Pulse 2.0 - Business news, profiles, and deal flow coverage

Broadcom To Lend Anthropic Up To $42 Billion To Finance AI Infrastructure

Robinhood Unveils AI Agents, 24/7 Stock Trading, Perpetual Futures, And Earnings Contracts

BlackRock Future Builders Awards More Than $13 Million To 15 Organizations For Skilled Trades Training

DigitalOcean Launches Agent Droplets With AI Agent Plans Starting At $50 Per Month

Dronus: Interview With Founder And CEO Marco Ballerini About Autonomous Aerial Infrastructure

Syz Capital Names David Weintraub As CEO As Firm Focuses Exclusively On Private Equity

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 8:42 AM

Syz Group has named David Weintraub Chief Executive Officer of Syz Capital as the firm reshapes its alternatives business into a dedicated private equity platform. The appointment is subject to FINMA appointment.

Mattel Names Roger Lynch Chairman And CEO, Succeeding Ynon Kreiz

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 8:41 AM

Mattel has appointed Roger Lynch as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Ynon Kreiz as the company enters its next phase of growth across toys, entertainment, digital gaming, and other businesses.

PERPTools Raises $5 Million Seed Round At $80 Million Valuation For Decentralized Perpetual Futures Trading Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 8:31 AM

PERPTools has raised a $5 million seed round at an $80 million fully diluted valuation, bringing the AI-native perpetuals trading platform's total funding to $8 million across two token rounds. The seed round brought in BigBrain Holdings, NEAR, Animoca Brands, Sfermion and Shima Capital as key stakeholders. It followed a $3 million pre-seed round completed at a $30 million fully diluted valuation and led by DEXTools Ventures and Orderly Network. Fundraising began in November 2025, with the pre-seed closing the following month and the seed round following in early 2026.

The Hartford Names A. Morris “Mo” Tooker As CEO And Christopher Swift To Become Executive Chair

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 7:39 AM

The Hartford has named company President A. Morris "Mo" Tooker as its next Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Christopher Swift as part of a planned leadership transition.

Nuveen Completes Schroders Acquisition, Creating $2.6 Trillion Asset Manager

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 7:38 AM

Nuveen has completed its acquisition of Schroders, bringing together the two investment firms to create a global active public-to-private asset and wealth manager with approximately $2.6 trillion in assets under management.

Wealth Enhancement To Acquire RWA Wealth Partners, Expanding Client Assets To More Than $187.1 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 7:38 AM

Wealth Enhancement has agreed to acquire RWA Wealth Partners, expanding its capabilities for ultra-high-net-worth and family office clients and bringing the combined organizations to more than $187.1 billion in client advisory, trust and brokerage assets.

SurrealDB: Interview With Co-Founder And CEO Tobie Morgan Hitchcock About AI Agent Memory And Contextual Reasoning

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 7:17 AM

SurrealDB is a UK-based database company developing a unified, multi-model database that supports document, graph, relational, time-series, vector, search, geospatial, and key-value data. With SurrealDB (now at version 3.2), its Agent Memory layer, and next-generation storage layer (SurrealDS), the company is increasingly focused on providing memory, context, and data infrastructure for AI agents and enterprise AI applications. Pulse 2.0 interviewed SurrealDB Co-Founder and CEO Tobie Morgan Hitchcock to learn more.

Alinia AI Launches Seny To Provide Real-Time Legal Compliance Controls For AI Agents

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 6:40 AM

Alinia AI has launched Seny, a specialized base model designed to evaluate, control, and monitor AI agent behavior against specific legal provisions in real time. The company is positioning the model as the foundation for a new category of AI safety focused specifically on legal alignment.

Armadin Raises $255.5 Million Series B At Over $2.5 Billion Valuation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 6:30 AM

Armadin has raised $255.5 million in Series B funding at a valuation of more than $2.5 billion, just seven months after the AI-native cybersecurity company emerged from stealth. The round was co-led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Accel, with participation from new investors Bain Capital Ventures and Redpoint. Existing investors 8VC, Ballistic Ventures, Google Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Kleiner Perkins and Menlo Ventures also participated. The new financing brings Armadin's total funding to $445 million.

Osavul Raises €8.5 Million Series A To Expand Hybrid Threat Intelligence Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Today at 6:12 AM

Osavul has raised €8.5 million in Series A funding to expand its AI-powered hybrid threat intelligence platform across government, defense, enterprise and critical infrastructure markets worldwide. The round was led by 33N Ventures, with participation from Balnord, G+D Ventures and existing investor 42CAP, bringing Osavul's total funding to approximately €12 million.

Audax Private Debt Raises $10 Billion For Largest Fund In Firm History

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 10:32 PM

Audax Private Debt has closed Audax Direct Lending Solutions Fund III with $10 billion of investable capital, marking the largest fundraise in the firm's history.

Synopsys And Amazon Sign More Than $1 Billion Multi-Year Custom Silicon Agreement

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 10:32 PM

Synopsys and Amazon have entered into a multi-year agreement valued at more than $1 billion focused on custom silicon, cloud infrastructure and AI-powered engineering.

Google Introduces Gemini 4 Argon With 1 Million-Token Output Limit

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 10:31 PM

Google has introduced Gemini 4 Argon, its latest frontier AI model designed for complex, long-horizon workflows across software engineering, enterprise knowledge work, finance, legal applications and cybersecurity defense.

Micron Reports Record Fiscal Q4 Revenue Of $54.23 Billion And FY2026 Revenue Of $133.19 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 10:30 PM

Micron Technology reported record fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $54.23 billion, up from $41.46 billion in the previous quarter and $11.32 billion during the same period a year earlier.

