Breaking News

Apple is reportedly abandoning Vision Pro after weak demand, shifting focus toward cheaper AR glasses and fixing its delayed AI efforts. The move shows even Apple is retreating from expensive bets and doubling down on AI as the next priority.

Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta are set to spend a massive $725B on capex in 2026, driven by surging AI infrastructure demand. The scale shows the real AI race is no longer about models — it’s about owning compute, even as rising chip costs and shortages start squeezing the entire system.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

PRE-SEED

Mosaic SoC, a Zurich, Switzerland-based perception chip startup, raised $3.8M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Founderful, with participation from Kick Foundation.

SEED

Illuminant Surgical, a Los Angeles, CA-based surgical visualization company, raised $8.4M in Seed funding. The round was led by Wing 2 Wing Ventures, with participation from NSF, National Cancer Institute, Soma Capital, and others.

pmtbox, an Orem, UT-based enterprise commerce platform, raised $15M in Seed funding. The round was led by Tandem Ventures, with participation from Element Ventures, Cynosure Investment Partners, and others.

Fermeate, a San Francisco, CA-based industrial biotech startup, raised $2M in Seed funding. The round was led by Newfund Capital, with participation from SOSV, Ajinomoto Ventures, and others.

Dreambase, an Austin, TX-based AI analytics platform, raised $3.7M in Seed funding. The round was led by Felicis Ventures, with participation from multiple investors and angels.

Shiprazor, a Cape Town-based logistics platform, raised $2.65M in Seed funding. The round was led by Norrsken22, with participation from AAIC, E4E, Tremis Capital, and others.

Blomma, a San Francisco, CA-based AI career coaching platform, raised $5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Felicis Ventures, with participation from angel investors.

BioOrbit, a London-based in-space drug manufacturing startup, raised $13.2M in Seed funding. The round was co-led by LocalGlobe and Breega, with participation from Seedcamp, Auxxo, and others.

Dreambase, an Austin-based AI analytics startup, raised $3.7M in Seed funding. The round was led by Felicis Ventures, with participation from others.

Dex, a London-based AI recruiter platform, raised $5.3M in Seed funding. The round was led by Notion Capital, with participation from a16z Speedrun, Concept Ventures, and others.

GROWTH

Netomi, a San Francisco, CA-based customer service AI startup, raised $110M in funding. The round was led by Accenture Ventures, with participation from Adobe Ventures, WndrCo, NAVER Ventures, and others.

Creati Gen AI, a San Francisco-based AI video editing startup, raised $20M in funding. The round was led by Redpoint Ventures.

StudentCrowd, a UK-based student data platform, raised $9M in Series A funding. The round was led by YFM Equity Partners, with participation from Mercia Ventures.

Manifest OS, a NYC-based legal AI platform, raised $60M in Series A funding at a $750M valuation. Backers included Menlo Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, First Round Capital, and Quiet Capital.

Chance Studios, a Los Angeles-based collectibles platform, raised $3.2M in funding. The round was led by Makers Fund and Hashed, with participation from others.

Blockworks, a NYC-based crypto data platform, raised funding in Series A at a $192M valuation. The round was led by ParaFi and Reciprocal Ventures, with participation from multiple investors.

JuliaHub, a Cambridge, MA-based scientific AI company, raised $65M in Series B funding. The round was led by Dorilton Capital, with participation from General Catalyst and others.

Versana, a NYC-based financial data infrastructure company, raised $43M in funding. The round was led by BNP Paribas, with participation from major financial institutions.

Moleculent, a Stockholm-based life sciences company, raised $20M in funding. The round was led by Rubicon Healthcare Partners, with participation from ARCH Venture Partners and others.

Iterative Health, a Cambridge, MA-based healthcare AI company, raised $77M in Series C funding. The round was led by Intrepid Growth Partners and GV, with participation from others.

DISA Technologies, a Wyoming-based mineral processing company, raised $33M in funding. The round was led by Galvanize, with participation from BHP Ventures, Halliburton Labs, and others.

Photon, a NYC-based prescription infrastructure platform, raised $16M in Series A funding. The round was led by Healthier Capital, with participation from others.

Squads, a NYC-based financial infrastructure company, raised $18M in funding. The round was led by Solana Ventures, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Electric Capital, and others.

Rocsys, a Netherlands-based EV automation company, raised $13M in Series A extension funding. The round was led by Capricorn Partners, with participation from others.

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

137 Ventures, a U.S.-based growth-stage VC firm founded by Justin Fishner-Wolfson, has raised $700M across two new funds to back high-impact startups. The firm focuses on sectors like AI, defense, and industrial systems, and has invested in companies like SpaceX, Anduril, Cognition, and Hadrian Automation, continuing its strategy of doubling down on breakout late-stage bets.

BMW i Ventures, the venture arm of BMW AG, has raised a $300M fund to invest in early to Series B startups across North America and Europe. Led by managing partners Marcus Behrendt and Kasper Sage, the fund will focus on AI-driven technologies including agentic AI, robotics, autonomous vehicles, and industrial software, bringing total AUM to $1.1B.

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KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

Apple hits record sales as Tim Cook steps down, but chip shortage looms

• Apple reported a record $111.2B March quarter, with strong iPhone demand — especially for the latest lineup — under Tim Cook’s final stretch as CEO.

• But rising memory chip costs (driven by AI demand) are becoming a serious risk, with Cook warning of “significantly higher” costs ahead — potentially impacting margins and supply.

• Incoming CEO John Ternus may face tough decisions, including possible iPhone price increases, as supply chain pressure intensifies.

OpenAI launches advanced account security for ChatGPT with Yubico partnership

• OpenAI introduced Advanced Account Security (AAS) for ChatGPT, adding stronger protections against phishing — especially for high-risk users like journalists, researchers, and enterprise teams.

• In partnership with Yubico, the company is rolling out hardware-based login via YubiKeys (C NFC and C Nano), enabling physical authentication for accounts.

• While significantly more secure, there’s a tradeoff: if users lose the hardware key, account recovery may be impossible — raising the stakes for protecting access.

Anthropic’s $900B valuation round could close within two weeks

• Anthropic is fast-tracking a ~$50B fundraise, asking investors to submit allocations within 48 hours — with the round expected to close in ~2 weeks.

• The target valuation is ~$900B, but strong investor demand could push it even higher — potentially surpassing OpenAI’s ~$852B valuation.

• This is likely Anthropic’s final private round before IPO, aimed at funding massive compute needs, with revenue run rate already ~$30–40B.

Elon Musk admits xAI partly trained Grok using OpenAI models

• Elon Musk testified that xAI used “distillation” techniques on OpenAI models to help train Grok — saying it’s a common industry practice.

• Distillation involves querying existing AI systems to replicate their behavior, raising concerns among companies like Anthropic and OpenAI about losing their competitive edge.

• The admission comes during Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI, adding irony as labs increasingly accuse each other (and others) of leveraging their models to build competing systems.

Meta’s business AI hits 10M weekly conversations as usage surges

• Meta says its business AI tools now handle 10 million conversations per week, up from just 1 million earlier this year — driven by expansion across global markets.

• CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed the tools are currently free to drive adoption, but monetization is coming as usage scales.

• Meta is also seeing strong traction in AI ads: 8M+ advertisers are using GenAI tools, with features like video generation boosting conversion rates — signaling early revenue upside.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕ Other News

White House blocks Anthropic Mythos expansion

• The White House has pushed back on Anthropic’s plan to widen access to its Mythos AI model to around 70 companies and organizations, according to an administration official who spoke anonymously on Wednesday night.

• US officials worry Anthropic lacks the computing power to serve more Mythos users without hurting the government’s own use of the model, which the company says is strong enough to enable dangerous cyberattacks.

• Mythos, unveiled in early April, can reportedly detect and exploit vulnerabilities in critical software, and a small group of unauthorized users on a private online forum gained access the same day Anthropic announced its limited release plan.

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Breaking News

Anthropic is reportedly raising up to $50B at a ~$900B valuation, driven by explosive growth in its coding tools and enterprise demand. The scale of the round shows how the AI race is consolidating into a two-player battle at the top alongside OpenAI.

SoftBank is planning a robotics-led data center startup with ambitions for a $100B IPO, aiming to automate how AI infrastructure itself is built. The move highlights a deeper shift — the biggest opportunity in AI may not be models, but the systems and infrastructure powering them.

STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

PRE-SEED

TrialClinIQ, a Houston, TX-based AI-powered clinical trial recruitment platform, raised $150K in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Caduceus Capital Partners.

SEED

General Analysis, a San Francisco, CA-based security infrastructure platform for agentic AI, raised $10M in Seed funding. The round was led by Altos Ventures, with participation from 645 Ventures, Menlo Ventures, Y Combinator, and others.

SkyfireAI, a Huntsville, AL-based autonomous drone operations company, raised $11M in Seed funding. The round was led by Mucker Capital, with participation from AI Fund, SaaS Ventures, Halogen, and others.

Crazy Mountain, a Los Angeles, CA-based non-alcoholic beer brand, raised $15M in Seed funding. The round was led by CAVU Consumer Partners, with participation from Coatue and Discovery Land Company.

Certifyde, a NYC-based AI adoption platform, raised $2M in Seed funding. Backers included K5 Global, Flamingo Capital, and angel investors.

All3, a Zug, Switzerland-based robotics platform for construction, raised $25M in Seed funding. The round was led by RTP Global, with participation from SuperSeed, Begin Capital, s16vc, and VNV Global.

TIES, an Austin, TX-based men’s wellness brand, raised $1.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by HumanCo.

GROWTH

Hightouch, a San Francisco, CA-based data and AI platform for marketing, raised $150M in Series D funding at a $2.75B valuation. The round was led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives and Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from Iconiq Capital, Sapphire Ventures, Amplify Partners, Y Combinator, and others.

viteSicure, a Milan-based insurtech startup, raised €2.5M in Series A funding. Backers included Ad4Ventures, Gruppo MFE, and Net Insurance.

OpenObserve, a Menlo Park, CA-based observability platform, raised $10M in Series A funding. The round was led by Nexus Venture Partners and Dell Technologies Capital.

Fence, a NYC-based asset-backed finance infrastructure platform, raised $20M in funding. The round was led by Galaxy Ventures, with participation from ParaFi Capital and Crane Ventures Partners.

Rogo, a NYC-based AI platform for finance, raised $160M in Series D funding. The round was led by Kleiner Perkins, with participation from Sequoia, Thrive Capital, Khosla Ventures, and others.

Chord, a NYC-based commerce AI platform, raised $7M in funding. The round was led by Equal Ventures, with participation from M13, Chingona Ventures, and CEAS Investments.

definity, a Chicago-based agentic data engineering platform, raised $12M in Series A funding. The round was led by GreatPoint Ventures, with participation from Dynatrace and existing investors.

Aidoc, a NYC-based clinical AI company, raised $150M in Series E funding. The round was led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives, with participation from General Catalyst, SoftBank, and others.

Tacalyx, a Berlin-based biotech company, raised €11M in Seed extension funding. Backers included Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, Kurma Partners, HTGF, Eurazeo, and others.

Vivacta Biotechnology, a Shanghai-based biotech company, raised $50M+ across Series A and A+ funding. The rounds were led by Loyal Valley Capital and Decheng Capital, with participation from OrbiMed, Qiming Venture Partners, and others.

Parallel Web Systems, a Palo Alto-based AI infrastructure company, raised $100M in Series B funding at a $2B valuation. The round was led by Sequoia Capital, with participation from Kleiner Perkins, Index Ventures, Khosla Ventures, and others.

Scout AI, a Sunnyvale-based defense tech company, raised $100M in Series A funding. The round was co-led by Align Ventures and Draper Associates, with participation from multiple investors.

Hypervision Surgical, a London-based surgical imaging company, raised £17M in Series A funding. Backers included Angelini Ventures, Redalpine, ZEISS Ventures, and others.

Zamp, a NYC-based sales tax OS platform, raised funding led by Acrew Capital, with participation from Thomson Reuters Ventures.

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

BMW i Ventures, the venture arm of BMW AG, has raised a $300M fund to invest in early to Series B startups across North America and Europe. Led by managing partners Marcus Behrendt and Kasper Sage, the fund will focus on AI-driven technologies including agentic AI, robotics, autonomous vehicles, and industrial software, bringing total AUM to $1.1B.

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KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

Meta continues to burn billions on AR/VR as AI spending surges

• Meta lost another $4B on its Reality Labs division this quarter, bringing total losses to over $83B since 2021 — roughly $4B per quarter on average.

• Despite strong profits, Meta is ramping up AI spending even more aggressively, projecting $125B–$145B in capex for 2026 to compete with OpenAI and Anthropic.

• The bigger takeaway: Meta is shifting from its costly metaverse bet to an even more expensive AI race, where compute demand and infrastructure costs continue to exceed expectations.

Satya Nadella says Microsoft is ready to capitalize on new OpenAI deal

• Satya Nadella says Microsoft retains full access to OpenAI models and IP through 2032 — now without paying royalties, calling it a clear win.

• Despite losing exclusivity, Microsoft still benefits heavily: OpenAI remains a massive Azure customer (committed ~$250B spend), and Microsoft holds ~27% equity in the company.

• Nadella emphasized a bigger shift: enterprises don’t want one model — they want multiple. Microsoft is positioning itself as the “model marketplace” across OpenAI, Anthropic, and open-source AI.

Elon Musk says OpenAI betrayed its mission

• Elon Musk told jurors in an Oakland federal court that OpenAI abandoned its founding mission when it shifted from a charity to a for-profit company, arguing the pivot amounts to “stealing a charity” and sets a dangerous precedent.

• OpenAI’s lawyer William Savitt countered that Musk himself pushed to restructure OpenAI as a for-profit in 2017 and wanted majority control, saying the lawsuit is really an attempt to hobble a rival to Musk’s own AI company, xAI.

• The three-week trial could reshape OpenAI as it approaches a trillion-dollar valuation and a planned public offering, with Musk seeking a court order to unwind the October for-profit conversion that gave Microsoft a 27% stake and the nonprofit 26%.

China halts new self-driving permits after Baidu outage

• China has stopped issuing new licenses for autonomous vehicles after more than 100 Baidu Apollo Go robotaxis suddenly stalled on the streets of Wuhan on March 31, stranding passengers and snarling city traffic.

• Three agencies including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology met with officials from robotaxi pilot cities, calling for a full self-review and better safety monitoring, with no clear end date for the suspension.

• The freeze blocks companies from adding robotaxis, starting test projects, or expanding to new cities, and it covers level four vehicles, sending Baidu, Pony AI, and WeRide shares lower in Wednesday trading.

Parallel Web Systems hits $2B valuation just months after last round

• Parallel Web Systems, founded by Parag Agrawal, raised $100M at a $2B valuation (led by Sequoia), just five months after its $740M valuation Series A — showing massive investor confidence.

• The startup builds web search and research APIs for AI agents, with customers like Clay, Harvey, Notion, and Opendoor, and claims 100,000+ developers using its tools.

• The rapid valuation jump reflects a broader trend: infrastructure for AI agents (not just models) is becoming one of the hottest and most investable layers in the AI stack.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕ Other News

Google Cloud crosses $20B but growth limited by compute constraints

• Google Cloud surpassed $20B in quarterly revenue (up 63% YoY), driven largely by strong demand for AI products like Gemini Enterprise and TPU-based infrastructure.

• CEO Sundar Pichai admitted growth could have been even higher, but the business is currently “compute constrained,” with demand outpacing available capacity.

• The backlog has surged to $462B, highlighting a key trend: in the AI era, growth is no longer limited by demand — it’s limited by infrastructure.

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Breaking News

Google employees are pushing CEO Sundar Pichai to reject a Pentagon AI deal, warning it could lead to military misuse despite policy safeguards. The tension shows how internal resistance is becoming a real force in shaping how Big Tech participates in defense AI.

Amazon quickly moved to host OpenAI models on AWS after Microsoft lost exclusivity, adding tools like Codex and agent systems to Bedrock. This signals a major shift — cloud giants are no longer just partners but direct competitors in the AI platform war.

STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

PRE-SEED

Sonibel Instruments, a Vancouver, Canada-based acoustic sensor startup, raised $1.6M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Maple VC, with participation from Champion Hill Ventures, Dorm Room Fund, and angels.

Tapaya, a Prague-based payments infrastructure startup, raised €1M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Passion Capital and Depo Ventures, with participation from BADideas.fund.

Cnuic Technologies, an Edinburgh-based optical systems company, raised $3M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Tensor Ventures and Blank Space Ventures, with participation from Silicon Roundabout Ventures, Phasechange, SANDS, and Superlative.

SEED

Redpine, a Stockholm-based data platform for agentic AI, raised €6.8M in Seed funding. The round was led by NordicNinja, with participation from Luminar Ventures, node.vc, and strategic angels.

dehaze, a Munich-based AI healthtech startup, raised €3.2M in Seed funding. The round was led by YZR Capital and DN Capital, with participation from Angel Invest, Zoho, and Better Ventures.

Marloo, a London-based AI platform for financial advisers, raised $10M in Seed funding. The round was led by Blackbird Ventures.

GROWTH

Actively, a NYC-based go-to-market platform, raised $45M in Series B funding. The round was co-led by TCV and First Harmonic, with participation from Bain Capital Ventures, First Round Capital, and Alkeon.

IC Realtime, a Florida-based security tech company, raised $2M in Series A funding. The round was led by John Hatherly.

Clarasight, a NYC-based enterprise travel AI platform, raised $11.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by AlleyCorp, with participation from multiple investors.

