Archives

Barge Design Solutions (an engineering and architecture firm with diverse in-house multidisciplinary practice areas) is collaborating with Vanderbilt University's Future of Learning and Generative AI Initiative to educate executives on how to embrace and harness this groundbreaking technology in business leadership. And to launch this collaboration, Dr. Jules White, senior advisor to the chancellor for generative AI in education and enterprise solutions and professor of Computer Science at Vanderbilt University, and Bob Higgins, Barge's CEO and president, worked together to co-create a new course called 'Generative AI for Leaders,' which comprehensively addresses essential AI skills tailored for business leaders.

Cornerstone Advisors - a leading management and technology consultancy for banks, credit unions, and fintech companies - announced it completed its acquisition of Maple Street, an established vendor management solutions service for banks and credit unions.

DTEX Systems - a global leader in insider risk management - announced that it closed $50 million in Series E funding. CapitalG, the independent growth fund of Google’s parent company, Alphabet - led the new investment round, bringing DTEX Systems’ total funding raised to $138 million. The funding round will be used to expand the company’s engineering team and grow its go-to-market (GTM) operations globally, accelerating its mission to protect global organizations from insider threats proactively.

Topsort announced that it raised $20 million in Series A funding. The funding round was led by Upload Ventures and returning seed round investors Quiet Capital and Pear Ventures. And the Series A round values the company at $150 million.

Entrada - a leading Databricks consulting and implementation services firm - announced it received a strategic investment from Databricks Ventures to help scale the firm's next leg of growth. Entrada's focus in the Databricks ecosystem is accelerating time to value with industry-focused Data and AI solutions.

Clayton, Dubilier & Rice has announced the appointment of Jenny Machida as Managing Director of Portfolio Talent. This newly created position will bring additional capability to support our investment teams' focus on talent across the investment life cycle.

Ares Management (a leading global alternative investment manager) announced that funds managed by its Alternative Credit strategy (Ares Alternative Credit) have launched Ansley Park Capital, a newly-formed lending and specialty finance company that delivers full spectrum, customized financing solutions for essential-use and large-ticket equipment.

Team8 (a leading global fund that builds and invests in companies playing a crucial role in the digital transformation of major sectors) announced the closing of new funds totaling $500 million, bringing its total assets under management (AUM) to well over the $1 billion mark.

appCD announced it has unveiled early access to its generative Infrastructure from Code (IfC) software and announced $6 million in seed funding. And appCD uses application code to generate Infrastructure from Code automatically, no code annotation or extensive configuration coding required.

RapidSOS - an intelligent safety company - announced an additional $75 million raise led by funds and accounts managed by BlackRock, which closes the company's latest round at $150 million. Also joining in the round included NightDragon, BAM Elevate, Insight Partners, the private investment division of Balyasny Asset Management, Manhattan Venture Partners, Acrew Capital, and Harmonic Growth Partners.

Argentem Creek Partners (ACP), an emerging markets specialist investment firm, has partnered with Emerge9, a Miami, FL-based alternative asset platform, to launch a strategic joint venture focused on connecting non-institutional investors to General Partner (GP)- led private equity (PE) investments. The joint venture will combine Emerge9's origination and custom fund solutions with ACP's global relationships and presence across the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia.

Trinity Capital (a leading provider of diversified financial solutions to growth-stage companies) announced the commitment of $50 million in equipment financing to Electric Hydrogen, a electrolyzer system manufacturer that produces green hydrogen for critical industries.

Argonaut Manufacturing Services - a leading contract development and manufacturing organization serving the biopharma and life sciences industries - announced the completion of a $45 million financing to support its new drug product fill / finish expansion. And this expansion in Carlsbad, CA, underway since early 2023, includes a new dedicated facility with a state-of-the-art isolator-based filling line that more than quadruples Argonaut’s existing drug product fill/finish capacity and augments existing vial filling capabilities with the ability to pre-fill syringes and cartridges for clinical and commercial supply. Argonaut also expects to validate the facility and all equipment in 2025 fully.

Haemonetics Corporation - a global medical technology company focused on delivering innovative medical products and solutions to drive better patient outcomes - announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately-held Chicago-based Attune Medical, the manufacturer of the ensoETM proactive esophageal cooling device - which is the only FDA-cleared temperature regulation device indicated for esophageal protection during radiofrequency (RF) cardiac ablation procedures.

