Archives

Galloway Completes Acquisition Of Anderson Wahlen & Associates

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

Galloway & Company, LLC, a national architecture and engineering firm based in Denver, announced it has completed the acquisition of Anderson Wahlen & Associates, a Salt Lake City-based land development consulting and services firm, effective July 1, 2026. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Origin Merchant Partners Combines With Consensus

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

Origin Merchant Partners, an independent investment bank, announced a strategic acquisition of Consensus, a U.S.-based consumer-focused investment banking firm with offices in Boston and New York. The combination creates Consensus Consumer, a dedicated consumer-focused division of Origin, aimed at serving founder-led, family-owned, and private-equity-backed consumer and retail brands across cross-border sales, capital raises, and strategic transitions in the middle market.

National Equity Fund Expands Midwest Footprint With Acquisition Of St. Louis Equity Fund Portfolio

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

National Equity Fund, a non-profit affordable housing investment manager, announced the acquisition of the properties and fund management portfolio of St. Louis Equity Fund, Inc. The transaction adds 32 properties across 13 funds, representing nearly 2,000 affordable homes and more than $200 million in equity, to NEF's portfolio across the St. Louis metropolitan region.

1872 Launches Autonomous Steel Fabrication Factory In Cincinnati And Closes $15 Million Seed Round

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

1872, a startup focused on AI-native manufacturing, announced the launch of an automated steel fabrication factory in Cincinnati's Camp Washington neighborhood, backed by a $15 million seed funding round described as one of the largest in Ohio history. The round was led by private funds advised by The O.H.I.O. Fund. The company was founded by three former SpaceX engineers.

Radnor Property And Madrone Reach Financial Close On $147 Million Atlanta Student Housing Development

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

Radnor Property Group, in partnership with Madrone Community Development Foundation, has reached financial close on a $147 million student housing development in the West End neighborhood of Atlanta. Financing closed on July 1, 2026, through the sale of $146,763,475 in tax-exempt and taxable bonds issued by the Development Authority of Fulton County.

Union Pacific And CN Announce Agreement To Improve North American Rail Connectivity

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

Union Pacific Railroad and CN announced the signing of a binding Memorandum of Understanding intended to strengthen rail service across North America and improve both companies' ability to serve customers. The agreement grants Union Pacific expanded operating rights over CN's Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway corridor through Chicago, while granting CN new rights over Union Pacific's network between Memphis, Tennessee, and Eagle Pass, Texas, to support freight movements between Canada and Mexico.

Synaptiq Therapeutics Launches With Acquisition Of Clinical-Stage SYN-001 Program

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

A consortium of European and US-based investors, alongside Nobias Therapeutics, announced the launch of Synaptiq Therapeutics, a privately held, clinical-stage biotechnology company formed to advance SYN-001 for the treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome. The company was created through the acquisition of Nobias Therapeutics' lead asset, NB-001, now renamed SYN-001. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Patrick Dougherty has been appointed Chief Executive Officer.

Carrier Accelerates Intelligent Building Strategy With Acquisition Of 75F

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

Carrier Global announced it has acquired 75F, a developer of cloud native, wireless, AI-enabled building automation systems. The acquisition strengthens Carrier's intelligent building capabilities across applications ranging from complex applied systems and data centers to light commercial buildings and retrofits.

Anthropic Launches 4 Role-Based Certifications And Partners With Pearson On Verified Assessment

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

Anthropic announced an expansion of its Claude Certification Program with three new role-based certifications, rounding out a set of four credentials designed to cover the full range of roles a customer needs to deploy Claude across an enterprise. The expansion builds on the Claude Partner Network, which launched in March alongside a $100 million investment, and a Services Track introduced in June to help enterprise buyers identify qualified partner firms.

Bretton AI: Interview With Co-Founder And CEO Will Lawrence About AI-Native Operations For The Financial Back Office

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

Bretton AI runs AI-native operations for the financial back office. Banks regulated by the OCC, Federal Reserve, and FDIC use Bretton AI to run compliance, risk, fraud, and operations on one platform, on their own data and policies, with every output traced, cited, and audit-ready. Bretton AI offers two paths: the Bretton AI Platform, where teams build and run their own agents, and Bretton AI Managed Services, where a dedicated Bretton team runs the program end to end. Everything is underpinned by Bretton AI’s Trust Infrastructure for model governance, continuous evaluation, traceability, and quality assurance. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Bretton AI Co-Founder and CEO Will Lawrence to learn more.

