Money Moves is a recurring series where we chart the raises, grants, contracts, mergers and other funding news of tech companies across our regions. Have a tip? Email us at [email protected].
Phenom is once again in the spotlight with its third acquisition in the last five months.
The HR tech company acquired Plum, a platform used to assess job candidates and employees. A local lawyer who specializes in working with startups and venture capital told Technical.ly that it’s not an unusual strategy, but a pattern of buying up companies can signal strength.
Another unsurprising 2026 trend continued in the life sciences space this month, too.
Biotech company Verismo Therapeutics secured $28 million to continue development of its lead drug candidates.
Plus, local economic development leaders launched a new workforce development partnership with the goal of growing job opportunities in the Philadelphia region.
Get all the details about these money moves and more, below.
Phenom acquires 3rd HR startup in 2026
Phenom acquired talent assessment platform Plum, marking the HR tech company’s third acquisition this year.
Plum’s platform collects information about a job candidate’s personality and mental capabilities to predict if they would fit certain roles.
Phenom purchased Be Applied, another talent evaluation tool, in February and agentic AI startup Included in January.
It’s not uncommon for healthy startups to buy other companies at a fast rate like this, Kimberly Klayman, partner at Ballard Spahr, told Technical.ly. Sometimes it’s because they want to add on a tool that is easier to buy than build themselves, or it can help them secure financing from the acquired company’s cap table, along with talent, Klayman said.
These deals can also help a startup build revenue and EBITDA, a profitability metric, which makes the company stronger as they prepare to exit, she added.
“If it’s a sophisticated startup with a great board of investors, my expectation is that you have good advisors who understand the implications and the relative weights involved in doing a [merger and acquisition] deal,” Klayman said.
Those incentives line up with Phenom’s strategy. The startup weighs three main criteria when considering an acquisition: the strength of a company’s underlying infrastructure, whether it adds vertical depth in a specific industry and whether it improves operational efficiency, cofounder and CEO Mahe Bayireddi previously told Technical.ly.
Over the last five years, Phenom has acquired six other companies, including talent platform EDGE last February, employee data platform Tydy in summer 2024 and employee experience platform Tandemploy in 2022. Over six months in 2020 and 2021, the company purchased AI scheduling platform My Ally, recruitment tool Endouble and video tech company Talentcube.
Verismo Therapeutics raises $28M
Biotech company Verismo Therapeutics landed $28 million to support the development of its two lead drugs.
The funding comes from Verismo’s parent company, HLB Innovation, which merged with Verismo in 2024. HLB Innovation had previously invested in Verismo before the deal.
Verismo is developing CAR T-cell therapies called the KIR-CAR platform for both solid tumors and blood cancers. The funding will support ongoing Phase 1 clinical trials for its two lead drug candidates.
“We are fortunate to have investors who fully believe in our KIR-CAR programs and have supported our two lead programs since the inception,” cofounder and CEO Bryan Kim told Technical.ly. “As a result, we have been able to focus our efforts and resources solely on our clinical development.”
A new economic mobility group for Greater Philadelphia backed by $5.4M
Earlier this month, economic and workforce development leaders in the Philly region launched the Greater Philadelphia Growth Partnership, a cross-sector group working to address job growth and economic mobility in the region.
The partnership secured $5.4 million to support the first three years of building up programming.
This effort has already been underway for two years through a group started by Pew Charitable Trusts. Before, the partnership was focused on looking at data about the region and planning how to address these challenges. Now, it’s ready to take action, Claire Marrazzo Greenwood, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Growth Partnership, told Technical.ly.
By bringing together stakeholders from Philadelphia, Bucks, Montgomery, Chester and Delaware counties, the ultimate goal is to secure job growth for people with and without college degrees, Marrazzo Greenwood said.
“We want to make sure that we’re providing economic opportunity for those that are the least mobile within our system,” she said.
The group put together a regional growth strategy report that identifies economic competitiveness and mobility challenges. Now the group is ready to implement solutions. The strategy outlines three sectors with potential for widespread job growth: enterprise digital solutions, manufacturing in industrial technologies and biomedical engineering and production.
It also aims to bring new companies into the region, help companies that are already here want to stay, understand what talent companies need and train employees to do those jobs, Marrazzo Greenwood said.
More money moves:
Datavault AI, a company that helps businesses make money from their data, signed a letter of intent to acquire cybersecurity company CyberCatch Holdings earlier this month. It’s the third acquisition the company plans to close this year, CEO Nathaniel Bradley told Technical.ly. The company already acquired blockchain trading platform NYIAX and entertainment technology company API Media Innovation.
Computer vision company Signum Technologies raised $1.2 million, according to an SEC filing.
Greenlight Networks, a fiber-optic internet service provider, announced plans for a $62 million internet service expansion in the Lehigh Valley, which will be completed by the end of 2027.
Lab technology company Agilent Technologies won a contract from the Transportation Security Administration to implement its bulk security screening technology system at FIFA World Cup US host city airports.
The New Jersey Economic Development Authority chose five startups to invest in through its new $4.65 million New Jersey Innovation Evergreen Fund, including local e-commerce platform Lula Commerce.
The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry distributed $2.8 million in Industry Partnership grants to 10 organizations in the state to support workforce development partnerships. This includes the Chester County Workforce Development Board, University City District and Elevate 215.
Alex Price, a scientist at the research institution the Wistar Institute, won a $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. The funding will support Price’s research on the ways immune cells tell the difference between our own RNA and viral RNA.
Sports sponsorship agency BASE Sports Group raised $2.5 million to grow the company’s sales and operations teams and build out its data analytics tools.
Lightscline, a central PA-based startup building AI tools to analyze manufacturing data, recently secured $650,000 to further product development and expand its team, founder and CEO Ankur Verma told Technical.ly.
Longtime Philly streetwear brand Hardlife Apparel Company launched an HRDLFcoin on the Solana blockchain. The goal is to use the coin to raise money for charitable organizations, founder Brooks Duvall told Technical.ly.
The PA Department of Community and Economic Development approved $7.6 million in tax credits through the Keystone Innovation Zone (KIZ) tax credit program, including almost $87,000 to hard tech startup SusMaX in the University City Science Center KIZ.
The Keystone Innovation Collaborative launched a statewide collaboration platform and new venture fund to support startups in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania secured a $7 million investment from Vylor, a seed and genetics company that will spin off from agriculture company Corteva later this year. Vylor will open a new corporate business center in a yet-to-be-determined location in Southeastern PA.
This story is made possible thanks to support from Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania, a nonprofit that leads the Philadelphia region’s equitable economic growth by nurturing and investing in innovative, early-stage companies, and through purposeful involvement in regional and national initiatives. All stories are independently reported, with no partner review.