Innovation

Bright Machines: Software-Defined Manufacturing Company Closes $126 Million In Series C Funding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 26, 2024

Bright Machines, a software-defined manufacturing, announced it has raised $126 millionin Series C funding, with $106 million in equity led by investment from funds and accounts managed by BlackRock and participation from NVIDIA, Microsoft, Eclipse, Jabil and Shinhan Securities, and with $20 million in venture debt from J.P. Morgan. This brings the company's total amount raised to more than $400 million.

HPS Investment Partners: Over $21 Billion Raised For Specialty Loan Fund VI

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 26, 2024

HPS Investment Partners, a leading global credit investment firm with about $114 billion of assets under management (AUM), announced the final close of Specialty Loan Fund VI (SLF VI), with $21.1 billion in investable capital.

AVAIO Capital: A Build-To-Core Infrastructure Investment Firm That Is Changing The $250 Billion Data Center Location Market

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 26, 2024

AVAIO Capital is a build-to-core infrastructure investment firm led by professionals from investment, development, engineering, construction, and operating backgrounds. AVAIO brings investment, development, and construction expertise to the creation and redevelopment of sustainable infrastructure assets throughout North America and Europe in four sectors: digital, water, energy transition, and transportation. Pulse 2.0 interviewed AVAIO Capital partner Mark McComisky to learn more about the firm.

Crux: Sustainable Finance Company Adds Strategic New Investors

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 26, 2024

Crux, a sustainable finance technology company, announced that it has added strategic new investors as part of its $18.2 million Series A round led by Andreessen Horowitz from January 2024. Crux has raised over $27 million in strategic and venture capital. This additional funding is being invested by a cohort of some of the nation’s largest clean energy developers, including Clearway Energy Group, EDF Renewables, Intersect Power, and Pattern Energy. And these new investors join existing strategic investors, Orsted, LS Power, and Hartree.

bitsensing: Advanced Radar Solutions Company Raises $25 Million In Series B

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 25, 2024

bitsensing - a leading provider of advanced radar solutions - announced the closing of Series B funding round at $25 million. This significant investment - which was led by prominent venture capital firms and strategic investors emphasizes bitsensing’s role in the radar technology industry and will propel the company toward its ambitious global growth and innovation goals to bring radar everywhere.

TravelPerk Secures $135 Million And Buys AmTrav

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 25, 2024

TravelPerk - a hyper-growth global business travel management platform - announced its acquisition of AmTrav, doubling down on its expansion in the US.

Corpay Acquiring Cross-Border Payments Company GPS Capital Markets

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 25, 2024

Global corporate payments company Corpay announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to buy GPS Capital Markets. GPS offers business-to-business cross-border and treasury management solutions to upper-middle market companies, primarily in the US.

Liquid Instruments: $12 Million Raised To Expand Manufacturing Operations In Australia

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 25, 2024

Liquid Instruments, a leading innovator of reconfigurable test instrumentation, announced that it has secured a new round of funding totaling $12 million, featuring a $10 million investment from Breakthrough Victoria, with other investors including Lockheed Martin Ventures, Acorn Capital, and Powerhouse Ventures.

Berg Enterprises: $2.5 Million Raised In Round Led By Antina Capital

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 25, 2024

Berg Enterprises announced a $2.5 million funding round, led by Antina Capital and structured as a combination of private debt and equity.

MeetRecord: Revenue Automation Company Closes $2.7 Million In Pre-Series A Funding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 25, 2024

Leading revenue automation platform company MeetRecord announced it raised $2.7 million in Pre-Series A funding. This funding round was led by SWC Global, a venture capital fund based in Singapore, with additional support from existing investor All In Capital.

Tiger Infrastructure Partners Fund III: Growth Capital Closed With Acquisition Of Unison Energy

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 25, 2024

Tiger Infrastructure Partners, a middle market growth infrastructure investor, announced the acquisition of Unison Energy, a fully integrated Energy-as-a-Service (EaaS) platform that offers behind-the-meter microgrid solutions, including comprehensive power, heating, and cooling solutions to a wide array of end-markets in North America.

