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CherryRoad Media Buys The Carrollton Democrat, Completing Main Street Media’s Exit From Missouri Newspapers

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

CherryRoad Media acquired The Carrollton Democrat from Main Street Media, completing the transition of Main Street Media’s final Missouri newspaper title out of its portfolio.

Conscious Capital Growth And Petra Capital Partners Acquire RD Nutrition Consultants

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

Conscious Capital Growth, in partnership with Petra Capital Partners, has acquired RD Nutrition Consultants, a national provider of specialized dietitian consulting services for healthcare facilities across the United States. The buyers said the transaction positions RD Nutrition for faster growth and expansion of its clinical reach.

MediVisuals + High Impact Buys Jury Impressions To Add Mock Jury Research To Visual Trial Strategy

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

MediVisuals + High Impact, a provider of visual demonstratives for litigation, announced it has acquired Jury Impressions, a jury research firm founded by trial attorney Irv Cantor.

Cellares: $257 Million Series D Closed To Scale Automated Cell Therapy Manufacturing

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

Cellares has raised $257 million in a Series D financing co-led by investment funds managed by BlackRock and Eclipse, bringing total capital raised to $612 million. The round brings in a slate of new investors, including accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Investment Management, Baillie Gifford, Duquesne Family Office, Intuitive Ventures, EDBI, and Gates Frontier, alongside existing backers DC Global Ventures, DFJ Growth, and Willett Advisors.

Eliyan: $50 Million Raised To Scale AI Interconnect Chiplets

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

Eliyan, a Santa Clara-based developer of high-performance connectivity technology for AI and high-performance computing systems, said it has secured $50 million in strategic investments from a group that includes AMD, Arm, Coherent, and Meta, alongside returning backers Samsung Catalyst Fund and Intel Capital.

Sokin: $100 Million Debt Facility Raised From Oxford Finance To Scale Embedded Payments Globally

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

Sokin, a London-headquartered business payments company, has secured a $100 million long-term debt facility from Oxford Finance, adding structured capital it says will accelerate its international expansion and product roadmap as demand grows for payments infrastructure integrated directly into enterprise workflows.

PaleBlueDot AI: $150 Million Series B Raised At Over $1 Billion Valuation Closed To Scale Global AI Compute Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

PaleBlueDot AI, a Silicon Valley-based AI compute platform founded in 2024, has closed a $150 million Series B financing round that values the company at more than $1 billion. The round was led by B Capital, an investment firm headquartered in San Francisco and Singapore with more than $9 billion in assets under management.

Mesh Security: $12 Million Series A Raised To Build ‘Execution Layer’ For Cybersecurity Mesh At Enterprise Scale

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

Mesh Security, a Palo Alto and Tel Aviv-based cybersecurity startup positioning itself as the “execution layer” for Cybersecurity Mesh Architecture (CSMA), has raised $12 million in Series A funding. The round was led by Lobby Capital, with participation from S Ventures (SentinelOne’s corporate venture arm) and Bright Pixel Capital.

BoldVoice: $21 Million Series A Raised To Scale AI Voice Coaching For Non-Native English Speakers

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

BoldVoice, an AI-based voice coaching platform designed to help non-native English speakers improve pronunciation and clarity, has raised a $21 million Series A round led by Matrix, with participation from Flybridge, Xfund, Corazon Capital, Alumni Ventures, Umami Capital, and Y Combinator.

Outtake: $40 Million Series B Raised To Build a Unified Digital Trust Platform for the AI Era

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

Outtake, a digital trust platform designed to protect organizations from AI-driven impersonation and identity-based abuse, has raised $40 million in a Series B funding round led by ICONIQ. The round also included participation from CRV, S32, and a group of technology and security executives investing as angel backers, including Satya Nadella, Nikesh Arora, Bill Ackman, Shyam Sankar, Trae Stephens, Bob McGrew, Guillermo Rauch, and John Donovan.

