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Schwab Asset Management, the asset management arm of The Charles Schwab Corporation, announced today the launching of the Schwab Mortgage-Backed Securities ETF (listed as SMBS on NYSE Arca). The first trading day is expected to be on or about November 19.

Today, United States Cellular Corporation (USM) announced that it has entered into an agreement with AT&T (T) to sell a portion of the Company's retained spectrum licenses for a total consideration of $1.018 billion. 

Spirent Communications is a leading provider of test and assurance solutions for next-generation devices and networks. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Spirent’s VP of Wireline Product Management Aniket Khosla to learn more about the company.

Research Grid, an AI company that helps medical research institutions automate back-office admin for clinical trials, announced it has raised a $6.5 million seed round. The company will use this new funding round to double down on its mission of making clinical trials faster and more successful.

BiggerPockets, a leading educational platform democratizing access to real estate investing, announced the acquisition of passive investing specialists Left Field Investors. With this strategic acquisition, BiggerPockets is launching a new platform, PassivePockets, which enables and supports passive investors with education, community, investment opportunities, and sponsor ratings and reviews in one place.

DoorLoop, a market-leading all-in-one property management software company, announced a $100 million Series B funding round led by JMI Equity. The funding will empower the company to build upon its product offerings and deepen its leadership bench as it continues to stand out as an industry-leading centralized platform for property management.

BondBloxx, a specialized provider of bond ETFs, announced a latest capital raise of $27 million. The funding round was led by Macquarie Asset Management - which maintains its minority stake in the company - and also included participation from other new and existing financial investors.

BWX Technologies and L3Harris Technologies announced the signing of a purchase agreement for BWXT to acquire L3Harris’ Aerojet Ordnance Tennessee, Inc. (A.O.T.) business for approximately $100 million.

HealthFitness (a Trustmark company and comprehensive provider of fitness, wellness, and injury prevention programs) announced it has acquired Corporate Fitness Works from co-owners Beth and Michael Vivio, a leader in delivering custom onsite and virtual fitness management solutions.

EP Wealth Advisors, a leading fee-only RIA with an expanding national footprint and client base, announced the acquisition of Gather Financial Planning in Maine and Riley Private Client in Texas. These new firms—which join existing EP regions—will gain access to EP Wealth’s expansive offerings and growth strategies while adding over $240 million to its assets under management (AUM).

Motorola Solutions announced it has acquired 3tc Software, a provider of control room software solutions for Fire and Rescue Services and Police, based in Leicestershire, United Kingdom (U.K.). 3tc’s computer-aided dispatch (CAD) software was built to maximize 999 call-taker speed and efficiency in high-stress environments.

Air Transport Services Group, a global leader in medium-widebody freighter aircraft leasing, air transport operations, and support services, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Stonepeak, a leading alternative investment firm specializing in infrastructure and real assets. The transaction will be an all-cash transaction with an enterprise valuation of about $3.1 billion.

Aspen Standard Wealth, a firm that serves as a permanent home and long-term partner for successful RIAs, announced that it has acquired Summitry, a leading registered investment adviser with $2.8 billion in assets under management (AUM).

Teledyne Technologies and Micropac Industries jointly announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement that provides for the merger of Micropac with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Teledyne. 

CoStar Group - a leading provider of online real estate marketplaces, information, and analytics in the property markets - announced that it has completed its acquisition of lease administration and accounting platform Visual Lease. The strategic deal will enhance CoStar Group’s Real Estate Manager business line and provide additional lease management and lease accounting value to corporations of all sizes.

PageUp Group, a human-resources and talent software company that had been majority-owned by Battery Ventures, has been acquired by global investment firm EQT Group.

Wesco International announced it has entered a definitive agreement to acquire Ascent, a privately held company based in St. Louis, Missouri and a premier provider of data center facility management services for a cash-free and debt-free purchase price of $185 million.

Global investment bank Houlihan Lokey has acquired Prytania Solutions (PSL), a leading provider of technology-driven valuation and analytic services. The bank is continuing to strengthen its market-leading Financial and Valuation Advisory business and offer clients a differentiated experience with data-driven deliverables.

