☕ Apple's foldable iPhone may cost up to $2500 & Anthropic finds a hidden workspace inside Claude.
SpaceXAI and Cursor set to launch joint AI coding model & Microsoft shifts toward in-house AI models to reduce costs.
Win more with Attio, the agentic CRM.
Get agents working on every account, surfacing new opportunities, and handle the work that used to take your team days.
Whether you’re working in your browser, inbox, or favorite agent, connect to your customer data in real-time through Attio’s web app, MCP, API, and SDK. The longer Attio runs, the sharper your next move gets.
30,000+ teams use Attio to scale faster. Are you one of them?
Breaking News
Anthropic says it discovered an internal “workspace” inside Claude called J-Space that appears to separate background computation from deliberate reasoning. While the company stops short of claiming consciousness, the finding could provide one of the clearest glimpses yet into how large language models “think.”
China is reportedly considering restricting overseas access to its most advanced AI models, with proposals ranging from tighter controls on frontier models to treating AI model leaks as national security offenses. The move could reshape global access to Chinese AI as competition with the U.S. intensifies.
PARTNERSHIP WITH US
🤝 Get your brand in front of 125,000+ decision makers.
Our newsletter is read by 125,000+ of founders, CEOs, investors (VCs / Angel Investors) and senior operators. Get in touch today.
STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup Funding Updates
PRE-SEED
Callie Care Inc., a Wilmington, DE-based AgeTech startup, raised $500K in Pre-Seed funding. The funding was provided by InterSystems Ventures.
Paraito, a Montreal, Canada-based developer of an AI-powered real estate securities review platform, raised C$2.65M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Inovia Capital, with participation from Boreal Ventures.
SEED
One Raven, a Phoenix, AZ-based smart home startup, raised $5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Fifth Wall.
Tangos, a Tel Aviv, Israel-based autonomous AI platform for financial crime investigations, raised $20M in Seed funding. The round was led by Red Dot Capital Partners, with participation from Leaders Fund, Clarim, Venture Israel, Signal Fire, Clutch Capital, Selah Ventures, and a strategic investment by Bright Data.
Octozi, an AI company automating clinical development workflows, raised $3M in Seed funding. The round was led by Surface Ventures, with participation from Remarkable Ventures and the venture arm of Debiopharm.
Healome Therapeutics, a University of Birmingham spinout developing eye-drop technologies, raised £2M in Seed funding. The round was led by Empirical Ventures, with participation from DEBRA Research, Cure EB, Oshen Bio, and SFC Capital.
GROWTH
Sherpa.ai, a Bilbao, Spain-based developer of a privacy-preserving AI platform, raised $18M in funding. Backers included Forgepoint Capital, Mundi Ventures, Ekarpen, Allegra Holdings, and SETT.
BIZAY, a Lisbon, Portugal-based AI-powered procurement platform, raised $55M in Series D funding. The round was led by Indico Capital Partners, with participation from Lince Capital, Cedrus, and Banco Português de Fomento (BPF).
Oratomic, a Pasadena, CA-based quantum computing company, raised $300M in Series A funding. The round was co-led by ARCH Venture Partners, Spark Capital, and Khosla Ventures, with participation from Bezos Expeditions, Index Ventures, General Catalyst, Lowercarbon Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, Formation 8, and Nebular.
Agave, a San Francisco, CA-based AI platform for construction financials, raised $15M in Series A funding. The round was led by Accel, with participation from Y Combinator.
Norm AI, a NYC-based company building agentic legal AI, raised $120M in funding at a $1.2B valuation. The round was led by Khosla Ventures, with participation from Blackstone, Bain Capital Ventures, Craft Ventures, Coatue, Vanguard, New York Life, TIAA, Tony James, Jeff Hammes, and Fenwick LLP.
Quaise Energy, a Houston, TX-based geothermal energy company, raised $134M in Series B funding. The company announced the initial close of the round.
EDX Markets, a Chicago, IL-based digital asset technology firm, raised $76M in Series C funding. The round was led by SBI Holdings.