Coultreon Biopharma, a Belgium-based biotech company, raised $125M in Series A funding. The round was led by Sofinnova Investments, Forbion, and Novo Holdings, with participation from others.

Golden Child, a Miami-based dog food brand, raised $37M in funding. Backers included Atomic, A, and Redpoint Ventures*.

Performativ, a Copenhagen-based wealth management OS, raised $14M in Series A funding. The round was led by Deutsche Börse Group, with participation from others.

Liquid Instruments, a San Diego-based test solutions company, raised $50M in Series C funding. The round was co-led by Keysight Technologies and NRFC.

True Anomaly, a Colorado-based defense tech company, raised $650M in Series D funding. The round was led by Eclipse and Riot Ventures, with participation from multiple investors.

OpenLight, a California-based photonics company, raised $50M in Series A funding. The round was led by Matter Venture Partners, with participation from others.

Windmill, a NYC-based performance review platform, raised $12M in funding. The round was led by Inspired Capital, with participation from others.

Quantum Art, an Israel-based quantum computing company, raised $140M in Series A extension funding. The round was led by Bedford Ridge Capital, with participation from multiple investors.

Audion, a Paris-based AI audio advertising startup, raised $15M in Series B funding. Backers included Founders Future, Elevation Capital, and Bpifrance.

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Mighty Capital, a San Francisco, CA-based venture capital firm specializing in product-led investing, closed Fund III, at $91m. The vehicle is backed by The Blackstone Group, on behalf of its clients, alongside existing limited partners and new institutional investors, including a Northern California public pension plan.

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📜 Latest In Tech

Google is testing AI chatbot search for YouTube

• Google is trying out an AI Mode-style conversational search for YouTube, and the experiment is open now to YouTube Premium subscribers in the US who are 18 or older, with plans to expand it to other users.

• An “Ask YouTube” button in the search bar brings up a page that mixes summary text, bulleted milestones, timestamped longform videos, Shorts galleries, and suggested follow-up prompts related to what you searched for.

• In a test about Valve’s new Steam Controller, Ask YouTube got the basics right but incorrectly said the old Steam Controller had no joysticks, a reminder that these AI-built result pages can include factual errors.

Elon Musk says OpenAI was his idea, before executives looted it

• Elon Musk testified that he founded OpenAI as a nonprofit for humanity, accusing leaders like Sam Altman and Greg Brockman of turning it into a profit-driven company.

• Musk is seeking $150B in damages and wants OpenAI to revert to a nonprofit, while OpenAI argues Musk pushed for control and only sued after losing influence.

• The trial — which also involves Microsoft — could impact OpenAI’s IPO plans and reshape public perception of AI leadership and governance.

Chinese tech giants rush to secure Huawei AI chips after DeepSeek V4 launch

• Demand for Huawei’s Ascend 950 chips has surged after DeepSeek optimized its V4 model to run on them, triggering a scramble from firms like ByteDance, Tencent, and Alibaba.

• The shift reflects China’s push toward AI self-reliance, as U.S. export restrictions limit access to advanced Nvidia chips — creating a major opportunity for domestic alternatives.

• Despite strong demand, supply constraints remain, with Huawei expected to ship ~750,000 units this year, highlighting how chip shortages continue to shape the global AI race.

Meta signs space solar power deal

• Meta has struck a deal with startup Overview Energy for up to 1 gigawatt of solar energy collected in space, aiming to power its artificial intelligence data centers through satellites that orbit Earth and beam electricity back.

• Overview Energy plans to gather sunlight using satellites orbiting Earth and convert it into electricity that can support the grid, offering Meta a new source to meet its growing demand for power.

• The 1 gigawatt volume from the agreement is roughly equal to the output of a single nuclear reactor, showing the scale Meta is chasing as it hunts for ways to feed its data centers.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕ Other News

EU orders Google to open Android to AI rivals

• The European Commission has told Google it must open up Android so rival AI services can match what Gemini does on the phones, a decision that came out of a specification proceeding started in January.

• Gemini currently gets special treatment at the system level on any Google-powered Android phone, and the commission says too many Android experiences only work with Google’s AI, which must change.

• The order comes from the Digital Markets Act, which labels seven dominant firms as “gatekeepers,” and the commission may force Google to make the Android AI changes this summer despite Google calling it “unwarranted intervention.”

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Breaking News

DeepSeek’s V4 model failed to excite markets despite technical improvements, as rapid progress and rising competition from rivals like Kimi and Qwen have made new AI launches feel less surprising. The bigger shift is strategic — China is pushing toward AI self-reliance by optimizing models for domestic chips, reducing dependence on U.S. tech.

OpenAI is planning an AI-first smartphone to rival Apple’s iPhone, aiming to control both hardware and software for real-time AI agent experiences. The move signals a major shift — from building models to owning the entire user interface layer, where AI can access context like location, activity, and communication in real time.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

PRE-SEED

Outcraft AI, a Vilnius, Lithuania-based AI inbound sales automation platform, raised €2M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Practica Capital.

Magicare.ai, a Bergenfield, NJ-based agentic OS for post-acute care, raised $3.6M in Pre-Seed funding. Backers included Mana Ventures.

Linexa, a Munich, Germany-based industrial tech startup, raised €2M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Project A, with participation from Thomas Böck, Bastian Nominacher, and Christian Schlögel.

Atech, a Copenhagen, Denmark-based AI hardware startup, raised an undisclosed amount in Pre-Seed funding. Backers included Nordic Makers, Emblem, Lovable, Sequoia Scout Fund, and Andreessen Horowitz Scout Fund.

SEED

Clarity Labs, a Gurugram, India-based skincare brand, raised $425K+ in Seed funding. The round was led by Artha Venture Fund, with participation from angel investors.

Lola, a Bahrain-based cake ordering platform, raised $3M in Seed funding. The round was led by Vision Ventures, with participation from Aljazira Capital, Seedra Ventures, Plus VC, and others.

TriFetch, a San Francisco, CA-based AI automation platform for clinics, raised $1.9M in funding. The round was led by Nexus Venture Partners, with participation from angels.

Betterness, a Miami, FL-based wellness platform, raised $2.5M in Seed funding. Backers included Martin Varsavsky, Justin Stone, Mark Rosenbloom, and others.

Iridius, a Seattle, WA-based compliance AI platform, raised $8.6M in Seed funding. The round was led by Chalfen Ventures, with participation from Osage Venture Partners, Accenture Ventures, and Rock Yard Ventures.

GROWTH

QuoIntelligence, a Frankfurt-based risk intelligence company, raised €7.3M in Series A funding. The round was led by ElevatorVentures and BMH, with participation from eCapital and Mercurius Private Equity.

Sereact, a Stuttgart-based AI robotics startup, raised $110M in Series B funding. The round was led by Headline, with participation from Bullhound Capital, Daphni, Felix Capital, and others.

Kashable, a NYC-based fintech platform, raised $60M in Series C funding. The round was led by Goldman Sachs Alternatives, with participation from Revolution Ventures and EJF Ventures.

Avoca, a NYC-based AI platform for the services economy, raised funding at a $1B valuation in Series B. The round was led by Meritech and General Catalyst.

Fathom Therapeutics, a NYC-based AI drug discovery company, raised $47M in Series A funding. The round was led by Sutter Hill Ventures, with participation from Chemistry and Alexandria Venture Investments.

SquareMind, a Paris-based robotics dermatology startup, raised $18M in funding. The round was led by Sonder Capital and Fred Moll, with participation from multiple investors.

Nervonik, a Los Angeles-based medical device company, raised $52.5M in Series B funding. The round was led by Amzak Health, with participation from USVP, Lumira Ventures, and others.

LighthouseAI, a Los Angeles-based pharma compliance platform, raised $8M in Series A funding. The round was led by Boxcars Ventures, with participation from TGVP.

ComfyUI, a San Francisco-based generative AI workflow platform, raised $30M in funding at a $500M valuation. The round was led by Craft, with participation from Pace Capital, Chemistry, TruArrow, and others.

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NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Mighty Capital, a San Francisco, CA-based venture capital firm specializing in product-led investing, closed Fund III, at $91m. The vehicle is backed by The Blackstone Group, on behalf of its clients, alongside existing limited partners and new institutional investors, including a Northern California public pension plan.

Oncology Ventures, an Austin, TX-based venture capital firm investing in startups transforming cancer care, closed its $62m Fund II. The Fund is anchored by Texas Oncology, a large physician-led oncology-focused practice, Moffitt Cancer Center, City of Hope, Atlantic Health, and Cardinal Health, Texas Oncology, Fred Hutch Cancer Center, and other institutions.

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KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

OpenAI ends Microsoft legal peril over its $50B Amazon deal

• OpenAI and Microsoft have reworked their partnership, ending Microsoft’s exclusive rights to OpenAI’s models and setting a clear timeline through 2032.

• This resolves legal tensions tied to OpenAI’s $50B deal with Amazon, allowing OpenAI to offer its products across multiple cloud providers instead of being locked to Azure.

• Microsoft still benefits via revenue sharing and its ~27% stake, while enterprises gain flexibility to choose models and cloud providers as competition between Azure, AWS, and others intensifies.

Deepmind veteran david silver raises $1.1B to build a new kind of AI

• Ineffable Intelligence, founded by David Silver (ex-DeepMind), raised $1.1B at a $5.1B valuation to build a “superlearner” — an AI that learns without human data using reinforcement learning.

• The goal: move beyond LLMs by training systems through trial-and-error (like AlphaZero), enabling AI to discover knowledge independently rather than learning from human-generated datasets.

• Backed by top investors (Sequoia, Lightspeed, Google, Nvidia), this signals a new frontier in AI — shifting from data-driven models to self-learning systems, with London emerging as a major AI hub.

China blocks meta’s $2B manus acquisition

• Meta’s $2B acquisition of Manus has been blocked by China’s top regulator (NDRC), which ordered the deal to be fully unwound despite months of integration work.

• Manus, an agentic AI startup founded by Chinese engineers and later moved to Singapore, was central to Meta’s push into AI agents — making this a strategic setback in one of AI’s fastest-growing categories.

• The move highlights rising geopolitical friction in AI: cross-border deals are now being scrutinized not just for capital flow, but for control over advanced AI technologies and talent.

Musk is about to launch his 'everything app'

• Elon Musk is about to roll out X Money, a banking and payments platform that turns X into the “everything app” he promised when he renamed Twitter in 2023, according to Bloomberg.

• The finance feature will reportedly offer a savings account with 6 per cent interest and 3 per cent cashback on some transactions, building on a Visa partnership announced last year for a digital wallet and peer-to-peer payments.

• The launch will be limited because X still lacks licences in key states like Massachusetts and New York, and Senator Elizabeth Warren has written to Musk raising concerns about scams, fraud, and data privacy on the platform.

Meta signs space solar power deal

• Meta has struck a deal with startup Overview Energy for up to 1 gigawatt of solar energy collected in space, aiming to power its artificial intelligence data centers through satellites that orbit Earth and beam electricity back.

• Overview Energy plans to gather sunlight using satellites orbiting Earth and convert it into electricity that can support the grid, offering Meta a new source to meet its growing demand for power.

• The 1 gigawatt volume from the agreement is roughly equal to the output of a single nuclear reactor, showing the scale Meta is chasing as it hunts for ways to feed its data centers.

OpenAI misses growth targets ahead of IPO push

• OpenAI has fallen short of internal revenue and user growth targets, with slower ChatGPT expansion and missed goals like hitting 1B weekly active users.

• CFO Sarah Friar reportedly raised concerns about whether the company can sustain its massive data center and compute spending if growth doesn’t accelerate.

• Increased competition from Anthropic — especially in coding and enterprise markets — is adding pressure as OpenAI races toward a potential IPO.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕ Other News

John Ternus to launch 10 new Apple products

• Incoming Apple CEO John Ternus is set to roll out ten new products during his tenure, starting with the iPhone 18 Pro, 18 Pro Max, and the company’s first foldable iPhone at the September hardware event.

• Beyond the iPhone Fold, Mark Gurman reports that Apple’s pipeline includes a Smart Home Hub, a Tabletop Robot with a 9-inch screen on a robotic arm, a Home Security System, smart glasses, and AirPods with cameras.

• Also on the list are an AI Pendant worn as a necklace, a touchscreen MacBook with an OLED display due in late 2026 or early 2027, lightweight AR glasses, and a foldable iPad with a 20-inch screen that may be scrapped.

HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES

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• Venture Scout - First Momentum Venture | UK - Apply Here

• Analyst, Global Investment Team - 500 Global | USA - Apply Here

• Associate, Data Operations - Iconiq Capital | USA - Apply Here

• Investor - AI - Samsung Next | USA - Apply Here

• Finance Associate - RA Capital | USA - Apply Here

• Fund Controller - NFX | USA - Apply Here

• Vice President, Investor Relations - General Atlantic - Apply Here

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Breaking News

Samsung may face its first-ever smartphone loss in 2026 despite strong Galaxy sales, as rising memory costs crush margins. The real issue isn’t demand — it’s AI, with chips like those from Nvidia consuming massive amounts of DRAM and driving prices up. This shows how the AI boom is quietly reshaping entire industries, even hurting giants that aren’t directly in the AI race.

Google plans to invest up to $40B in Anthropic to lock in massive compute via its cloud infrastructure. The move highlights how the real AI race is shifting from models to compute dominance, with Big Tech fighting to control the backbone powering next-gen AI systems.

STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

PRE-SEED

QMatter, a London, UK-based quantum compression startup, raised $1.2M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by 55 North, with participation from XTX Ventures, Bellstate Oy, and Conception X Angel Syndicate.

Quillon, a Sofia, Bulgaria-based AI accounting platform, raised $1.5M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by 42CAP, with participation from angel investors.

SEED

Iridius, a Seattle, WA-based compliance-by-design AI platform, raised $8.6M in Seed funding. The round was led by Chalfen Ventures, with participation from Osage Venture Partners, Accenture Ventures, and Rock Yard Ventures.

TheStorage, a Tampere, Finland-based thermal energy storage company, raised €3.6M in Seed funding. The round was led by Voima Ventures, with participation from Superhero Capital, 2C Ventures, and Momentum Partners.

RE Joule (VREY), a Berlin, Germany-based solar solutions startup, raised €3.3M in Seed funding. The round was led by Rubio Impact Ventures, with participation from High-Tech Gründerfonds and Kopa Ventures.

Nava, a blockchain startup building guardrails for the agentic economy, raised $8.3M in Seed funding. The round was led by Polychain and Archetype.

Astor, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-native investment advisory platform, raised $5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Monashees, with participation from Y Combinator, Goodwater Capital, Gilgamesh Ventures, 468 Capital, Valutia, Sunshine Lake, and others.

GROWTH

Subbyx, a Milan, Italy-based subscription infrastructure platform, raised a Series A round bringing total funding to €50M. The round was led by Systemiq Capital, with participation from Azimut and Flashpoint.

LightFury Games, a Bengaluru-based AAA game-tech studio, raised $11M in Pre-Series A funding. Backers included Blume, V3 Ventures, MIXI, Times Internet, and others.

Minish Technology, a Los Angeles, CA-based dental health-tech company, raised $22M in funding. The round was led by VIG Partners.

Smart Robotics, an Eindhoven-based AI robotics company, raised €10M in Series A funding. The round was led by Rotterdamse Havendraken, with participation from Innovation Industries and Ernij Next.

Decade Energy, a Paris-based power infrastructure startup, raised €22M in funding. The round was led by Eiffel Investment Group and SET Ventures, with participation from Ananda Impact Ventures and Contrarian Ventures.

HrFlow.ai, a Paris-based AI HR data company, raised $7M in Pre-Series A funding. The round was led by 115K and EmergingTech Ventures, with participation from multiple angels.

Atmos Space Cargo, a Germany-based orbital transport company, raised €25.7M in Series A funding. The round was led by Balnord and Expansion, with participation from Keen Defence and Security.

Univity, a France-based satellite internet infrastructure startup, raised $32M in Series A funding. The round was led by Bpifrance, with participation from Blast and Expansion.

Signit, a Riyadh-based digital signature platform, raised $15M in Series A funding. The round was led by Raed Ventures, with participation from STV, Seedra Ventures, Takamol Ventures, and Suhail Ventures.

Verda (DataCrunch), a Helsinki-based AI infrastructure company, raised $117M in funding. The round was led by Lifeline Ventures, with participation from byFounders, Tesi, Varma, and others.

QUICK HITS

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• Useful Data: 350+ Indian angel investors & venture capital firms contact database (Email + LinkedIn Link) (Link)

• Trends with Benefits: Stanford AI Index Report reveals: Is AI progress plateauing or quietly compounding? (Link)

• Founder Resource: Investor outreach email sequence pack: 20+ proven templates used & approved by VCs (Link)

• From Social: Khosla Venture’s Guide: Pitch the way VCs think. (Link)

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Mighty Capital, a San Francisco, CA-based venture capital firm specializing in product-led investing, closed Fund III, at $91m. The vehicle is backed by The Blackstone Group, on behalf of its clients, alongside existing limited partners and new institutional investors, including a Northern California public pension plan.

Oncology Ventures, an Austin, TX-based venture capital firm investing in startups transforming cancer care, closed its $62m Fund II. The Fund is anchored by Texas Oncology, a large physician-led oncology-focused practice, Moffitt Cancer Center, City of Hope, Atlantic Health, and Cardinal Health, Texas Oncology, Fred Hutch Cancer Center, and other institutions.

