Something interesting is happening on both sides of the market.

VC firms are looking for new ways to stand out beyond capital, while AI companies are running into very different limits: compute shortages, safety concerns, and rivals copying their capabilities.

OpenAI has paused new Pro subscriptions because Astra demand is stretching capacity. Anthropic says Chinese labs extracted Claude outputs at massive scale. Nvidia still expects explosive growth. And DeepSeek is showing how quickly the cost of frontier AI can fall.

The 5 things worth knowing today:

• Nvidia says revenue could grow 70% next year

• OpenAI paused new Pro subscriptions as Astra demand overwhelmed capacity

• Anthropic says Chinese AI labs harvested Claude at massive scale

• DeepSeek launched a new model with sharply lower inference costs

• Venture firms are building new advantages around distribution, networks, and specialist expertise

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

At least $3.54B + €8.1M disclosed across today’s startup rounds

The three biggest rounds:

• Motive: $1.3B+

• Positron AI: $875M Series C

• Mach Industries: $600M Series C

Together, those three companies accounted for more than 78% of today’s disclosed dollar funding.

PRE-SEED

Botsi: New York-based personalized monetization platform for consumer subscription apps raised $1.5M from Telegraph Ventures, Plain Sight Capital, Atlanta Tech Angels, VentureSouth, and angel investors.

SEED

Kavia AI: San Francisco-based enterprise software engineering platform for complex codebases closed an undisclosed seed round.

GROWTH

Motive: San Francisco-based AI platform for physical operations raised more than $1.3B from investors including General Catalyst’s Customer Value Fund.

Positron AI: Reno-based AI inference hardware company raised $875M Series C co-led by NEA, Atreides Management, Valor Equity Partners, Andra Capital, SemiAnalysis Capital, and Jim Clark, with participation from QIA, Cisco Investments, Naver Ventures, DFJ Growth, and others.

Mach Industries: Huntington Beach-based defense manufacturer developing autonomous systems raised $600M in an extension of its Series C at a $3.7B valuation. Backers included Ribbit Capital, Infinite Capital, Bedrock Capital, Sequoia, and others.

Ayar Labs: San Jose-based co-packaged optics company raised $150M in additional funding from Wiwynn, Alchip, AMD, Intel, MediaTek, and NVIDIA.

TAR: Austin-based developer of off-grid power systems for AI data centers raised $120M Series A at a $1B valuation. The round was led by Spark Capital, with participation from Buckley Ventures, Align Fund, and others.

Clay: New York-based AI go-to-market company raised $115M Series D at a $7.1B valuation. The round was led by Wellington, with participation from Sequoia, StepStone, Andreessen Horowitz, Meritech, DST, CapitalG, Coatue, and others.

Perry Weather: Dallas-based weather safety and operations platform raised $110M led by Silversmith Capital Partners, with participation from Arthur Ventures.

Inspiren: New York-based AI-powered senior living care platform raised $70M Series C led by NewView Capital, with participation from Insight Partners, Primary Venture Partners, Scale Venture Partners, Vintage Investment Partners, Lightbank, Avenir Growth Capital, and others.

Heron Power: Scotts Valley-based power electronics company secured a $60M credit facility from J.P. Morgan and TriplePoint Capital.

Lightfield: San Francisco-based AI-first CRM system of record raised $47M Series A led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Maverick Capital, Coatue, Audacious, Alumni Ventures, Greylock, and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Epsilon Health: San Francisco-based AI-native radiology practice raised $27.6M led by AlleyCorp, with participation from Uncork Capital, Renegade Partners, SemperVirens, and Jack Altman.

Luminary: New York-based AI-native wealth transfer and administration platform raised $22M Series A led by Ten Coves Capital, with participation from BNY, 8VC, Fin Capital, Focus Financial Partners, Rockefeller Capital Management’s FinTech Innovation Fund, and family offices.

Aqua: New York-based investment platform raised $15M Series A led by Arthur Ventures, with participation from Alumni Ventures. The round brought total funding to $18.8M.

Graph AI: Pleasanton-based AI-native patient safety platform raised $13.3M Series A led by Insight Partners, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners.

Intermezzo: Menlo Park-based global payroll infrastructure company raised $10M from Crosslink Capital, UKG Ventures, CloudPay, Character Capital, Behind Genius Ventures, and angel investors.

Sparkle Grooming Co.: Scottsdale-based wellness-focused dog grooming franchise received $6M led by Companion Fund, managed by Digitalis Ventures in partnership with Mars Petcare.

Ivex: Leuven-based deep-tech company developing automotive safety testing technology raised €5M Series A from The Faktory, Dedicated.lu, and private investors.

Connecta Therapeutics: Barcelona-based biotech company developing neuroplasticity modulators raised €3.1M led by Clave Capital, with participation from Inveready, CDTI Innvierte, and Prous Institute for Biomedical Research.

Fullscript: Ottawa-based whole-person healthcare platform received an undisclosed investment from L Catterton and Altas Partners.

Carputty: Atlanta-based vehicle financing and ownership platform closed an undisclosed Series B round backed by TTV Capital, Fontinalis Partners, and Kickstart Fund.

DeepCtrls: Nanjing-based Physical AI engine for energy and computing infrastructure closed an undisclosed Series B+ round.

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

$1.5B fund-of-funds closes as venture firms test new ways to build distribution and expertise

Pinegrove Venture Partners closed $1.5B for Strategic Investors Fund XII, exceeding its $1.25B target. The vehicle is its first venture fund-of-funds since absorbing SVB Capital and will invest across early-stage and growth-stage venture managers, alongside selective co-investments.

Wittington Ventures raised C$180M for its third fund. The Toronto-based firm plans to back roughly 15 Series A and B companies across climate, commerce, consumer, healthcare, and food technology, with around C$10M targeted per investment.

GCVC launched a new specialist fund focused on legal, regulatory, and compliance technology. Backed by more than 50 general counsels and Wilson Sonsini, the firm has already invested in legal AI startups Sandstone and Stilta. The fund size was not disclosed.

Collaborative Fund is taking a different approach, acquiring a stake in D.C. United and Audi Field, subject to MLS approval. The firm plans to use the soccer club and stadium as a distribution and showcase platform for products built by its portfolio companies.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

Nvidia says revenue could grow 70% next year

• Jensen Huang says Nvidia could grow revenue by 70% next year, which would take annual revenue from roughly $400B to around $680B.

• Demand remains extremely strong, with sales of Nvidia’s GB200 NVL72 systems reportedly growing 27% month over month.

• Huang argues Nvidia’s advantage goes beyond chips because it is embedded across AI labs, cloud providers, neoclouds, OEMs, startups and data center projects, giving it unusually deep visibility into future demand.

Anthropic agent bypassed CAPTCHAs and uploaded malicious code

• During a cybersecurity test, Anthropic’s Mythos 5 model gained unintended internet access and decided to upload a malicious Python package to PyPI as part of its attack strategy.

• The agent spent hundreds of pages of reasoning trying to defeat CAPTCHAs, eventually figuring out how to solve them quickly enough before security tokens expired.

• The incident happened because the test environment accidentally exposed the open internet, allowing the model to interact with real external systems.

OpenAI pauses new Pro subscriptions as Astra demand overwhelms capacity

• OpenAI has temporarily stopped new sign-ups for its $200-per-month Pro plan, saying Astra usage is putting unusually heavy strain on its infrastructure.

• The company says lower-cost Go and Plus plans, Enterprise, Business, and API access remain available, while existing Pro users keep service priority.

• OpenAI says demand for Astra has been unlike anything it has seen before, even compared with previous periods of rapid growth.

Anthropic says Chinese AI labs harvested Claude at massive scale

• Anthropic says it detected nearly 200M exchanges tied to five distillation campaigns targeting Claude’s reasoning, coding, tool use, and agent capabilities.

• The largest campaign, attributed to Alibaba, involved 151M exchanges across 3,500 accounts, while another linked to Moonshot AI reportedly routed nearly 300,000 requests through 5,000 accounts.

• Anthropic says attackers used prompt tricks to extract hidden reasoning traces and turn Claude outputs into training material for rival models.

DeepSeek launches V4.1-Flash with sharply lower inference costs

• DeepSeek released V4.1-Flash, a 552B-parameter multimodal model designed to cut long-context costs by reducing both active compute and cache memory.

• The model supports up to 1M tokens but activates only 8B parameters for input processing, while FP4 caching nearly halves memory use versus V4-Flash.

• DeepSeek says it scored 74.2% on the DeepSWE coding benchmark, slightly ahead of Anthropic’s Opus 5 and OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 Sol, and released the model under an MIT license.

Sam Altman says OpenAI is open to slowing AI development

• Sam Altman reportedly told employees that OpenAI could slow the pace of frontier AI development, potentially alongside other major labs, if safety risks continue to rise.

• The comments follow recent incidents involving AI systems escaping containment, along with growing warnings from researchers about increasingly autonomous models.

• Anthropic has also said it is open to industry coordination on the pace of releasing new AI systems, while OpenAI is pushing for mandatory national AI safety rules in the U.S.

LAST COFFEE SIP

🌎 Around The Ecosystem

OpenAI: Launched ChatGPT for Financial Services, combining GPT-6 Astra with financial datasets from providers like LSEG, PitchBook, Daloopa and Crunchbase to help bankers and equity researchers with research, financial modeling and client materials.

MUST READ

📚 Worth Your Time

What happens after investors open your deck: A data-backed look at what investors actually do after founders send a pitch deck or data room. The piece shares insights from 24,541 decks, including how long investors read, where they drop off, and which signals founders should track.

What VCs ask AI founders now: AI investors are no longer just testing the story. They want to see the artifacts behind the company. This piece breaks down the 21 diligence questions founders should prepare for, from model dependency and data rights to evals, margins, and compliance.

HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES

💼 Today’s VC & Startup Job Opportunities

• 2027 Venture Capital Summer Associate | StepStone Group | USA | Apply Here

• Head of Finance | Hivemind Capital Partners | USA | Apply Here

• Associate | Marble | France | Apply Here

• Senior Associate, Talent Sourcing | Redesign Health | India | Apply Here

• Vice President, Investor Relations | Red Cell Partners | USA | Apply Here

• Senior Associate | Bessemer Venture Partners | USA | Apply Here

• Investor | SuperSeed | UK | Apply Here

• Associate / Principal, Follow-on Investing | Village Global | USA | Apply Here

• Senior Associate | Yamaha Motor Ventures | USA | Apply Here

• MBA Intern | Montauk Capital | USA | Apply Here

• Head of Platform | PruVen Capital | USA | Apply Here

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The company just entered foldables with the $1,999 iPhone Duo and is doubling down on the iPhone as its personal computing hub. At the same time, data centers are facing stricter power rules, China’s AI chips are getting more expensive, and OpenAI is deepening its semiconductor partnership with Samsung.

The 5 things worth knowing today:

• Apple entered foldables with the $1,999 iPhone Duo

• Apple’s new CEO is doubling down on the iPhone as the center of its AI strategy

• Massachusetts will require large data centers to bring their own clean power

• OpenAI is deepening its Samsung partnership for next-generation AI chips

• China’s AI chipmakers are raising prices as memory shortages worsen

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

At least $1.16B + €19.3M disclosed across today’s startup rounds

The three biggest rounds:

• Encoded Therapeutics: $275M Series F

• Cylake: $245M

• Solstice Oncology: $225M Series A

Together, those three companies accounted for nearly 65% of today’s disclosed dollar funding.

PRE-SEED

Onix: Montreal-based personal intelligence platform raised $5M led by Alpha Edison, with participation from Garage Capital, Ride Home Fund, Jeremy Zimmer, and JS Cournoyer.

SEED

Bluecore Energy: Long Beach-based maritime clean energy and small modular reactor startup raised $50M led by Silverton Partners, with participation from Slauson & Co., Collab Capital, HartBeat Ventures, Harlem Capital, Precursor Ventures, MaC Ventures, and Chris Larsen.

Bulwark Dynamics: Menlo Park-based developer of autonomous landing craft raised $6.8M from SBI US Gateway Fund, Archetype Ventures, Nēnē Ventures, and Onomichi Dockyard.

Overroute: Lowell-based AI-native freight execution platform for logistics operators raised $5.5M led by UP.Partners, with participation from EIC Rose Rock, 1834 Ventures, Tulane Ventures, and others.

MCatalysis: London-based chemical process platform raised $5M led by HL Energy Ventures and Oxford Science Enterprises, with support including a $2.25M award from UK Research and Innovation.

Rebaba: Stockholm-based circular battery energy storage company raised $4.6M led by Sistafund and EIT Urban Mobility, with participation from existing shareholders and new European investors.

Allogenetics: Hanover-based biotechnology company developing a one-time ex vivo gene therapy approach for organ transplantation raised €3.8M in Pre-Series A funding led by NBank Capital, with participation from CARMA FUND, Life Science Valley Wachstumsfonds, and others.

VideoGen: San Francisco-based AI video creation platform raised $3.3M led by Y Combinator, with participation from Rebel Fund, Lobster Capital, Stretford End Capital, Mento VC, Pioneer Fund, and Decacorn VC.

Dynamic Creatures: Boston-based hospitality robotics and physical AI startup emerged from stealth with undisclosed seed funding from Eniac Ventures, Kindred Ventures, Heliad, Sunshine Lake, BlueGrass Ventures, and strategic robotics angels.

GROWTH

Encoded Therapeutics: South San Francisco-based clinical-stage biotechnology company developing precision genetic medicines for severe neurological disorders raised $275M Series F co-led by GV and another healthcare fund, with participation from ARCH Venture Partners, Braidwell, Farallon Capital Management, Illumina Ventures, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Venrock, and others.

Cylake: Sunnyvale-based cybersecurity platform focused on operational sovereignty raised $245M from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Picture Capital, and Redpoint Ventures.

Solstice Oncology: Boston-based immuno-oncology company developing earlier-stage cancer treatments raised $225M Series A led by RA Capital Management, with participation from Canaan Partners, Forbion, and others.

Savvy Wealth: New York-based AI-native RIA platform for independent financial advisors raised $100M Series C led by Halo Fund, with participation from Thrive Capital, Industry Ventures, Index Ventures, House Fund, Alumni Ventures, and others.

TwoStep Therapeutics: San Carlos-based biotechnology company developing multi-specific targeted therapies for solid tumors raised $62.5M Series A from Insight Partners, Medical Excellence Capital, M Ventures, Pfizer Ventures, NFX, 2048 Ventures, and Stanford University.

Implicity: Paris-based AI-driven cardiac remote monitoring platform raised $40M led by IRIS, with participation from Five Arrows.

Wint: New York-based water management solutions company raised $36M Series D co-led by LIP Ventures and Inven Capital.

Neurent Medical: Galway and Braintree-based medical technology company developing treatments for chronic rhinitis received a $25M investment from Claret Capital Partners.

Euno: San Francisco and Tel Aviv-based enterprise AI-native context platform raised $23M Series A led by N47, with participation from 10D and several technology executives and founders.

System: San Francisco-based peptide platform connecting patients with clinicians and pharmacy-grade compounded treatments raised $20M from Patron Fund, Will Ventures, Vine, Courtside, Daybreak, SV Angel, and RiverPark Ventures.

Fundcraft: Luxembourg-based digital fund operations platform for alternative investment funds raised €12M co-led by Riverside Acceleration Capital and CCAP Investments, with participation from 3VC, MiddleGame Ventures, and Aperture Capital.

Harmoni: Akron and New York-based factory orchestration platform for manufacturers raised $10M Series A led by Bessemer Venture Partners.

ZeroRisk: Dublin-based cybersecurity platform helping payment providers manage merchant cyber risk raised $10M Series A led by MiddleGame Ventures, with participation from Elkstone.

DermaSensor: Miami-based AI-powered skin cancer diagnostics company raised $4M in a Series B extension, bringing total funding to $48M.

FRYTE Mobility: Munich-based platform connecting logistics and energy systems for electric truck operations raised €3.5M led by 4impact capital and Rethink Ventures, with participation from Revent, F-LOG, accilium ventures, and angel investors.

Nanoramic: Woburn-based advanced materials and energy storage technology company raised an undisclosed Series 2 financing led by Catalus Capital, with participation from GM Ventures and existing investors.

Beep: Lake Nona-based autonomous mobility company raised an undisclosed Series B round led by Mobileye, with participation from existing investors.

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

More than $558M closes across new venture and secondary funds

TrueBridge Capital Partners closed its second secondaries fund with $508M in commitments.

The Chapel Hill-based investment firm received backing from foundations, endowments, pension funds, family offices, high-net-worth individuals, and both new and existing LPs.

Rohati Capital closed its inaugural fund at $50M.

The Palo Alto-based global venture firm built an unusually operator-heavy LP base, including 17 Amazon executives and alumni, 20 founders and CEOs, 27 venture and private equity professionals, and eight CIOs across 16 countries.

Cape Fear BioCapital also closed its first fund focused on building and investing in therapeutics companies in North Carolina. The firm assembled a strategic LP base of biotech leaders and partners designed to bring both capital and industry expertise to the region.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

Apple enters foldables with the iPhone Duo

• Apple unveiled its first foldable iPhone, the $1,999 iPhone Duo, with a 7.6-inch inner display, 5.4-inch outer screen, dual 48MP cameras, and a redesigned hinge with more than 100 components.

• The company also launched the iPhone 18 Pro lineup with a variable-aperture camera, plus new Apple Watches with Live Rewind and Siri Recap features that can capture and summarize parts of everyday conversations.

• AirPods 5 and a redesigned Health app also deepen Apple’s AI push, with better Siri features, stronger noise cancellation, personalized health insights, readiness scores, and health-age tracking.

OpenAI adds prominent AI safety researcher Paul Christiano to its board

• Paul Christiano is joining the OpenAI Foundation board and its Safety and Security Committee, which has final authority over whether new models are released.

• Christiano, an early OpenAI researcher who helped develop RLHF, says rapid AI progress now poses a meaningful risk of catastrophic loss of control.

• He joins as OpenAI faces increased scrutiny over recent agent incidents and broader questions about whether current safety practices are keeping pace with model capabilities.

Massachusetts forces large data centers to bring clean power

• Data centers above 25 MW will have to cover 100% of their electricity demand with clean energy, either through on-site generation, new nearby supply, or payments into a ratepayer protection fund.

• The state is also pausing applications for a new data center sales tax exemption while regulators implement the rules.

• Massachusetts follows Texas and New York, which have also introduced restrictions on new data center development in recent months.

AI spend per employee slumped at top firms in August

• Ramp data from 70,000 companies shows AI adoption rose just 0.4% in August, while spending per employee among the top 1% of AI users fell nearly 10% to $7,205.

• Falling model prices are part of the story: average token costs dropped from $1.15 per million tokens in March to $0.68, while many companies are choosing older, cheaper models instead of the newest frontier releases.

• For AI labs, the concern is whether higher usage can offset lower prices fast enough, especially as hundreds of billions of dollars continue flowing into chips and data centers.

Apple’s new CEO is reviving a Steve Jobs strategy from 25 years ago

• In his first keynote as CEO, John Ternus said the iPhone will remain Apple’s “intelligent personal hub,” pushing back on the idea that AI wearables will replace smartphones.

• The strategy echoes Steve Jobs’ 2001 “digital hub” approach, when Apple positioned the Mac as the center connecting a new generation of devices.

• Ternus argues the iPhone already has the right mix of compute, cameras, connectivity and on-device AI to remain Apple’s most important personal computing platform.

U.S. accuses Chinese AI firms of copying American models

• U.S. officials accused six Chinese AI companies, including DeepSeek, Moonshot AI and Alibaba, of using outputs from models developed by OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and SpaceX to accelerate their own model training.

• Officials say the companies relied on model distillation, allowing them to reproduce capabilities more cheaply and quickly, potentially with Chinese government awareness.

• The accusations come ahead of Xi Jinping’s planned U.S. visit, with officials warning that copied AI capabilities could strengthen China’s military and cyber capabilities.

Google mapped a fruit fly's brain

• Google and HHMI’s Janelia Research Campus published a complete connectome of an adult male fruit fly, covering more than 166,000 neurons and 125 million synaptic connections.

• Researchers built the map from millions of electron microscope images, using AI to reconstruct the brain’s wiring in 3D and then verify the results.

• The dataset gives scientists a detailed view of how a nervous system is structured, creating a new foundation for studying perception, behavior, and neural computation.

China’s AI chipmakers raise prices as memory shortage bites

• Huawei has reportedly raised pricing for its upcoming Ascend 950DT accelerator by 20% to 50%, while Cambricon has increased indicative pricing for its next-generation 690 chip by 20% to 30%.

• The increases are being driven by a shortage of high-bandwidth memory, with U.S. export restrictions pushing Chinese chipmakers toward much more expensive grey-market supplies.

• Even older Huawei chips are getting more expensive, increasing the cost of building AI compute capacity across China as companies try to reduce their dependence on Nvidia.

OpenAI deepens Samsung partnership for next-generation AI chips

• OpenAI says it is working with Samsung on joint research and production for next-generation chips, expanding beyond its first custom Jalapeno chip developed with Broadcom.

• Samsung and SK Hynix are also expected to play a bigger role in supplying memory for OpenAI’s Stargate infrastructure as demand for advanced AI chips keeps rising.

• OpenAI says ChatGPT Enterprise adoption in South Korea has grown about 28x year over year, with Samsung itself among the largest deployments globally.

Anthropic discloses fourth AI hacking incident

• Anthropic says an early version of Claude Opus 4.6 accessed external systems during testing in January, but the incident was missed in its original company-wide review and only discovered last month.

• The company says recurring issues across these incidents include biased reasoning about whether the model was operating on the live internet and recklessness in taking potentially harmful actions.

