Breaking News
Anthropic has introduced the Model Hardware Standard (MHS), a framework that allows AI agents to operate physical equipment such as robotic arms, microscopes, and scientific instruments. The bigger vision is autonomous labs and factories where AI agents can run experiments and operate machines around the clock with minimal human involvement.
OpenAI will begin showing ads to ChatGPT Free and Go users in India, where it says the platform has more than 100 million weekly active users. With an ad manager launching next month and campaigns starting at ₹725 per day, OpenAI is opening a major new revenue stream as it looks to monetize ChatGPT’s massive free audience ahead of a potential IPO.
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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup Funding Updates
PRE-SEED
Flowt, a Nairobi, Kenya-based provider of an AI-driven financial intelligence and climate fintech platform, raised an undisclosed amount in Pre-Seed funding. Backers included Delta40 Fund I, Impacc, and Argidius Foundation.
Motion, a Brussels, Belgium-based provider of a Humanoids-as-a-Service platform, raised $2M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Extantia Capital, with participation from Norrsken Evolve.
Mara, a San Francisco, CA-based defense technology startup developing automated counter-unmanned aerial system networks, raised $7M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from a16z Speedrun, Night Capital, Palmdrive Capital, Protagonist, Freedom Fund, and Indicator Fund.
SEED
Rime, a Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based AIoT and edge computing startup, raised over $2M in Seed funding. The round was led by SEEDRA Ventures, with participation from Athlah Investment, Unity Invest Partners, and regional technology angel investors.
TerraBlaster, a Redwood City, CA-based developer of agricultural hardware and soil-nutrition sensors, raised $12.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Ulu Ventures, with participation from Khosla Ventures, Trailhead Capital, Builders Vision, Bidra, Ag Startup Engine, Reservoir, Sunna, Plug and Play, GrainInnovate, and Hort Innovation Venture Fund.
ColibriTD, a Paris, France-based quantum computing software startup, raised €4M in Seed funding. The round was led by Earlybird Venture Capital, with participation from SymbiaVC and Medin VC.
Hermetiq, a San Francisco, CA-based software developer tool and continuous integration automation startup, raised $2.2M in Seed funding. Jet Investment made the investment.
Arga Labs, a San Francisco, CA-based AI training environment and software emulation startup, raised $10M in Seed funding. The round was led by General Catalyst, with participation from BoxGroup, Emergence Capital, Gradient Ventures, and SV Angel.
GROWTH
Rezolv, a Mumbai, India-based AI fintech and debt collections automation startup, raised $12.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by Norwest Venture Partners, with participation from Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India and existing investor 3one4 Capital.
Maglut Heavy Industries, a Long Beach, CA-based rare earths and critical minerals processing startup, raised $3.1M in funding. Backers included Wave Function, Nova Threshold, and Julian Capital.
Mundo AI, a Vancouver, Canada-based provider of a data infrastructure and analytics platform, raised $24M across Seed and Series A funding. The round was led by GreatPoint Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator, Next Frontier Ventures, and E12 Ventures.
GMNSM, a Dubai, UAE-based provider of a martial arts and holistic child development academy platform, raised $2M in funding. The round was led by VEYRA Capital, with participation from a private investor.
RQD*Clearing, a NYC-based provider of a proprietary clearing and custody platform for broker-dealers, RIAs, and foreign financial institutions, raised $74M in funding. The round was led by Bain Capital Tech Opportunities, with participation from ABN AMRO Clearing Bank and Nyca Partners.
Socure, an Incline Village, NV-based provider of trust infrastructure for global identity and risk intelligence, raised $156M in funding at a $5.2B valuation. The round was led by Summit Partners, with participation from Goldman Sachs Alternatives, Wells Fargo, Docusign, and others.
Levanta, a Seattle, WA-based provider of a creator affiliate platform for modern e-commerce, raised $22M in Series B funding. The round was led by Volition Capital.
Cyclic Materials, a Toronto, Canada-based provider of a technology platform for domestic rare earth recovery and production, raised $75M in financing. The round was led by T. Rowe Price Associates, with participation from ERI.
