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Cetera Holdings announced that Cetera's employee-based RIA The Retirement Planning Group (TRPG) has acquired Watters Financial Services. With about $180 million in assets under management (as of March 31, 2024), the father-son team at Watters Financial Services is based in Paramus, New Jersey and led by Tim Watters, CFP, and Colin Watters, CFP, (father and son, respectively).

Dentons announced that Mark Wetjen has joined the Firm’s Federal Regulatory and Compliance practice as a partner, resident in its Washington, DC, office. Wetjen's career spans across government, regulatory, in-house legal and private practice, with experience in financial markets, asset management, digital assets, derivatives, commodities and financial technology matters.

Financial advisor Michael Walstien has recently joined the branch channel of Ameriprise Financial from UBS Financial Services with $150 million in assets in Wayzata, Minnesota.

Science and nutrition company ZOE announced new investment from US-based Coefficient Capital. The New York based investment firm is investing $15 million and is adding ZOE to its lineup of technology-enabled consumer brands that it believes have the power to drive transformational consumer shifts.

Bluespring Wealth Partners, a leading acquirer of independent RIAs and hybrid wealth management firms, announced the acquisition of Rodgers & Associates Wealth Advisers (Rodgers & Associates), a wealth management firm specializing in retirement planning based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. This deal comes shortly after Bluespring’s fifth anniversary celebration and brings the company’s community of partner firms to 27 total.

Cybersecurity company Endari announced its official launch from stealth mode by Nils Puhlmann, who is a seasoned cybersecurity veteran with over 30 years of experience. And the company has also raised $4 million in seed funding.

Kirkland & Ellis announced that Laura Vartain Horn has joined the firm as a Intellectual Property Practice Group partner. Vartain Horn is a former senior federal prosecutor with over a decade of experience handling and overseeing significant criminal, intellectual property, national security and cybersecurity cases.

Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, a specialist global investment manager focused exclusively on the infrastructure needed for the energy transition, announced it has held a final closing of the Net Zero Power Fund.

Outpace Bio, a cell therapy company using unrivaled AI-powered protein design to program immune cells for improved function inside patients battling solid tumors, announced that it had raised $144 million in oversubscribed Series B financing. The Series B funding round brought the total capital raised by Outpace to approximately $200 million. It was led by RA Capital Management, with participation from new investors Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Surveyor Capital (a Citadel company), Sheatree Capital, Black Opal Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, and other undisclosed investors. Outpace’s existing investors ARTIS Ventures, Playground Global, Bristol Myers Squibb, Abstract Ventures, Civilization Ventures, Mubadala Capital, Breton Capital Ventures, WRF Capital, and Sahsen Ventures, also joined in the round.

Kirkland & Ellis announced that leading M&A lawyer Dr. Tobias Larisch will join the firm as a partner. Dr. Larisch will be based out of Frankfurt, where Kirkland will open a new office to support the Firm’s growing transactional practice in Germany.

Mars, a family-owned global leader in pet care, snacking and food, and Kellanova, a leading company in global snacking, international cereal and noodles, North American plant-based foods and frozen breakfast foods, today announced that they have entered into a deal under which Mars has agreed to acquire Kellanova for $83.50 per share in cash (for a total consideration of $35.9 billion, including assumed net leverage). 

Kano Therapeutics, a biotechnology company creating single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) as a safe, efficient, and flexible biomolecule for gene insertions, announced it has secured an oversubscribed $5 million seed round. The Engine Ventures and VSquared Ventures co-led the round, and Taihill Venture and Metaplanet also participated. 

Setpoint, a leading infrastructure provider for the credit industry, announced today the successful completion of its $31 million Series B funding round. 645 Ventures led the round, with significant strategic investments from Citi and Wells Fargo, alongside Andreessen Horowitz, NextView Ventures, Floating Point, Henry Kravis, Zillow founder’s 75 & Sunny, Vesta Ventures, Fifth Wall, Eltura Ventures, and Outrunner Capital. 

Guidewheel, a leader in AI-powered FactoryOps, raised an oversubscribed $31 million Series B funding round led by Decarbonization Partners, a partnership between BlackRock and Temasek. And Ecolab, Rethink Impact, and GSBackers also participated in this round, along with existing investors Greycroft and Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV).

ITpipes, an established leader in pipeline inspection software, announced today that it has secured $20 million in equity funding from Trilogy Search Partners and Miramar Equity Partners. 

RXNT is a company that transforms the way providers write prescriptions using a cloud-based solution that is still the gold standard today. Pulse 2.0 interviewed RXNT founder, president, and CEO Randy Boldyga to learn more about the company.