Avista Capital Partners - a leading New York-based private equity firm focused exclusively on healthcare - announced the final closing of Avista Healthcare Partners VI at $1.5 billion. The Fund - which significantly exceeded its $1.25 billion target - represents one of the largest pools of private capital focused on investments across high-growth middle-market product and technology healthcare companies in North America and Europe.

TruArc Partners (a private equity firm focused on the middle-market) announced that it has acquired Meyer Laboratory from its owners Russell Meyer and William “Rusty” Meyer. Launched in 1978, Meyer Lab is a manufacturer and distributor of industrial and institutional (I&I) cleaning chemicals and applications systems.

Joby Aviation - a company developing electric air taxis for commercial passenger service - announced it has acquired an existing facility at Dayton International Airport and started hiring in support of the company’s initial manufacturing operations in Dayton, Ohio.

Neovest announced that it has completed the acquisition of LayerOne Financial, a leading investment management platform. And LayerOne Financial is the creator of PortfolioOne, a comprehensive, cross-asset platform designed to address the current, real-world operational challenges facing hedge funds of many sizes and styles. 

KKR announced the appointment of Ruchir Swarup as a Partner and Chief Information Officer, effective immediately. In this role, Swarup will drive KKR’s technology strategy and vision. Based in New York, Swarup will lead the firm’s efforts to embrace new technologies and scale existing technology to create efficiencies and reduce risk.

RemotePass—an HR and fintech platform that helps companies onboard, manage, pay, and retain remote workers—announced it has secured $5.5 million in Series A funding. The round was led by 212 VC and participated in by investors in the US, Europe, and the Middle East, including Endeavor Catalyst, Khwarizmi Ventures, Oraseya Capital, Flyer One Ventures, Access Bridge Ventures, A15, and Swiss Founders Fund.

TollBit founders Olivia Joslin and Toshit Panigrahi announced the company has raised $7 million for its new platform, TollBit, which aims to address the shifting economics of web content in the age of AI. TollBit enables AI bots and data scrapers to pay websites directly to license their content.

L Catterton (a leading global investment firm) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a significant stake in AmaWaterways (an international, award-winning luxury river cruise line) from a consortium of investors led by Certares. L Catterton joins founders Rudi Schreiner, Kristin Karst, and the Murphy family—all of whom remain committed to supporting the company's long-term growth and innovation in the river cruising industry and will continue to have meaningful ownership in the company.

United Rentals announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Yak Access, LLC, Yak Mat, LLC and New South Access & Environmental Solutions, LLC (collectively Yak) from Platinum Equity for about $1.1 billion in cash. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024, subject to limited contractual conditions.

MDClone (a leading analytics and synthetic data company) has partnered with the University of Chicago and UChicago Medicine to establish an ADAMS Center, a unified data-driven epicenter for innovation, research, and quality improvement projects for the health system. ADAMS represents the innovation process of Ask, Discover, Act, Measure, and then Share - focused on generating quicker insights at scale by fostering synergy among teams.

Hamilton Lane announced the final closing of Hamilton Lane Strategic Opportunities Fund VIII. The Fund represents about $700 million in commitments from a wide range of institutions, including over 50 investors across North America, Asia, EMEA and Latin America.

WindRose Health Investors - a New York-based healthcare private equity firm - announced it has completed the acquisition of CardioOne, a physician enablement company built specifically to serve independent cardiologists. And CardioOne enables cardiologists to thrive today while preparing them for the future of value-based care.

Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan Board announced the appointment of new leaders to oversee the Capital Markets, Total Fund Management, and Global Investment Strategy investment departments, effective immediately. 

Nocion Therapeutics - a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company - announced that it has raised $62 million in Series B funding.

HData—a company using AI and automation to help the U.S. energy industry file, explore, analyze, and leverage regulatory data—announced the closing of a $10 million Series A funding round led by Buoyant Ventures. The participating investors include Victorum Capital, Hyde Park Venture Partners, Firebrand Ventures, and others.

Godspeed Capital Management LP — a lower middle market Defense & Government services, solutions, and technology-focused private equity firm — announced the acquisition of Smith Consulting Architects (SCA) by its architectural, engineering, and consulting (AEC) services platform, Stengel Hill Architecture (SHA).