Innovation

Rapidise Launched With $4 Million Seed Raised To Build AI-Connected Devices

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 30, 2025

Napino Tech Ventures and Teksun Microsys launched Rapidise Technology with $4 million in seed funding to transform the design and manufacturing of AI-connected devices. Rapidise is an ODM that designs, prototypes, certifies, and manages full product lifecycles for startups, SMBs, and enterprises, allowing clients to focus on branding while Rapidise delivers turnkey solutions.

ArcSpan: $5.2 Million Raised For Publisher Audience Monetization Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 30, 2025

ArcSpan, a publisher-first monetization platform, has raised $5.2 million in a Seed Extension round to support its mission of helping digital publishers maximize revenue by transforming first-party data into high-performance audience solutions.

50 South Capital: Two Flagship Private Equity Funds Closed At Over $2 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 30, 2025

50 South Capital Advisors, part of Northern Trust Asset Management, announced the final closings of two flagship private equity funds, surpassing their fundraising goals. Private Equity Strategic Opportunities Fund V (PESOF V) closed with $1.2 billion, and Private Equity Core Fund XI (PECF XI) with $893 million, attracting investors from wealth, family offices, intermediaries, consultants, and institutions.

EQT And CPP Investments To Buy NEOGOV

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 30, 2025

EQT announced that EQT X and CPP Investments will acquire NEOGOV from funds managed by Warburg Pincus and Carlyle. Founded in 2000 and based in El Segundo, California, NEOGOV offers human capital management and public safety solutions to nearly 10,000 North American public sector organizations.

Dr. Tim Bertram: Interview With The CEO Of NSF’s Piedmont Triad Regenerative Medicine Engine

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 29, 2025

North Carolina is continuing its leading position in the nation’s life sciences industry, especially in the rapidly advancing field of regenerative medicine. This past year, the National Science Foundation's Piedmont Triad Regenerative Medicine Engine (PTRME) announced $2.5 million in grants. To learn more, Pulse 2.0 interviewed Dr. Tim Bertram, CEO of the National Science Foundation's Piedmont Triad Regenerative Medicine Engine (PTRME).

Dropzone AI: $37 Million Series B Raised For Developing SOC Analysts

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 29, 2025

Dropzone AI, a provider of AI-based Security Operations Center (SOC) analysts, has raised $37 million in a Series B funding round led by Theory Ventures, with participation from Madrona, Decibel Ventures, Pioneer Square Labs, and IQT. This funding validates Dropzone AI's solution, which enhances security for over 100 enterprises, including UiPath, Zapier, and Pipe.

Union Pacific And Norfolk Southern Merging In $85 Billion Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 29, 2025

Union Pacific Corporation and Norfolk Southern Corporation announced today a definitive agreement to merge, creating what is termed as America's first "transcontinental railroad." This historic deal, valued at about $85 billion for Norfolk Southern, looks to connect over 50,000 route miles across 43 states, linking nearly every corner of North America and approximately 100 ports.

IK Partners: €2 Billion Raised For Fourth Small Cap Fund

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 29, 2025

IK Partners, a European private equity firm, has successfully closed its IK Small Cap IV Fund (IK SC IV) with €2 billion in commitments, surpassing its predecessor, IK Small Cap III, which raised €1.2 billion in 2021.

Ardian: New Evergreen Fund Launched To Open Private Markets For More Investors

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 29, 2025

Ardian, a global private investment firm managing $180 billion in assets, today announced the launch of Ardian Access SICAV-RAIF. This new evergreen investment vehicle, domiciled in Luxembourg, will provide professional investors worldwide with flexible access to a diversified portfolio of private assets.

Louisiana Economic Development: Interview With Chief Innovation Officer Josh Fleig

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 29, 2025

Louisiana Economic Development (LED) is an organization dedicated to enhancing the state's business environment and fostering economic growth. Its mission includes strengthening the foundations of Louisiana's economy and creating opportunities for businesses to thrive, ultimately contributing to a more vibrant and prosperous state. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Louisiana Economic Development Chief Innovation Officer Josh Fleig to learn more.

Gurobi: Interview With Sr. Data Science Strategist Jerry Yurchisin About The Mathematical Optimization Solver Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 29, 2025

Gurobi is a company that provides a mathematical optimization solver, the Gurobi Optimizer, which helps businesses make better decisions by finding optimal solutions to complex problems. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Gurobi Sr. Data Science Strategist Jerry Yurchisin to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

PayPal: Pay With Crypto Feature Launched For Integrating Cryptocurrency Payments Into Commerce

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 29, 2025

PayPal has unveiled "Pay with Crypto," a new service designed to integrate cryptocurrency payments into mainstream global commerce, significantly reducing cross-border transaction costs for businesses. This innovative solution enables merchants to accept over 100 cryptocurrencies, with instant conversion to a stablecoin or fiat currency.

Lyten: Over $200 Million Raised For Advancing Acquisition Strategy

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 29, 2025

Lyten, a manufacturer of lithium-sulfur batteries, has secured over $200 million in equity investment, bringing its total funding to over $625 million. This will support its expansion in the U.S. and Europe.

UgenticAI: $4 Million Raised To Transform Small Business Operations With Agentic AI

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 29, 2025

UgenticAI, an AI holding company, has secured $4 million in funding to expand its portfolio of agentic AI companies. These companies develop AI systems that autonomously manage complex business functions, such as sales, content creation, and customer support, aiming to deliver tangible business results rather than merely automate processes.

