Innovation

UbiQD: $20 Million Series B Closed For Scaling Quantum Dot Technology

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 27, 2025

UbiQD, a leader in quantum dot (QD) technology, announced the closing of its $20 million Series B funding round. The round was led by Phoenix Venture Partners (PVP), with participation from Builders VC, Azura Group, Builders Vision, Stout Street Capital, Seraph Partners, Scout Ventures, New Mexico Vintage Fund, and others. The new funding highlights investor confidence in UbiQD's innovative solutions and market potential.

Puna Bio: Funding Raised From Corteva Catalyst

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 27, 2025

Puna Bio announced it had closed a new round of funding led by Corteva through its Corteva Catalyst platform. This new funding round was led by Corteva, a pure-play S&P 500 agriculture company, and participation from existing investors at One Ventures, SP Ventures, SOSV, Builders VC, and a new investor, Dalus Capital.

Capably: $4 Million Raised To Automate Complex Tasks With AI

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 27, 2025

Intelligent automation platform company Capably announced it has raised $4 million in funding. The investment was led by Boost Capital Partners, with participation from other EU and US investors, including Concept Ventures, Sure Valley Ventures, Araya Ventures, Haatch, Koro Ventures, Wayra, and Ascension.

Iowa State University Collaborating With When To Help Graduates With Health Insurance

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 27, 2025

When a leading AI-based post-employment solution announced a strategic partnership with Iowa State University to provide students with post-graduation health insurance options along with job search and resume-building services. And this initiative makes Iowa State the first university in the nation to collaborate with When to offer seamless, cost-effective healthcare options for students transitioning off their student health plans.

Hopper: $7.6 Million Seed Funding Secured For Transforming Open Source Security

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 27, 2025

Hopper announced it has officially launched out of stealth to transform how organizations manage open-source software (OSS) risk. The company has raised $7.6 million in seed funding, co-led by Meron Capital and New Era, with participation from the Sequoia Scout Fund, M-Fund, and leaders behind exits to Intel, Oracle, Google, HPE, Symantec, ZoomInfo, AWS, and more.

Catapult Learning: John Hopkins Research Shows Benefits Of Wraparound Services

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 27, 2025

Catapult Learning, a leading provider of evidence-based academic, behavioral, and mental health interventions for K-12 schools, recently announced the findings from an ESSA Level 2 study, using data from the 2023-2024 school year, conducted by the Center for Research and Reform in Education (CRRE) at The Johns Hopkins University School of Education.

SKY Leasing: $1.35 Billion Closed For Fund VI

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 27, 2025

SKY Leasing - a leading alternative investment manager with extensive experience in aviation investments - announced the final closing of its flagship fund, SKY Fund VI. The fund closed significantly above its target with over $1.35 billion in capital commitments. This shows strong support from existing and new investors, including global insurance companies, sovereigns, pension funds, endowments, foundations, and family offices.

Grove Biopharma: $30 Million Series A Secured For Advancing Therapeutic Modality

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 27, 2025

Grove Biopharma is a private biotechnology company advancing its Bionic Biologics platform, developing therapies targeting previously intractable intracellular disease targets. The company has announced the closing of a $30 million Series A funding round. DCVC Bio led this funding round with participation from Eli Lilly, InVivium Capital, Walder Ventures, Gradiant Corporation, Mansueto Investments, and others. And they join existing seed supporters, including Portal Innovations, where Grove was incubated.

Theo: $20 Million Raised For Connecting Onchain Capital To Global Markets

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 27, 2025

Theo, a novel network connecting onchain capital to global markets via institutional-grade trading infrastructure, announced it has raised $20 million in funding. This funding round was jointly led by Hack VC and Anthos Capital, with participation from numerous other venture capital firms, including Manifold Trading, Mirana Ventures, Metalayer Ventures, Flowdesk, SCB, MEXC, Amber Group, and Selini Capital, and angels from a range of leading TradFi trading firms, including Citadel, Jane Street, HRT, Optiver, IMC, 5 Rings, and JPMorgan.

