Agent Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 10, 2026

Simple AI, a voice AI agent platform, has raised $14 million in a seed round led by First Harmonic, with participation from Y Combinator, Massive Tech Ventures, and True Ventures. The San Francisco-based startup said the funding will support continued development of its voice agent platform, including custom generative AI models, as well as analytics and customer insights for businesses of all sizes.

Catalyst IOS Closes Oversubscribed $400 Million Third Fund

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 10, 2026

Catalyst Investment Partners, an owner and operator of industrial outdoor storage (IOS) real estate, has closed its third fund at a $400 million hard cap, exceeding its original $300 million target and drawing demand that approached twice the target amount. The New York-based firm said Fund III moved from first close to final close in seven months, with commitments coming from a mix of pension funds, endowments, foundations, and family offices.

Ouster Buys StereoLabs To Build Unified Physical AI Sensing And Perception Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 10, 2026

Ouster announced it has closed its acquisition of StereoLabs SAS, expanding the company's offering beyond lidar to a single, unified sensing and perception platform for “Physical AI.” The deal adds stereo cameras, AI vision software, and a large developer and customer community to Ouster’s portfolio. Ouster said the combined platform brings together high-performance digital lidar, cameras, AI compute, sensor fusion and perception software, and AI models, positioning the company to serve customers who want vision and lidar integrated rather than deployed separately.

One Equity Partners To Acquire Specialty Chemicals Company Bozzetto Group

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 10, 2026

One Equity Partners has agreed to acquire Bozzetto Group, a Bergamo, Italy-based specialty chemicals provider with a large portfolio of sustainability-certified formulations used across end markets including textiles, agriculture, plasterboard, personal care, and water treatment. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Texas State University: BobCatalyst Initiative Aims To Accelerate Innovation And Entrepreneurship

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 10, 2026

Texas State University announces it is launching BobCatalyst, a university-wide initiative designed to help faculty, staff, and students turn research and ideas into market-ready innovations by leveraging the university’s network of innovation, commercialization, and venture-support programs.

Haveli Investments To Buy Kids Mobile Entertainment Developer Budge Studios

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 10, 2026

Haveli Investments, a technology and gaming-focused private equity firm, has entered into an agreement to acquire Budge Studios from General Atlantic. Terms were not disclosed.

Trive Capital Invests In Defense Analytics Contractor PavCon

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 10, 2026

Trive Capital announced it has made an investment in PavCon, a provider of predictive analytics and decision-support software for the U.S. Department of War, positioning the deal as a partnership to accelerate growth in data-driven defense modernization and mission-readiness programs.

Phylo: $13.5 Million Seed Funding Raised And Biomni Lab Launched

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 10, 2026

Phylo announced it has launched Biomni Lab, a new integrated workspace designed to help scientists plan, author, execute, and collaborate on complex biological research tasks using agentic AI. Alongside the product launch, the company announced a $13.5 million seed round co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Menlo Ventures’ Anthology Fund, with Anthropic also participating. Additional investors cited by the company include Zetta, Conviction, SV Angel, and others.

Dono: $6.5 Million Seed Funding Raised For AI-Based Property Records Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 10, 2026

Dono, an AI-powered property records platform that turns fragmented county records into usable ownership data, announced it has raised a $6.5 million seed round, bringing total funding to $10.2 million. The round was led by Link Ventures with participation from lool VC and Alumni Ventures.

Uptool: $6 Million Seed Funding Closed for Helping U.S. Shops Quote 10x Faster

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 10, 2026

Uptool, an AI manufacturing software startup, has emerged from stealth and introduced its first product aimed at removing a major bottleneck for U.S. small and midsize manufacturers: quoting. The company says its AI quoting software helps machine and fabrication shops cut quoting time from hours to minutes, allowing them to respond faster, win more work, and raise shop utilization as demand and complexity in hardware supply chains continue to rise.

