Japan-based Josys, which helps companies automate IT operations, has raised a $32M Series A led by Global Brain (Kate Park/TechCrunch)

FinSMEs:
oVice, which offers collaboration and talent management software for hybrid and remote workplaces, raised a $32M Series B, bringing its total raised to $45M  —  oVice, a Nanao, Japan-based provider of a virtual office platform, raised $32M in Series B funding.  —  The backers were not disclosed.

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Banyan, whose network of item-level purchase data helps customers automate expense management, has raised a $43M Series A, $28M in equity and $15M in debt  —  Banyan, a platform for product purchase data that allows customers such as banks, fintechs, hotels and merchants to automate expense management …

Taryn Plumb / VentureBeat:
Cloudbrink, which offers networking tools to help secure hybrid workforces, emerges from stealth with $25M led by Highland Capital Partners and The Fabric  —  Hybrid work wasn’t just a mini-trend or a temporary solution amidst the pandemic: It has fundamentally transformed the workplace — and dramatically broadened the attack surface.

Wall Street Journal:
Sources: talks between the US and TikTok over a national security agreement have accelerated ahead of the midterms as Republicans vow to hold hearings  —  Plan to secure user data is nearing conclusion, sources say, but hurdles remain and Republicans warn against concessions to video app’s Chinese owner

Kyle Wiggers / TechCrunch:
Ambi Robotics, which is developing AI-powered robots for warehouses, raised $32M led by Tiger Global and Bow Capital, bringing its total funding to $67M  —  Ambi Robotics, a startup developing supply chain automation hardware, today announced that it raised $32 million in additional funding led …

The pandemic, which accelerated tech use in K–12 schools, also changed how that technology is consumed. Today’s educators are using more applications to facilitate student…