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Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II recently announced four Michigan nonprofit organizations will receive initial awards from the Michigan Innovate Capital Fund (MICF), a new program to continue growing a vibrant and robust entrepreneurial ecosystem in Michigan. Ann Arbor SPARK, Biosciences Research and Commercialization Center (BRCC), Invest Detroit, and InvestUP will receive $18 million in funding from the program, which the MSF Board approved in June 2023.

Noodle Cat Games - a leading independent game development studio - recently announced the completion of its Series A funding round of $12 million led by Hiro Capital, with additional participation from Makers Fund, KRAFTON, and Sony Innovation Fund. Headed by gaming industry veterans from renowned studios such as Epic Games, Electronic Arts, and BioWare, the team has worked in leadership roles on legendary titles like Fortnite, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Infinity Blade. Noodle Cat is excited to push forward development on their first original IP title, an innovative multiplayer Action RPG.

Sequoia Financial Group - a leading SEC-registered wealth manager with over $15 billion in assets under management as of September 30, 2023 - recently announced it has agreed to acquire M Capital Advisors - which has been providing customized portfolio management services to individuals and institutions for more than three decades. The firms expect the deal to close by October 31. The financial terms were not disclosed.

Textainer Group Holdings Limited - one of the world’s largest lessors of intermodal containers - recently 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). Upon completing the deal and the redemption of Textainer’s Series A and B cumulative redeemable perpetual preference shares, Textainer will become a privately held company.

NorthRock Partners, a full-service financial and lifestyle advisory firm, and Sammons Financial Group, a leading financial services company, recently announced an industry-setting partnership to enhance and expand the innovative client-centric approach that has made NorthRock a leader in the wealth management industry.

AMN Healthcare - the leader and innovator in total talent solutions for healthcare organizations across the United States - recently announced a definitive agreement to acquire MSDR for a purchase price of $300 million. MSDR comprises two healthcare staffing companies specializing in locum tenens and advanced practices: Medical Search International (MSI) and DRW Healthcare Staffing (DRW).

Basis - an AI platform for accounting firms - has recently emerged from stealth with a $3.6 million seed round led by Better Tomorrow Ventures with participation from BoxGroup, Avid Ventures, several top accounting firms, and leaders from the accounting and machine learning communities.

Securiti is a pioneer of the Data Command Center, a centralized platform that enables the safe use of data and GenAI. The company provides unified data intelligence, controls, and orchestration across hybrid multicloud environments. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Michelle Graff, channel veteran and VP Global Alliances & Channels at Securiti, to learn more.

Axio is a leader in SaaS-based risk management software, which empowers security leaders to build and optimize security programs and quantify risk for better investment prioritization and decision-making. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Axio co-founder and CEO Scott Kannry to learn more.

EngageSmart - a leading provider of vertically tailored customer engagement software and integrated payments solutions - recently announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by an affiliate of Vista Equity Partners, a leading global investment firm focused exclusively on enterprise software, data and technology-enabled businesses, in an all-cash transaction valued at about $4 billion.

Fortive Corporation announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire EA Elektro-Automatik Holding GmbH (EA), a leading supplier of high-power electronic test solutions for energy storage, mobility, hydrogen, and renewable energy applications, for $1.45 billion in cash, net of $215 million of tax benefits from Bregal Unternehmerkapital. And the deal is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the early first quarter of 2024.

INVO Bioscience (a healthcare services company focused on expanding access to advanced fertility treatment worldwide) and NAYA Biosciences (a company dedicated to increasing patient access to breakthrough treatments in oncology and regenerative medicine) jointly announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement for INVO to acquire NAYA Biosciences in an all-stock transaction. Under the terms of the deal, NAYA Biosciences' shareholders will receive 7.3333 shares of INVO for each share of NAYA Biosciences at closing, for approximately 18.15 million shares of INVO. Following the merger's close, the combined company is expected to operate under the name "NAYA Biosciences." Dr. Daniel Teper, Chairman & CEO of NAYA Biosciences, will be named Chairman & CEO of the combined company.

Roivant recently announced the entry into a definitive agreement with Roche to acquire Telavant Holdings (owned by Roivant Sciences Ltd. and Pfizer). The deal includes the development, manufacturing and commercialization rights in the US and Japan for RVT-3101, a novel TL1A directed antibody. And RVT-3101 is a promising new therapy in development for people suffering from inflammatory bowel disease, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.

