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THL Partners Closes $6.35 Billion Fund X

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

THL Partners, a premier private equity firm investing in middle-market growth companies, has announced the final close of THL Equity Fund X with $6.35 billion in investable capital. The fund received strong support from a diverse group of existing and new investors, including public and corporate pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, financial institutions, and family offices across North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Middle East.

Lincoln Property Company Announces $280 Million Cornerstone Close For Lincoln Logistics Fund II

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

Lincoln Property Company, a global full-service real estate firm with more than $31 billion in assets under management, has announced the cornerstone close of Lincoln Logistics Fund II with $280 million in capital commitments, representing nearly one-third of the fund's $1 billion target. The cornerstone close reflects significant support from two of Lincoln's longstanding investors, both U.S. public pension plans, alongside Lincoln's majority owner Stone Point Capital and Lincoln employees.

Siemens Reaches $1 Billion In U.S. Manufacturing Investments

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

Siemens has announced it has reached $1 billion in domestic manufacturing investments over the past five years to support American industry, infrastructure, and transportation, with projects coming online throughout 2026 across multiple states. The investments span manufacturing facilities dedicated to electrical infrastructure for data centers and AI factories, passenger rail coaches, and critical power equipment, with sites in North Carolina, South Carolina, Fort Worth, Texas, Pomona, California, and additional locations across the Midwest and Northeast.

Invera Flexibles Formed Through Merger Of PolyExpert And Polykar

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

PolyExpert and Polykar Industries have completed a merger of equals to form Invera Flexibles, a flexible packaging leader with more than $200 million in combined sales and 350 employees, backed by Kent Road Capital as the majority investor alongside MontClerc Capital, President and CEO Amir Karim, and employee shareholders. The combination brings together decades of expertise in specialty polyethylene films, bags, and liners under a single high-performing organization committed to sustainability, product quality, and operational excellence.

Mistplay Acquires MyChips From MAF To Strengthen Global Rewarded Advertising Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

Mistplay, a leading play-and-earn rewards and loyalty platform for mobile gamers founded in 2015 and headquartered in Montreal, has acquired MyChips SRL, a subsidiary of MAF, a global rewarded advertising platform.

Nickolas Asset Management Acquires Ranch Road Cargo

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

Nickolas Asset Management, an evergreen, operator-led family office built on permanent capital, has announced the acquisition of Ranch Road Cargo, a versatile cargo storage solutions manufacturer based in Austin, Texas, marking the firm's third acquisition of the year as it continues to grow its Configure platform. Ranch Road Cargo is known for durable, configurable cargo storage systems designed to organize truck beds, sport utility vehicles, and utility terrain vehicles, engineered for portability without permanent installation, and built for both professional and everyday consumer use.

TurningArt Acquires H. Marion Art Consulting To Expand National Healthcare And Commercial Art Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

TurningArt, a national full-service art consulting firm specializing in workplace, healthcare, and commercial environments, has acquired H. Marion Art Consulting, a Chicago-area art consulting firm with more than 40 years of experience creating human-centered art programs with a specialized focus in healthcare design. H. Marion will continue to operate independently, maintaining its high-touch, client-centered approach while gaining access to TurningArt's network of more than 4,000 independent artists, national fabrication and installation partners, and a tech-enabled platform that supports multi-location, large-scale, and rotation programs.

Lunai Bioworks Completes $20 Million Preferred Equity Issuance To Acquire CNS Delivery And Neurotherapeutic IP

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

Lunai Bioworks has completed a $20 million preferred equity issuance to acquire intellectual property assets from two counterparties, expanding its central nervous system platform with complementary neurotherapeutic compounds and delivery technologies.

Flex Completes Acquisition Of Electrical Power Products

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

Flex has completed its acquisition of Electrical Power Products, a leading provider of engineered-to-order electrical power control and protection systems. EP² expands Flex's Critical Power offering with engineered-to-order capabilities that support utility, power generation, and data center customers, while adding a scaled Midwest manufacturing presence in Des Moines, Iowa, that supports U.S. reshoring initiatives. EP²'s employees, leadership, and facilities will be integrated into Flex's Embedded and Critical Power business.

Prime Electric Acquires Scholes Electric To Expand Northeast Presence In Key Growth Markets

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

Prime Electric, a leading provider of electrical services headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, has acquired Scholes Electric, an electrical contractor serving New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The acquisition represents Prime Electric's first since Truelink Capital, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, partnered with the business earlier this year, and marks a significant step in Prime's continued geographic expansion eastward from its established presence across Northern California, Washington, and Oregon.

Hazelview Investments And Presima Complete Strategic Transaction To Create Combined Global REIT Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

Hazelview Investments and Presima have completed a strategic transaction that brings together their respective global REIT investment teams, creating a combined platform designed to deliver deeper research, broader global reach, and enhanced client service across the real estate securities space. Under the terms of the transaction, Hazelview will assume Presima's investment management contracts, and key Presima professionals will join Hazelview's global REIT team, continuing to lead the strategies they oversaw at Presima to ensure continuity for existing clients.