Daniel Thomason is a Product Manager at Google, focused on digital payments. Thomason is also an expert in everything from launching everything from new businesses to using his economics degrees to determine how to make the products we use safer, more accessible and even more intelligent. Plus, Thomason also got a perfect score on the Bloomberg’s Mensa-like test. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Daniel Thomason to learn more about his journey.

NutriFusion is a company that developed a process to stabilize and concentrate the natural vitamins and minerals found in fruits and vegetables. Pulse 2.0 interviewed NutriFusion President and CEO William Grand to learn more about the company.

Mechanical Orchard, a technology business reinventing the software that runs the world, announced it has raised $50 million in a Series B funding round led by GV.

Prana Thoracic, a Houston-based medical tech company created with a vision to transform lung cancer intervention, announced the successful final closing of its Series A extension round. The company initially raised $3 million, received a non-dilutive grant of $3 million, and has now closed on an additional $3 million in oversubscribed funding.

Myrobalan Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing novel oral small-molecule therapies to repair damage and restore brain function in high-unmet need central nervous system (CNS) conditions, announced the appointment of Grant C. Bogle to its Board of Directors. Mr. Bogle is a seasoned biotech executive with over three decades of operational experience in the biopharma industry and a strong focus on financial strategy, business development, corporate governance, and general management.

IDRx (a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to transforming cancer treatment with purpose-built precision therapies) announced the completion of an oversubscribed $120 million Series B Preferred Stock financing. This financing was led by RA Capital Management, Commodore Capital, and Blackstone Multi-Asset Investing, with additional new investors, including Rock Springs Capital and a U.S.-based healthcare-focused fund. Existing investors, including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) Bio + Health, Casdin Capital, Nextech Invest (on behalf of one or more managed funds), Forge Life Science Partners, co-founder Nick Lydon, Ph.D., and strategic partner Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany also participated in the funding.

Datch, an AI-based frontline manufacturing, energy, and utility sector pioneer, announced the closing of a $15 million Series A via an extension led by Third Prime. This funding round also coincides with Datch’s latest product offering, Asset Insights.

QIA announced it will become one of TechMet’s largest investors, with an investment commitment of $180 million, which adds to existing investments from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and S2G Ventures. TechMet is an investment company focused on building businesses across the critical minerals value chain, from extraction and processing to refining and recycling.

Energy Domain, a tech-enabled online marketplace based in Fort Worth, Texas, announced the closing of a $5 million Series A funding round. The company will deploy the funds to finalize the development of Energy Domain Data, a soon-to-be-launched second platform, while exploring synergies between that platform and its existing marketplace platform.

Farmblox (a farm automation system connecting equipment and in-field sensors to the internet so farmers can see everything from their phone or computer and take action) announced that it has raised $2.5 million in seed funding to propel expansion and scale into new markets such as vineyards and orchards. This oversubscribed funding round was led by Hyperplane, with participation from Slow Ventures, MHS Capital, and Service Provider Capital.

Spear Bio (a biotechnology company enabling the measurement of protein molecules down to dozens of copies with ubiquitous qPCR equipment) announced the closing of its $45 million Series A financing. This oversubscribed round was co-led by Foresite Capital and Bio-Techne Corporation, with additional participation from existing investors including Maverick Ventures, Yonjin Capital and CDH Investments. Vikram Bajaj, Managing Director of Foresite Capital, has joined the company’s Board of Directors.

Halda Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing a novel class of cancer therapies called RIPTAC (Regulated Induced Proximity TArgeting Chimeras) therapeutics, announced today that it has raised new financing of $126 million in a Series B extension, including funding from new investors Deep Track Capital, Frazier Life Sciences, RA Capital Management, Vida Ventures, Boxer Capital and Taiho Ventures, as well as existing investors Canaan Partners, Access Biotechnology, Elm Street Ventures, and Connecticut Innovations. With this funding round, Halda has raised $202 million to date from investors.

Global life science credit firm Symbiotic Capital has been officially unveiled with more than $600 million in capital committed and targeted for investments and co-investments. Symbiotic Capital is affiliated with Bellco Capital, a Los Angeles-based investment firm founded by biotechnology entrepreneur Dr. Arie Belldegrun. Symbiotic will structure and originate credit solutions to compelling life science companies to support scientific innovation across biotechnology, medical devices, diagnostics, tools, synthetic biology, and other healthcare subsectors.

Boostly, a marketing platform for restaurants, announced it has raised $5.6 million in seed funding, led by Trestle Partners and with participation from Relish Works, Singularity Capital, and Y Combinator. This funding will accelerate Boostly's goal of providing rocket fuel for restaurants by utilizing customer data to drive orders and revenue with minimal effort.