Innovation

Tailwind Capital Invests In Valor Fleet Services

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Tailwind Capital, a growth-oriented private equity firm focused on Industrial and Technical Services, has made an investment in Valor Fleet Services, partnering with the Mid-Atlantic towing and roadside services platform to support its next phase of expansion.

TIC Holding Schweiz Acquires HSE Conseils, Expanding Swiss TIC Platform In Construction Safety

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

TIC Holding Schweiz AG, a buy-and-build platform backed by Winterberg Investment X and managed by Winterberg Advisory GmbH, has acquired HSE Conseils SA, a Laténa (Neuchâtel)-headquartered specialist in construction-related pollutants, environmental services, and occupational health and safety with six additional locations across Switzerland.

Kikin Financial Secures Up To $20 Million Debt Facility Via Percent To Expand UK SME Lending

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Kikin Financial, a UK-based fintech lending platform focused on small and medium-sized enterprises, announced it has secured initial funding through Percent’s private credit platform, with capacity to access up to $20 million as it scales its UK business.

OpenAI Partners With Cerebras To Add 750MW Of Ultra Low-Latency AI Compute

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

OpenAI has partnered with Cerebras to add 750 megawatts of ultra low-latency AI compute to OpenAI’s platform, expanding the company’s inference capacity with systems designed to deliver faster, more responsive model outputs.

Facilio: Interview With Co-Founder & CEO Prabhu Ramachandran About Redefining Real Estate Operations

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

The facilities management landscape is evolving faster than ever. What was once a back-office function confined to spreadsheets and siloed CMMS tools is now emerging as a strategic lever for operational excellence, sustainability, and tenant experience. Facilio, led by Co-Founder & CEO Prabhu Ramachandran, is at the forefront of this transformation - building a connected, AI-powered platform that unifies building operations across continents. From CBRE Pacific in Australia to Brookfield, British Land, Investa, and Dubai World Trade Centre, the world’s leading property operators are embracing Facilio to modernize operations, reduce inefficiencies, and future-proof their portfolios. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Ramachandran to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

IO River Raises $20 Million Series A To Accelerate Multi-Edge Adoption And ‘Edge Decoupling’

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

IO River, a startup positioning itself as an “unbundler” of the legacy content delivery network (CDN) market, has raised a $20 million Series A round to expand its Multi-Edge platform, which aims to let enterprises operate across multiple edge providers through a neutral control layer.

Pillr Health: Funding Raised From Water Street Healthcare Partners To Expand Hospital Pharmacy Enablement Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Water Street Healthcare Partners has invested in Pillr Health, a provider of software and tech-enabled services designed to help hospitals and health systems optimize pharmacy operations, particularly within the federal 340B outpatient drug pricing program.

SkyFi: $12.7 Million Series A Closed To Broaden Access to Satellite Imagery And Analytics

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

SkyFi, an AI-first Earth intelligence platform, has raised $12.7 million in an oversubscribed Series A round to expand access to on-demand satellite imagery and built-in geospatial analytics across commercial and government use cases. The financing was co-led by Buoyant Ventures and IronGate Capital Advisors, with new participation from DNV Ventures, TFX Capital, Beyond Earth Ventures, Nova Threshold, and Chris Morisoli, alongside existing investors RSquared VC and J2 Ventures.

osapiens: $100 Million Series C Raised For Sustainable Growth Enterprise Software

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

osapiens, a provider of enterprise software focused on sustainable growth, has entered into an agreement for Decarbonization Partners—a joint venture between BlackRock and Temasek—to lead a $100 million Series C round, subject to regulatory approvals. The financing pushes osapiens to unicorn status, marking a valuation of more than $1 billion.

Amperon Adds Samsung Ventures Backing To Expand AI Energy Forecasting Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Amperon announced it has secured an investment from Samsung Venture Investment Corporation, adding a major strategic backer as the company continues international expansion and develops its next-generation AI-driven forecasting products for energy markets. The terms of the investment were not disclosed.

Vista AI: $29.5 Million Series B Raised To Expand Automated MRI Scanning Across Health Systems

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Vista AI, a provider of automated MRI scanning software for hospitals and imaging centers, has closed a $29.5 million Series B financing round backed by a mix of health systems and venture investors as it looks to scale its FDA-cleared cardiac MRI platform and broaden into additional anatomies.

Listen Labs: $69 Million Series B Closed To Bring Customer Voices Into Every Decision

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Listen Labs, an AI-first customer research platform, said it has raised $69 million in a Series B round led by Ribbit Capital, with participation from Evantic and existing investors Sequoia Capital, Conviction, and Pear VC.

Project Eleven: $20 Million Series A Raised To Build Post-Quantum Migration Tools For Digital Assets

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Project Eleven, a company focused on post-quantum security and migration for digital assets, has raised $20 million in a Series A funding round led by Castle Island Ventures, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Fin Capital, Variant, Quantonation, Nebular, Formation, Lattice Fund, Satstreet Ventures, Nascent Ventures and Balaji Srinivasan.

Quadric: $30 Million Series C Closed As Design Wins Accelerate For On-Device AI Across Edge LLMs, Automotive, And Enterprise

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Quadric, an on-device AI inference processor IP and tooling provider headquartered in Burlingame, California, has raised an oversubscribed $30 million Series C round, bringing total capital raised to $72 million. The financing was led by the ACCELERATE Fund, managed by BEENEXT Capital Management.

