Amit Chowdhry

Cino—a real-time shared payment app that finally lets people pay together in a seamless, single transaction—announced it has raised €3.5 million in seed funding led by Balderton Capital. Connect Ventures and leading angels, including Barney Hussey-Yeo (founder of Cleo), also participated. This funding will support Cino’s launch in the UK, which already has a growing waitlist, and continued growth across Europe.

Bilt Rewards, a leading payments and commerce platform transforming the massive housing payments market, announced the acquisition of Banyan - which is the industry-leading platform for item-level receipt data. This strategic deal (Bilt's first) significantly expands Bilt's ability to create innovative, frictionless experiences that drive neighborhood commerce and deliver unprecedented value to residents and local merchants.

Latigo Biotherapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing non-opioid pain treatments that target pain at its source, announced it has closed $150 million in a Series B financing. The proceeds from the financing will support the advancement of the company's highly selective Nav1.8 inhibitors currently in clinical development for the non-opioid treatment of pain and the development of Latigo's broader pipeline.

IT-Harvest is a company that researches and reports on the cybersecurity industry, covering over 3,200 vendors. Pulse 2.0 interviewed IT-Harvest Chief Research Analyst Richard Stiennon to learn more about the company.

Brighton Park Capital announced a growth investment in HITRUST, a leader in information security assurance for risk management and compliance.

At the Embedded World Germany event, Qualcomm announced the entry into an agreement to buy EdgeImpulse, which will enhance its offering for developers and expand its leadership in AI-based capabilities to power AI-enabled products and services across IoT. The closing of this deal is subject to customary closing conditions.

MicroTransponder - which is one of the fastest-growing stroke companies - announced it is transforming the stroke continuum of care with its FDA-approved Vivistim Paired VNS System. The company also announced it has raised $75 million led by US Venture Partners (USVP) and the syndicate of current investors, Osage University Partners, Action Potential Venture Capital, GPG Ventures, The Vertical Group and Exceller Hunt Ventures, as well as two new investors, Gilde Healthcare and Longitude Capital.

Accropeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of novel therapeutics that target molecular mechanisms of regulated cell death for immune-mediated diseases, announced the closing of its $12 million Series B Plus financing. This funding round was led by Shenzhen Capital Group (SCGC), an existing investor, with participation from Morningside Ventures, also an existing investor, and new investors Leader Venture Investment (SZTI) and Hefei Sci-Tec Venture Capital (HFST).

Lumafield, a developer of industrial X-ray CT technology, announced it has closed a $75 million Series C funding round. This funding cements the company’s position as a leader in advanced manufacturing as the U.S. renews its focus on manufacturing supremacy and companies around the world reconfigure their supply chains in response to strategic threats. IVP led the round, which includes new investors G2 Venture Partners and Wellington Management along with existing investors Spark Capital, DCVC, Kleiner Perkins, Lux Capital, and Matter Venture Partners.

Crosscut Ventures is a seed-stage venture capital firm in Los Angeles that invests in startups that have the potential to scale, disrupt, and build large markets. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Crosscut Ventures co-founder and managing director Brian Garrett to learn more about the firm.