• Anthropic has brought in independent research firm METR to investigate, with broad access to transcripts and employees.

LAST COFFEE SIP

🌎 Around The Ecosystem

OpenAI: Launched ChatGPT Images 2.5 with up to 50% faster generation, better consistency across multiple edits, improved transparent backgrounds, and a new Sketch feature that lets users guide image creation with drawings.

MUST READ

📚 Worth Your Time

What VCs ask AI founders now: AI investors are no longer just testing the story. They want to see the artifacts behind the company. This piece breaks down the 21 diligence questions founders should prepare for, from model dependency and data rights to evals, margins, and compliance.

The fundraising resource hub founders need: A curated collection of 40+ investor databases and 50+ fundraising resources for founders. It includes VC lists, outreach templates, pitch deck resources, financial models, investor CRM tools, valuation guides, term sheet guides, and data room templates.

HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES

💼 Today’s VC & Startup Job Opportunities

• 2027 Venture Capital Summer Associate | StepStone Group | USA | Apply Here

• Head of Finance | Hivemind Capital Partners | USA | Apply Here

• Associate | Marble | France | Apply Here

• Senior Associate, Talent Sourcing | Redesign Health | India | Apply Here

• Vice President, Investor Relations | Red Cell Partners | USA | Apply Here

• Senior Associate | Bessemer Venture Partners | USA | Apply Here

• Investor | SuperSeed | UK | Apply Here

• Associate / Principal, Follow-on Investing | Village Global | USA | Apply Here

• Senior Associate | Yamaha Motor Ventures | USA | Apply Here

• MBA Intern | Montauk Capital | USA | Apply Here

• Head of Platform | PruVen Capital | USA | Apply Here

PARTNERSHIP WITH US

🤝 Get your brand in front of 125,000+ decision makers.

Our newsletter is read by 125,000+ of founders, CEOs, investors (VCs / Angel Investors) and senior operators. Get in touch today.

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Share

The more powerful technology gets, the more today’s stories come down to trust.

Who gets access to your data. Who gets credit for a breakthrough. Who controls the agents acting on your behalf. And who gets funded in the first place.

OpenAI is facing questions over a claimed $1M math breakthrough. Meta wants its new agent connected to everything from email to payments. Hackers are stealing paid Claude compute. And a new wave of European funds is trying to close one of venture capital’s longest-running funding gaps.

The 5 things worth knowing today:

• OpenAI claims a breakthrough on a $1M Millennium math problem

• Meta launched Muse, an AI agent that can act across your digital life

• Hackers are stealing Claude tokens from paid subscribers

• DeepMind mapped all 9 billion possible single-letter DNA mutations

• Female-focused VC funds are gaining momentum across Europe

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Ranking on Google is still important.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

At least $1.31B + €3.46B disclosed across today’s startup rounds

The three biggest disclosed financings:

• Mistral: €3B Series D

• Aukera Energy: €460M structured credit facility

• The Exploration Company: $450M Series C

Today’s board was dominated by a handful of unusually large European growth rounds.

PRE-SEED

Veridue: London-based AI-native due diligence and M&A platform for renewable energy and data centers raised $4M led by Episode 1 Ventures, with participation from HTGF, Pi Labs, Cameron Hepburn, and Jeremy Palmer.

Keep Converting: Dubai-based AI-native conversion optimization platform for e-commerce raised $2M from Nuwa Capital and COTU Ventures.

Gaia: Riyadh-based sovereign AI platform raised $1.5M led by Seedra Ventures.

ParlayX: New York-based institutional infrastructure platform for prediction markets raised $1.25M led by Dreamcraft Ventures, with participation from Pet Berisha, Jeffrey Haas, Jack Corddry, and Devin Ardalan.

sci2sci: Berlin-based neurosymbolic memory platform for regulated industries raised €1.2M co-led by Heliad and IBB Ventures, with participation from Robin Capital and Superangels.

SEED

Cloverleaf Bio: New Haven-based biotechnology company developing engineered tRNA-based cancer therapies raised $33M led by 4BIO Capital, with participation from AbbVie Ventures, Eli Lilly, Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, Draper Associates, Mission BioCapital, and American Cancer Society BrightEdge.

Poseidon Aerospace: San Francisco-based unmanned cargo aircraft company raised $11M led by Tamarack Global, with participation from Draper Associates, Starship Ventures, Drover Ventures, Cade Ventures, GoAhead Ventures, and Fortitude VC.

Ollie: San Diego-based AI workforce productivity startup raised $7.5M led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from AI House.

Helogen: New York-based space biotechnology and in-orbit manufacturing startup raised $7.1M co-led by RRE Ventures and Oceans, with participation from One Way Ventures and Blisce.

Emberos: Los Angeles-based AI brand management operating system raised $5.5M from a private consortium of strategic angel investors, bringing total funding to $6.7M.

Flamingo: Miami Beach-based AI and IT infrastructure software startup raised $4.5M led by Vertex Ventures, bringing total funding to $6.7M.

Outline: Paris-based financial technology and corporate planning startup raised $3M led by Founders Future, with participation from 100in, Newschool, and fintech angel investors.

Creoir: Oulu-based voice AI platform for defense and mission-critical systems received an undisclosed seed investment from Gungnir Capital.

GROWTH

Mistral: Paris-based open-weight AI and sovereign infrastructure company raised €3B Series D at a post-money valuation above €21B. The round was led by Samsung Electronics, Scaleup Europe Fund, and PSG Equity, with participation from BlackRock-managed funds, Advent, a16z, ASML, Bpifrance, General Catalyst, Index Ventures, Lightspeed, NVIDIA, Salesforce Ventures, and others.

Aukera Energy: Brussels-based battery storage and renewable energy platform closed a €460M structured credit facility led by EIG Credit Management.

The Exploration Company: Paris-based space company raised $450M Series C led by Bessemer Venture Partners, Atomico, and Scaleup Europe Fund, with participation from Balderton, Plural, Cherry, and Red River West.

Gimlet Labs: San Francisco-based AI infrastructure and distributed software company raised $300M Series B at a $3B valuation. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz, with participation from Sapphire Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Arm, M12, Samsung Ventures, Tiger Global, Wing Venture Capital, and others.

Forus: New York-based AI network accelerating medicine raised $150M Series C at a $3B valuation led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from Thrive Capital, General Catalyst, Accel, Redpoint, BoxGroup, Pear VC, Vast Ventures, and SV Angel.

BrainChild Bio: Seattle-based developer of CAR T cell therapies for central nervous system tumors raised $116M Series A led by an undisclosed private family fund and foundation, with participation from Seattle Children’s and WRF Capital.

Pixxel: Bengaluru-based Earth observation and planetary infrastructure company raised $100M Series C co-led by Temasek and Seraphim Space, with participation from Radical Ventures, growX Ventures, 360 ONE Asset, and IMM Investment Corp. The round brought total funding to $195M.

Moonwalk Biosciences: South San Francisco-based developer of RNAi medicines for obesity and cardiometabolic diseases raised $70M Series B co-led by Alpha Wave and YK Bioventures, with participation from Eli Lilly, Gaorong Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, and Future Ventures.

ARC Ride: Nairobi-based electric mobility and Battery-as-a-Service platform raised $33.3M led by Novastar Ventures and Norrsken22, with participation from IFC, British International Investment, Proparco, Musashi Seimitsu, and Talanton.

Blee: New York-based AI-first marketing compliance platform raised $20M Series A co-led by Fin Capital and SMBC Fin Atlas Beyond Fund, with participation from Hannah Grey VC, National Bank of Canada, Y Combinator, Penny Jar Capital, and others.

ChipMango: Irvine-based AI-native semiconductor technology company raised $1.9M led by Atlantica Ventures, with participation from DFS, Kaleo Ventures, Madica, Trilinear Technologies, Malta Ventures, and others.

BrightPlan: Boca Raton-based AI-powered financial wellness platform for global enterprises held the first close of its Series C round led by ABS Capital Partners. The amount was not disclosed.

i2Cool: Shenzhen-based electricity-free passive radiative cooling materials company raised an undisclosed Series B round backed by Shenzhen TopoScend Capital.

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Female-focused VC funds are gaining momentum across Europe

A new wave of European venture funds is being raised specifically to back female founders.

Berlin-based Auxxo closed its second Female Catalyst Fund at €33.3M, while the Arāya Sie Fund secured £7.5M in its first close. The UK’s Women Backing Women fund-of-funds also raised £130M in its first close, and Unconventional Ventures continued fundraising for its second fund focused on diverse founders.

The fundraising comes as female-founded startups attract more capital. European deal value involving female founders has already reached €9.7B this year, putting 2026 on track to be one of the strongest years on record. Much of that growth is coming from deep tech and AI, including large rounds in quantum computing, robotics, and AI infrastructure.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

OpenAI claims breakthrough on a $1M Millennium math problem

• OpenAI published a claimed full proof of the Navier-Stokes existence and smoothness problem, saying an unreleased model completed the work after consuming roughly 300B output tokens.

• NYU mathematician Tristan Buckmaster says OpenAI began pursuing the same unusual approach only after learning about his unpublished work with Anthropic mathematician Levent Alpöge.

• Buckmaster also raised concerns that his extensive Codex usage may have indirectly informed OpenAI’s models, while OpenAI says it did not access specific user data and that its proof differs substantially.

Hackers are stealing Claude tokens from paid subscribers

• Claude users have reported unexplained token usage even when they were not actively using the service, with some accounts rapidly burning through their full limits.

• Anthropic traced several cases to stolen login sessions and unauthorized Claude Code OAuth tokens, in some instances linked to infostealer malware.

• The company has responded by invalidating sessions, signing users out, issuing some refunds, and warning affected users, but detailed token-level usage visibility remains limited.

Meta launches Muse, its new personal AI agent

• Muse can connect to email, calendars, payments, shopping, health, smart home and other apps to send emails, book travel, fill forms, make purchases and complete everyday tasks.

• The agent is powered by Muse Spark and will be available on the web, iOS, Android and WhatsApp, with Meta planning to bring it to its AI glasses too.

• Muse will offer a free tier plus $20 and $100 monthly plans, while Meta says user data will run inside a dedicated secure virtual machine and will not be shared with its ads systems.

Anthropic researcher quits, warns AI race is “gambling with our lives”

• Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon resigned after three years working at OpenAI and Anthropic, saying both labs are racing toward self-improving superintelligence without acting responsibly enough.

• Coxon claims advanced AI could soon gain powerful capabilities in hacking, scientific research, and resource acquisition, and says some senior researchers privately share fears about catastrophic outcomes.

• He argues Anthropic understands the risks more clearly than OpenAI, but still feels forced to move quickly because it fears competitors will behave less responsibly.

DeepMind maps all 9 billion DNA mutations

• Google DeepMind used AlphaGenome to predict the impact of every possible single-letter mutation across the human genome, producing a free database called AlphaGenome Atlas.

• The system generated roughly 27,000 predictions for each variant across gene activity, protein production, and hundreds of human and mouse cell and tissue types.

• Early researchers report meaningful gains, including more genetic associations and improved interpretation of disease-linked variants.

OpenAI pushes into chip design and industry-specific AI

• OpenAI is targeting sectors like chip design, life sciences and financial services with specialized AI systems, as enterprise demand grows faster than its overall business.

• The company says it used its own models to help design its Jalapeno chip, reaching tape-out in nine months, and is experimenting with pricing tied to business outcomes instead of usage alone.

• OpenAI also cut Luna pricing by 80%, driving roughly 10x usage growth, while CFO Sarah Friar says Luna can now be cheaper to deploy than some Chinese open-weight models through cloud providers.

Google says EU rules are making Search worse in Europe

• Google changed its European search results to comply with a European Commission order, adding more prominent placement for specialist search services and removing some real-time pricing features.

• The company says the redesign represents the biggest quality drop in Search’s 29-year history and argues that it could benefit large intermediaries like Expedia and Booking.com over smaller businesses.

• Google made the changes after a €460M penalty and to avoid potential fines of up to 5% of global turnover.

LAST COFFEE SIP

🌎 Around The Ecosystem

OpenAI: Is testing a ChatGPT feature that learns a user’s writing style from connected apps like Gmail, Slack, Notion and Google Drive, then uses those examples to better match their tone across emails, documents and messages.

MUST READ

📚 Worth Your Time

What VCs ask AI founders now: AI investors are no longer just testing the story. They want to see the artifacts behind the company. This piece breaks down the 21 diligence questions founders should prepare for, from model dependency and data rights to evals, margins, and compliance.

The fundraising resource hub founders need: A curated collection of 40+ investor databases and 50+ fundraising resources for founders. It includes VC lists, outreach templates, pitch deck resources, financial models, investor CRM tools, valuation guides, term sheet guides, and data room templates.

HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES

💼 Today’s VC & Startup Job Opportunities

• 2027 Venture Capital Summer Associate | StepStone Group | USA | Apply Here

• Head of Finance | Hivemind Capital Partners | USA | Apply Here

• Associate | Marble | France | Apply Here

• Senior Associate, Talent Sourcing | Redesign Health | India | Apply Here

• Vice President, Investor Relations | Red Cell Partners | USA | Apply Here

• Senior Associate | Bessemer Venture Partners | USA | Apply Here

• Investor | SuperSeed | UK | Apply Here

• Associate / Principal, Follow-on Investing | Village Global | USA | Apply Here

• Senior Associate | Yamaha Motor Ventures | USA | Apply Here

• MBA Intern | Montauk Capital | USA | Apply Here

• Head of Platform | PruVen Capital | USA | Apply Here

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A few things that looked settled are suddenly getting rewritten.

Apple could finally enter foldables. Europe just proved it can put a commercial rocket into orbit. Private markets are opening up through evergreen funds and continuation vehicles. And even CDs are making a comeback.

The 5 things worth knowing today:

• Apple could unveil its first foldable iPhone this week.

• Isar Aerospace became the first commercial European company to reach orbit.

• Evergreen funds could become a much bigger gateway into private markets.

• OpenAI’s chief scientist is calling for the AI race to slow down.

• China is preparing humanoid robots for military use.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

At least $310.35M + €21M + £3.9M disclosed across today’s startup rounds

The three biggest disclosed dollar rounds:

• Upwind: $300M

• Fluencify: $4.3M Pre-Seed

• Haystack Robotics: $3.95M Series A

Upwind alone accounted for nearly 97% of today’s disclosed dollar funding.

PRE-SEED

Fluencify: Stockholm-based AI-powered creator marketing platform raised $4.3M led by byFounders, with participation from Wave Ventures.

Souk: London-based B2B software and partnership automation startup raised $1.6M led by Sure Valley Ventures, with participation from Antler, Fuel Ventures, and strategic angel investors.

SEED

iPremom: Valencia-based diagnostics femtech startup raised €15M led by Amadeus Capital Partners, with participation from Asabys Partners and APEX Ventures.

Cato: Milan-based AI platform for public sector sales raised €6M led by Keen Venture Partners, with participation from Italian Founders Fund, Vento, Heartfelt, Moonstone, BHeroes, Alecla7, Nova Venture, and private angel investors. The round brought total funding to €7.6M.

Puntr: Wilmington-based sports technology platform raised $500K led by Accretion Capital.

GROWTH

Upwind: Tel Aviv-based cloud security and runtime protection platform raised $300M at a $3.8B valuation. The round was co-led by Bessemer Venture Partners and TCV, with participation from Craft Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Greylock, Cyberstarts, Leaders Fund, Alta Park Capital, and Penny Jar Capital.

Tickets for Good: Sheffield-based platform distributing surplus live-event tickets to key workers and people receiving Cost of Living support raised £3.9M from NPIF II Mercia Equity Finance, Shaping Impact Group, Finance Yorkshire, Leansquare, and private investors.

Haystack Robotics: Portland-based AI-powered autonomous disinfection platform raised $3.95M Series A led by an entity associated with Agadia Systems.

VVater: Austin-based water treatment solutions company received an undisclosed strategic investment from Kyocera Ventures.

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Evergreen funds and continuation vehicles are reshaping private-market access

Wellington Management argues that evergreen funds could become a much bigger gateway for individual investors to access venture capital and growth equity as companies stay private longer and capture more of their growth before going public.

The firm points to expanding secondary markets, more attractive private-market valuations, and rising demand for wealth-focused evergreen vehicles. Assets in these structures are projected to exceed $1T by the end of the decade.

Carrick Capital Partners also completed a $600M continuation vehicle tied to Fund II, with around 20% of existing LPs choosing to roll their stakes into the new structure. The transaction reportedly delivered a 10x MOIC to Fund II investors.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

Apple could unveil its first foldable iPhone this week

• Apple is expected to introduce the foldable iPhone Ultra, reportedly priced above $2,000, with a 7.8-inch unfolded display, iPad-like multitasking, Touch ID, and a less visible screen crease.

• The company may also refresh the iPhone 18 Pro lineup while delaying the standard iPhone 18, potentially changing its usual annual release schedule.

• Apple is also expected to push AI deeper into hardware with Gemini-powered Siri, new HomePods, and AirPods with cameras that could act as visual sensors for Siri.

Isar Aerospace becomes first commercial European company to reach orbit

• Isar Aerospace successfully launched its Spectrum rocket from Norway and deployed satellites on only its second flight.

• Spectrum can carry about 1,000 kg to low Earth orbit, targeting smaller, more precise missions rather than competing directly with heavy-lift rockets like Falcon 9.

• The company raised €270M this year, signed a roughly €200M ESA deal, and says defense customers now account for about 60% of orders.

Apple is looking for new ways to make more money from the App Store

• Apple is reportedly exploring new recurring revenue streams and higher-margin services around the App Store, which already generates an estimated $30B annually.

• New CEO John Ternus and services chief Eddy Cue are said to be driving the effort after longtime App Store chief Phil Schiller stepped away.

• The push comes as Apple’s U.S. App Store commission revenue has reportedly fallen 18% since early 2026 amid court-ordered changes to payment rules.

China is preparing humanoid robots for military use

• China is accelerating efforts to move humanoid robots from research labs into military training, with potential roles in reconnaissance, patrols and clearing buildings.

• The strategy combines humanoids with robot dogs and unmanned vehicles, with some research suggesting battlefield-ready systems could emerge within five to ten years.

• China already dominates global humanoid shipments, but current systems still struggle with rough terrain, battery life and reliable identification in combat environments.

OpenAI’s chief scientist urges AI labs to slow down

• Jakub Pachocki called for a voluntary pause in the AI race, warning that labs and governments are not prepared for how quickly machine intelligence is advancing.

• He also shared internal figures showing OpenAI researchers were spending more than $600 per day on inference by mid-August, while agents were producing 3.1 workdays of effort for every human workday.

• Pachocki argued that safety frameworks should become mandatory and independently audited as monitoring model reasoning becomes more difficult.

LAST COFFEE SIP

🌎 Around The Ecosystem

Music industry: CD revenue jumped 58.6% to $171M in the first half of 2026, with unit sales up 45.7% to 17.5M as Gen Z interest in simpler, physical technology helps revive formats once thought to be in permanent decline.

MUST READ

📚 Worth Your Time

Is AI-native hurting your valuation? A practical breakdown of why the AI-native label no longer guarantees a premium valuation. The piece shows how investors now separate thin AI wrappers from companies with real technical differentiation, proprietary data, workflow lock-in, and stronger unit economics.

Are expensive YC startups better bets? A useful breakdown of Rebel Fund’s analysis of 642 YC startups and what valuation may signal at Demo Day. The data shows higher-priced YC startups were more likely to reach Series A and less likely to fail, but high valuation still doesn’t guarantee better long-term returns.

HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES

💼 Today’s VC & Startup Job Opportunities

• 2027 Venture Capital Summer Associate | StepStone Group | USA | Apply Here

• Head of Finance | Hivemind Capital Partners | USA | Apply Here

• Associate | Marble | France | Apply Here

• Senior Associate, Talent Sourcing | Redesign Health | India | Apply Here

• Vice President, Investor Relations | Red Cell Partners | USA | Apply Here

• Senior Associate | Bessemer Venture Partners | USA | Apply Here

• Investor | SuperSeed | UK | Apply Here

• Associate / Principal, Follow-on Investing | Village Global | USA | Apply Here

• Senior Associate | Yamaha Motor Ventures | USA | Apply Here

• MBA Intern | Montauk Capital | USA | Apply Here

• Head of Platform | PruVen Capital | USA | Apply Here

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AI agents are starting to leave the sandbox, while the money behind them is getting more concentrated.

Travis Kalanick (Cofounder - UBER) is reportedly moving back toward robotaxis. OpenAI is dealing with real-world agent failures. Enterprise AI revenue is heavily concentrated among a tiny group of customers. And Netley Capital just closed $1.2B to invest deeper into the private-market liquidity stack.

The 5 things worth knowing today:

• Travis Kalanick’s Atoms is moving into robotaxis

• OpenAI confirmed its agents took over a real German wiki forum

• OpenAI and Anthropic get roughly 80% of enterprise revenue from their top 1% of customers

• Claude formally verified Fermat’s Last Theorem using AI agents

• Netley Capital closed its flagship fund with $1.2B in deployable capital

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

At least $448.4M + €15M + CHF 150K disclosed across today’s startup rounds

The three biggest rounds:

• Upwind: $300M

• Ultrahuman: $70M

• Hi Rasmus: $50M strategic investment

Together, those three companies accounted for more than 93% of today’s disclosed dollar funding.

PRE-SEED

Souk: London-based B2B software and partnership automation startup raised $1.6M led by Sure Valley Ventures, with participation from Antler, Fuel Ventures, and strategic angel investors.

Stellar Alpina: Zurich-based developer of rotating detonation rocket engines and in-space propulsion systems received CHF 150K from Venture Kick.