TechWolf And WTW Partner To Turn Skills And Workforce Data Into AI-Driven Business Impact

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

TechWolf and WTW announced a strategic partnership designed to help large enterprises accelerate the shift from skills strategy to practical execution. The collaboration combines WTW's expertise in skills design, job architecture, and workforce transformation with TechWolf's AI-driven Skills, Work, and Market Intelligence platform.

PodcastOne Acquires The Magnificent Others With Billy Corgan

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

PodcastOne announced the acquisition of exclusive sales and distribution rights to The Magnificent Others, the interview podcast hosted by Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan. PodcastOne will provide exclusive sales, marketing, and distribution for the show, aiming to grow its audience across audio and video platforms while creating new opportunities for advertisers and brand partners.

Portillo’s Appoints Christopher Hansen As Executive Chef And Senior Director Of Culinary Innovation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

Portillo's announced the appointment of Christopher Hansen as Executive Chef and Senior Director of Culinary Innovation, a role in which he will oversee all aspects of culinary strategy and menu innovation for the fast-casual chain. Hansen most recently served as Head of U.S. Culinary at Guzman y Gomez, where he led culinary strategy, menu innovation, and brand positioning.

Aton Announces C$4 Million Private Placement

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

Aton Resources announced a non-brokered private placement to raise C$4 million through the issuance of 7,619,048 common shares at a price of C$0.525 per share. Proceeds from the placement will support further exploration and development activities at Aton's Hamama project as well as general and administrative expenses.

Hamilton Lane Board Elects Michael Schmertzler As New Independent Director

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

Hamilton Lane announced that its Board of Directors elected Michael Schmertzler as a new independent director, effective July 22, 2026, marking the fifth independent director named to the board alongside the firm's three executive directors.

Sierra Acquires Takeoff, Building Long-Horizon Agent Platform Called Horizon

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

Sierra announced it is acquiring Takeoff, a company that has grown from $0 in annual recurring revenue at the start of the year to nearly eight figures in revenue as of earlier this month. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Together, the two companies are building a new platform called Horizon.

United Therapeutics Appoints Victor Dzau To Its Board Of Directors

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

United Therapeutics announced that its Board of Directors appointed Victor Dzau, M.D., to the board on July 22, 2026. Dr. Dzau recently completed a 12-year tenure as President of the National Academy of Medicine, with his term expiring at the end of June 2026, and in July 2026 he returned to Duke University as James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Medicine, Chancellor Emeritus for Health Affairs, and Director of the Mandel Center.

Gesa Credit Union To Acquire Willamette Valley Bank

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

Gesa Credit Union and Willamette Valley Bank, together with the bank's parent company, Oregon Bancorp, Inc., announced a definitive agreement under which Gesa will acquire the Salem, Oregon-based community bank in an all-cash transaction. Gesa would acquire substantially all of Willamette Valley Bank's assets and assume substantially all of its liabilities. The deal was unanimously approved by the boards of all three organizations and remains subject to regulatory approval and approval by Oregon Bancorp shareholders, who are expected to receive an estimated $43.00 to $45.00 per share. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2027.

Tikva Allocell Closes $8 Million Series A Financing For EBV-Specific T-Cell Therapy

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

Tikva Allocell, a biotechnology company developing engineered, allogeneic cell therapies for solid tumors, announced the closing of an $8 million Series A financing led by Kantharos Capital. Proceeds will fund activities required to enable an Investigational New Drug application and support a planned year-end 2026 IND submission for TAVST01, the company's lead candidate targeting B7-H3-positive solid tumors.

Crystalys Therapeutics Announces $130 Million Series B Financing To Advance Gout Treatment Dotinurad

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

Crystalys Therapeutics Inc. announced the closing of an oversubscribed $130 million Series B financing to support late-stage global clinical development and commercialization preparation of dotinurad, a next-generation, once-daily, oral URAT1 inhibitor for the treatment of gout. The round was led by Frazier Life Sciences, with participation from Wellington Management, HBM Healthcare Investments, Soleus Capital, Cormorant Asset Management, Trails Edge Capital Partners, Pivotal bioVenture Partners, KCap Biotechnology Fund, and a group of existing investors including Novo Holdings and SR One.