Cerberus Capital Management To Make Strategic Investment In S+S Industries

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

Cerberus Capital Management, a global alternative investment firm with approximately $70 billion in assets, has entered into a definitive agreement to make a strategic investment into S+S Industries, a leading provider of critical solutions and value-added services for data center infrastructure. The Andrews family, founders of S+S, will retain a significant ownership stake in the business, and President Greg Andrews will continue in his leadership role to support strategic growth initiatives and maintain continuity of the company's values and customer relationships.

Aspen Power Acquires Two Operating New Jersey Rooftop Solar Projects

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

Aspen Power, a distributed energy generation platform building the clean energy future, has acquired two operating rooftop solar projects totaling 6.44 megawatts direct current from multigenerational real estate developer The Avidan Group. The projects, located in PSE&G territory in New Jersey, have operated for more than a decade and produce more than 7 million kilowatt-hours annually, equivalent to the annual electricity use of more than 1,000 homes.

ZyG Raises $60 Million Series A To Build The First Agentic Operating System For eCommerce Scale

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

ZyG, the eCommerce agentic operating system, has raised a $60 million Series A round led by Accel with participation from Felix Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Lightspeed Venture Partners. Accel partner Sonali De Rycker will join the ZyG board of directors as part of the round. The company was founded by the founders of ironSource, which went public on the NYSE at an $11 billion valuation before merging with Unity, who partnered with three leading AI experts from one of Israel's top cyber units.

XCaliber Health Raises $6.5 Million To Reduce Administrative Burden

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

XCaliber Health has raised $6.5 million in seed funding to deploy an agentic operating system purpose-built to reduce administrative burden, eliminate operational waste, and improve clinical care delivery across health systems and provider groups. The round was led by ManchesterStory with participation from Benhamou Global Ventures and Arka Venture Labs. Capital will be used to accelerate product development and scale the platform nationally.

InstaSwitch Raises $4.7 Million And Launches Account Activation Infrastructure For Business Banking

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

InstaSwitch has launched what it describes as the first infrastructure platform purpose-built to convert opened business bank accounts into active primary relationships, announcing $4.7 million in seed funding alongside the launch. The round was led by Chicago Ventures with participation from 8-Bit Capital, Better Tomorrow Ventures, Panache Ventures, and fintech executives from Unit, Square, PayPal, and Plaid. Early customers include Arc, Relay Financial, and Lettuce Financial, as well as additional regional and community banks.

Blitzy: $200 Million At $1.4 Billion Valuation Raised To Advance Autonomous Software Development

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

Blitzy, the autonomous enterprise software development platform, has closed a $200 million funding round at a $1.4 billion valuation, marking one of the largest raises to date in the agentic coding category. The round was led by Northzone, with new investors including PSG, Battery Ventures, Jump Capital, Morgan Creek Digital, and Defiant, alongside continued support from Flybridge, Link Ventures, NFX, Picus Capital, and Venture Guides. Strategic investments came from Liberty Mutual Strategic Ventures, Erie Strategic Ventures, and BAL Ventures.

RadixArk Launches With $100 Million In Seed Funding To Democratize Frontier AI Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

RadixArk, an AI infrastructure company founded by the creators of the open-source inference engine SGLang, has launched with $100 million in seed funding at a $400 million post-money valuation. The round was led by Accel and co-led by Spark Capital, with participation from NVentures, Salience Capital, A&E Investments, HOF Capital, Walden Catalyst Ventures, AMD, LDV Partners, WTT Investment, and MediaTek. A broad group of angel investors joined the round, including the CEOs of Intel and Broadcom, the co-founder of xAI, and the co-founder of OpenAI.

Astrada Raises $3.8 Million To Build The Data Layer For Autonomous Finance

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

Astrada, a startup building real-time financial data infrastructure, has closed a $3.8 million seed funding round to accelerate its platform for AI-driven enterprise finance. The round was led by Bain Capital Ventures, QED Investors, and Nyca Partners, with strategic investments from Mastercard and follow-on participation from existing investor Visa. The San Francisco-based company launched in 2024 and has since processed more than $750 million in card spend and over three million transactions across all three major card networks through a single API.

QuantWare Raises $178 Million To Build World’s Most Powerful Quantum Processors At Industrial Scale

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

QuantWare, the industrial quantum processor company, has closed a $178 million Series B equity funding round to accelerate its VIO™ processor architecture and to fund the construction of KiloFab, the world's largest dedicated quantum open-architecture fabrication facility. The round marks the largest private funding round ever raised by a dedicated quantum processor company. New investors include Intel Capital, In-Q-Tel, and ETF Partners, joined by existing backers FORWARD.one, Invest-NL Deep Tech Fund, InnovationQuarter Capital, Ground State Ventures, and Graduate Ventures.

