Archives

Lumotive is expanding internationally and adding executive leadership as it scales commercial adoption of its Light Control Metasurfaces (LCM) platform across robotics, industrial automation, and smart infrastructure markets.

eAgronom is a climate-tech platform that helps farmers and agri businesses manage regenerative farming practices while generating and monetizing high-quality carbon credits. Pulse 2.0 interviewed eAgronom co-founder and CEO Robin Saluoks to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

Turnkey is a company that provides secure, scalable, and programmable crypto infrastructure for embedded wallets and on-chain transaction automation. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Turnkey VP of Revenue Ali Faivus to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

Philips has agreed to acquire SpectraWAVE, a Bedford, Massachusetts-based company developing enhanced vascular imaging and AI-enabled coronary physiology assessment tools. Philips said the deal is intended to strengthen its image-guided therapy business and broaden its offering for interventional cardiology teams treating coronary artery disease.

Sidley Austin has elected a partnership class of 29 and promoted 15 lawyers to counsel, a year end set of leadership moves that will take effect January 1, 2026. The new appointments span multiple U.S. offices as well as key European markets and cover a wide mix of transactional, finance, disputes, regulatory, and investigations practices.

Dentons has appointed Craig Kenny as a partner in its Real Estate practice in Dublin, adding an experienced adviser on major Irish property transactions as the firm continues to build out its Ireland offering. Dentons said Kenny has advised on some of the largest and most significant real estate transactions in the Irish market over the past decade.

Soverli, an ETH Zurich spin-off building what it describes as a sovereign operating system layer for commercial smartphones, has raised $2.6 million in pre-seed funding as it looks to bring auditable, high-assurance mobile environments to governments, enterprises, OEMs, and consumers without requiring new hardware.

Finance of America Companies has expanded its strategic partnership with funds managed by Blue Owl Capital in a move the company expects will accelerate product innovation and distribution for retirement-age borrowers seeking access to home equity. The companies said the enhanced arrangement includes a $2.5 billion commitment intended to provide scale and liquidity to support origination growth across multiple asset classes, along with a $50 million equity investment in Finance of America designed to deepen alignment between the two firms.

Meta has acquired Limitless, a company known for an AI-based pendant that records and transcribes real-world conversations, in a deal that underscores CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s growing focus on AI-enabled wearables as a primary way consumers will access AI tools. The terms were undisclosed.

Storen Financial has established a strategic alliance with Dynasty Financial Partners to expand its wealth management capabilities, broaden investment opportunities, and streamline operations while maintaining independence. Dynasty said it is welcoming Storen Financial, an Indiana-based comprehensive financial services firm that manages approximately $500 million in client assets and serves more than 5,000 business, tax, and investment clients.

LPL Financial announced financial advisor Melissa Mirabile has joined its employee advisor channel, Linsco by LPL Financial, to launch Forest Lake Wealth Partners, bringing approximately $280 million in advisory, brokerage, and retirement plan assets. Mirabile joined LPL from UBS and will be based in Albany, New York, according to the firm.

Focus Financial Partners said it has named Adam Birenbaum as its incoming chief executive officer as part of a succession strategy that will also move current CEO Michael Nathanson into the role of chairman. The company said Birenbaum will become CEO and a member of Focus’s board of directors effective February 1, 2026, while Nathanson will continue to serve on the board as he transitions to chairman.

Destination XL Group and FullBeauty Brands have entered into a definitive agreement to combine in a merger of equals that the companies said will create a scaled, category-defining retailer focused on inclusive apparel across plus-size women and Big + Tall men. The deal is structured as an all-stock transaction and is expected to close in the first half of Destination XL’s fiscal year 2026, subject to customary closing conditions and approval by Destination XL shareholders.

UKG has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Inova Payroll, a U.S.-based human capital management and payroll services provider focused on small and mid-sized businesses. UKG said the transaction will strengthen its ability to directly serve the SMB market with expanded offerings that include outsourced HR support and full benefits brokerage services. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in early 2026.

AIR Platforms has raised a $6.1 million seed round co-led by Work-Bench Ventures and Lerer Hippeau as it builds an AI-powered credit intelligence platform designed to deliver continuous, bias-free credit ratings for both public and private companies. The New York-based company said its goal is to replace legacy credit ratings systems with autonomous, daily evaluations of corporate financial health.

MetaComp, a Singapore-licensed stablecoin cross-border payments and treasury management provider, said it has raised US$22 million in a Pre-A funding round to expand StableX Network, a hybrid fiat-and-stablecoin settlement layer designed for regulated, real-time cross-border payments.

ChemLex, an AI-for-science company focused on accelerating chemical discovery for the pharmaceutical industry, said it has established its global headquarters and a self-driving laboratory in Singapore and closed a $45 million funding round led by Granite Asia.

Phia, an AI-powered shopping app co-founded by Phoebe Gates and Sophia Kianni, has raised $30 million in new financing that values the company at about $180 million, according to Bloomberg. A Phia spokesperson confirmed the round. The funding round was led by Notable Capital. Kleiner Perkins and Khosla Ventures also reportedly participated in the round along with several celebrity backers, including Hailey Bieber, Kris Jenner, Sheryl Sandberg, and Sara Blakely .