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KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

Thinking Machines hires Meta talent as AI talent war intensifies

• Thinking Machines Lab is aggressively hiring researchers from Meta, including key engineers and leaders behind major AI projects.

• The startup recently secured a multibillion dollar cloud deal with Google and access to advanced Nvidia chips, boosting its infrastructure capabilities.

• With a $12 billion valuation and growing team, Thinking Machines is emerging as a serious competitor in the AI talent and research race.

Tesla starts Cybercab robotaxi production

• Tesla has begun making its Cybercab robotaxi, though Elon Musk warned on the earnings call that production will be slow through the rest of the year before picking up speed in late 2026 and beyond.

• Musk sounded unusually cautious about the robotaxi rollout, citing the need for rigorous validation, even though Tesla has reported 14 crashes to federal regulators since the Austin launch and routinely redacts details about what happened.

• The Cybercab lacks a steering wheel, pedals, and mirrors, but Tesla says it won’t be subject to the 2,500-vehicle federal cap because the company is self-certifying that it meets existing safety standards, similar to Zoox.

DeepSeek launches V4 models aiming to close gap with top AI systems

• DeepSeek introduced V4 Flash and V4 Pro models with up to 1.6 trillion parameters, positioning them among the largest open weight models.

• The models show strong reasoning and coding performance, competing with systems from OpenAI and Google, though still slightly behind in knowledge benchmarks.

• DeepSeek is aggressively undercutting rivals on pricing, offering significantly cheaper inference costs while narrowing the performance gap with frontier AI models.

Meta signs major deal with Amazon for AI CPUs amid shift beyond GPUs

• Meta will use millions of AI focused CPUs from Amazon’s AWS Graviton chips to support its growing AI workloads.

• The deal reflects a shift toward CPUs for agent driven tasks like reasoning and coordination, beyond traditional GPU heavy model training.

• Move strengthens Amazon’s position in AI infrastructure as it competes with Google and Nvidia in the evolving chip landscape.

OpenAI launches GPT 5.5 as it moves closer to AI super app vision

• OpenAI introduced GPT 5.5 with improved reasoning, speed, and performance across coding, research, and enterprise use cases.

• The model is a step toward a unified “super app” combining ChatGPT, Codex, and browser based AI tools into a single platform.

• GPT 5.5 outperforms models from Google and Anthropic on several benchmarks, expanding capabilities in science, cybersecurity, and knowledge work.

Judge drops Musk fraud claims against OpenAI

• A federal judge has thrown out Elon Musk’s fraud claims against OpenAI and Sam Altman, though the lawsuit will still head to trial on his separate accusations of breach of charitable trust and unjust enrichment.

• Jury selection is set to start Monday, with opening arguments following on Tuesday, kicking off a closely watched courtroom fight between Musk and the company he helped launch before his departure.

• Musk is asking for $150 billion in damages, with the money going to OpenAI’s charitable arm rather than to him personally, tying the claim to the nonprofit mission behind the original organization.

Anthropic tests AI agents negotiating real marketplace deals

• Anthropic ran Project Deal, a pilot where AI agents acted as buyers and sellers, completing 186 transactions worth over $4,000.

• More advanced models achieved better deal outcomes, but users often failed to notice differences, highlighting potential “agent quality” gaps.

• Experiment shows early potential for agent driven commerce, where AI can autonomously negotiate and execute transactions.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕ Other News

Truecaller faces slowing growth as competition intensifies

• Truecaller is seeing slowing growth, especially in India, as telecom providers and platforms like Apple and Google build native caller ID and spam features.

• Downloads are declining while ad revenue faces pressure due to dependence on partners, though in app purchases and enterprise services continue to grow.

• Company is expanding AI features, subscriptions, and business offerings, but long term growth depends on adapting to platform level competition and privacy concerns.

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)

• Partner 18, Healthcare - a16z | USA - Apply Here

• Associate - DN Capital | Germany - Apply Here

• Investment Intern - DTCP | UK - Apply Here

• Venture Scout - First Momentum Venture | UK - Apply Here

• Analyst, Global Investment Team - 500 Global | USA - Apply Here

• Associate, Data Operations - Iconiq Capital | USA - Apply Here

• Investor - AI - Samsung Next | USA - Apply Here

• Finance Associate - RA Capital | USA - Apply Here

• Fund Controller - NFX | USA - Apply Here

• Vice President, Investor Relations - General Atlantic - Apply Here

• Senior Associate - RA Capital | USA - Apply Here

• PE & VC Partner Manager - Dealhub | UK - Apply Here

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Breaking News

OpenAI launched GPT-5.5 with better reasoning and speed, but the bigger play is building a single AI “super app” that combines ChatGPT, coding, and browsing into one platform. The move signals a shift from standalone tools to an all-in-one AI workspace competing directly with Google and Anthropic.

Sony built a table tennis robot that can beat elite players by tracking spin, speed, and movement in real time. It shows AI is no longer just software — but starting to outperform humans in complex real-world physical tasks.

STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

PRE-SEED

Maxed, a Miami, FL-based AI operating system for CPA firms, raised $850K in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Focal VC, with participation from Akshay Kothari.

Brev, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-native business performance OS, raised $3.3M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Resolute Ventures, with participation from shuckerVC, Duro VC, Gaingels, and FOG Ventures.

Bubble Robotics, a Paris, France-based autonomous ocean robotics company, raised $5M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Episode 1 Ventures, Asterion Ventures, and Norrsken Evolve.

SEED

Astor, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-native investment advisory platform, raised $5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Monashees, with participation from Y Combinator, Goodwater Capital, Gilgamesh Ventures, 468 Capital, Valutia, Sunshine Lake, and others.

Cloneable, a Raleigh, NC-based AI infrastructure automation company, raised $4.6M in Seed funding. The round was led by Congruent Ventures, with participation from First In, Overline, St. Elmo Venture Capital, and Bull City Venture Partners.

Almanac Health, a Boston, MA-based clinical AI platform, raised $10M in Seed funding. The round was led by F-Prime, with participation from General Catalyst and Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Rilian, a McLean, VA-based AI-native cybersecurity platform, raised $17.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by 8VC, First In, and Tamarack Global, with participation from others.

Band, a San Francisco, CA-based multi-agent systems platform, raised $17M in Seed funding. Backers included Sierra Ventures, Hetz Ventures, and Team8.

Copperhelm, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based cloud security startup, raised $7M in Seed funding. The round was led by TLV Partners, with participation from toDay Ventures, ICON, and SaaS Ventures Israel.

Ferrosa Therapeutics, a Basel, Switzerland-based biotech company, raised $3.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Forty51 Ventures.

DOJO AI, a London & Lisbon-based agentic marketing platform, raised $6M in Seed funding. The round was led by Armilar, with participation from Heartfelt VC.

GROWTH

PvX Partners, a Singapore-based fintech platform, raised $10.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by T-Accelerate Capital, with participation from Z Venture Capital, Drive by DraftKings, Play Ventures, and General Catalyst.

Orkes, a Santa Clara, CA-based workflow orchestration platform, raised $60M in Series B funding. The round was led by AVP, with participation from Prosperity7 Ventures, Nexus Venture Partners, Battery Ventures, and Vertex Ventures US.

Petual, a San Francisco, CA-based AI audit and compliance platform, raised $20M in funding. Backers included Andreessen Horowitz, First Round Capital, Cowboy Ventures, and Elad Gil.

Omni, a San Francisco, CA-based AI analytics platform, raised $120M in Series C funding at a $1.5B valuation. The round was led by ICONIQ, with participation from Theory Ventures, First Round Capital, Redpoint Ventures, and GV.

Zócalo Health, a Kenmore, WA-based primary care platform, raised $15M in Series A funding. The round was led by EO Ventures, with participation from Talipot and existing investors.

Pudu Robotics, a Shenzhen, China-based robotics company, raised ~$150M in funding at a $1.5B valuation. Backers were not disclosed.

Affix Labs Group B.V., a Netherlands-based green chemtech startup, raised €1M in funding. The round was led by VP Capital and Oost NL.

Fere AI, a Singapore-based financial AI agents platform, raised $1.3M in funding. The round was led by Ethereal Ventures, with participation from others.

Digantara Industries, a Bengaluru-based space intelligence company, raised $50M in Series B funding. Backers included 360 ONE Asset, SBI Investments, Ronnie Screwvala, with participation from Peak XV and Kalaari Capital.

Cloudsmith, a Belfast-based artifact management platform, raised $72M in Series C funding. The round was led by TCV, with participation from Insight Partners and others.

QUICK HITS

🔋 Founder Fuel

• Useful Data: 350+ Indian angel investors & venture capital firms contact database (Email + LinkedIn Link) (Link)

• Trends with Benefits: Mark Cuban’s AI Thesis: The $495B AI opportunity that most founder missing. (Link)

• Founder Resource: Investor outreach email sequence pack: 20+ proven templates used & approved by VCs (Link)

• From Social: Khosla Venture’s Guide: Pitch the way VCs think. (Link)

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Mighty Capital, a San Francisco, CA-based venture capital firm specializing in product-led investing, closed Fund III, at $91m. The vehicle is backed by The Blackstone Group, on behalf of its clients, alongside existing limited partners and new institutional investors, including a Northern California public pension plan.

Oncology Ventures, an Austin, TX-based venture capital firm investing in startups transforming cancer care, closed its $62m Fund II. The Fund is anchored by Texas Oncology, a large physician-led oncology-focused practice, Moffitt Cancer Center, City of Hope, Atlantic Health, and Cardinal Health, Texas Oncology, Fred Hutch Cancer Center, and other institutions.

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KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

Apple Maps remains Tim Cook's biggest mistake

• Tim Cook has called the 2012 launch of Apple Maps his biggest mistake as CEO, explaining for the first time that testing was mostly done locally around Cupertino, which hid problems elsewhere.

• Cook shared these remarks at an Apple Town Hall on April 22, 2026, where he and incoming CEO John Ternus answered employee questions about the leadership handover.

• Cook named the Apple Watch as his greatest achievement, saying he still receives daily notes from users who credit the watch with saving their lives since that very first message.

xAI seeks alliance with Mistral and Cursor

• Elon Musk’s xAI has been in talks with French AI startup Mistral and coding tool Cursor about a three-way partnership, on top of SpaceX’s $60 billion option to buy Cursor.

• Mistral cofounder Devendra Chaplot now leads xAI pretraining, and two senior Cursor engineers joined SpaceX in March, with all of them reporting directly to Musk.

• Anthropic blocked xAI’s access to Claude through Cursor in January, leaving Cursor exposed because its product depends on models from the same companies building competing coding editors.

Xpeng plans flying car deliveries starting 2027

• Xpeng, the Chinese EV maker, plans to begin delivering flying cars starting in 2027 and has already received more than 7,000 orders, mostly from customers in China awaiting aviation authority approval.

• The company will start robotaxi tests in Guangzhou this year and expects to produce hundreds to thousands of robotaxis over the next 12 to 18 months, seeking global partners.

• Xpeng currently operates in about 60 countries and generated roughly 15% of its revenue from overseas sales last year, aiming to push that above 50% within ten years.

DeepSeek previews V4 model as competition in AI intensifies

• DeepSeek unveiled a preview of its new V4 model, which outperforms most open source models and trails only Google’s Gemini Pro 3.1 in benchmarks.

• The model includes a lower cost flash version and will be refined using real world feedback before full release.

• DeepSeek is simultaneously exploring fundraising at over $20 billion valuation, amid rising global scrutiny and competition in AI.

Elon Musk outlines Terafab plan to build massive AI chip ecosystem

• Tesla, SpaceX, and xAI plan to build Terafab, a large scale AI chip complex in Texas targeting chips for vehicles, robots, and data centers.

• Project will use Intel’s next generation 14A process, with early research facilities starting at Tesla’s Austin campus.

• Terafab aims to produce massive compute capacity but faces major unknowns around cost, execution, and timelines, with estimates reaching trillions in investment.

SpaceX IPO structure lets Elon Musk retain strong control

• SpaceX plans to go public as a controlled company, allowing Elon Musk to retain board control through super voting shares.

• Structure removes requirement for majority independent board, giving leadership more flexibility in governance and compensation decisions.

• Board incentives include ambitious milestones like Mars colonization and space based data centers, tying payouts to long term vision.

Apple fixes bug FBI used to read deleted messages

• Apple patched a bug in its iPhone and iPad software that the FBI had been exploiting to read deleted messages from apps like Signal using forensic tools.

• The problem was that notification content showing message text was cached on the device for up to a month, even after the messages were deleted inside the app.

• Signal president Meredith Whittaker said the company asked Apple to fix the issue, and Apple also backported the patch to devices still running the older iOS 18 software.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕ Other News

Kalshi suspends and fines 3 congressional candidates

• Kalshi, the prediction market platform, suspended and fined three congressional candidates from Virginia, Minnesota, and Texas for trading on markets tied to their own campaigns, calling it “political insider trading.”

• Virginia candidate Mark Moran traded on two markets related to his campaign, was fined $6,229.30, and received a five-year suspension after he stopped communicating with the company’s team.

• Kalshi said all three candidates were caught by its newly released safeguards designed to block political candidates from trading on their own elections, and two of them cooperated with probes.

HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES

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• Finance Associate - RA Capital | USA - Apply Here

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Breaking News

Tesla is tripling its spending to $25B as it pivots hard into AI and robotics, funding everything from custom chips to robotaxis and humanoid robots. The move signals Tesla is no longer just an EV company — but a full-scale AI infrastructure player, even if it means short-term financial pressure.

Google Cloud has launched new AI chips — TPU 8t (training) and TPU 8i (inference) — offering up to 3× faster performance and better cost efficiency. The company is scaling massive clusters with over 1 million TPUs, showing how serious the AI infrastructure race has become. Despite competing, Google still partners with Nvidia, combining both chips in its cloud strategy.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

PRE-SEED

Zynt, a Warsaw, Poland-based B2B signal intelligence platform, raised €424K ($500K) in Pre-Seed funding. Backers included 24Ventures and angel investors.

Nox Mobility, a Berlin, Germany-based night train company, raised €2M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by IBB Ventures, with participation from angels.

Calibre, a London, UK-based healthtech startup, raised $3.3M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Amino Collective, with participation from Daybreak Ventures, Cocoa Ventures, and angels.

SEED

10x Science, a San Francisco, CA-based AI protein research startup, raised $4.8M in Seed funding. The round was led by Initialized Capital, with participation from Y Combinator, Civilization Ventures, Founder Factor, and angels.

BuildForever, a San Francisco & NYC-based AI email platform, raised $9.5M in Seed funding. Backers included Felicis, Abstract VC, Elad Gil, SV Angel, and angels.

Crewline AI, a San Francisco-based construction automation startup, raised $7.1M in Seed funding. The round was led by Initialized Capital and Nebular, with participation from Ford Street Ventures, Entrepreneurs First, and others.

Octen, a San Francisco & Singapore-based AI search infrastructure company, raised $10M in Seed funding. The round was led by Square Peg, with participation from Argor and others.

Realm, a Helsinki-based workplace knowledge platform, raised $4.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Frontline Ventures, with participation from HubSpot Ventures and angels.

NeoCognition, a Palo Alto-based AI research lab, raised $40M in Seed funding. The round was led by Cambium Capital and Walden Catalyst Ventures, with participation from Vista Equity Partners and others.

GROWTH

VAST Data, a NYC-based AI operating system company, raised ~$1B in Series F funding at a $30B valuation. The round was led by Drive Capital and Access Industries, with participation from Fidelity, NEA, NVIDIA, and others.

SCATR Corp., a Cleveland-based cybersecurity company, raised $12.6M in Series A funding. The round was led by First In.

Afresh, a San Francisco-based AI grocery platform, raised $34M in funding. The round was led by Just Climate and High Sage Ventures, with participation from other investors.

OrangeQS, a Netherlands-based quantum systems company, extended its Seed round to €15M with investment from the EIC Fund.

Cresora Commerce, a Nashville-based AI commerce platform, raised $4M+ in funding. Backers included Nashville Capital Network and private investors.

Omeza Holdings, a Florida-based wound care company, raised $8.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by Astanor and BluKap Ventures, with participation from others.

Courier Health, a NYC-based patient experience platform, raised $50M in Series B funding. The round was led by Oak HC/FT, with participation from Norwest and Work-Bench.

Schematic, a Boulder-based SaaS monetization platform, raised $6.5M in funding. Backers included S3 Ventures, MHS Capital, NextView Ventures, and angels.

Amperos Health, a NYC-based healthcare AI platform, raised $16M in Series A funding. The round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from Uncork Capital and Neo.

BetHog, a NYC-based crypto betting platform, raised $10M in Series A funding. The round was co-led by Will Ventures and RockawayX, with participation from others.

Mosaic, a NYC-based AI deal modeling platform, raised $18M in Series A funding. The round was led by Radical Ventures.

C-Infinity, a Mountain View-based AI design automation platform, raised $16M in funding. The round was led by Canaan Partners, with participation from Inventus Capital, Bee Partners, and others.

Monk, a NYC-based AI accounts receivable platform, raised $25M in Series A funding. The round was led by Footwork and Acrew Capital, with participation from BTV.

