Archives

Checker: $8 Million Raised For Digital Asset Infrastructure Platform Serving Financial Institutions

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Checker, a digital asset infrastructure company focused on stablecoin liquidity and cross-border financial services, announced it has raised $8 million in funding from Galaxy Ventures, Al Mada Ventures, and Framework Ventures.

HR Path: Latin America Expansion Accelerates With TEC360 People Acquisition

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

HR consulting and HRIS solutions company HR Path announced the acquisition of TEC360 People, strengthening its presence in Latin America and expanding its regional HR transformation capabilities.

Mach Industries Acquires Exquadrum to Expand Propulsion And Energetics Capabilities

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Mach Industries announced it has acquired Exquadrum, Inc., a company specializing in aerospace and defense propulsion technologies, in a move designed to strengthen its vertically integrated manufacturing and accelerate development of next-generation unmanned systems.

Use.AI: Interview With Cofounder & CEO Ihor Herasymov About The All-In-One AI Workspace

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Use.AI provides an all-in-one platform that allows users to access and compare over 25 major artificial intelligence models, such as GPT-5, Claude, and Gemini, through a single subscription and unified dashboard. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Use.AI Cofounder & CEO Ihor Herasymov to learn more.

Fitness Ventures Beomces Largest Crunch Fitness Franchisee Following 22-Location Acquisition

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Fitness Ventures announced the acquisition of 22 Crunch Fitness locations from Harman Fitness, expanding its footprint to 115 locations across 30 states and making it the largest franchise operator in the Crunch Fitness system.

Bird-X: Symterra Acquisition Expands EMF Bird Deterrent Technology Portfolio

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Bird-X announced the acquisition of Symterra, the developer of the patented Symterra Pulse™ bird deterrent system, expanding Bird-X’s portfolio of technology-driven bird control solutions. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Financial Planning Partners Announces $90 Million Merger With Encore Financial

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Encore Financial, an independent financial advisory firm and member of the Affiliated Advisors network, announced that Financial Planning Partners, led by veteran financial advisor Joan Gilles, has joined the firm. The merger adds approximately $90 million in assets under management to Encore from Cetera and represents a major milestone for both organizations as they align around a shared focus on client-centered financial planning.

7RIDGE: Fidelity International Strategic Ventures Portfolio Acquisition Expands Financial Markets Technology Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

7RIDGE, a specialist investor focused on financial markets infrastructure and technology, announced the acquisition of the Fidelity International Strategic Ventures (FISV) portfolio of financial technology investments from Fidelity International, a global asset manager.

Dentons: Hong Kong Intellectual Property And Technology Practice Expanded With Key Partner Additions

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Dentons announced the expansion of its Intellectual Property and Technology practice in Hong Kong with the addition of Loke-Khoon Tan, Dominic Edmondson, and Maria Joannides Smith to its partnership and leadership team. The trio joins from Baker McKenzie and is expected to strengthen the Firm’s capabilities across the Asia-Pacific region and globally.

Yahoo Finance: AlphaSpace Launches Professional-Grade Investment Platform For Retail Investors

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Yahoo Finance announced the launch of AlphaSpace, a new premium investment platform designed to give everyday investors access to professional-grade research tools through a fully customizable interface. The platform combines market data, charting, news, analysis, portfolios, alerts, and AI-powered assistance into a unified workspace aimed at helping investors make faster and smarter decisions.

Bank First: $202.9 Million Acquisition Of PSB Holdings Expands Wisconsin Footprint

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Bank First Corporation announced it has signed an agreement to acquire PSB Holdings, Inc., the parent company of Peoples State Bank, in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $202.9 million. The deal combines two Wisconsin-based community banking institutions and expands Bank First’s presence across North Central Wisconsin and the greater Milwaukee area.

Envestnet: AI-Driven Wealth Management Platform Enhancements Unveiled At Elevate 2026

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Envestnet announced a series of AI-powered enhancements and financial planning integrations for its Wealth Management Platform as part of its second technology release of 2026 (R2 2026), unveiled during the company’s Elevate 2026 conference at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona.

Akin: Gerald Brant, Jeffrey Kochian, Jonathon Hamill, And Brittany Harrison Join Private Equity Platform Expansion

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Akin announced the addition of a high-profile private equity team in New York and London, bringing back Gerald Brant, Jeffrey Kochian, and Brittany Harrison to the firm alongside Jonathon Hamill. The expansion is designed to strengthen the firm’s capabilities across control private equity, complex mergers and acquisitions, and capital solutions transactions.

AMD: $10 Billion Investment To Accelerate AI Infrastructure Through Taiwan Ecosystem Partnerships

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

AMD announced more than $10 billion in investments across the Taiwan ecosystem to expand strategic partnerships and scale advanced packaging manufacturing for next generation AI infrastructure.

EMS Acquires American Metals Supply

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

EMS, a value-added distributor of aluminum products and a portfolio company of Wynnchurch Capital, announced the acquisition of American Metals Supply (AMS), a distributor of aluminum products serving the patio and industrial end markets.

