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A.Y. Strauss announced that Robert E. Zimet has joined as a partner at the firm’s Litigation Group and will reside in New York.

Dechert announced that Anthony Lombardi has joined the firm as a fund finance partner in London to help expand its fund leverage capacity across asset classes and bolster its presence in Europe. Lombardi specializes in banking, corporate, and contract law.

Dentons announced that Anne MacDonald has joined the firm’s Public Policy practice as senior policy director based in the Dallas office. And MacDonald will utilize her experience in political risk management to provide strategic counsel to clients navigating complex geopolitical issues.

Kristian Bradshaw, an internationally recognized energy attorney who advises clients in Japan and worldwide on complex project developments and financings, announced it has joined Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP as a partner in Tokyo. And Bradshaw focuses his practice on energy, infrastructure, and the energy transition, emphasizing LNG, hydrogen and ammonia, clean fuels, solar, wind, geothermal, carbon capture and storage, and cleantech matters.

DLA Piper announced it is strengthening its real estate practice in Austria by appointing Dr. Birgit Kraml, LL.M., as partner and head of real estate at the firm’s Vienna office. This hiring marks another milestone for the firm as it continues to expand and establish a globally connected Real Estate Practice.

LPL Financial announced that the Board of Directors has terminated the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Dan H. Arnold, effective immediately for violating LPL’s commitment to a respectful workplace. He has also resigned from the Board. The Board appointed Rich Steinmeier, currently the company’s Managing Director, Chief Growth Officer, as Interim CEO, also effective immediately.

Avarra announced an $8 million seed round of funding and the general availability of the industry's first fully interactive, AI-avatar-based enterprise application. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the funding round, which included participation from the GTM Fund, Firsthand Alliance, and industry leaders, including John W. Thompson.

Convergence—a startup creating personal AI agents for everyone—announced it has raised $12 million in pre-seed funding led by Balderton Capital. Salesforce Ventures and Shopify Ventures also participated in the round. This funding round will be used to develop novel models that power Proxy assistants, going beyond the current generation of AI and focusing on enabling continual learning and skill acquisition through memory.

Vouch, a hiring platform for creators, announced an acquisition by MrBeast. Launched by four-time creator economy founder Marty Pesis, the company has created a network matching 35,000+ candidates with hundreds of jobs from top creators such as Yes Theory, Jesser, Stokes Twins, Safiya Nygaard, Danny Duncan, AMP, etc. MrBeast plans to use Vouch for supercharging internal hiring efforts before continuing to scale it externally.

StrataPT, a billing-aware practice management platform for outpatient therapy clinics, announced it raised $25 million in financing led by Council Capital. This funding round comes as StrataPT experiences substantial growth, led by demand for its SaaS-based platform, which combines Electronic Medical Records (EMR), Revenue Cycle Management (RCM), billing, and collections into a single solution that helps practitioners improve cash flow and focus on patient care.

WholeTrees Structures, a national leader and unrivaled expert in engineering unmilled timber for commercial construction, announced a $1 million investment from the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities as part of the Endowment’s inaugural mission-related investment (MRI) program.

Mumbai-based global healthcare AI company Qure.ai announced it raised a $65 million Series D funding round. This funding round will expedite expansion in the US market and other geographies, invest more in foundational AI models, and enable complementary med-tech company acquisitions.

Overjet is the world leader in dental AI. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Overjet CEO Wardah Inam to learn more about the company.

Pallet - a unified transportation and warehouse management system, today announced an $18 million Series A led by Bain Capital Ventures with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners and Activant Capital. And several angel investors also participated, including Zach Frankel, Toast founders Aman Narang and Steve Fredette, Dutchie CEO Tim Barash, Home Depot board member Manuel Kadre, and Cedar Capital partner John Curtius.

Augmodo is a real-time inventory and task tracker that uses wearable SmartBadges for creating live 3D store maps.The company announced it has raised $5.3 million in seed funding.

TRAY, a leader in cloud-native enterprise-class POS systems, announced it has expanded its existing partnership with Alraedah Finance, a digital solutions provider based in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Alraedah made a significant financial investment in TRAY, further empowering the technology provider to develop its cutting-edge POS system and support its Enterprise customers. Alraedah Digital Solutions, a division of Alraedah Finance, will provide additional resources and expertise in data analytics, product development, and third-party integrations.

Billables AI, an AI-based platform for professional service providers that streamlines operations with its flagship AI-powered timekeeping solution, announced it raised $3.9 million in seed funding led by Wing VC with participation from F7, SignalFire, Darkmode, Alumni Ventures, and a group of AI leaders and industry veterans like angel investors from Google, Stanford, SambaNova, and more.