Quaise Energy, a Houston, TX-based developer of utility-scale superhot geothermal energy, raised $180M in Series B funding. Backers included Nabors Industries, Prelude Ventures, JERA Co., and Idemitsu Kosan.
Cloverleaf AI, a Denver, CO-based provider of a full-funnel B2G sales intelligence platform, raised $8M in Series A funding. The round was led by S3 Ventures, with participation from Jackson Square Ventures, Ivy Ventures, and Tawani Ventures.
Legato, a Boston, MA-based provider of AI hearing glasses, raised $12M in funding. Backers included Neotribe Ventures, Listen, and Village Global.
Digs, a Vancouver, WA-based AI and digital twin platform for the residential construction industry, raised $25.3M in Series A funding. The investment was made by Builders FirstSource.
Regent Craft, a North Kingstown, RI-based developer and manufacturer of Seaglider vessels, raised $240M in Series B funding. The round was co-led by Mare Liberum and AE Ventures, with participation from DCVC, Founders Fund, Caffeinated Capital, Lockheed Martin Ventures, Japan Airlines, and Giant Step Capital, alongside debt financing from Erebor Bank.
Ringg AI, a Bengaluru, India-based enterprise AI and conversational automation startup, raised $15M in Series A funding. The round was led by Peak XV Partners, with participation from Arkam Ventures and Capital 2B.
Deep Cogito, a San Francisco, CA-based post-training research lab focused on reinforcement learning and self-improvement, raised $43M in Series A funding. The round was led by TQ Ventures, with participation from Benchmark, Nexus Venture Partners, Atreides Management, South Park Commons, and Zscaler.
DAILY PICKS
🗞️ Must read post
Will your financial model pass investor review?: Most founders think their model needs to prove the business will work. In reality, investors use it to test whether the founder understands how the business actually works. This piece breaks down the ten-minute investor checklist behind early-stage financial models, including the ratios, assumptions, and hockey-stick patterns that can quietly kill momentum in a fundraise.
The ARR mistake AI founders keep making: Most founders annualize the latest month’s revenue and call it ARR. But for AI products with usage-based pricing, one customer spike can make growth look stronger than it really is. This piece shows founders how to report revenue more honestly by splitting committed revenue from variable usage, using rolling averages, and preparing the usage-retention data investors will ask for during diligence.
NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital Updates.
Capital F, a U.S.-based early-stage venture firm founded by Margaret Coblentz and Dawn Dobras, raised $17 million for its debut fund. The firm invests in startups serving the female economy, with a focus on women’s health, digital commerce, and AI tools, writing checks of $250,000 to $1 million.
MassMutual Ventures (MMV), a Boston, MA-based multistage venture capital firm, launched Climate Technology Fund II (CTF II), a $150m venture capital fund. The vehicle will invest in early-stage companies using climate technology and artificial intelligence to improve real assets, including energy infrastructure, real estate, and natural resources.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest In Tech
OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and 100+ companies unite against rogue AI threats
More than 100 companies, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Microsoft and major cybersecurity firms, signed an open letter warning that AI-powered cyberattacks could soon become far more widespread and sophisticated.
The group is calling for governments and businesses to collaborate on new security standards and defenses, following incidents where AI agents reportedly escaped controlled environments and attacked external systems.
AI labs are also positioning frontier models as part of the defense: OpenAI, Anthropic and Microsoft are developing AI-powered cybersecurity systems, creating a race where increasingly capable AI is both the emerging threat and a potential solution.
Apple’s first foldable iPhone could ship 10 million units in year one
IDC expects Apple’s first foldable iPhone, reportedly launching in September at around $2,500, to ship more than 10 million units in its first year despite targeting a very premium customer segment.
The device could revive the broader foldable smartphone market, with IDC forecasting foldable shipments to grow 12.6% this year and 18% next year. Apple could capture about 40% of global foldable shipments in 2027.
The launch comes as the overall smartphone market faces a sharp slowdown, with IDC projecting a record 16.7% decline this year as memory and AI-related component shortages push device prices higher.
Hugging Face launches $399 open-source Microduck robot
Hugging Face and Pollen Robotics unveiled Microduck, a 25-centimeter-tall open-source robot that can walk, carry objects, recover from falls and even roller skate, with shipments expected before Christmas.
