Qualcomm Technologies is acquiring Turin, Italy-based Arduino, an open-source hardware and software company. The acquisition builds on Qualcomm’s recent acquisitions of Edge Impulse and Foundries.io, reinforcing its commitment to delivering a full-stack edge platform that spans hardware, software, and cloud services.
Arduino will retain its independent brand, tools, and mission, while continuing to support a wide range of microcontrollers and microprocessors from multiple semiconductor providers as it enters the next chapter within the Qualcomm family.
Following the acquisition, for an undisclosed sum, the 33m+ active users in the Arduino community will gain access to Qualcomm Technologies’ technology stack and global reach. Entrepreneurs, businesses, tech professionals, students, educators, and hobbyists will be empowered to rapidly prototype and test new solutions, with a clear path to commercialisation supported by Qualcomm Technologies’ extensive partner ecosystem, said Qualcomm.
The new Arduino UNO Q is a next-generation single board computer featuring a “dual brain” architecture - a Linux Debian-capable microprocessor and a real-time microcontroller - to bridge high-performance computing with real-time control. Powered by the Qualcomm
Dragonwing QRB2210 processor running a full Linux environment, UNO Q is designed to help enable AI-powered vision and sound solutions that react to their environment, ranging from sophisticated smart home solutions to industrial automation systems.
“With our acquisitions of Foundries.io, Edge Impulse, and now Arduino, we are accelerating our vision to democratise access to our leading-edge AI and computing products for the global developer community,” said Nakul Duggal, group general manager, automotive, industrial and embedded IoT, Qualcomm Technologies.
“Joining forces with Qualcomm Technologies allows us to supercharge our commitment to accessibility and innovation,” said Fabio Violante, CEO, Arduino. “The launch of UNO Q is just the beginning, we’re excited to empower our global community with powerful tools that make AI development intuitive, scalable, and open to everyone.”
-The people who keep insurance running are overwhelmed. They’re doing trillion-dollar work with outdated tools, juggling manual reviews, and navigating disconnected systems. FurtherAI, the AI for insurance, is changing that.
The company has sealed a $25m Series A funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz. The raise comes just six months after its $5m seed round, underscoring the industry’s rapid embrace of domain-specific AI. The latest round also included Nexus Venture Partners, Y Combinator, and others, bringing total funding to $30m.
With the new funding, FurtherAI will expand its library of insurance-specific workflows, deepen integrations with carrier and broker systems, and scale its go to market teams to meet “surging demand”.
“The goal is simple: help insurers with a long awaited technology transformation by automating workflows like submissions processing, underwriting audits, claims handling, and policy comparisons through AI, so professionals can focus on risk, clients, and growth,” said the firm.
-Verkada, the cloud-based physical security provider, has announced a strategic partnership with Simac, an IT service provider in the Benelux region. Through the deal, Verkada’s integrated platform will be added to Simac’s technology portfolio, expanding access to modern, data-driven security solutions across the region.
“Simac’s local expertise and long-standing customer relationships make them a strong partner as we continue to grow across Europe,” said Ben Watkin, director of channel sales, EMEA at Verkada. “Our EMEA customer base has grown nearly 50% year-over-year, a clear sign that demand for simple, scalable, cloud-based solutions is accelerating. Together with Simac, we’ll help more organisations modernise legacy systems and gain real-time operational insights.”
-Risk Ledger, a supply chain security company, has signed a multi-year sponsorship with Team BRIT, the competitive racing team aiming to become the first all-disabled line-up to compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The partnership, running until the end of the 2026 season, will support Team BRIT as it competes in the US for the first time and continues on the road to Le Mans.
It also coincides with Risk Ledger’s own international expansion plans, with the company preparing to enter the US market itself following a year of significant growth as the company has doubled in size.
-TD SYNNEX has formed an agreement with Boxphish, a provider of cybersecurity awareness training, giving partners the opportunity to add more value for their customers with the company’s subscription-based solutions.
In addition to initial and on-going cybersecurity awareness training, phishing simulations and dark web monitoring services offered by Boxphish can be incorporated into a single, fully tailored solution, enabling partners to provide a comprehensive service to their customers.
The awareness training is available via cloud-based resources, allowing customers to consume content at their own pace, with hands-on support provided by Boxphish experts.
-Security distributor Oprema is partnering with network and smart security solutions provider TP-Link. TP-Link brings its extensive range of networking equipment and CCTV products to Oprema’s customers.
TP-Link offers two product ranges for business: the Omada cloud-managed networking solution, and the VIGI professional surveillance system.
Omada delivers a one-stop solution, combining high-performance products and premium services into a unified software-defined networking (SDN) platform. By integrating controllers, access points, switches, gateways, and more, Omada enables 100% centralised cloud management. In turn, customers can benefit from a highly scalable network, controlled through a single interface. The NDAA-compliant VIGI range delivers dependable quality assurance, and easy installation.
-PEAK:AIO, the data infrastructure provider, has raised over $6.8m in a seed funding round led by Pembroke VCT with a $5mmillion investment, with participation from Praetura Ventures, and also joined by a “Silicon Valley investor”.
PEAK:AIO will use the funding to continue investing in AI to grow its solution for the data storage sector and further expand its global presence.
PEAK:AIO won industry attention by solving one of AI’s most urgent challenges: data acceleration. Deployed across multiple AI verticals, the platform has set records for delivering low-latency, high-efficiency performance, from edge inference to core model training, making it a good choice for AI teams who can’t afford bottlenecks or downtime.
-UiPath, the agentic automation firm, has announced major industry partnerships with OpenAI, NVIDIA, Google and Snowflake:
OpenAI collaboration: The collaboration will see the launch of a ChatGPT connector, integrating frontier models into enterprise workflows. Powered by UiPath orchestration, the collaboration will speed up ROI from agentic AI by simplifying agent development and deployment, so users can focus on business goals while building trust in their AI agents.
NVIDIA partnership: UiPath and NVIDIA are combining agentic automation with Nemotron models and NIM to strengthen enterprise workflows with AI. The partnership supports high trust use cases such as fraud detection and healthcare care management.
Google partnership: This will power the launch of UiPath’s Conversational Agent with voice interaction enabled by Gemini models. This allows UiPath customers to embed agentic automation into business processes quickly and seamlessly, without complex coding.
Snowflake partnership: UiPath is joining forces with Snowflake to link its Agentic Automation platform with Cortex AI. The collaboration helps enterprises transform data insights into smarter, faster autonomous actions, bridging the gap between vision and impact.
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