StrongestLayer Reaches $9.3 Million In Total Seed Funding To Address AI-Era Email Attacks

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

StrongestLayer, an AI-native email security company, announced it has raised $4.1 million in new funding, bringing its total seed funding to $9.3 million. The round was led by Inovia Capital, with participation from existing investor Sorenson Capital and new investors LaunchPod, Alumni Ventures, and Chris Key, former Chief Product Officer of Mandiant. The company said production deployments have grown more than eightfold over the past year, and the new capital will support go-to-market investment, platform expansion, and preparation for a planned Series A.

Circeus Acquires Dondy And Adds WhatsApp Commerce Platform To Shop Circle

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

Circeus, an AI-native holding company, announced it has acquired Dondy, a conversational commerce platform ranked the number one WhatsApp app on the Shopify App Store. Dondy will become part of Shop Circle, Circeus's agentic commerce software division. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

VANE Announces Investment In PawPay

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

The Veterinary Angel Network for Entrepreneurs announced that PawPay has become its newest portfolio company following investments from VANE members. PawPay is a point-of-care payment platform that allows insured pet owners to pay only their deductible and coinsurance at the time of a veterinary visit, rather than paying the full invoice upfront and waiting for reimbursement from their insurer.

Connecticut Innovations Generates Record $66.5 Million In Proceeds In FY2026

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

Connecticut Innovations, the state's strategic venture capital arm, announced a record fiscal year, generating $66.5 million in cash proceeds from a series of portfolio exits and a combined $76.1 million from all investment activities. During the fiscal year ended June 30, 2026, CI invested $59.3 million across 75 early-stage companies and venture funds, with those deals leveraging an additional $1.2 billion in outside capital.

Aampere Closes €4.2 Million Late Seed Round To Build Used EV Market Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

Aampere announced it has closed a €4.2 million late seed funding round backed by Trind Ventures, Vend, GIMIC Ventures, G-FUND, Maverick Ventures GmbH & Co. KG, and a group of experienced automotive founders. The financing marks another step in the company's push to modernize how used electric vehicles are bought and sold across Europe.

Genius AI Announces Series D At $1.15 Billion Valuation And Rebrands From GlossGenius

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

Genius AI, formerly known as GlossGenius, announced a Series D funding round at a $1.15 billion valuation, bringing the company's total capital raised to more than $125 million. The round was led by Lux Capital, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners, Imaginary Ventures, 2048 Ventures, L Catterton Growth Fund, and StepStone Private Ventures. Alongside the funding announcement, the company introduced its new name, which it said reflects a customer base and product that have grown beyond its original focus on the beauty and wellness industry.

Yope Raises $12.3 Million Pre-Series A Led By Northzone For AI-Native Private Social Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

Yope, an AI-native private social platform built for micro communities, announced it has raised $12.3 million in a Pre-Series A round led by Northzone, with participation from Inovo, Redseed, and Geek Ventures. The round brings the company's total funding to $20 million.

ABL Diagnostics Selected By Évry Commercial Court To Acquire TEXCELL’s Operations

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

ABL Diagnostics announced that it has been selected by the Évry Commercial Court to acquire the assets and business operations of TEXCELL, a company with expertise in viral safety, biosafety, genomic analysis, and immunological monitoring for biotechnology and innovative therapies. The selection follows an industrial plan submitted by ABL Diagnostics aimed at ensuring business continuity and preserving TEXCELL's scientific expertise.

TeamViewer And ServiceNow Launch Strategic Partnership To Accelerate Autonomous IT Operations

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

TeamViewer and ServiceNow announced a multi-year strategic technology partnership under which TeamViewer's Digital Employee Experience and Remote Connectivity solutions will be integrated with the ServiceNow AI Platform. The companies said the partnership includes joint go-to-market investments aimed at delivering end-to-end autonomous IT solutions for enterprise customers.

DECTA: Interview With Head Of Sales Gabriel Stefanak About The Payment Processing Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jul 24, 2026

DECTA is a global payment processing company that provides payments infrastructure for issuers and acquirers, a white-label payment gateway, and digital banking solutions for banks, fintechs, and merchants, enabling them to offer services like card issuing, acquiring, and seamless payment processing with integrated digital tools. Pulse 2.0 interviewed DECTA sales executive Gabriel Stefanak to gain a better understanding of the company.