HPE Secures $1.2 Billion AMD Helios Order From Vultr

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 10:30 PM

HPE has secured a $1.2 billion order from Vultr to deploy AMD Helios AI Rack by HPE systems across Vultr's U.S. cloud data centers. The transaction represents HPE's first order for the new AMD Helios platform.

Kahua Secures Bain Capital Growth Investment At Valuation Above $1 Billion

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 10:29 PM

Kahua has secured a minority growth investment from Bain Capital's Tech Opportunities business at a valuation above $1 billion, giving the construction technology company additional capital to accelerate its next stage of expansion.

Stride Consumer Partners Closes Oversubscribed Fund II At $550 Million

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 10:24 PM

Stride Consumer Partners has closed Stride Consumer Fund II with $550 million in capital commitments, bringing the consumer-focused growth equity firm's total assets under management to approximately $1.3 billion.

KKR Makes Majority Investment In Cisternina To Build Pan-India Liquid Storage And Logistics Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 10:21 PM

KKR has signed definitive agreements to make a majority investment in Cisternina Logistics Private Limited, an Indian bulk liquid and gas storage and logistics company. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Miter Raises $40 Million Series B For AI-Powered Construction Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 5:00 PM

Miter has raised $40 million in Series B funding, led by Battery Ventures, bringing total capital raised to $78 million. Existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners and Coatue also participated.

Aptadir Therapeutics Raises €40 Million Seed Round For RNA Therapeutics

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 4:59 PM

Aptadir Therapeutics has raised €40 million in seed funding to advance its RNA inhibitor-based therapeutics platform, with CE-Ventures participating in the financing. The financing represents Italy's largest biotech seed round and one of the largest biotech seed rounds in Europe.

ai3Bio Raises $48 Million Series A To Develop Autoimmune Disease Therapies

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 4:59 PM

ai3Bio has launched with $48 million in Series A funding to develop therapies designed to directly target and eliminate disease-causing Th17 cells involved in autoimmune diseases. The financing was led by founding investors UPMC Enterprises and Ziff Capital Partners, with support from Cockrell Interests and Tanis Ventures.

Reco Raises $55 Million To Expand Agentic Security Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 4:55 PM

Reco has raised $55 million in additional funding, including a strategic investment from AT&T Ventures and backing from new investors Forestay and Quadrille Capital. The round brings total funding to $140 million.

Metaview Raises $60 Million Series C For Agentic Recruiting Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 4:54 PM

Metaview has raised $60 million in Series C funding, led by Insight Partners, with participation from GV, Intrepid Growth Partners, Seedcamp, Vertex Ventures US, Plural and Garuda Ventures. The financing brings total funding to $110 million.

AnaCardio Raises €62.5 Million Series B To Advance AC01 Heart Failure Therapy

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 4:53 PM

AnaCardio has raised €62.5 million in Series B funding to advance its lead heart failure candidate AC01 through Phase 2b development and toward Phase 3 readiness. The financing was co-led by Novo Holdings and the Ljungström family office, with participation from Helsinn, Pureos Bioventures, Sound Bioventures, Industrifonden, Flerie, LLD Nybohov Invest and new investor Innovestor Life Science.

R1 Therapeutics Expands Series A To $80.5 Million To Advance AP306

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 4:52 PM

R1 Therapeutics has expanded its Series A financing to $80.5 million, adding new investment from Samsara BioCapital to support development of its lead kidney disease candidate, AP306. Samsara joins an investor group that includes Abingworth, DaVita Venture Group, F-Prime, Curie.Bio, SNMA Capital and U.S. Renal Care.

Efficient Computer Raises Over $97 Million Series B At $650 Million Valuation

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 4:52 PM

Efficient Computer has entered into agreements for more than $97 million in Series B funding at a $650 million valuation, bringing total funding raised to $173 million. The round was led by TQ Ventures, with participation from Eclipse, Union Square Ventures, Giant Ventures, Triatomic Capital, TO Capital, TF Capital, Mana Ventures, Toyota Ventures, Overmatch and Borderless.

Gravity Design Raises $15 Million To Build Interior Materials Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 4:50 PM

Gravity Design has raised $15 million in equity and debt funding, co-led by 3one4 Capital and Info Edge Ventures, to build a technology-enabled operating platform for India's premium interior materials market.

IPercept Raises $16.5 Million Series A For CNC Machine Monitoring

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 4:49 PM

Stockholm-based IPercept has raised $16.5 million in a Series A funding round to expand its innovative health-monitoring technology for CNC (computer numerical control) machines. This investment will help the company enhance its offerings and support a commercial launch in the United States. The funding round was co-led by prominent investors Isogon Ventures and 2150, with notable participation from several other venture firms, including Luminar Ventures, RunwayFBU, J12 Ventures, and AI.Fund.

Ascerta Raises $18 Million Series A To Expand Enterprise AI Management Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 4:47 PM

Ascerta has raised $18 million in Series A funding, led by Dell Technologies Capital, while announcing its rebrand from Pay-i and expansion into Enterprise AI Management. Hitachi Ventures, BGV, Wipro Ventures and previous investors also participated, bringing total funding to $22.9 million.

Wingspire Equipment Finance Provides $22 Million Financing To Utility Services Platform

By Amit Chowdhry ● Yesterday at 4:46 PM

Wingspire Equipment Finance has successfully completed a substantial $22 million equipment financing transaction with a sponsor-backed platform specializing in utility services. This platform provides a range of critical services, including vegetation management, right-of-way clearing, emergency storm response, and infrastructure maintenance, all essential to ensuring the reliability and safety of utility operations.