Nace.AI Secures $21.5 Million To Build Metamodel That Autonomously Runs Enterprise Workflows

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

Nace.AI has raised $21.5 million in seed funding to commercialize a platform where more than 100 specialized AI agents autonomously execute complex enterprise workflows, with human experts providing final validation. The round was led by Walden Catalyst with participation from General Catalyst and a group of institutional and angel investors. Alongside the announcement, the company is launching its product in research preview.

UFP Industries Acquires Three John Rock Pallet Manufacturing Locations For Approximately $48 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

UFP Industries has announced the acquisition of the operating assets of three John Rock locations — in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, and Bowling Green, Virginia — for approximately $48 million. John Rock, a subsidiary of Kamps Pallets, designs and manufactures new pallets across Pennsylvania and Virginia, and the three acquired locations add approximately $82 million in annual sales and bring nearly 250 employees into UFP's organization. A fourth John Rock location, a sawmill in Dilwyn, Virginia, will remain with the seller.

Evergreen Cooperatives Acquires North Coast Sign And Lighting

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

Evergreen Cooperatives, a nonprofit focused on revitalizing urban neighborhoods by creating pathways to wealth building, has expanded its portfolio of employee-owned businesses with the acquisition of North Coast Sign and Lighting, a full-service provider of light installation solutions and commercial signage based in Medina, Ohio.

Moritz Raises $9 Million To Build An AI-Powered Law Firm For Complex Legal Matters

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

Moritz, formerly known as Arcline, has raised $9 million from Y Combinator, 20VC, Urban Innovation Fund, Inception Fund, and more than 20 unicorn founders to build what the company describes as the law firm users have always wanted — one capable of resolving complex legal matters in hours without unsustainable costs. The company's cap table includes the founders of Dropbox, Reddit, Instacart, Hugging Face, Superhuman, WorkOS, Runway, Mixpanel, Rappi, Scribd, Supermetrics, Privy, Optimizely, Product Hunt, and Google Photos, alongside current and former Y Combinator partners, Lenny Rachitsky, and operators from ElevenLabs, Lovable, and OpenAI.

Reduciner Raises €3.6 Million To Turn Captured Industrial Carbon Into Sustainable Fuels

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

Reduciner, a Finnish deep tech startup spun out of VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, has raised €3.6 million in seed funding to commercialize a novel high-temperature technology that converts captured carbon dioxide into usable fuel and valuable industrial raw materials. The round includes equity investment from Voima Ventures, Lifeline Ventures, and Mikko Kodisoja Foundation, with VTT contributing the underlying technology and IP as an in-kind investment. Proceeds will fund the construction of a 1MW industrial-scale pilot facility in Finland.

MOTHER.Tech Raises $15 Million And Launches Degen, A One-Tap AI Creative App

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

MOTHER.Tech, an AI-native creative studio based in Brooklyn, has launched Degen, a mobile app that allows users to generate images, videos, memes, carousels, and text content in a single tap without prompt engineering, model management, or editing skills. The app is available on iOS and Android via invite code and is backed by Google Ventures, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Box Group, and Shine Capital. The company has raised a total of $15 million, with the most recent investment coming in 2026.

Anthropic Partners With Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman, And Goldman On $1.5 Billion AI Venture Targeting Private Equity-Owned Firms

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

Anthropic has announced a partnership with Blackstone, Hellman & Friedman, and Goldman to launch a $1.5 billion venture to accelerate AI adoption across hundreds of portfolio companies, according to CNBC. Additional asset managers participating in the effort include Apollo and General Atlantic. The new entity, which has not yet been named, will deploy Anthropic's Claude AI model directly inside businesses, beginning with companies owned by the investment firms involved.

Lithosquare Raises $25 Million In Seed Funding To Deploy Geology AI For Critical Metal Exploration

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

Lithosquare, a deep tech startup applying foundational AI to mineral exploration, has secured $25 million in seed funding to deploy its Geology AI platform globally. The round was led by World Fund with participation from Kindred Capital VC, daphni, Omnes, and OVNI Capital. The company has spent months operating alongside initial exploration partners to validate its technology in real-world geological settings before announcing the raise.

K&L Gates Appoints AI And Innovation Partner Jake Bernstein To Lead Strategy And Deployment

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

Global law firm K&L Gates has appointed Jake Bernstein to the newly created role of Global AI and Innovation Partner, effective immediately, formalizing the firm’s approach to artificial intelligence strategy under a practicing partner’s leadership as the industry moves toward rapid deployment of agentic AI.

Toast Introduces IQ Grow AI Marketing Solution For Restaurants And Retailers

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 5, 2026

Toast introduced Toast IQ Grow, a complete marketing solution designed to take on the day-to-day work of marketing a business, from identifying a lunch slowdown to automatically launching a campaign to address it. The announcement includes more than 20 updates across marketing, payroll, inventory, and operations, with a stated goal of reducing the operational burden on restaurant and retail operators.