☕ a16z spends $1.49M in Washington lobbying, Perplexity to give media giants share of AI search revenue & More.
Trump wants more deals like Intel & Apple plans major iPhone redesigns for three consecutive years.
The first virtual meeting happened in 1916.
No Zoom, no Wi-Fi, just a transmission between offices using early video tech.
Proof that even over a century ago, people were finding new ways to avoid in-person small talk.
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📬 What’s in store:
Today’s Picks: Legal docs pack, founder sales playbook, financial model template, startup comp guide, US VC db, early traction signals, EU VC db, pre-seed evals, PMF paths, 40 pitch decks.
Elon Musk’s xAI sues Apple and OpenAI, alleging anticompetitive collusion.
Apple plans major iPhone redesigns for three consecutive years.
TSMC removes Chinese tools from its 2-nm factories.
Perplexity to give media giants share of AI search revenue.
Trump wants more deals like Intel's, worrying business community.
Apple is in talks to use Google’s Gemini for Siri revamp.
a16z spends $1.49M in Washington lobbying, while rivals mostly sit out.
VC & Startup Jobs: VC & investors backed startup hiring for remote roles.
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🗞️ What else is brewing
Startup legal document pack – essential legal docs for founders.
The Sales Playbook For Founders | Startup School.
Excel Template: Early Stage Startup Financial Model For Fundraising
Alejandro Cremades on startup compensation.
2700+ US Angel Investors & VC Firms Contact Database (Email + LinkedIn Link)
Non-obvious signs of early startup traction and how to spot them.
6000+ European VC Firms Contact Database (LinkedIn Links).
What are investors actually evaluating at pre-seed and seed?
Breakdown of different paths to Product-Market Fit.
40 real startup pitch decks that raised $350M+ (Including leading startups decks).
Every $10B opportunity can be explained by a simple heuristic.
350+ Indian Angel Investors & Venture Capital Firms Contact Database (Email + LinkedIn Link).
All-In-One Guide To Venture Capital Interview Questions (And How to Answer Them)
STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup funding updates
Barti Software, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an eye-care software platform, raised $12m in Series A funding. The round was led by Five Elms Capital with participation from Vertical Venture Partners, Zag Capital, and Bienville Capital.
Pintarnya, a Jakarta, Indonesia-based employment, income and financial services platform provider, raised $16.7m in Series A funding. The round was led by Square Peg with participation from Vertex Venture Southeast Asia & India and East Ventures.
Crusoe, a Denver, CO-based vertically integrated AI infrastructure provider, secured a $175m credit facility from Victory Park Capital.
Soil Action, a Laramie, WY-based agtech company providing a platform that combines AI and sensors to deliver real-time soil chemistry insights, raised $5.25M in Seed funding. The round was led by R7 Partners, with participation from Climactic VC, Dolby Family Ventures, Ponderosa Ventures, The University of Wyoming Foundation, and Ag Ventures Alliance.
GoodShip, a Seattle, WA-based provider of a platform for the freight orchestration category, raised $25M in Series B funding. The round was led by Greenfield Partners with participation from returning investors Bessemer Venture Partners, Ironspring Ventures, Chicago Ventures, and FUSE VC.
Arintra, an Austin, TX-based provider of a GenAI-native autonomous medical coding platform for healthcare providers, raised $21M in Series A funding. The round was led by Peak XV Partners, with participation from Endeavor Health Ventures, Y Combinator, Counterpart Ventures, Spider Capital, Ten13, and other strategic investors.
Luna Diabetes, a San Diego, CA-based medical device company, raised $23.6M in Series A funding. The round was led by Vensana Capital, with participation from the Swiss Diabetes Venture Fund, Ascensia Diabetes Care, Winklevoss Capital, and others.
Paragraf, a Somersham, UK-based developer of graphene-based electronic products, raised $55m in Series C funding. The round was led by Mubadala.