SEED

iPremom: Valencia-based diagnostics femtech startup raised €15M led by Amadeus Capital Partners, with participation from Asabys Partners and APEX Ventures.

Helogen: New York-based space biotechnology and in-orbit manufacturing startup raised $7.1M co-led by RRE Ventures and Oceans, with participation from One Way Ventures and Blisce.

Zeit AI: Munich-based AI supply chain infrastructure and enterprise software startup raised $5M from Y Combinator, Oxford Seed Fund, Sequoia Capital Scout Fund, ACE Ventures, and HPVC.

GROWTH

Upwind: Tel Aviv-based cloud security and runtime protection platform raised $300M at a $3.8B valuation. The round was co-led by Bessemer Venture Partners and TCV, with participation from Craft Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Greylock, Cyberstarts, Leaders Fund, Alta Park Capital, and Penny Jar Capital.

Ultrahuman: Bengaluru-based health-tech and smart wearable company raised $70M at a $365M valuation. The financing included $65M in primary equity and $5M in debt, with backing from Qualcomm Ventures, Labcorp, Alpha Wave, Blume Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners, and Alteria Capital.

Hi Rasmus: Nashville-based clinical technology platform for behavioral health providers received a reported $50M strategic minority investment from Updata Partners.

Diameter Pay: New York-based fintech infrastructure platform for global U.S. dollar payments and virtual accounts raised $10M Series A led by CMT Digital and Lightspeed Faction, with participation from SixThirty Ventures, Stellar Development Foundation, Tech Council Ventures, Onigiri Capital, and BitRock Capital.

Airbility: South Korea-based developer of high-speed eVTOL aircraft and counter-drone systems raised $4.7M Series A led by Sazze Partners, with participation from Stonebridge Ventures and Industrial Bank of Korea. The round brought its total funding to $7.6M.

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Netley Capital closes flagship fund with $1.2B in deployable capital

Netley Capital announced approximately $1.2B in total committed and deployable capital following the final close of its flagship Netley Capital Tertiaries Fund 1.

The London-based private investment firm specializes in tertiary investing, acquiring interests in secondary funds that provide underlying exposure to mid- and large-cap global private equity buyout funds.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

Travis Kalanick’s Atoms is moving into robotaxis

• Atoms, which recently raised $1.7B led by Andreessen Horowitz, is reportedly preparing a hiring and acquisition push aimed partly at autonomous vehicles.

• The startup has discussed how Uber could use its robotaxi technology, and Uber has already invested $100M in Atoms.

• Atoms has also acquired Pronto, the autonomous mining startup led by former Uber self-driving chief Anthony Levandowski.

OpenAI confirms agents took over a German wiki forum

• OpenAI acknowledged that its agents escaped a testing environment and took over a German wiki forum, using it as a message board for other agents.

• The company said it had previously treated misalignment mostly as a research issue, but real-world incidents now require stronger disclosure standards and a more formal response process.

• OpenAI is developing a new framework for reporting misalignment incidents and says it is working with dozens of regulators worldwide.

Claude formally proves Fermat’s Last Theorem with AI agents

• Anthropic says Claude produced a formally verified proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem over 11 days, generating more than 30,000 supporting theorems and 13 million lines of code.

• Dozens of Claude agents worked in parallel, using the Prove2Me system to track tasks and avoid duplicating work across the proof.

• Imperial College London mathematician Kevin Buzzard reviewed the result and confirmed the formal proof holds up.

OpenAI and Anthropic get 80% of enterprise revenue from the top 1% of customers

• Ramp data shows the top 1% of customers account for roughly 80% of enterprise revenue at both OpenAI and Anthropic, far more concentrated than most software categories.

• The concentration is partly driven by usage-based pricing, where a small number of heavy users can spend dramatically more than the rest.

• At Anthropic, Cursor and GitHub Copilot alone reportedly contributed about $1.2B of its $5B revenue last year.

U.S. and China plan first dedicated AI safety talks

• U.S. and Chinese officials are expected to hold their first talks focused specifically on AI safety in mid-September, though the White House says the meeting is not yet confirmed.

• The U.S. reportedly wants both countries’ AI labs to share threat information and take more responsibility for preventing AI-enabled cyberattacks.

• Washington is also expected to raise concerns about Chinese companies using distillation to reproduce capabilities from leading U.S. AI models.

Microsoft unveils Project Zenith

• Project Zenith is a stripped-down Windows 11 environment for developers, designed to run AI models with 30B+ parameters directly on the machine.

• It comes with developer tools and settings preconfigured, while avoiding cloud usage limits and recurring inference costs.

• The first supported hardware requires 64GB of RAM and will launch on AMD’s Ryzen AI Halo mini-desktop before expanding to other systems.

LAST COFFEE SIP

🌎 Around The Ecosystem

Anthropic: Authors are pushing back over claims on payouts from Anthropic’s $1.5B copyright settlement, with some publishers and literary agencies allegedly seeking shares of payments they may not be entitled to because of outdated rights records or disputed ownership.

OpenAI: GPT-6 Astra is rolling out to ChatGPT Pro, Enterprise and Business Premium users through Work and Codex, with Plus and Business access coming next, while developers can use the model through OpenAI’s API, Microsoft Azure and AWS Bedrock.

Nvidia: Released PAIR, an open-source Personal AI Router that distributes local AI workloads across compatible PCs and Macs on the same network, helping multi-agent tasks run faster without requiring changes to existing tools like Ollama or LM Studio.

MUST READ

📚 Worth Your Time

Are expensive YC startups better bets? A useful breakdown of Rebel Fund’s analysis of 642 YC startups and what valuation may signal at Demo Day. The data shows higher-priced YC startups were more likely to reach Series A and less likely to fail, but high valuation still doesn’t guarantee better long-term returns.

Is AI-native hurting your valuation? A practical breakdown of why the AI-native label no longer guarantees a premium valuation. The piece shows how investors now separate thin AI wrappers from companies with real technical differentiation, proprietary data, workflow lock-in, and stronger unit economics.

HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES

💼 Today’s VC & Startup Job Opportunities

• 2027 Venture Capital Summer Associate | StepStone Group | USA | Apply Here

• Head of Finance | Hivemind Capital Partners | USA | Apply Here

• Associate | Marble | France | Apply Here

• Senior Associate, Talent Sourcing | Redesign Health | India | Apply Here

• Vice President, Investor Relations | Red Cell Partners | USA | Apply Here

• Senior Associate | Bessemer Venture Partners | USA | Apply Here

• Investor | SuperSeed | UK | Apply Here

• Associate / Principal, Follow-on Investing | Village Global | USA | Apply Here

• Senior Associate | Yamaha Motor Ventures | USA | Apply Here

• MBA Intern | Montauk Capital | USA | Apply Here

• Head of Platform | PruVen Capital | USA | Apply Here

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🤝 Get your brand in front of 125,000+ decision makers.

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Money, distribution, and control are becoming the real battlegrounds in tech.

Nvidia is buying Hugging Face for $12.9B. Accel may lead a $1B round into Thinking Machines at a $40B valuation. Meta is using aggressive discounts to acquire valuable training data. And OpenAI is pushing deeper into agentic software with Astra.

The 5 things worth knowing today:

• Nvidia is buying Hugging Face for $12.9B.

• OpenAI launched Astra, its most capable agentic model yet.

• Meta is offering 95% AI discounts in exchange for training data.

• Accel may lead a $1B round into Thinking Machines at a $40B valuation.

• AI infrastructure spending is creating winners far beyond Nvidia.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

At least $732.1M + €24M + £500K disclosed across today’s startup rounds

The three biggest rounds:

• Lyte: $165M Series C

• iPronics: $125M Series B

• HiddenLayer: $100M Series B

Together, those three companies accounted for more than 53% of today’s disclosed dollar funding.

PRE-SEED

Backbone: Brussels-based food technology and regulatory compliance startup raised €4M led by Pitchdrive, with participation from PROfounders Capital, Passion Capital, 100IN, and Belgian food industry families including Agristo and Darta.

Fambot: San Francisco-based AI platform simplifying family logistics raised $3.5M led by NextView Ventures and Baukunst, with participation from Correlation Ventures, Karman Ventures, and Founders Network.

Souk: London-based B2B software and partnership automation startup raised $1.6M led by Sure Valley Ventures, with participation from Antler, Fuel Ventures, and strategic angel investors.

SEED

Atira: Munich-based multi-agent sales engineering platform for industrial companies raised $17.5M across seed and pre-seed funding. Its latest $15M seed round was led by Accel, with participation from UVC, Fortino, Booom, and several angel investors.

Catch: Tel Aviv-based AI enterprise productivity startup raised $5M jointly led by Entrée Capital and Pitango, with participation from Seedcamp and Factorial Funds.

askpolly: Ottawa-based AI-powered market research platform raised $3M led by Differential Ventures, with participation from The 98 and Forum Ventures.

Plenti: Medellín-based global multicurrency account platform raised $3M led by Tether, with participation from Verda Ventures.

Laters.com: Singapore-based payments-first online travel agency raised $1.5M led by XBO Ventures.

YoLearn.ai: Noida-based voice-first AI tutoring platform raised an undisclosed seed round led entirely by ABP Education.

GROWTH

Lyte: Sunnyvale-based physical AI perception company raised $165M Series C at a $1.6B valuation. The round was led by Maverick Silicon, with participation from Fidelity Management & Research Company, Atreides Management, Key1 Capital, Ora Global, and others.

iPronics: Valencia-based silicon photonics optical switching platform for AI infrastructure raised $125M Series B co-led by Maverick Silicon and Light Street Capital, with participation from NVIDIA, Bosch Ventures, AMD-related ecosystem investors, the European Innovation Council Fund, Amadeus Capital Partners, and others.

HiddenLayer: Austin-based AI security platform protecting agentic, generative, and predictive AI applications raised $100M Series B led by Delta-v Capital, with participation from Ten Eleven Ventures, Morgan Stanley, M12, Microsoft’s Venture Fund, and Booz Allen Ventures.

Superluminal Medicines: Boston-based biotechnology company combining AI/ML, protein dynamics, and structural biology for drug discovery raised $60M Series B led by BVF Partners, with participation from Deep Track Capital and Perceptive Advisors.

Conveo: Antwerp-based multimodal AI video interviewing platform raised $50M Series A from DST Global Partners, Balderton Capital, Visionaries, 6 Degrees Capital, and Y Combinator.

Aitan: Tel Aviv-based Robotic Sovereignty-as-a-Service platform raised $41M co-led by Deep33 and Dell Technologies Capital, with participation from Gokul Rajaram, Benjamin Ling, and Kevin Weil.

Guardio: Tel Aviv-based consumer cybersecurity platform raised $40M at a $1.1B valuation from Wiz co-founder Assaf Rappaport, ION Crossover Partners, Union Tech Ventures, Vintage Investment Partners, Cerca Partners, and Emerge Ventures.

Wafer: San Francisco-based AI inference chip and hardware infrastructure startup raised $40M Series A led by Marathon and Chemistry, with participation from Wing Venture Capital, AMD Ventures, Outset Capital, Fifty Years, and Y Combinator.

PatientIQ: Chicago-based patient outcomes intelligence platform raised $30M Series C led by Hughes & Company, with participation from Health Enterprise Partners and August Capital.

Resect AI: Portland-based AI accountability layer platform raised $25M. Investors were not disclosed.

empirik.ai: San Francisco-based AI agent platform for infrastructure change raised $21M from Sequoia Capital, S32, Canapi Ventures, and Alumni Ventures.

Tensive: Milan-based clinical-stage biomaterials medical device company received €20M in financing from the European Investment Bank to support R&D, clinical studies, CE marking, and commercialization readiness for REGENERA.

Rightcharge: London-based EV fleet charging payments platform raised £500K led by Soulmates Ventures, with participation from BlackWood Ventures and Purple Ventures.

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Accel may lead a $1B round into Thinking Machines at a $40B valuation

Accel is reportedly in talks to lead a $1B funding round for Thinking Machines, the AI lab founded by former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati.

The proposed round would value the company at at least $40B, below the $50B valuation it reportedly sought last year. Thinking Machines is said to be generating more than $100M in annualized revenue, which would still put the company at an unusually high revenue multiple.

The startup previously raised $2B at a $12B valuation in one of the largest seed rounds ever, led by Andreessen Horowitz with participation from Nvidia, GV, Lightspeed, and Conviction Partners.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

Meta offers 95% AI discounts in exchange for training data

• Meta is offering users of its new Muse Spark model roughly 95% lower pricing if they allow their prompts and model outputs to be used to improve future models.

• Input pricing falls from $1.25 to $0.10 per million tokens, while output pricing drops from $4.25 to $0.20 under the contributor tier.

• The approach could help Meta collect valuable real-world agent usage data, especially as AI labs compete to improve coding and professional agents.

OpenAI launches Astra, its powerful (and controversial) new model

• OpenAI released Astra, saying it sets a new frontier in computer and browser use, while outperforming existing models on software engineering, terminal tasks, bug finding, and codebase reasoning.

• The model can identify and develop zero-day exploits, making it powerful for cybersecurity, but also increasing the need for strong safeguards and restricted access.

• Astra also uses a controversial reasoning technique called opaque recurrence, which can make parts of the model’s decision process harder to monitor.

Nvidia finally confirmed it is buying Hugging Face for $12.9B

• Nvidia confirmed it is acquiring Hugging Face for $12.93B. The platform hosts more than 3 million models, 500,000 datasets, and is used by over 18 million developers.

• Hugging Face will remain open to different models, clouds and hardware, with Nvidia saying developers will not be required to use its compute.

• The deal gives Nvidia a much stronger position beyond chips, connecting its hardware business with one of the largest distribution platforms for open AI models.

Dark-web site claimed to sell 153M driver’s licenses

• A dark-web service called Nexus claimed to hold scans of more than 153 million U.S. and Canadian driver’s licenses before going offline after being exposed.

• The records reportedly included infrared and ultraviolet scans used to verify physical IDs, potentially giving criminals unusually detailed material for identity fraud.

• The FBI is investigating a possible breach involving IDScan.net, which processes around 21 million identity checks per month for major businesses.

ByteDance secures nearly $30B loan

• ByteDance reportedly secured a $29.6B loan after originally seeking $20B, with strong bank demand allowing the company to increase the size of the facility.

• The financing gives the Chinese tech giant substantial new capital as it continues investing across AI, cloud infrastructure, and its broader product ecosystem.

• Reuters said it could not independently verify the report, which was first published by Bloomberg.

LAST COFFEE SIP

🌎 Around The Ecosystem

Google: A U.S. federal judge rejected the Justice Department’s attempt to force Google to sell its AdX advertising exchange, allowing the company to keep the business while accepting behavioral remedies instead.

Anthropic + Pentagon: The U.S. Defense Department still considers Anthropic a supply-chain risk for the defense industrial base, even after a federal judge ruled the Pentagon’s blacklisting was illegal and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the administration now trusts the company.

Apple: Is facing a £2B ($2.7B) UK lawsuit from app developers who claim its App Tracking Transparency rules unfairly restrict third parties while giving Apple’s own advertising business an advantage.

MUST READ

📚 Worth Your Time

Is AI-native hurting your valuation? A practical breakdown of why the AI-native label no longer guarantees a premium valuation. The piece shows how investors now separate thin AI wrappers from companies with real technical differentiation, proprietary data, workflow lock-in, and stronger unit economics.

What investors do after opening your deck: Papermark analyzed 24,541 pitch decks and found that most investors decide fast: 50% of views last less than 77 seconds. The report also shows which decks keep investors reading, including why traction-first decks and 12-slide decks perform better.

HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES

💼 Today’s VC & Startup Job Opportunities

• Associate, Healthcare | B Capital Group | USA | Apply Here

• Portfolio Reporting Team Lead | Cerity Partners | USA | Apply Here

• Associate | Mount Judi Ventures | USA | Apply Here

• Technical Investment Operations Associate | Alpaca VC | USA | Apply Here

• VC Research Lead | Murph Capital | Remote | Apply Here

• Trade Operations Analyst | RA Capital | USA | Apply Here

• Portfolio Management Associate | Cerity Partners | USA | Apply Here

• Corporate Controller | a16z | USA | Apply Here

• Investment Associate | Cerity Partners | USA | Apply Here

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AI is getting more expensive to build, harder to monitor, and more deeply embedded into the global economy.

a16z just added another $1.75B to its growth fund. ByteDance reportedly secured nearly $30B in new financing. Data center spending could approach $7T by 2030. At the same time, OpenAI’s newest reasoning approach is raising fresh questions about whether increasingly capable models will also become harder to understand.

The 5 things worth knowing today:

• OpenAI’s new reasoning method is raising fresh AI safety concerns

• a16z added another $1.75B to its growth fund

• ByteDance reportedly secured nearly $30B in new financing

• The AI data center boom is creating winners far beyond Nvidia

• Google launched an AI-powered rival to Canva

FROM OUR PARTNER - PAPERMARK

🔎 Papermark analyzed 24,541 pitch decks. Here’s what gets investors to keep reading.

You might spend weeks perfecting your pitch deck. An investor may give it just 4 minutes.

Papermark analyzed 24,541 startup decks to understand what actually happens after founders hit send. One finding stood out: 50% of investor views last less than 77 seconds.

The data also shows that decks opening with traction get 20% more views, only 44% of investors reach the final slide, and 12-slide decks see the highest share of return visits.

If you’re fundraising, this is useful data to have before sending your next deck.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

At least $2.12B + €51.25M disclosed across today’s startup rounds

The three biggest rounds:

• Wonderful: $550M Series C

• FNZ: $450M

• Medici Brands: $250M Series B

Together, those three companies accounted for nearly 60% of today’s disclosed dollar funding.

PRE-SEED

Remedium: Riyadh-based carbon management and sustainability technology platform raised $1.5M led by Kaltaire Investments.

Oppex AI: Bengaluru-based production operations and AI-native software reliability startup raised approximately $500K led by Info Edge Ventures.

SEED

Physical Superintelligence (PSI): Cambridge-based AI-native physics platform raised $58M led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, with participation from Dragon Global, Robot Ventures, Solari, Susa, SV Angel, Valkyrie, and others.

SciFin: San Jose-based AI platform for enterprise revenue teams raised $44M co-led by Altimeter and Madrona, with participation from Foundation Capital, S32, Zetta Ventures, and others.

Aslan Protects: Washington, D.C.-based defense technology and cyber intelligence startup raised $20.8M co-led by Khosla Ventures and XYZ Venture Capital, with participation from BoxGroup, 2048 Ventures, Liquid 2 Ventures, Alumni Ventures, and others.

Critical Materials Group: Austin-based modular energetics production platform raised $10.3M led by Overmatch Ventures, with participation from Victory Six Advisors and Fulcrum Ventures.

Newlight: San Francisco-based clean technology and maritime aerospace startup raised $9M from lomarlabs, BIRD Energy, Undeterred Capital, CiRi Ventures, and Fusion VC.

MemeBitcoin: Singapore-based Bitcoin-native meme project platform raised $8M from Gemhead Capital, Archer Capital, M2M Capital, and Mayer Venture.

Ki 13: London-based clean-tech and green hydrogen infrastructure startup raised $5M led by HICO Investment Group, with participation from Burgest, Triple Impact Ventures, GiTV, and Desai Ventures.

3C Coding School: Cairo-based coding and technology education platform for children and youth raised $3M led by MRG Economic Group, with participation from Amr Saad and strategic angel investors.

GROWTH

Wonderful: Amsterdam-based enterprise AI operating system raised $550M Series C at a $5B valuation. The round was led by Insight Partners, with participation from Salesforce, Index Ventures, IVP, Vine Ventures, 9Yards, and Bessemer Venture Partners.

FNZ: London-based wealth-management technology platform raised $450M in equity funding from La Caisse, CPP Investments, Generation Investment Management, and Motive Partners.

Medici Brands: New York-based food-tech company raised $250M Series B co-led by Greenoaks and Valor Equity Partners, with participation from Peter Rahal, ICONIQ, and Imaginary Ventures.

TabaPay: Mountain View-based money movement platform raised $155M led by FTV Capital.

Thyme Care: Nashville-based oncology care company raised more than $125M Series E led by Morgan Health, with participation from Humana, CVS Health Ventures, AlleyCorp, HealthQuest Capital, Foresite Capital, a16z Bio + Health, and others.

Physical Superintelligence (PSI): Cambridge-based AI-native physics platform raised $58M in seed funding led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, with participation from Dragon Global, Robot Ventures, Susa Ventures, SV Angel, and others.

Typewriter Therapeutics: Cambridge-based gene writing platform for genetic medicines raised $56M Series A led by AN Venture Partners and RA Capital Management, with participation from ANRI, Gemseki, and SBI US Gateway Fund.

Elucid: Boston-based AI-powered cardiovascular diagnostics company raised $55M Series D from IAG Capital Partners, Elevage Medical Technologies, and an undisclosed strategic investor.

Capacity: St. Louis-based agentic support automation platform raised more than $54M Series E led by Kathy Ireland.

HubX: İzmir-based consumer mobile application and AI company raised $50M at a $1.2B pre-money valuation led by Point72 Private Investments.

AIR: New York-based inline firewall platform for AI agents raised $50M led by Sequoia Capital and Greenoaks, with participation from Swish Ventures, Netz, and industry angels.

HyImpulse: Neuenstadt-based launch technology company developing suborbital and orbital capabilities raised more than €50M in a Series A extension co-led by JOIN Capital and Ace Capital Partners, with participation from North Ventures, BW-Capital, Bayern Kapital, DLR, and Campus Founders Ventures.

Locus Robotics: Wilmington-based warehouse automation and autonomous mobile robot developer raised $41.6M Series G from Tiger Global Management, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, G2 Venture Partners, and Scale Venture Partners.

