☕ Anthropic doubled its fundraising target to $20 billion & SoftBank to invest an additional $30 billion in OpenAI.
OpenAI launches Prism, a new AI workspace for scientists & The new owners of US TikTok.
Breaking News
Anthropic has reportedly doubled its latest fundraising target to $20 billion, valuing the company at around $350 billion, according to the Financial Times. The jump from an initial $10B target reflects intense investor demand, with backers expected to include Sequoia Capital, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, and Coatue, as Anthropic lays the groundwork for a potential IPO after its $13B raise last year at a $183B valuation.
SoftBank is in talks to invest up to an additional $30 billion in OpenAI, as part of a massive funding round that could raise as much as $100 billion and value OpenAI at roughly $830 billion, according to Reuters. The move would deepen Masayoshi Son’s all-in bet on OpenAI and Stargate, the $500B AI data center initiative, underscoring how capital, compute, and geopolitics are converging as the AI race accelerates.
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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup Funding Updates
PRE-SEED
Global Key Solutions Corp., a Brooklyn, New York and Scranton, Pennsylvania-based developer of data-driven quality and regulatory intelligence technology, raised a pre-seed funding of an undisclosed amount. The funding was provided by Krieger Capital.
A47, a Dubai, UAE-based developer of an AI-native news platform, raised $2m in pre-seed funding. Backers included institutional and angel investors. In conjunction with the funding, Shehab Gargash joined the board as Chairman.
SEED
Risotto, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an autonomous AI ITSM agentic platform, raised $10M in Seed funding. The round was led by Bonfire Ventures, with participation from 645 Ventures, Y Combinator, Ritual Capital, Surgepoint Capital, and former executives from Dropbox and HelloSign.
Fortitude Biomedicines, Inc., a Waltham, MA-based developer of immune cell targeting biologics and molecular glue-enabled antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs), raised $13m in Seed financing. The round was co-led by K2 Bio Partners, Shanghai Healthcare Angel Capital, and Elikon Venture, with participation from Everjoy Fortune and Taihill Venture.
Chamelio, a NYC-based provider of a legal intelligence platform, raised $10M in Seed funding. The round was led by Work-Bench and Emerge with participation from other investors.
Midship, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an AI-native platform automating Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) testing and internal audit workflows, raised $4.15M in Seed funding. The round was led by Costanoa Ventures, with participation from Seguin Ventures and additional angel investors.
Nerd Apply, a NYC-based provider of a privacy-first platform for outcome-driven college counseling, raised $3.2M in Seed funding. The round included participation from Riverpark Ventures, Alumni Ventures, 1.61 Ventures and angel investors including Gokul Rajaram, David Krane, Jeff Crowe, and Chris Moore.
Navidence, an Aurora, CO-based technology company focused on defining health data and supporting researchers in study design, raised an undisclosed amount in Seed funding. The round was co-led by Grand Ventures and Nina Capital.
Symbiotic Security, a Paris, France-based developer of an AI-first customer research platform, raised $10m in seed funding. The round was led by Alven and Drysdale, with participation from Lerer Hippeau, Axeleo, and Factorial Cap, and angel investors Thomas Wolf and Julien Launay.
GoCanopy, a London, UK-based provider of an AI-powered operating system for institutional real estate investors, raised €2.1M in Seed funding.
Paraglide, a Malmö, Sweden-based developer of an agentic AI product for accounts receivable (AR), raised $5m in seed funding. The round was co-led by Bessemer Venture Partners and DN Capital, with participation from Born Capital and The Nordic Web Ventures.
CVector, a NYC-based provider of an AI solution that empowers industrial companies with real-time recommendations, raised $5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Powerhouse Ventures, with participation from Fusion Fund, Hitachi Ventures, Myriad Venture Partners, and Schematic Ventures.
