Innovation

Stark Power Secures Up To NIS 146 Million (About $48 Million) To Accelerate Growth

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

Stark Power, a US-focused energy infrastructure and data center development company, announced an equity raise of up to approximately NIS 146 million (~$48 million), anchored by Migdal Insurance, one of Israel's largest institutional investors, along with the company's current largest shareholders.

Glacis Labs Raises $6.8 Million To Scale ZeroDelta Digital Asset Clearing Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

Glacis Labs raised $6.8 million in seed funding to expand ZeroDelta, its multichain clearinghouse designed to match, net, and settle digital asset transactions across blockchain networks. The round was led by Lightspeed Faction, with participation from Franklin Templeton, Coinbase Ventures, Again, formerly known as IDC Ventures, Protein Capital, and Techni Ventures. Glacis Labs plans to use the funding to expand its team, scale operations, and accelerate the commercial rollout of ZeroDelta.

Proaction Announces $4.2 Million In Funding To Build The Modern Alternative To Legacy Fleet Management Services

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

Proaction, an AI-native fleet management technology and services company, announced $4.2 million in funding to build a modern alternative to the expensive, outdated methods commercial fleets are traditionally managed. New investors include GTMfund, Breakers, Aviso Ventures, and Iowa InnoVenture, with continued participation from Holman Growth Ventures and the Iowa Economic Development Authority.

Neko Health Raises $700 Million Series C Ahead Of U.S. Launch

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

Neko Health raised $700 million in Series C funding to open its first U.S. clinics and expand its technology-driven preventive healthcare platform across additional markets. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and co-led by O.G. Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors Atomico, General Catalyst, and Lakestar. New investors included Liberty City Ventures, Positive Sum, and BDT & MSD. David Ofer of O.G. Venture Partners is expected to join Neko Health’s board of directors, subject to regulatory approval.

Jacobs Secures Three UK National Highways Contracts For Viaduct Renewal And Project Management

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

Jacobs, a Dallas-based global infrastructure and engineering firm with approximately $12 billion in annual revenue, has secured three new contracts with National Highways, the UK government company responsible for operating, maintaining, and improving England's motorways and major A-roads. The awards expand Jacobs' role across the strategic road network in design, asset renewal, and project management.

Invest in Women Taskforce Surpasses £115 Million Deployed Across 22 Deals

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

The Invest in Women Taskforce, a UK initiative backed by His Majesty's Treasury and the Department for Business and Trade, has announced that more than £115 million in capital has now been deployed through its funding pool across 22 deals, with additional transactions in the pipeline. The milestone marks the transition of the Taskforce's work from capital-raising to active deployment into women-led and mixed fund managers and businesses.

Fiduciary Services Group Acquires Retirement Plan Administrator RetireWell

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

Fiduciary Services Group (FSG), the parent company of DWC – The 401(k) Experts, announced it has acquired RetireWell Administrators, a New Jersey-based third-party administrator (TPA) specializing in retirement plan administration and consulting services.

LatentView Analytics Appoints Sonal Ramrakhiani As Chief Executive Officer To Accelerate Global AI-Led Growth

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

Latent View Analytics, an AI-driven analytics, data engineering, and consulting firm, announced the appointment of Sonal Ramrakhiani as its Chief Executive Officer, effective July 15, 2026. Rajan Sethuraman, who has served as CEO since 2019, will transition to the role of Strategic Advisor to the CEO, working closely with Ramrakhiani and the Board for up to six months to ensure a seamless handover of leadership responsibilities.

Global Business Consultants: Interview With Senior Business Consultant Erick Parker

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

Global Business Consultants is a business consulting firm that helps small business owners implement data-driven operational and financial management strategies, offering services like access to capital, bookkeeping, payroll, and personalized strategic roadmaps to grow revenue and improve efficiency from startup through exit. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Global Business Consultants Senior Business Consultant, Operations & Financial Management, Erick Parker, to learn more.

Google Renames NotebookLM As Gemini Notebook And Adds Native Code Execution

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

Google is renaming NotebookLM as Gemini Notebook, marking the next phase for the AI-powered research and learning product that was first introduced at Google I/O 2023 as Project Tailwind.