Cari: Washington, D.C.-based bank-governed digital money network raised $32.5M from First Horizon Bank, Huntington Bank, KeyBank, M&T Bank, Old National Bank, SouthState Bank, and Glacier Bank.

N-Power Medicine: Redwood City-based oncology drug development and cancer care platform raised $32M Series B from Labcorp Venture Fund, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, Innovatus Capital Partners, and others.

NovaGo Therapeutics: Schlieren-based biotechnology company developing treatments for central nervous system diseases raised CHF 24M, approximately $30M, in Series B financing led by Neurimmune and Pureos.

Enhance: Dubai-based SaaS platform for multi-site gym operators raised $18.2M in equity and venture debt from Global Ventures and Stride Ventures.

Konko AI: New York and San José-based AI platform managing patient journeys for healthcare providers across Latin America raised $6M led by Hi Ventures, with participation from LifeX Ventures, SquareOne Capital, GroundUp Ventures, Phoenix Fund, and angel investors.

Instarc: Tallinn-based cloud-native regulatory compliance platform received a €1.25M strategic investment led by HFO Investments.

Archive: Los Angeles-based AI-native creator marketing platform raised an undisclosed amount led by Anti Fund and Florida Funders, with participation from Battery Ventures, Stripe, Tiger Global, Lux Capital, Human Capital, and more than 50 founders and executives.

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

$1.75B added to a16z Growth, with a new $40M AI fund in the works

Andreessen Horowitz raised another $1.75B for its fifth growth fund, expanding the vehicle from $6.75B to $8.5B.

The fund was originally launched in January as part of a broader fundraising effort totaling roughly $15B across multiple vehicles. The latest expansion comes shortly after a16z launched its $1.1B Machine Age Fund focused on AI infrastructure.

Prompt Capital is raising $40M for its debut fund.

The San Francisco-based firm plans to back AI-enabled enterprise software companies at the pre-seed stage.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

OpenAI’s new reasoning method raises AI safety concerns

• OpenAI’s upcoming Astra model reportedly uses a technique called recurrent depth, or opaque recurrence, that lets the model reason in a less linear way than traditional chain-of-thought systems.

• Safety researchers are concerned the approach could make model reasoning harder to inspect, reducing the usefulness of chain-of-thought monitoring for spotting misbehavior or misalignment.

• OpenAI says Astra’s use of the technique is limited and that preserving monitorable reasoning remains a core research goal, while Anthropic and Google DeepMind are also reportedly exploring similar ideas.

Google launches an AI-powered Canva rival

• Google introduced Google Pics, an AI-powered image creation and editing tool for Workspace customers and Google AI Pro or Ultra subscribers.

• Built on Google’s Nano Banana model, it can generate posters, social posts and illustrations, edit objects, translate text inside images and create multiple visual variations from prompts.

• Google is integrating the product directly into Workspace, starting with Docs and Slides, giving it a built-in distribution advantage against Canva and Adobe Express.

U.S. government backs OpenAI in copyright fight

• The Trump administration filed a 20-page brief supporting OpenAI’s argument that using copyrighted material to train large language models can qualify as fair use.

• The government argued that restricting AI training too aggressively could weaken U.S. competitiveness and slow scientific and economic progress.

• The filing is not a court ruling, but it adds political weight to a legal debate that could determine whether AI labs need broad licensing deals for training data.

X replaces Stripe with X Money for U.S. creator payouts

• X is moving all U.S. creator payouts from Stripe to X Money, making its own payments service mandatory for creators earning through subscriptions and the Original Content Rewards Program.

• Creators outside the U.S. will continue using Stripe, while X is also retiring its older Creator Revenue Sharing Program on September 7.

• X Money now sits deeper inside the platform’s creator economy, offering payments, banking-style features and higher yields for Premium users.

AI data center boom is creating winners beyond Nvidia

• McKinsey expects nearly $7T in global data center investment by 2030, with demand increasingly constrained by transformers, power equipment and grid connections rather than just GPUs.

• Suppliers like HD Hyundai Electric, Jinpan and Delta Electronics are seeing surging orders as AI data centers require far more power and cooling infrastructure.

• Liquid cooling could reach 70% of new AI data center installations by 2030, while newer technologies like solid-state transformers are also gaining attention.

ByteDance secures nearly $30B loan

• ByteDance reportedly secured a $29.6B loan after originally seeking $20B, with strong bank demand allowing the company to increase the size of the facility.

• The financing gives the Chinese tech giant substantial new capital as it continues investing across AI, cloud infrastructure, and its broader product ecosystem.

• Reuters said it could not independently verify the report, which was first published by Bloomberg.

Waymo challenges Tesla’s camera-only self-driving approach

• Waymo says camera-only systems are not safe enough for fully autonomous driving, arguing that robotaxis need a combination of cameras, lidar and radar.

• The company says more than 200 million real-world autonomous miles show that relying on a single sensor type can create black-box failures and perception errors.

• The comments come just before Tesla’s Cybercab event, where the company is expected to push its camera-only approach for a vehicle with no steering wheel or pedals.

LAST COFFEE SIP

🌎 Around The Ecosystem

Uber: Is laying off about 3,300 employees, roughly 10% of its workforce, while cutting management layers, consolidating teams into fewer hubs, and sharply reducing fully remote roles.

Meta: Launched Muse Voice Transcribe, a real-time AI audio model that can transcribe conversations with 20+ speakers, identify individual speakers, and handle multilingual code-switching across 25 supported languages at launch.

Apple: The iPhone 18 Pro is rumored to get a variable-aperture main camera, potentially giving users more control over depth of field, low-light shots and video exposure, with larger sensors and wider apertures also reportedly under consideration.

MUST READ

📚 Worth Your Time

What investors do after opening your deck: Papermark analyzed 24,541 pitch decks and found that most investors decide fast: 50% of views last less than 77 seconds. The report also shows which decks keep investors reading, including why traction-first decks and 12-slide decks perform better.

The YC seed deck structure: Most founders build decks from random templates. This piece breaks down the repeatable structure used by YC startups that raised $450M+. It also covers the simple design rules that make a deck clear, readable, and easy for investors to understand quickly.

HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES

💼 Today’s VC & Startup Job Opportunities

• Associate, Healthcare | B Capital Group | USA | Apply Here

• Portfolio Reporting Team Lead | Cerity Partners | USA | Apply Here

• Associate | Mount Judi Ventures | USA | Apply Here

• Technical Investment Operations Associate | Alpaca VC | USA | Apply Here

• VC Research Lead | Murph Capital | Remote | Apply Here

• Trade Operations Analyst | RA Capital | USA | Apply Here

• Portfolio Management Associate | Cerity Partners | USA | Apply Here

• Corporate Controller | a16z | USA | Apply Here

• Investment Associate | Cerity Partners | USA | Apply Here

PARTNERSHIP WITH US

🤝 Get your brand in front of 125,000+ decision makers.

Our newsletter is read by 125,000+ of founders, CEOs, investors (VCs / Angel Investors) and senior operators. Get in touch today.

Do you have any news to share about your Startup or VC fund? Please email us.

We’ll be back in your inbox on Tomorrow.

Share

Frontier AI is getting more capable, and much harder to govern.

OpenAI says Astra can independently find and exploit zero-day vulnerabilities. Anthropic is loosening restrictions on its newest models while tightening enterprise safeguards. Apple is escalating its legal fight with OpenAI. And governments are now debating how much regulation is too much.

The 5 things worth knowing today:

• OpenAI says Astra can independently find and exploit zero-day vulnerabilities

• Anthropic launched cheaper and less restrictive Fable 5.1

• Apple is escalating its trade secrets fight with OpenAI

• The U.S. is pushing G20 countries toward lighter AI regulation

• Thrive Capital’s proposed $4.2B FIFA deal collapsed amid legal scrutiny

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

At least $937.45M + €27M + CAD 2.65M disclosed across today’s startup rounds

The three biggest rounds:

• Tripo AI: $445M Series B

• Scan : $220M

• Odyssey Energy Solutions: $74M

Together, those three companies accounted for nearly 79% of today’s disclosed dollar funding.

PRE-SEED

Visko: Sunnyvale-based AI research company developing real-time interactive world models raised $10M led by Llama Ventures.

DataAgent: Tel Aviv-based developer of a remediation-first Digital Immune System for modern applications raised $10M led by MizMaa Ventures and Alicorn Venture Partners.

Scopia Surgical: Montreal-based TechMed company developing real-time AI-powered surgical navigation for minimally invasive and robotic surgery raised CAD 2.65M co-led by Linearis Ventures and Anges Québec, with participation from Fonds Impulsion, HaloHealth, Richard Rubin, Suresh Madan, and others.

SEED

Aranya: San Francisco-based AI-native multicluster operating system for GPU infrastructure raised $11M across seed and pre-seed financing. The latest $9M seed round was led by First Round Capital, with participation from BoxGroup, Vermilion Cliffs, and Asylum Ventures.

Inleap Photonics: Hanover-based deeptech photonics startup raised approximately €20M in seed funding led by UVC Partners, with participation from HTGF, Balnord, Sentris, and Scale Capital.

Kepler Aerospace: Bengaluru-based space infrastructure and autonomous mission operations startup raised $8M led by Blue Ashva Capital, with participation from Finvolve and India Accelerator.

Senticell: Philadelphia-based biotechnology company developing a new class of liquid biopsy using red blood cell-bound nucleic acids raised $7M from The Venture City, Capital Factory, Scalpel Ventures, Evoce Capital, and others.

Guickly: San Jose-based AI measurement platform for enterprises raised $4.2M led by Engineering Capital, with participation from Converge VC, Neon Fund, and angel investors.

TrustedRouter: Miami-based AI infrastructure and API orchestration startup raised $1.25M from Slow Ventures, Bill Tai, Linda Avey, and George Xing.

GROWTH

Tripo AI: Beijing-based 3D-native foundation model platform for generative 3D raised approximately $445M Series B led by MPCi, with participation from Perfect World, BlueFocus, SPC, Yanqu Games, ThunderSoft, 37 Interactive Entertainment, CDH Venture and Growth Capital, CICC, CMC Capital Partners, Primavera Capital, INCE Capital, and others.

Scan.com: Atlanta-based medical imaging network platform raised $220M in combined equity and debt financing. The package included $90M in equity led by Noteus Partners, with participation from Aviva, Concord Health Partners, YZR Capital, Oxford Capital, and others, plus $130M in debt from VerisFi Capital and Atempo Growth.

Odyssey Energy Solutions: Boulder-based financing and procurement platform for distributed renewable energy projects raised $74M, consisting of $27M in equity and $47M in debt. The round was backed by Broadscale Group, FMO, Al Mada Ventures, Union Square Ventures, Equal Ventures, Abstract Ventures, FJ Labs, MCJ, and others.

Light: Houston-based retail energy software and grid orchestration platform raised $46M Series A led by Matrix, with participation from Activate Capital, Spark Capital, Mischief, Gigascale Capital, MCJ, and BoxGroup.

Reframe Systems: Boston-based physical AI company industrializing home construction raised $40M led by Energy Impact Partners, with participation from Counterpart Ventures, E12 Ventures, Global Brain, Thin Line Capital, Up Partners, LACI Impact Fund, Eclipse, VoLo Earth, Cubit Capital, RA Capital Management, MassMutual Catalyst, and Nor’easter.

Gridsight: Sydney-based AI-powered capacity management platform for utilities raised $26M Series B led by Insight Partners, with participation from Galvanize, Airtree, Energy Transition Ventures, and Aera VC.

Clipto: San Francisco-based AI video search and content discovery startup raised $15M at a $250M valuation from HSG, GL Ventures, EnvisionX Capital, Palm Drive Capital, Hans Tung, Lu Zhang, and 522 Ventures.

Norbert Health: New York-based physical AI control system for robotic care platforms raised $14M Series A backed by William A. Marino with Cardinal Group, with participation from Exor Seeds, CareIT, Alexis Le-Quoc, Olivier Pomel, Saeju Jeong, and Thomas Clozel.

Blue Voice: Boston-based public safety software and legal technology startup raised $6M jointly led by SignalFire and Las Olas Venture Capital.

Xorlab: Zurich-based cybersecurity and enterprise email defense startup raised €5M Series A+ led by Spicehaus Partners, with participation from Grapha Holding, EquityPitcher Ventures, and ZKB Start-up Finance.

Holifya: Milan-based digital clinic using AI and advanced diagnostics for obesity treatment raised €2M, consisting of €1.6M in equity plus €0.4M in debt capital and grants. The round was led by Next Age, with participation from Doorway, 20Fund, Zooga VC, and several angel investors.

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Thrive Capital’s $4.2B FIFA deal collapses amid legal scrutiny

Thrive Capital is facing scrutiny over a proposed $4.2B investment in FIFA Forward Enterprise, a planned vehicle that would have commercialized parts of FIFA’s media and ticketing revenues at a reported $20B valuation.

The deal was ultimately scrapped after opposition from European and North American soccer associations. Thrive has since hired attorney Alex Spiro to represent the firm as the dispute moves into a legal phase.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

Anthropic launches cheaper, less restrictive Fable 5.1

• Anthropic released Fable 5.1 and Mythos 5.1, with Fable bringing lower token costs, fewer false-positive safety restrictions, and stronger benchmark performance.

• Fable 5.1 is available through Anthropic’s API and cloud platforms, while Mythos 5.1 remains limited to approved cybersecurity and life sciences partners.

• Anthropic is also expanding zero data retention and enterprise safeguards, allowing customers to run models with tighter control over sensitive data and monitoring.

OpenAI’s Astra can find and exploit zero-day vulnerabilities

• OpenAI says its upcoming Astra model is the first of its models to cross the company’s “critical cybersecurity threshold,” meaning it can discover unknown software vulnerabilities and exploit them without human guidance.

• Astra reportedly scored perfectly on ExploitBench and found two zero-day vulnerabilities in a modified internal test, prompting OpenAI to limit access to its most advanced cyber capabilities.

• OpenAI says it is adding stricter abuse detection, higher-risk account restrictions, jailbreak protections, and chain-of-thought monitoring before the model is released.

Apple accuses OpenAI of destroying evidence

• Apple says a forensic review of former engineer Chang Liu’s laptop uncovered evidence that confidential circuit designs were used after he joined OpenAI.

• The company also alleges Liu asked an OpenAI colleague to destroy evidence after learning about Apple’s internal investigation.

• Apple is now seeking access to additional hardware, including a Mac mini that allegedly synced the confidential file through iCloud.

U.S. pushes G20 toward lighter AI regulation

• The U.S. is urging G20 countries to avoid creating broad new AI regulatory bodies and instead focus rules only on genuinely new risks or situations.

• China signed on to the proposed “Carolina Principles,” while major tech leaders including Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Demis Hassabis, Sam Altman and Jensen Huang are participating in the broader discussions.

• The push broadly aligns with the interests of leading U.S. AI companies, which argue that heavy regulation could slow model releases, raise compliance costs and weaken competitiveness against China.

AI labs are buying tens of thousands of Macs to train agents

• AI companies including OpenAI are reportedly buying tens of thousands of Mac minis and Mac Studios to train and test computer-use agents through reinforcement learning.

• Apple’s unified memory architecture makes Macs useful for repeatedly running agents inside operating-system environments, while Anthropic is also accessing Mac mini capacity through AWS.

• Demand has become strong enough to stretch delivery times for high-memory Macs and push some buyers toward alternatives like Nvidia’s DGX Spark.

Anthropic resumes cyber testing after Claude escaped test environments

• Anthropic restarted external cybersecurity evaluations after pausing them following three incidents where Claude models reached real-world systems instead of staying inside simulated targets.

• In one case, Claude Opus 4.7 reportedly attacked a real company that shared a domain name with a fictional target, while another test leaked Python code onto the public internet.

• Anthropic traced the failures to a misconfigured sandbox from evaluation partner Irregular that did not properly block internet access.

LAST COFFEE SIP

🌎 Around The Ecosystem

Apple: John Ternus has officially taken over as CEO after 25 years at Apple, rising from the product design team to lead hardware engineering across the iPhone, Mac, AirPods, Apple Watch and Vision Pro before succeeding Tim Cook.

Amazon + FTC: The FTC and attorneys general from 21 states sued Amazon over alleged hidden increases in minimum ad prices, claiming the company illegally collected more than $20B from advertisers over seven years.

Dyson: Launched the $499 CameraJet toothbrush with a built-in 100,000-pixel camera that identifies gaps between teeth and automatically targets them with a mouthrinse jet, using a vision system trained on 470,000 dental images.

MUST READ

📚 Worth Your Time

The reference calls that decide your round: Most founders prepare for the pitch, but not the calls investors make after the meeting. This piece shows how VC reference checks really work, from former colleagues and ex-cofounders to passing investors, customers, and off-list backchannels.

The YC seed deck structure: Most founders build decks from random templates. This piece breaks down the repeatable structure used by YC startups that raised $450M+. It also covers the simple design rules that make a deck clear, readable, and easy for investors to understand quickly.

HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES

💼 Today’s VC & Startup Job Opportunities

• Associate, Healthcare | B Capital Group | USA | Apply Here

• Portfolio Reporting Team Lead | Cerity Partners | USA | Apply Here

• Associate | Mount Judi Ventures | USA | Apply Here

• Technical Investment Operations Associate | Alpaca VC | USA | Apply Here

• VC Research Lead | Murph Capital | Remote | Apply Here

• Trade Operations Analyst | RA Capital | USA | Apply Here

• Portfolio Management Associate | Cerity Partners | USA | Apply Here

• Corporate Controller | a16z | USA | Apply Here

• Investment Associate | Cerity Partners | USA | Apply Here

PARTNERSHIP WITH US

🤝 Get your brand in front of 125,000+ decision makers.

Our newsletter is read by 125,000+ of founders, CEOs, investors (VCs / Angel Investors) and senior operators. Get in touch today.

Do you have any news to share about your Startup or VC fund? Please email us.

We’ll be back in your inbox on Tomorrow.

Share

AI companies are starting to spend like infrastructure giants.

Andreessen Horowitz raised $1.1B to back the physical systems behind AI. Anthropic reportedly signed a $35B cloud deal. SpaceX is bringing turbine production in-house. And OpenAI’s ad business has already reached a $1B annual run rate.

The 5 things worth knowing today:

• Andreessen Horowitz raised $1.1B to bet on AI infrastructure

• ChatGPT’s advertising business has reached a $1B annual run rate

• Apple enters a new era under CEO John Ternus

• Anthropic reportedly signed a $35B cloud deal with Lambda

• The AI infrastructure race is now spreading into energy, hardware and defense

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

At least $693.5M + €19.8M + CHF 300K disclosed across today’s startup rounds

The three biggest rounds:

• Ajaib: $270M Series C

• Owner: $240M

• Adaptyv Biosystems: $40M Series A

Together, those three companies accounted for nearly 80% of today’s disclosed dollar funding.

PRE-SEED

Raff: Riyadh-based retail technology platform connecting consumer brands with retailers raised $1.7M led by Vision Ventures, with participation from 500 Global, Palm VC, Oqal Group, Salman Butt, and others.

S-Transistors: Espoo-based developer of superconducting transistors for scalable and energy-efficient classical and quantum computing raised €2.6M led by Lifeline Ventures, with participation from an angel investor.

Azonic: Auckland-based digital intelligence and law enforcement technology startup raised an undisclosed amount from Blackbird Ventures, Antler, Jamie Beaton, Eliot Crowther, and Jovan Pavlicevic.

Diffraqtion: Somerville-based quantum camera platform for defense and space sensing closed a pre-seed round, bringing its total funding to more than $10M. Backers included Lockheed Martin Ventures, Presidio Ventures, SBI US Gateway Fund with Plug and Play, Collaborative Fund, TekVentures, Ground State Ventures, Aether VC, milemark•capital, and ADIN.

SEED

Convergen: Suzhou-based biotechnology company developing targeted protein degradation therapies raised $15M in Seed+ funding led by MPCi, with participation from LAV, BioTrack Capital, and a biotech fund.

Atorie: Los Angeles-based AI-powered luxury fashion and consumer marketplace raised $9.5M in seed funding from a16z speedrun, Night Capital, and Jeremy Liew of Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Molten Salt Solutions: Santa Fe-based provider of enriched stable isotopes for fusion and advanced nuclear markets raised $7M led by Dolby Family Ventures, with participation from Vanedge Capital Partners, Alumni Ventures, Gaingels, True Ventures, and Future Ventures.

Aila: Riyadh-based AI-powered personalized learning platform for schools and education systems raised $3M in Pre-Series A funding led by Rua Growth Fund, with participation from Jo Academy, 500 Global, Bunat VC, and Fikr Ventures.

Be Clinical: New Delhi-based science-backed D2C skincare startup raised approximately $2.2M in a seed extension led by Sauce, with participation from V3 Ventures, Sangeet Agrawal, Navin Parwal, Arjun Purkayastha, and Shaunak Chirayu Amin.

Leanwatts: Hyderabad-based power electronics and EV charging infrastructure startup raised approximately $2M led by Trivest Partners, with participation from automotive and clean-tech angel investors.

GROWTH

Ajaib: Jakarta-based digital wealth management platform raised $270M in Series C funding from SBI Holdings, which acquired a 20% equity stake in the company.

Owner: San Francisco-based AI-powered technology and marketing platform for local businesses raised $240M led by Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, with participation from Meritech, Redpoint, Headline, and Jack Altman.

Adaptyv Biosystems: Lausanne-based automated wet lab and synthetic biology infrastructure platform raised $40M Series A led by Highland Europe, with participation from Ace Ventures, ByFounders, and Y Combinator.