TowerBrook Capital Partners: Majority Equity Investment In LiftWerx

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 25, 2024

TowerBrook Capital Partners L.P., a New York and London-based international investment firm, announced a majority equity investment in LiftWerx Holdings, a Canada-based operations and maintenance services provider to the onshore wind industry.

Substrate Labs: AI Infrastructure Company Closes $8 Million In Seed Funding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 25, 2024

AI infrastructure company Substrate Labs announced an $8 million seed round to deliver elegant APIs that enable developers to build more modular AI systems, accelerating a new era of software development. The funding round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from South Park Commons, Craft Ventures, Guillermo Rauch (Vercel), Immad Akhund (Mercury), Will Gaybrick (Stripe), and others.

YachtWay: How This Company Is Transforming The $10+ Billion Yacht Market

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 25, 2024

YachtWay is a leading platform for discovering yachts tailored to desired experiences, which CEO Heigo Paartalu founded. Under Paartalu’s leadership, YachtWay sets industry benchmarks with innovative SaaS solutions, offering a modern MLS+ platform for dealers, brokers, and shipyards. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Paartalu to learn more about the company.

āshibio: Bone And Connective Tissue Disorder Therapy Company Secures $40 Million In Seed And Series A

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 25, 2024

āshibio, a privately held biotechnology company developing novel therapeutics for treating bone and connective tissue disorders, exited stealth mode with $40 million in seed and Series A financing. MPM BioImpact led the Series A round, with contributing funds from Agent Capital, YK Bioventures, and Mirae Asset Venture Investment. In connection with the funding, Agent Capital Partner and Co-Founder Preston Noon have joined the Board of Directors.

Wordsmith: AI-Based Legal Assistant Platform Company Closes $5 Million In Seed Funding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 25, 2024

Wordsmith, an AI-based legal assistant platform, announced it has raised $5 million to transform the legal industry and unleash a new generation of hyper-skilled legal professionals. Index Ventures led this seed funding, which was joined by General Catalyst and angel investors, including Skyscanner founder Gareth Williams.

FairNow: AI Governance Software Company Raises $3.5 Million In Seed Funding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 25, 2024

FairNow, a leading McLean, Virginia-based provider of AI governance software, announced that it has secured $3.5 million in a seed funding round. The funding will help FairNow accelerate its mission of equipping enterprises with a governance platform that manages AI-related business and regulatory risks.

M2X Energy: Transportable Gas-To-Liquids Systems Company Raises $40 Million In Series B Funding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 25, 2024

M2X Energy, an end-to-end developer of modular, transportable gas-to-liquid systems that economically produce low-carbon methanol from stranded methane, announced today a $40 million Series B financing round led by Conifer Infrastructure Partners. The existing Series A investors, including Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), Eni Next, Add Ventures by SCG, and Autodesk Foundation, are joining the round.

Vecna Robotics: Flexible Material Handling Automation Solutions Company Raises $100 Million In Series C

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 25, 2024

Vecna Robotics, a leader in flexible material handling automation solutions, announced its Series C round closing at $100 million, with $40 million in new funding including equity and debt, nearly doubling the company valuation from the previous round. Tiger Global Management, Proficio Capital Partners, and IMPULSE joined in the round.

QpiAI: AI/Quantum Computing Company Raises $6.5 Million In Pre-Series A Funding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 25, 2024

QpiAI announced it closed its first external investment, a pre-series A funding of $6.5 million led by Yournest and SVCL. WFC, Ramesh Radhakrishnan, Ramaswamy Prabhakar, Quick Heal Security founders Kailash Katkar and Sanjay Katkar and their family office, Lakshmi Lakshmeenarayanan, Bhupinder Singh, Pratap Reddy, Sahasra Capital, and other angels also joined the round. Debraj Banerjee from SIDBI Venture Capital will be joining the board of QpiAI as a nominee.

