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Betterworks Launches New Generative AI Capabilities To Help Managers Work Efficiently

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 12, 2023

Betterworks has recently taken a significant step in its mission to rethink performance management and help companies cultivate more productive employees and teams. The company recently announced the next generation of its Intelligent Performance Management solution featuring three new generative AI capabilities that make creating clear goals, giving impactful employee feedback, and having meaningful and productive performance conversations easier.

Section 32: Oversubscribed $525 Million Fund 5 Closed

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 12, 2023

Section 32 (S32) recently announced the closing of its Fund 5, an oversubscribed $525 million investment vehicle to back and scale companies innovating at the forefront of technology. Fund 5 will invest in companies that are pushing the boundaries in software and AI to enable new capabilities and step-changes in performance across markets including enterprise software, cybersecurity, data infrastructure, gaming, fintech, precision medicine and computational biology.

Machina Labs Raises $32 Million To Manufacture Advanced Composite And Metal Products

By Annie Baker ● Oct 12, 2023

Machina Labs - which combines AI and robotics to manufacture advanced composite and metal products rapidly - recently announced that it has closed a Series B investment for $32 million.

Blackdot: Automated Tattooing Platform Company Launches Out Of Stealth

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 12, 2023

Blackdot - a company introducing A New Way to Tattoo - announced its official launch out of stealth and unveiled its patented automated tattooing platform, opening up bookings for the first Blackdot tattoos at its flagship studio in Austin, Texas.

Warburg Pincus: $17.3 Billion Global Private Equity Fund Closed

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 12, 2023

Warburg Pincus - the oldest private equity firm and a leading global growth investor - recently announced (together with any parallel funds), the successful close of its latest global flagship fund, Warburg Pincus Global Growth 14, L.P. (WPGG 14).

Sololearn: Building Accessible Technical Learning Experiences For 30+ Million People

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 12, 2023

Sololearn has a goal of building an accessible and effective technical learning experience worldwide. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Sololearn co-founder and CEO Yeva Hyusyan to learn more.

Leonid Capital Partners: Private Credit Fund I Oversubscribed At More Than $240 Million In Capital

By Annie Baker ● Oct 12, 2023

Leonid Capital Partners (LEONID) - an alternative investment management firm focused on private credit with the U.S. National Security market - recently announced the oversubscription and upcoming final closing of Leonid Opportunities Fund I LP. This oversubscribed fund is closing with approximately $240 million of capital commitments, including an investment from Victory Park Capital. LEONID received strong support from new and existing institutional investors for this fund.

Why National Western And Prosperity Life Are Merging In A $1.9 Billion Deal

By Annie Baker ● Oct 12, 2023

National Western Life Group and Prosperity Life Group recently announced the signing of a definitive Merger Agreement whereby S. USA Life Insurance Company, Inc. (SUSA), an affiliate of Prosperity Life Group, will acquire National Western in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $1.9 billion. As part of the deal, each issued and outstanding share of National Western common stock will be converted into the right to receive $500 in cash at the merger's closing.

Hamilton Lane: Private Assets Fund Hits $1 Billion In Total AUM

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 12, 2023

Hamilton Lane's Private Assets Fund has returned 17.48% annualized and reached $1 billion in assets under management (AUM) in its three years since inception as of August 31, 2023. This Fund delivers a diversified private equity portfolio to qualified U.S. clients, including individual investors, their wealth advisors and institutions. PAF is seeking to eliminate some of the challenges of traditional private equity fund structures, including offering limited liquidity in the form of quarterly limited repurchase offers by the Fund.

Giftpack: This Company Is Streamlining The Business Gifting Process In Over A $300 Billion Market

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 12, 2023

Giftpack AI is an AI-powered business gifting SaaS platform that streamlines the process by helping customers create meaningful connections, retain employees, and curate VIP clients. And Giftpack AI's audience includes HR managers, marketers, and executive assistants, with some clients in the brokering, business development and project management sectors. Pulse 2.0 Giftpack founder and CEO Archer Chiang to learn more.

Blue Earth Capital: $1 Billion In AUM Reached After Credit Strategies Fund Closes Above $100 Million Target

By Annie Baker ● Oct 12, 2023

Blue Earth Capital AG recently announced the successful closing of its dedicated credit impact fund BlueEarth Credit Strategies II, which closed above target at $108.5 million. The successful closing means BlueEarth has now surpassed a total of $1 billion in assets under management (AuM) across its strategies, spanning private credit, private equity and funds and co-investments.

Kelso & Company: Fund XI Closed Above Target At $3.25 Billion

By Dan Anderson ● Oct 12, 2023

Kelso & Company, L.P. - a private equity firm specializing in middle market investing - recently announced the closing of Kelso Investment Associates XI and affiliated funds. Fund XI closed with aggregate capital commitments of $3.25 billion, which surpasses the original target.

Cubiverse: This Web3 Platform For Creators Is Offering A Cubic Interface For Storing/Displaying Art

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 12, 2023

The Cubiverse is a Web3 platform that offers users an intuitive cubic interface to store and display files, videos, music, 3D models, etc. It was built for content creators who want to access a user-friendly platform where they would not be intimidated by the complexity and cost associated with migrating their works into the metaverse. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Cubiverse co-founder Mike Rosen to learn more.

Why ExxonMobil Is Merging With Pioneer Natural Resources In A $59.5 Billion Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 12, 2023

ExxonMobil and Pioneer Natural Resources announced a merger, which combines Pioneer’s 850,000+ net acres in the Midland Basin with ExxonMobil’s 570,000 net acres in the Delaware and Midland Basins, creating the industry’s leading high-quality undeveloped U.S. unconventional inventory position. Together, the companies are going to have an estimated 16 billion barrels of oil equivalent resource in the Permian.