DeweyLearn Raises $5 Million Series A To Scale AI-Powered Skills Assessment

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

DeweyLearn has raised $5 million in an oversubscribed Series A funding round to expand its multimodal artificial intelligence platform for evaluating real-world skills and delivering expert-level feedback at scale. SJF Ventures led the round, with participation from Catalysis Capital, Morningside, Owl Ventures and other investors.

Uplift Investors Closes Debut Fund At $670 Million Hard Cap

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

Uplift Investors, a Darien, Connecticut-based private equity firm focused on services investing, has closed its inaugural fund with $670 million in capital commitments at its hard cap. The firm was founded in March 2025 by Will Hausberg, Doug Rosenstein, and Brad Skaf, three partners who have invested together on every deal for the past decade. Capital came from a diversified base of limited partners including pensions, endowments, foundations, insurance companies, and family offices.

Northbase Finance Closes Capital Partnership With Oaktree to Support Equipment Financing Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

Northbase Finance announced the closing of a revolving credit facility with Oaktree through its Asset-Backed Finance strategy, providing up to $300 million in scalable financing capacity. The facility will support the continued expansion of Northbase's North American equipment financing platform, focused on critical operating assets across power generation, compression, energy transformation infrastructure, and industrial markets in the United States and Canada.

Mauna Kea Technologies Secures €4 Million Optional Shareholder Loan To Support Commercial Expansion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

Mauna Kea Technologies, a Paris and Boston-based medical device company and inventor of the Cellvizio confocal laser endomicroscopy platform, has established a shareholder loan agreement with long-standing investor Vester Finance for up to €4 million in optional financing over 24 months. As of the announcement date, no funds have been drawn. The company retains sole discretion over whether and when to access the facility, with no contractual obligation to draw, and may suspend or terminate the agreement at any time at no cost.

AST SpaceMobile Proposes $1 Billion Convertible Senior Notes Offering To Expand Space-Based Cellular Network

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

AST SpaceMobile has announced plans to offer $1 billion in convertible senior notes due 2034 through a private placement to qualified institutional buyers.

Thrust Capital Partners Acquires Alphacasting, Canada’s Only Titanium Casting Foundry

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

Thrust Capital Partners (TCP), a Canadian private equity firm focused exclusively on the aerospace and defense industry supply chain, has acquired Alphacasting Inc., a Montreal-based precision investment casting foundry serving the aerospace and defense sectors. Financial terms were not disclosed. Norton Rose Fulbright Canada and KPMG served as legal and tax advisors to TCP; Spiegel Ryan and MNP Corporate Finance acted as legal and financial advisors to the sellers.

Wipfli Names Kristy Britt Chief Financial Officer

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

Wipfli has appointed Kristy Britt as chief financial officer and partner, strengthening the firm's finance leadership team as it continues to support growth, operational excellence, and long-term strategy.

Modera Wealth Management Appoints Gaurav Mallik As CIO And Shelly Kapoor As COO

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

Modera Wealth Management has appointed Gaurav Mallik as chief investment officer and Shelly Kapoor as chief operating officer, adding two experienced wealth management executives as the registered investment adviser expands its investment capabilities, technology platform and operational infrastructure.

Sizemore To Acquire Carlson Building Maintenance, Establishing Dedicated Retail Division

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

Sizemore, an integrated facilities management company backed by Los Angeles-based private equity firm Inspirit Equity, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Carlson Building Maintenance, a Minneapolis-based janitorial and facility services provider serving retail, grocery, and commercial customers across the Midwest. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Green Street Expands Self-Storage And Real Assets Intelligence Platform With Acquisition of StorTrack

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

Green Street, the leading provider of trusted real assets intelligence and unbiased insights, announced the acquisition of StorTrack, the premier provider of market intelligence, pricing data, and analytics for the self-storage industry. The acquisition also brings StorTrack's other platforms into the Green Street family, including ListSelfStorage.com, the world's leading marketplace for buying and selling self-storage facilities, and RVParkIQ.com, the premier platform for buying, selling, and evaluating RV park and campground investments.