Reka: $110 Million Raised For Multimodal AI Expansion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 29, 2025

Reka, a leader in multimodal AI, has raised $110 million from investors including NVIDIA and Snowflake. This investment will accelerate the adoption and development of Reka's efficient multimodal AI platforms, which are built by a world-class research team.

Montagu To Buy Poland-Based Digital Retail Solutions Provider IAI Group

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 29, 2025

Montagu, a mid-market private equity firm, has reached an agreement to acquire IAI Group, which is Poland's leading provider of digital retail solutions, pending regulatory approval. This acquisition will transfer ownership from MCI Capital ASI and IAI's founders.

HEICO Buying Gables Engineering To Support Avionics Capabilities

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 29, 2025

HEICO Corporation's Electronic Technologies Group announced its acquisition of Gables Engineering, a leading designer and manufacturer of advanced avionics controls. This cash transaction is expected to boost HEICO's earnings within a year.

Doss Buys Shopify Inventory Leader Genie

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 29, 2025

Doss, the AI-native ERP platform, has announced its acquisition of key assets from Genie, a leading inventory management solution for Shopify.

Aidoc: $150 Million Raised For CARE Healthcare Foundation Model

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 29, 2025

Aidoc has raised $150 million for its Healthcare Foundation Model, CARE, which aims to improve clinical decision-making for 100 million patients. This funding, led by General Catalyst and Square Peg, brings Aidoc's total to $370 million and will accelerate CARE's development and expand aiOS, the company's enterprise platform for clinical AI.

Transcend Imaging: Investment Raised From Modular Devices

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 29, 2025

Modular Devices, a leading provider of mobile medical imaging equipment and cleanroom solutions, has announced a strategic investment in Transcend Imaging, a prominent provider of mobile MR imaging labs. This partnership aims to enhance Modular Devices' position in the mobile MRI market and expand its product offerings.

Gamefound Buys Crowdfunding Pioneer Indiegogo

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 29, 2025

Gamefound, a leading tabletop crowdfunding platform, has acquired Indiegogo, a long-established crowdfunding site. This acquisition aims to enhance the crowdfunding experience by combining the strengths of both platforms and improving tools and terms for backers and creators.

Spear AI: Seed Funding Raised To Advance Maritime AI Solutions

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 29, 2025

Spear AI, a leader in maritime artificial intelligence solutions, has successfully completed its seed funding round, with investments from Scare the Bear Capital and Cortical Ventures. This funding will enhance Spear AI's product offerings, scale its Horizon platform, and improve maritime sensor capabilities.

UChicago And IBM Partnering To Boost Illinois Quantum Startups

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 29, 2025

The University of Chicago and IBM are collaborating to support startups in Duality, the nation’s first quantum startup accelerator. This partnership will accelerate the development of quantum software and applications using the IBM Quantum System Two, set to be deployed at the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP).

Scopio Labs: $10 Million More Raised For Automating Blood Morphology

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 29, 2025

Scopio Labs has launched its new AI-based Complete Blood Morphology (CBM) analyzer, designed to automate the traditionally manual blood morphology diagnostic process fully. This innovation seeks to address the global laboratory staffing crisis while improving efficiency by analyzing ten times more cells than current methods.

Lyra: $6 Million Seed Funding Raised For AI-Based Sales Meeting Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 29, 2025

Lyra, an AI-native meeting platform for sales teams, has successfully completed a $6 million seed funding round, raising its valuation to $40 million. Led by 468 Capital, the investment also includes contributions from Rebel Fund, Y Combinator, Transpose Ventures, and executives from companies like Ramp, Gusto, and Zapier.

Carlyle Investing $250 Million In FarmOp Capital For Boosting Farmer Financing

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 29, 2025

Carlyle announced a $250 million partnership with FarmOp Capital, a provider of farm operating loans in the U.S., aimed at increasing access to flexible financing for independent row crop farmers.

Trovata: $9 Million Raised And ATOM Acquired

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 29, 2025

Trovata, a leading multibank data platform for cash and liquidity management, has acquired ATOM, an enterprise Treasury Management System (TMS) from Financial Sciences Corporation.

Maro: $4.3 Million Raised For Combating Human Risks In Cybersecurity

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 29, 2025

Maro, a cognitive security platform designed to proactively manage human risk in cybersecurity, has announced the completion of a $4.3 million seed funding round from Downing Capital Group. This investment will fuel team growth, product development, and the company's go-to-market strategy for its newly available platform.

The Ethical Tech Project: Interview With Board Chair Jennie Baird About Protecting Privacy

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 29, 2025

The Ethical Tech Project is a non-profit organization that envisions a future where humans have insight into how their data is controlled and used by big tech companies, because the organization believes that the fundamental right to privacy should be universally protected. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Jennie Baird, Chair of The Ethical Tech Project's Board, to gain a deeper understanding of the organization.

TriEye: Interview With Co-Founder & CEO Avi Bakal About The CMOS-Based Short-Wave Infrared Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 28, 2025

TriEye is a pioneer of mass-market and CMOS-based Short-Wave Infrared (SWIR) sensing solutions. And TriEye’s breakthrough and proprietary technology enables cost-effective, high-resolution image data and depth perception in all weather and lighting conditions. Pulse 2.0 interviewed TriEye co-founder and CEO Avi Bakal to gain a deeper understanding of the company.