Arnatar Therapeutics, a San Diego, CA-based biotechnology company advancing RNA-based therapies for severe and underserved diseases, emerged from stealth with a $52M Series A funding. The round, closed in 2024, was led by Eight Roads and 3E Bioventures with participation from F-Prime Capital, Zhuhai Huajin Capital, Legend Star, Transfar Capital, New Alliance Capital, Yijing Capital, Gaorong Ventures, Jifeng Ventures and Hongsheng Capital.
Dirac, a NYC-based leader in assembly automation software, raised $10.7M in funding. Backers included Founders Fund and Coatue.
Nest Health, a New Orleans, LA-based in-home, whole-family care provider for families on Medicaid, raised $12.5M+ in Series A funding. The round was co-led by returning investors 8VC and Blue Venture Fund, alongside new investor Amboy Street Ventures, with participation from Alumni Ventures, Health 2047, Nicholas Jarboe, and others.
DigiFT, a Singapore-based real-world asset (RWA) exchange, raised $11m in funding. The round, which brought DigiFT’s total funding to $25m, was led by SBI Holdings with participation from Mirana Ventures, Offchain Labs, Yunqi Partners, and Polygon Labs.
Kiwi, a Bengaluru, India-based fintech lending platform, raised $24M in Series B funding. The round was led by Vertex Ventures with participation from Nexus Venture Partners, Stellaris Venture Partners, and Omidyar Network.
Holo, a Dubai, UAE-based fintech platform helping people to buy homes, raised $22M in Series A funding. The round was led by Impact46, with participation from Mubadala Investment Company “Mubadala”, an Abu Dhabi sovereign investor, as well as participation from Saudi institutional investors, Rua Growth Fund, anb seed, and MoreThan Capital, with the participation of returning investors Salica Oryx Fund and Dubai Future District Fund.
Oway, a San Francisco, CA-based AI-enabled marketplace to manage LTL freight costs, raised $4m in seed funding. Backers included Y Combinator, General Catalyst, Wayfinder Ventures, Phosphor Capital and Soma Capital.
Irys, a London, UK-based startup blockchain startup, raised $10m in Series A funding. The round was led by CoinFund, with participation from Hypersphere, Tykhe Ventures, Varrock Ventures, Breed VC, Echo Group, Amber Group, and WAGMI Ventures.
ProVerum, a Dublin, Ireland-based developer of the ProVee System for BPH, a minimally invasive solution for treating benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), raised $80M in Series B equity Funding. The round was led by MVM Partners, whit participation from OrbiMed and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF), and existing investors Gilde Healthcare Partners, Lightstone Ventures, Atlantic Bridge and Enterprise Ireland.
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NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital updates
Shift Invest, an Amstelveen, The Netherlands-based impact venture capital firm, held the first close of SHIFT IV at €92M. Backers included European Investment Fund (EIF), Rabo Investments, Invest-NL, corporate partners such as Royal Schiphol Group, regional partners Oost NL, Brabantse Ontwikkelings Maatschappij (BOM), ROM Utrecht Region, NV NOM, LIOF, Investeringsfonds Groningen (IFG), knowledge partners such as Delft Enterprises B.V.
Ventures.eu, a Lisbon, Portugal-based venture capital firm, has launched its first €30m fund. Ventures.eu is on a mission to accelerate the growth of Europe’s most promising early-stage companies, with a particular focus on Deeptech and AI, even providing strategic capital and hands-on support.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest in tech
Elon Musk’s xAI sues Apple and OpenAI, alleging anticompetitive collusion:
Musk’s X and xAI filed a lawsuit accusing Apple and OpenAI of colluding to block competition in AI, citing Apple’s integration of ChatGPT as evidence of monopolistic behavior.
The case adds to Musk’s ongoing disputes with OpenAI, including his failed $97.4 billion takeover bid and prior lawsuits over its for-profit transition.
Musk argues the Apple–OpenAI deal makes it “impossible” for rival AI apps to compete on the App Store, with joint features set to roll out in December.