Kind Designs Closes $10 Million Round to Scale 3D-Printed Living Seawalls

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

Kind Designs, a Miami-based climate resilience company, announced the close of a $10 million Pre-Series A round at a $70 million valuation, bringing the company's total funding to date to $21.5 million. The company had set out to raise $5 million but drew nearly $20 million in investor interest, pushing it to double the round. The round was backed by Mark Cuban, NY Angels, TaMiami, former Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, and NBA forward Kyle Kuzma.

Beacon Security Raises $13 Million Seed Funding To Build AI-Native Cyber Defense Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

Beacon Security has raised $13 million in seed funding to expand its agentic cybersecurity platform and provide enterprises with a trusted data foundation for human analysts and autonomous security agents. Notable Capital led the round, with participation from Holly Ventures, AlphaDrive Ventures, SVCI, Jefferies Family Office and more than 60 cybersecurity founders and chief information security officers. The investor group includes founders associated with Talon, Descope, Gem Security, Dig Security and Cider Security.

Xenter Raises $58.25 Million Series B To Accelerate TechMed Platform Commercialization

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

Xenter has raised $58.25 million in Series B funding to support the commercial launch of its diagnostics business, expand manufacturing capacity and advance its wireless medical devices and AI-enabled healthcare intelligence platform.

Lockheed Martin Ventures Opens London Office And Earmarks $100 Million For UK And European Defense Tech Investments

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

Lockheed Martin is expanding its venture capital operations into the United Kingdom and Europe, opening a London office and committing at least $100 million of its $1 billion Lockheed Martin Ventures fund to investments in British and European defense technology startups. The move follows Lockheed Martin's April 2026 decision to more than double the fund's investment capacity from $400 million to $1 billion — the largest capital increase in the fund's history.

NxLite Completes $13.1 Million Series A And $3.5 Million Debt Facility And Adds Erin Sawyer to Board

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

NxLite, the manufacturer of air-stable, energy-efficient coatings for glass and polymeric substrates, announced the final close of its Series A financing, a $3.5 million debt facility from RSF Social Finance, and the appointment of technology supply chain leader Erin Sawyer to its board of directors.

Del Monte Corporation Upsizes Revolving Credit Facility By $150 Million To $900 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

Del Monte Corporation has amended its senior unsecured revolving credit facility, increasing total commitments by $150 million to $900 million.

USFM To Combine With Twin Vee, Creating Public Company Focused On Greenland Critical Minerals Project

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

USFM Corporation has entered into a definitive agreement to combine with Nasdaq-listed Twin Vee PowerCats, creating a publicly traded mineral exploration company focused on the Disko-Nuussuaq nickel-copper-cobalt-platinum group elements project in Greenland. Financial terms and the ownership structure of the combined company were not disclosed.

Alpaca Raises $135 Million To Scale Agent-First Brokerage Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

Alpaca has raised $135 million to expand its brokerage infrastructure for tokenized markets, agentic trading and AI-native financial services. Peak XV Partners led the round, with significant participation from Elefund. Additional new and returning investors included Opera Tech Ventures, the venture capital arm of BNP Paribas Group, and Unbound.

SWISSto12 Raises $70 Million Series C to Scale Satellite and Payload Manufacturing

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 16, 2026

SWISSto12, a Swiss satellite and payload manufacturer founded in 2011 and headquartered in Renens, Switzerland, has closed a $70 million (€61 million) Series C to expand manufacturing and integration capacity in response to growing demand from commercial and sovereign government customers. The fundraise follows the company's announcement of an $84.8 million (€73 million) award from European Space Agency member states to support development and in-orbit validation of HummingSat through the ARTES partnership program.

Spectro Cloud Raises Over $100 Million Series D To Scale Production AI Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 15, 2026

Spectro Cloud has raised more than $100 million in an oversubscribed Series D funding round to expand its AI infrastructure management platform for enterprises, public-sector organizations, neocloud providers and sovereign cloud operators. Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives led the round, with strategic participation from AMD Ventures, Ericsson, LG Technology Ventures and Maximus. The financing brings Spectro Cloud’s total capital raised to $260 million.