Innovation

ONEOK To Acquire Brazos Midstream Assets For $4.425 Billion As Apollo Invests $9 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

ONEOK has agreed to acquire Brazos Midstream's Permian Midland Basin natural gas gathering and processing assets for $4.425 billion in cash, while Apollo will make a separate $9 billion nonvoting minority equity investment designed to fund the acquisition and accelerate ONEOK's deleveraging.

Xurrent: Interview With Chief Product Officer Phil Christianson About AI Governance And Human Oversight In IT Service Management

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

Xurrent develops software for IT service and operations teams, with a focus on IT Service Management automation. As AI takes on more repetitive tasks and increasingly gains the ability to act autonomously, the company is focused on balancing automation with human judgment, governance, auditability, and control. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Xurrent Chief Product Officer Phil Christianson to learn more.

rf IDEAS: Interview With President And CEO David Cottingham About Healthcare Third-Party Risk, And Passwordless Authentication

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

rf IDEAS focuses on identity and access technologies, and this discussion examines third-party cybersecurity risk in healthcare, passwordless authentication, FIDO standards, and stronger identity and access management. Pulse 2.0 interviewed rf IDEAS president and CEO David Cottingham to learn more.

Optilogic: Key Takeaways From OptiCon 2026

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

I recently attended part of Optilogic's OptiCon conference, where I sat in on several standout sessions from speakers across the supply chain and logistics space. From an inside look at how 3M is rethinking its global logistics strategy to Amazon's approach to last-mile delivery in Brazil and Castrol's journey building internal supply chain optimization capabilities, the sessions offered a wide-ranging view of how leading companies are using data and design to navigate an increasingly complex operating environment.

EIT Pharma Raises $35 Million Series A Led By Propel Bio Partners As Lonafarnib NDA Enters FDA Review

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

EIT Pharma has closed an oversubscribed $35 million Series A financing round to advance its infectious disease pipeline, including preparations surrounding the potential approval and commercialization of lonafarnib for chronic hepatitis D. Propel Bio Partners led the round, with participation from Good Ventures, Arrowtown, and other investors.

Diffraqtion Raises Over $10 Million With Lockheed Martin And Sumitomo As Quantum Camera Targets 20x Smaller Features

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

Diffraqtion has brought its total pre-seed funding above $10 million after receiving strategic investments from Lockheed Martin Ventures and Sumitomo Corporation's Presidio Ventures, backing development of quantum-enabled cameras for defense, space and autonomous sensing applications. The MIT and University of Maryland spinout capped the round following strong investor interest. Other participants include SBI US Gateway Fund with Plug and Play, Collaborative Fund, TekVentures, Aether VC, milemark capital and ADIN. Ground State Ventures led the first close in January 2026.

Informed Names Daniel Sogorka CEO As AI Platform Automates $350 Billion+ In Loan Originations

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

Informed has appointed lending technology veteran Daniel Sogorka as Chief Executive Officer as the AI-powered fraud detection and loan verification platform expands beyond auto lending into additional consumer finance markets.

Molten Salt Solutions Raises $7 Million Seed To Scale Lithium-6 And Lithium-7 Enrichment For Advanced Nuclear

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

Molten Salt Solutions has closed an oversubscribed $7 million seed financing round to scale production of enriched lithium isotopes needed for fusion and advanced fission technologies. Dolby Family Ventures led the round, with participation from Vanedge Capital Partners, Alumni Ventures, Gaingels, True Ventures and Future Ventures.

Carrick Closes $600 Million Saviynt Continuation Vehicle And Invests $255 Million As ARR Tops $300 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

Carrick Capital Partners has closed an oversubscribed single-asset continuation vehicle for identity security company Saviynt with approximately $600 million in capital commitments and made a new $255 million investment in the business.

Convergen Raises $15 Million Seed+ Round As Total Funding Reaches $25 Million For Protein Degradation Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

Convergen has raised $15 million in Seed+ financing to advance its targeted protein degradation platform and pipeline of potential therapies for neurodegenerative and other diseases driven by pathological protein aggregation. MPCi led the round, with participation from LAV, BioTrack Capital and another biotechnology-focused investment fund.

Landmark Credit Union Acquires North Shore Bank McHenry Branch, Adding $30+ Million In Deposits

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

Landmark Credit Union has completed its acquisition of North Shore Bank's branch in McHenry, Illinois, adding more than $30 million in deposits and expanding its physical presence in McHenry County.

Bernhard Capital Acquires Revenew To Launch Infrastructure Services Platform After $2+ Billion In Client Recoveries

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

Bernhard Capital Partners has acquired Revenew and established a new Infrastructure-Focused Professional Services platform around the Houston-based cost recovery and performance consulting company.

Deloitte Acquires Wavicle To Expand Databricks Data And AI Engineering Capabilities

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

Deloitte has acquired substantially all of the assets of Wavicle Data Solutions, expanding its Artificial Intelligence and Data practice with additional Databricks engineering capabilities and industry-specific data expertise.

Lucky Strike: Q4 Net Loss Narrows 65% As Waterpark Revenue And Profitability Surge

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

Lucky Strike Entertainment substantially narrowed its fourth-quarter loss as management pointed to improving underlying trends across bowling, events and waterparks and outlined a capital-allocation strategy designed to produce higher free cash flow and faster deleveraging.

