Venture Capital

Isabella Ghassemi-Smith: An Interview With The Head Of Aurora Ventures and the Aurora Tech Award

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 2, 2026

Isabella (Bella) Ghassemi-Smith is a venture capital leader and ecosystem builder who heads Aurora Ventures and the Aurora Tech Award, initiatives backed by inDrive that support and invest in women entrepreneurs in emerging markets. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Ghassemi-Smith to learn more.

AtlasEdge Raises €1.2 Billion To Accelerate European Data Center Expansion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 2, 2026

AtlasEdge announced that it has secured a €1.2 billion financing facility, the largest financing in the company's history, to support the expansion of its data center platform across Europe. The funding is intended to accelerate development in high-growth digital infrastructure markets, including Germany, Austria, and the Iberian region.

Happy Money Crosses $7 Billion In Loan Originations And Appoints Tim Parsons As Chief Risk & Analytics Officer

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 2, 2026

Happy Money, a consumer finance company focused on helping borrowers achieve their financial goals, announced that it has surpassed $7 billion in cumulative loan originations. The company said it has helped more than 350,000 Americans pay down credit card debt while saving an estimated $1 billion in interest. Alongside this milestone, Happy Money appointed Tim Parsons as Chief Risk & Analytics Officer to support its next phase of growth.

Municipal Data & Power Launches $4 Billion National RFP For Inaugural Harvest Grid & Power Site

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 2, 2026

Municipal Data & Power (MDP) announced the launch of a national request for proposals (RFP) inviting cities, counties, and states across the United States to compete to host its planned $4 billion inaugural Harvest Grid & Power Site infrastructure development project.

GPGPT: AI Platform Launches For Venture Capital And Private Equity Investors

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 2, 2026

GPGPT announced the general availability of its AI platform purpose-built for venture capital and private equity professionals. Designed specifically for private-market investing workflows, the platform helps investors analyze deals, prepare investment memos, monitor portfolio companies, and leverage firm-specific knowledge and documents to support investment decisions.

Elbit Systems: $350 Million Contract Awarded For Main Battle Tank Upgrades

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 2, 2026

Elbit Systems announced it has been awarded a contract valued at approximately $350 million by an international customer to deliver upgrades to Main Battle Tanks (MBTs). The contract will be performed over a four-year period.

Picogrid Raises $45 Million Series A To Build Open Integration Layer For Modern Defense

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 2, 2026

Picogrid, a defense technology company building an open integration layer for modern military systems, announced the closing of a $45 million Series A funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners. The round also included participation from Washington Harbour, GSBackers, and existing investors Initialized Capital, Starburst Ventures, Credo Ventures, Giant Step Capital, and Alumni Ventures.

Inherent Raises $50 Million Seed Round To Build AI Agents For Scientific Discovery

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 2, 2026

Inherent announced that it has closed a $50 million seed funding round to support its mission of building AI agents capable of discovering new knowledge. The company said it was created from the ground up as a research lab focused on developing AI systems that can drive scientific inquiry and innovation.

Optimum Launches $500 Million Capital Raise and Restructuring Plan Ahead of Debt Negotiations

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 2, 2026

Optimum Communications announced a sweeping financial and corporate restructuring designed to protect shareholder value, strengthen operational flexibility, and support upcoming negotiations over approximately $21.8 billion of debt held at its subsidiary CSC Holdings.

Omniscient Raises $27.2 Million Series D To Advance AI-Powered Brain Technology

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 2, 2026

Omniscient, a company specializing in AI-driven brain analysis technology, announced that it has secured $27.2 million (AU$41.1 million) in an oversubscribed Series D funding round. The financing was co-led by OIF Ventures and the Australian National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC), with participation from existing investors including Will Vicars and Gina Rinehart AO.

SpeedLabs Raises $6.5 Million To Launch AI-Powered Momentum Markets For Sports

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 2, 2026

SpeedLabs, a sports technology startup building a real-time market engine for sports, announced a $6.5 million seed funding round led by Parlay Capital, with participation from Bullpen Capital, TA Ventures, EdgeEquity, and other investors focused on sports, gaming, and consumer technology.

Sekai Raises $26 Million To Build A Social Platform For AI-Created Mini-Apps

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 2, 2026

Sekai announced it has raised $26 million in funding to accelerate the growth of its social platform that enables users to create, play, and remix AI-generated mini-apps. The funding round was led by Khosla Ventures and Connect Ventures, with participation from Creative Artists Agency, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), a16z Speedrun, Mayfield, A*, MVP Ventures, 359 Capital, Parable VC, and 645 Ventures.

Gray Swan Raises $40 Million Series A To Scale AI Security Platform Trusted By Frontier Labs

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 2, 2026

Gray Swan, an AI security company founded by researchers from Carnegie Mellon University, announced a $40 million Series A funding round co-led by Wing Venture Capital and Madrona, with participation from Obvious Ventures, Snowflake Ventures, Hudson River Trading, Samsung Next, and existing investor Magarac Venture Partners.

Mecka Raises $60 Million To Build The Data And Deployment Layer For Physical AI

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 2, 2026

Mecka announced that it has raised $60 million in funding as it looks to become the data and deployment layer for physical AI. The company said the new capital will be used to scale its data infrastructure, expand into new industry verticals, and accelerate the deployment of robots in real-world environments.

