Innovation

CSW Industrials Deploys Over $30 Million To Execute Acquisition Strategy

By Noah Long ● Feb 7, 2024

CSW Industrials announced the strategic deployment of $30.3 million, excluding future earn-outs, upon completing the acquisitions of Dust Free, LP, Guardian Drain Lock, and Sure Grade Drain.

nference Signs Multi-Year Licensing Deal With The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 7, 2024

nference (a company dedicated to transforming healthcare by making biomedical data computable) announced a multi-year licensing agreement with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This collaboration provides the Gates Foundation access to nference's nSights platform, where researchers can access a repository of extensive clinical data and expertise from top-ranked medical institutions.

Recurrent Energy: $160 Million In Project Financing Closed And Microsoft Secured As Customer

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 6, 2024

Recurrent Energy (a subsidiary of Canadian Solar) and a global developer and owner of solar and energy storage assets) announced that it has secured $160 million in project financing for its 127 MWdc Bayou Galion Solar project, located in Morehouse Parish in Northeast Louisiana. This project is currently under construction and is expected to be operational by fall 2024.

Cimba.AI: Adaptive Gen AI Company Emerges From Stealth Mode With Pre-Seed Funding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Feb 6, 2024

Cimba.AI - the only Gen-AI-native platform that gives enterprises the power to create custom AI agents that can produce deep insights, recommend and perform business actions based on internal data and knowledge base - has officially come out of stealth today with $1.25 million in Pre-Seed funding. The funding round was led by Ripple Ventures, with participation from SeaChange, PackVC, and angel investors like Chad Sanderson and Chris Riccomini.

Why Autodesk Is Buying PIX Of X2X

By Noah Long ● Feb 5, 2024

Autodesk recently announced it has agreed to acquire the PIX business of X2X. PIX is a production management platform for secure review and content collaboration between creatives and executives in the media and entertainment industry throughout the production process.

Eggscape Entertainment Closes $4.25 Million In Funding To Develop Mixed Reality Social Games

By Dan Anderson ● Feb 2, 2024

Eggscape Entertainment - a new game studio focused on creating social games for mixed reality - announced the completion of a seed round of $4.25 million led by Transcend Fund, with participation from The Venture Reality Fund and strategic angel investor Lautaro Brunatti.

QuicksortRx: $100 Million Saved For Health Systems

By Annie Baker ● Feb 1, 2024

QuicksortRx - a technology company helping health systems improve pharmacy purchasing and reduce medication costs - announced that its clients have achieved over $100 million in medication cost savings through the platform since its launch in late 2018.

Future Energy Ventures: €110 Million Fund Closed For Sustainable Investments

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 31, 2024

E.ON - the European Investment Fund (EIF) and Future Energy Ventures (FEV) jointly foster smart innovations for the energy transition through a newly established fund. This fund (managed by FEV) already has a volume of €110 million and a target size of €250 million. E.ON and the EIF hold a mid-double-digit million euro stake as anchor investors. These funds invest primarily in start-ups and scale-ups that develop and implement digital solutions to drive the energy transition.

Databricks Hires The Team At Einblick

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 31, 2024

Databricks announced that it has welcome the Einblick team to the company. Einblick was founded by researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brown University, whose research explored the boundary of machine learning, human-computer interaction, and NLP. The Einblick team spent the last four years building an AI-native collaboration platform that helps users solve data problems with just one sentence.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: $25 Million Gift Received To Search For Ocean-Based Climate Solutions

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 30, 2024

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) announced a $25 million gift to support ocean-based climate solutions from the chair of the Institution’s board of trustees, Paul Salem. This gift comes as it has been the warmest year on record and faces the possibility of rapid and unregulated efforts to mitigate climate change.

CDPQ And SMBC Aviation Capital Partnering To Create $1.5 Billion Aircraft Financing Platform

By Annie Baker ● Jan 30, 2024

CDPQ (a global investment group) and SMBC Aviation Capital (the world's second-largest aircraft leasing company) announced they had finalized an agreement to create a $1.5 billion global aircraft financing and leasing platform dedicated to modern, fuel-efficient NextGen aircraft.

Exclusive: AI Health Data Platform xCures Expands Beyond Cancer to Improve Care and Research

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 30, 2024

xCures announced the expansion of its AI-driven platform that transforms the value of US healthcare data by utilizing real-time and regulatory-grade data in any therapeutic area.

Block Announces Sustainable Banking Initiative With $25 Million Investment

By Annie Baker ● Jan 29, 2024

Block announced the Sustainable Banking Initiative, a $25 million investment into helping decarbonize the economy and promote sustainability through community lending, along with the company’s first Commerce and Climate Survey.

RenovoRx: $6.1 Million Private Placement Closed

By Annie Baker ● Jan 29, 2024

RenovoRx - a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel precision oncology therapies based on a local drug-delivery platform - announced that it had closed a private placement, resulting in gross proceeds of approximately $6.1 million, before deducting offering expenses.

Vertical Aerospace Founder Backing Company With $50 Million Investment Commitment

By Annie Baker ● Jan 29, 2024

Vertical Aerospace (a global aerospace and technology company pioneering zero-emissions aviation) recently announced that it has secured $50 million in committed funding from founder, majority owner, and CEO Stephen Fitzpatrick. This investment provides the platform for further funding rounds.