EIT Pharma: Kirkland-based biotechnology company developing therapies for infectious diseases raised $35M Series A led by Propel Bio Partners, with participation from Good Ventures, Arrowtown, and others.

Lone Palm Labs: San Francisco-based company behind private photo-sharing platform Retro raised more than $21M Series A from Thrive Capital, Scribble Ventures, BoxGroup, Imaginary Ventures, Coalition, Conviction, Copper, Positive Sum, Uncommon Projects, and Figma CEO Dylan Field.

Easy Aerial: New York-based autonomous tethered aerial intelligence and defense systems company raised $20M Series B from Insight Partners, Entrée Capital, and private U.S. investors.

VitalFluid: Eindhoven-based agricultural clean-tech startup spun out from Eindhoven University of Technology raised €17.2M co-led by Invest-NL and Alder Tree Investments, with participation from Horticoop, BOM, Future Food Fund, Graduate Ventures, Innovation Industries, VDL Groep, and Goeie Grutten Impact Fonds.

VIJO Optoelectronics Technology: Suzhou-based Micro LED optical chip and micro-display manufacturer raised approximately $14.1M from Xinhe Capital, Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area Seed Investment Fund, Appotronics, Peng Qian, Fibonacci VC, Lanchi Ventures, and iFLYTEK Ventures.

Swvl: Dubai-based technology-driven mobility platform for enterprises and governments raised $13M led by Coefficient LP, with participation from an existing shareholder.

Healf: London-based personalized wellbeing platform raised an undisclosed amount led by SEMCAP Beauty & Wellness, with participation from Pentland Ventures, Ami Capital, IRIS, Active Partners, Sequel, Dara5, Claudia Schiffer, Natalia Vodianova Arnault, Reece James, and Trevoh Chalobah.

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

$1.1B closed, with another $200M fund in the works

Andreessen Horowitz raised $1.1B for its new Machine Age Fund.

The Menlo Park-based firm plans to invest across the physical infrastructure powering AI, including chips, memory, networking, storage, data centers, robotics, and home AI appliances.

Javelin Venture Partners is raising up to $200M for its sixth fund.

The San Francisco-based early-stage venture firm, which manages more than $600M, backs technology startups built around scalable innovations and high-growth business models.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

ChatGPT ads business reach a $1B annual run rate

• OpenAI’s advertising business inside ChatGPT has reached roughly a $1B annual run rate less than 200 days after launch, based on current monthly revenue of about $83M.

• OpenAI is now expanding monetization by opening its self-serve Ads Manager across 31 European markets, allowing businesses to launch campaigns directly.

• Despite the rapid growth, OpenAI would still need a significant acceleration in ad revenue to reach its reported $2.5B advertising target for 2026.

Apple enters a new era under John Ternus

• Tim Cook has stepped down as Apple CEO, with longtime hardware chief John Ternus taking over after leading engineering across products including the iPhone, Mac, and AirPods.

• Ternus’ appointment signals a stronger focus on product execution and hardware as Apple prepares for an AI era where chips, devices, and on-device computing could become increasingly important.

• Cook will remain at Apple as executive chairman and continue handling key political and government relationships, including those involving the U.S. and China.

Pentagon gives 3M personnel access to ChatGPT and Grok

• The Pentagon has added ChatGPT Mil and Grok for Government to GenAI.mil, its secure AI portal for roughly 3 million civilian and military personnel.

• More than 1.7 million people have already used the platform, which also includes Google Gemini and is designed to keep sensitive government data out of ordinary consumer AI systems.

• ChatGPT will support tasks like documents, logistics, planning and policy work, while Grok is being positioned for broader operational and supply-chain use.

Apple escalates trade secrets fight with OpenAI

• Apple says new evidence shows former employee Chang Liu used confidential Apple circuit designs while working at OpenAI and allegedly helped destroy evidence after learning he was under investigation.

• Apple claims OpenAI knew Liu had access to sensitive company data and is seeking a preliminary injunction that could restrict OpenAI from developing hardware based on Apple technology while the case continues.

• More than 400 former Apple employees now work at OpenAI, raising the possibility that the dispute could expand beyond a single employee.

AI labs are buying tens of thousands of Macs to train agents

• AI companies including OpenAI are reportedly buying tens of thousands of Mac minis and Mac Studios to train and test computer-use agents through reinforcement learning.

• Apple’s unified memory architecture makes Macs useful for repeatedly running agents inside operating-system environments, while Anthropic is also accessing Mac mini capacity through AWS.

• Demand has become strong enough to stretch delivery times for high-memory Macs and push some buyers toward alternatives like Nvidia’s DGX Spark.

SpaceX moves turbine blade production in-house for AI data centers

• SpaceX plans to manufacture its own turbine blades and vanes, critical components used in gas turbine generators that power large data centers.

• Elon Musk says bringing production in-house could cut delivery times by around 18 months and help xAI avoid generator queues that reportedly stretch into 2030.

• Turbine blades have become a major bottleneck, with production cycles of 60 to 90 weeks as AI data centers increasingly turn to gas turbines when grid connections are too slow.

Sony and Warner sue Anthropic over copyrighted music

• Sony Music Publishing and Warner Music sued Anthropic, alleging it pirated song lyrics and sheet music from artists including The Beatles, Taylor Swift and Michael Jackson to train Claude.

• The publishers are seeking damages of up to $150,000 per infringed copyright and want a court order preventing Anthropic from using their works.

• Anthropic rejected the allegations as recycled claims and says AI training constitutes fair use.

Why it matters: The case adds to mounting legal pressure over how AI companies source training data. A major loss could push frontier labs toward broader licensing agreements with music publishers and other rights holders.

LAST COFFEE SIP

🌎 Around The Ecosystem

OpenAI + EU: The European Commission classified ChatGPT as a Very Large Online Search Engine under the Digital Services Act, putting it under stricter rules on audits, risk assessments, data sharing, and potential fines of up to 6% of global annual revenue.

Anthropic + Lambda: Anthropic reportedly signed a $35B cloud-computing deal with Nvidia-backed Lambda for a 350MW Texas data center, adding major new compute capacity to support growing demand for Claude.

Zhipu AI: First-half revenue jumped 400% to $142M while its net loss narrowed, as the Chinese AI company expanded lower-cost models, increased R&D spending, and shifted more of its stack toward domestically made chips.

MUST READ

📚 Worth Your Time

Build AI agents without coding: A practical guide for founders on turning Claude from a blank chatbot into a useful personal or business assistant. The piece shows how to use Projects, instructions, files, connectors, and reusable prompts to build agents for daily work, support, sales prep, and content.

The YC seed deck structure: Most founders build decks from random templates. This piece breaks down the repeatable structure used by YC startups that raised $450M+. It also covers the simple design rules that make a deck clear, readable, and easy for investors to understand quickly.

HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES

💼 Today’s VC & Startup Job Opportunities

• Senior Associate | Yamaha Motor Ventures | USA | Apply Here

• Portfolio Manager | GCO Ventures | Spain | Apply Here

• Financial Management Analyst | Duke Capital Partners | USA | Apply Here

• Investment Principal | Contrarian Thinking Capital | USA | Apply Here

• Incubation Associate, Compute | Primary | USA | Apply Here

• Investment Analyst | Mela Ventures | India | Apply Here

• Associate, Healthcare | B Capital Group | USA | Apply Here

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One pattern stood out today: AI is becoming a much bigger infrastructure and geopolitical story.

Nvidia is expanding beyond GPUs, South Korea wants to make AI access national infrastructure, the U.S. is tightening restrictions around robotics, and capital is flowing into everything from semiconductor automation to space and civil infrastructure.

The 5 things worth knowing today:

• The U.S. and China could be heading toward separate robotics ecosystems.

• Nvidia’s AI moat is expanding beyond GPUs.

• South Korea wants to give every citizen free access to AI.

• At least $354.3M flowed into startups across today’s disclosed rounds.

• Deep-tech investors are putting more capital behind commercialization, not just technical breakthroughs.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

At least $354.3M disclosed across today’s startup rounds. The three biggest rounds:

• AusperBio - $120M Series C

• Wrtn Technologies - $72.4M

• Yardstik - $30M

Together, those three companies accounted for more than 60% of today’s disclosed startup funding.

PRE-SEED

Flowt: Nairobi-based AI financial intelligence and climate fintech startup raised an undisclosed pre-seed round from Delta40 Fund I, Impacc, and Argidius Foundation.

Embedd: London-based developer tooling and semiconductor automation startup raised $2.3M led by Seedcamp, with participation from Cocoa, Connect Ventures, 2100 Ventures, Vesna Capital, U.ventures, Underline Ventures, Common Magic, and Roosh Ventures.

Advisar: Bentonville-based AI decisioning platform for retail suppliers raised $750K led by Clutch VC, with participation from Venture Center Arkansas Fund, The Validation Fund at Winrock International, Rekall Capital, White River Capital Advisors, Michael Paladino, and Jeff Amerine.

SEED

Rime: Riyadh-based AIoT and edge-computing startup raised more than $2M led by SEEDRA Ventures, with participation from Athlah Investment, Unity Invest Partners, and regional technology angel investors.

eComID: Stockholm-based AI-powered e-commerce personalization startup raised $17M led by Systemiq Capital, with participation from H&M Group, Stadium, CapitalT, Regeneration.VC, and Course Corrected.

Facet Amtech: Newcastle-based agtech startup raised approximately $2.1M led by Main Sequence and Uniseed.

GROWTH

AusperBio: San Francisco-based biopharmaceutical company developing targeted oligonucleotide therapies for chronic hepatitis B and other diseases raised $120M Series C led by a strategic investor, with participation from RA Capital Management, HanKang Capital, Sherpa Capital, InnoPinnacle Fund, Qiming Venture Partners, YuanBio Venture Capital, and CDH Investments.

Wrtn Technologies: Seoul-based consumer AI platform raised $72.4M at an $869M valuation from Coreline Ventures, Eugene Asset Management, Goodwater Capital, Antler Global, Woori Venture Partners, and Korea Development Bank.

Yardstik: Minneapolis-based human trust platform for employers raised $30M led by Harbert Growth Partners, with participation from Rally Ventures, MissionOG, Crosslink Capital, Grotech Ventures, and Great North Ventures.

CivilGrid: San Francisco-based civil infrastructure design platform raised $26M Series A led by Spark Capital, with participation from Energy Impact Partners, Afore Capital, A*, Ford Street Ventures, and SNR Ventures.

Metriport: San Francisco-based open-source healthcare data infrastructure platform raised $26M led by Matrix, with participation from ARTIS and Y Combinator.

Rezolv: Mumbai-based AI fintech automating debt collections raised $12.5M Series A led by Norwest Venture Partners, alongside Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India and 3one4 Capital.

InstaAstro: Noida-based faith-tech and spiritual wellness platform raised $12M Series A led by Singularity AMC and Artha Venture Fund, with participation from the company’s founders.

InspeCity: Thane-based space technology and orbital logistics startup raised approximately $12M Series A co-led by Speciale Invest and Ashish Kacholia, with participation from Antler Elevate, Antler India, Manish Gandhi, and Shastra VC.

Dolce Glow: Los Angeles-based sunless tanning and skincare brand raised $11M Series A led by CAVU Consumer Partners, with participation from Miley Cyrus, Sofia Richie Grainge, Olivia Culpo, Jaclyn Hill, Brianna LaPaglia, and Ash Holm.

TrucksUp: Gurugram-based logistics and freight-matching technology startup raised $8.2M in growth funding at an approximately $42.3M valuation. Investors were not disclosed.

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

$200M closed, with another €450M fund in the works

Permanent Capital Ventures announced its $200M PCV Fund II.

The Chicago-based early-stage venture firm backs technical founders building strong go-to-market engines and plans to deploy the new fund into companies where technical depth can translate into scalable commercial growth.

Navisalma officially launched and is seeking to raise €450M for its debut deep-tech fund.

The Stockholm-based firm was founded by Einride founders Robert Falck and Linnéa Kornehed Falck, alongside former McKinsey Partner and Material Economics co-founder Robert Westerdahl. Its strategy focuses on helping frontier technology companies scale by combining technology, capital, design, and hands-on business building.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

U.S. restrictions could split the global robotics market

• The U.S. is tightening restrictions on foreign-made drones and advanced robots, while adding steep tariffs on imported drone systems and components over national-security concerns.

• China still holds a major scale advantage. Chinese companies accounted for 86% of global humanoid robot shipments in the first half of 2026, supported by lower costs, deeper supply chains, and faster manufacturing.

• Rather than shutting China out of robotics globally, the restrictions could push Chinese manufacturers toward Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, creating more regional technology ecosystems.

Sony Music and Warner sue Anthropic over alleged copyright theft

• Sony Music Publishing, Warner Chappell and other publishers sued Anthropic, accusing it of illegally torrenting, scraping and downloading copyrighted works to train Claude.

• The lawsuit alleges Anthropic acquired millions of pirated works, including books containing lyrics and sheet music, and used thousands of copyrighted works in its AI training.

• Anthropic says it disputes the claims and will defend itself in court. The case follows its earlier $1.5B copyright settlement involving illegally acquired books.

Nvidia’s AI advantage is expanding beyond GPUs

• Nvidia is building a broader AI infrastructure stack around its GPUs, including CPUs, networking, storage and specialized accelerators designed to make massive data centers run more efficiently.

• Its Vera CPU reportedly delivered up to a 3x improvement in some data operations by reducing bottlenecks between storage, memory and GPUs.

• As hyperscalers develop competing chips, the next battle may be less about who builds the best GPU and more about who can efficiently orchestrate entire AI computing systems.

OpenAI cuts off Cursor after SpaceX acquisition

• OpenAI will end Cursor’s access to its models on November 12, roughly three months after SpaceX acquired Anysphere, Cursor’s parent company.

• OpenAI said the decision is about trust, citing concerns over whether SpaceX would comply with its terms of service given past disputes involving Musk-owned companies.

• The move could push Cursor to depend more heavily on Anthropic’s Claude and its own Composer model, potentially changing the competitive balance in AI coding tools.

South Korea plans free AI access for every citizen

• South Korea selected groups led by SK Telecom, KT and Kakao to build free, unlimited basic AI services for the entire population, with a full rollout targeted by the end of 2026.

• The government will provide the groups with a combined 512 Nvidia B200 chips in 2026 and subsidize part of the operating costs from 2027.

• The program will prioritize domestic AI, requiring most model usage to come from Korean foundation models and other local developers.

Meta agrees to $16.7B teen safety settlement

• Meta agreed to a proposed $16.7B settlement with 51 states over claims that Facebook and Instagram were designed to keep children engaged while downplaying potential harms.

• The agreement would add stronger defaults for minors, including a two-hour daily limit and a midnight-to-6am block that only parents can change.

• Meta would also remove like counts and cosmetic surgery filters for minors, offer an algorithm-free feed option, and submit to independent oversight.

LAST COFFEE SIP

🌎 Around The Ecosystem

OpenAI + Meta: Meta’s India and Southeast Asia VP Sandhya Devanathan is leaving after more than a decade to join OpenAI, where she will oversee consumer growth, enterprise adoption, partnerships, regulation, and operations across Southeast Asia and Australia.

Meta: Is testing robots from Watney Robotics, Kinova, and ABB to handle data center tasks like swapping cables, rebooting servers, moving racks, and inspecting equipment, though the systems still require human supervision and remain slower than workers.

X + OpenAI: X says it uncovered 200,000 fake China-linked accounts, including roughly 200 that used AI-generated content to influence U.S. debate around data centers and energy costs, echoing activity previously flagged by OpenAI.

MUST READ

📚 Worth Your Time

The YC seed deck structure: Most founders build decks from random templates. This piece breaks down the repeatable structure used by YC startups that raised $450M+. It also covers the simple design rules that make a deck clear, readable, and easy for investors to understand quickly.

Will your financial model survive investor review? A quick breakdown of how investors scan an early-stage financial model in the first ten minutes. The piece covers burn multiple, CAC payback, runway, and the hockey-stick assumptions that raise red flags.

HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES

💼 Today’s VC & Startup Job Opportunities

• Senior Associate | Bessemer Venture Partners | USA | Apply Here

• Associate / Principal, Follow-on Investing | Village Global | USA | Apply Here

• Senior Associate | Yamaha Motor Ventures | USA | Apply Here

• Financial Management Analyst | Duke Capital Partners | USA | Apply Here

• Investment Principal | Contrarian Thinking Capital | USA | Apply Here

• Incubation Associate, Compute | Primary | USA | Apply Here

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Breaking News

Anthropic has introduced the Model Hardware Standard (MHS), a framework that allows AI agents to operate physical equipment such as robotic arms, microscopes, and scientific instruments. The bigger vision is autonomous labs and factories where AI agents can run experiments and operate machines around the clock with minimal human involvement.

OpenAI will begin showing ads to ChatGPT Free and Go users in India, where it says the platform has more than 100 million weekly active users. With an ad manager launching next month and campaigns starting at ₹725 per day, OpenAI is opening a major new revenue stream as it looks to monetize ChatGPT’s massive free audience ahead of a potential IPO.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

PRE-SEED

Flowt, a Nairobi, Kenya-based provider of an AI-driven financial intelligence and climate fintech platform, raised an undisclosed amount in Pre-Seed funding. Backers included Delta40 Fund I, Impacc, and Argidius Foundation.

Motion, a Brussels, Belgium-based provider of a Humanoids-as-a-Service platform, raised $2M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Extantia Capital, with participation from Norrsken Evolve.

Mara, a San Francisco, CA-based defense technology startup developing automated counter-unmanned aerial system networks, raised $7M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from a16z Speedrun, Night Capital, Palmdrive Capital, Protagonist, Freedom Fund, and Indicator Fund.

SEED

Rime, a Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based AIoT and edge computing startup, raised over $2M in Seed funding. The round was led by SEEDRA Ventures, with participation from Athlah Investment, Unity Invest Partners, and regional technology angel investors.

TerraBlaster, a Redwood City, CA-based developer of agricultural hardware and soil-nutrition sensors, raised $12.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Ulu Ventures, with participation from Khosla Ventures, Trailhead Capital, Builders Vision, Bidra, Ag Startup Engine, Reservoir, Sunna, Plug and Play, GrainInnovate, and Hort Innovation Venture Fund.

ColibriTD, a Paris, France-based quantum computing software startup, raised €4M in Seed funding. The round was led by Earlybird Venture Capital, with participation from SymbiaVC and Medin VC.

Hermetiq, a San Francisco, CA-based software developer tool and continuous integration automation startup, raised $2.2M in Seed funding. Jet Investment made the investment.

Arga Labs, a San Francisco, CA-based AI training environment and software emulation startup, raised $10M in Seed funding. The round was led by General Catalyst, with participation from BoxGroup, Emergence Capital, Gradient Ventures, and SV Angel.

GROWTH

Rezolv, a Mumbai, India-based AI fintech and debt collections automation startup, raised $12.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by Norwest Venture Partners, with participation from Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India and existing investor 3one4 Capital.

Maglut Heavy Industries, a Long Beach, CA-based rare earths and critical minerals processing startup, raised $3.1M in funding. Backers included Wave Function, Nova Threshold, and Julian Capital.

Mundo AI, a Vancouver, Canada-based provider of a data infrastructure and analytics platform, raised $24M across Seed and Series A funding. The round was led by GreatPoint Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator, Next Frontier Ventures, and E12 Ventures.

GMNSM, a Dubai, UAE-based provider of a martial arts and holistic child development academy platform, raised $2M in funding. The round was led by VEYRA Capital, with participation from a private investor.

RQD*Clearing, a NYC-based provider of a proprietary clearing and custody platform for broker-dealers, RIAs, and foreign financial institutions, raised $74M in funding. The round was led by Bain Capital Tech Opportunities, with participation from ABN AMRO Clearing Bank and Nyca Partners.

Socure, an Incline Village, NV-based provider of trust infrastructure for global identity and risk intelligence, raised $156M in funding at a $5.2B valuation. The round was led by Summit Partners, with participation from Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Wells Fargo, Docusign, and others.

Levanta, a Seattle, WA-based provider of a creator affiliate platform for modern e-commerce, raised $22M in Series B funding. The round was led by Volition Capital.

Cyclic Materials, a Toronto, Canada-based provider of a technology platform for domestic rare earth recovery and production, raised $75M in financing. The round was led by T. Rowe Price Associates, with participation from ERI.

Quaise Energy, a Houston, TX-based developer of utility-scale superhot geothermal energy, raised $180M in Series B funding. Backers included Nabors Industries, Prelude Ventures, JERA Co., and Idemitsu Kosan.

Cloverleaf AI, a Denver, CO-based provider of a full-funnel B2G sales intelligence platform, raised $8M in Series A funding. The round was led by S3 Ventures, with participation from Jackson Square Ventures, Ivy Ventures, and Tawani Ventures.

Legato, a Boston, MA-based provider of AI hearing glasses, raised $12M in funding. Backers included Neotribe Ventures, Listen, and Village Global.

Digs, a Vancouver, WA-based AI and digital twin platform for the residential construction industry, raised $25.3M in Series A funding. The investment was made by Builders FirstSource.

Regent Craft, a North Kingstown, RI-based developer and manufacturer of Seaglider vessels, raised $240M in Series B funding. The round was co-led by Mare Liberum and AE Ventures, with participation from DCVC, Founders Fund, Caffeinated Capital, Lockheed Martin Ventures, Japan Airlines, and Giant Step Capital, alongside debt financing from Erebor Bank.

Ringg AI, a Bengaluru, India-based enterprise AI and conversational automation startup, raised $15M in Series A funding. The round was led by Peak XV Partners, with participation from Arkam Ventures and Capital 2B.