Canadian Solar: Energy Storage Shipments Jump 73% And Beat Guidance As Backlog Reaches $3.5 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

Canadian Solar's battery energy storage business was the standout growth engine in the company's second-quarter 2026 results, with shipments rising 73% year-over-year and substantially exceeding management's guidance while contracted storage backlog reached $3.5 billion.

FinVolution: Overseas Operating Profit More Than Doubles As Unique Borrowers Surge 130%

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

FinVolution Group's overseas business delivered one of the strongest growth signals in the company's second-quarter 2026 results, with international operating profit more than doubling as the number of unique overseas borrowers increased 130%.

Lotus Technology: Deliveries Jump 39% As Revenue Rises 23% And Gross Profit Increases 47%

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

Lotus Technology reported accelerating vehicle deliveries and improved financial performance during the first half of 2026 as the introduction of its first plug-in hybrid model expanded the company's addressable market and helped drive stronger revenue and gross profit.

Malibu Boats: Adjusted EPS Jumps 119% As Adjusted EBITDA Rises 73% And Gross Margin Expands 190 Basis Points

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

Malibu Boats finished fiscal 2026 with a sharply stronger fourth quarter as higher unit volumes, the recently acquired Saxdor business and improved product mix drove substantial growth in sales, gross profit and adjusted earnings.

Materialise: Q2 Net Profit Jumps More Than 16-Fold As Operating Cash Flow Swings Positive

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

Materialise reported significantly stronger second-quarter 2026 profitability and cash generation as growth in its Medical and Manufacturing businesses combined with cost discipline to produce an outsized increase in net income.

Gaotu: Operating Cash Flow Jumps 46% To RMB861 Million As Revenue Rises 20% And Operating Loss Narrows 38%

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

Gaotu Techedu reported a significant improvement in second-quarter operating efficiency as revenue and gross billings increased at double-digit rates, operating losses narrowed sharply and operating cash inflow jumped more than 46%.

Titan Machinery: Agriculture Pre-Tax Loss Narrows 73% As Gross Margin Expands 150 Basis Points

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

Titan Machinery reported continued progress in its effort to repair inventory economics during the fiscal second quarter of 2027, with consolidated gross margin expanding 150 basis points and losses in its largest Agriculture segment narrowing substantially despite weaker revenue.

Aviat Networks: Backlog Rises 14% To $367 Million As Fiscal 2027 Adjusted EBITDA Guidance Implies Up To 50% Growth

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

Aviat Networks ended fiscal 2026 with a larger backlog, accelerating North American sales and a fiscal 2027 outlook that points to a potentially significant step-up in adjusted EBITDA.

Baozun Swings To Operating Profit As E-Commerce Adjusted Profit Jumps 161% And Brand Management Revenue Rises 22%

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

Baozun delivered a significant profitability inflection during the second quarter of 2026, swinging from an operating loss to operating income as its E-Commerce business generated substantially higher profit and its Brand Management operation continued expanding around Gap in Greater China.

Pye-Barker Acquires Suppression Systems As Fire Safety Platform Tops 250 Locations And 9,000 Employees

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

Pye-Barker Fire & Safety has acquired Suppression Systems, expanding its fire suppression and special hazard capabilities across Washington and Oregon.

RedHill Divests Talicia To Apotex For Up To $53 Million To Fund Commercial Expansion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

RedHill Biopharma has divested its 70% interest in the Talicia business to a subsidiary of Apotex Health for $18 million in upfront cash, plus up to $35 million in potential worldwide net sales milestone payments.

Construction Partners Acquires Asphalt Express To Add Liquid Asphalt Supply And Future Oklahoma Terminal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

Construction Partners has acquired Asphalt Express Enterprises, expanding the company's vertical integration with liquid asphalt supply, transportation infrastructure and a rail-served industrial site supporting operations in Oklahoma and North Texas.

CollPlant To Acquire LightSolver As Laser Processing Unit Targets 2028 Commercial Launch

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

CollPlant Biotechnologies has signed a definitive agreement to acquire LightSolver, moving the Nasdaq-listed regenerative medicine company into photonic computing and supercomputing through an equity-heavy transaction tied to technological and commercial milestones.

Farmers & Merchants Bank Sells $1 Billion Of 1.43%-Yield Bonds And Redeploys Capital At 5.13%

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach has completed a major balance sheet repositioning that included selling approximately $1 billion of low-yielding municipal bonds and redeploying capital toward substantially higher-yielding securities, debt reduction and new lending capacity.

Ranger Energy Services To Acquire STEP U.S. Coiled Tubing Assets For $27.5 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

Ranger Energy Services has agreed to acquire STEP Energy Services' U.S. coiled tubing assets for approximately $27.5 million, a transaction expected to make Ranger the second-largest onshore coiled tubing operator in the Lower 48.

LifeVantage Maintains 78% Gross Margin And Debt-Free Balance Sheet As New CEO Targets Operational Reset

By Amit Chowdhry ● Aug 31, 2026

LifeVantage entered fiscal 2027 with a debt-free balance sheet, a gross margin near 80% and substantial remaining share-repurchase capacity as newly appointed Chief Executive Officer Terrence Moorehead begins an operational reset following a difficult fiscal 2026.