QUICK HITS

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• Useful Data: 350+ Indian angel investors & venture capital firms contact database (Email + LinkedIn Link) (Link)

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• Founder Resource: Investor outreach email sequence pack: 20+ proven templates used & approved by VCs (Link)

• From Social: Khosla Venture’s Guide: Pitch the way VCs think. (Link)

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Treehub & AI Health Fund, U.S.-based healthcare-focused initiatives launched by Mary Minno, are building an accelerator + venture model to back early-stage AI healthcare startups. The AI Health Fund is targeting $10M (with $1.5M first close) and writes $50K–$150K checks, backed by investors like Tim Draper, with support from Esther Wojcicki and Anne Wojcicki to help founders commercialize academic healthcare innovations.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

New York sues Coinbase and Gemini over prediction markets

• New York Attorney General Letitia James filed separate lawsuits against Coinbase and Gemini on Tuesday, accusing both crypto companies of running illegal gambling operations through their prediction markets without state gaming licenses.

• James says the platforms let users as young as 18 bet on sports and elections, violating New York law that requires mobile sports bettors to be at least 21, and she wants profits returned and civil fines tripled.

• The cases land in the middle of a three-way fight between states, the federal CFTC, and the industry, with the CFTC suing multiple states and arguing it alone has authority over prediction markets nationwide.

SpaceX plans in house GPU production amid chip supply concerns

• SpaceX warns investors about chip shortages and rising costs ahead of its IPO, highlighting risks in securing enough compute power.

• Company is exploring manufacturing its own GPUs through the Terafab project to reduce reliance on suppliers like Nvidia and TSMC.

• Plan involves massive capital expenditure and complex chip production challenges, with timelines and execution still uncertain.

Google Maps adds generative AI features for enterprise use

• Google introduces AI tools like Maps Imagery Grounding to generate realistic Street View scenes from text prompts.

• New features enable faster analysis of satellite data and geospatial insights using AI models integrated with Google Cloud.

• Updates target enterprise users in fields like urban planning, construction, and environmental monitoring, reducing manual analysis work.

SoftBank seeks $10 billion loan backed by OpenAI shares

• SoftBank Group is reportedly pursuing a $10 billion margin loan using its stake in OpenAI as collateral to fund its AI expansion.

• The two year loan includes an option to extend, following a recent $40 billion bridge loan to support further AI investments and operations.

• Move highlights SoftBank’s aggressive push into AI, after committing $30 billion to OpenAI through its Vision Fund.

Tencent and Alibaba eye investment in DeepSeek at $20 billion plus valuation

• Tencent and Alibaba are in talks to invest in DeepSeek, valuing the company at over $20 billion.

• DeepSeek is attracting strong investor interest after earlier plans to raise $300 million at a $10 billion valuation.

• The funding push highlights rising capital needs in AI, as competition intensifies around advanced models and agentic systems.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕ Other News

Google builds elite team to rival Anthropic coding

• Google DeepMind has formed a specialized team led by engineer Sebastian Borgeaud to improve Gemini’s programming skills, partly because Google researchers believe Anthropic’s coding tools are currently better.

• Co-founder Sergey Brin wrote in an internal memo that Google must “urgently bridge the gap in agentic execution,” and he required every Gemini engineer to use internal agents for complex tasks.

• Google is training models on its internal codebase, which differs significantly from public code, meaning those models can’t be released but could help speed up development and improve future products.

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)

• Finance Associate - RA Capital | USA - Apply Here

• Fund Controller - NFX | USA - Apply Here

• Vice President, Investor Relations - General Atlantic - Apply Here

• Senior Associate - RA Capital | USA - Apply Here

• PE & VC Partner Manager - Dealhub | UK - Apply Here

• Partner 22 -a16z | USA - Apply Here

• Infra / Platform Engineer - Pear VC | USA - Apply Here

• Associate / Senior Associate - Stepstone Group | Italy - Apply Here

• Investment Analyst - Lunicorn Venture | UK - Apply Here

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Breaking News

Meta plans to track employee keystrokes and mouse activity to train AI models, aiming to teach agents how humans actually use computers. While this could significantly improve agent capabilities, it raises serious privacy concerns as internal employee behavior becomes training data for next-gen AI systems.

SpaceX has partnered with Cursor on next-gen AI coding systems, with an option to acquire the company for $60B. The deal signals how valuable AI developer tools have become, combining Cursor’s distribution with SpaceX’s massive compute to compete in the coding AI race.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

PRE-SEED

Sinai.ai, a Sunnyvale, CA-based AI-native books platform, raised $1.45M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by KAUST Innovation Ventures and DisrupTech Ventures, with participation from Maza Ventures, YOUXEL Ventures, and angels.

Audrey AI, a Dublin, Ireland-based AI-powered financial auditing platform, raised $1.8M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Sure Valley Ventures and Delta Partners, with participation from Enterprise Ireland and angels.

SEED

Qualitate, a NYC-based AI research intelligence platform, raised $7M in Seed funding. The round was led by IA Ventures and Crew Capital, with participation from angels.

Humble, a San Francisco, CA-based autonomous electric haulers company, raised $24M in Seed funding. The round was led by Eclipse, with participation from Energy Impact Partners.

SpartanX, a Boston, MA-based AI-native security company, raised an undisclosed Seed round led by Venture Guides, with participation from angels and corporates.

Seapoint, a Dublin-based AI-native financial ops platform, raised €7.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by 13books, with participation from angels and Frontline Ventures, Tapestry VC.

Exergy3, an Edinburgh-based thermal energy startup, raised £10M in Seed funding. The round was led by Axeleo Capital, with participation from Bayern Kapital, Kibo Invest, Scottish Enterprise, and others.

GROWTH

Tava Health, a Salt Lake City, UT-based mental health platform, raised $40M in Series C funding. The round was led by Centana Growth Partners, with participation from Catalyst Investors, Blue Heron Ventures, Peterson Ventures, and Springtide Ventures.

Syenta, a Sydney-based semiconductor company, raised $26M in Series A funding. The round was led by Playground Global and Australia’s National Reconstruction Fund, with participation from existing investors.

Reliable Robotics, a Mountain View, CA-based autonomous aircraft company, raised $160M in funding. The round was led by Nimble Partners, with participation from Eclipse, Lightspeed, Coatue, and many strategic investors.

Tortugas Neuroscience, a Framingham, MA-based biotech company, raised $106M across Seed and Series A. The round was led by Cure Ventures, with participation from The Column Group and AN Venture Partners.

AcuityMD, a Boston-based AI MedTech platform, raised $80M in Series C funding at a $955M valuation. The round was led by StepStone Group, with participation from Benchmark, Redpoint, ICONIQ, and others.

AuX Labs, a Toronto-based food tech company, raised $4M in funding. The round was led by NYA Ventures and Nàdarra Ventures, with participation from Builders VC, Congruent Ventures, and others.

Ray Therapeutics, a Berkeley-based biotech company, raised $125M in Series B funding. The round was led by Janus Henderson Investors, with participation from Franklin Templeton, Invus, and others.

Deep Blue Medical, a Durham, NC-based surgical device company, raised $5.6M in Series A funding. Backers were not disclosed.

Blue Energy, a Maryland-based nuclear energy company, raised $380M in funding. The round was led by VXI Capital and Engine Ventures, with participation from existing investors.

RIIG Technology (HOOTL), a Virginia-based healthcare platform, raised $6M+ in Series A funding. Backers were not disclosed.

HQLAX, a Luxembourg-based digital collateral company, raised an undisclosed Series C-1 round backed by Broadridge and Digital Asset.

Hata, a Malaysia-based digital asset exchange, raised $8M in Series A funding. The round was led by Bybit.

Ideally, a NYC-based AI market research platform, raised $10M in Series A funding. The round was led by Shearwater Capital, with participation from Altered Capital, Icehouse Ventures, and others.

QUICK HITS

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• Useful Data: 350+ Indian angel investors & venture capital firms contact database (Email + LinkedIn Link) (Link)

• Trends with Benefits: 5 predictions that reveal where AI agents will actually make money. (Link)

• Founder Resource: Investor outreach email sequence pack: 20+ proven templates used & approved by VCs (Link)

• From Social: The math behind Venture Capital - guide for aspiring Venture Capitalists. (Link)

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Sideline Group, a NYC-based investment firm that partners with brands and experiences at the intersection of consumer, sports, and media & entertainment, closed its debut fund, Sideline Group Fund I, with $155 million in committed capital. Fund I is backed by a diverse group of institutional investors, including a US university endowment, funds of funds, and family offices, as well as sports team owners, investment firm founders, and operators.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

Unauthorized access to Anthropic Mythos raises security concerns

• Anthropic is investigating reports that an unauthorized group accessed its restricted cybersecurity model Mythos via a third-party vendor.

• The group reportedly used insider access and technical guesses to locate and use the model shortly after its release.

• Anthropic says no internal systems were impacted so far, but the incident raises concerns about misuse of powerful AI security tools.

ChatGPT Images 2.0 improves text rendering and image accuracy

• OpenAI launches Images 2.0 with major improvements in generating readable and accurate text within images.

• The model can create detailed visuals like menus, comics, and UI elements with better instruction-following and higher fidelity.

• It also supports multiple languages and uses advanced reasoning to refine outputs, making AI-generated images more practical for real-world use.

Google builds elite team to rival Anthropic coding

• Google DeepMind has formed a specialized team led by engineer Sebastian Borgeaud to improve Gemini’s programming skills, partly because Google researchers believe Anthropic’s coding tools are currently better.

• Co-founder Sergey Brin wrote in an internal memo that Google must “urgently bridge the gap in agentic execution,” and he required every Gemini engineer to use internal agents for complex tasks.

• Google is training models on its internal codebase, which differs significantly from public code, meaning those models can’t be released but could help speed up development and improve future products.

Apple reportedly cuts iPhone 18 manufacturing costs

• Apple is reportedly planning to cut manufacturing costs on the standard iPhone 18 by downgrading certain components and processes to bring it closer to the cheaper iPhone 18e.

• The changes span manufacturing processes, chips, memory, and other components, which could create a bigger gap between the regular iPhone lineup and the more premium Pro models.

• Apple may also split its launch schedule, releasing Pro models and the foldable iPhone Ultra in September 2026 while pushing the iPhone 18 and iPhone 18e to spring 2027.

OpenAI plans up to $1.5B investment in private equity venture

• OpenAI is in talks to commit up to $1.5 billion to a new private equity joint venture called DeployCo.

• The company will initially invest $500 million, with the venture expected to be valued at around $10 billion.

• The deal signals OpenAI’s push to expand beyond core AI products into infrastructure and investment partnerships.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕ Other News

California accuses Amazon of fixing prices with major retailers

• California’s attorney general has accused Amazon of price fixing by pressuring brands like Levi’s and Hanes to push competing retailers to raise prices on certain products, according to a newly unsealed court filing.

• The state originally sued Amazon in San Francisco Superior Court in 2022, claiming the company punished sellers on its marketplace for offering lower prices on other websites, harming competition overall.

• A 16-page filing shows Amazon asked brands to intervene when it spotted a competitor’s lower price or was losing money on an item, and prices on rival sites went up as a result.

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💼 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)

• Analyst, Global Investment Team - 500 Global | USA - Apply Here

• Associate, Data Operations - Iconiq Capital | USA - Apply Here

• Investor - AI - Samsung Next | USA - Apply Here

• Finance Associate - RA Capital | USA - Apply Here

• Fund Controller - NFX | USA - Apply Here

• Vice President, Investor Relations - General Atlantic - Apply Here

• Senior Associate - RA Capital | USA - Apply Here

• PE & VC Partner Manager - Dealhub | UK - Apply Here

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Breaking News

Apple is undergoing a major leadership shift, with Tim Cook stepping down as CEO after more than a decade and transitioning to executive chairman. John Ternus will take over as CEO on September 1, marking a new era for the $4T company that Cook helped scale through services, wearables, and global expansion.

Anthropic has secured $5B from Amazon and committed to spend $100B on AWS, locking in one of the largest AI infrastructure deals ever. The partnership deepens Anthropic’s dependence on Amazon’s chips and cloud while highlighting how AI labs are making massive long-term bets on compute.

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The Deloitte rankings are based on submitted applications and public company database research, with winners selected based on their fiscal-year revenue growth percentage over a three-year period.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

PRE-SEED

Audrey AI, a Dublin, Ireland-based AI-powered financial auditing platform, raised $1.8M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Sure Valley Ventures and Delta Partners, with participation from Enterprise Ireland and angels.

Giggles, a San Francisco, CA-based social app for trading stakes in videos, raised $1M+ in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by 1kx, with participation from Noar Ventures, Bain Capital Scout, Virtuals Protocol, Night Capital, and others.

Proteins.1, an Espoo, Finland-based diagnostics company, raised $4.7M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Lifeline Ventures and Cloudberry Ventures, with participation from VTT and Business Finland.

Sage Haven, a San Francisco, CA-based kids messaging app, raised $3M in Pre-Seed funding. Backers included Hustle Fund, How Women Invest, LaunchTN, Gaingels, a16z Scout Fund, Accel Scout Fund, Kleiner Perkins Scout Fund, and others.

SEED

ViewsML, a Vancouver-based biomarker discovery company, raised $4.9M in Seed funding. The round was led by Wittington Ventures, with participation from Continuum Health Ventures, Mayo Clinic, RiSC Capital, and others.

Wavelet Medical, a New Haven, CT-based fetal brain monitoring startup, raised $7M in Seed funding. Aegis Ventures made the investment.

Ray, a Dubai-based powerbank-sharing startup, raised $1.2M in Seed funding. The round was led by Meirambek Abelkasov and Serik Uspanov.

GuruSup, a Valencia, Spain-based AI customer support startup, raised €1.3M in Seed funding. The round was led by 4Founders Capital, with participation from Addendum Capital and angels.

brainjo, a Regensburg, Germany-based VR mental healthcare company, raised €2M in Seed funding. The round was led by High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF) with participation from angels.

Jozo, a Riyadh-based real estate tokenization startup, raised $2.2M in Seed funding. The round was led by Sheikh Hamad Bin Saedan Real Estate Co..

Antioch, a NYC-based robotics simulation startup, raised $8.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by A and Category Ventures*, with participation from MaC Venture Capital, Abstract, Box Group, Icehouse Ventures.

urfuture, a Manchester, UK-based HR tech startup, raised £1.7M in Seed funding. The round was led by River Capital, with participation from SyndicateRoom, Manchester Angels, and others.

NOC Energy, a Houston-based decarbonization startup, raised $2.7M in Seed funding. The round was led by 360 Capital, with participation from SOSV and Desai VC.

Eigen, a San Francisco-based AI collaboration startup, raised $15M in Seed funding. Backers included Benchmark and angels.

Ultralight, a San Francisco-based AI healthcare OS startup, raised $9.3M in Seed funding. The round was led by The General Partnership, with participation from Wisdom Ventures, Anthemis, Emerson Collective, and others.

GROWTH

Goldwise, a Cardiff, UK-based precious metals platform, raised £500K+ in funding. Backers included Wales Angel Co-Fund and angel syndicates.

Rivan, a London-based carbon utilization company, raised $34M in funding. The round was led by IQ Capital, with participation from Plural, Fundomo, and angels.

Coral, a NYC-based healthcare automation platform, raised $12.5M in funding. The round was led by Lightspeed and Z47.

ScreenPoint Medical, a Netherlands-based breast cancer AI company, raised $14M in funding. The round was led by Insight Partners and Siemens Healthineers.

TraqCheck, a New Delhi-based HR tech platform, raised $8M in Series A funding. The round was led by IvyCap Ventures, with participation from IIFL.

AlixLabs, a Sweden-based semiconductor tech company, raised €15M in Series A funding. Backers were not disclosed.

InsightFinder, a North Carolina-based AI reliability platform, raised $15M in Series B funding. The round was led by Yu Galaxy.

Creao AI, a Cupertino-based AI no-code platform, raised $10M in funding. The round was led by Prosperity7 Ventures.

Pulnovo Medical, a NYC-based biotech company, raised $100M in funding. The round was led by Medtronic, with participation from EQT, Qiming Venture Partners, OrbiMed, and others.

TextQL, a NYC-based AI analytics platform, raised $17M in funding. The round was led by Blackstone Innovations Investments.

Loop, a San Francisco-based logistics AI platform, raised $95M in Series C funding. The round was led by Valor Equity Partners, with participation from 8VC, Founders Fund, Index Ventures, and others.

Zenskar, a NYC-based billing automation platform, raised $15M in Series A funding. The round was led by Susquehanna Venture Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, Shine Capital, and Rho, with participation from others.

QUICK HITS

🔋 Founder Fuel

• Useful Data: 2700+ US angel investors & VC firms contact database (email + linkedIn link) (Link)

• Trends with Benefits: Are $175M seed valuations the new normal? (Link)

• Founder Resource: What investors ask and how to answer : A practical Q&A prep kit for founders. (Link)

• From Social: The math behind Venture Capital - guide for aspiring Venture Capitalists. (Link)

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Sideline Group, a NYC-based investment firm that partners with brands and experiences at the intersection of consumer, sports, and media & entertainment, closed its debut fund, Sideline Group Fund I, with $155 million in committed capital. Fund I is backed by a diverse group of institutional investors, including a US university endowment, funds of funds, and family offices, as well as sports team owners, investment firm founders, and operators.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

Vercel confirms breach as hackers claim to be selling stolen data

• Vercel, the cloud development platform behind Next.js, has confirmed a security breach after a hacker claiming to be “ShinyHunters” posted on a forum offering stolen company data for sale.

• The threat actor claims to be selling access keys, source code, database data, API keys, and NPM and GitHub tokens, along with a file containing 580 employee records from Vercel.

• The attacker says they demanded a $2 million ransom from Vercel, though actual ShinyHunters members have denied involvement, and BleepingComputer has not confirmed the data is authentic.