Clear Street is building financial infrastructure for today's institutions. Clients of all sizes use our clearing, custody, execution, and prime brokerage platform to operate their businesses. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Clear Street Vice President of Engineering Prerak Sanghvi to learn more about the company.

Steven Madden (a leading designer and marketer of fashion footwear, accessories and apparel) recently announced that it has completed the acquisition of privately held Almost Famous, a designer and marketer of women’s apparel. Almost Famous markets products under its own brands, primarily Almost Famous, and private label brands for various retailers.

HTD Health is a healthcare strategy, design, and software development company. Our mission is to imagine, design, and build a healthier world. We focus on custom software that prioritizes the patient experience while improving accessibility, efficiency, and productivity in the healthcare system. Pulse 2.0 interviewed HTD Health co-founder and CEO Zachary Markin to learn more.

Donorbox - a technology-powered platform for fundraising - has celebrated the processing of over $2 billion in donations. And Donorbox enables nonprofits across the globe to quickly and efficiently raise funds online with one of the lowest transaction fees in the industry. The surpassing of the $2 billion signifies the massive impact the company has had in helping nonprofit organizations make a lasting impact on their respective communities.

Sinch - a company that powers meaningful conversations between businesses and their customers through its Customer Communications Cloud - announced that Mailgun Optimize, the first deliverability solution built on an email-sending platform, and Mailgun Validate, the fastest and most accurate address verification solution, are now part of the Sinch Mailgun product suite.

Sirion - a leader in AI-powered contract lifecycle management (CLM) - recently announced a collaboration to embed IBM watsonx to redefine CLM for enterprises. As the first adopter of this combined offering, IBM is also deploying Sirion CLM to help streamline its own order-to-cash (O2C) and source-to-pay (S2P) processes.

Cosmos Innovation - an AI-first company building next-generation perovskite silicon tandem (PST) solar cell technology - recently announced $19.7 million in total funding. The funding will support the company's fundamentally different approach to developing perovskite silicon tandem solar cell technology.

TA Realty - a provider of real estate investment management services to U.S. and non-U.S. institutional investors - recently announced the final close of TA Realty Value-Add Fund XIII (Fund XIII), which was oversubscribed with total equity commitments of approximately $1.8 billion.

Digital health startup CARI Health was recently awarded an SBIR Fast Track grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), an agency of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to help it market the world’s first wearable medication monitor. And CARI Health is eligible for up to $2.8 million over three years as project milestones are completed within Phase I and Phase II portions of the grant.

Veriten - an energy research, investing, and strategy firm - recently announced the closing of its debut fund NexTen LP, with $85 million in committed capital. And the NexTen fund is highly complementary to Veriten’s mission of identifying and advancing reliable, sustainable, scalable, and economically viable solutions with minimal environmental impact in a constantly evolving and volatile energy landscape.

Lendbuzz - a fintech company utilizing AI to provide auto loans to a broad spectrum of borrowers - recently announced that it has closed a $235 million securitization collateralized by a pool of retail automobile contracts made to obligors and secured by new and used automobiles, light duty trucks, and vans.

flyExclusive - a leading provider of premium private jet charter experiences - recently announced that Global Transpark secured a $30 million investment from the State of North Carolina for a cutting-edge pilot training center and headquarters. This new facility is designed as a five-story complex containing up to five full-motion flight simulators. This enables the company to train and certify its pilots and reduce a lengthy backlog in the nation’s pilot training pipeline.

Compliance Risk - the only Governance-as-a-Service solution created by MSPs for MSPs - recently announced it received a $3.5 million investment from Bellini Capital and will rebrand to Compliance Scorecard.

BankTech Ventures - a strategic investment fund focused on enhancing community banks - recently announced its continued commitment to community banks’ more vibrant futures with a total investment of $13.5 million in six fintech companies in the second half of this year. And BankTech has invested more than $40 million in companies specifically selected due to their work with community banks. The new investments are focused on helping community banks in revenue, deposit growth, security, compliance, data analysis, and customer marketing.

The University of Alberta recently launched a new fund to invest in startup ventures to solve the world's complex challenges and diversify Alberta’s economy, providing much-needed funding and more support for innovators and entrepreneurs. And the University of Alberta Innovation Fund - which private donors and public partners support - will work with startups to mobilize the university’s research expertise, innovation, and creativity.

Five startup companies will receive $100,000 each thanks to a new accelerator program focused on transforming education and workforce learning, especially with advanced technology. And this funding will be provided through a new partnership between Butler University, gener8tor (a global venture firm that operates accelerator programs), and TechPoint.