Developers can teach Microduck new behaviors using reinforcement learning, train them in simulation, and deploy them directly to the robot. Its SDK, simulation tools and full RL training stack are available as open source.
The launch expands Hugging Face’s push beyond AI models into affordable physical AI hardware, following its Reachy Mini robots and acquisition of Pollen Robotics, as Nvidia reportedly moves to acquire Hugging Face for around $13 billion.
Anthropic explores custom chips after $7B MatX acquisition talks
Anthropic reportedly discussed buying AI chip startup MatX for about $7 billion before shifting the talks toward a potential partnership. MatX, founded by former Google TPU engineers, is now seeking funding at roughly a $4 billion valuation.
The move reflects Anthropic’s push to build its own silicon and reduce dependence on Nvidia as Claude usage grows. The company is expanding an in-house chip team while still relying on hardware from Nvidia, Google and Amazon.
Anthropic has also been meeting other AI chip startups and hiring experienced chip engineers. A custom training or inference chip could lower long-term compute costs, improve performance, and give Anthropic more control as AI labs race to secure scarce computing capacity.
Nvidia’s sales forecast eases AI bubble fears
Nvidia told investors its revenue could jump 70% next fiscal year, a forecast that would push fiscal 2028 sales to roughly $700 billion, well above the $570 billion analysts had expected and sending its stock up over 4% after hours.
CEO Jensen Huang said demand for the company’s AI chips is actually growing 100% a year, but supply limits across its stretched supply chain mean Nvidia can only confidently promise 70% growth for now.
The forecast followed a strong second quarter, with revenue of $96.2 billion, up 106% from a year ago, while CFO Colette Kress defended Nvidia’s investments in AI labs against critics who call the deals “circular financing.”
US seizes Chinese hacking tool
The Justice Department seized “QScan” and “QTRouter,” two Chinese hacking tools used since 2018 to break into federal agencies including the Federal Reserve, Department of Energy, NASA, the DOJ itself, and the U.S. Senate.
The tools, run by China-based Nanjing Xinjiuwei Network Technology, let hackers scan and infect internet-connected devices like home routers and security cameras, then hide their attacks by routing them through those machines to appear as if they came from other countries.
A state-backed group called “QTFY” wielded the tools to hit devices in over 130 countries and target hospitals, power companies, banks, and defense contractors; the takedown broke both platforms by seizing domains hard-coded for their core functions.
Stripe and Advent reportedly drop $53B pursuit of PayPal
Stripe and private equity firm Advent have reportedly abandoned their effort to acquire PayPal after making a $60.50-per-share offer that valued the company at more than $53 billion.
PayPal’s board viewed the bid as too low and also had concerns around financing and regulatory hurdles. The proposed price was far below PayPal’s roughly $360 billion peak valuation in 2021.
The failed pursuit comes as PayPal tries to revive growth under CEO Enrique Lores, who has reorganized the company around checkout, Venmo, and payments and crypto while facing stronger competition from Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Meta pays $16.7B in teen addiction case
Meta agreed to a proposed $17 billion settlement with 51 states, ending claims that it built Facebook and Instagram to hook children while hiding the risks those apps posed to young users.
Beyond the payout, spread over 10 years, Meta must set a default two-hour daily limit and a midnight-to-6am block for users under 18, both changeable only by a parent.
The deal also bans “like” counts and cosmetic surgery filters for minors, offers an algorithm-free feed option, and requires an independent auditor with wide access to the company’s information.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕ Other News
New Twitter launches on name X abandoned
Operation Bluebird, a Virginia startup, has launched a new social media network called Twitter.now, reviving the Twitter name and bird logo that it argues Elon Musk abandoned when he rebranded the site as X in 2022.
X Corporation sued the startup in late 2025 and sought to block the launch, but in an April 2026 hearing US District Judge Colm Connolly said from the bench that X seemed to have given up its claims to “tweet,” the bird logo, and possibly “Twitter.”
Cofounder Stephen Coates, who serves as the new Twitter’s general counsel and held the same job before Musk’s takeover, said the company waited months to launch and decided it would not wait any longer.
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