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Notable, a rapidly growing real estate financing leader, has secured $6 million in Series A funding to expand its innovative pay-at-close solution for home sale preparation. The round was led by W. R. Berkley Corporation, a major player in insurance and financial services, with additional backing from Second Century Ventures, the strategic investment arm of the National Association of REALTORS. As part of the deal, Clare Tokheim from W. R. Berkley will join Notable’s Board of Directors, bringing further expertise to the company’s growth strategy.

StackGuardian, a European cloud-native startup focused on secure and compliant self-service infrastructure, has announced the closing of a $10 million funding round, which includes its initial seed capital. The Series A was led by TIN Capital, with continued support from existing investors Volta Ventures and InvestLink.

Mesta, a global payment network that merges traditional fiat systems with stablecoin technology, has announced the close of a $5.5 million seed funding round. The round was led by Village Global and included participation from Circle Ventures, Paxos, and Western Technology Investment. Several existing investors, including Garuda Ventures, Canonical Crypto, Everywhere Ventures, and Inventum Ventures, also reaffirmed their support, signaling strong confidence in Mesta’s vision and early traction.

apiphani, a company specializing in AI-native platforms and managed services for enterprise applications, has raised $25 million in Series A funding. Insight Partners led the round and it marks a significant step in apiphani’s expansion into regulated sectors such as energy, utilities, and telecommunications—industries where uptime, security, and performance are non-negotiable.

Odeeo is a company that offers an innovative in-game audio advertising platform. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Odeeo co-founder and CEO Amit Monheit to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

Honest, one of the fastest-growing credit card issuers in Indonesia, has closed a significant growth round led by Orico, bringing its total equity funding to $100 million. The round also included continued support from XYZ Venture Capital, SV Pacific Ventures, and Village Global, with new participation from prominent U.S. investors like Gilgamesh Ventures. In addition to the equity raise, Honest secured $40 million in debt financing from Mizuho Bank, further strengthening its financial position.

Concept Ventures, a European venture capital firm, has successfully closed its second fund, Concept Fund II, with $88 million in commitments. This new fund is entirely focused on supporting pre-seed stage founders across the United Kingdom and Europe, positioning Concept Ventures as the largest dedicated pre-seed investor in the region. The firm sees this milestone as a strong validation of pre-seed investing as a distinct and increasingly vital part of the venture capital landscape.

Eve, an AI-based platform reshaping how plaintiff law firms operate, has raised $103 million in Series B funding, surpassing its valuation of $1 billion. The round was led by Spark Capital and included continued support from Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Menlo Ventures.

Grays Peak Capital, a global investment firm based in New York, has officially launched its second private credit fund, named Grays Peak Private Credit II (GPPC GovCon).

TotalEnergies, a global multi-energy company, has announced a significant transaction in its renewables business, agreeing to sell a fifty percent stake in a 1.4 gigawatt solar portfolio located in North America. The purchaser is a group of insurance vehicles and accounts managed by KKR, a prominent global investment firm. This deal is a key part of TotalEnergies’ integrated power business model, valuing the entire portfolio at an enterprise value of $1.25 billion. On the closing of the deal, TotalEnergies anticipates receiving a total of $950 million, derived from this transaction and from bank refinancing that is currently being finalized.

SeaBeLife, a biotechnology company focused on developing innovative drug candidates designed to inhibit cellular necrosis, has closed a pre-Series A funding round, raising €2 million ($2.25 million). The investment was led by the historical investor iXLife, with participation from other longstanding backers, including Breizh Angels, WeLikeStartup, Angels Santé, and the Business Angels des Grandes Ecoles.

Vibe.co, the advertising platform focused on bringing granular, hyper-targeted precision to connected TV for performance marketers, has announced the successful closure of a $50 million Series B funding round. Hedosophia spearheaded the funding round. The funding also garnered participation from a diverse and influential group of existing and new investors. Previous backers Elaia and Singular reaffirmed their support, and new strategic investment came from QuantumLight, the investment fund managed by Revolut CEO Nik Storonsky, and Illusian, the fund associated with Supercell CEO Ilkka Paananen. The round also attracted angel investors like Carolyn Everson, a board member of both The Walt Disney Company and Coca-Cola. In a noteworthy addition to the company's governance, Nirav Tolia, the Chief Executive Officer of Nextdoor, has joined Vibe.co’s board of directors, bringing his extensive experience in scaling consumer-facing platforms.

Qovery, a SaaS platform dedicated to automating DevOps and streamlining application deployment across any cloud environment, has completed a Series A funding round, raising $13 million, equivalent to €11.3 million. VC firm IRIS led the Series A round. The funding also saw broad participation from a variety of notable investors, including institutional firms Speedinvest, Crane Venture Partners, Techstars, and Irregular Expressions. The round was supported by the involvement of several angel investors from the technology sector, including Datadog cofounders Olivier Pomel and Alexis Le-Quoc, Docker cofounder Sebastian Pahl, and Ott Kaukver, the Chief Technology Officer of Checkout.com and former CTO of Twilio.

