Innovation

atNorth Appoints Fredrik Jansson Senior Advisor As Nordic Data Center Company Continues Expansion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

atNorth has appointed Fredrik Jansson as Senior Advisor as the Nordic data center company continues expanding its high-density colocation and built-to-suit infrastructure across the region.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Reappoints Richard Byrne As CEO As Michael Comparato Moves To Senior Advisor Role

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

Franklin BSP Realty Trust has reappointed Richard Byrne as Chief Executive Officer as the commercial real estate debt REIT implements a leadership transition focused on continuity and portfolio execution.

Ispire: Q4 Revenue Jumps 33% To $26.7 Million As Malaysia Manufacturing And Vapor ODM Ramp Up

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

Ispire Technology reported a sharp improvement in fourth-quarter revenue as the vaping technology and precision-dosing company begins scaling new manufacturing and original-design-manufacturing initiatives.

Aeluma: Q4 Cash Rises To $56 Million As AI Photonics Commercialization Efforts Accelerate

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

Aeluma ended its fiscal fourth quarter with $56 million in cash and cash equivalents, up sharply from $37.8 million in the previous quarter, giving the semiconductor company additional resources to expand manufacturing capacity, product development and commercialization efforts across AI datacom and advanced computing.

Stifel Adds Chris Morrison, Matt Scott And Arianne Perry To Expand East Coast Venture Banking

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

Stifel Financial has hired Chris Morrison, Matt Scott and Arianne Perry as managing directors as the financial services firm expands its Venture Banking and Venture Capital Coverage operations across New York and Boston.

Vector Capital Appoints Former Vista And TPG Executive Kiran Rao To Lead AI-Era Value Creation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

Vector Capital has appointed Kiran Rao as Managing Director and Head of Value Creation as the private equity firm strengthens its operating capabilities around artificial intelligence and technology-company transformation. Rao will also serve on Vector's Management Committee.

Brown Brothers Harriman Names Kevin Stone Managing Partner And CEO, Succeeding William Tyree

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

Brown Brothers Harriman has named longtime partner and Chief Financial Officer Kevin W. Stone as its next Managing Partner, positioning the 208-year-old private financial services firm for a leadership transition at the start of 2027.

Amazon Raises Minimum Starting Pay For Full-Time U.S. Operations Employees To $20 Per Hour

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

Amazon is increasing the minimum starting wage for its U.S. full-time core operations employees to $20 per hour as the company prepares for the holiday shopping season, according to ABC News. The $1-per-hour increase will take effect September 27 and applies to employees working in areas such as packing and shipping customer orders.

IONATE Partners With General Motors To Deploy Hybrid Intelligent Transformer At Michigan Plant

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

IONATE, a deeptech company developing hardware and software for smarter electrical grids, is collaborating with General Motors to deploy its Hybrid Intelligent Transformer technology at GM's manufacturing plant in Romulus, Michigan, marking IONATE's entry into the U.S. market.

Hanwha Finance Expands Abu Dhabi Partnership Across Digital Assets, Stablecoins And Cross-Border Financial Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

Hanwha Finance is expanding its financial cooperation with Abu Dhabi through new partnerships focused on digital assets, capital markets, digital banking and cross-border financial infrastructure, advancing what the South Korean financial group describes as a "Digital Asset Silk Road" between Korea and the United Arab Emirates.

Ara Partners Acquires Majority Stake In Bryden Wood To Scale Decarbonization, Data Center And Advanced Manufacturing Projects

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

Ara Partners has acquired a majority interest in Bryden Wood, a London-based integrated design and engineering consultancy focused on mission-critical infrastructure, as the private markets firm looks to accelerate the development of industrial decarbonization, data center, and advanced manufacturing projects.

MISUMI Americas Launches $50 Million Venture Fund To Back Robotics, Physical AI And Advanced Hardware Startups

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

MISUMI Americas has launched MISUMI Ventures, a $50 million early-stage venture fund focused on companies building frontier hardware, robotics, automation, industrial AI and other advanced physical technologies.

Sheridan Capital Partners Invests In PtEverywhere To Scale Physical Therapy Practice Management And Payments Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

Sheridan Capital Partners has completed an investment in PtEverywhere, a practice management and integrated payments software platform serving outpatient physical therapy and related rehabilitation providers.

Gravity: Interview With Co-Founder And Head Of Partnerships & Policy Jay Ruckelshaus About Carbon And Energy Management

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

Gravity is an integrated carbon and energy management platform designed to help companies measure and reduce emissions while lowering energy costs. The platform combines automated data collection, carbon management, sustainability reporting, supplier engagement, and an Energy Management Marketplace that helps companies move from identifying efficiency opportunities to implementing them. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Gravity Co-Founder and Head of Partnerships & Policy Jay Ruckelshaus, PhD, to learn more.

Treble Raises $18 Million To Expand Acoustic Digital Twin Platform For Physical AI And Voice Applications

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

Treble Technologies, an Icelandic developer of sound simulation, acoustic digital twins and synthetic audio data, has raised $18 million in Series A-2 funding to expand its platform for audio-enabled products and physical AI systems. Paladin Capital Group led the round, with participation from existing investors KOMPAS VC, Frumtak Ventures and the European Innovation Council Fund. The financing brings Treble's total funding to approximately €36 million.