Loudly: How This Company Enables Users To Generate AI Music For Digital Projects In Seconds

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 12, 2023

Loudly is a company that enables users to generate AI music for their digital projects in seconds, 100% royalty-free. And you can discover music fast with AI-assisted recommendations based on your video concept. Plus, you can customize music directly to your video in a couple of taps. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Loudly co-founder and CEO Rory Kenny to learn more.

Vytal: These Young Entrepreneurs Came Up With A Brain Disease Detection Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 12, 2023

Vytal is a company that allows for brain health evaluation in minutes, which could impact the way that doctors look for cognitive decline. Utilizing a novel gaze-tracking algorithm, Vytal is now driving the democratization of early detection and longitudinal evaluation of brain diseases on the basis of quantifiable ocular biometrics. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Vytal founders Rohan Kalahasty and Sai Mattapalli - who launched the company during their sophomore year of high school.

Insilico Medicine And University Of Cambridge: New Way To Discover Targets For Alzheimer’s And Other Diseases

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 12, 2023

Insilico Medicine, a clinical-stage generative artificial intelligence (AI)-driven drug discovery company, and the University of Cambridge jointly published a paper in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), presenting an approach to identify therapeutic targets for human diseases associated with protein phase separation (PPS). This represents a significant research milestone in their collaboration, launched in September 2021.

SugarCRM Launches Generative AI For Midmarket CRM And Advancing Sales, Marketing, And Customer Service

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 12, 2023

SugarCRM - a provider of the award-winning AI-driven CRM platform - recently announced it is harnessing the power of generative AI to bring newfound out-of-the-box value and productivity gains to its thousands of midmarket customers worldwide, advancing the customer relationship management platform for sales representatives, marketers, and customer service professionals.

Intuit: Coalfield Solar Fund First-Year Winners Announced

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 11, 2023

Intuit - the global financial technology platform behind Intuit TurboTax, Credit Karma, QuickBooks, and Mailchimp - recently announced the inaugural winners of the Coalfield Solar Fund initiative. In partnership with Secure Solar Futures and the NEED project, the initiative is designed to advance renewable energy and create new career pathways for Coalfield communities in Virginia and West Virginia.

Acceldata: $10 Million Series C Funding Extension Raised

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 11, 2023

Acceldata - the market leader in enterprise data observability - recently announced the company has achieved 100% year-over-year revenue growth and a $10 million Series C extension funding round from new investor Prosperity7 Ventures to drive its go-to-market expansion.

RK Electric Receives Investment From Huron Capital

By Annie Baker ● Oct 11, 2023

Leading middle-market private equity firm Huron Capital recently announced the launch of its latest facility services ExecFactor platform formed to execute a buy-and-build in the mission-critical, highly technical electrical services space.

RENCO USA: $18 Million Raised To Distribute Composite Structural Building Systems

By Annie Baker ● Oct 11, 2023

RENCO USA - a company specializing in manufacturing and distributing a revolutionary composite structural building system - recently announced it has closed a first round of financing by issuing $18 million in convertible notes, which values the company at $318 million.

Reserv: AI-Driven Insurance Claims Processing Company Secures $20 Million

By Dan Anderson ● Oct 11, 2023

Reserv - a leader in AI-driven insurance claims processing - recently announced the closing of its $20 million Series A round of financing to expand its generative AI claims data analysis tools. This latest funding round was co-led by Altai Ventures and Bain Capital Ventures (BCV) with participation from 8VC, Outpost Ventures, Convex Group, AXIS Capital, Anthemis Ventures and Arch Capital Group.

Cruz: Funding Received From Jony Ive

By Amit Chowdhry ● Oct 11, 2023

Cruz - a consumer technology company that creates exceptional products that are built to last - recently announced a significant investment round from former Apple executive Jony Ive.

Warburg Pincus Investing In Everise At About $1 Billion Valuation

By Annie Baker ● Oct 11, 2023

Everise (a leading global healthcare services outsourcing company) recently announced that Warburg Pincus (a leading global growth investor) has agreed to invest in the company. Warburg Pincus joins existing investor Brookfield and investors are committed to accelerating the company's growth trajectory through business expansion and M&A. Warburg Pincus' investment values the company at around $1 billion.

Evo Security: $1 Million Raised From Strategic Cyber Ventures

By Dan Anderson ● Oct 11, 2023

Strategic Cyber Ventures - a leading cybersecurity-focused venture capital firm - recently announced a $1 million investment into Evo Security's latest funding round. These are the details.

Plenful: $9 Million Closed To Streamline Healthcare/Pharmacy Operations Through AI-Based Automation

By Noah Long ● Oct 11, 2023

Plenful - a workflow automation platform streamlining pharmacy and healthcare operations - recently announced $9 million in funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners and more than 20 enterprise customers across health systems and pharmacies.

GuidePoint Security: Cybersecurity Solutions Company Raises Funding Round

By Annie Baker ● Oct 11, 2023

GuidePoint Security - a cybersecurity solutions leader enabling organizations to make smarter decisions and minimize risk - recently announced the closing of a funding round led by Audax Private Equity.

Trinetix: Product Development Platform Company Raises $10 Million

By Noah Long ● Oct 11, 2023

Trinetix - a leading product development company that drives transformative innovation for multi-billion dollar enterprises - recently announced it has secured $10 million in funding from the investment fund Hypra.

Cortica: $40 Million Secured To Deliver Life Changing Care

By Noah Long ● Oct 11, 2023

Cortica - the leading physician-led, whole-child, value-based autism services company - recently announced that it has raised $40 million in a Series D extension, bringing the total Series D round to $115 million. This extension was entirely strategic, led by CVS Health Ventures in connection with LRVHealth, Ascension Investment Management (a subsidiary of Ascension), and the University of Wisconsin Foundation.