Apple plans major iPhone redesigns for three consecutive years:
Bloomberg reports Apple is preparing a major redesign for the iPhone’s 20th anniversary in 2027, featuring curved glass edges under a new “Liquid Glass” design philosophy.
The company last introduced a radical shift in 2017 with the iPhone X, which removed the home button and added an all-screen display with a notch.
Ahead of the anniversary device, Apple plans to release its first foldable phone in 2026, using new screen tech aimed at reducing visible creases.
TSMC removes Chinese tools from its 2-nm factories:
TSMC is removing all Chinese manufacturing equipment from its new 2-nanometer production lines, driven by fears of potential US sanctions linked to the proposed Chip EQUIP Act.
The company is also reviewing its entire supply chain for materials and chemicals to further reduce Chinese components in both its Taiwan and US factories for advanced production.
This effort differs from the 3-nm process where technical risks prevented swapping out Chinese tools, but TSMC is now making the change as it ramps up 2-nm manufacturing.
Perplexity to give media giants share of AI search revenue:
Perplexity announced a new subscription program called Comet Plus that gives users access to premium content from trusted publishers and aims to compensate journalists for their contributions.
The company is funding a revenue sharing program with $42.5 million, which will deliver 80 percent of the subscription revenue to publishers while Perplexity keeps the remaining 20 percent.
This new model arrives after Perplexity was sued by News Corp. publishers and threatened with legal action by the BBC over alleged copyright infringement and content scraping.’
Trump wants more deals like Intel's, worrying business community:
After the U.S. government took a near-10% stake in Intel through grants converted into equity, Trump said he hopes for “many more cases like it,” signaling similar deals in other industries.
Critics warn this marks a shift toward a state-engaged economy, raising concerns about corporate strategy limits, customer pressure to buy from government-backed firms, and potential global regulatory risks.
While some argue it strengthens U.S. industry against foreign rivals, others — including Republican lawmakers — caution it edges toward government control of private enterprise under the banner of national security.
Apple is in talks to use Google’s Gemini for Siri revamp:
Apple is exploring a partnership with Google to power Siri with Gemini, as it struggles to match rival AI assistants in capability.
The company has also held talks with OpenAI and Anthropic, signaling it may outsource rather than fully rely on in-house development.
A decision isn’t expected for several weeks, but Google has reportedly started training a model designed to run on Apple’s servers.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕Other news
a16z spends $1.49M in Washington lobbying, while rivals mostly sit out:
Andreessen Horowitz has spent $1.49 million on federal lobbying so far this year, already surpassing its 2024 total and outpacing most other VC firms, including Sequoia ($120K) and General Catalyst ($500K).
The firm’s lobbying covers crypto, AI, and now U.S. defense policy, with filings showing efforts to influence the National Defense Authorization Act and National Security Council discussions.
a16z has built a bipartisan in-house policy team and recently added former deputy national security advisor Anne Neuberger, underscoring its push into regulated industries through its American Dynamism practice.
HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES
💼 Today’s VC & startup job opportunities
All-In-One VC Interview Preparation Guide: With a leading investors group, we have created an all-in-one VC interview preparation guide for aspiring VCs. Don’t miss this. (Access Here)
Investment Analyst - Caanan | USA - Apply Here
Events and Operations Intern - Plug and Play Tech Centre | UK - Apply Here
Partner 16 - a16z | USA - Apply Here
Associate Telescope Partner | USA - Apply Here
Operations & Finance Analyst - Faraday Venture Partner | Spain - Apply Here
Healthcare Analyst - General Investment Management | UK - Apply Here
Investor (AI) - Samsung next | USA - Apply Here
Partner 20 - a16z | USA - Apply Here
VP - Marketing & Communications - Transition VC | India - Apply Here
Investment Analyst - Miras Investment | Dubai - Apply Here
Program Manager - Tenity | UK - Apply Here
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