Apple hints at redesigned Siri in WWDC 2026 logo

• Apple’s WWDC 2026 logo appears to tease a redesigned look for Siri, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who says the glowing visual style in the event branding reflects changes being tested internally.

• Gurman’s sources describe a revamp where Siri shows a “Search or Ask” prompt inside the Dynamic Island pill, paired with a glowing cursor that matches the bright style seen in WWDC graphics.

• The glow effect in the branding resembles a photography phenomenon called halation, where overexposed white details bleed color into darker areas — a look some iPhone photographers actively seek out.

Bezos AI lab nears $38B valuation with new funding round

• Jeff Bezos’s AI startup Project Prometheus is close to raising $10 billion at a $38 billion valuation.

• Investors include JPMorgan Chase and BlackRock, reflecting strong demand for AI deals.

• The lab is focused on applying AI to engineering and manufacturing across sectors like automobiles, computers, and spacecraft.

Tesla expands robotaxi service to Dallas and Houston

• Tesla launches robotaxis in Dallas and Houston with driverless Model Y vehicles operating in defined service areas.

• The expansion builds on its earlier Austin rollout and signals a faster push into autonomous ride-hailing across U.S. cities.

• Growth in robotaxis and full self-driving tech is central to Tesla’s AI-driven strategy amid competition from Waymo and Zoox.

Agentic AI shifts chip demand beyond GPUs to CPUs

• Morgan Stanley says agentic AI will increase demand for CPUs as systems move from generation to autonomous decision-making.

• CPU market could gain $32.5 to $60 billion by 2030, with CPUs acting as the control layer for multi-step AI tasks.

• Spending will expand beyond GPUs to memory and chipmaking players like Nvidia, Intel, and TSMC.

Anthropic claims Claude Opus 4.7 improves honesty and reduces hallucinations

• Anthropic says Claude Opus 4.7 achieves around 92% honesty and shows lower hallucination and sycophancy rates than previous models.

• The model improves factual accuracy, reduces omissions, and better resists agreeing with incorrect user assumptions.

• Despite improvements, it still trails Anthropic’s unreleased Claude Mythos in overall performance and advanced capabilities.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕ Other News

Blue Origin lands New Glenn but drops satellite into wrong orbit

• Blue Origin successfully landed and reused a New Glenn booster for the first time on Sunday, but the rocket’s upper stage placed AST SpaceMobile’s BlueBird 7 satellite into an orbit too low to operate.

• The satellite powered on after separation but will need to be de-orbited and burn up in Earth’s atmosphere, with AST SpaceMobile saying insurance covers the loss and more BlueBirds are coming soon.

• This marks New Glenn’s first major failure and could affect Blue Origin’s push to become a key NASA Artemis launch provider, especially as the company plans to launch its lunar lander this year.

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Breaking News

OpenAI investors are increasingly questioning whether Sam Altman should lead the company’s IPO, citing concerns over his focus on side projects and his own lack of enthusiasm for running a public company. There is growing internal support for board chair Bret Taylor as a potential replacement, signaling possible leadership changes at a critical moment as OpenAI prepares for one of the biggest IPOs in tech history.

Meta is planning to lay off around 8,000 employees, roughly 10% of its workforce, as it aggressively shifts toward AI. The company is reorganizing teams and reallocating top engineers into AI-focused roles, particularly around agents and automation, highlighting how AI is not just a strategic priority but is actively reshaping workforce structures across Big Tech.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

PRE-SEED

Stendr, an Oslo, Norway-based defence technology company, raised $5.4M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Rainfall, ACME, and Skyfall, with participation from Sisyphus, Antler, StartupLab, Off Piste, Andöya Ventures, and an angel syndicate.

Resolv, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-native back-office automation platform, raised $1M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was co-led by Redbud VC and EquipmentShare, with participation from Fireroad Ventures, Team Ignite Ventures, and Pre-Seed to Succeed.

Worki, a San Francisco, CA-based healthcare workforce platform, raised $2.75M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Redesign Health and Healthliant Ventures.

Ralio, a London, UK-based payments platform for AI agents, raised $2.5M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Sure Valley Ventures, with participation from Seed X, Love Ventures, Plug and Play, Antler, and others.

SEED

Artemis, a NYC-based AI-native protection platform, raised $70M in Seed and Series A funding. The round was led by Felicis, with participation from existing investors.

Brix, a British Virgin Islands-based programmable money platform, raised $5.5M in funding. Backers included FRWRD Ventures, Circle Ventures, ConsenSys, Webrazzi Ventures, Borderless Capital, and Paribu Ventures.

INVIA, a Cairo, Egypt-based financial operating system startup, raised $1.2M in funding. Backers were not disclosed.

GetWhys, a Boise, ID-based GTM insights platform, raised $5.2M in funding. The round was led by EPIC Ventures, with participation from CEAS Investments, Portland Seed Fund, Next Frontier Capital, Tuesday Capital, and Capital Eleven.

GROWTH

Ethermed, a Philadelphia, PA-based healthcare AI automation company, raised $8.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by Enfield Capital Partners and Blue Marlin Partners, with participation from Jumpstart Ventures, Healthliant Ventures, Woodard Family Office, and Gaingels.

Sepion Technologies, an Alameda, CA-based battery materials company, raised $10M in Series B funding. The round was led by Fine Structure Ventures, with participation from W. L. Gore & Associates, Syensqo Ventures, Volo Earth Ventures, Chailease, Catalus Capital, Impact Science Ventures, and ACVC Partners.

Agriodor, a Rennes, France-based agtech startup, raised €15M in Series A funding. The round was led by Environmental and Solidarity Revolution Fund, with participation from Région Sud Investissement, CAAP Création, Capagro, Ambra Capital, and SWEN Capital Partners.

Mintlify, a San Francisco, CA-based AI knowledge infrastructure startup, raised $45M in Series B funding at a $500M valuation. The round was co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Salesforce Ventures, with participation from Bain Capital Ventures, Y Combinator, DST Global, MVP Ventures, Avra, HubSpot Ventures, and TwentyTwo Ventures.

Factory, a San Francisco, CA-based agentic AI startup, raised $150M in funding at a $1.5B valuation. The round was led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Insight Partners, and Blackstone.

Slash Financial, a San Francisco, CA-based banking platform, raised $100M in Series C funding. The round was led by Ribbit Capital, with participation from Khosla Ventures, Goodwater Capital, New Enterprise Associates, and Y Combinator.

Plata, a Mexico City-based digital bank, raised $405M in Series C funding at a $5B valuation. The round was led by Bicycle Capital, with participation from Qatar Investment Authority, BTG Pactual, Valor Capital Group, and others.

Nas.com, a NYC-based AI platform for solopreneurs, raised $27M in Series A funding. The round was led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from 500 Global and angels.

Expo, a San Francisco, CA-based React Native development platform, raised $45M in Series B funding. The round was led by Leadout Capital, A.Capital Ventures, and Red Swan Ventures.

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NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Sequoia Capital, a Silicon Valley–based VC firm, has raised $7B for a new fund focused on late-stage AI investments across the U.S. and Europe. Led under new leadership from Alfred Lin and Pat Grady, the fund will back both foundational AI players like OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as emerging startups building applied AI products.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

Cursor nears $2 billion funding round at $50 billion valuation

• Cursor is in talks to raise over $2 billion at a $50 billion valuation, led by investors like Andreessen Horowitz and Thrive Capital.

• The company’s revenue is growing, with projections to exceed $6 billion ARR by the end of 2026, driven by strong enterprise demand.

• Cursor is improving margins by building its own models and reducing reliance on rivals like Anthropic and OpenAI.

OpenAI explores new bets to solve product and perception challenges

• OpenAI’s recent acquisitions like Hiro and TBPN are seen as acqui-hires aimed at expanding beyond ChatGPT and building new revenue-driving products.

• The company is also trying to improve its public image, using media assets like TBPN to better shape how it is perceived.

• Rising competition from Anthropic in enterprise AI and coding tools is forcing OpenAI to rethink its strategy and long-term business model.

China humanoid robot half-marathon to showcase technical leaps

• China is holding its second humanoid robot half-marathon this Sunday in Beijing, with over 300 robots from more than 70 teams racing across 21 km of paved slopes and parkland.

• Almost 40% of the robot participants will navigate the course autonomously this year, a big change from last year when all entrants were remotely controlled by human operators.

• Experts say the skills on display do not translate to widespread commercialisation, noting that Chinese robotics firms still struggle to develop AI software enabling humanoids to match human factory workers.

Nvidia CEO warns DeepSeek on Huawei chips threatens US

• Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said on the Dwarkesh Podcast that DeepSeek optimizing its AI models for Huawei’s Ascend chips instead of American hardware would be “a horrible outcome” for the United States.

• DeepSeek has been rewriting its core code to work with Huawei’s CANN framework, moving away from Nvidia’s CUDA ecosystem and breaking the software-hardware dependency that gave America a second layer of control.

• DeepSeek’s upcoming V4 multimodal foundation model is expected to run on Huawei’s Ascend 950PR processor, which would show competitive AI can be built without any American chips in the supply chain.

Physical Intelligence says its robot brain learns untaught tasks

• Physical Intelligence published research showing its new model, called π0.7, can direct robots to perform tasks they were never explicitly trained on, a result the company’s own researchers say surprised them.

• In one test, π0.7 figured out how to use an air fryer despite having only two loosely related episodes in its training data, and after step-by-step verbal coaching it successfully cooked a sweet potato.

• The startup has raised over $1 billion at a $5.6 billion valuation and is reportedly in talks for a new round that would nearly double that figure to $11 billion.

DeepSeek seeks funding at $10 billion valuation

• DeepSeek is in talks to raise at least $300 million at a $10 billion valuation, reflecting strong investor interest.

• The company previously rejected funding offers as its low cost AI models gained global attention and disrupted markets.

• The fundraise highlights rising capital needs for AI development, amid China’s push to reduce reliance on foreign chips like those from Nvidia.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕ Other News

Anthropic and Trump administration relations show signs of easing

• Anthropic is engaging with senior U.S. officials despite being labeled a supply chain risk by the Pentagon.

• CEO Dario Amodei met with White House leaders to discuss collaboration on AI safety, cybersecurity, and national competitiveness.

• While the Defense Department remains cautious, other agencies appear open to using Anthropic’s technology, signaling a potential policy shift.

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Breaking News

OpenAI just launched GPT Rosalind, an AI model focused on biology and drug discovery — and it’s already being used with companies like Moderna and Amgen. This signals a major shift: AI is moving beyond software into real-world scientific breakthroughs.

Anthropic launched Claude Opus 4.7, improving performance on complex coding and long-running tasks. The model can now verify its own outputs, making it more reliable for real-world engineering workflows. It also acts as a testing ground for safety before Anthropic releases more powerful models like Mythos.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

PRE-SEED

Resolv, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-native back-office automation platform, raised $1M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was co-led by Redbud VC and EquipmentShare, with participation from Fireroad Ventures, Team Ignite Ventures, and Pre-Seed to Succeed.

Worki, a San Francisco, CA-based healthcare workforce platform, raised $2.75M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Redesign Health and Healthliant Ventures.

Ralio, a London, UK-based payments platform for AI agents, raised $2.5M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Sure Valley Ventures, with participation from Seed X, Love Ventures, Plug and Play, Antler, and others.

SEED

Balerion AI, a San Francisco, CA-based mortgage AI platform, raised $6M in Seed funding. The round was led by Kleiner Perkins, with participation from Formation and BoxGroup.

Objection, a US-based AI media verification platform, raised a multi-million-dollar Seed round backed by Peter Thiel, Social Impact Capital, and Off Piste Capital.

Lua, a London, UK-based workspace collaboration OS, raised $5.8M in funding. The round was led by Norrsken22, with participation from Flourish Ventures, 20VC, P1 Ventures, Phosphor Capital, Y Combinator, and angels.

GROWTH

Solidroad, a San Francisco, CA-based AI customer conversation platform, raised $25M in Series A funding. The round was led by Hedosophia, with participation from First Round Capital, Y Combinator, and Sony Innovation Fund.

Joyful Health, a NYC-based healthcare revenue AI platform, raised $17M in Series A funding. The round was led by CRV, with participation from XYZ Venture Capital, Designer Fund, Inflect Capital, and Go Global Ventures.

Caruso, an Auckland, New Zealand-based AI-native fund administration platform, raised $6.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by Icehouse Ventures and GD1, with participation from Balmain.

spektr, a Copenhagen, Denmark-based compliance AI infrastructure company, raised $20M in Series A funding. The round was led by NEA, with participation from Northzone, Seedcamp, and PSV Tech.

Wealth.com, a Phoenix, AZ-based AI-powered estate planning platform, raised $65M in Series B funding. Backers included Titanium Ventures, Pruven Capital, The K Fund, Dynasty Financial Partners, with participation from Charles Schwab, GV (Google Ventures), Citi Ventures, Anthos Capital, and others.

Resolve AI, a San Francisco, CA-based AI infrastructure company, raised $40M in Series A Extension at a $1.5B valuation. The round was led by DST Global and Salesforce Ventures.

Alloy Therapeutics, a Boston, MA-based biotechnology company, raised $40M in Series E funding at a $1B valuation. Backers included 8VC, JIC Venture Growth Investments, Echo Capital, and existing investors including Mubadala Capital, Founders Fund, and others.

STORM Therapeutics, a Cambridge, UK-based biotech company, raised $56M in Series C funding. Backers included M Ventures, Pfizer Ventures, Taiho Ventures, IP Group plc, and others.

Beeline Medicines, a Stamford, CT-based biotechnology company, raised $300M in Series A funding. The round was led by Bain Capital.

K1x, a Morristown, NJ-based AI-native tax data platform, received a $175M growth investment. The round was led by Sumeru Equity Partners, with participation from Edison Partners.

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• Founder Resource: SaaS Startup Financial Model: All-in-One Excel Template (Link)

• From Social: Annoying questions from VC & how to answer them. (Link)

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Sequoia Capital, a Silicon Valley–based VC firm, has raised $7B for a new fund focused on late-stage AI investments across the U.S. and Europe. Led under new leadership from Alfred Lin and Pat Grady, the fund will back both foundational AI players like OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as emerging startups building applied AI products.

Accel, a global venture firm, has raised $5B in fresh capital to back late-stage startups, with $4B allocated to its Leaders Fund and $650M to a sidecar vehicle. The fund will focus on AI-driven companies across software, hardware, robotics, defense tech, and data infrastructure, with plans to write ~20 large checks.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

Meta raises Quest headset prices amid RAM shortage

• Meta increased prices of Quest 3 and Quest 3S headsets by $50 to $100 due to rising memory chip costs.

• The price hike reflects a broader industry trend, with companies like Samsung and Sony also impacted by RAM shortages.

• Meta said higher component costs are affecting VR hardware production, forcing pricing adjustments to maintain product quality.

OpenAI upgrades Codex with powerful desktop control features

• OpenAI revamped Codex to run in the background, allowing agents to control desktop apps, click, type, and complete tasks while users continue working.

• The update adds memory, browser control, image generation, and 100+ integrations, making Codex a more advanced, multi-tasking enterprise tool.

• The move intensifies competition with Anthropic, whose Claude Code currently leads in enterprise AI coding adoption.

Musk asks chipmakers to move at "light speed"

• Musk’s team asked chipmaking equipment suppliers like Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron, and Lam Research to move at “light speed,” seeking fast price quotes and delivery timelines for gear needed to build the Terafab project.

• The Terafab joint venture between Tesla and SpaceX plans to start with a pilot line processing 3,000 wafers per month, with a goal to begin silicon manufacturing by 2029, though no fixed orders have been placed yet.

• Samsung proposed giving Tesla more capacity at its planned Texas factory instead of directly supporting Terafab, while Intel said it would join the initiative after Musk visited its Santa Clara office.

Apple sends Siri engineers to AI coding bootcamp

• Apple is sending a group of fewer than 200 Siri engineers to a multi-week bootcamp where they will learn to code using AI tools, according to a report from The Information.

• AI coding tools like Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex have already taken off in other parts of Apple, with some teams allocating large budgets specifically for Claude Code.

• The bootcamp comes ahead of WWDC26 on June 8, where Apple is expected to announce a revamped Siri powered by Google’s Gemini models after multiple delays and leadership changes.

Google and Pentagon discuss classified AI deal

• Google is in talks with the Pentagon to strike a classified AI deal that would let the Department of Defense run its Gemini models in classified settings for all lawful uses.

• During negotiations, Google has proposed contract language that would block its AI from being used for domestic mass surveillance or autonomous weapons without appropriate human control.

• The deal would help Alphabet grow its government ties as the US pushes to embed artificial intelligence into its processes to cut costs and speed up administrative work.

Netflix co founder Reed Hastings exits as company seeks new growth

• Reed Hastings will step down as chairman of Netflix, with the company navigating slowing growth and rising competition.

• Netflix stock fell around 9% after the announcement and a weaker earnings outlook, despite revenue rising 16% to $12.25 billion.

• The company is focusing on ads, live events, and new content formats to drive future growth beyond its 325 million subscriber base.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕ Other News

Anthropic executive exits Figma board amid product competition concerns

• Mike Krieger, chief product officer at Anthropic, stepped down from Figma’s board as Anthropic plans design tools that could compete with Figma.

• Anthropic’s upcoming Opus 4.7 model is expected to include interface design capabilities, raising concerns about AI labs encroaching on SaaS products.

• The move reflects growing fears of “SaaSpocalypse,” where major AI companies could disrupt established software businesses with integrated AI tools.

