Innovation

Sandglass Capital: $300 Million Commitment Secured From Moody Aldrich Partners

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 16, 2026

Moody Aldrich Partners has committed $300 million to funds managed by Sandglass Capital, providing anchor capital to support Sandglass’ emerging-market, event-driven strategy focused on sovereign and corporate special situations across Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and South Asia.

Fleetzero: $43 Million Series A Raised To Scale Electric And Hybrid Propulsion Systems

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 16, 2026

Fleetzero, a marine technology company developing hybrid and electric propulsion systems for commercial vessels, has raised a $43 million Series A round led by Obvious Ventures, with participation from Maersk Growth, 8090 Industries, and existing backers including Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Y Combinator, Benson Capital, Shorewind, and others. The company also announced the opening of a new manufacturing and research-and-development facility in Houston, Texas, intended to serve as its headquarters and production hub.

Pendo: Interview With Chief Product Officer Trisha Price About The Product Experience Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 16, 2026

Pendo is a software experience management (product experience) platform that helps organizations understand how people use their software and drive adoption through product analytics, in-app guidance, and feedback tools. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Pendo Chief Product Officer Trisha Price to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

Zealous System: Interview With Managing Director Pranjal Mehta About The IT Consulting Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 16, 2026

Zealous System is an award-winning software development and IT consulting company that designs and builds custom web, mobile, and enterprise solutions using emerging technologies like AI, IoT, and blockchain for businesses of all sizes. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Zealous System Managing Director Pranjal Mehta to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

ATW Partners Plans Up To $50 Million Deployment Into Frax’s frxUSD Stablecoin With BitGo Custody

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

ATW Partners, Frax, and BitGo Bank & Trust said they have launched a joint initiative in which ATW, through affiliates and portfolio companies, expects to deploy up to $50 million into Frax’s frxUSD stablecoin, with BitGo providing qualified custody for the position.

Worthington Steel To Acquire Kloeckner In $2.4 Billion Cash Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Worthington Steel plans to acquire Germany-listed Kloeckner & Co. in a cash tender offer that would create a more diversified, larger-scale metals processing platform and make Worthington Steel the No. 2 steel service center company in North America by revenue.

Northwestern And Stanford Researchers Create Artificial Metabolism That Turns Waste CO2 Into Useful Chemicals

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Northwestern University and Stanford University researchers have engineered a fully synthetic metabolic system that converts a simple liquid molecule derived from carbon dioxide into a core building block of life, potentially opening a new route to convert captured CO2 into commercially valuable chemicals.

Pelthos Therapeutics: Up To $50 Million Venture Loan Facility Secured From Horizon Technology Finance

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Horizon Technology Finance Corporation, a venture lending firm focused on secured loans to venture- and private equity-backed companies, said it has provided a venture loan facility of up to $50 million to Pelthos Therapeutics, a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company focused on commercial-stage dermatology products.

Southfield Capital Partners With The Perfect Franchise To Support Growth And Expand Advisory Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Southfield Capital has entered into a strategic partnership with The Perfect Franchise (TPF), a franchise advisory and consulting firm, as the private equity investor looks to deepen its exposure to franchising-related business services and back organizations that support franchise ecosystem expansion.

Breeze: Interview With Co-Founder Marco van der Woude About The Dating App Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Breeze is a dating app that skips the endless chatting and helps people meet in real life by planning an in-person first date after you match. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Breeze co-founder Marco van der Woude to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

FMG Names Co-Founder Dave Christensen As CEO

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

FMG, a marketing automation software provider for financial advisors and advisory firms, has appointed co-founder Dave Christensen as chief executive officer and named two new C-suite leaders as the company pushes platform innovation and growth across wealth and insurance channels.

Parsons Buys Altamira Technologies In Deal Valued Up To $375 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Parsons Corporation announced it has acquired Altamira Technologies Corporation, a Northern Virginia-based defense and intelligence contractor, in a transaction valued at up to $375 million as the company looks to deepen its capabilities in signals intelligence and space-related mission work for U.S. national security customers.

JWX Acquires Aug X Labs To Add GenAI Content Transformation To Publisher Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

JWX, a technology company that helps media businesses distribute and monetize content across platforms, said it has acquired Aug X Labs, the startup behind Augie Studio, an AI-assisted commercial video production tool.

Merge Labs: $252 Million Raised For Targeting High-Bandwidth And Non-Invasive Brain-Computer Interfaces

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Merge Labs, a newly launched research lab, announced it is pursuing a long-term mission to bridge biological and artificial intelligence in order to “maximize human ability, agency, and experience.” The group describes its focus as developing fundamentally new brain-computer interface (BCI) approaches that interact with the brain at high bandwidth, integrate with advanced AI, and ultimately be safe and accessible for broad use. The company has raised $252 million in a seed round from OpenAI, Bain Capital, Gabe Newell, and several others.

Raymond James To Acquire $46 Billion Firm Clark Capital Management

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Raymond James announced it has reached an agreement to acquire Clark Capital Management Group, a Philadelphia-based asset manager with more than $46 billion in discretionary assets under management, in a deal that the firm said will deepen its investment solutions and expand its reach with financial advisors across key distribution channels.