Genspark: $300 Million Series B Raised, $100 Million ARR Crossed, And AI Workspace 2.0 Launched

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

Genspark announced the launch of AI Workspace 2.0, positioning the release as a step toward “operational autonomy,” in which AI agents can plan and execute multi-step work end-to-end across common knowledge-worker outputs. The Palo Alto-based company said the platform is designed to reduce friction in modern work, which often involves repeated prompting, tool switching, manual formatting, and handoffs between drafts and systems.

Heritable Agriculture: $5 Million Gates Foundation Grant Secured To Build Climate-Resilient Crops For Smallholder Farmers

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

Heritable Agriculture, an AI-driven crop improvement company spun out of Google X, has secured a $4.98 million grant from the Gates Foundation to develop a new initiative aimed at accelerating climate-resilient crop development for smallholder farmers in low- and middle-income countries.

Decagon: $250 Million Series D At $4.5 Billion Valuation Raised For AI-Based Customer Experience Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

Insigneo Teams With Karta To Launch Global Charge Card For International Clients With U.S. Assets

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

Insigneo, an international wealth management firm headquartered in Miami, announced a partnership with fintech startup Karta to launch a co-branded global charge card for high-net-worth international clients holding U.S.-based assets. The companies said the agreement gives Insigneo exclusive rights as the first wealth management firm to offer a co-branded charge card with Karta, positioning the launch as part of Insigneo’s broader push to add new tools and services tailored to cross-border clients.

Stifel Scales Wealth Platform As Fee-Based Assets And Client Balances Hit New Highs

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

Stifel Financial reported continued progress in its wealth management strategy in 2025, pointing to advisor growth, rising fee-based assets, and record client asset levels as key drivers in its Global Wealth Management business. The company said Global Wealth Management delivered record fourth-quarter net revenues of $933.2 million, up from $865.2 million a year earlier, as higher asset management revenue, improved client activity, and balance-sheet growth supported results. Pre-tax net income for the segment totaled $330.1 million for the quarter.

Fidelity To Launch First Stablecoin Fidelity Digital Dollar (FIDD) For Retail And Institutional Investors

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

Fidelity Investments announced it will launch its first stablecoin, Fidelity Digital Dollar (FIDD), expanding its digital asset investment lineup with a fiat backed token designed to maintain a one dollar value per unit. The company said FIDD will be issued by Fidelity Digital Assets, National Association, with availability for retail and institutional investors expected in the coming weeks.

CMA CGM And Stonepeak Form United Ports JV In $2.4 Billion Terminal Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

CMA CGM Group and infrastructure investment firm Stonepeak have agreed to form UNITED PORTS LLC, a U.S. joint venture designed to acquire 10 major CMA CGM operated port terminals around the world. Under the agreement, Stonepeak will invest $2.4 billion for a 25% minority stake, while CMA CGM will hold 75% and retain full operational control of the terminals.

SimonMed Launches Longevity Division And Rebrands Around AI-Enabled Preventive Imaging

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

SimonMed Imaging has introduced an updated brand and launched SimonMed Longevity, a new division centered on AI-enabled preventive care and longevity screening. The initiative marks what the company described as the next phase of its evolution as a national diagnostic imaging provider, expanding emphasis beyond traditional diagnostics to include earlier risk identification and preventive support powered by artificial intelligence.

Osaic: $164 Million Advisor Chris Livingston Joins

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

Osaic announced that financial advisor Chris Livingston has affiliated with the firm and joined Oakfield Wealth Management Group, an Osaic-affiliated team led by Private Wealth Advisor Anthony Macaluso. Livingston, who is based in Brooklyn, New York, brings approximately $164 million in assets under administration and more than 25 years of industry experience to the platform.

Raymond James Unveils ‘Rai,’ A Proprietary AI Operations Agent For Internal Q&A And Process Support

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

Raymond James has launched a proprietary digital AI operations agent called Rai, expanding the firm’s long-term artificial intelligence strategy with a new internal tool designed to deliver fast, curated answers to operational questions. The agent uses natural language processing and generative AI to respond in plain language, drawing on multiple Raymond James knowledge bases and adapting over time based on user activity and preferences.

