Archives

BlueGrace Logistics Buying Transportation Solutions Provider FreightCenter

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 10, 2025

BlueGrace Logistics, a leading Third-Party Logistics (3PL) provider operating within North America, announced the acquisition of FreightCenter, an online transportation solutions provider that started 26 years ago. This strategic deal expands BlueGrace’s customer base by integrating FreightCenter’s clients with BlueGrace’s advanced suite of logistics tools and services.

UNCAGED Innovations: Interview With CEO & Co-Founder Stephanie Downs About The Biomaterials Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 10, 2025

UNCAGED Innovations is a biomaterials company that is developing next-generation performance materials to replace bovine and exotic leather. Pulse 2.0 interviewed UNCAGED Innovations co-founder and CEO Stephanie Downs to learn more about the company.

Gilat: $98 Million Acquisition Of Stellar Blu Solutions Completed

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 10, 2025

Gilat Satellite Networks - a global leader in satellite networking technology, solutions, and services - announced that it has closed the acquisition of Stellar Blu Solutions, a leading US-based provider of next-generation SATCOM terminal solutions.

Mercer Advisors Entering Bend, Oregon Market By Onboarding Advisors With Over $200 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 10, 2025

Mercer Global Advisors - a national Registered Investment Adviser (RIA) - announced it welcomes two distinct financial advisors –Dave Stuehling and John Swanson. Stuehling and Swanson are based in Bend, Oregon, giving Mercer Advisors a strategic presence in one of the nation’s fastest-growing cities.

Earth First Food Ventures: Interview With Co-Founder & CEO Brian Ruszczyk About The ESG/Impact Focused Investment Firm

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 10, 2025

Earth First Food Ventures (EFFV) is a venture capital platform offering ESG/impact investing in innovative food technologies, mostly in the precision fermentation space, focusing on alternative dairy from precision fermentation. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Earth First Food Ventures co-founder and CEO Brian Ruszczyk to learn more.

The Wake Forest Institute For Regenerative Medicine Researching Ways To Make Vision-Restoring Whole Eye Transplants

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 10, 2025

The Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine (WFIRM) is now part of a significant undertaking that will bring together more than 40 scientists, doctors, and industry experts from around the country to make vision-restoring whole-eye transplants a reality. And there is an award of up to $56 million from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) Transplantation of Human Eye Allografts (THEA) program.

Orion Names Arun Anur As Chief Operating Officer

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 10, 2025

Orion, a provider of transformative wealth technology solutions for financial advisors and enterprise firms that serve them, announced the appointment of Arun Anur as Chief Operating Officer. Anur is responsible for Orion’s client experience delivery in this role, including service, operations, data reconciliation, and onboarding.

Samsara Vision: Interview With President And CEO Thomas Ruggia About The Implantable Ophthalmic Device Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 10, 2025

Samsara Vision is a medical device company engaged in the research, development, manufacture, and marketing of proprietary implantable ophthalmic devices and technologies that are intended to significantly improve vision and quality of life for individuals with untreatable retinal disorders. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Samsara Vision President and CEO Thomas Ruggia to learn more about the company.

ONRAD Buying Emergency Imaging And Teleradiology Company Direct Radiology

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 10, 2025

ONRAD, a leading radiology services company delivering remote teleradiology final-read impressions across all healthcare settings and full-service radiology solutions for hospitals, announced the acquisition of teleradiology group Direct Radiology from Royal Philips, a global leader in health technology. And the resulting unified organization creates the most significant independent teleradiology provider in the United States. The financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Geneoscopy: $105 Million (Series C) Raised For Developing Advanced Gastrointestinal Diagnostic Tests

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 10, 2025

Geneoscopy - a life sciences company focused on developing diagnostic tests for advancing gastrointestinal health - announced the closing of a Series C funding round raising $105 million. Bio-Rad Laboratories led the financing and was joined by Petrichor, Labcorp, Morningside Ventures, Lightchain Capital, NT Investments, Granger Management and Mercy Health, Tri Locum Partners, and others.