Intercontinental Exchange and Ornn Launching Suite Of GPU Compute Futures Contracts

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Intercontinental Exchange and Ornn announced plans to launch a suite of GPU compute futures contracts based on Ornn’s Compute Price Index (OCPI), creating new price discovery and hedging tools for the rapidly expanding AI compute economy.

Anthropic: Andrej Karpathy Joins To Focus On Frontier LLM R&D

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Andrej Karpathy announced that he has joined Anthropic, signaling his return to frontier large language model research and development during what he described as a formative period for the industry.

KPMG: Claude Integrated Across 276,000-Person Workforce In Strategic Alliance With Anthropic

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

KPMG announced a global alliance with Anthropic to integrate Claude across its core business operations and workforce of more than 276,000 employees worldwide. The initiative will embed Claude into KPMG’s Digital Gateway platform, which is used by the firm’s professionals and clients for tax, legal, advisory, and other business services across 138 countries and territories.

Diebold Nixdorf: Raj Singh Named Chief Information Officer

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Diebold Nixdorf announced the appointment of Raj Singh as executive vice president and chief information officer, with Singh succeeding Teresa Ostapower, who is retiring after serving as CIO since 2021.

Computershare: Acquisition Of Fitzcores Expands Investor Targeting Capabilities

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Computershare announced it has completed the acquisition of the business and assets of Fitzcores, a specialist global investor targeting firm focused on investor relations technology and intelligence.

Azra AI Appoints Oncology Executive Jessica Turgon To Board Of Directors

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Azra AI, a healthcare enterprise platform focused on cancer care coordination and clinical pathway orchestration through AI and automation, announced the appointment of oncology strategist and healthcare executive Jessica Turgon to its Board of Directors.

SignalPlus: $40 Million Strategic Investment From HashKey Capital To Expand Crypto Derivatives Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

HashKey Holdings Limited announced that a fund managed by its asset management division, HashKey Capital, has completed a $40 million investment in SignalPlus, a crypto asset derivatives trading service platform. The investment includes $20 million in cash contributed by HashKey Group.

Hexaware: Acquisition Of CPS Expands AI And Cloud Transformation Capabilities

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Hexaware Technologies announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Consulting Professionals Services Holdings Limited and its wholly owned subsidiary Consulting Professionals Services Limited (CPS). The transaction is expected to close within two weeks.

Griffin Partners: Lee Moreland Named Chief Portfolio Officer And Kelly Agent Appointed Chief Operating Officer

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Griffin Partners announced an expanded executive leadership structure, effective June 1, 2026, as the company continues scaling its institutional platform across the Sunbelt and Mountain West markets. The company promoted Kelly Agent to Chief Operating Officer and appointed Lee Moreland to the newly created role of Chief Portfolio Officer.

Amca: $300 Million Series B Raised At $1+ Billion Valuation To Strengthen Component Supply Chains

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Amca announced a $300 million Series B funding round at a valuation exceeding $1 billion as the company looks to accelerate the development of a modernized industrial base for aerospace and defense manufacturing. The funding round was led by Caffeinated Capital, with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners and continued backing from existing investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Lux Capital, Construct Capital, and House Capital.

BIG Fiber: $250 Million Financing Led By Stonepeak Credit And La Caisse To Expand Digital Infrastructure Network

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

BIG Fiber announced the closing of a $250 million debt facility led by Stonepeak Credit and La Caisse, with an additional $100 million accordion feature, as the dark fiber infrastructure company accelerates expansion across key U.S. markets.

Hansen Hunter: Ryan Prindiville Named CEO To Expand Senior Care Business Services

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Hansen Hunter announced the appointment of Ryan Prindiville as chief executive officer as the company looks to expand its technology-enabled business services platform supporting post-acute care and senior living organizations.

Socket: $60 Million Series C Raised At $1 Billion Valuation To Help Enterprises Secure AI-Generated Code

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Socket announced it has raised $60 million in Series C funding at a $1 billion valuation as enterprises accelerate adoption of AI coding tools and seek better ways to secure third-party open source dependencies entering production environments. The round was led by Thrive Capital with participation from a16z, Abstract Ventures, and Capital One Ventures.

TalentNeuron Appoints David Wilkins As Chief Executive Officer

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

Talent intelligence platform TalentNeuron announced the appointment of David Wilkins as chief executive officer, marking a new phase of growth for the workforce intelligence company as it expands its AI and strategic workforce planning capabilities.

UFORCE: Sean Plankey Appointed As U.S. CEO To Accelerate American Defense Expansion

By Amit Chowdhry ● May 21, 2026

UFORCE announced the appointment of Sean Plankey as Chief Executive Officer for the U.S. as the autonomous systems defense technology company expands its presence across the American defense market. Based in Washington, Plankey will lead the company’s U.S. growth strategy, including government engagement, strategic partnerships, manufacturing initiatives, and integration across defense, maritime, and critical infrastructure markets.