Luffy AI, an Abingdon, UK-based neuroplastic AI company, raised £8.1M in Series A funding. The round was led by BGF, with participation from MIG Capital AG, Bow Capital, Chrysalix, Momenta, and UKI2S.
Cyllene Therapeutics, a Paris, France-based neurology biotech company, raised €33M in Series C funding. The round included GordonMD Global Investments, M Ventures, Andera Partners SAS, Bpifrance Investissement, and Lamond Ventures LLC.
Proxima Fusion, a Munich, Germany-based fusion energy company, raised €411M in funding at a €2.4B valuation. The round was led by XTX Ventures and East X Ventures, with strategic investors RWE and Google.
DAILY PICKS
🗞️ Must read writeups
What founders should never automate: Not every startup task should be automated with AI. Some tasks are busywork, while others quietly carry the customer signal founders need to find product-market fit. This piece explains how to separate repeatable work from signal-rich work, so founders can automate the right things without losing the insights that shape the product. (Read Here)
The skill every VC job seeker needs: Breaking into VC is not just about credentials. It is about proving you can think clearly, form strong opinions, and develop a unique view of where the world is going. This piece explains why aspiring investors should build their own thesis and use it to show how they can help a fund discover better opportunities. (Read Here)
NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital Updates.
Chemistry Ventures, a U.S.-based early-stage venture firm founded by Mark Goldberg, Ethan Kurzweil, and Kristina Shen, is raising $500 million for its second fund. The firm invests in AI startups across infrastructure and applications, and its debut $350 million fund backed companies including Granola, Decagon, Persona, Serval, and Nova Intelligence.
Omni Ventures, a San Jose, CA-based Manufacturing Tech VC firm, closed Fund I, at $33m. The fund is anchored by Allocator One, a fund of funds backing emerging venture managers, and includes LPs across 14 countries. Yukai Lin, Chief Investment Officer of Foxconn Technology Co., Ltd., is a limited partner.
B Capital, a global multi-stage investment firm, closed B Capital Ascent Fund III, L.P., at $500m. The fund will invest primarily in the Seed, Series A and Series B rounds of companies developing next-generation technologies across healthcare, enterprise, energy and the next frontier, with a focus on key innovation hubs in North America and Asia.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest In Tech
SpaceXAI and Cursor reportedly set to launch joint AI coding model
SpaceXAI and Cursor are reportedly preparing to launch their first jointly developed AI model as early as Wednesday after delaying the release to improve efficiency.
The model is expected to compete with leading coding models from Anthropic and OpenAI by delivering fast inference and strong software development performance.
The launch follows SpaceX’s $60 billion acquisition of Cursor developer Anysphere, strengthening its position in the rapidly growing AI coding market.
Meta launches Muse Image, but privacy concerns emerge immediately
Meta has launched Muse Image, a free AI image generator across the Meta AI app, Instagram Stories, and WhatsApp, offering image creation, editing, advertising tools, and Facebook Marketplace integrations.
The biggest controversy is a feature that lets users generate AI images using photos from public Instagram accounts by simply tagging someone, unless that person has manually opted out.
Critics say the opt-out approach raises privacy concerns, while Meta says users can disable the feature through settings and that Muse Video is already in development.
Open-source AI is growing fast, but Anthropic still dominates spending
Decagon CEO Jesse Zhang argues that enterprises increasingly move mature AI workloads to cheaper open-source models, while frontier models remain the preferred choice for developing new, complex use cases.
Usage data supports this trend: open-source models like DeepSeek and Z.ai’s GLM-5.2 now process massive token volumes, yet Anthropic still captures the majority of enterprise AI spending because its premium models command much higher prices.
The emerging AI market appears to be splitting into two layers: frontier models driving innovation and discovery, while open-source models power large-scale, cost-efficient production deployments.
