Innovation

Hydrolix: $80 Million (Series C) Raised For Data Lake Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 3, 2025

Portland-based Hydrolix announced the closing of an $80 million Series C investment round, led by QED Investors, joined by Blumberg Capital, Frontline Ventures, Pruven Capital and Sozo Ventures, along with existing investors that include Akamai, AV8 Ventures, Ericsson Ventures, Nava Ventures, Oregon Venture Fund, S3 Ventures, Uncorrelated Ventures and Wing Venture Capital. And Chuckie Reddy, QED partner and head of growth investments, will join the Hydrolix board as a director.

Equal Parts: $10 Million Raised To Launch Next-Gen Insurance Agency

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 3, 2025

Equal Parts, a next-generation insurance agency combining the power of traditional relationship-based distribution with best-in-class AI technology, announced it has launched with $10 million in acquisition capital led by Equal Ventures and Max Ventures, the company announced today. And Equal Parts’ goal is to build a new model for independent insurance agencies amid a decade-long flood of consolidation by traditional private equity firms.

Atomic: $10 Million Raised For Financial Connectivity Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 3, 2025

Atomic, a market leader in growing account primacy and enabling financial connectivity that drives action, announced a $10 million strategic investment with participation from Capital One Ventures, Citi Ventures, and F.N.B. Corporation. This funding round affirms Atomic’s position as a trusted partner for financial services across various use cases. And the funding will be used to further innovation and expansion.

EVident Battery: $3.2 Million (Seed) Raised For EV Battery Pack Inspection Technology

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 3, 2025

EVident Battery, a leader in sustainable and advanced battery technology, announced the closing of a $3.2 million seed funding round. This funding will support the company's mission to accelerate the development of next-generation battery inspection solutions that address the uncertainty of EV battery pack health in the aftermarket and quality optimization in the battery pack manufacturing process.

Nerdio: $500 Million (Series C) Raised At Over $1 Billion Valuation To Transform How Organizations Deploy Microsoft Cloud Technologies

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 3, 2025

Nerdio, an automated End-User Computing (EUC) platform transforming how organizations deploy and manage Microsoft cloud technologies, recently announced it has signed a definitive agreement for a $500 million minority investment from General Atlantic with participation from Lead Edge Capital and StepStone. Upon the closing of the deal, this funding will quadruple Nerdio's valuation in just two years to $1+ billion.

Upscale Conference: Interview With Head Of Marketing Paula Vivas About The High-Profile Events

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 3, 2025

Upscale Conference is an event by Freepik that brings together industry leaders and powerhouses to discuss the impact of genAI in the creative and design sectors. One of the most recent Upscale Conference events happened in Spain this past May and the next one is set for May in San Francisco. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Freepik and Upscale Conference Head of Marketing Paula Vivas to learn more about the event.

Simply.TV: Majority Growth Investment Raised From Summit Partners

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 3, 2025

Simply.TV, a video metadata provider, announced the acquisition of Red Bee Media’s Content Discovery Business. This move accelerates Simply.TV’s global expansion strengthens its position in the U.S. market. In connection with this deal, Simply.TV has secured a majority growth equity investment from Summit Partners, marking the company’s first institutional funding.

MDA Space Buying SatixFy Communications In $193 Million Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 3, 2025

MDA Space (a mission partner to the rapidly expanding global space industry) and SatixFy Communications (a leader in next-generation satellite communication solutions based on in-house-designed chipsets) announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which MDA Space will acquire all outstanding shares of SatixFy in an all-cash transaction for $2.10 per share.

Linden Capital Partners: Structured Capital Fund II Closed At $400 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 3, 2025

Linden Capital Partners - a Chicago-based healthcare private equity firm - announced the closing of Linden Structured Capital Fund II (SCF II. This fund closed with $400 million of commitments, exceeding the prior structured capital fund (SCF I) size of approximately $355 million.

HarbourVest Launches Private Investment Fund

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 3, 2025

HarbourVest Partners, a leading global private markets investment specialist with over $143 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2024, announced the launch of the HarbourVest Private Investment Fund (HPIF). HPIF was designed to provide a single entry point to HarbourVest’s multi-manager, direct private equity (PE) platform.

VCU Startup Wins Grant For Infection-Fighting Surgical Gel

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 3, 2025

A Virginia Commonwealth University startup with an innovation that could enhance brain and spinal surgeries received a $800,000 state grant to support the development of its infection-fighting gel. Pascal Medical is one of four grant recipients to receive awards from Virginia Catalyst, a nonprofit created by the General Assembly and funded via the state’s general fund and seven public research universities, including VCU. Catalyst CEO Mike Grisham said the nonprofit's goal is to provide funding that helps industry partners and academic investigators raise follow-on investments.

Providence Equity Partners Buying Tax Systems From Bowmark Capital

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 3, 2025

Providence Equity Partners - a specialist private equity investment firm focused on growth-oriented media, communications, education, and technology companies - announced the acquisition of Tax Systems (global tax and accounting software provider) from Bowmark Capital, the mid-market private equity firm specializing in technology, data, and service companies. And Providence’s investment will support Tax Systems’ continued platform expansion and innovation, targeting new tax and regulatory compliance solutions in existing and new geographies.

JM Test Systems Acquiring Alabama Scale & Instrument

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 3, 2025

JM Test Systems - a leading provider of test equipment solutions and calibration services - announced the acquisition of Alabama Scale & Instrument (ASI), expanding its presence in the Southeast and enhancing its capabilities in test equipment services.

Emovid: Seed Funding Raised For Advancing Authentic Business Communication

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 3, 2025

Emovid, a platform built to enable unified and asynchronous video, text, and audio communication for businesses, announced its seed funding round closing, bringing total funding to nearly $7 million. The seed funding round was led by o-kaisha Investments, the investment arm of the Oki Family Office (Scott Oki led the first billion dollars worth of sales for Microsoft).

