Innovation

Yolando: $8.5 Million Raised From Drive Capital To Launch GEO And Competitive Intelligence Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 26, 2026

Yolando, a Toronto-based competitive intelligence and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) platform, said it has officially launched commercially after raising $8.5 million in total cumulative funding from Drive Capital. The company positions its software as a way for marketing teams to measure and improve how their brands appear in AI-generated answers, alongside traditional search visibility.

NVIDIA Expands CoreWeave Partnership And Invests $2 Billion To Speed Buildout Of AI Factories

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 26, 2026

NVIDIA and CoreWeave announced they are expanding their long-running collaboration to accelerate the buildout of more than 5 gigawatts of “AI factories” by 2030, positioning the companies to meet surging demand for AI compute at a global scale.

PlusAI And TRATON Expand Partnership To Speed Autonomous Truck Launch In U.S. And Europe

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 26, 2026

PlusAI and the TRATON GROUP said they are expanding their global partnership to accelerate the development and scaled deployment of on-highway autonomous trucking solutions in the United States and Europe, as PlusAI advances toward a public listing through its previously announced business combination with Churchill Capital Corp IX.

Epic Angels Backs Refurbi Seed Extension To Scale LATAM Refurbished Smartphone Ecosystem

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 26, 2026

Epic Angels, the global all-female investor collective, has invested in Refurbi, a Colombia-founded company building a circular ecosystem for affordable, sustainable refurbished smartphones, as the startup raises a $4 million seed extension round across equity and debt.

MyARC: Over $2 Million Raised To Launch Next-Generation Platform For Fitness Creators

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 26, 2026

MyARC, a platform designed to help fitness creators train their communities at scale, announced the launch of a next-generation product to support, monetise, and grow creator-led fitness businesses. The company also disclosed a $2 million-plus funding round with participation from Araya Ventures, Morgan Stanley, Techstars, and G Fund.

Rocket Software: Interview With President Of Data Modernization Michael Curry About Modernizing Outdated IT Systems

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 26, 2026

Rocket Software develops enterprise software products that help large organizations modernize, optimize, integrate, and secure their outdatedIT systems, especially mainframe, IBM i, and other mission-critical infrastructure. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Rocket Software President of Data Modernization, Michael Curry, to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

DemandScience Adds Product And Board Leaders To Push AI-Based B2B Marketing Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 26, 2026

DemandScience has expanded its leadership team as it scales its AI-driven Precision Performance Marketing business, naming Aislinn Wright as senior vice president of product management and appointing Adam Kocoloski to its board of directors.

Pivotal Group Sells GlobalMeet To Constellation Software’s N. Harris Computer Corp.

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 26, 2026

Pivotal Group has sold GlobalMeet, an enterprise webcasting and virtual events platform used by more than half of the Fortune 500, to N. Harris Computer Corporation, an operating group of Constellation Software.

Guild Garage Group Partners With West Virginia’s Varney Door Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 26, 2026

Guild Garage Group, an alliance of residential garage door service companies, said it has completed a partnership with Varney Door Company, a family-owned residential garage door service provider based in Barboursville, West Virginia.

KPS Capital Partners to Buy Control Of Novacel From Chargeurs

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 26, 2026

KPS Capital Partners announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling stake in Novacel, the surface protection solutions business currently owned by Compagnie Chargeurs Invest SA. Chargeurs will reinvest alongside KPS and retain a 25% ownership interest in the company. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Everything: $6.9 Million Seed Funding Raised To Build A Unified Perps and Markets ‘Everything Exchange’ With Humanity Verification

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 26, 2026

Everything, a Hong Kong-based startup positioning itself as an “everything exchange” spanning perpetual futures, spot markets, prediction markets, and payments, has raised a $6.9 million seed round as it builds a unified trading experience across Telegram, mobile, and web.

Hivemind And CPIC IMHK Partner To Launch $500 Million Real-World Asset Tokenization Fund Strategy

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 26, 2026

Hivemind Capital announced it has formed a strategic partnership with CPIC Investment Management to build a fund platform focused on tokenizing select real-world assets for institutional and other eligible non-retail counterparties, with an initial target capacity of up to $500 million.

2150 Closes €210 Million Second Fund, Lifting AUM To €500 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 26, 2026

Venture firm 2150 said it has reached a final close on its second fund at €210 million, bringing the firm’s total assets under management to €500 million as it continues investing in technology companies aimed at reshaping cities and the industries that power them.

Microsoft Research Unveils Rho-Alpha Robotics Model To Bring Physical AI To Real-World Manipulation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 25, 2026

Enechain: Japan Power Trading Startup Raises About $32 Million, Says Report

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 25, 2026

Japan power trading startup enechain has raised ¥5.05 billion (about $31.9 million) in an additional funding round to support business expansion. The round includes investors such as Soros Capital Management and Coreline Ventures, according to a person familiar with the matter cited by Bloomberg. The person said the financing details have not yet been publicly disclosed.

GM To Shift Buick Envision Production From China To U.S.

