Innovation

OptiGrid: Interview With CEO Tyler Phillipi About The Energy Optimization Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 16, 2025

OptiGrid is a U.S.-based company specializing in innovative electric vehicle (EV) charging solutions that integrate battery storage to enable ultrafast charging without extensive, costly, time-consuming grid infrastructure upgrades. Headquartered in Kansas City, Kansas, OptiGrid focuses on delivering modular, scalable, and sustainable charging technologies for fleet operators and commercial properties. Pulse 2.0 interviewed OptiGrid CEO Tyler Phillipi to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

Ninety: Interview With Founder & CEO Mark Abbott About The Business Operating System

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 16, 2025

Ninety is a business operating system that helps organizations run better meetings, track goals and performance (e.g., scorecards/to-dos), and work more effectively toward their vision. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Ninety founder and CEO Mark Abbott to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

Empromptu: $2 Million Pre-Seed Closed To Build Self-Managing AI Context Engine For Enterprise Software

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 16, 2025

Empromptu AI, a San Francisco-based startup focused on helping enterprises shift from static SaaS products to self-improving AI-native applications, has raised an oversubscribed $2 million pre-seed round to accelerate development of what it calls its Self-Managing Context Engine. The company said the technology is designed to allow AI features to manage, train, and improve themselves in production environments, with the broader goal of making AI deployments more reliable and maintainable at scale.

Bioxodes: €5.5 Million Series A Extension Raised To Advance BIOX-101 Toward Pivotal Hemorrhagic Stroke Trial

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 16, 2025

Bioxodes SA, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapies for thrombotic and inflammatory diseases, has raised a €5.5 million Series A extension to continue preparations for a potentially registrational Phase 2b trial of BIOX-101 in intracerebral hemorrhage. The company said it plans to initiate the pivotal Phase 2b study in 2027 and believes the program could support BIOX-101 reaching the market as early as the second half of 2030.

Boats Group: $600 Million CPP Investments Commitment Secured In Growth Deal With General Atlantic

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 16, 2025

Boats Group, a global operator of online marketplaces for boats and yachts, has announced a strategic growth investment from Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, commonly known as CPP Investments, and General Atlantic. CPP Investments has committed $600 million and will take a co control interest in Boats Group as part of the transaction.

VisIC Technologies: $26 Million Round B Second Closing Led By Global Chip Leader As Hyundai Motor And Kia Join

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 16, 2025

VisIC Technologies, a Ness Ziona, Israel-based developer of gallium nitride power semiconductors for electric mobility, said it has completed the second closing of its Round B financing, bringing in $26 million. The company said the round was led by a global semiconductor leader and included Hyundai Motor Company and Kia, together referred to as HKMC, as a strategic investor.

Navier: $5.6 Million Seed Funding Raised To Launch Agent-Driven Engineering Platform For Hardware Teams

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 16, 2025

Navier, a San Francisco-based startup developing autonomous engineering teams for hardware design and development, has raised $5.6 million in seed funding and launched from stealth. The round included participation from GV (Google Ventures), HCVC, and Y Combinator, as the company positions its technology as a new productivity layer that automates repetitive work between design and engineering groups.

Skyblue Analytics: Strategic Funding Closed To Expand Global Coverage And Accelerate AI Product Roadmap

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 16, 2025

Skyblue Analytics, a fintech infrastructure company focused on helping brokers, banks, and financial institutions build modern investment platforms, has raised a strategic investment round led by a group of industry partners and regional market participants. The round, announced December 15, 2025, included Merchant Seven, A3 Mercados, Matba Rofex, PrimaryX, and Draper Angels LATAM, with the company aiming to expand regional coverage and accelerate development of AI-enabled investment experiences.

Cofactor Genomics Secures Strategic Investment From Labcorp And Ascension Ventures

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 16, 2025

Cofactor Genomics has received strategic investments from Labcorp and Ascension Ventures to accelerate nationwide expansion of its OncoPrism® immunotherapy response diagnostic and broaden patient access across U.S. cancer care networks.

Mirelo: $41 Million Seed Funding Raised To Bring AI Soundtracks To Video, Gaming, And Visual Media

By Amit Chowdhry ● Dec 16, 2025

Mirelo, a Germany-based foundation model company focused on sound for videos, has raised a $41 million seed round led by Index Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz. Atlantic.vc and TriplePoint Capital also participated, along with notable angel investors: Yariv Adan, Alex Berriche, Léon Bottou, Burkay Gur, Thomas Hofmann, Antoine Le Nel, Coco Mao, Arthur Mensch, Laura Modiano, Jakob Uszkoreit, and Thomas Wolf.