Atly Launches ‘Follow Your Friends’ Feature

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2024

Atly - a user-generated social mapping platform transforming location-based knowledge sharing - has launched a new "Follow Your Friends" feature. This tool allows Atly users to follow their friends within the app, automatically surfacing their recommended points of interest alongside the number of recommendations each location has on an Atly map.

Why vidIQ Is Buying Creator Now

By Noah Long ● Jan 29, 2024

vidIQ announced it is buying Los Angeles-based creator education platform Creator Now. Launched in 2021, Creator Now was founded by YouTube star Airrack along with co-founders, Zack Honarvar and Kate Ward. And the company has been on a mission to connect up-and-coming creators with the educational resources and community they need to successfully grow and monetize on YouTube.

Publicis Investing €300 Million In AI Over 3 Years

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2024

Advertising giant Publicis recently announced it has laid out a strategy in becoming the industry’s first "AI-powered Intelligent System." In a presentation by Arthur Sadoun, global CEO; Carla Serrano, global CSO, Nigel Vaz, CEO of Publicis Sapient; Dave Penski, CEO of Publicis Media & Sam Levine Archer, Chief Solutions Architect Publicis North America, it was discussed that Publicis is making 3 strategic bets: putting data and technology at the center with the acquisition of Sapient and Epsilon, implementing a country model, and building a single operational backbone.

Kyndryl Launches New Security Edge Services With Cisco

By Annie Baker ● Jan 29, 2024

Kyndryl - the world's largest technology infrastructure services provider - announced two new security edge services developed jointly with Cisco to help customers improve their security controls and proactively address and respond to cyber incidents.

Fly Wines: How This Company Helps Set Up Virtual Wine Tasting

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2024

Fly Wines is a company that helps independent wineries reach consumers across the US through tailored digital marketing strategies. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Fly Wines founder and CEO Stephanie Franklin to learn more about the company.

TextQL: $4.1 Million Raised To Automate Data Analysis

By Noah Long ● Jan 29, 2024

TextQL - a startup building an AI data analyst that connects to your business intelligence (BI) tools, semantic layers, and existing documentation - announced that it raised $4.1 million across pre-seed and seed rounds that was co-led by Neo and DCM.

Vista Equity Partners Completes $4 Billion EngageSmart Acquisition

By Dan Anderson ● Jan 28, 2024

EngageSmart (a leading provider of vertically tailored customer engagement software and integrated payments solutions) has announced the completion of its acquisition by an affiliate of Vista Equity Partners (a leading global investment firm focused exclusively on enterprise software, data, and technology-enabled businesses) for $23 per share in cash, valuing the company at about $4 billion.

Ares Management: Automated Industrial Robotics Launched To Capitalize On Manufacturing Demand

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 26, 2024

Ares Management announced the launch of Automated Industrial Robotics, a newly formed industrial automation company designed to capitalize on increasing global demand for manufacturing automation solutions. And an Ares Private Equity fund has invested substantial equity capital to support AIR’s acquisition and organic growth strategy.

University Of Texas At San Antonio Launches College In AI, Cyber, Computing, And Data Science

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 26, 2024

The University of Texas at San Antonio announced a pioneering initiative to reshape its academic landscape by launching a new college dedicated to artificial intelligence (AI), cybersecurity, computing, data science, and related disciplines.

Wealth Partners Capital Group And HGGC Form Strategic Partnership With True North Advisors

By Noah Long ● Jan 25, 2024

True North Advisors, LLC - a Texas-based registered investment adviser (RIA) - announced it has entered into a strategic partnership with Wealth Partners Capital Group (WPCG), a financial services holding company, and HGGC, a firm focused on partnership investing.

Klarna Launches Klarna Plus In The US

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2024

Klarna – an AI-powered global payments network and shopping assistant - announced its entry into the subscription service model with the launch of Klarna Plus (issued by WebBank), which is now available to eligible US consumers through the Klarna app for a monthly fee of $7.99.

Instagrid: Portable Battery System Company Closes $95 Million In Funding

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2024

Instagrid – a leading Europe-based provider of high-performance portable battery systems - announced a Series C funding round of $95 million. And Instagrid more than doubled revenues this year and will use the funding to continue its growth by entering the North American market, increasing production, and expanding its range of mobile power solutions to decarbonize off-grid power.

Welligence Energy Analytics: Energy Data And Intelligence Company Secures $41 Million

By Annie Baker ● Jan 24, 2024

Welligence Energy Analytics - a market-leading energy data & intelligence firm specializing in global oil and gas markets, greenhouse gas emissions, and projects related to carbon capture storage and utilization (CCUS) – recently announced it had raised $41 million in growth capital. The funding round, representing a minority stake in the company, was led by Elephant with participation from Veriten, EDG Group, and several high-profile executives from the energy, information services, and enterprise software industries.

Bagel Network: Decentralized ML Data Network Company Secures $3.1 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2024

Bagel Network - a decentralized Machine Learning data network at the intersection of AI and web3 –announced the successful closure of a $3.1 million pre-seed fundraising round. CoinFund led the funding round with participation from Protocol Labs, Borderless Capital, Maven11 Capital, Graph Paper Capital, and Breed VC.

Why Apkudo Is Buying Mobile reCell

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2024

Apkudo – a leader in supply chain automation for connected devices – recently announced it has acquired Mobile reCell, the pioneer of software-driven IT asset recovery for corporate-owned IT assets. And the combination of Mobile reCell's software-driven recovery of corporate-owned IT assets and Apkudo's existing solution portfolio sets a new standard for the connected device supply chain.