Frontier Direct Care: Employer-Funded Healthcare Leader Closes $20 Million (Series B)

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 10, 2025

Frontier Direct Care, a leading innovator in employer-funded healthcare, announced the initial closing of its $20 million Series B funding round, led by Mehshah Capital. This funding will accelerate the company's mission to transform healthcare by delivering affordable and high-quality care to employees and their families.

Scrum Ventures Closes New Tech Fund At $68 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 10, 2025

Scrum Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm, announced the closing of its first vertically focused tech fund Scrum Sports & Entertainment Fund I (SSE). This new fund, which closed at $68 million, invests in technology companies that support the growth of the sports and entertainment sector but also transcend the vertical and address market inefficiencies in other industries.

Relief Cardiovascular: $12 Million (Series A) Raised To Develop Transcatheter Implants

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 10, 2025

Relief Cardiovascular, an inQB8 Medical Technologies portfolio company pioneering innovative solutions for the management of heart failure, announced the closing of a $12 million Series A funding round. This funding round was co-led by Broadview Ventures and Advent Life Sciences, with participation from Pacific Health Investment, Heartwork Capital, and an undisclosed multinational strategy.

Expansion Capital Group: $100 Million Credit Facility Secured For Accelerating Growth

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 10, 2025

Expansion Capital Group (ECG), a provider of working capital solutions for small businesses, announced the closing of a $100 million credit facility. And this achievement reinforces ECG’s dedication to empowering small businesses nationwide by delivering fast and dependable access to capital.

FTV: $4.05 Billion In Capital Commitments Raised

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 10, 2025

Growth equity investment firm FTV Capital announced the completion of its latest growth equity fundraising with $4.05 billion in capital commitments. And spanning two complementary funds – its eighth flagship fund (FTV VIII) and a new vehicle dedicated to smaller investments FTV Ascend I, the new funding enables FTV to expand its approach to supporting high-growth companies with equity checks ranging from $20 million to $300 million while maintaining a concentrated portfolio of investments in its funds.

lowRISC: Interview With CEO Gavin Ferris About The Open Source Silicon Design Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 10, 2025

lowRISC is a not-for-profit engineering company that creates and maintains commercial-grade open-source silicon designs through its collaborative Silicon Commons approach. Pulse 2.0 interviewed lowRISC CEO Gavin Ferris to learn more about the company.

MD Anderson Cancer Center And Myriad Genetics Sign Strategic Alliance

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 10, 2025

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Myriad Genetics announced a five-year strategic alliance to accelerate the clinical evaluation and development of Myriad’s molecular residual disease (MRD) assay. This deal brings together the longstanding oncology diagnostic experience of Myriad Genetics and the clinical and translational research expertise of MD Anderson to create a portfolio of studies to evaluate the clinical validity and utility of Myriad’s Precise MRD.

Qualified Health: $30 Million (Seed) Raised For Developing GenAI Infrastructure In Healthcare

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 10, 2025

Qualified Health announced its launch with $30 million in seed funding to develop the infrastructure for generative AI in healthcare. The major investors are SignalFire, Healthier Capital, Town Hall Ventures, and Frist Cressey Ventures, with participation from Intermountain Ventures, Flare Capital Partners, and prominent healthcare and technology sector angels.

Flint Capital: Interview With Partner Andrew Gershfeld About The Early-Stage Investment Firm

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 10, 2025

Flint Capital is an early-stage venture capital fund that has invested in companies like Flo Health, Bluebricks, Sensi.AI, BlinqIO, Oneday, WalkMe, and Lending Club. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Flint Capital partner Andrew Gershfeld to learn more about the firm.