GROWTH
Synthesia, a London, UK-based provider of AI-generated video tools for enterprises, raised $200m in Series E funding round at a $4 billion post-money valuation. A part of the raise will be channeled to employee secondary share sales. The round was led by GV, with participation from Kleiner Perkins, Accel, New Enterprise Associates, NVentures, Air Street Capital, and PSP Growth.
Yolando, a Toronto, Ontario, Canada-based developer of a competitive intelligence and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) platform, raised $8.5m in total funding. Drive Capital made the investment.
Fulcrum, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an AI platform for insurance brokerages, raised $25M in combined Seed and Series A funding. The amount was led by CRV, with participation from South Park Commons, Foundation Capital, and a group of insurance and technology angel investors.
Flora, a NYC-based creative technology company, raised $42M in Series A funding. The round was led by Alex Bard and Jordan Segall at Redpoint Ventures, with participation from CEOs of Vercel, Frame.io and the three co-founders of Fal.
Memcyco, a Boston, MA-based provider of a real-time digital risk protection platform, raised $37M in Series A funding. The round was led by NAventures, the corporate venture arm of National Bank of Canada, E. León Jimenes, and PagsGroup, with participation from existing investors Capri Ventures and Venture Guides.
Summize, a Boston, MA-based AI Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) software, raised $50M in funding. Backers included existing investors Maven Capital Partners and YFM Equity Partners, and new tech investment firm Kennet Partners and global investor Federated Hermes Private Equity.
Jelou, a New York City-based developer of a platform for building AI agents in messaging apps, raised $10m in Series A funding. The round was led by Wellington Access Ventures, with participation from Krealo and Collide Capital.
TRexBio, a San Francisco, CA-based clinical-stage biotechnology company, raised $50M in funding. Backers included Janus Henderson Investors, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. and Affinity Asset Advisors, as well as existing investors Alexandria Venture Investments.
Concourse, a NYC-based provider of an AI agent platform for finance teams, raised $12M Series A funding. The round was led by Standard Capital, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, CRV, and Y Combinator.
Mesh, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a crypto payments network, raised $75M in Series C funding, at $1B valuation. The round was led by Dragonfly Capital with participation from Paradigm, Moderne Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, SBI Investment, and Liberty City Ventures.
Opendate, an Indianapolis, Indiana-based provider of an all-in-one platform for booking, ticketing, and marketing live events, raised $14m in Series A funding. The round was led by High Alpha, with participation from existing investors.
Gridline, an Atlanta, GA-based provider of a platform for private market investing in the wealth channel, raised $18.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by FINTOP.
Antheia, a Menlo Park, CA-based biosynthesis company delivering pharmaceutical manufacturing, completed a second close of its Series C financing, raising an additional $24M. The round was led by ATHOS KG and America’s Frontier Fund, with participation from existing investors, including Global Health Investment Corporation (GHIC).
Fiddler AI, a Palo Alto, California-based provider of an enterprise AI observability and security platform, raised $30m in Series C funding. The round was led by RPS Ventures, with participation from existing investors and new strategic backers.
Vennre, a Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based developer of a wealth creation platform, closed a $9.6m Pre-Series A funding round. The round was co-led by Vision Ventures and anb seed Fund, with participation from Sanabil 500, Ace & Co, Plus VC, and strategic individual investors.
SamanTree Medical, an Awans, Belgium-based surgical imaging company, raised €20M in funding. The round was led by the European Investment Bank (EIB).
SpotDraft, a NYC-based provider of an AI-powered contract lifecycle management (CLM) platform, raised $8M in Series B extension funding. The round was led by Qualcomm Ventures.
Compa, a Newport Beach, CA-based provider of AI-driven compensation intelligence solutions, raised $35M in Series B funding. The round was led by Jump Capital, with participation from Crosslink Capital, Storm Ventures, Permanent Capital, HR Tech Investments LLC, and PagsGroup.
Raylo, a London, UK-based provider of subscription infrastructure for electronics brands, raised £30m in funding. The financing consists of £10m in equity led by Citibank and £20m in debt from existing investor NatWest.
NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital Updates
Orion Industrial Ventures, a NYC-based investment firm focused on new technologies that deliver a sustainable and economic supply of critical minerals, materials and natural resources, closed its inaugural fund, OIV Fund I, at $43M. The vehicle, backed by a diverse investor base including global mining companies, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals, is dedicated to investing in emerging technology companies to enable an economic and sustainable supply of critical minerals, materials, and new energy solutions essential to global growth.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest In Tech
Google’s more affordable AI Plus plan rolls out to all markets, including the US
Google has expanded its Google AI Plus plan globally, including the U.S., priced at $7.99/month, after earlier rollouts in emerging markets.
The plan includes access to Gemini 3 Pro, Nano Banana Pro, Flow’s AI filmmaking tools, NotebookLM features, 200GB storage, and family sharing for up to five members.
Positioned as a step above free access, the plan targets more price-sensitive users and competes directly with ChatGPT Go, aiming to broaden AI adoption at a lower monthly cost.
OpenAI launches Prism, a new AI workspace for scientists
OpenAI introduced Prism, a free AI-powered scientific workspace available to anyone with a ChatGPT account, designed as an enhanced writing and research environment rather than an autonomous research agent.
Prism is tightly integrated with GPT-5.2, allowing scientists to assess claims, refine prose, search prior research, manage full-project context, and work seamlessly with LaTeX and diagram creation.
According to Kevin Weil, the goal is to replicate what AI did for software engineering in 2025 by combining strong models with deep workflow integration to accelerate human-led scientific work.
What you should know about the owners of US TikTok
TikTok’s U.S. operations are now run by a separate entity called TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC, created to comply with a 2024 U.S. law requiring separation from ByteDance. Around 80% of the venture is owned by non-Chinese investors, while ByteDance retains a 19.9% stake and licenses the recommendation algorithm to the U.S. entity.
The three managing investors — Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX — each hold 15% stakes. Oracle acts as the security and cloud partner overseeing U.S. user data and algorithm updates; Silver Lake provides strategic and financial backing; MGX brings AI-focused capital with deep ties to global data center and semiconductor investments.
A broader investor group includes the Dell Family Office, Vastmere Strategic Investments (linked to Susquehanna International Group), Alpha Wave Partners, Virgo LI, NJJ Capital, Revolution, Merritt Way, and Via Nova. Together, these backers shape a U.S.-controlled ownership structure meant to address national security concerns while keeping TikTok operating for American users and businesses.
Amazon is closing its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores
Amazon announced it will shut down all of its Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores while expanding same-day grocery delivery and opening more Whole Foods Market locations instead.
The company said it could not create a distinctive customer experience with the right economic model for large-scale expansion, and lease costs made the stores financially unworkable.
Amazon plans to open more than 100 new Whole Foods stores in the coming years, betting that shoppers have stronger brand affinity with Whole Foods than Amazon-branded stores.
TikTok uninstalls surge 150% as users flock to UpScrolled
After TikTok signed a deal with American investors last week, some users are moving to UpScrolled, a social network that promises to stay neutral on political issues and now ranks 12th overall in Apple’s App Store.
UpScrolled saw roughly 41,000 downloads between Thursday and Saturday, nearly one-third of its 140,000 lifetime installs, representing a 2,850% increase in daily downloads as the small team scrambles to scale its servers.
The migration follows user concerns that TikTok’s new owners may have political ties to Trump, plus worries about potential content censorship and an updated privacy policy that allows GPS tracking of users.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕ Other News
Meta to test premium subscriptions
Meta is testing new paid subscriptions across Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp that will give users access to exclusive features while keeping the core experiences on each app free.
The company plans to offer freemium access to AI features like Vibes video generation, and will scale Manus, an AI agent it acquired for $2 billion, as part of its subscription plans.
Instagram’s subscription may include unlimited audience lists, a way to see followers who don’t follow you back, and the option to view Stories anonymously, according to unreleased features found by a reverse engineer.
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