Meld Raises $7 Million Strategic Round To Accelerate Global Network Expansion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Meld, a provider of infrastructure for accessing digital assets and stablecoins, has raised a $7 million strategic funding round led by Lightspeed Faction, with participation from F-Prime, Yolo Investments, and Scytale Digital.

Kasa Enters Strategic Combination With Mint House, Expanding Footprint Across Key U.S. Markets

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Kasa announced it has entered into a strategic combination with Mint House, adding Mint House’s portfolio of nearly 1,000 residential hospitality units to Kasa’s platform and widening its reach in both corporate and leisure travel.

Provest Equity Partners And CTW Venture Partners Announce Strategic Joint Investment In Natural Fiber Welding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Natural Fiber Welding (NFW), a Peoria, Illinois-based materials science company developing high-performance, plant-based alternatives to petroleum-derived plastics and synthetics, said it has secured a strategic joint investment from Provest Equity Partners and CTW Venture Partners.

SPINS Acquires MikMak, Expanding Shopper Engagement And Omnichannel Activation Capabilities

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

SPINS, a provider of CPG data, insights, and commerce solutions, has acquired MikMak, a commerce intelligence and omnichannel orchestration company, as the firms push to help brands engage and measure shoppers across increasingly fragmented buying journeys.

Skild AI Raises $1.4 Billion At $14 Billion Valuation For AI Robotics Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Skild AI, a Pittsburgh-based AI robotics company developing a foundation model designed to serve as a general-purpose “brain” for multiple types of robots, announced it has raised close to $1.4 billion in new funding at a valuation above $14 billion.

Golden State Dermatology Expands Comprehensive Care With Acquisition Of NorCal Vein Specialists

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Golden State Dermatology (GSD), a physician-owned dermatology platform with 45 locations and more than 125 providers across California, has acquired NorCal Vein Specialists, a two-location vein care practice serving patients in Northern California.

Coller Capital: $17 Billion Raised For Global Private Equity Secondaries Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Coller Capital announced it has reached the final closing of Coller International Partners IX (CIP IX), its largest fund to date, bringing total capital raised in its latest fundraising cycle to $17 billion across its global private equity secondaries platform.

Jadwa Investment Launches SAR 750 Million GCC-Focused Private Credit Fund

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Jadwa Investment has launched its flagship private credit vehicle, the Jadwa GCC Diversified Private Credit Fund, targeting up to SAR 750 million (about $200 million) as the firm expands its regional private credit platform beyond deal-by-deal strategies.

Empower Adds Blackstone To Private Markets Partnership Program For DC Plans

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Empower announced Blackstone has joined its private markets investment partnership program, expanding the menu of private market strategies the retirement-services provider can offer to defined contribution plan participants through collective investment trusts.

Coating Place Lands Growth Investment From 1315 Capital To Expand Microencapsulation CDMO Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Coating Place, a U.S.-based contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) specializing in microencapsulation, has secured a strategic growth capital investment from 1315 Capital, the firms said. Financial terms were not disclosed.

OpenAssets Launches As Pointsville Parent Brand To Build the Open Standard For Assets

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

OpenAssets has launched as the new parent brand of Pointsville, positioning itself as an open-standards provider for digital financial infrastructure aimed at institutional and sovereign users. The company said it is building a “trusted foundation” for real-world asset (RWA) tokenization as capital markets move toward digital issuance and faster settlement.

PolyAI Names Ryan Longfield President Of Go-to-Market As Enterprises Move Agentic AI Into Production

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

PolyAI, an enterprise agentic AI company focused on customer experience, has appointed Ryan Longfield as President of Go-to-Market, a newly created role that expands the company’s senior leadership as it scales commercial operations amid rising enterprise demand for production-grade AI agents.

Capital Engine Announces Strategic Alliance With Regiment

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Capital Engine and Regiment Securities have formed a strategic alliance to expand distribution and co-syndication capabilities for select private-market investment opportunities, as demand grows for technology-enabled infrastructure supporting capital formation across alternative assets.

Firstsource Acquires TeleMedik to Expand Digital Offerings in U.S. Healthcare Markets

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Firstsource Solutions, a business management services provider and an RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group company, said it has acquired TeleMedik, a Puerto Rico-based developer and implementer of healthcare technology solutions, in a move aimed at strengthening its end-to-end clinical and utilization management capabilities and expanding its presence across U.S. healthcare payer and provider networks.

Lumivero Acquires SharpCloud, Aiming To Speed Up Enterprise Decision-Making

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

Lumivero, a provider of research and decision software, has acquired SharpCloud, a UK-based visualization software company that helps organizations connect disparate datasets into a single interactive view for business and portfolio decision-making.

MPearlRock Acquires The Good Crisp Company to Expand Clean-Label Salty Snacks Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 14, 2026

MPearlRock has acquired The Good Crisp Company, adding a fast-growing “better-for-you” salty snack brand to its portfolio as the firm looks to scale emerging consumer packaged goods brands with cleaner labels and broad retail potential. Financial terms were not disclosed.