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Breaking News

Anthropic is reportedly rejecting funding offers at an $800B valuation, despite massive investor demand. The move signals extreme confidence — and suggests the company may be aiming even higher as it races against OpenAI in the AI arms race.

Snap is cutting 16% of its workforce, explicitly saying AI has reduced the need for repetitive work. The layoffs show one of the clearest real-world impacts of AI replacing jobs — not in the future, but right now.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

PRE-SEED

Traza, a NYC-based AI-native procurement platform, raised $2.1M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Base10 Partners, with participation from Kfund, a16z scouts, Clara Ventures, Masia Ventures, and angels.

SolvaPay, a Stockholm-based AI payments platform, raised €2.4M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Redstone and MS&AD Ventures, with participation from Antler and Greens Ventures.

Smartwage, a Palermo, Italy-based fintech company, raised €2M in Pre-Seed funding. The round included backing from Step Fund.

SEED

HYFIX Spatial Intelligence, a Santa Clara, CA-based semiconductor startup, raised $15M in Seed funding. The round was led by Craft Ventures, with participation from Multicoin Capital, Finality Capital, and others.

Capsule Security, a Tel Aviv-based AI security platform, raised $7M in Seed funding. The round was led by Lama Partners and Forgepoint Capital International.

GROWTH

Phonely, a San Francisco, CA-based AI voice platform, raised $16M in Series A funding. The round was led by Base10 Partners, with participation from Y Combinator, Etech Global Services, TSA Group, and others.

Paxos Labs, a NYC-based digital asset infrastructure company, raised $12M in strategic funding. The round was led by Blockchain Capital, with participation from Robot Ventures, Maelstrom, and Uniswap.

Hilbert, a San Francisco, CA-based agentic AI platform, raised $28M in Series A funding. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).

Terremoto Biosciences, a San Francisco-based biotech company, raised $108M in Series C funding. Backers included RA Capital, Deep Track Capital, OrbiMed, Third Rock Ventures, and others.

Parasail, a San Mateo, CA-based AI agent deployment network, raised $32M in Series A funding. The round was led by Touring Capital and Kindred Ventures, with participation from Samsung Next, and others.

Timeshifter, a NYC-based jet lag app, raised an undisclosed amount in funding. The round was led by Skip Capital, with participation from strategic investors including Nico Rosberg.

Keebler Health, a Durham, NC-based healthtech company, raised $16M in Series A funding. The round was led by Flare Capital Partners, with participation from Sands Capital, and others.

HealPort, a Muscat-based healthcare platform, raised $1.2M in funding. Backers were not disclosed.

openmoove, a Cardiff-based proptech platform, raised £700K in funding. The investment came from Development Bank of Wales.

Gitar, a San Francisco, CA-based AI dev infrastructure company, raised $9M in funding. The round was led by Venrock, with participation from Sierra Ventures.

NanoTech Materials, a Houston-based materials science company, raised $29.4M in Series A funding. The round was led by HPI Real Estate and Investments, with participation from Goose Capital and Milliken Company.

Gizmo, a London-based AI learning platform, raised $22M in Series A funding. The round was led by Shine Capital, with participation from Ada Ventures, NFX, and others.

HockeyStack, a San Francisco-based revenue AI platform, raised funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners, Y Combinator, and Uncorrelated Ventures.

Neato, a Las Vegas-based eCommerce accelerator, raised $25M in growth capital. The round was led by Advantage Capital.

Otel AI, a Dublin-based hospitality AI startup, raised €2.8M in funding. The round was led by Playfair, with participation from angel investors.

Lightcast, a Cambridge, UK-based life sciences tools company, raised $27M in funding. The round was led by ARCH Venture Partners, with participation from Illumina Ventures, M Ventures, and others.

QUICK HITS

🔋 Founder Fuel

• Useful Data: 2700+ US angel investors & VC firms contact database (email + linkedIn link) (Link)

• Trends with Benefits: OpenAI’s internal memo reveals its AI moat strategy. (Link)

• Founder Resource: Startup legal document pack – essential legal docs for founders. (Link)

• From Social: 8 fundraising frameworks every founder should know. (Link)

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Accel, a global venture firm, has raised $5B in fresh capital to back late-stage startups, with $4B allocated to its Leaders Fund and $650M to a sidecar vehicle. The fund will focus on AI-driven companies across software, hardware, robotics, defense tech, and data infrastructure, with plans to write ~20 large checks. Accel has previously backed companies like Anthropic, Perplexity, and Lovable, and is doubling down to stay competitive in the AI boom.

A‑Street, a Bentonville, Ark.-based multi-stage investment fund focused on improving PK-12 student learning and achievement, announced a $675m capital raise. Members of the Walton family, who were original investors in A-Street, participated in the capital raise and were joined by part-owner of the LEGO Group, the LEGO Foundation.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

OpenAI upgrades agents SDK to improve enterprise safety and capabilities

• OpenAI introduced sandboxing to let AI agents run in controlled environments, reducing risks from unpredictable behavior.

• The update adds a new harness system, enabling agents to securely access files, tools, and perform complex multi-step tasks.

• The SDK is now available via API with Python support first, as OpenAI expands tools for enterprises building advanced AI agents.

Amazon launches AI tool for drug discovery

• Amazon Web Services has launched Amazon Bio Discovery, an AI tool designed to help researchers speed up the process of finding and developing new drug molecules.

• The tool gives researchers access to a library of biological foundation models that can generate and evaluate drug molecules, plus an AI agent that helps set parameters and interpret results.

• AWS vice president Rajiv Chopra said the service is meant to augment scientists, not replace them, addressing a bottleneck created by the growing demand for computational biologists in drug discovery.

Musk pushes Terafab chip project with supplier outreach

• Elon Musk’s team has contacted chip equipment suppliers like Applied Materials and Samsung Electronics for Terafab.

• The project aims to start chip production by 2029, with rapid scaling plans to support AI, robotics, and data center ambitions.

• Musk’s team is requesting fast pricing and timelines while sharing limited details, signaling urgency to move at high speed.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕ Other News

Allbirds ditches sneakers for AI, stock surges 373%

• Allbirds, the sneaker company popular in Silicon Valley, sold its shoe brand for $39 million and is now pivoting to AI under the new name NewBird AI, sending its stock up 373 percent.

• NewBird AI plans to become a GPU-as-a-Service and AI-native cloud solutions provider, and it secured a $50 million investment from an undisclosed institutional investor through a convertible financing facility.

• The pivot echoes Long Island Iced Tea’s 2017 rebrand to blockchain, which saw a 275 percent stock jump before NASDAQ delisted it the following year after Bitcoin fever died down.

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Breaking News

OpenAI has accused Anthropic of inflating its revenue by $8 billion, claiming the rival is counting gross cloud sales to boost its numbers. The clash highlights rising tension ahead of potential IPOs — and shows how competitive (and political) the AI race has become.

Amazon is buying Globalstar for $11.5 billion to strengthen its satellite internet ambitions and take on SpaceX’s Starlink. The deal signals Amazon’s serious push into space infrastructure as the next battleground for connectivity.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

PRE-SEED

Sapient Perception, a Copenhagen, Denmark-based AI sensor systems company, raised €2M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was co-led by Balnord and FORWARD.one.

Replenit, a Warsaw, Poland-based AI retail decision engine, raised $2.5M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Movens Capital and Vastpoint, with participation from Logo Ventures, DigitalOcean Ventures, and others.

SEED

Helical, a London, UK-based virtual AI lab for pharma, raised $10M in Seed funding. The round was led by redalpine, with participation from Gradient, BoxGroup, Frst, and angels.

ActionAI, a NYC-based enterprise AI automation company, raised $10M in Seed funding. Backers included UAE-based investors.

Prefix, a NYC-based facility management platform, raised $7.5M in Seed funding. The round was co-led by Collide Capital and Slow Ventures, with participation from Connexa Capital, and others.

Primepoint, a San Mateo, CA-based construction intelligence platform, raised $10M in Seed funding. The round included Penny Jar Capital, NextView Ventures, and Navitas Capital, with participation from others.

GROWTH

Conxai, a Munich, Germany-based construction tech platform, raised $5.8M in Series A funding. The round was co-led by BayBG Venture Capital and Capricorn Partners, with participation from Earlybird, Pi Labs, Zacua Ventures, and others.

Yoga Joint, a NYC-based infrared fitness brand, raised $5.5M in funding. The round was led by Adam Shane, Port Street Ventures, and Jon Canarick, with participation from other investors.

nEye.ai, a Santa Clara, CA-based optical interconnect solutions company, raised $80M in Series C funding. The round was led by Sutter Hill Ventures, with participation from CapitalG, M12, Socratic Partners, and others.

Sygaldry Technologies, an Ann Arbor, MI-based quantum-AI infrastructure company, raised $105M in Series A funding. The round was led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures.

Calyxo, a Pleasanton, CA-based medical device company, raised $40M in Series F funding. The round was led by Ally Bridge Group and Janus Henderson Investors, with participation from Questa Capital, Avidity Partners, and others.

OpenGradient, a NYC-based AI compute layer company, raised $9.5M in funding. Backers included a16z crypto, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, SV Angel, Foresight Ventures, and others.

Bluefish, a NYC-based agentic marketing platform, raised $43M in Series B funding. The round was led by Threshold Ventures and NEA, with participation from Amex Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Bloomberg Beta, and others.

Spiral Therapeutics, a San Francisco, CA-based biotech company, raised $27M in Series B funding. The round was led by Gund Investment, with participation from Advanced Bionics, Ferring Ventures, and others.

Adcendo, a Copenhagen, Denmark-based biotech company, raised $75M in Series C funding. The round was led by Jeito Capital, with participation from Vida Ventures, BPI France, EIFO, and others.

Synera, a Bremen, Germany-based industrial AI platform, raised $40M in Series B funding. The round was led by Revaia, with participation from Capgemini (ISAI Cap Venture), BMW iVentures, Cherry Ventures, and others.

Quartzy, a Hayward, CA-based procurement platform, raised $23M in funding. The round was led by Avenue Capital Group and BroadOak Capital Partners.

Zell, a Berlin, Germany-based sales performance platform, raised €500K in funding. The round was led by P3Ventures, SkyDeck Europe, Cariplo Factory, and Lendlease, with participation from others.

Graftcode, a Warsaw, Poland-based developer tools startup, raised €2.1M in funding. The round was led by Hard2beat, with participation from DigitalOcean Ventures, Heartfelt Capital, and others.

Convelio, a Paris, France-based fine art logistics startup, raised an undisclosed amount in Series C funding. The round was led by a French family office, with participation from Forestay, Mundi Ventures, and Acton Capital.

Wamo, a London & Helsinki-based fintech company, raised €10M in Series A funding. The round was led by 3TS Capital Partners, with participation from Oleka.

QUICK HITS

🔋 Founder Fuel

• Useful Data: 40 real startup pitch decks that raised $350M+ (Including leading startups decks) (Link)

• Trends with Benefits: Is AI quietly eliminating customer support jobs? (Link)

• Founder Resource: Startup legal document pack – essential legal docs for founders. (Link)

• From Social: Venture Capital fund metrics cheat sheet - use these tools to evaluate VC fund performance. (Link)

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Eclipse, a Palo Alto, CA-based venture capital firm, raised $1.311 billion for two funds. In details, according two regulatory forms filed with the SEC, Eclipse Fund VI, L.P., raised $720m from 127 investors, and Eclipse Early Growth Fund III, L.P., raised $591m from 120 investors.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

Meta overtakes Google in global ad revenue

• Meta is forecast to pass Google in global ad revenue by the end of 2026, generating US$243 billion compared to Google’s US$239.5 billion, according to Emarketer’s latest outlook.

• Meta’s growth rate is expected to hit 24.1% in 2026, nearly double Google’s 12%, while Google’s share of global digital ad spend has been declining since 2021.

• Emarketer analysts credit tools like Advantage+ and AI-generated ads for pulling more ad dollars to Meta, saying advertisers follow performance rather than reacting to legal risks.

OpenAI unveils GPT-5.4-Cyber for cybersecurity use

• OpenAI launched GPT-5.4-Cyber, a specialized version of its flagship model designed for defensive cybersecurity tasks.

• The model will be released on a limited basis to vetted researchers and organizations due to its more permissive capabilities in vulnerability analysis.

• The launch follows Anthropic’s Mythos model, highlighting intensifying competition in AI-driven cybersecurity tools.

Google Search flags 'back button hijacking' as spam

• Google Search has updated its spam policy to treat back button hijacking — where sites prevent users from returning to the previous page — as a violation that can lower a site’s ranking.

• Pages caught using this deceptive practice will face manual spam actions or automated demotions, with Google noting it has seen a rise of this type of behavior across the web recently.

• Site owners have until June 15, 2026, to remove any scripts or advertising platform code responsible for back button hijacking, including third-party libraries that may cause the problem without their knowledge.

OpenAI valuation faces investor scrutiny amid strategy shift

• OpenAI is facing concerns from some investors over its $852 billion valuation as it shifts focus toward enterprise products to compete with Anthropic and Google.

• Backers worry that frequent roadmap changes and reduced emphasis on ChatGPT’s consumer growth could weaken its competitive edge.

• OpenAI maintains strong investor confidence, citing its oversubscribed $122 billion fundraise and continued growth ahead of a potential IPO.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕ Other News

Google adds AI Skills to Chrome for reusable workflows

• Google introduced Skills in Google Chrome, allowing users to save and reuse AI prompts across different web pages.

• The feature builds on Gemini integration, enabling users to run saved workflows like summarizing content, comparing products, or modifying recipes with one click.

• Google is also launching a Skills library with pre-built workflows, signaling a push toward making browsers more action-oriented and AI-driven.

HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES

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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)

• Partnerships & Community Manager - Pear VC | USA - Apply Here

• Investment Analyst Intern - NAV Capital | Dubai - Apply Here

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• Vice President, Investor Relations - General Atlantic - Apply Here

• PE & VC Partner Manager - Dealhub | UK - Apply Here

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Breaking News

Meta is reportedly building an AI clone of Mark Zuckerberg, a photorealistic 3D version that can talk to employees and give feedback like the real CEO. The system is trained on his tone, behavior, and thinking — essentially turning the founder into a scalable AI interface inside the company.

Microsoft is developing an OpenClaw-like autonomous agent inside Copilot, designed to run continuously and execute multi-step tasks for enterprise users. This marks a major push toward “always-on” AI workers — not just chatbots, but systems that actually do work on your behalf.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

PRE-SEED

Qoro Quantum, a London, UK-based quantum computing startup, raised £750K in Pre-Seed funding. Backers included Ada Ventures, Superangels Venture Fund, and Polsky Center.

Replenit, a Warsaw, Poland-based AI retail decision engine, raised $2.5M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Movens Capital and Vastpoint, with participation from Logo Ventures, DigitalOcean Ventures, and others.

Blocks, a Berlin, Germany-based AI cloud cost optimization startup, raised $6M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Speedinvest, with participation from Caesar Ventures and others.

SEED

DeepCyte, a Wilmington, DE & Copenhagen-based techbio company, raised $1.5M in Seed funding. The round was supported by Carl J. G. Evertsz.

Flashpass, a Columbus, OH-based digital skills platform, raised $4.25M in Seed funding. The round was led by J2 Ventures.

Airmo, a Munich & Luxembourg-based climate-tech startup, raised €5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Ananda Impact Ventures, with participation from Unconventional Ventures, kopa ventures, Desai Ventures, and others.

Pixel Photonics, a Münster, Germany-based photonics company, raised €5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Futury Capital, with participation from SPRIND, Kensho Ventures, and HTGF.

Round, a London, UK-based AI finance automation platform, raised $6M in Seed funding. The round was led by Alstin Capital, with participation from BACKED VC, Love Ventures, Passion Capital, and others.

Flora Fertility, a Calgary & Chicago-based fertility insurance platform, raised $5M in Seed funding. The round was led by ManchesterStory, with participation from BDC Capital, TruStage Ventures, Adara Venture Capital, and others.

GROWTH

Critical Loop, a Los Angeles, CA-based industrial power solutions company, raised $26M in Series A funding. The round was led by Conifer Infrastructure Partners and Hanover, with participation from Better Ventures, Climate Capital, Adapt Nation Capital, and others.

pH7 Technologies, a Vancouver-based critical-mineral extraction company, raised $32M in Series B funding. Backers included Asahi Kasei, Circular Innovation Fund, Fine Structure Ventures, and BHP Ventures.

Citra Space, a Colorado Springs, CO-based space tech company, raised $15M in Series A funding. The round was led by Washington Harbour Partners, with participation from Industrious Ventures, Scout VC, Alumni Ventures, and others.

Slate Auto, a Troy, MS-based EV company, raised $650M in Series C funding. The round was led by TWG Global.

Remission Medical, a Richmond, VA-based virtual rheumatology company, raised an undisclosed amount in Series A funding. The round was led by Blue Heron Capital.

Decision Science Advisors, a NYC-based AI advisory firm, raised an undisclosed amount in Series A funding. The investment was made by Jefferies Financial Group.

Sparian Biosciences, a NYC-based biotech company, received a $15M grant from NIH/NIDA.

Vivatides Therapeutics, a Suzhou & Boston-based biotech company, raised $54M in Series A funding. The round was co-led by Qiming Venture Partners, with participation from Highlight Capital, TF Capital, Apricot Capital.

ShengShu, a Beijing-based multimodal AI startup, raised $293M in funding. The round was led by Alibaba, with participation from Baidu Ventures and TAL Education.