Hello Haven Raises $15 Million Pre-Seed Round To Launch Digital Twin Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

Hello Haven, a personal AI company founded by serial entrepreneur Frank Addante and Duc Chau, has emerged from stealth with a $15 million pre-seed funding round led by Mayfield and launched an AI platform designed to give users persistent personal digital twins.

Barings Provides Financing For Inflexion’s Investment In Medical Consumables Provider Primed Group

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

Barings has served as a joint lead arranger of secured credit facilities supporting Inflexion's investment in Primed Group, a German manufacturer and provider of medical consumables and sterilization services. Financial terms of the financing were not disclosed.

Hyperscale Data Invests More Than $70 Million In Michigan AI Data Center As Potential Contract Revenue Exceeds $3 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

Hyperscale Data has invested more than $70 million in Alliance Cloud Services and its Michigan AI data center as the company prepares to begin operations under a previously announced agreement with a California-based neocloud provider in November 2026.

Clean Harbors Launches $600 Million Senior Notes Offering To Finance EnviroServe And ES&H Acquisitions

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

Clean Harbors has launched a private offering of $600 million of senior notes expected to mature in 2034, with the proceeds primarily intended to finance its previously announced acquisitions of environmental services businesses EnviroServe and ES&H.

Wereldhave Sells Belgian Retail Park De Mael For €49.2 Million To Reduce Leverage

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

Wereldhave, through its 70%-owned Wereldhave Belgium subsidiary, has agreed to sell retail park De Mael in Bruges, Belgium, to a consortium of private investors for gross proceeds of €49.2 million, excluding transfer tax.

Lisata Therapeutics Acquires Marea Therapeutics And Raises $225 Million To Advance Cardioendocrine Drug Pipeline

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

Lisata Therapeutics has acquired Marea Therapeutics in a stock-for-stock transaction and secured a concurrent oversubscribed $225 million private placement as the combined company shifts its focus toward developing next-generation treatments for cardioendocrine diseases.

Ayan Capital Secures £75 Million Facility From Triple Point To Scale Halal Car Finance And Pursue UK Bank License

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

Ayan Capital, a UK fintech focused on halal financial products, has secured a senior Shariah-compliant facility of up to £75 million, or approximately $100 million, originated by investment manager Triple Point.

MIND Raises $72 Million Series B As Revenue Grows More Than 17X

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

MIND, an AI-native data loss prevention platform, has raised $72 million in Series B funding as the cybersecurity company scales rapidly amid growing enterprise adoption of generative and agentic AI. Crosspoint Capital Partners led the round, with participation from existing investors YL Ventures and Paladin Capital Group. The financing follows MIND's $30 million Series A approximately one year earlier and brings total funding to $112 million.

Monroe Capital Leads $60 Million Term Loan For Equipment Finance Platform 36th Street Capital

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

Monroe Capital has led a $60 million Class B Term Loan for 36th Street Capital, providing additional financing to support the specialty equipment finance company's origination growth and platform expansion.

Kastle Raises $24 Million Series A To Build AI Workforce For Consumer Lending

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

Kastle has raised $24 million in Series A funding to expand its AI workforce platform for banks and financial institutions, beginning with consumer lending.

Lucid And Bolt Partner To Deploy At Least 25,000 Autonomous Vehicles Across Europe

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

Lucid Group and European shared-mobility company Bolt have formed a strategic partnership to develop and deploy autonomous ride-hailing services across Europe, with Bolt targeting a fleet of at least 25,000 autonomous Lucid vehicles.

Bank7 To Acquire Century Financial Services For About $137.3 Million And Enter New Mexico

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 18, 2026

Bank7 Corp. has agreed to acquire Century Financial Services Corporation, the parent company of New Mexico-based Century Bank, in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at approximately $137.3 million.

Impulse Space Raises $308 Million Series D Extension To Expand Spacecraft Technology

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 17, 2026

Impulse Space has raised a $308 million extension to its Series D financing, bringing the total round to $808 million as the company expands its spacecraft technology for moving payloads after launch. Existing investors participating in the extension include 137 Ventures, BANNER VC, DFJ Growth, Linse Capital, Lux Capital and Valor Equity Partners, among others.

Bain Capital Ventures Raises $1.6 Billion Fund XI To Back AI, Physical AI, Security And Science Startups

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 17, 2026

Bain Capital Ventures has closed its eleventh venture fund with $1.6 billion in capital, exceeding its fundraising target as the firm increases its backing of early-stage companies building for what it describes as a post-AGI economy.

Nada Secures Up To $300 Million From O’Connor Capital Solutions To Scale HEAs

By Amit Chowdhry ● Sep 17, 2026

Nada Holdings has entered into a forward-flow purchase agreement providing up to $300 million of institutional capital for Home Equity Agreements originated through its home-equity finance platform.