Outset has raised $30 million in a Series B funding round led by Radical Ventures as the company moves beyond AI-moderated research studies into what it calls the world’s first AI-native Customer Experience Management platform. The San Francisco-based company said the financing brings its total funding to $51 million and follows its Series A by six months. The round included participation from M12, Microsoft’s Venture Fund, along with returning investors Y Combinator, Adverb Ventures, and 8VC. Outset said the new capital will support continued development of its AI-moderated research technology while extending that capability across the entire customer journey through a new CXM category.

Esusu announced it has raised $50 million in Series C financing at a $1.2 billion valuation as it expands its platform for credit building and economic mobility, with a focus on scaling rent reporting and using verified rental data more broadly across financial services. The New York-based fintech said the financing brings its total capital raised to more than $200 million.

InduPro, a biotechnology company developing therapeutics that leverage membrane protein spatial relationships, has entered into a strategic equity investment and research collaboration with Sanofi to advance a novel bispecific PD-1 agonist program for autoimmune and inflammatory disorders. The Seattle and Cambridge, Massachusetts-based company said the program is currently in preclinical development and that Sanofi will fund preclinical and IND-enabling research activities as part of the collaboration.

ECP, a software platform built specifically for assisted living communities, has secured a significant growth investment led by Level Equity, with participation from existing investors and the company’s management team. The Milwaukee-based company said it will use what it described as the largest growth investment in assisted living software history to accelerate product development, with a focus on AI, value-based care, and ease of use.

Corpay, the corporate payments company listed on the NYSE as CPAY, said it has completed Mastercard’s $300 million minority investment in Corpay’s cross-border business, concluding a transaction that Mastercard first announced in April and that places an enterprise valuation of approximately $13.0 billion on the unit.

Blue Current, a Hayward, California-based developer of silicon solid-state batteries, has closed a Series D extension funding round of more than $80 million, anchored by Amazon, with participation from Koch Disruptive Technologies, Piedmont Capital, Rusheen Capital Partners, and Allen & Company. The company said the financing is intended to accelerate the commercialization of its silicon composite solid-state battery platform for mobility and stationary energy storage applications, positioning the technology as a safer, higher-performing alternative to conventional lithium-ion batteries.

Westwood Financial, a Los Angeles-based retail real estate investment firm, has raised additional capital by closing a recast and $145 million upsize to its corporate credit facility, increasing the total facility to $470 million. The 55-year-old firm said the expanded financing strengthens liquidity and flexibility as it pursues a long-term growth strategy centered on neighborhood retail, particularly grocery-anchored assets.

FoodLabs said it has closed its third venture fund at more than €105 million, expanding the Berlin-based firm’s push to finance and build startups tackling food-system infrastructure, technology, and research challenges. The firm disclosed the fund close in a LinkedIn post, framing the raise as part of a broader effort to modernize an industry it described as massive, economically significant, and facing “existential challenges.” 

Melt&Marble, a Gothenburg-based biotech company developing designer fats using precision fermentation, has raised €7.3 million (80 MSEK) in a Series A round to scale production and bring its first ingredients to market for personal care and food applications. The financing was led by Swedish deeptech investor Industrifonden and included participation from the European Commission’s European Innovation Council Fund, as well as strategic investments from Beiersdorf and Valio. Chalmers Ventures, Catalyze Capital, and other backers also participated. The company said the EIC Accelerator supported the effort with an additional €2.5 million grant last year, bringing the latest funding total to €10 million over the past year, including €2.76 million in EU grants.

Solve Intelligence has raised $40 million in Series B financing to expand its AI platform for patent work and to support the launch of Charts, a new product aimed at claim charting and large-scale patent analysis. The round was co-led by Visionaries and existing investor 20VC, with Thomson Reuters and Y Combinator increasing their ownership. Operator Collective, led by former Cisco IP executive Mallun Yen, also participated, alongside other backers and a group of angel investors that includes founders of several high-profile technology companies, according to the company and third-party coverage. The angel investors include the founders of Tinder, Canva, Deel, Ironclad, Base44, Cleo, Hugging Face, Pigment, Higgsfield, Trouva, and many others, as well as Kevin Johnson, who founded Quinn Emanuel's IP litigation practice.

Algori, a purchase and behavioural data platform built for the FMCG industry, has raised €3.6 million in additional growth capital to support international expansion and broaden its data capabilities. The round included new investors Red Bull Ventures, Tech Transfer Agrifood (Clave capital), Co-Invest Capital, AttaPoll, and Firstpick, alongside participation from existing backers Shilling, Flashpoint, and Change Ventures. 

KBC Group said it is investing €100 million through Start it @KBC to strengthen Belgium’s startup ecosystem, pairing the accelerator’s equity-free program with a new funding track that includes early-stage checks and the potential for later-stage follow-on financing via KBC Securities.