Union: Interview With Co-Founder Emir Beriker About The Modular Interoperability Layer Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 10, 2025

Union is a modular interoperability layer that is adding support for Arbitrum, bridging its ecosystem with IBC-enabled chains and other networks Union is integrating with including Polygon, Scroll, and Movement. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Union co-founder Emir Beriker to learn more about the company.

XOCEAN: Ocean Data Provider Company Raises €115 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 10, 2025

XOCEAN, an ocean data provider to the offshore energy and civil hydrography sectors, announced it closed a €115 million fundraise that will help support its ongoing growth across the company's expanding global footprint. The company partnered with S2G Ventures (S2G) to structure the round, which was funded by S2G, Climate Investment (CI), Morgan Stanley's 1GT fund, and an affiliate of the Crown Family's CC Industries (CCI) - collectively known as the investor consortium.

Rena Labs: Autonomous And Verifiable AI Solutions Company Raises $3.3 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 10, 2025

Rena Labs, a company aiming to enable the next generation of autonomous and verifiable AI solutions, announced closing a $3.3 million pre-seed funding round led by Paper Ventures. And the company attracted investment from several venture capital firms, including Lightspeed Faction, Eterna Capital, Lyrik Ventures, Mapleblock Capital, Selini Capital, Keyrock, and others.

Iron Glass: Interview With Founder Alberto Oscar Fontela About The Vehicle Protection Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 10, 2025

Iron Glass is a company that secures vehicles by utilizing advanced polymers. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Iron Glass founder Alberto Oscar Fontela to learn more about the company.

ZenBusiness: Interview With Shanaz Hemmati About The Small Business Owner Platform Company

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 10, 2025

ZenBusiness is the all-in-one platform and trusted partner for small business owners, providing business formation, compliance, banking, bookkeeping, and marketing tools in an intuitive and personalized dashboard. Pulse 2.0 interviewed ZenBusiness co-founder and COO Shanaz Hemmati to learn more about the company.

BWXT To Buy Kinectrics In $525 Million Deal

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 9, 2025

BWX Technologies agreed to buy Kinectrics for about $525 million, including the assumption of Kinectrics’ net pension and debt liabilities and estimated transaction expenses. Kinectrics is a leader in offering lifecycle management services for the global nuclear power and transmission and distribution markets and in the production and supply of isotopes for the radiopharmaceutical industry.

Bowmans Hires Many Former Members Of A&O Shearman South Africa

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 9, 2025

African law firm Bowmans announced it welcomed most of the former A&O Shearman South Africa (AOS) members to its Cape Town and Johannesburg offices.

Wellful Buying Superfood Company Ancient Nutrition

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 9, 2025

Wellful - an omnichannel health and wellness platform and a Kainos Capital portfolio company - announced the acquisition of Ancient Nutrition from VMG Partners, Hillhouse Investment, and other unit holders.

Grove: $4.9 Million (Seed) Raised For Transforming Clinical Trials

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 9, 2025

Grove AI, a next-generation clinical trial management and intelligence company, announced a $4.9 million seed fundraise led by A*, with participation from Afore Capital, LifeX Ventures, Pear VC, Upfront Ventures, and industry-leading angels. The company’s additional investors include angel backers with deep sector expertise, such as Ajit Baid (former Head of Global Asset at UCB), Chloe Yoo (Director at ICON), Phuc Truong (co-founder of CRIO), Till Pieper (former Google Cloud AI lead), and others.

Cemex Raises Funding To Deploy Lower-Emission Vehicles

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 9, 2025

Cemex announced its participation in multiple government-sponsored sustainability initiatives and secured funding from state and federal programs to deploy several lower-emission vehicles across its U.S. footprint. This investment is crucial in the company's ongoing efforts to decarbonize its operations.

ACON Investments Buying Lifestyle Brand True Religion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jan 9, 2025

ACON Investments and its affiliates announced the acquisition of a controlling stake in True Religion, a lifestyle, apparel, and accessories brand known for its quality craftsmanship, unique designs, and sophisticated stitching. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.