Matia: $21 Million Series A Raised For Scaling AI Native Data Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 10, 2026

Matia, a unified data operations platform, announced it has raised $21 million in Series A funding to accelerate product development and go-to-market as demand increases for unified, AI-native data infrastructure. The round was led by Red Dot Capital Partners, with participation from existing investors Leaders Fund, Secret Chord Ventures, Cerca Partners, Caffeinated Capital and VelocityX, along with angel investors including Karim Atiyeh, Udi Mokady, Amiram Schchar, Alex Pham, Raffi Kesten and Abe Peled. Matia said the round brings total funding to more than $31 million.

Nitride Raises Funding From Accelerate Venture Partners and eGrowth Ventures

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 10, 2026

Nitride Global announced it has closed an investment from Wichita-based venture capital firms Accelerate Venture Partners and eGrowth Ventures as part of a convertible note financing round, with the company indicating the closing took place in the fourth quarter of 2025. The company, which describes itself as a global leader in aluminum nitride material technologies, positioned the financing as a step toward expanding capacity and accelerating the commercialization of its advanced materials portfolio.

ILiAD Biotechnologies: $115 Million Series B Closed To Advance Intranasal Pertussis Vaccine

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 10, 2026

ILiAD Biotechnologies, an advanced clinical stage biotechnology company focused on preventing and treating disease caused by Bordetella pertussis, announced it has closed an oversubscribed $115 million Series B financing to advance BPZE1, its next-generation pertussis vaccine candidate.

Bretton AI: $75 Million Series B Secured For Financial Crime Compliance Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 10, 2026

Bretton AI, formerly Greenlite AI, said it has raised a $75 million Series B funding round and rebranded as Bretton AI as it expands its mission to define how AI is deployed across financial crime operations in regulated financial institutions. The round was led by Sapphire Ventures, with continued participation from existing investors Greylock, Thomson Reuters Ventures, Canvas Ventures, and Y Combinator. New investors include TIAA Ventures. Sapphire Ventures Partner Rajeev Dham has joined Bretton AI’s board. The company said the financing comes less than one year after its Series A.

Pelgo: $5.5 Million Seed Funding Raised For AI-Based Career Transition Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 10, 2026

Pelgo, an AI-based career transition agent, said it has raised $5.5 million in seed funding to support product development, expand its AI and engineering teams, and fuel go-to-market efforts ahead of an initial product launch in early February. The round was led by Flybridge Capital Partners, with participation from ENIAC Ventures, Primary Venture Partners, and 645 Ventures.

Logicalis US Buys Maple Woods To Bolster Overwatch Cybersecurity And Compliance Offering

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 10, 2026

Logicalis US announced it has acquired Maple Woods Enterprises, a long-time security partner, in a move the company said will deepen its managed security capabilities and strengthen its Overwatch cybersecurity and compliance program. Logicalis framed the deal as an integration play, bringing a partner that has helped build and deliver Overwatch directly into its managed services organization to improve scale, consistency, and technical depth.

Trener Robotics Raises $32 Million Series A For Agentic Physical AI Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 10, 2026

Trener Robotics, formerly known as T-Robotics, said it has raised a $32 million Series A round to scale Acteris, its agentic AI platform that brings “physical intelligence” to industrial automation by enabling software-defined control of robots. The round was co-led by Engine Ventures and IAG Capital Partners, with participation from strategic investors Cadence and Geodesic Capital through Nikon’s NFocus Fund. Trener said the financing comes on the heels of its seed round and brings total funding to over $38 million.

Patton Buys Practical Technologies To Expand Maryland Production Footprint

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 10, 2026

Patton Electronics announced it has acquired Practical Technologies Inc. (PTI) in a deal the company framed as a strategic move to expand manufacturing capacity and broaden its electronics production capabilities for customers in defense, aerospace, and industrial markets.