Verituity: Verified Payout Platform Company Secures $18.8 Million In Funding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 25, 2024

Verituity - a leading provider of verified payout solutions - announced the closing of an $18.8 million funding round led by Sandbox Industries and Forgepoint Capital with the participation of Ardent Venture Partners and MTech Capital. In connection with the funding, Chris Zock, Managing Partner and Co-CEO of Sandbox Industries will join Verituity’s board of directors.

Avolon: Aviation Finance Company Raises $750 Million Unsecured Bank Facility

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 24, 2024

Global aviation finance company Avolon announced it has raised $750 million in a new unsecured credit facility with a syndicate of seven banks mostly in the Middle East and India. The deal diversifies Avolon’s sources of capital, accessing new liquidity pools with significant interest in high-quality lending opportunities in the aviation sector.

GrayMatter: AI-Based Robotics Company Raises $45 Million In Series B Funding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 24, 2024

GrayMatter Robotics, an AI-based robotics leader empowering humans with intelligent automation, announced $45 million in Series B funding. Wellington Management led the funding round, which also included NGP Capital, Euclidean Capital, Advance Venture Partners, SQN Venture Partners, and other existing investors 3M Ventures, B Capital, Bow Capital, Calibrate Ventures, OCA Ventures, and Swift Ventures.

Gynger: Corporate Technology Purchasing Platform Company Raises $20 Million In Series A

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 24, 2024

Gynger—the first embedded financing platform for technology purchases—announced that it has raised $20 million in Series A funding, led by PayPal Ventures and with participation from Gradient Ventures, Velvet Sea Ventures, BAG Ventures, and Deciens Capital.

Maxterial: Material Science Company Raises Nearly $8 Million In Series A

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 24, 2024

Maxterial, a technology company focused on pioneering advancements in material science, including the commercialization of advanced coatings, announced the successful closure of its Series A funding round at nearly $8 million. This milestone emphasizes Maxterial's rising influence in disruptive material science technologies and its commitment to reshaping traditional industry norms with dynamic and environmentally responsible solutions.

SES: Successful Syndication And Raising Of €3 Billion Acquisition Financing

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 24, 2024

SES S.A. announced the successful syndication of a €3 billion equivalent acquisition financing package to support the earlier announced agreement for SES to acquire Intelsat S.A. Before the Intelsat deal announcement, Deutsche Bank AG and Morgan Stanley jointly underwrote a €3 billion bridge facility to support SES’s financing requirements as part of the agreement to acquire Intelsat.

Insightec: Focused Ultrasound Company Raises $150 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 24, 2024

Insightec, a healthcare company dedicated to using focused ultrasound to transform patient care, announced it has raised an oversubscribed $150 million in equity financing. This round was led by Fidelity Management & Research Company and co-led by Nexus Neurotech Ventures and Ally Bridge Group.

Vehya: $2.1 Million Seed Funding Raised To Drive Innovation In The Service Industry

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 24, 2024

Vehya, an easy-to-use mobile app dedicated to automating the installation, repair, and routine maintenance processes for home and small business services, announced the successful completion of a $2.1 million seed funding round. And the funding will enhance the platform's AI capabilities, expand its service offerings, and accelerate growth in key markets like California, Texas, Florida, Maryland, and Michigan.

Fay: Helping Dietitians Reach More Americans And Build Private Practices With AI-Based Tools

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 24, 2024

Fay is an online platform that gives Americans access to Registered Dietitians through their insurance and empowers dietitians to build private practices with Fay's AI-powered tools. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Fay co-founder and CEO Sam Faycurry to learn more about the company.

Riskonnect Buying GRC Enterprise Software Company Camms

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 24, 2024

Riskonnect, a leader in integrated risk management (IRM) solutions, announced the acquisition of Camms, a leading provider of enterprise cloud-based software for governance, risk, and compliance (GRC). And this acquisition fuels innovation for Riskonnect and drives new value for customers of the combined organization by equipping them to bring all aspects of risk under one roof with an enhanced suite of solutions.