Neutreeno, a deep tech startup spinning out of the University of Cambridge, announced it secured a $5 million Seed round with support from a global syndicate of mission-aligned investors.

Harmonic Security announced it has secured $17.5 million in Series A funding to bring its unique zero-touch data protection capabilities to enterprises. Since the company launched in October last year, the total funding has reached over $26 million, with enterprise customers already in double figures.

iAsk, an AI Answer Engine built for Gen Z, announced it has raised $4.2 million in seed funding led by Corazon Capital, with participation from Chingona Ventures, Starting Line VC, Alumni Ventures, Listen VC, Motivate VC, Octava Singapore, Chicago Early Growth Ventures, and several prominent angel investors. Along with this round, iAsk also revealed that it has successfully processed over 350 million search queries since launching last year. Plus, iAsk soft-launched its API for businesses and developers, which already has a waitlist of over 7,000 unique potential customers.

Vizit, a leader in Visual AI software for global brands and retailers, announced a $25 million Series B round led by Industry Ventures to accelerate its mission to use Visual AI to completely transform how brands connect with their audiences worldwide using visual content.

Powin, a leader in battery energy storage solutions, announced today that it has successfully secured a revolving credit facility of up to $200 million primarily from insurance accounts managed by KKR, a leading global investment firm. This facility will be instrumental in supporting Powin’s working capital needs, driving continued innovation, and enhancing its financial flexibility as it expands its leadership position in the storage industry.

Triveni Bio, a biotech company advancing novel antibody treatments for I&I disorders, announced a $115 million Series B to support pipeline expansion. The funding round was led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives with significant participation from additional new investors Fidelity Management & Research Company and Deep Track Capital, and Series A investors Atlas Venture, Cormorant Asset Management, OrbiMed, Viking Global Investors, and Invus.

KOHO announced that it has raised $190 million in additional capital, $40 million of which is equity and $150 million in debt. This new funding will drive growth, the expansion of KOHO’s lending book and new innovative products, and continued progress towards a Schedule 1 bank license.

LoQus23 Therapeutics, a private biotechnology company investigating small molecule drugs that could stop DNA instability and slow neurodegeneration in Huntington's Disease, myotonic dystrophy type 1, and similar triplet repeat expansion diseases, announced the closing of its £35 million (c.$43 million) Series A financing. The funding round was led by Forbion, alongside existing investors SV Health Investors' Dementia Discovery Fund (DDF) and Novartis Venture Fund (NVF). Forbion General Partner Rogier Rooswinkel will join LoQus23's Board of Directors.

United Solar Holding, a manufacturer of high-purity polysilicon for the global solar PV industry, announced a strategic investment from Future Fund Oman (FFO) - which was launched by the sovereign wealth fund of Oman. And FFO is investing OMR 60 million (equivalent to US$156 million) in United Solar, which is building a state-of-the-art 100,000-ton polysilicon factory in Sohar Port and Freezone, a key player in the global trade network, offering unparalleled access to world markets.

HOMAGE, a vintage-inspired sports, and licensed apparel brand announced the closing of its latest growth capital round. And after being kicked off with an initial investment from Ryan Reynolds' Maximum Effort, several prominent figures and organizations joined the round, including Winnie Capital (led by NFL star Jason Kelce), More Better (led by Emmy-winning creator, actor, and entrepreneur Rob McElhenney), Adam Hansmann (co-founder of The Athletic), Haslam Sports Group (owners of the Cleveland Browns, Columbus Crew, and shared controlling owners of the Milwaukee Bucks), 35Ventures (headed by Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman) and Wheelhouse 360. Adding this notable group of investors will strengthen HOMAGE's foothold in the sports, media, and entertainment industries.

Dexory, a leading robotics and data intelligence company, announced it has closed an $80 million Series B funding round. This funding round was led by DTCP, with participation from Latitude Ventures, Wave-X, and Bootstrap Europe, along with existing investors Atomico, Lakestar, Capnamic, and several angels from the logistics industry. DTCP’s Michael Rager joins Dexory’s board of directors as part of this investment.

Wealth Enhancement Group (a national independent wealth management firm with over $94.7 billion in client assets) announced the acquisition of FinTrust Capital Advisors, which is a hybrid RIA headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina, with additional office locations in Anderson, South Carolina, and Athens, Georgia. This team of 14 advisors and 13 support staff oversees more than $2.39 billion in client assets and is led by Chief Investment Officer Allen Gillespie, CFA.

Hightower announced that it facilitated a partnership between Altium Wealth Management, its associated team with offices in New York and Connecticut, and Kimberly Clouse, an established family wealth advisor in the Boston area. Together, they enhance their abilities to deliver customized wealth advisory services to a high-net-worth clientele nationwide.