Dentons: Beth Taylor Named As Global Chief Legal Officer

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

Dentons has strengthened its Global Leadership Team with the appointment of Beth Taylor as Global Chief Legal Officer and the promotion of Shane Mercer to Global Chief Information Officer. Both executives will join the firm’s Global Management Committee and report to Global CEO Kate Barton.

Yahoo Debuts Scout, A New AI Answer Engine Built On Its Search History and Data Assets

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

Yahoo has introduced Yahoo Scout, a proprietary AI-powered answer engine that the company says is now available in beta for U.S. users across Yahoo Search and the broader Yahoo product portfolio. Yahoo said Scout is being rolled out on desktop and mobile, positioning the product for a wide consumer footprint across Mail, News, Finance, Sports, and other Yahoo services.

Celona: Interview With Co-Founder & CEO Rajeev Shah About The 5G And LTE Networking Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

Celona provides an integrated, cloud-native private 5G networking platform designed to help enterprises easily deploy and manage secure, high-performance wireless connectivity for mission-critical applications. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Celona co-founder and CEO Rajeev Shah to learn more.

Cloud Capital: Interview With Co-Founder & CEO Ed Barrow About The Financial Tech Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

Cloud Capital is a financial technology platform that helps CFOs and finance teams forecast, manage, and reduce cloud infrastructure spend through automated, risk-free commitments. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Cloud Capital co-founder and CEO Ed Barrow to learn more.

Patchworks: Interview With CEO Jim Herbert About The No-Code Integration Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

Patchworks is a no-code/low-code integration platform (iPaaS) that helps eCommerce and retail businesses automate and manage data flows between systems like their storefront, ERP, WMS/3PL, finance, and other back-office tools. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Patchworks CEO Jim Herbert to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

LoyaltyLion: Interview With CEO Charlie Casey About The Loyalty Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

LoyaltyLion is a data-driven eCommerce loyalty and engagement platform that helps online brands build customized rewards (and referral) programs to increase customer retention and repeat sales. Pulse 2.0 interviewed LoyaltyLion CEO Charlie Casey to gain a deeper understanding of the company.

NewEdge Advisors Adds $1.4 Billion ClearTrust Wealth Advisors Team In Tennessee

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

NewEdge Capital Group announced ClearTrust Wealth Advisors has affiliated with NewEdge Advisors, bringing a 24-person team and approximately $1.4 billion in client assets to the firm’s growth-oriented registered investment advisor platform. ClearTrust is based in Franklin, Tennessee, and joins from Ameriprise Financial, where the team managed the assets prior to the move.

Limy: $10 Million Raised To Help Brands Optimize For The Agentic Web And AI Storefronts

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

Limy, an infrastructure platform focused on optimizing brand performance in what it calls the “Agentic Web,” has emerged from stealth and announced a $10 million funding round. The financing was led by Flybridge, with participation from a16z speedrun, along with other investors including Axiom, Clarim, Communitas, and JRV & AnD.

Stellular Bio: Series 1 Financing Closed To Advance Regenerative Biologic For Sjögren’s Dry Eye

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

Stellular Bio, which is developing Platelet-derived Regenerative Biologic (PRB) therapeutics, announced it has closed its Series 1 financing round to support advancement of its lead candidate, STLR-201, toward clinical testing as a treatment for Sjögren’s disease dry eye.

MBZUAI, G42, And Cerebras Release K2 Think V2, An Open Reasoning System For The UAE

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 29, 2026

G42, Cerebras Systems, and the Institute of Foundation Models at Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence said they have released K2 Think V2, a 70 billion parameter reasoning system built on the new K2 V2 base model. The organizations described K2 V2 as IFM’s strongest frontier class open source foundation model and said it was purpose built to serve as the base for K2 Think.