Mach Industries Raises $300 Million Series C At $1.8 Billion Valuation As Defense Tech Growth Accelerates

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 2, 2026

Mach Industries, a defense manufacturing company focused on advanced unmanned systems, announced it has raised $300 million in Series C funding at a $1.8 billion valuation. The round was led by Infinite Capital and Ribbit Capital, with participation from existing investors Bedrock Capital, Sequoia Capital, and Khosla Ventures.

DriveNets Raises $410 Million Series D To Scale Ethernet Fabric For Large-Scale AI Infrastructure

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 2, 2026

DriveNets announced it has secured $410 million in Series D funding, bringing its total capital raised to $1 billion. The company said the new capital will be used to expand inventory and accelerate deployment of its Ethernet-based AI fabric solutions as demand for large-scale AI infrastructure continues to grow. The funding round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners and Atreides Management, with new participation from AMD and Red Dot Capital alongside existing investors Pitango and D1 Capital Partners.

Trilogy Metals: $35.6 Million U.S. Department Of War Investment Moves Forward As Closing Deadline Extended

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 2, 2026

Trilogy Metals announced an update on the previously disclosed $35.6 million strategic equity investment from the U.S. Department of War, extending the targeted closing date from May 31, 2026, to July 31, 2026, to allow additional time to finalize definitive transaction documentation.

SpaceX: $4.16 Billion SB-AMTI Contract Awarded By U.S. Space Force

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 2, 2026

The U.S. Space Force has awarded a $4.16 billion competitive Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreement to SpaceX for the Space-Based Airborne Moving Target Indicator (SB-AMTI) program, accelerating the development of a space-based sensing network designed to track and target airborne threats worldwide.

Poindexter Labs Raises £2 Million Seed Round To Fix AI Training Data Supply Chain

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 2, 2026

Poindexter Labs, an AI data company focused on improving the quality of training data used by frontier artificial intelligence models, announced it has raised £2 million in an oversubscribed seed round. The funding was led by Episode 1 and First Cheque, with participation from partners at Venture Friends and other angel investors.

Gigascale Capital Raises $250 Million To Back Climate-Focused Physical Economy Startups

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 1, 2026

Gigascale Capital announced the close of its first institutional fund, raising $250 million to invest in early-stage companies rebuilding the physical economy through innovations in energy, materials, infrastructure, and industrial technology.

Gradient Labs Raises $26 Million To Build Specialist AI Agents For Financial Services

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 1, 2026

Gradient Labs announced that it has increased its Series A funding round to $26 million, with the round led by new investors Octopus Ventures and CommerzVentures. Existing investors Redpoint Ventures and Exceptional Capital also participated in the financing.

IBM And Red Hat Commit $5 Billion To Secure Open Source Software With Project Lightwell

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 1, 2026

IBM and Red Hat announced Project Lightwell, a $5 billion initiative designed to strengthen the security of open source software through a combination of advanced AI capabilities and a global workforce of more than 20,000 engineers. The effort introduces a new enterprise-focused model for securing software supply chains, spanning everything from upstream development to production environments.

ICEYE Secures €28.3 Million Grant To Advance Sovereign Intelligence And Space-Based Defense Capabilities

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 1, 2026

ICEYE announced that Business Finland, the country's public innovation agency, has approved a €28.3 million continuation grant, representing the final tranche of a previously announced major research and development investment program.

Potomac Fund Management: $4.4 Billion AUM Milestone Drives Enhanced SDBA Retirement Solution Launch

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 1, 2026

Potomac Fund Management, a tactical asset manager focused on risk management solutions, announced that its client assets under management have surpassed $4.4 billion, representing growth of more than 3,000% since 2020. The company said the milestone reflects continued demand from financial advisors for its quantitative and disciplined approach to managing risk.

SoftBank Group: Up To €75 Billion Investment To Build 5 GW Of AI Data Center Capacity In France

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 1, 2026

SoftBank Group announced plans to develop and operate 5 gigawatts of AI data center capacity in France through an investment of up to €75 billion, marking what the company described as its largest AI infrastructure investment in Europe. The initiative was unveiled during the 2026 Choose France summit hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Anthropic Files For IPO As AI Giant Nears $1 Trillion Valuation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 1, 2026

Anthropic has confidentially filed paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for an initial public offering (IPO), marking a major milestone for one of the world's most valuable artificial intelligence companies.

Tripo AI Raises Nearly $200 Million To Advance AI 3D And World Model Development

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 1, 2026

Tripo AI announced the completion of its Series A+ and Series A++ financing rounds, raising nearly $200 million to accelerate the development of its AI 3D foundation models and world model technologies. The company said the funding will support expansion of its research teams, investment in core algorithms, enhancement of data and infrastructure systems, and growth of its global product ecosystem.

Black Operator Ventures: Interview With Co-Founders James Norman And Sean Green About Investing In Early-Stage Founders

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 1, 2026

Black Operator Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital firm that invests in technology companies led by Black founders, specifically aiming to close the Series A funding gap. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Black Operator Ventures James Norman and Sean Green to learn more.

MSWA And Founders Factory Launch World’s First Neurological Care Accelerator And Select Five Startups

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 1, 2026

MSWA and Founders Factory have announced the first cohort of startups selected for the MS & Neurological Care Accelerator, a world-first program dedicated to advancing technologies that improve outcomes for people living with multiple sclerosis and other neurological conditions.

Andreessen Horowitz Introduces The a16z FDE Fellowship

By Amit Chowdhry ● Jun 1, 2026

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) has launched the a16z FDE Fellowship, an eight-week program designed for Forward-Deployed Engineers (FDEs) and Applied AI leaders who are helping enterprises implement AI technologies in real-world environments.