Venture Guides: Fund II Closed At $262.5 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 27, 2025

Venture Guides, an investment firm focused on active guiding and team-based investing in early-stage infrastructure software companies, announced the closing of a second fund at $262.5 million. This milestone comes during turbulent economic times in venture capital fundraising, proving the firm's strategy, strong portfolio, and the confidence investors place in its differentiated approach.

Sentra: $50 Million Series B Closed For Cloud-Native Data Security Platforms

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 27, 2025

Sentra, a leader in cloud-native data security platforms, announced it has closed a $50 million Series B funding round, led by Key1 Capital with participation from existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Zeev Ventures, Standard Investments, and Munich Re Ventures. This funding round brings Sentra’s total investment to over $100 million, following a more than 300% year-over-year increase in revenue and the addition of multiple new customers.

Biolinq: $100 Million Series C Funding Raised For Advancing Biowearable Platform For Metabolic Health

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 27, 2025

Biolinq, a healthcare technology company pioneering precision multi-analyte biosensors to improve metabolic health, announced a $100 million Series C funding round led by Alpha Wave Ventures. Existing investors RiverVest Venture Partners, AXA IM Alts, LifeSci Venture Partners, M Ventures, Hikma Ventures, Aphelion Capital, Taisho Pharmaceutical, and Features Capital participated.

GenrAb: $5.6 Million Closed For Accelerating Development Of Antibody Therapy

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 27, 2025

GenrAb - a developer of first-in-class neuroprotective therapies - announced completion of a private placement with aggregate gross proceeds of $5.6 million. And GenrAb is optimizing the world's most effective biological therapy creation engine, which is the human adaptive immune system. Utilizing proprietary immunogenetic models to search the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients undergoing active neurological disease, GenrAb identified novel, neuronally-specific and neuroprotective antibodies.

OnePlanet: $7 Million Seed Funding Raised For Solar Panel Materials Recovery Processor

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 27, 2025

OnePlanet Solar Recycling - an advanced materials recovery processor specializing in end-of-life solar panels - announced the closing of a $7 million seed financing round to advance development of its $90 million industrial-scale 'River City' Project, a first-of-its-kind solar panel recycling facility located in Green Cove Springs, Florida.

Manychat: $140 Million Raised For Conversational AI Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 27, 2025

Manychat, a leader in conversational AI and automation across social and messaging platforms, announced a $140 million growth capital raise led by Summit Partners. This brings Manychat's total funding to $163.3 million. And Manychat is already a profitable company.

Ocient: $132 Million Series B Closed For Analytics Software Solutions

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 27, 2025

Ocient, a leading data analytics software solutions company, announced an advancement into the growth stage following the closing of its $132 million Series B funding. New investors part of the Series B close (amounting to $42.1 million) included Allstate Strategic Ventures, Blue Bear Capital, Solidigm, Massive, Zelkova, and Northwestern Mutual. Including the recent closing of the extension, Ocient has raised $159.4 million in invested capital to date.

Cledor: Amwaj International Buys 18% Stake At $100 Million Valuation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 27, 2025

Amwaj International, a national conglomerate with over 10,000 employees and a global footprint across 27 cities, announced it has acquired 18% stake in Dubai-based development firm Cledor. Industry veteran Omar Gull founded Cledor. This investment marks Amwaj's entry into the real estate market in the UAE, with Cledor's post-money valuation hitting $100 million.

Augur: $7 Million Seed Funding Closed For AI-Based Threat Prevention Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 26, 2025

Augur, an AI-based threat prevention company, announced it has raised $7 million in seed funding led by General Advance. Additional investors in the round include industry executives Ely Kahn, VP Product for Cloud Security and AI/ML, SentinelOne; Spencer Thompson, Co-Founder and CEO, Prelude; Travis McPeak, Co-Founder and CEO, Resourcely; Josh Lospinoso, Co-Founder and CEO, Shift5; and other senior executives from Amazon, Google, and CloudFlare.

Dataminr: $100 Million Convertible Financing Raised From Fortress

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 26, 2025

Dataminr, which is one of the world's leading AI companies, announced the closing of a $100 million convertible financing from funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group.