Sense Neuro Diagnostics, a pioneering venture dedicated to transforming emergency neurocritical care, has successfully utilized over $17 million in funding. This funding will accelerate the development and commercialization of the company’s flagship device, NeuroHawk, a system designed for the rapid detection and monitoring of strokes and traumatic brain injuries.

bp has committed to a new venture in the US offshore region, underscoring the area’s critical role in the company's long-term global strategy. The firm has reached a final investment decision for the Tiber-Guadalupe project in the Gulf of America, marking the approval of its second new production platform in the area in under two years. This substantial commitment further solidifies the Gulf of America as a cornerstone of bp's upstream development plans.

B2B Stars operates as an AI-native B2B database, offering comprehensive analytics on over three million U.S. and Western European companies. The platform provides free search access to a vast online directory, verified B2B reviews, and a corporate reputation score database. Pulse 2.0 interviewed B2B Stars CEO Raffaele Apostoliti to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

Arctos, a private investment firm specializing in providing customized growth and liquidity solutions, has made a significant announcement regarding the launch of its new business division, Arctos Capital Markets (ACM). This division is specifically designed to identify and link qualified high-net-worth investors with exclusive opportunities in professional sports franchise ownership.

Stirling Square Capital Partners (a renowned pan-European private equity firm specializing in growth investments) and KKR (a global investment firm known for its diverse portfolio and strategic investments) have jointly announced a significant growth investment in Infobric. Infobric stands out as a leader in providing software solutions tailored for the construction industry, addressing various operational challenges faced by contractors and subcontractors alike. With this new investment, KKR will acquire a substantial stake in the company, complementing the existing majority ownership held by Stirling Square and the management team of Infobric.

Notion Capital, a leading VC firm in Europe, has recently announced the successful closing of its newest growth fund, Notion Capital Opportunities III SCSp, at $130 million (€114 million). The fundraising reflects the ongoing resilience and vibrancy of the European tech sector, which continues to attract significant investment.

Corient, one of the largest and fastest-growing national wealth advisory firms, has announced the acquisition of Bristlecone Advisors, a registered investment advisory firm based in Bellevue, Washington, which manages approximately $2 billion in assets.

Berkshire Hathaway and Occidental Petroleum have entered into a definitive agreement for Berkshire Hathaway to acquire Occidental’s chemical division, known as OxyChem, in an all-cash transaction valued at $9.7 billion, with adjustments to the purchase price reflecting standard industry practices. This agreement is subject to customary purchase price adjustments that are typical in large transactions of this nature.

Norton Rose Fulbright is expanding its business practice group with the strategic addition of corporate finance partner Chip Gage, who will be based in the Dallas office. This move aligns with the firm's commitment to enhancing its transactional practices and underscores its proactive response to the growing demand for expert counsel in leveraged and acquisition finance, particularly among middle-market private equity clients seeking tailored financial solutions.

INVL Private Equity Fund II, known as one of the largest private equity funds in the Baltic region and managed by the Invalda INVL Group, has officially entered into an investment agreement with POLMED. This strategic partnership also includes the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and Accession Capital Partners (ACP). POLMED stands out as one of the largest private providers of multi-profile medical services in Poland, with a significant presence in the healthcare sector.

Blackstone has announced that Kimberly Kim will be joining the firm as a Senior Managing Director. In her new role, she will lead the APAC Insurance Institutional Client Solutions division for Blackstone Credit & Insurance (BXCI). This position has been created specifically to support the firm’s strategic initiative of expanding its footprint in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, which is becoming increasingly vital for its business growth.

Andrea Traversone has recently been appointed as the Managing Partner at Jolt Capital, which is in conjunction with the firm announcing its initial commitments for Jolt Capital V. One of the first significant contributions comes from the European Investment Fund, which has invested €260 million, setting a strong foundation for the fund's future endeavors.

Apollo has officially launched Apollo Sports Capital (ASC), a dedicated investment venture that will provide innovative capital solutions tailored to the expansive global sports and live events ecosystem. For this initiative, Al Tylis, a highly experienced sports investor and executive with a distinguished background, has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of ASC. Joining him in leadership are Apollo Partners Rob Givone and Lee Solomon, who will serve as co-portfolio managers, and Sam Porter, who has taken on the role of Chief Strategy Officer.

AURELIUS has entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire the EMEA metering business from SIX Swiss Exchange-listed Landis+Gyr for an enterprise value of $215 million. Xylem, a leading global water solutions company, has also entered into a definitive agreement for AURELIUS to acquire the assets of its water and heat metering business outside North America.

Monterro, known as one of the largest B2B software investors in the Nordics, has launched two new funds, named M5 and G2, which together total €1.725 billion. This new round of fundraising has more than doubled Monterro's assets under management, bringing the total to €3.1 billion.

OpenAI - the pioneering artificial intelligence company known for introducing the world to the conversational tool ChatGPT - has reportedly seen its valuation surge to $500 billion, according to sources with Reuters. This figure was achieved following a transaction in which a group of current and former employees sold about $6.6 billion worth of their company shares.

Terakeet is a reputation management company that specializes in search and AI. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Terakeet co-founder and CTO Patrick Danial to gain a deeper understanding of the company.