VB Spine To Buy SpineHawk Intraoperative Visualization Platform From Robotron Surgical Technologies

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

VB Spine said it has signed an agreement to acquire the SpineHawk platform from Robotron Surgical Technologies, a move the company says will expand its technology portfolio in spine surgery with intraoperative visualization and an AI-enabled software roadmap aimed at supporting technology-enabled spine care.

TRP Infrastructure Services Acquires Striping Technology To Broaden Texas And Southeast Roadway Services Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

TRP Infrastructure Services, a Fort Worth-based provider of pavement marking and traffic control solutions, has acquired Striping Technology, L.P., a Tyler, Texas-headquartered pavement marking contractor focused on the broader East Texas region.

Community Financial System To Buy ClearPoint Federal Bank & Trust In $40 Million Cash Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Community Financial System announced it has agreed to acquire ClearPoint Federal Bank & Trust in an all-cash transaction valued at $40 million, a move the company said will meaningfully expand its wealth management capabilities and add more recurring fee-based revenue.

Butterfly Completes Acquisition of Digital Flexible Packaging Maker ePac

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Butterfly Equity, the Los Angeles-based private equity firm focused on the food and beverage sector, announced it has completed its acquisition of ePac Holdings, the company behind ePac Flexible Packaging, from an investor consortium that included Amcor and Indevco North America. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Gryphon Holdings Agrees To Acquire PrimeOne Insurance Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Gryphon Holdings has signed a definitive agreement to acquire PrimeOne Insurance Company, a privately held specialty commercial lines carrier, in a deal the companies say will expand Gryphon’s platform across the insurance and reinsurance ecosystem. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Mangrove Lithium: Up To $85 Million Raised For Refining Technology

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Canada Growth Fund and Mangrove Water Technologies, operating as Mangrove Lithium, announced they have closed an up to US$85 million structured financing package designed to accelerate the commercialization of the company’s lithium refining technology in Canada and international markets. The transaction pairs up to US$65 million expected from Canada Growth Fund (CGF) with additional participation from existing backers, including Breakthrough Energy Ventures and BMW i Ventures, as Mangrove Lithium moves from technology validation toward scaled deployment.

Klipboard Acquires Savance Enterprise To Expand U.S. Wholesale Distribution ERP Footprint

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Klipboard, a global provider of business management software for retail, distribution, manufacturing, servicing, and rental businesses, has completed the acquisition of Savance Enterprise, an ERP platform built specifically for wholesale distributors in the United States.

Reclamation Partners Buys 74,300-Square-Foot Infill Industrial Asset Near Boston

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Reclamation Partners, working in partnership with Fox Capital Partners, has acquired a 74,300-square-foot light-industrial building at 660 Bodwell Street in Avon, Massachusetts, adding a value-add logistics property in Boston’s infill Route-128 South industrial corridor.

Protera Acquires Redfig To Expand Enterprise IT Modernization Capabilities

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Protera, an IT modernization and enterprise cloud services provider, has acquired Redfig, a business transformation firm known for SAP application development, data integration, and intelligent automation. Financial terms were not disclosed.

OTTO SPORT AI: $16.5 Million Seed Funding Raised To Build AI-Powered Operating System For Youth Sports

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

OTTO SPORT AI has raised $16.5 million in seed funding to accelerate development of its youth sports technology platform and expand its AI “Athlete Intelligence” Lab, as the company targets a market where organizers and families still contend with legacy software and manual workflows despite booming participation and spending.

HOLYWATER Raises $22 Million to Turn Microdramas Into Mainstream Entertainment In The U.S.

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

HOLYWATER, an entertainment technology company behind the vertical-series app My Drama and a suite of AI-enabled content products, has closed a $22 million financing round as it pushes to build what it describes as a mobile-first “Netflix” for vertical video in the U.S. and other Western markets.

Coxwave: $5 Million Pre-Series A Closed To Expand AI Reliability And Governance Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Coxwave, the company behind Coxwave Align, announced it has closed $5 million in Pre-Series A funding to accelerate development of reliability and governance capabilities for AI systems as enterprises push more agentic tools into high-stakes workflows.

Cyb3r Operations Raises £4 Million Seed Round

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Cyb3r Operations said it has raised £4 million in seed funding in a round led by Octopus Ventures, with follow-on investment from Pi Labs, as the company looks to accelerate product development and expand its team.

Avalon Healthcare Solutions Lands Majority Investment From WindRose

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

Avalon Healthcare Solutions announced it has secured a new majority investment from WindRose Health Investors, a transaction the company plans to use to accelerate product development and broaden its reach across the payer ecosystem. Existing backer Francisco Partners will continue to support the business through a reinvestment, positioning the company for the next phase of growth in diagnostic intelligence. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Novo Nordisk Foundation Commits €736 Million To BioInnovation Institute to Scale Innovation Across Denmark And Europe

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 15, 2026

The Novo Nordisk Foundation is allocating up to DKK 5.5 billion (about EUR 736 million) to Copenhagen-based BioInnovation Institute (BII) in a long-term funding framework running from 2026 through 2035, aiming to expand Denmark’s life science and deep tech commercialization engine and extend its reach across Europe.