4Moving Biotech Closes €12 Million Financing To Push Knee Osteoarthritis Drug Toward Phase 2a Proof Of Concept

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 10, 2026

4Moving Biotech (4MB), a clinical-stage biotechnology company spun out of 4P-Pharma, said it has closed a €12 million financing to advance its lead disease-modifying osteoarthritis drug (DMOAD) program for knee osteoarthritis, a condition the company says represents a major unmet medical need.

Learn To Live: Interview With Co-Founder & CEO Dale Cook About The Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 10, 2026

Learn to Live is a digital mental health company that delivers confidential, self-directed cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) programs supported by clinician coaching to help people manage common conditions like stress, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and substance use. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Learn to Live co-founder and CEO Dale Cook to learn more.

BotGauge AI Raises $2 Million Seed Funding For Autonomous QA Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 10, 2026

BotGauge AI, a U.S.-headquartered autonomous quality-assurance-as-a-solution startup, has raised $2 million in funding led by Surface Ventures, with participation from IA Seed Ventures and Saka Ventures.

ArrayPatch: First Close Of €3 Million Funding Raised To Advance Microneedle Patch Treatment For Nail Fungus

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 10, 2026

ArrayPatch, a Cork, Ireland-based biotech developing microneedle-based therapeutics, has announced the first close of a €3 million seed funding round to advance its lead program, ITZ-DerMap, a therapeutic designed to treat onychomycosis, commonly known as nail fungus.

Garner Health: $118 Million Series D At $1.35 Billion Valuation Raised For Digital Care Navigation Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 10, 2026

Garner Health announced it has raised $118 million in Series D funding to scale its provider-ranking and incentive platform, which the company says helps patients find higher-quality doctors while lowering healthcare costs for employers and members. Garner said the round values the company at $1.35 billion and brings total capital raised to approximately $200 million.

Marzetti To Buy Bachan’s Japanese Barbecue Sauce Brand For $400 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 9, 2026

The Marzetti Company announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Bachan’s, the fast-growing Japanese Barbecue Sauce brand, in a deal valued at $400 million. The transaction is intended to deepen Marzetti’s position in the condiment and sauce category by adding a clean-label, premium brand tied to consumer demand for global flavors and “better-for-you” products.

Clear Channel Outdoor Agrees To $6.2 Billion Take-Private Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 9, 2026

Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, a major U.S. out-of-home advertising company, announced it has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by Mubadala Capital in partnership with TWG Global in an all-cash transaction valuing the business at an enterprise value of $6.2 billion.

Gencom Buys The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 9, 2026

Gencom announced it has acquired The Ritz-Carlton New York, Central Park, adding a 253-key luxury hotel at 50 Central Park South to its portfolio and marking the firm’s third luxury hotel purchase in New York City in the past 16 months.

P10 To Buy Stellus Capital Management For $250 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 9, 2026

P10 announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Stellus Capital Management, a U.S. direct lender focused on senior secured loans to sponsor-backed lower-middle market companies, in a deal that would add roughly $3.8 billion of assets under management to P10’s platform.

LG Energy Solution To Buy Stellantis Stake And Take Full Ownership Of NextStar Energy Plant

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 9, 2026

LG Energy Solution and Stellantis announced they have agreed that LG Energy Solution will acquire full ownership of NextStar Energy, with Stellantis selling its 49% equity stake to its founding joint venture partner.

Linq: $20 Million Series A Raised For AI Agent Communication Layer Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 9, 2026

Linq, a Birmingham, Alabama-based startup building a communications layer for AI agents, has raised a $20 million Series A round led by TQ Ventures, with participation from Mucker Capital and angel investors, including a former Apple and Google executive.

MasterCraft To Acquire Marine Products In $232.2 Million Cash-And-Stock Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 9, 2026

MasterCraft Boat Holdings and Marine Products have entered into a definitive agreement for MasterCraft to acquire Marine Products in a cash and stock transaction valued at approximately $232.2 million, net of acquired cash. The companies said the deal would combine five recreational marine brands across four categories, bringing together MasterCraft, Crest and Balise with Marine Products’ Chaparral and Robalo.