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 25, 2026

General Motors will end production in China of the Buick Envision, a midsize SUV it has imported into the United States for nearly a decade, and will instead manufacture the next generation of the vehicle at its assembly plant in the Kansas City area starting in 2028, Reuters reported.

NAMM Adds Eight New Directors As 2026 Board Class Begins Three-Year Term

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 25, 2026

NAMM, the National Association of Music Merchants, announced eight newly elected directors who will join the organization’s Board of Directors in 2026, with each set to serve a three year term running through January 2029. The announcement was made at the 2026 NAMM Show during the association’s annual meeting of members.

Enovix Realigns Operations Leadership Ahead Of Malaysia Mass Production Ramp

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 25, 2026

Enovix announced it is reshaping its operations leadership as it moves toward mass production of its silicon anode batteries, with a focus on “proven, high volume battery manufacturing leadership” and clearer operational accountability as the company prepares to scale output for smartphones, smart eyewear, defense, and other IoT markets.

Remote: Interview With Co-Founder & CEO Job van der Voort About The HR Platform Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 25, 2026

Remote is the all-in-one HR and payroll platform with a mission to create opportunity everywhere. Remote does this by making it simple for companies to find, hire, manage, and pay teams anywhere in the world–combining deep local expertise with a unified platform built for compliance, security, and ease of use. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Remote co-founder and CEO Job van der Voort to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

Santa Barbara Venture Partners: Interview With Founder & Managing Partner Dan Engel

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2026

Santa Barbara Venture Partners is a Santa Barbara-based venture capital firm that invests in software companies and helps portfolio companies accelerate marketing and customer acquisition through its 100+ LP expert network. The VC firm has a unique approach to VC in that it believes in producing ongoing liquidity and cash distributions for its Limited Partners, and has already completed eight successful exits after just five and a half years, a huge industry outlier in terms of performance. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Santa Barbara Venture Partners Founder and Managing Partner Dan Engel to gain a deeper understanding of the firm.

Leidos And OpenAI Partner To Bring Generative And Agentic AI Into Federal Agency Workflows

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2026

Leidos and OpenAI have entered into a partnership to deploy artificial intelligence to support national priorities, with a focus on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of government operations.

Sakana AI Announces Strategic Partnership With Google

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2026

Sakana AI announced it has entered into a strategic partnership with Google following its Series B round, and that Google is also making a financial investment in the company to further strengthen the relationship.

Catalyst Acoustics Group Names Charles Merrimon As CEO

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2026

Catalyst Acoustics Group, the parent company of a portfolio of acoustic, seismic, vibration, and noise control brands, has promoted Charles Merrimon to chief executive officer.

Norm Law Names Former Sidley Austin Chair Mike Schmidtberger As Chairman

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2026

Norm Law, an AI native law firm serving global institutional clients, has appointed longtime Sidley Austin leader Mike Schmidtberger as Chairman, Partner, and Head of its Investment Funds and Regulatory practice, a move the firm framed as a marker of how it intends to combine senior legal judgment with an integrated AI platform and engineering-driven workflows.

BingX TradFi Trading Volume Tops $1 Billion In 24 Hours As Gold Activity Exceeds $500 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2026

BingX announced it has surpassed $1 billion in 24-hour trading volume across its TradFi offerings, marking a milestone for the crypto exchange and Web3 AI company’s push into real-world financial asset trading.

Sprocket Security Names Eric Sheridan As Chief Technology Officer

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2026

Sprocket Security has appointed veteran cybersecurity executive Eric Sheridan as chief technology officer, tapping a longtime security and software engineering leader to guide the company’s technology roadmap as it scales its proactive security platform.

Wingman Growth Partners Names Cheri Reeve As Chief Financial Officer

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2026

Wingman Growth Partners, an investment firm focused exclusively on enterprise software, data, and financial technology businesses, has appointed Cheri Reeve as chief financial officer, tasking her with leading the firm’s finance and reporting functions as it continues to build out its institutional platform.

Barrick Mining Names Helen Cai As CFO

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2026

Barrick Mining announced it has appointed board member Helen Cai as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, with Cai set to assume the CFO role on March 1, 2026. The company said the change will follow the departure of current CFO Graham Shuttleworth, who is expected to leave after Barrick announces and files its year end results.

Janux Therapeutics And Bristol Myers Squibb Sign Up To $850 Million Tumor Activated Solid Tumor Collaboration

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2026

Janux Therapeutics announced a collaboration and exclusive worldwide license agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb to develop an undisclosed, tumor-activated therapeutic aimed at solid tumors. The program targets a validated solid tumor antigen that Janux said is expressed across multiple human cancer types, expanding the company’s platform reach in oncology while pairing its technology with Bristol Myers Squibb’s development and commercialization capabilities.

NPHarvest Selected For Business Finland Deep Tech Accelerator With Up To €1.2 Million Funding Pathway

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 24, 2026

NPHarvest, a Finnish cleantech company developing fertilizer inputs from liquid waste streams, has been selected for up to €1.2 million in funding through Business Finland’s Deep Tech Accelerator program, a competitive initiative designed to help research-driven companies scale internationally based on technical depth and readiness for global commercialization.