Packz, a NYC-based collectibles platform, raised $10.7M in funding. Backers included Makers Fund, The Raine Group, Courtside Ventures, and others.

INXY, a Warsaw-based payment infrastructure company, raised $7M in funding. The round was led by Flashpoint.

QUICK HITS

🔋 Founder Fuel

• Useful Data: 40 real startup pitch decks that raised $350M+ (Including leading startups decks) (Link)

• Trends with Benefits: Is AI quietly eliminating customer support jobs? (Link)

• Founder Resource: Startup legal document pack – essential legal docs for founders. (Link)

• From Social: Venture Capital fund metrics cheat sheet - use these tools to evaluate VC fund performance. (Link)

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Eclipse, a Palo Alto, CA-based venture capital firm, raised $1.311 billion for two funds. In details, according two regulatory forms filed with the SEC, Eclipse Fund VI, L.P., raised $720m from 127 investors, and Eclipse Early Growth Fund III, L.P., raised $591m from 120 investors.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

OpenAI acquires AI personal finance startup Hiro

• OpenAI has acquired Hiro Finance, a consumer app that used AI to model financial decisions like spending, savings, and debt scenarios

• The deal appears to be an acquihire, with Hiro shutting down operations soon while its small team joins OpenAI to strengthen its fintech and business tools capabilities

• The move signals OpenAI’s growing interest in financial use cases, potentially expanding ChatGPT into more advanced personal finance or enterprise finance workflows

Vercel signals IPO readiness as AI agents drive rapid growth

• Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch said the company is operating like a public firm and is increasingly ready for an IPO, though no timeline was given

• Vercel’s revenue surged from $100M in 2024 to a $340M run rate in early 2026, driven by the rise of AI-generated apps and agents building and deploying software

• The company is betting that as AI agents create more software, Vercel will become the default infrastructure layer to host and run these applications

Stanford report shows widening gap between AI insiders and public sentiment

• A new Stanford report highlights a growing disconnect, with AI experts largely optimistic about the technology while the general public remains increasingly anxious.

• Most Americans are concerned about AI’s impact on jobs, the economy, and daily life, while experts focus more on long-term risks like AGI and expect positive outcomes.

• The gap is especially visible in areas like jobs and healthcare, where expert optimism is much higher than public confidence, signaling rising mistrust toward AI.

OpenAI valuation faces investor scrutiny amid strategy shift

• OpenAI is facing questions from investors over its $852 billion valuation as it pivots more toward enterprise products to compete with Anthropic and Google.

• Some backers are concerned frequent strategy changes and reduced focus on ChatGPT’s consumer growth could weaken its competitive position.

• OpenAI maintains strong investor confidence, pointing to its oversubscribed $122 billion fundraise and continued rapid growth ahead of a potential IPO.

Anthropic plots Lovable challenger, leak suggests

• Leaked images suggest Anthropic is building a vibe-coding app builder inside its Claude chatbot, which would compete directly with Swedish startup Lovable in the fast-growing no-code development space.

• The screenshots posted to X show an in-chat tool that lets users generate applications like AI chatbots, photo albums, and landing pages from simple prompts typed into Claude.

• Lovable raised $330m last December at a $6.6bn valuation, and its head of growth Elena Verna recently said she views Big Tech companies as more threatening than rival startups.

OpenAI blames Microsoft for limiting cloud partnerships

• OpenAI’s new revenue chief, Denise Dresser, said in an internal memo that the company’s Microsoft partnership has limited its ability to reach enterprise customers on rival cloud platforms like Amazon’s Bedrock.

• Dresser highlighted “staggering” inbound demand since OpenAI announced its Amazon deal in February, as the company fights to catch Anthropic’s Claude model, which multiple industry figures described as dominating enterprise AI.

• The memo also attacked Anthropic’s strategy as built on “fear” and “restriction,” claiming the rival made a “strategic misstep” by not acquiring enough compute, while OpenAI’s own infrastructure ramp is “materially ahead.”

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕ Other News

Internet Archive faces existential legal threat

• The Internet Archive and its Wayback Machine face a growing legal and access crisis as major news organizations, including USA Today Co. and The New York Times, block its web crawler from archiving their stories.

• Over 100 working journalists, including Rachel Maddow and Taylor Lorenz, signed a letter of support organized by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Fight for the Future, defending the Wayback Machine’s role in preserving reporting.

• News organizations say they are blocking crawlers broadly to fight scraping bots, with The Guardian citing concerns over potential misuse by AI companies of content sets crawled for preservation purposes.

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)

• Partnerships & Community Manager - Pear VC | USA - Apply Here

• Investment Analyst Intern - NAV Capital | Dubai - Apply Here

• Finance Associate - RA Capital | USA - Apply Here

• Vice President, Investor Relations - General Atlantic - Apply Here

• PE & VC Partner Manager - Dealhub | UK - Apply Here

• Associate / Senior Associate - Stepstone Group | Italy - Apply Here

• Investment Analyst - Lunicorn Venture | UK - Apply Here

• Program Manager - a16z | USA - Apply Here

• Chief of Staff - Greycroft | USA - Apply Here

• Associate or Senior Associate - AI - BVP | USA - Apply Here

WHEN YOU’RE READY, HERE’S HOW I CAN HELP:

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Share

Breaking News

OpenAI is facing a serious lawsuit claiming ChatGPT reinforced a user’s delusions, which allegedly escalated into real-world stalking and harassment. The case raises big questions about AI “sycophancy,” safety systems, and whether chatbots can be held legally responsible for influencing human behavior.

Apple is testing multiple designs for its upcoming smart glasses, signaling it’s getting serious about entering the wearable AI race. The product is expected to be a lighter, consumer-focused alternative — similar to Meta’s glasses — centered around photos, calls, and Siri rather than full AR.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

PRE-SEED

Ridge AI, a Seattle, WA-based AI dashboard and data agents platform, raised $2.6M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Madrona, with participation from TheFounderVC and angels.

Felix, a Prague, Czech Republic-based AI workflow platform, raised $1.7M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by XYZ Venture Capital, with participation from angel investors.

SEED

Elorian, a Palo Alto, CA-based AI research and product lab focused on advancing visual reasoning for AI, raised $55M in a seed funding round at a $300M valuation. The round was co-led by Striker Ventures, Menlo Ventures and Altimeter, with participation from NVIDIA and several AI researchers like Jeff Dean.

Juno, a San Diego, CA-based tax prep automation platform, raised $12M in Seed funding. The round was led by Bonfire Ventures, with participation from Impression Ventures and X Fund.

Yellow Blue Inc., a Tokyo, Japan-based AI translation platform, raised ~$440K in Seed funding. The round was led by mint.

Rork, a San Francisco, CA-based AI app-building platform, raised $15M in Seed funding. The round was led by Left Lane Capital, with participation from Peak XV, True Ventures, Goodwater, and a16z Speedrun.

Nirova LLC (fka Valkyrie Analytics), a Boise, ID-based climate-tech and industrial analytics company, raised $3M in Seed funding. Backers were not disclosed.

GROWTH

Chapter, a NYC-based Medicare navigation platform, raised $100M in Series E funding. The round was led by Generation Investment Management, with participation from 8VC, Stripes, Addition, Narya Capital, and others.

Ambient Clinical Analytics, a Rochester, MN-based clinical analytics software company, raised $5M in funding. Backers were not disclosed.

Haast, a NYC-based AI compliance engine, raised $12M in Series A funding. The round was led by Peak XV Partners, with participation from DST Global Partners, Airtree, Aura Ventures, and others.

PeakMetrics, a Los Angeles, CA-based AI-driven narrative intelligence company, raised $6M in Series A funding. The round was led by Moneta Ventures, with participation from Techstars, Parameter Ventures, VITALIZE Venture Capital, and Gurtin Ventures.

Plume, a San Francisco, CA-based geospatial data startup focused on infrastructure development, raised $3.9m in funding. The round was led by AENU, with participation from Y Combinator, Kima Ventures, Raise Phiture, Better Angle, and Collab Fund.

Oricell Therapeutics, a Shanghai, China-based pharmaceutical company developing tumor cellular immunotherapies, raised $110M in Pre-IPO funding. The round was led by Vivo Capital, Beijing Medical and Health Care Industry Investment Fund, Qiming Venture Partners, and a global healthcare fund with participation from E-Town Capital, Luxin Venture Capital, NGS Super, Elikon Investment, and Talon Capital.

Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a Massachusetts-based nuclear fusion startup building tokamak reactors for commercial energy, has raised nearly $3B, backed by investors like Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Bill Gates.

TAE Technologies, a California-based fusion company using beam-driven plasma systems, has raised about $1.79B, backed by investors like Google and Chevron.

General Fusion, a Canada-based startup building magnetized target fusion reactors, has raised over $600M, with backing from Jeff Bezos and Temasek.

QUICK HITS

🔋 Founder Fuel

• Useful Data: 40 real startup pitch decks that raised $350M+ (Including leading startups decks) (Link)

• Trends with Benefits: Is AI quietly eliminating customer support jobs? (Link)

• Founder Resource: Startup legal document pack – essential legal docs for founders. (Link)

• From Social: Venture Capital fund metrics cheat sheet - use these tools to evaluate VC fund performance. (Link)

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Eclipse, a Palo Alto, CA-based venture capital firm, raised $1.311 billion for two funds. In details, according two regulatory forms filed with the SEC, Eclipse Fund VI, L.P., raised $720m from 127 investors, and Eclipse Early Growth Fund III, L.P., raised $591m from 120 investors.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

Anthropic briefly bans OpenClaw creator amid rising tensions

• Anthropic temporarily suspended OpenClaw creator Peter Steinberger’s access to Claude over “suspicious activity,” before quickly reinstating it after backlash.

• The incident follows Anthropic’s shift to charge separately for third-party tools like OpenClaw, citing heavy compute usage — effectively limiting free access via subscriptions.

• The situation highlights growing friction between closed AI platforms and open-source ecosystems, especially as companies like OpenAI and Anthropic compete for developers and tooling dominance.

NASA Artemis II crew splashes down after Moon flyby

• NASA’s Artemis II crew of four astronauts splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean today aboard the Orion capsule, completing the first crewed trip around the moon since 1972.

• The crew traveled 694,481 miles over 10 days, swinging more than 4,000 miles past the moon’s far side, with Christina Koch becoming the first woman to venture beyond Earth orbit.

• Orion’s heat shield passed a key test during re-entry at 24,661 mph, after NASA redesigned the descent trajectory because an earlier uncrewed mission showed more serious charring than expected.

Meta transfers top engineers into new AI tooling team

• Meta is moving its top engineers into a new Applied AI unit focused on building tools and agents that can automate coding and product development

• The transfers are no longer voluntary as the company prioritizes AI, with leadership reallocating its strongest talent to accelerate AI-native workflows

• The move comes alongside expected layoffs and reflects Meta’s broader goal of flattening teams and shifting toward AI-driven productivity across the company

Microsoft's "commitment to Windows quality" starts with overhaul of beta program

• Microsoft is overhauling its Windows Insider Program as part of a broader effort to improve Windows quality, merging some testing channels and giving users more control over what they test.

• The Canary and Dev channels will be combined into a single “Experimental” channel, while the Beta channel stays mostly the same for people who want more stable preview builds.

• Both the Experimental and Beta channels will let testers pick between the 26H1 Arm-focused version and the standard 25H2 version, with a “Future Platforms” option for early builds.

Meta must face youth addiction lawsuit over Instagram design

• Meta must face a lawsuit alleging Instagram was intentionally designed to addict children using features like likes, notifications, and endless scroll

• The court ruled that Section 230 does not protect Meta because the case targets its own product design and conduct, not user-generated content

• This ruling could set a major precedent as thousands of similar lawsuits across the US aim to hold tech companies accountable for mental health harm caused by platform design

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕ Other News

Suspect arrested after Molotov cocktail thrown at Altman's home

A 20-year-old man was arrested in San Francisco after allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s home and later threatening to burn down OpenAI’s headquarters.

• Police responded to a fire investigation in the North Beach neighborhood around 4:12 AM PT and found that an incendiary destructive device had been thrown at the home’s exterior gate.

• OpenAI confirmed no one was hurt in either incident, said the individual is in custody, and noted the company is assisting law enforcement with their ongoing investigation into the attacks.

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Breaking News

SpaceX reported a $5B loss in 2025 despite $18.5B in revenue, highlighting the massive costs behind building space infrastructure and scaling AI through xAI. The numbers come just as the company prepares for a potential $1.75T IPO, revealing the high-stakes gamble behind one of the most anticipated listings ever.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy defended the company’s $200 billion spending plan for 2026, saying it’s driven by real demand, not speculation. AWS is already generating $15B annual AI revenue, while Amazon’s custom chip business adds another $20B+ in value. The company may soon start selling its Trainium AI chip systems and robotics externally — turning internal infrastructure into new revenue streams.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

PRE-SEED

Ridge AI, a Seattle, WA-based AI dashboard and data agents platform, raised $2.6M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Madrona, with participation from TheFounderVC and angels.

Felix, a Prague, Czech Republic-based AI workflow platform, raised $1.7M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by XYZ Venture Capital, with participation from angel investors.

SEED

Juno, a San Diego, CA-based tax prep automation platform, raised $12M in Seed funding. The round was led by Bonfire Ventures, with participation from Impression Ventures and X Fund.

Yellow Blue Inc., a Tokyo, Japan-based AI translation platform, raised ~$440K in Seed funding. The round was led by mint.

Rork, a San Francisco, CA-based AI app-building platform, raised $15M in Seed funding. The round was led by Left Lane Capital, with participation from Peak XV, True Ventures, Goodwater, and a16z Speedrun.

CareGlance, a Milan & Bari, Italy-based 3D sensor technology company, raised €3.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by CDP Venture Capital, with participation from Eureka Venture SGR, LIFTT, and angel investors.

Handhold, a Tallinn, Estonia-based AI-agent sales platform, raised €3M in Seed funding. The round was led by Entourage Capital, with participation from Inovia Capital, e2vc, and others.

Atlas, a Singapore-based AI operations platform, raised $6M in Seed funding. The round was led by Accel and Stellaris.

GROWTH

Chapter, a NYC-based Medicare navigation platform, raised $100M in Series E funding. The round was led by Generation Investment Management, with participation from 8VC, Stripes, Addition, Narya Capital, and others.

Ambient Clinical Analytics, a Rochester, MN-based clinical analytics software company, raised $5M in funding. Backers were not disclosed.

Haast, a NYC-based AI compliance engine, raised $12M in Series A funding. The round was led by Peak XV Partners, with participation from DST Global Partners, Airtree, Aura Ventures, and others.

AfterQuery, a San Francisco, CA-based applied data research lab, raised $30M in Series A funding. The round was led by Altos Ventures, with participation from The Raine Group, Y Combinator, and BoxGroup.

SiFive, a Santa Clara, CA-based RISC-V solutions company, raised $400M in Series G funding at a $3.65B valuation. The round was led by Atreides Management, with participation from Apollo Global Management, NVIDIA, T. Rowe Price, and others.

Luminai, a San Francisco, CA-based AI enterprise automation platform, raised $38M in Series B funding. The round was led by Peak XV Partners, with participation from General Catalyst, Define Ventures, and Y Combinator.

Kalshi, a NYC-based prediction market company, raised $4.7M in Series E funding. Backers included Factory Holdings and a16z’s Cultural Leadership Fund.

Pipe, a San Francisco, CA-based fintech company, raised $16M in funding. The round was led by Fin Capital and MaC Venture Capital.

Sigma Automate, an Atlanta, GA-based AI IT automation company, raised $2.75M in funding. The round was led by Glasswing Ventures, with participation from angel investors.

Sidewinder Therapeutics, a San Diego, CA-based biotech company, raised $137M in Series B funding. The round was led by Frazier Life Sciences and Novartis Venture Fund, with participation from OrbiMed, Goldman Sachs Alternatives, DCVC Bio, and others.

TeiaCare, a Milan, Italy-based healthcare monitoring platform, raised €7M in funding. The round was led by P101 SGR.

CertifID, an Austin, TX-based fraud protection platform, raised $47.5M in Series C funding. The round was led by Centana Growth Partners.

Edmund, a Prague, Czech Republic-based AI debugging platform, raised €2.5M in funding. The round was led by FORWARD.one, with participation from University2Ventures and Tensor Ventures.

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NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Collide Capital, a U.S.-based venture firm founded by Brian Hollins and Aaron Samuels, has raised a $95M Fund II to back early-stage startups. The fund will invest $1M–$3M checks across fintech, supply chain, and future-of-work startups, with backing from LPs like Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and UC Regents. The firm plans to invest in ~30 companies over 3.5 years, building on its existing portfolio of 75 startups.

Eclipse, a Palo Alto, CA-based venture capital firm, raised $1.311 billion for two funds. In details, according two regulatory forms filed with the SEC, Eclipse Fund VI, L.P., raised $720m from 127 investors, and Eclipse Early Growth Fund III, L.P., raised $591m from 120 investors.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

Google and Intel expand AI infrastructure partnership

• Google and Intel are deepening their multiyear partnership, with Google Cloud continuing to rely on Intel’s Xeon chips for AI and cloud workloads.

• The two companies will also co-develop custom IPUs (infrastructure processing units) to improve data center efficiency by offloading tasks from CPUs.

• The move highlights a broader shift: while GPUs dominate AI training, CPUs and supporting chips are becoming critical bottlenecks as demand for AI infrastructure surges.

xAI CFO Anthony Armstrong exits amid leadership churn

• xAI CFO Anthony Armstrong has left the company just months after being appointed, as part of a broader wave of senior departures.