CEAR: Funding Raised From Ancor Capital Partners

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 3, 2025

Ancor Capital Partners - an operations-focused private investment firm based in the Dallas-Fort Worth area - announced an investment in CEAR, a leading electronics recycling and IT asset disposition (ITAD) service based in Mather, California.

Unframe: Turnkey AI Platform Company Raises $50 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 3, 2025

Unframe, an all-in-one turnkey AI platform for global enterprises, emerged from stealth today with $50 million in funding from Bessemer Venture Partners, TLV Partners, Craft Ventures, Third Point Ventures, SentinelOne Ventures, Cerca Partners, and Terra Nova Ventures. The funding will support Unframe’s global expansion and sales growth while enhancing its platform by accelerating R&D and innovation.

25karats: Interview With Co-Founder & CEO Naz Aksu About The Online Jewelry Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 3, 2025

25karats is a company that controls the sourcing, manufacturing, and product distribution of jewelry to provide better prices while also raising the quality bar on the competition. Pulse 2.0 interviewed 25karats co-founder and CEO, Naz Aksu, to learn more about the company.

Xcellerant Ventures Partners With AZ Venture Capital To Invest In Arizona-Based Startups

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 2, 2025

Xcellerant Ventures (XVC) announced a strategic partnership with AZ Venture Capital (AVC), bringing $7 million in new funding to Arizona-based health technology startups. The $7 million in total funding, which is available for Arizona startups, was made possible by a $5 million investment by AVC into XVC’s Fund.

Vivere Partners: $7.5 Million (Series A) Secured For Launching Specialty Insurance Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 2, 2025

Vivere Partners, a specialty insurance platform established to focus on niche insurance lines, announced the completion of a $7.5 million Series A funding round led by General Catalyst, Pathlight Ventures, and Greenlight Re.

ControlTheory: $5 Million (Seed) Raised For Controllability For Observability

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 2, 2025

ControlTheory, a company focused on controllability for observability, announced it has raised $5 million in seed funding from Silverton Partners. This milestone supports the launch of its innovative Observability Control Platform, enabling technology leaders to regain control of their observability through cost control, operational control, and adaptive control.

Founders At University Of Cambridge Reveal Second Accelerator Cohort

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 2, 2025

Founders at the University of Cambridge have revealed the eight venture science startups participating in the second START Accelerator.

UC Berkeley Student Launches Startup Code Blue For Detecting Stroke Signs

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 2, 2025

This UC Berkeley student launched a startup for detecting stroke signs.

Iron Prairie Ventures: $15 Million Fund Launched For Investing On Seed-Stage Investments

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 2, 2025

Iron Prairie Ventures announced it has raised a $15 million fund focused on pre-seed and seed-stage investments in startups fueling the industrial sector's digital transformation. This fund will support companies in developing innovative solutions across the construction, manufacturing, infrastructure, logistics, and supply chain sectors.

VQ Biomedical: $5 Million (Seed) Raised For Duke University Medical Tech Spin-Out

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 2, 2025

VQ Biomedical, a medical technology company developing an innovative oxygenation catheter for treating acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), announced it has closed a $1.65 million round. The funding is led by Harbright Ventures, the Wolfpack Investor Network (WIN), and Duke Capital Partners (DCP) with a collective $970,000 investment.

Atombeam: Interview With Co-Founder & CEO Charles Yeomans About The Data Storage Application Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 2, 2025

Atombeam is a company that is on the cutting edge of data reduction for IoT and data storage applications. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Atombeam co-founder and CEO Charles Yeomans to learn more about the company.

University Of Tennessee Research Foundation Invests In VisualizAI

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 2, 2025

The University of Tennessee Research Foundation’s (UTRF) Accelerate Fund announced its second investment of $150,000 to VisualizAI, a pioneering AI startup focused on transforming healthcare claims processing.

Bandana: Interview With Co-Founder & CEO Tim Makalinao About The Rapidly Growing Job Search Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 2, 2025

Bandana is a company that empowers hourly and entry-level workers and gives them the tools they need to transform their lives for the better -- starting with finding a better, higher-paying job. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Bandana co-founder and CEO Tim Makalinao to learn more about the company.

InfiniLink: $10 Million (Seed) Funding Raised For Advancing Development Of Optical Connectivity Solutions

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 2, 2025

InfiniLink - a semiconductor startup specializing in advanced optical data connectivity chips for AI-driven data centers - announced the closing of a $10 million funding round. This seed-stage funding round was joined by MediaTek, a leading fabless semiconductor company, and Sukna Ventures, based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with participation from the Egyptian VC firm Egypt Ventures and angel investor M Empire Angels.

Contoro Robotics: $12 Million (Series A) Secured For AI-Based Trailer Unloading To Scale

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 2, 2025

Contoro Robotics announced a $12 million Series A round to scale its AI-powered trailer and container unloading robots, solving one of the most grueling and labor-intensive challenges in logistics. The funding round brings in new investors Doosan, Coupang, Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund, and IMM, along with continued backing from SV Investment, KB Investment, Kakao Ventures, and Future Play, bringing Contoro's total funding to $22 million.

HackerOne: Interview With Security Solutions Architect Shobhit Gautam About The Global Leader In Offensive Solutions

By Amit Chowdhry ● Apr 2, 2025

HackerOne is a global leader in finding and fixing critical vulnerabilities and AI safety issues. It harnesses the creativity of the world’s largest community of security researchers with cutting-edge AI to protect your digital assets. Pulse 2.0 interviewed HackerOne Security Solutions Architect Shobhit Gautam to learn more about the company.