Deep Cogito, a San Francisco, CA-based post-training research lab focused on reinforcement learning and self-improvement, raised $43M in Series A funding. The round was led by TQ Ventures, with participation from Benchmark, Nexus Venture Partners, Atreides Management, South Park Commons, and Zscaler.

DAILY PICKS

🗞️ Must read post

Will your financial model pass investor review?: Most founders think their model needs to prove the business will work. In reality, investors use it to test whether the founder understands how the business actually works. This piece breaks down the ten-minute investor checklist behind early-stage financial models, including the ratios, assumptions, and hockey-stick patterns that can quietly kill momentum in a fundraise.

The ARR mistake AI founders keep making: Most founders annualize the latest month’s revenue and call it ARR. But for AI products with usage-based pricing, one customer spike can make growth look stronger than it really is. This piece shows founders how to report revenue more honestly by splitting committed revenue from variable usage, using rolling averages, and preparing the usage-retention data investors will ask for during diligence.

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Capital F, a U.S.-based early-stage venture firm founded by Margaret Coblentz and Dawn Dobras, raised $17 million for its debut fund. The firm invests in startups serving the female economy, with a focus on women’s health, digital commerce, and AI tools, writing checks of $250,000 to $1 million.

MassMutual Ventures (MMV), a Boston, MA-based multistage venture capital firm, launched Climate Technology Fund II (CTF II), a $150m venture capital fund. The vehicle will invest in early-stage companies using climate technology and artificial intelligence to improve real assets, including energy infrastructure, real estate, and natural resources.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and 100+ companies unite against rogue AI threats

• More than 100 companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft and major cybersecurity firms, signed an open letter warning that AI-powered cyberattacks could soon become far more widespread and sophisticated.

• The group is calling for governments and businesses to collaborate on new security standards and defenses, following incidents where AI agents reportedly escaped controlled environments and attacked external systems.

• AI labs are also positioning frontier models as part of the defense: OpenAI, Anthropic and Microsoft are developing AI-powered cybersecurity systems, creating a race where increasingly capable AI is both the emerging threat and a potential solution.

Apple’s first foldable iPhone could ship 10 million units in year one

• IDC expects Apple’s first foldable iPhone, reportedly launching in September at around $2,500, to ship more than 10 million units in its first year despite targeting a very premium customer segment.

• The device could revive the broader foldable smartphone market, with IDC forecasting foldable shipments to grow 12.6% this year and 18% next year. Apple could capture about 40% of global foldable shipments in 2027.

• The launch comes as the overall smartphone market faces a sharp slowdown, with IDC projecting a record 16.7% decline this year as memory and AI-related component shortages push device prices higher.

Hugging Face launches $399 open-source Microduck robot

• Hugging Face and Pollen Robotics unveiled Microduck, a 25-centimeter-tall open-source robot that can walk, carry objects, recover from falls and even roller skate, with shipments expected before Christmas.

• Developers can teach Microduck new behaviors using reinforcement learning, train them in simulation, and deploy them directly to the robot. Its SDK, simulation tools and full RL training stack are available as open source.

• The launch expands Hugging Face’s push beyond AI models into affordable physical AI hardware, following its Reachy Mini robots and acquisition of Pollen Robotics, as Nvidia reportedly moves to acquire Hugging Face for around $13 billion.

Anthropic explores custom chips after $7B MatX acquisition talks

• Anthropic reportedly discussed buying AI chip startup MatX for about $7 billion before shifting the talks toward a potential partnership. MatX, founded by former Google TPU engineers, is now seeking funding at roughly a $4 billion valuation.

• The move reflects Anthropic’s push to build its own silicon and reduce dependence on Nvidia as Claude usage grows. The company is expanding an in-house chip team while still relying on hardware from Nvidia, Google and Amazon.

• Anthropic has also been meeting other AI chip startups and hiring experienced chip engineers. A custom training or inference chip could lower long-term compute costs, improve performance, and give Anthropic more control as AI labs race to secure scarce computing capacity.

Nvidia’s sales forecast eases AI bubble fears

• Nvidia told investors its revenue could jump 70% next fiscal year, a forecast that would push fiscal 2028 sales to roughly $700 billion, well above the $570 billion analysts had expected and sending its stock up over 4% after hours.

• CEO Jensen Huang said demand for the company’s AI chips is actually growing 100% a year, but supply limits across its stretched supply chain mean Nvidia can only confidently promise 70% growth for now.

• The forecast followed a strong second quarter, with revenue of $96.2 billion, up 106% from a year ago, while CFO Colette Kress defended Nvidia’s investments in AI labs against critics who call the deals “circular financing.”

US seizes Chinese hacking tool

• The Justice Department seized “QScan” and “QTRouter,” two Chinese hacking tools used since 2018 to break into federal agencies including the Federal Reserve, Department of Energy, NASA, the DOJ itself, and the U.S. Senate.

• The tools, run by China-based Nanjing Xinjiuwei Network Technology, let hackers scan and infect internet-connected devices like home routers and security cameras, then hide their attacks by routing them through those machines to appear as if they came from other countries.

• A state-backed group called “QTFY” wielded the tools to hit devices in over 130 countries and target hospitals, power companies, banks, and defense contractors; the takedown broke both platforms by seizing domains hard-coded for their core functions.

Stripe and Advent reportedly drop $53B pursuit of PayPal

• Stripe and private equity firm Advent have reportedly abandoned their effort to acquire PayPal after making a $60.50-per-share offer that valued the company at more than $53 billion.

• PayPal’s board viewed the bid as too low and also had concerns around financing and regulatory hurdles. The proposed price was far below PayPal’s roughly $360 billion peak valuation in 2021.

• The failed pursuit comes as PayPal tries to revive growth under CEO Enrique Lores, who has reorganized the company around checkout, Venmo, and payments and crypto while facing stronger competition from Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Meta pays $16.7B in teen addiction case

• Meta agreed to a proposed $17 billion settlement with 51 states, ending claims that it built Facebook and Instagram to hook children while hiding the risks those apps posed to young users.

• Beyond the payout, spread over 10 years, Meta must set a default two-hour daily limit and a midnight-to-6am block for users under 18, both changeable only by a parent.

• The deal also bans “like” counts and cosmetic surgery filters for minors, offers an algorithm-free feed option, and requires an independent auditor with wide access to the company’s information.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕ Other News

New Twitter launches on name X abandoned

• Operation Bluebird, a Virginia startup, has launched a new social media network called Twitter.now, reviving the Twitter name and bird logo that it argues Elon Musk abandoned when he rebranded the site as X in 2022.

• X Corporation sued the startup in late 2025 and sought to block the launch, but in an April 2026 hearing US District Judge Colm Connolly said from the bench that X seemed to have given up its claims to “tweet,” the bird logo, and possibly “Twitter.”

• Cofounder Stephen Coates, who serves as the new Twitter’s general counsel and held the same job before Musk’s takeover, said the company waited months to launch and decided it would not wait any longer.

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Breaking News

Nvidia has reportedly agreed to acquire Hugging Face for $12.9 billion, giving the AI chip giant control of one of the world’s most important platforms for open-source models and datasets. The deal would push Nvidia far beyond GPUs into the software and model-distribution layer, just as OpenAI, Anthropic, and other major customers develop chips that could reduce their dependence on Nvidia.

Amazon plans to add another 2 million Nvidia GPUs to AWS data centers in 2027 and 2028 after demand exceeded expectations from its previous 1 million-GPU commitment. The massive order shows that even as Amazon builds its own Trainium chips, customers’ appetite for Nvidia hardware remains strong, reinforcing Nvidia’s dominance at the center of the AI infrastructure boom.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

PRE-SEED

Teragen Energy, a Southborough, MA-based developer of solid oxide fuel cell power systems, raised $6M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was co-led by BEVC and Energy Capital Ventures, with participation from AP Ventures, AIC Ventures, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), and UntroD Capital Asia.

Repodo, a Copenhagen, Denmark-based provider of an AI-native statutory audit platform, raised €8.2M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Hedosophia and Seed Capital.

SEED

Entity, a Dublin, Ireland-based gaming tech startup, raised $5.8M in Seed funding. Backers included ACT Venture Capital, Delta Partners, Elkstone Partners, Enterprise Ireland, and games industry angel investors.

Primero, a Mexico City, Mexico-based enterprise software and AI transformation company, raised $12M in Seed funding. The round was co-led by Kaszek and General Catalyst, with participation from Definition, Conviction, 8VC, and others.

Transfyr Bio, a Cambridge, MA-based physical AI infrastructure platform for laboratory science, raised $25M in Seed funding. The round was led by General Catalyst, with participation from Lux Capital, Breakout Ventures, Factory, Neo, SV Angel, MVP Ventures, Underscore VC, Lyda Hill, and angel investors.

Agentrys, a San Jose, CA-based developer of an Agentic Design Automation platform for chipmakers, raised $24.5M in total funding, including a $19.1M Seed round led by Etna Labs and a $5.4M Pre-Seed round led by MediaTek.

Volve, an Oslo, Norway-based provider of an AI platform for construction tendering and preconstruction, raised $3M in Seed funding. The round was led by Skyfall Ventures, with participation from J12, Norrsken Evolve, OBOS Ventures, Antler, StartupLab, and angel investors.

Neno Technology, an Amsterdam, Netherlands-based AI-native financial services and bookkeeping startup, raised €6.6M in Seed funding. The round was led by AlleyCorp, with participation from Motive Partners, Firstminute Capital, and financial technology angel investors.

OmicsBank, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a clinical data infrastructure platform connecting fragmented hospital data for drug development and healthcare AI, raised $2.25M in Seed funding. The investment came from Redesign Health.

GROWTH

Neocrete, an Auckland, New Zealand-based clean tech and sustainable materials startup, raised $3.5M in funding. The round was led by Wavemaker Ventures, with participation from Icehouse Ventures, Temasek Trust’s C3H, Doug Parker, and Steve Melhuish.

Faro AI, a San Diego, CA-based developer of structured data and AI infrastructure for modern clinical development, raised $37.3M in Series B financing. The round was co-led by Merck Global Health Innovation Fund and S32, with participation from General Catalyst, Northpond Ventures, Polaris Partners, PTX Capital, Zetta, and Ankona Capital.

Voya Energy, a Hayward, CA-based clean tech and sustainable energy infrastructure startup, raised $35M in Series A funding. The round was led by Energy Impact Partners, with participation from John Doerr, Mantis VC, StepStone Group, Founders Fund, Overmatch Ventures, and Seven Stars.

Onos Health, a San Francisco, CA-based behavioral health clinical intelligence platform for health plans, raised $17M in Series A funding. The round was led by Costanoa Ventures, with participation from Flare Capital Partners and CVS Health Ventures.

Certain Energy, a London, UK-based provider of long-duration energy storage systems based on manganese flow battery technology, raised £10M in Series A financing. The round was led by British Business Bank, with participation from Centrica, Ceres Power Holdings, and Temasek Trust’s C3H.

Arintra, an Austin, TX-based provider of an enterprise AI platform for healthcare revenue assurance, raised $25M in Series B financing. The round was led by Define Ventures, with participation from Peak XV Partners, Yale New Haven Health, Endeavor Health Ventures, Y Combinator, Counterpart Ventures, Ten13, and Spider Capital.

Gestala, a Shanghai, China-based provider of an ultrasound-based brain-computer interface platform, raised approximately $84M across Angel and Angel+ rounds. Backers included HSG, Lens Technology, Sinovation Ventures, C Capital, Dalton Venture, Seas Capital, Tsing Song Capital, and Gobi Partners.

Unrivaled, a Miami, FL-based professional women’s basketball league, raised over $100M in Series C financing. The round was led by Ten Pillars Sports Fund, with participation from Carmelo Anthony, Geno Auriemma, Bessemer Venture Partners, Jenny Just, Ashton Kutcher, Alex Morgan, Trybe Ventures, Dan Rosensweig, Trae Young, and others.

SiFly Aviation, a Santa Clara, CA-based provider of long-endurance electric aircraft and multi-drone infrastructure systems, raised $20M in Series A financing. The round was led by Shield Capital, with participation from Qudit, BBK Capital, Alumni Ventures, and others.

Runable, a Bengaluru, India-based provider of an AI agent platform helping users build, run, and grow businesses, raised $21M in Series A financing. The round was co-led by Susquehanna Venture Capital and Nexus Venture Partners, with participation from Together Fund and Array VC.

Breedr, an Austin, TX-based provider of a precision livestock platform, raised $27M in Series B funding. The round was led by Partech, with participation from Latitude and Outsiders Fund.

Gatik, a Santa Clara, CA-based provider of an autonomous trucking and commercial freight platform, raised $200M in Series D financing. The round was led by Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) and Koch Disruptive Technologies (KDT), with participation from Millennium Management, ARK Invest, Intact Private Capital, and others.

DAILY PICKS

🗞️ Must read post

The ARR mistake AI founders keep making: Most founders annualize the latest month’s revenue and call it ARR. But for AI products with usage-based pricing, one customer spike can make growth look stronger than it really is. This piece shows founders how to report revenue more honestly by splitting committed revenue from variable usage, using rolling averages, and preparing the usage-retention data investors will ask for during diligence.

What VCs ask AI founders now: AI investors are no longer just testing the story. They want to see the actual artifacts behind the company: evals, margins, data rights, model routing, failure modes, and compliance exposure. This piece gives founders a clear view of the 21 questions shaping AI startup diligence and the documents they should prepare before the first serious investor meeting.

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Capital F, a U.S.-based early-stage venture firm founded by Margaret Coblentz and Dawn Dobras, raised $17 million for its debut fund. The firm invests in startups serving the female economy, with a focus on women’s health, digital commerce, and AI tools, writing checks of $250,000 to $1 million.

MassMutual Ventures (MMV), a Boston, MA-based multistage venture capital firm, launched Climate Technology Fund II (CTF II), a $150m venture capital fund. The vehicle will invest in early-stage companies using climate technology and artificial intelligence to improve real assets, including energy infrastructure, real estate, and natural resources.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

Thinking Machines Lab co-founder Barret Zoph joins Google DeepMind

• Barret Zoph, co-founder of Thinking Machines Lab, is joining Google DeepMind as Vice President of Research after a brief return to OpenAI earlier this year.

• Zoph previously spent six years at Google Brain before it merged with DeepMind in 2023, making this a return to familiar territory as Google reshapes its AI leadership and research organization.

• The move adds another high-profile talent shift in the AI industry, coming amid broader changes at DeepMind, including Demis Hassabis stepping back from day-to-day leadership and some teams moving into corporate Google.

Apple is holding its iPhone launch event on September 9

• Apple will hold its next major launch event on September 9 at Apple Park, where it is expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max alongside its long-rumored foldable iPhone.

• The event will be the first under incoming CEO John Ternus, who is scheduled to replace Tim Cook on September 1. The standard iPhone 18 is reportedly being held back until next year.

• Apple could also introduce the Apple Watch Series 12, a new Apple Watch Ultra and smart-home devices, while announcing release dates for iOS 27, iPadOS 27, macOS Golden Gate and other software updates.

Anthropic signs massive $45B compute deal with Nscale

• Anthropic has agreed to spend about $45 billion over six years renting AI compute from British infrastructure provider Nscale, using Nvidia’s next-generation Vera Rubin systems from a West Virginia data center.

• Capacity is expected to come online in late 2027, adding to Anthropic’s aggressive infrastructure expansion as it races to secure enough computing power to train and serve increasingly capable AI models.

• The Nscale agreement follows a $10 billion Volta deal, $5 billion AMD deal, major SpaceX capacity agreement, and expanded Amazon and Google partnerships — highlighting how access to compute is becoming one of the biggest competitive advantages in the AI race.

Z.ai revealed as the lab behind mystery Ox Alpha model

• Chinese AI lab Z.ai confirmed it created Ox Alpha, the anonymous open-weight model that recently appeared on OpenRouter and quickly climbed benchmarks and leaderboards against leading models.

• Ox Alpha is the newest model in Z.ai’s GLM series, designed for coding, complex reasoning, long-running agentic tasks, and production workflows combining text and visual context. Z.ai plans to release the model weights for developers.

• The launch adds to growing competition from cheaper, capable Chinese open models. Z.ai’s recent GLM-5.3 already competes with leading Anthropic models on some benchmarks, increasing pressure on frontier labs such as OpenAI and Anthropic.

Robot brains are still stuck in their ‘GPT-2 era’

• Physical AI is attracting billions in investment, but robot hardware is advancing faster than the intelligence controlling it. The biggest bottleneck is high-quality, diverse training data needed to make robots reliable in unpredictable real-world environments.

• Companies are split between building general-purpose robot intelligence and focusing on specific jobs. Task-focused robots are already finding commercial use in construction, solar farms, and industrial settings, while general-purpose humanoids largely remain in labs.

• The industry’s breakthrough may come when robots can reliably understand natural-language instructions and perform everyday manipulation tasks without specialized training. But unlike ChatGPT, physical AI adoption will likely be gradual because manufacturing and deploying robots in the real world is much harder than distributing software.

Zuckerberg's plan to replace thousands of Meta workers with AI fell apart

• Mark Zuckerberg’s plan to swap thousands of Meta employees for AI, known as Project OT, collapsed after the CEO scrapped a second round of layoffs planned for November, according to documents seen by Reuters.

• The scheme aimed to shrink teams by up to 60%, running two waves of cuts in May and November, with small human “talent-dense” groups overseeing virtual AI workers and new “AI systems” helping decide promotions.

• The effort backfired as heavier AI coding caused more outages and possible data leaks, spiking to 405 incidents and forcing staff to spend up to 70% of their time fixing problems, though Meta still cut 10% of its workforce.

SpaceX to build $100B Louisiana spaceport

• SpaceX plans to build Starbase Louisiana, a $100 billion spaceport spread across 125,000 acres on the Gulf Coast, becoming its fourth and largest launch site with room to support thousands of missions each year.

• The self-sustaining facility will hold five launch complexes, each with two pads and a propellant farm, plus power generation, deep-water shipping, and an airport, with construction starting in 2027 and the first launch targeted for 2029.

• Officials expect 3,000 direct jobs paying about $92,600 on average, but the marshland site near protected wildlife has alarmed residents and conservation groups worried about noise, traffic, and damage to fisheries, birds, and wetlands.

Meta pays $16.7B in teen addiction case

• Meta agreed to a proposed $17 billion settlement with 51 states, ending claims that it built Facebook and Instagram to hook children while hiding the risks those apps posed to young users.

• Beyond the payout, spread over 10 years, Meta must set a default two-hour daily limit and a midnight-to-6am block for users under 18, both changeable only by a parent.

• The deal also bans “like” counts and cosmetic surgery filters for minors, offers an algorithm-free feed option, and requires an independent auditor with wide access to the company’s information.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕ Other News

Bill Gates proposes ‘Human Reserved’ jobs

• Bill Gates has floated the idea of “Human Reserved” jobs, occupations society would deliberately keep for people even when AI could handle them, naming childcare and jury service as roles humans are clearly better suited to.

• He says at most 40% of jobs could realistically be protected, either permanently or temporarily for workers who cannot retrain, with education and healthcare kept selectively rather than shielded across the board.

• To back this up, Gates wants to tax AI tokens and robots instead of banning automation, calling it a bigger change to the tax system than any in his lifetime while listing objections he cannot answer.

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Breaking News

Anthropic reportedly plans to tell investors that AI could address more than $30 trillion of economic activity annually as models take on a growing share of knowledge work. The company is reportedly forecasting $190–$200 billion in annual revenue by 2028, making its ability to turn that enormous theoretical market into actual enterprise spending central to its future IPO story.

Perplexity has launched Portable Computer with Nvidia, allowing AI agents to run models, access files, and use tools directly on local hardware with no cloud token costs for local tasks. The bigger bet is that always-on AI agents could shift significant AI inference from expensive data centers onto personal computers while improving privacy.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

PRE-SEED

Light Links, a Campbell, CA-based provider of an optical wireless communication platform, raised $6M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Outlander, with participation from Anorak, Output Capital, Mana, Crosscourt, and others.

Itoflow, a London, UK-based provider of an AI-native systematic portfolio management platform, raised $2.5M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Balderton Capital, with participation from Barney Hussey-Yeo and others.

SEED

Artwod, an Antwerp, Belgium-based provider of a guided learning and community platform for visual artists, raised €1.1M in Seed funding. Backers included Airbridge Equity Partners and ForsVC.

Noggin HQ, a Newcastle upon Tyne, UK-based consumer credit technology startup, raised £2.3M in Seed funding. The round was led by Blackfinch Ventures, with participation from Oxford Capital, Bethnal Green Ventures, and strategic fintech angel investors.

Keenable, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of independent web search infrastructure for AI, raised $26M in Seed funding. The round was led by Accel, with participation from Conviction and angel investors from Amazon, ClickHouse, Databricks, Google, Snowflake, and SpaceXAI.

DiscreteStack, a Sofia, Bulgaria-based AI infrastructure startup, raised €800K in Seed funding. The round was led by CleverPine Ventures, with participation from Milen Manev and Stoil Vasilev.

Living Roots, a Bangkok, Thailand-based agtech company specializing in biological crop inputs, raised an undisclosed amount in Seed funding. Backers included returning and new angel investors from Epic Angels.

Revier Therapeutics, a Heidelberg, Germany-based company developing therapies targeting class IIa HDACs for cardiometabolic diseases, raised €6M in Seed financing. The round was led by KHAN Technology Transfer Fund II, with participation from High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), VORNvc, and private investors through Revier Invest Heidelberg.

GROWTH

Qodia, a Hamburg, Germany-based medical fintech and SaaS startup, raised €1.2M in funding. Backers were not disclosed.