• Armstrong previously played a key role in financial operations across xAI and X, and had advised Elon Musk during major deals.

• The exit comes at a critical time, as xAI remains closely tied to SpaceX’s upcoming IPO and broader restructuring efforts.

OpenAI launches $100/month ChatGPT plan for power users

• OpenAI introduced a new $100/month Pro plan, positioned between its $20 Plus tier and $200 high-end plan.

• The plan is focused on developers, offering 5× more usage of Codex (its coding tool), directly competing with Anthropic’s $100 Claude tier.

• While all plans still have limits, the new tier targets heavy, daily users who need higher capacity for coding and complex workflows.

Andy Jassy defends Amazon $200B spending spree

• Amazon CEO Andy Jassy wrote a shareholder letter defending the company’s planned $200 billion in capital spending for 2026, arguing the investments are backed by real customer demand, not guesses.

• Jassy disclosed that AWS’ AI revenue has reached a $15 billion annual run rate, and Amazon’s internal custom chips business is generating over $20 billion a year in value.

• Amazon may sell its Trainium AI chip racks and robotics solutions to outside customers, following the company’s pattern of building tools internally and then offering them as external services.

Tesla is developing a new smaller, cheaper EV

• Tesla is working on a new smaller, cheaper electric SUV that would be a distinct model from the existing Model 3 and Model Y, according to four people familiar with the matter.

• The compact SUV would be about 14 feet long, weigh roughly 1.5 metric tons, use a smaller battery with shorter range, and cost substantially less than the $34,000 entry-level Model 3 in China.

• The project is in early development with production planned for Tesla’s Shanghai factory, though timing is unclear, and the company has a history of starting vehicles that end up delayed or canceled.

OpenAI pauses Stargate UK over energy costs

• OpenAI has paused its Stargate data center project in the UK, pointing to high energy costs and regulatory burdens as the main reasons it cannot commit to long-term infrastructure investment.

• The project, announced last September with Nvidia and Nscale, was tied to the UK’s AI Growth Zone plan, which aimed to create 5,000 jobs and attract £30bn in private investment.

• Stargate’s $500bn US effort is already training AI systems at its Texas facility, with additional projects underway in the UAE and Norway, funded by OpenAI, Oracle, MGX, and SoftBank.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕ Other News

Anthropic explores building its own AI chips amid supply crunch

• Anthropic is considering designing its own AI chips as demand for compute surges, though plans are still early and not yet finalized.

• The move reflects a broader industry shift, with companies like Meta and OpenAI also exploring custom chip development to reduce reliance on external suppliers.

• Chip design is expensive (around $500M per project), but growing demand for Anthropic’s Claude models — now reportedly at $30B+ run-rate revenue — is pushing the company to secure long-term compute independence.

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• Ventures Analyst/Associate - Plug and Play Tech Centre | USA - Apply Here

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Breaking News

Meta just launched Muse Spark, the first model from its superintelligence team — signaling a reset after falling behind in the AI race. It’s designed to be fast, consumer-focused, and deeply integrated across WhatsApp, Instagram, and smart glasses, with built-in shopping features hinting at how Meta plans to monetize AI at scale.

Anthropic revealed a new AI model so powerful it refused to release it publicly, after it discovered thousands of zero-day vulnerabilities — including bugs hidden for decades. The model can autonomously exploit systems, raising serious concerns about how dangerous next-gen AI is becoming.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

PRE-SEED

Ridge AI, a Seattle, WA-based AI dashboard and data agents platform, raised $2.6M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Madrona, with participation from TheFounderVC and angels.

Felix, a Prague, Czech Republic-based AI workflow platform, raised $1.7M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by XYZ Venture Capital, with participation from angel investors.

SEED

Satellites on Fire, a Buenos Aires, Argentina-based fire protection startup, raised $2.7M in Seed funding. The round was led by Dalus Capital, with participation from Draper Associates, Draper Cygnus, VitaminC, Savia Ventures, Avesta Fund, Reciprocal, Zenani Capital, Innventure, Air Capital, Gain VC, Antom VC, and Embarca Tech.

Q-Factor, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based quantum computing company, raised $24M in Seed funding. The round was led by NFX and TPY Capital, with participation from Intel Capital, Korea Investment Partners, Deep33, and others.

Pomo, a Palo Alto, CA-based agentic marketing intelligence platform, raised $4.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Kindred Ventures, with participation from Databricks Ventures, SV Angel, 645 Ventures, and others.

cadootz!, a NYC-based snack brand, raised $3M+ in Seed funding. The round was led by Selva Ventures, with participation from other investors.

GROWTH

Natter, a NYC-based AI-native conversation intelligence platform, raised $23M in funding. The round was led by Renegade Partners, with participation from Kindred Capital, Costanoa Ventures, Rackhouse Ventures, Village Global, and Asymmetric Capital Partners.

Starfish Space, a Tukwila, WA-based satellite servicing company, raised $100M in Series B funding. The round was led by Point72 Ventures, Activate Capital, and Shield Capital, with participation from NFX, Toyota Ventures, Munich Re Ventures, and others.

Aria Networks, a Palo Alto, CA-based networking company, raised $125M in funding. Backers included Sutter Hill Ventures, Atreides Management, Valor Equity Partners, and Eclipse Ventures.

nFuse, a Sofia, Bulgaria-based AI-powered B2B ordering platform, raised $2M in funding. Backers included Eleven Ventures and LAUNCHub.

Livid, a Dover, DE-based ad-free video hosting platform, raised $10M in funding. The round was led by Geige Vandentop and Dan Briggs.

True Footage, an Austin, TX-based appraisal services platform, raised $40M in Series C funding. The round was led by Cox Enterprises, with participation from Nava Ventures, Story Ventures, The Kraft Group, and others.

Sora Fuel, a Boston, MA-based climate tech company, raised $14.6M in funding. The round was led by Spero Ventures and Inspired Capital, with participation from Engine Ventures and Wireframe Ventures.

Patlytics, a NYC-based patent lifecycle AI platform, raised $40M in Series B funding. The round was led by SignalFire, with participation from N47, Relativity, Alumni Ventures, and others.

Treon, a Tampere, Finland-based smart industry solutions provider, raised €6.8M in Series A extension funding. The investment was made by ACME Capital.

Petwealth, a Miami, FL-based pet health diagnostics company, raised $1.7M in funding. Backers were not disclosed.

Narwhal Labs, a Bristol, UK-based autonomous communications platform, raised £20M in funding. Backers included Jonathan Swann.

Latent, a San Francisco, CA-based AI platform for medication access, raised $80M in Series A funding. The round was led by Spark Capital and Transformation Capital, with participation from General Catalyst, Y Combinator, Conviction, and others.

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• From Social: Sam Altman's guide to startup fundraising: what really works. (Link)

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

futurepresent, a NYC, Berlin, and Munich, Germany-based venture capital firm backing AI startups in the US and Europe, launched with its first $300M vehicle. The firm partners at inception and take a concentrated approach at early growth. Led by Thomas Lueke, Jan Rettel, David Meiborg, and Johnson Yang, the firm has already invested in 14 portfolio companies with an investment strategy that includes Pre-Seed/Seed and concentrated-growth investments.

Eclipse, a Palo Alto, CA-based venture capital firm, raised $1.311 billion for two funds. In details, according two regulatory forms filed with the SEC, Eclipse Fund VI, L.P., raised $720m from 127 investors, and Eclipse Early Growth Fund III, L.P., raised $591m from 120 investors.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

OpenAI launches child safety blueprint to combat AI-enabled abuse

• OpenAI introduced a Child Safety Blueprint focused on detecting, reporting, and preventing AI-driven child exploitation.

• The move comes as cases rise — with over 8,000 reports of AI-generated abuse content in early 2025, including deepfake images and AI-assisted grooming.

• The initiative, developed with groups like National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, pushes for stronger laws, better reporting systems, and built-in safeguards across AI platforms.

FBI reports record $21 billion lost to cybercrime last year

• The FBI says Americans lost a record $21 billion to cybercrime in 2025, a 26% increase from the previous year, driven by investment scams, business email compromise, tech support fraud, and data breaches.

• For the first time, the FBI’s report includes AI-related scams — covering voice cloning, fake profiles, forged documents, and deepfake videos — which accounted for 22,300 complaints and $893 million in losses.

• Americans over the age of 60 were hit the hardest, reporting $7.7 billion in losses, while cryptocurrency-related cybercrime caused the largest overall loss category, exceeding $11 billion across 181,565 cases.

NYT claims it has identified the inventor of bitcoin

• The New York Times published an investigation by journalist John Carreyrou arguing that British cryptographer Adam Back, who invented Hashcash, is the most likely person behind Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto.

• The report relied on stylometric analysis, noting that Back uniquely hyphenated “proof-of-work” and referenced the obscure Russian currency WebMoney, both appearing in Satoshi’s emails, though Carreyrou admitted this is not definitive proof.

• Back has consistently denied being Satoshi, and the crypto community has been skeptical, with Casa co-founder Jameson Lopp saying Nakamoto “can’t be caught with stylometric analysis.”

Disney plans layoffs as part of cost-cutting push

• Walt Disney is reportedly planning to cut around 1,000 jobs, primarily within its marketing division.

• The layoffs would affect less than 1% of its workforce, as the company restructures under its new leadership and streamlines operations.

• The move is tied to an internal initiative, “Project Imagine,” aimed at consolidating marketing functions and reducing costs.

AWS says backing both OpenAI and Anthropic isn’t a conflict — it’s strategy

• Amazon Web Services CEO Matt Garman defended investing in both OpenAI and Anthropic, saying AWS is used to competing with its own partners.

• Amazon has invested ~$50B in OpenAI while already backing Anthropic with ~$8B, aiming to offer customers access to multiple leading AI models.

• The bigger strategy: cloud providers want to become the “AI router,” letting customers switch between models — while quietly pushing their own models into the mix.

LAST COFFEE SIP

☕ Other News

Google AI Overviews delivers wrong answers 10% of the time

• A new analysis from The New York Times found that Google AI Overviews delivers wrong answers about 10 percent of the time, which translates to tens of millions of incorrect answers per day across all searches.

• The study was conducted with startup Oumi using OpenAI’s SimpleQA evaluation, a list of over 4,000 questions with verifiable answers, and showed accuracy improved from 85 to 91 percent after the Gemini 3 update.

• While a 91 percent accuracy rate sounds decent, the sheer scale of Google searches means that even a small error rate produces hundreds of thousands of lies going out every minute of the day.

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• Ventures Analyst/Associate - Plug and Play Tech Centre | USA - Apply Here

• Associate/Senior Associate - Temasek Capital Management | USA - Apply Here

• Research Innovation Program Director - Generator | USA - Apply Here

• Investment Analyst Intern - NAV Capital | Dubai - Apply Here

• Finance Associate - RA Capital | USA - Apply Here

• PE & VC Partner Manager - Dealhub | UK - Apply Here

• Associate / Senior Associate - Stepstone Group | Italy - Apply Here

• Investment Analyst - Lunicorn Venture | UK - Apply Here

• Program Manager - a16z | USA - Apply Here

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💁 You might need our help!

• Reach 115,000+ Founders & Investors: Partner with our newsletter to reach a highly engaged audience.

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Share

Breaking News

Intel is joining Elon Musk’s Terafab project with Tesla and SpaceX to build a massive AI chip factory in the U.S. The project aims to produce 1 terawatt of compute annually, signaling a bold move toward vertically integrated AI infrastructure at unprecedented scale.

Meta plans to open-source versions of its next-generation AI models, derived from its upcoming frontier systems (Avocado and Mango). However, these releases will be stripped-down versions — with smaller parameter sizes, fewer features, and limited post-training — partly due to safety concerns. The move shows Meta doubling down on its open strategy, even as it admits these models may not outperform rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic.

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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS

💰 Startup Funding Updates

PRE-SEED

Ridge AI, a Seattle, WA-based AI dashboard and data agents platform, raised $2.6M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Madrona, with participation from TheFounderVC and angels.

Felix, a Prague, Czech Republic-based AI workflow platform, raised $1.7M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by XYZ Venture Capital, with participation from angel investors.

SEED

HexemBio, a NYC-based biotechnology company, raised $10.4M in Seed funding. The round was led by Draper Associates, with participation from SOSV, Seraphim, and others.

Golden Analytics, a Seattle, WA-based AI-native BI platform, raised $7M in Seed funding. The round was led by NEA and Madrona, with participation from Breakers.

Trent AI, a London, UK-based agentic security company, raised $13M in Seed funding. The round was led by LocalGlobe and Cambridge Innovation Capital, with participation from industry leaders.

GROWTH

Prism Layer, a Washington, DC-based enterprise risk AI platform, raised an undisclosed amount in funding. The round was led by Fenway Summer, with participation from Plural Ventures.

Cyberhill Partners, an Austin, TX-based enterprise AI services firm, received a strategic investment of up to $11M from Baleon Capital.

Route 92 Medical, a West Jordan, Utah-based medtech company, raised $50M in growth financing. The round included Sectoral Asset Management, Novo Holdings, U.S. Venture Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, InnovaHealth Partners, and others.

SimpliFed, a NYC-based maternal healthcare company, raised $10M+ in Series A funding. The round was led by Morningside and Hesperia Capital, with participation from Foreground Capital, AHA Social Impact Fund, Elizabeth Street Ventures, and others.

Two Boxes, a Denver, CO-based returns processing platform, raised $3.2M in funding. The round was led by Assembly Ventures, with participation from Peterson Ventures and Matchstick Ventures.

Endovascular Engineering, a Menlo Park, CA-based medtech company, raised $80M in Series C funding. The round was led by Gilde Healthcare and Norwest, with participation from Santé Ventures, S3 Ventures, Panakès Partners, and others.

Kytopen, a Cambridge, MA-based cellular engineering company, raised an undisclosed amount in Series B funding. The round was led by Telegraph Hill Partners, with participation from existing investors.

Hermeus, a Los Angeles, CA-based defense aviation company, raised $350M in Series C funding at a $1B valuation. The round was led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from Canaan Partners, Founders Fund, RTX Ventures, Bling Capital, In-Q-Tel, and others.

Modus, a NYC-based audit technology platform, raised $85M in Seed and Series A funding. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Comma Capital and Garry Tan.

Mappedin, a Waterloo, Canada-based indoor mapping company, raised $24.5M in Growth Equity funding. The round was led by Edison Partners, with participation from Betatron Venture Group.

Dexory, a London, UK-based warehouse intelligence company, raised £8.5M in Series C funding. The investment was made by British Business Bank.

Yuzu Health, a NYC-based health infrastructure platform, raised $35M in Series A funding. The round was led by General Catalyst and Chemistry, with participation from Anthropic’s Anthology Fund, Bain Future Back Ventures, Neo, and others.

NewBird AI, a Redwood City, CA-based AI operations company, raised $19.3M in funding. The round was led by Xora Innovation, with participation from Mayfield, StepStone Group, Prosperity7 Ventures, and M12.

GoSats, a Bengaluru, India-based rewards company, raised $5M in Series A funding. The round was led by Konvoy, with participation from Y Combinator and Taisu Ventures.

Costal Measures, a Kittery, ME-based ocean data platform, raised $1.2M in funding. The round included support from Amazon Web Services.

Xoople, a Madrid, Spain-based data infrastructure company, raised $130M in Series B funding. The round included Nazca Capital, MCH, CDTI, Buenavista Equity Partners, and Endeavor Catalyst.

SpectronRx, an Indianapolis, IN-based radiopharmaceutical company, raised $85M in funding. The investment was made by OrbiMed.

QUICK HITS

🔋 Founder Fuel

• Useful Data: We’ve curated 40+ investor lists/databases to help you connect with the right investors for your startup. (Link)

• Trends with Benefits: Is software about to shrink or expand 10x? Redpoint’s data reveals the truth. (Link)

• Founder Resource: Investor Data Room Superpack: Everything you need to build a VC-ready data room (Guide/Templates) (Link)

• From Social: Paul Graham's framework to get startup ideas.. (Link)

NEW VCs IN THE MARKET

🏦 Venture Capital Updates.

Eclipse, a Palo Alto, CA-based venture capital firm, raised $1.311 billion for two funds. In details, according two regulatory forms filed with the SEC, Eclipse Fund VI, L.P., raised $720m from 127 investors, and Eclipse Early Growth Fund III, L.P., raised $591m from 120 investors.

futurepresent, a NYC, Berlin, and Munich, Germany-based venture capital firm backing AI startups in the US and Europe, launched with its first $300M vehicle. The firm partners at inception and take a concentrated approach at early growth.

KEY STORIES IN TECH

📜 Latest In Tech

Apple still targeting September launch for foldable iPhone

• Apple is reportedly on track to launch its first foldable iPhone around September, alongside the iPhone 18 Pro lineup.

• Despite earlier concerns about engineering challenges, the company appears confident in meeting its timeline, though initial supply may be limited.

• Apple is expected to compete directly with Samsung and Chinese brands, with improvements in durability and reduced screen crease as key differentiators.

Anthropic unveils Mythos model for cybersecurity use

• Anthropic introduced Mythos, a powerful new AI model, as part of Project Glasswing to help detect vulnerabilities in software systems.

• Early tests show the model identified thousands of critical zero-day vulnerabilities, including long-standing issues in legacy codebases.

• The preview is limited to select partners like Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple, signaling a controlled rollout of high-risk, high-capability AI.

Anthropic doubles down on Google Cloud TPUs