Outrider, a leader in autonomous yard operations for logistics hubs, announced it raised $62 million in an oversubscribed Series D financing round. The round was led by Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT) and New Enterprise Associates (NEA), with additional investments from 8VC, ARK Invest, B37 Ventures, FM Capital, Interwoven Ventures, NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture capital arm), and Prologis Ventures. This funding round will drive the commercial scaling of Outrider’s autonomous yard operations as a service with many large customers in 2025 and strengthen its position at the forefront of logistics automation.

Fixify, an AI-based IT help desk solution provider, announced that it has closed a $25 million Series A funding round co-led by Costanoa Ventures, Decibel Partners and Paladin Capital Group with participation from Scale Venture Partners. And Fixify combines AI with human experts to empower IT teams to quickly diagnose and resolve issues to enhance the overall help desk experience. The funds will be used to scale its workforce and accelerate product development. 

Diffblue, a creator of the world’s first fully autonomous generative AI-for-code software, announced it raised $6.3 million in new capital as it reached a record six-month period with 326% net new ARR growth from the previous six months. Toffer Winslow (formerly StackState, Dynatrace, RSA Security) was appointed Diffblue’s new CEO to drive the firm’s next growth stage.

SonoSuite is a company committed to empowering independent entities and ensuring they receive their fair share of recognition and royalties despite the industry's evolution. Pulse 2.0 interviewed SonoSuite CEO Sebastián Mañana Lenzi to learn more about the company. 

The MATRIX AI Consortium at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) received a $4 million grant from the National Science Foundation to fund The Neuromorphic Commons (THOR) project. As part of this multi-university initiative, the THOR project offers researchers access to a first-of-its-kind large-scale neuromorphic computing system.

EvoluteIQ announced an investment of $20 million in equity and debt led by Round2 Capital, with participation from Nordea Growth Fund, DCAP Select and PH ventures. And this funding will support EvoluteIQ’s plan to enhance its AI automation platform and expand operations globally.

PDS Biotech is a late-stage immunotherapy company preparing to initiate a Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating Versamune HPV + pembrolizumab as a potential first-line treatment for recurrent or metastatic HPV16-positive head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Pulse 2.0 interviewed PDS Biotech President and CEO Frank Bedu-Addo, Ph.D., to learn more about the company.

Highnote, a leading audio collaboration platform, announced that it secured $2.5 million in additional funding, with participation from Dropbox Ventures (an investment initiative of Dropbox investing in the next generation of AI-based apps and tools along with previous investors Afore Capital, Character Capital, Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, and Precursor Ventures. This latest funding round also welcomed new notable executives as angel investors from Figma, Atlassian, Abstract, and Dropbox, and several who previously invested from SoundCloud, Auth0, and Splice. 

Regal, a customer-centric contact center software company, announced the completion of a $40 million funding round to accelerate the rollout of its AI Phone Agents for contact centers. And Regal has now raised $83 million in total. 

Party Icons, a mobile-first gaming platform with three fully playable modes, announced it has raised $9 million in a private funding round led by BITKRAFT Ventures, bringing its total funding to $20 million. This investment emphasizes confidence in Party Icons’ potential to revolutionize the gaming landscape with its innovative gameplay design and open ecosystem, powered by its unique “Party-as-a-Service” live operations model and integrated Web3 infrastructure. Joining BITKRAFT in this round are other notable investors, including IDG Capital, Gam3Girl Ventures, Leap Capital, Mantle Network, King River Capital, Mask Network, Yield Guild Games, Zentry, 32-Bit Ventures, Ed3n Ventures, Palm Drive Capital and individual investors Sebastien Borget (Co-Founder of Sandbox), and Cristian Manea (a prolific Web3 angel). 

Colossyan is the AI video platform for workplace learning. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Colossyan CEO Dominik Kovacs to learn more about the company.

Simbe, a leading provider of Store Intelligence solutions, announced the closing of a $50 million Series C equity financing round led by Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, with participation from Eclipse and Valo Ventures and other existing investors. And since raising its Series B last year, Simbe achieved significant momentum and milestones such as introducing multiple capabilities and securing numerous new and expanded partnerships across various retail sectors.