Datatonic Buying Data Engineering Company Syntio

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 26, 2025

Datatonic, a cloud data and AI solutions provider, announced the acquisition of Syntio, a specialist in data engineering. The strategic deal significantly supports Datatonic’s enterprise service offerings and delivery capabilities with deep data engineering skills, including data ingestion, data transformation, and business intelligence. Syntio also adds a customer base that covers telcos, central banks, and retailers across Europe to Datatonic’s growing global client list.

K-ecommerce: Interview With Partner Channel Manager Rich Fowler About The Web Store Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 25, 2025

K-ecommerce’s solution is an all-in-one, fully featured, cloud-based, PCI Level One-Certified web store platform that natively integrates with your Microsoft Dynamics 365 or Acumatica ERP. Pulse 2.0 interviewed k-ecommerce’s newly appointed Partner Channel Manager, Rich Fowler, to learn more.

ACI Learning: Interview With CEO Scott Horn About The Cybersecurity E-Learning Provider

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 25, 2025

ACI Learning is a company that trains the leaders in Audit, Cybersecurity, and Information Technology. Pulse 2.0 interviewed ACI Learning CEO Scott Horn to learn more about the company.

FoodScience To Buy Natural Dog Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 25, 2025

FoodScience, a leading health and wellness solutions provider for pets and people, announced the acquisition of Natural Dog Company, a brand known for its renowned dog care products. Launched in 2006 and based in North Carolina, Natural Dog Company has earned loyal customers through its dedication to practical solutions.

Deferred: $3.6 Million Seed Funding Raised To Democratize Tax-Deferred Real Estate Investing

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 25, 2025

Deferred, a technology-powered Qualified Intermediary transforming 1031 exchanges for everyday real estate investors, has secured $3.6 million in seed funding. This funding round was led by B Capital and Fika Ventures, with additional support from strategic investors, including founders and executives.

Frontline Road Safety Buying Pavement Marketing Contractor PLP Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 25, 2025

Frontline Road Safety, a leading provider of pavement marking services in the U.S., announced that it has acquired PLP Company, which is a top pavement marking contractor based in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. The terms of the deal were undisclosed.

Glasswall: Strategic Funding Raised From PSG Equity

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 25, 2025

Glasswall announced a strategic growth investment from PSG Equity, a leading provider of intelligent zero-trust file protection solutions in the business-to-government (B2G) and business-to-business (B2B) sectors. With its Content Disarm and Reconstruction (CDR) technology, Glasswall helps protect organizations by proactively rebuilding files to eliminate risks such as malware and ransomware.

Ray Therapeutics: $8 Million CIRM Grant Awarded

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 25, 2025

Ray Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing optogenetic gene therapies for vision restoration, announced it has been awarded an $8 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). This grant will support the company’s ongoing clinical development of RTx-015 for the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a progressive and debilitating inherited retinal disease that leads to blindness.

Dwight Capital And Dwight Mortgage Trust: $521 Million In Seniors Housing During Q1 2025 Closed

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 25, 2025

Dwight Capital and its affiliate REIT Dwight Mortgage Trust (DMT) announced that they closed $521 million in seniors housing financing during Q1 2025. These deals included significant bridge and HUD loans for skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) in multiple states, highlighting Dwight's consistent nationwide presence in this sector.

RTA: Series A Funding Round Raised To Advance Growth In Fleet Management

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 25, 2025

RTA, a leading provider of fleet maintenance management software, announced the closing of a Series A funding round, led by Susquehanna Growth Equity (SGE). PHX Ventures also participated in the round.

ChEmpower: $18.7 Million Series A Closed To Advance Abrasive-Free Planarization In Chip Manufacturing

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 25, 2025

ChEmpower, a semiconductor materials company that provides polish pads and chemical solutions for planarization, announced it has raised $18.7 million in Series A funding. The round was co-led by M Ventures and Rhapsody Venture Partners. New and existing investors Intel Capital, Pangaea Ventures, Foothill Ventures, In-Q-Tel (IQT), and TEL Venture Capital also participated in the funding.