Standard Metrics, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an AI-driven portfolio management platform for venture capital and private equity firms, raised $20M in Series B funding. The round was led by 8VC, with participation from Salesforce Ventures, Spark Capital, January Capital, First Trust Capital Partners, Socii Capital, Kindergarten Ventures, Calm Ventures, Gaingels, and others.

AssistMe, a Berlin, Germany-based healthtech company developing digital assistance solutions for eldercare and nursing, raised €6.5M in funding. Backers included CRB Health Tech, Vorwerk Ventures, SUM Ventures, Brandenburg Kapital, Conle Family Office, Next Big Thing, and IBB Capital.

Liner, a San Francisco, CA-based AI agent research startup, raised $36.1M in Series C funding. The round was led by LB Investment, with participation from InterVest, Atinum Investment, CJ Investment, Korea Development Bank, KB Securities, Daishin Securities, STIC Ventures, and Helios Private Equity.

Airbound, a Bengaluru, India-based aerospace company designing and manufacturing efficient aircraft, raised $37M in Series A funding. The round was led by Greenoaks, with participation from DoorDash, Lachy Groom, Lightspeed, and Humba Ventures.

Hike Medical, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a platform automating device-based care from referral to dispense, raised $22.5M across Seed and Series A funding. The financing was led by Saga Ventures, with participation from Indicator Ventures, Fifth Down Capital, RiverPark Ventures, Orthofeet, Sam Blond, Jerod Mayo, and others.

Airway Therapeutics, an Atlanta, GA-based clinical biopharmaceutical company developing biologic therapies for respiratory, inflammatory, and infectious diseases, raised $50M in funding, consisting of $26M in SAFE financing and $24M through a Series E-2 round.

Emerald AI, a Washington, DC-based provider of a platform turning data centers into flexible assets for the power grid, raised $150M in Series A funding at a $1.05B valuation. The round was co-led by Energize Capital and DCVC, with participation from NVIDIA, Samsung Ventures, Siemens, Aramco Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and GE Vernova.

Celera Semiconductor, a Santa Clara, CA-based provider of AI-driven analog IC solutions, raised $30M in Series B funding. Maverick Silicon made the investment.

Happy Health, an Austin, TX-based digital health and continuous remote monitoring company, raised $75M in Series A funding. The round was co-led by ARCH Venture Partners and OpenLoop.

Buddy Bites, a Hong Kong-founded D2C pet nutrition and e-commerce platform, raised $4.2M in Series A funding. The round was led by Digitalis Ventures, with participation from Adrian Lai.

Newcode, an Oslo, Norway-based developer of an AI harness and orchestration platform for the legal sector, raised $13.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by OnDean Forward, with participation from The LegalTech Fund, Antiportfolio Ventures, Rel Labs, and existing investors.

amber, an Aachen, Germany-based provider of an AI platform developing organizational knowledge services for SMEs, raised €7M in Series A financing. The round was co-led by Ventech and NRW.Venture.

Mantel, a Cambridge, MA-based company developing molten-borate carbon capture technology, received an $18M strategic investment. Backers included Constellation Technology Ventures, Azimut Investments, and existing investors.

DAILY PICKS

🗞️ Must read post

The ARR mistake AI founders keep making: Most founders annualize the latest month’s revenue and call it ARR. But for AI products with usage-based pricing, one customer spike can make growth look stronger than it really is. This piece shows founders how to report revenue more honestly by splitting committed revenue from variable usage, using rolling averages, and preparing the usage-retention data investors will ask for during diligence.

What VCs ask AI founders now: AI investors are no longer just testing the story. They want to see the actual artifacts behind the company: evals, margins, data rights, model routing, failure modes, and compliance exposure. This piece gives founders a clear view of the 21 questions shaping AI startup diligence and the documents they should prepare before the first serious investor meeting.

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Fiat Ventures, a San Francisco, CA-based venture capital firm, rebranded as FGV Capital and closed Fund II, at $35m. Fund II is backed by LPs including Reinsurance Group of America (RGA), MassMutual, Bank of America, and the Stellar Development Foundation, alongside foundations, fund of funds, family offices and high-net-worth individuals.

Makers Fund, a San Francisco, CA-based venture capital firm focused on interactive entertainment, closed its Fund IV, at $250M. The new fund, whose closing brought total assets under management by the company to $1.5 billion, will back founders building across gaming and interactive entertainment.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

Anthropic's top AI struggles to win users

• Anthropic’s most powerful AI model, Opus 5, is failing to draw many users since its late-July launch, with cheaper options from the company pulling far more spending, according to billing data.

• The Ramp AI index, built from card data across 70,000 companies, shows Opus 5 captured just 3.5% of Anthropic model spend in July, while the older Opus 4.8 led with 28% and Fable 5 sat at 8%.

• Anthropic’s annualized revenue reached $65 billion in July, up from $47 billion in May, and the company told investors it now has 6,000 customers each paying $100,000 or more a year.

Apple launches M6 Mac Mini starting at $899

• Apple unveiled a new Mac Mini powered by its M6 chip, starting at $899 with 16GB RAM and 256GB storage. It ships September 22 with macOS 27 and Siri AI.

• Apple says the M6 delivers 4x better AI performance than the M4, along with roughly 2x faster storage and graphics. It features a 12-core CPU and 12-core GPU.

• Apple also introduced an M5 Pro Mac Mini starting at $1,699 and new Mac Studio models with M5 Max and M5 Ultra chips, targeting heavier AI and professional workloads.

OpenAI loses another senior executive as leadership churn grows

• Chris Malone, OpenAI’s head of data centers, left after roughly 17 months at the company. His departure follows an infrastructure reorganization that moved the group under VP Sachin Katti.

• Malone’s exit is particularly notable because OpenAI is in the middle of an enormous infrastructure expansion. The company says it still has experienced executives overseeing data center engineering, construction and delivery.

• The departure adds to more than a dozen executive exits reported in 2026, including Brad Lightcap, Denise Dresser and Fidji Simo. The leadership churn is drawing greater scrutiny as OpenAI reportedly pushes its expected IPO into 2027 and faces questions around valuation and profitability.

Apple unveils M5 Ultra and M6 chips with a major focus on local AI

• Apple introduced the M5 Ultra, calling it its “most powerful chip ever.” Built from two dual-die M5 Max chips, it offers up to a 36-core CPU, 80-core GPU and 1.2 TB/s of unified memory bandwidth for demanding AI, 3D and professional workloads.

• The new M6 is built on a 2nm process with a 12-core CPU and dual 16-core Neural Engine. Apple says it delivers nearly 30% higher peak GPU compute for AI than the M5, improving on-device LLM performance.

• Apple is positioning local AI as a key advantage: developers can run and fine-tune large models directly on Macs using the CPU, GPU and Neural Engine. This could give Apple a differentiated position around private, on-device AI even as it relies on Google Gemini for its upgraded Siri.

OpenAI’s Jalapeño chip beats current inference systems on speed and efficiency

• OpenAI unveiled early benchmarks for Jalapeño, its custom AI inference chip developed with Broadcom. On SemiAnalysis’ InferenceX benchmark, it delivered higher per-user token speeds and better throughput per kilowatt than current state-of-the-art processors.

• Jalapeño is optimized specifically for inference, reducing bottlenecks in data movement, communication and prefill. OpenAI designed the chip, memory, networking and models together to make serving AI responses faster and more power-efficient at large scale.

• The benchmark comparison includes Nvidia’s Blackwell systems, though Nvidia may have newer hardware by Jalapeño’s broader rollout. OpenAI expects limited deployment by late 2026, followed by significantly larger deployment in 2027 as part of a multigenerational chip platform.

Meta's paid AI agent Hatch launches soon

• Meta will soon roll out Hatch, a paid AI agent aimed at consumers, as part of Mark Zuckerberg’s push to make money from the company’s heavy AI spending and expand revenue beyond advertising.

• Built as a consumer version of the OpenClaw agent, Hatch is expected to use tiered pricing, including a premium subscription costing as much as $199.99 a month, according to internal documents seen by The Information.

• Hatch is designed to connect with sites like DoorDash, Etsy, Reddit, Yelp, and Outlook, and to offer a customizable dashboard with tools such as a fitness tracker or a trip planner.

Apple reportedly prepares iPhone price hikes ahead of iPhone 18 launch

• Apple is reportedly preparing to raise iPhone prices alongside the upcoming iPhone 18 lineup, though the company has not yet decided the size of the increase.

• Rising manufacturing costs from the global memory shortage are a major factor. With Samsung and Google raising flagship smartphone prices by roughly $100, Apple could make a similar move, potentially putting the base iPhone 18 Pro around $1,199.

• Apple may have more flexibility to increase prices because of its new Upgrade program, which lets customers lease devices through recurring payments and upgrade later, potentially making higher-priced iPhones easier to afford.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕ Other News

Trump proposes $103K H-1B visa fee

• The Trump administration has proposed a new rule that would charge a $103,265 fee for H-1B visas covering foreign workers who fall under the program’s yearly cap on applications.

• The fee would help pay for running the immigration system, and unlike an earlier $100,000 version struck down by a judge in June, this one excludes universities, hospitals, and research institutions.

• H-1B visas let U.S. companies hire skilled foreign workers, and computer jobs like software engineering make up nearly two-thirds of approvals; the public gets 30 days to comment once the rule is published.

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• Financial Management Analyst - Duke Capital Partner | USA - Apply Here

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Breaking News

Hugging Face is reportedly evaluating acquisition approaches valuing the AI infrastructure company at $13 billion or more, nearly triple its $4.5 billion valuation from 2023. A potential deal would be significant given Hugging Face’s position at the center of the open-source AI ecosystem, though CEO Clem Delangue has previously resisted investments that could give a single company too much influence.

Chinese humanoid robot Tiangong Ultra reportedly ran 100 meters in 9.39 seconds at the World Humanoid Robot Games, beating Usain Bolt’s 9.58-second world record. Another robot finished in 9.47 seconds, highlighting how quickly humanoid robotics is progressing, although both machines struggled to remain under control after crossing the finish line.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

PRE-SEED

KAZIMI, a Berlin, Germany-based provider of a security solution for mobile apps, raised €2.2M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Market One Capital, with participation from IBB Ventures, Petri Hyökyranta, Janne Peltola, and Erik Massmann.

Dirac Labs, a Madison, WI-based provider of quantum-enabled navigation systems, raised $1.8M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by TitletownTech, with participation from Automotive Ventures, Riceberg Ventures, quantumEDGE Ventures, Jude Gomila, and Balaji Srinivasan.

Mafix, a Seattle, WA-based provider of carbon-negative silicon fertilizers and mineral products, raised $5.4M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Azolla Ventures, with participation from Counteract VC, Astera Institute, Plug and Play Ventures, Impact Science Ventures, and a Dutch family office.

Pouchers, a Lagos, Nigeria-based digital fintech platform, raised $500K in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Stack Directory, with participation from a syndicate of African fintech angel investors.

SEED

EULER, a San Diego, CA-based provider of an agentic partner relationship management platform, raised $4.3M in Seed funding. The round was led by Channel Equity Partners.

Veeda AI, a Toronto, Canada-based foundation AI research lab, raised over $90M in Seed funding. Backers included Khosla Ventures and Radical Ventures.

Twyne, a decentralized finance lending and credit delegation protocol developer, raised $2.5M in Seed funding. The round was co-led by cyber Fund and Ethereal Ventures, with participation from Euler, Daedalus, and web3 fintech angel investors.

Zaydn, a New Delhi, India-based sneaker and lifestyle brand, raised approximately $680K in Seed funding. The round was led by Inflection Point Ventures (IPV), with participation from BeyondSeed and private consumer-tech angel investors.

GROWTH

SweGaN, a Linköping, Sweden-based provider of GaN-on-SiC epitaxial wafers, raised $14M in Series B financing. The round was led by Thisbe AB and North Ventures, with participation from existing investors.

Computomics, a Tübingen, Germany-based provider of a climate-smart plant breeding platform, raised €6.3M in Series B funding. The round was led by Convent Capital Agri Food Fund, with participation from High-Tech Gründerfonds, MBG Baden-Württemberg, Amathaon Capital, founders, and scientific advisors.

Atravelq, a Chandigarh, India-based provider of a customized outbound travel platform, raised an undisclosed amount at an approximately $1.2M equity valuation. Backers included existing seed investors and founding stakeholders, including Dhruv Anand and Kapil Malhotra.

Boldr, a London, UK-based smart climate technology and automated energy hardware startup, raised $5M in funding. The round was led by Unconventional Ventures, with participation from Ada Ventures, Tetrad Ventures, Davidovs Venture Collective, Roxbury Asset Management, Inclimo Climate Tech Fund, Prosegur, Techstars, S20 Fund, PropelX, and strategic HVAC partners.

Quintessent, a Santa Barbara, CA-based provider of AI data center optical interconnect products, raised $40M in Series A funding. The round was led by Cycle Capital, with participation from Goldman Sachs XIG-Industry Ventures, Hina Liberty Capital, Susquehanna International Group, InterVest, Safar Partners, Ciena, Foothill Ventures, M Ventures, Osage University Partners, and Sierra Ventures.

PayRewards, a Dallas, TX-based provider of a rewards-first platform for small business payments, raised $28M in Series E funding. Backers were not disclosed.

Oshen, a Plymouth, UK-based maritime technology and autonomous ocean robotics startup, raised $5M in funding. The round was led by Lunar Ventures, with participation from AlbionVC, Twin Track, Concept Ventures, and maritime technology angels.

Thea Energy, a Kearny, NJ-based provider of planar coil stellarator fusion energy technology, raised an undisclosed amount in a Series B extension. Backers included Brevan Howard Macro Venture, Aloniq, ALJ Investments, Beyond Earth Ventures, and other strategic investors.

Botanika, a developer of a Solana-driven decentralized physical infrastructure network, raised $1.5M in funding. Backers included CRIT Ventures, Baboon VC, Marblex, Daedalus, and web3 infrastructure angels.

Beldex, a Victoria, Mahé, Seychelles-based privacy-focused blockchain infrastructure provider, raised $8M in funding. Backers included Sigma Capital, NTC, Nxgen, Digital Consensus Fund, and EAK Ventures.

NeoSoul, a decentralized AI and web3 infrastructure platform provider, raised $11M in Pre-Series A funding. Backers included MH Ventures, Amber Group, ArkStream Capital, 0G Foundation, Kirin Capital, CatcherVC, and New Oak International.

Cityblock Health, a New York City-based technology-driven healthcare provider specializing in value-based care for government-funded programs, raised $116M in Series E funding. The round was led by General Catalyst.

Starcloud, a Redmond, WA-based provider of orbital data centers and space-based GPU infrastructure, raised $250M in a Series A extension at a $2.3B valuation. The round was led by Manhattan West, with participation from Benchmark, EQT, Soma, NFX, 776, NVIDIA, Cisco Investments, Cedar Capital, Goanna Capital, Standard Capital, and others.

Fasset, a Dubai, UAE-based provider of an AI-powered stablecoin neobanking platform, raised $68M in Series C funding. The round was led by SBI Group, with participation from Speedinvest and others.

DAILY PICKS

🗞️ Must read post

How is your seed valuation actually decided? (It has almost nothing to do with your company): Most founders think valuation comes down to traction, market size, or the strength of the pitch. This piece shows why the real ceiling often comes from a VC’s fund size, check size, and ownership target. It gives founders a simple way to understand which funds can actually lead their round, avoid wasting weeks with structurally wrong investors, and negotiate the option pool before it quietly costs more than the pre-money.

How do you build a seed deck that actually raises money? (We analysed 50+ Y-Combinator decks): Most founders build decks by copying templates or old examples. This piece shows the repeatable nine-slide structure that appears across real YC startup decks. It breaks down how to present your problem, solution, traction, market, business model, team, and raise clearly - so investors can understand the opportunity in the order they naturally scan for it.

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Third Mind, a Menlo Park, CA-based newly formed venture capital firm, is raising its first fund. According to a SEC form, Third Mind I, LP, has a target of $25m with $5.7m already raised. The document lists Antoine Nivard (formerly at Blank Ventures) as the person related to the raise.

Makers Fund, a San Francisco, CA-based venture capital firm focused on interactive entertainment, closed its Fund IV, at $250M. The new fund, whose closing brought total assets under management by the company to $1.5 billion, will back founders building across gaming and interactive entertainment.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

OpenAI is building AI agents for everything.

• OpenAI is betting on ChatGPT Work to bring autonomous AI agents beyond developers and into everyday white-collar work.

• Adoption remains the big challenge. While 98% of OpenAI employees reportedly used Codex in June, only 17% of organizational subscribers and less than 1% of individual subscribers did.

• The bigger battle may be who owns the layer between AI models and users. OpenAI and Anthropic are building their own agent platforms, while model-agnostic and open-source alternatives can switch between models.

Most Americans oppose nearby data centers

• Three-quarters of Americans say they don’t want a data center built near them, according to a new poll from Heatmap, with 64% strongly opposed and only 15% in favor of a nearby facility.

• The turn against data centers spans age, gender, income, party, and the rural-urban split, with the facilities running 43 points underwater with Republicans, 65 with independents, and 75 with Democrats.

• Opposition has swung 33 points in a year across four surveys using the same wording, rising from 42% last August to 75% now, and a July Redfin poll found similar results, with 53% opposed.

Anonymous AI coding model wows devs

• A mysterious AI coding model called Ox Alpha has shown up on OpenRouter as an anonymous, free-to-use release, and developers testing it have been impressed by its performance on programming and agent tasks.

• The model offers a context window of just over a million tokens, and the open-source agent OpenCode said it would be free for a week with its provider handling up to 100 trillion tokens a day.

• Nobody knows who made it, with guesses ranging from China’s Z.ai to Microsoft’s MAI family, and OpenRouter warns that prompts and completions are kept by the unnamed provider, a problem for European firms under data protection law.

Nvidia hikes AI server prices over 15%

• Nvidia has warned its biggest customers that servers built around its AI chips will cost more than 15% extra, with the higher prices hitting Grace Blackwell and Vera Rubin systems shipping early next year.

• The exact increase depends on the chip generation and memory setup, and it stems from soaring DRAM prices, with contract makers building servers for Microsoft, Google, and Oracle already telling their customers about the coming jumps.

• A 15% rise on rack-scale systems costing several million dollars each adds hundreds of thousands per rack, and with TSMC unable to meet demand, buyers have little room to push back against Nvidia’s roughly 75% margins.

DeepSeek launches experimental AI model

• DeepSeek has launched DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp, an experimental multimodal model that reads images and screenshots and acts on them, and says its agent performance comes close to Anthropic’s Opus-4.8 on its own published benchmarks.

• On the eleven benchmarks DeepSeek published, the new model beats Opus-4.8 on only three, winning DeepSWE, Agents’ Last Exam and ZeroBench by narrow margins, while trailing on the other eight, including a 12-point gap on the repository task NL2Repo.

• The main selling point is price, since DeepSeek runs at about 87 cents per million words against roughly $50 from Anthropic, though the vision model’s scores all come from DeepSeek’s own testing and it was not measured against Anthropic’s newer Opus 5.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕ Other News

Apple revamps stores for smart home push

• Apple is redesigning its retail stores this fall, rearranging sections and adding accessory bays, to prepare for a wave of new home devices arriving later this year.

• The lineup includes an upgraded Apple TV set-top box, a new HomePod mini, and a long-rumored home hub with a display that runs a fresh system and interface for controlling smart home gadgets.

• The store changes let shoppers try the home hub in person, a useful move since it enters new territory for Apple at a time when prices across its product range are climbing.

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• Senior Associate - BVP | USA - Apply Here

• Associate / Principal, Follow-on Investing - Village Global | USA - Apply Here

• Senior Associate - Yamaha Motor Venture | USA - Apply Here

• Financial Management Analyst - Duke Capital Partner | USA - Apply Here

• Investment Principal - Contrarian Thinking Capital | USA - Apply Here

• Financial Management Analyst - Duke Capital Partner | USA - Apply Here

• Senior Associate - Yamaha Motor Venture | USA - Apply Here

• Incubation Associate, Compute - Primary | USA - Apply Here

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• Associate or Senior Associate - Bessemer Partner | USA - Apply Here

• Partner 18, Events Associate, Crypto - a16z | USA - Apply Here

• AI Analyst - Array Venture | USA - Apply Here

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Breaking News

DeepMind alumni startup, Inherent says its Faraday research agent, powered by a relatively small 27B-parameter Qwen model, outperformed GPT-5.5 and Claude Opus 4.8 at reproducing findings from scientific papers. The result suggests specialized training and agent systems could allow smaller models to outperform much larger frontier models on specific tasks.

Nvidia is reportedly discussing an investment in Perplexity as part of a new funding round valuing the AI search startup at more than $30 billion, potentially expanding Nvidia’s influence beyond chips and infrastructure into the fast-growing AI application layer.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

PRE-SEED

Aisel Health, a Copenhagen, Denmark-based HealthTech company building an operating system purpose-built for psychiatry and mental health, raised €1.7M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Caesar Ventures, with participation from Nordic Web Ventures, LifeX, Angel Invest, Rockstart, and EIFO.

SEED

idler, a San Francisco, CA-based frontier data research lab and AI evaluation platform, raised $9M in Seed funding. The round was led by Paradigm, with participation from Y Combinator, Long Journey, and angel investors including Manish Chandra, Catheryn Li, Dan Posch, Janine Leger, Lynett Capital, Feross Aboukhadijeh, Nur Bazylbekov, and Smaiyl Makyshov.

Multiplier, a NYC-based developer of an AI-powered data platform and coding agent infrastructure for the asset management industry, raised $6M in Seed funding. The round was led by Lux Capital, with participation from Y Combinator, GoAhead Ventures, Rebel Fund, General Advance, Unpopular Ventures, Amino Capital, and angel investors Greg Jensen and Karen Karniol-Tambour.