Microsoft shifts toward in-house AI models to reduce costs
Microsoft is reportedly replacing some OpenAI and Anthropic models in Word and Excel with its own MAI models for a portion of user requests as it looks to lower AI inference costs.
The move follows Microsoft’s recent launch of several in-house AI models, including coding and image-generation models, signaling a broader push to reduce dependence on third-party providers.
The shift reflects a wider industry trend, with major tech companies increasingly prioritizing cost-efficient AI infrastructure and deploying their own models as AI operating expenses continue to rise.
Four states seek $1.4 trillion from Meta over child safety
California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey are asking for $1.4 trillion in penalties from Meta, claiming it built Facebook and Instagram to be addictive to children while hiding the harms from the public.
Meta revealed the figure in a Monday court filing, calling it unsupported by evidence, and noted the amount is close to the company’s market capitalization of roughly $1.5 trillion ahead of the trial starting next month in Oakland.
The states calculated the penalties by multiplying the estimated number of young users affected by fine amounts set under state law, while Meta denies misleading anyone since social media addiction is not an established psychiatric condition.
Apple's foldable iPhone may cost up to $2500
Apple’s first foldable iPhone, reportedly named the iPhone Ultra, could sell for around $2,300 to $2,500, more than Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 7, which starts at $2,000, according to analyst Ming Chi-Kuo.
Kuo says manufacturing challenges will limit the launch supply, with only 0.5 to 1 million units shipping in the third quarter of 2026, about 10% of the total 7 to 8 million units expected for the second half.
The foldable could be announced in September alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models, but preorders and sales would begin later, arriving in a passport-style format with two rear cameras and Apple’s A20 Pro chip.
DeepSeek is designing its own AI chip
Chinese AI startup Deepseek is building its own chip to lessen its dependence on Nvidia and Huawei, according to three people who spoke to Reuters about the early-stage project.
The chip is designed for inference, the phase where a trained model generates responses for users, rather than for training new models, and Deepseek is talking to chip design, manufacturing, and memory companies.
US export controls block Chinese companies from the most advanced chips and memory, making the effort hard, and Deepseek is separately raising $7 billion at a valuation of $52 to $59 billion.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕ Other News
Figma acquires team behind AI coding startup Bud
Figma has acquired the team behind AI coding startup Bud (formerly Orchids) as it expands beyond design into AI-powered app building, prototyping, and coding workflows.
Bud, which evolved from a vibe-coding platform into an AI agent platform, will shut down on July 18, with users required to migrate their projects before then.
The acquisition aligns with Figma’s broader AI strategy, following launches like Figma Make, integrations with Codex and Claude Code, and the rollout of its own AI agents.
HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES
💼 Today’s VC & Startup Job Opportunities
Most aspiring VCs struggle with interviews, unclear expectations, no structured prep, and generic advice that doesn’t actually help. So we partnered with a leading investor group to build an all-in-one VC Interview Preparation Guide that gives you real clarity and frameworks. (Access Here)
Associate or Senior Associate - Bessemer Partner | USA - Apply Here
Associate - Primary VC | USA - Apply Here
VP — Finance & Compliance - Transition VC | India - Apply Here
Senior Associate - ICONIQUE CAPITAL | USA - Apply Here
Ventures Associate - Plug and Play Tech Centre | USA - Apply Here
Fund Operations Analyst - Indogen Capital | Indonesia - Apply Here
Investment Associate / Analyst - Flashpoint | UK - Apply Here
Venture Capital Analyst - MicroVentures | USA - Apply Here
Hard Tech Investment Associate - Upfront Venture | USA - Apply Here
Associate - Engine Venture | USA - Apply Here
WHEN YOU’RE READY, HERE’S HOW I CAN HELP:
💁 You might need our help!
Reach 125,000+ Founders & Investors: Partner with our newsletter to reach a highly engaged audience.
Build Your Pitch Deck: We write, design and model your pitch deck into a storyteller book within 4-5 days.
Do you have any news to share about your Startup or VC fund? Please email us.
We’ll be back in your inbox on Tomorrow.