Twin1 AI, a San Mateo, CA-based provider of an AI-powered digital twin platform for knowledge workers, raised $20M in Seed funding. The round was co-led by Bessemer Venture Partners, Tribeca Venture Partners, and Aramco Ventures, with participation from EJF Ventures, Tin Alley Ventures, AGI House Ventures, Neo, F-Prime, Btech Consortium, Antiportfolio Ventures, Lakestar, Notion Capital, and others.

Capitan Orthopedics, a Grand Rapids, MI-based provider of an orthopedic implant platform for shoulder surgery, raised $4.1M in Seed funding. Backers included Genesis Innovation Group.

GROWTH

Astromech, a Dallas, TX-based computational biology and predictive AI startup spun out of Colossal Biosciences, raised $20M in funding at a $3.8B valuation. The round was led by Bob Nelsen, with participation from NeoGenesis Capital, Builders VC, and genomics-focused venture funds.

Navi, a Bengaluru, India-based provider of a digital financial services platform, raised $100M in its first external institutional funding round. Prosus NV made the investment.

Math Magic, a Beijing, China-based AI creation company, raised an undisclosed amount in Series A+ funding. The round was led by BAI Capital and HyT Capital, with participation from V Fund, HSG, IDG Capital, Long-Z Investments, Crystal Stream, and Jinqiu Capital.

Muon Space, a San Jose, CA-based provider of satellite constellations and a mission foundry platform, raised $250M in Series C funding. The round was led by Eclipse Capital, with participation from Galvanize, Google, Salesforce Ventures, Wellington Management, I Squared Capital, Woven Capital, Radical Ventures, Congruent Ventures, Costanoa Ventures, Activate Capital, ACME Capital, ArcTern Ventures, and Overlap Holdings.

TravelX, a NYC-based provider of an AI-native post-booking revenue management platform for global aviation, raised an undisclosed amount in Series A funding. The round was led by Kaszek, with participation from Thayer Ventures.

Vessev, an Auckland, New Zealand-based provider of electric hydrofoiling marine technology, raised $19M in Series A funding. The round was led by Blackbird Ventures, with participation from GD1, Rypples, K1W1, Icehouse Ventures, Shasta Ventures, NZVC, and angel investors.

FSH Technologies, a Philadelphia, PA-based provider of government IT software replacing hourly-billed consulting firms and point-solution vendors, raised $20M in Series A financing. The round was led by Lachy Groom and co-led by Acrew Capital, with participation from Operator Partners, Contrary, Cooley, and several angel investors.

DAILY PICKS

🗞️ Must read post

How is your seed valuation actually decided? (It has almost nothing to do with your company): Most founders think valuation comes down to traction, market size, or the strength of the pitch. This piece shows why the real ceiling often comes from a VC’s fund size, check size, and ownership target. It gives founders a simple way to understand which funds can actually lead their round, avoid wasting weeks with structurally wrong investors, and negotiate the option pool before it quietly costs more than the pre-money.

How do you build a seed deck that actually raises money? (We analysed 50+ Y-Combinator decks): Most founders build decks by copying templates or old examples. This piece shows the repeatable nine-slide structure that appears across real YC startup decks. It breaks down how to present your problem, solution, traction, market, business model, team, and raise clearly - so investors can understand the opportunity in the order they naturally scan for it.

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Third Mind, a Menlo Park, CA-based newly formed venture capital firm, is raising its first fund. According to a SEC form, Third Mind I, LP, has a target of $25m with $5.7m already raised. The document lists Antoine Nivard (formerly at Blank Ventures) as the person related to the raise.

Makers Fund, a San Francisco, CA-based venture capital firm focused on interactive entertainment, closed its Fund IV, at $250M. The new fund, whose closing brought total assets under management by the company to $1.5 billion, will back founders building across gaming and interactive entertainment.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

Apple cuts more than 200 jobs across Siri and Vision Pro teams

• Apple is cutting more than 200 positions, including roughly 100 from the Vision Pro team and another 100 across Siri and its Intelligent Systems Experience group.

• The restructuring comes as Apple shifts resources toward newer AI initiatives and devices. The company says it will create some new roles while eliminating existing positions.

• The cuts arrive during a broader transition for Apple as it tries to strengthen its AI position while dealing with rising hardware costs, including pressure from the global memory shortage.

OpenAI reverses course and calls for stronger California AI safety rules

• OpenAI wants California to strengthen SB 53 by requiring monitoring of frontier models during training and evaluation and introducing stronger cybersecurity protections throughout model development.

• The shift follows recent AI safety incidents, including OpenAI’s disclosure that one of its models escaped a testing environment and compromised systems at Hugging Face.

• The position marks a notable reversal after OpenAI previously opposed SB 53. With federal AI legislation limited, the company now supports states developing compatible safeguards that could eventually form a national standard.

Nvidia shows the AI harness may matter more than the underlying model

• Nvidia researchers got Claude Opus 5 to score 100% on the ARC-AGI-3 reasoning benchmark using a custom agent harness, compared with just 30% without it.

• The key was better memory management plus a supervising agent that acts like a “CEO,” redirecting the main agent when it gets stuck, repeats itself, or heads toward a dead end.

• The research suggests the next advantage in AI agents may come from the software surrounding models—tools, memory, supervision, runtime, and feedback—not simply from using the most powerful model available.

Tesla discontinues its Solar Roof

• Tesla has quietly killed its Solar Roof, the roughly decade-old product that turned shingles and tiles into solar panels, removing all mentions from its website and redirecting the old pages to a generic solar landing page.

• The Solar Roof never took off: Tesla wanted 1,000 installations a week but reached only 20 to 40 by 2022, while high prices, with some quotes hitting $200,000, and custom manufacturing kept costs stubbornly high.

• Reports pointed to the roof’s non-solar parts warping and underproducing electricity, likely because the tight gap between tiles and roof trapped heat, cutting the cells’ output as voltage falls with rising temperature.

Amazon hikes Echo prices up to 60%

• Amazon has raised prices on several Echo, Kindle, Fire TV, and Eero products, blaming rising memory and storage costs, with some jumps as steep as 60% on its cheaper smart home devices.

• The Echo Dot climbed from $50 to $80, while the Fire TV Stick 4K Max went from $60 to $85 and the 16GB Kindle rose from $110 to $150.

• Amazon confirmed the changes, pointing to “significant increases in memory and storage component costs” across the electronics industry, and said it held off on passing those costs to shoppers for as long as it could.

TikTok settles child privacy suit

• TikTok and its parent company ByteDance agreed to pay $400 million to settle a Justice Department lawsuit accusing the app of breaking children’s online privacy laws, without admitting any wrongdoing.

• The DOJ first sued in 2024 under the Biden administration, saying TikTok let kids make regular accounts and share videos with adults, and illegally collected children’s email addresses and other personal details.

• As part of the deal, TikTok added stronger protections for young users, better age controls, and more parental oversight, changes the DOJ says advanced the goals behind its original suit.

New York overtakes SF in tech jobs

• New York now has more tech workers than the San Francisco Bay Area for the first time, according to a report from real estate firm CBRE that has tracked tech talent for 13 years.

• New York’s tech workforce hit about 394,000 last year, growing more than 8% since 2022, while the Bay Area shrank 6% to roughly 376,000 as Meta, Block, and Amazon cut jobs.

• New York gained workers in financial services, an early adopter of AI, plus new AI startups in Midtown South, though the Bay Area still tops CBRE’s overall scorecard, with New York fourth.

DeepSeek launches experimental AI model

• DeepSeek has launched DeepSeek-V4-Flash-Vision-Exp, an experimental multimodal model that reads images and screenshots and acts on them, and says its agent performance comes close to Anthropic’s Opus-4.8 on its own published benchmarks.

• On the eleven benchmarks DeepSeek published, the new model beats Opus-4.8 on only three, winning DeepSWE, Agents’ Last Exam and ZeroBench by narrow margins, while trailing on the other eight, including a 12-point gap on the repository task NL2Repo.

• The main selling point is price, since DeepSeek runs at about 87 cents per million words against roughly $50 from Anthropic, though the vision model’s scores all come from DeepSeek’s own testing and it was not measured against Anthropic’s newer Opus 5.

OpenAI cuts GPT-5.6 Sol API prices by more than 20%

• OpenAI is reducing developer pricing for GPT-5.6 Sol for three months, as competition intensifies from Anthropic and lower-cost Chinese AI models.

• Standard short-context API pricing drops to $4 per 1 million input tokens and $20 per 1 million output tokens, down from $5 and $30 respectively. The discounts also extend to eligible ChatGPT Work and Codex credits.

• OpenAI’s Pro, Plus and Business subscription prices remain unchanged. The move follows recent cuts to GPT-5.6 Terra and Luna, and puts Sol below Anthropic’s Claude Opus 5 pricing of $5 input and $25 output per million tokens.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕ Other News

Uber faces nearly $1B fine over automated driver suspensions

• The Dutch Data Protection Authority fined Uber €825 million ($966 million), the second-largest GDPR penalty to date, over allegations that drivers were suspended or deactivated through automated processes without sufficient human oversight.

• Regulators argue decisions with major consequences for workers shouldn’t be made solely by automated systems. Uber disputes that permanent deactivations occur without human review and plans to appeal the fine.

• The case could have broader implications for gig platforms and AI-driven workforce management, particularly around how much human oversight companies must provide when algorithms make decisions affecting people’s livelihoods.

HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES

💼 Today’s VC & Startup Job Opportunities

Most aspiring VCs struggle with interviews, unclear expectations, no structured prep, and generic advice that doesn’t actually help. So we partnered with a leading investor group to build an all-in-one VC Interview Preparation Guide that gives you real clarity and frameworks. (Access Here)

• Senior Associate - BVP | USA - Apply Here

• Associate / Principal, Follow-on Investing - Village Global | USA - Apply Here

• Senior Associate - Yamaha Motor Venture | USA - Apply Here

• Financial Management Analyst - Duke Capital Partner | USA - Apply Here

• Investment Principal - Contrarian Thinking Capital | USA - Apply Here

• Financial Management Analyst - Duke Capital Partner | USA - Apply Here

• Senior Associate - Yamaha Motor Venture | USA - Apply Here

• Incubation Associate, Compute - Primary | USA - Apply Here

• Investment Analyst - Mela Venture | India - Apply Here

• Associate or Senior Associate - Bessemer Partner | USA - Apply Here

• Partner 18, Events Associate, Crypto - a16z | USA - Apply Here

• AI Analyst - Array Venture | USA - Apply Here

WHEN YOU’RE READY, HERE’S HOW I CAN HELP:

💁 You might need our help!

• Reach 125,000+ Founders & Investors: Partner with our newsletter to reach a highly engaged audience.

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Do you have any news to share about your Startup or VC fund? Please email us.

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Share

Breaking News

OpenAI is gaining ground on Anthropic in enterprise AI, with Ramp data showing nearly 40% paid adoption for OpenAI versus roughly 44% for Anthropic across more than 70,000 U.S. businesses. GPT-5.6 Sol is reportedly helping drive the shift, while the numbers suggest companies are increasingly willing to switch AI providers whenever better models, pricing, or privacy policies emerge.

Slack has launched Slack Code, letting teams bring AI coding agents such as Claude Code, Devin, and GitHub Copilot directly into conversations to build and fix software. Teams can watch the agent work, preview what it builds, and approve changes before production, potentially turning Slack itself into an AI-powered software development workspace.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

PRE-SEED

Aisel Health, a Copenhagen, Denmark-based HealthTech company building an operating system purpose-built for psychiatry and mental health, raised €1.7M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Caesar Ventures, with participation from Nordic Web Ventures, LifeX, Angel Invest, Rockstart, and EIFO.

Peppy, a Salt Lake City, UT-based provider of a prototyping platform for robotics, raised an undisclosed amount in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Element Ventures, with participation from Rock Creek Capital, Mana Ventures, and Yonder.

XSquare, a Dubai, UAE-based B2B payment orchestration startup, raised an undisclosed amount in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Raed Ventures, with participation from AngelSpark, 500 Global, and Oraseya Capital.

Guideless, a Vilnius, Lithuania-based provider of an AI-powered software training and operational knowledge platform, raised €1M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Superhero Capital, with participation from FIRSTPICK VC, Thomas Plantenga, Vytautas Atkočaitis, and Mantas Mikuckas.

SEED

Twin1 AI, a San Mateo, CA-based provider of an AI-powered digital twin platform for knowledge workers, raised $20M in Seed funding. The round was co-led by Bessemer Venture Partners, Tribeca Venture Partners, and Aramco Ventures, with participation from EJF Ventures, Tin Alley Ventures, AGI House Ventures, Neo, F-Prime, Btech Consortium, Antiportfolio Ventures, Lakestar, Notion Capital, and others.

Capitan Orthopedics, a Grand Rapids, MI-based provider of an orthopedic implant platform for shoulder surgery, raised $4.1M in Seed funding. Backers included Genesis Innovation Group.

Apollo Atomics, a Cambridge, MA-based provider of compact pressurized water reactors, raised $31M in Seed funding. The round was led by FCVC, with participation from Y Combinator, Telesoft Partners, Alumni Ventures, Robinhood Ventures, Nucleation Capital, Pelion VC, Duke Capital Partners, and angel investors.

HeyBreez, a Wilmington, DE-based enterprise voice AI infrastructure platform provider, raised $2.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Lunara Partners, with participation from Jabbar Group, DASH Ventures, and strategic tech founders and angel investors.

Solinide Photonics, a Partille, Sweden-based provider of silicon nitride photonic integrated circuits for optical interconnects, raised €4M in Seed funding. The round was co-led by Navigare Ventures and PSV Hafnium, with participation from Chalmers Ventures, Turbine Capital, Norrsken Evolve, and Almi Greentech Fund.

Callosum, a London, UK-based systems software and AI infrastructure startup, raised $100M in Seed funding. The round was led by Atomico, with participation from Plural, DCVC, and the UK Sovereign AI Fund.

Quantizr, a Park City, UT-based provider of an AI-powered financial operations platform for the live entertainment industry, raised $5M in Seed funding. The round was led by TTV Capital, with participation from Jonathan Azu, Chris Kappy, and Andy Levine.

Synthefy, an Austin, TX-based provider of structured data foundation models, raised $6.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Wing Venture Capital, with participation from Haystack, Samsung Next, Canonical, Lightscape, and angel investors.

GROWTH

Thunder Compute, a San Francisco, CA-based GPU virtualization and cloud infrastructure platform provider, raised $13M in Series A funding. The round was led by Matrix Partners, with participation from Y Combinator and CEAS Investments.

Ampaire, a Long Beach, CA-based provider of hybrid-electric propulsion systems for aircraft, raised $19M in Series B funding. The round was led by DiamondStream Partners, with participation from Alaska Star Ventures, IAGi Ventures, Pay it Forward Ventures, Massive Ventures, Techstars Ventures, Autodesk Foundation Impact Fund, Elemental Impact, and others.

Quartr, a Stockholm, Sweden-based first-party data layer for institutional finance and AI, raised $18M in funding. The round was led by existing investor Altos Ventures, with participation from SEB.

Relativity Networks, an Orlando, FL-based provider of advanced optical networking technology for distributed AI, raised $22M in SAFE funding. Backers included Rhapsody Venture Partners, Bell Ventures, and Faster Than Glass.

Prevalent AI, a London, UK-based AI-powered enterprise context company, raised $22M in growth funding from Integrity Growth Partners.

Magic Potion Games, a Kelowna, Canada-based provider of a safe social online world platform for Gen Alpha, closed an undisclosed Series A funding round. Backers included Square Enix, 1AM Gaming, 1Up Ventures, and Konvoy.

bitdrift, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a mobile observability platform, raised $15M in total funding. Backers included Amplify Partners, 01 Advisors, Primeset, and Lyft.

MaxQ Medical, a Sunnyvale, CA-based provider of a transurethral imaging and therapy platform for prostate care, raised $31.5M in Series A financing. The round was led by Atlantic Blue Ventures, S3 Ventures, and Olympus Innovation Ventures, with participation from Hillside Capital.

Peeko, a Bengaluru, India-based quick-commerce babycare platform, raised approximately $8.1M in Series A funding. The round was led by Chiratae Ventures, with participation from Stellaris Venture Partners and angel investors.

Pixelgen Technologies, a Stockholm, Sweden-based provider of a platform for mapping molecular cell architecture, raised $15.5M in Series B funding. The round was led by Flat Capital, with participation from Industrifonden and Navigare Ventures.

Rundoo, a Redwood City, CA-based provider of an AI-first system of record platform for independent supply stores, raised $30M in Series B financing. The round was led by Battery Ventures, with participation from Bessemer Venture Partners and CRV.

DAILY PICKS

🗞️ Must read post

How do you build a seed deck that actually raises money? (We analysed 50+ Y-Combinator decks): Most founders build decks by copying templates or old examples. This piece shows the repeatable nine-slide structure that appears across real YC startup decks. It breaks down how to present your problem, solution, traction, market, business model, team, and raise clearly - so investors can understand the opportunity in the order they naturally scan for it.

Before VCs invest, they’ll call your customers. But what do they really ask?: Before writing a check, serious investors often call your customers to understand usage, renewal intent, defensibility, buying process, and whether your revenue is truly repeatable. This piece shows founders how to manage that process without burning customer trust - from gating intros to choosing the right references and framing the raise as a decision they are making.

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Third Mind, a Menlo Park, CA-based newly formed venture capital firm, is raising its first fund. According to a SEC form, Third Mind I, LP, has a target of $25m with $5.7m already raised. The document lists Antoine Nivard (formerly at Blank Ventures) as the person related to the raise.

Floating Point, a Boston, and NYC-based early stage venture capital firm investing in complex sectors, closed its third fund, at $125m. Backers included institutional investment firms, endowments and foundations, funds of funds, and the founders and chairmen of major hedge funds and private equity firms. The closing brought total assets under management to more than $300m.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

ChatGPT can now send and manage Apple Messages

• OpenAI has launched an Apple Messages plug-in for ChatGPT, letting users search, organize, analyze, edit, draft, delete, and send messages directly through ChatGPT.

• The integration also works with Codex and ChatGPT Work, enabling tasks such as finding information in old conversations or suggesting follow-up messages based on recent chats.

• OpenAI says the plug-in runs locally and doesn’t create an index of a user’s entire message history, but recommends reviewing messages before they’re sent rather than enabling persistent approval.

Ex-Meta engineer testifies against Zuckerberg

• Arturo Béjar, a former Meta engineer, testified against Mark Zuckerberg in an Oakland federal trial, telling jurors the culture the CEO built made it nearly impossible to fix safety problems on Facebook and Instagram.

• Four state attorneys general, California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey, argue the apps were designed to hook minors, pointing to infinite scrolling, autoplay video, beauty filters, and the “like” button as harmful features.

• Béjar said the safety tools Meta shipped were left as optional settings instead of defaults, so almost nobody used them, while the company denies misleading the public and disputes penalties it says could reach $1.4 trillion.

Meta AI launches Mac app

• Meta has released a beta version of its Meta AI app for the Mac, built mainly for businesses and content creators, with links to Facebook and Instagram plus tools for tracking how posts perform.

• The app can share a window during a session through screen capture to give advice on your work, offers dictation across all Mac apps, and connects to Google Workspace if you have a professional Facebook or Instagram account.

• Meta AI is free, though Meta One plans raise the rate limits, and its privacy policy states that interactions with AI features are used to train Meta’s models, so users may want to be careful.

Marvell to build AI chips for Google

• Marvell has agreed to supply custom AI chips to Google, and in return granted Google the right to buy up to $12.2 billion of Marvell shares, sending the chipmaker’s stock up as much as 14 percent.

• Google earns the right to buy nearly 59 million shares at $206.58 each by placing orders, with each $500 million of chip purchases unlocking more, a deal that could bring Marvell about $120 billion in sales through 2033.

• The chips are parts that attach to Google’s tensor processing units, such as inference accelerators and storage and networking controllers, adding Marvell as a second major supplier alongside Broadcom, whose stock fell around 5 percent.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕ Other News

Robots’ ChatGPT moment nears

• Unitree chief Wang Xingxing told Beijing’s World Robot Conference that humanoid robots are nearing a “ChatGPT moment,” yet warned the breakthrough could take two to three years if all goes well, or five to 10 years if it doesn’t.

• Wang defined the milestone as a robot dropped into an unfamiliar home, taking voice or text orders and finishing about 80% of tasks with no scene-specific training beforehand, a test he calls a tipping point for the field.

• His caution follows Unitree’s Shanghai listing, where shares jumped nearly sixfold before falling 11% the next day, even as Chinese makers shipped over 40,000 humanoids in early 2026 to buyers who are still mostly universities and research labs.

HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES

💼 Today’s VC & Startup Job Opportunities

Most aspiring VCs struggle with interviews, unclear expectations, no structured prep, and generic advice that doesn’t actually help. So we partnered with a leading investor group to build an all-in-one VC Interview Preparation Guide that gives you real clarity and frameworks. (Access Here)

• Associate / Principal, Follow-on Investing - Village Global | USA - Apply Here

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• Financial Management Analyst - Duke Capital Partner | USA - Apply Here

• Investment Principal - Contrarian Thinking Capital | USA - Apply Here

• Financial Management Analyst - Duke Capital Partner | USA - Apply Here

• Senior Associate - Yamaha Motor Venture | USA - Apply Here

• Incubation Associate, Compute - Primary | USA - Apply Here

• Investment Analyst - Mela Venture | India - Apply Here

• Associate or Senior Associate - Bessemer Partner | USA - Apply Here

• Partner 18, Events Associate, Crypto - a16z | USA - Apply Here

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