☕ CIA warned Tim Cook about China threat to Taiwan by 2027 & Meta signs up to $100B AMD chip deal.
Apple will start making Mac minis in the US & More.
Breaking News
Meta Platforms has signed a multiyear deal worth up to $100 billion with AMD to secure MI540 GPUs and next-gen CPUs, supporting roughly six gigawatts of data center demand. AMD also granted Meta performance-based warrants covering up to 160M shares, deepening their strategic alignment. The deal signals Meta’s intent to reduce reliance on Nvidia while committing hundreds of billions toward AI infrastructure and its “personal superintelligence” push.
United States Department of Defense is pressuring Anthropic to grant broader military access to its AI systems, warning the company could face supply-chain risk designation or action under the Defense Production Act if it refuses. CEO Dario Amodei has resisted certain use cases such as mass domestic surveillance or fully autonomous weapons, setting up a high-stakes clash between AI safety guardrails and U.S. national security demands.
FROM OUR PARTNER - ARCHIVE
If you’re running influencer campaigns, Archive is worth a look
If you’re still screenshotting Instagram Stories and tracking creators in spreadsheets, you’re wasting time.
Archive is an AI-first influencer marketing platform that automatically captures what your community posts about you, helps you discover and vet creators at scale, and surfaces conversations your brand should join.
Instead of chasing links and manually building reports, teams use Archive to:
Track creator content automatically
Prove ROI to leadership with clean reporting
Run larger creator programs without hiring a bigger team
1,000+ brands already use it to simplify the messy backend of influencer marketing.
If you’re serious about scaling creator programs properly, this is worth a look.
See how it works - Book a demo →
PARTNERSHIP WITH US
🤝 Get your startup in front of over 103,000+ audience.
Our newsletter is read by 103,000+ of tech professionals, founders, investors (VCs / Angel Investors) and managers around the world. Get in touch today.
DAILY PICKS
🗞️ What else is brewing
Startup legal document pack – essential legal Docs for founders. (Link)
What investors ask and how to answer : A practical Q&A prep kit for founders. (Link)
Is AI quietly eliminating customer support jobs? (Link)
Should LPs back small VC funds for upside or large funds for stability? (Link)
Anthropic Research: Where AI agents are actually being deployed and where the real opportunity lies. (Link)
Mark Cuban’s AI Thesis: The $495B AI opportunity that most founder missing. (Link)
The FBI negotiation tactic founders should use in every pricing call. (Link)
STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup Funding Updates
PRE-SEED
Reload, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an AI workforce management platform, raised $2.275M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Anthemis with participation from Zeal Capital Partners, Plug and Play, Cohen Circle, Axiom, and Blueprint.
Patientdesk AI, a San Francisco, CA-based company building patient-aware AI for dental clinics, raised $1M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Y Combinator and E2VC.
Thema, a London, UK-based company providing portfolio expansion infrastructure, raised $4.5M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Stride.vc with participation from KDX, Capital Allocators, and others.
SEED
Neural Earth, a Miami, FL-based provider of an AI-powered geospatial risk intelligence platform, raised $9.3M in Seed funding. Backers were not disclosed.
General Magic, a Toronto, Canada-based company developing SMS native AI agents, raised $7.2M in Seed funding. The round was led by Radical Ventures, with participation from a16z Speedrun and other investors.
Jampack AI, a NYC-based provider of an agentic platform that automates wholesale operations for CPG brands, raised $3.2M in Seed funding. The round was led by Maveron, with participation from Timber Grove Ventures and angel investors.
Agaton, a Stockholm, Sweden-based provider of an agentic AI platform for enterprise sales, raised $10M in Seed funding. The round was co-led by Inception Fund and Alstin Capital, with participation from seed+speed Ventures and Foundry Ventures.
Brilliant Harvest, a Calgary, Alberta, Canada-based provider of an AI customer experience platform for the heavy equipment industry, raised $4M in Seed funding. The round included new investors FTW Ventures, Alpaca VC, Automotive Ventures, SVG THRIVE and NYA Ventures, alongside existing backers.
Giant, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an interactive storytelling platform, raised $8M in Seed funding. The round was led by Matrix, Decasonic, and Griffin Gaming Partners, with participation from additional investors.
GROWTH
Koah, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a platform that embeds ads into AI search and chat apps, raised $20.5M in Series A funding. The round was led by Theory Ventures, with participation from Forerunner, South Park Commons, and Andrew Karam.
Based, a Singapore-based provider of a Web3 consumer app for trading and spending crypto globally, raised $11.5M in Series A financing. The round was led by Pantera, with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Wintermute Ventures, and Karatage.
Nimble, a NYC-based provider of a real-time web search and data platform, raised $47M in Series B financing. The round was led by Norwest, with participation from Databricks Ventures and existing investors.
Slang AI, a NYC-based provider of an AI platform purpose-built for hospitality, raised $36M in Series B funding. The round included $28M of equity and $8M of debt, with participation from Thayer Investment Partners and existing investors.
Circadian Risk, an Ann Arbor, MI-based company which specializes in enterprise risk analysis SaaS and scenario-based assessment products, raised $6M in Series A funding. The round was led by Arthur Ventures, with participation from Roll Tack Ventures and others.
Turbine, a Budapest, Hungary-based virtual biology company, raised $25M in Series B funding. The round was led by Interactive Venture Partners with participation from Beiersdorf Venture Capital.
Letter AI, a Chicago, IL-based AI-native revenue enablement platform for go-to-market teams, raised $40M in Series B funding. The round was led by Battery Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator and other investors.
Handl Health, a Los Angeles, CA-based provider of a technology platform building health plans, raised $14M in Series A funding. The round was led by Arthur Ventures with participation from Syndra Capital Partners and others.
Subject, a Beverly Hills, CA-based provider of an AI-powered education platform, raised $28M in funding. The round was led by Vistara Growth, with participation from new and existing investors.
Centauri Therapeutics, an Alderley Park, UK-based immunotherapy company, raised £6M in Series A extension funding. The round was led by AMR Action Fund.
Slate Medicines, a Raleigh, NC-based biotech company, raised $130M in Series A funding. The round was led by RA Capital Management, Forbion, and Foresite Capital.
Axelera AI, an Eindhoven, The Netherlands-based AI acceleration hardware company, raised over $250M in funding. The round was led by Innovation Industries, with participation from BlackRock and other investors.
Brainomix, an Oxford, UK-based company developing AI-powered imaging tools in stroke and lung fibrosis, raised $6.5M in Series C extension funding. The round was led by Parkwalk and Hostplus.
Valeria, a Barcelona, Spain-based developer of an AI-powered payroll and workforce management platform, raised $2M in funding. The round was led by Venture Friends, with participation from Fortino Capital and 10k Ventures.
Validfor, a Tallinn, Estonia-based agentic digital validation company, raised $1.2M in funding. The round was led by DOMiNO Ventures, with participation from Curiosity VC and angel investors.
Humand, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an AI-powered operating system for deskless workforces, raised $66M in Series A funding. The round was led by Kaszek and Goodwater Capital, with participation from Y Combinator and other investors.
Thema, a London, UK-based company providing portfolio expansion infrastructure, raised $6.2M in total funding. The amount consisted of a $4.5M Pre-Seed round and a $1.7M UK government grant in partnership with the University of Cambridge.
FROM OUR PARTNER - SEMRUSH
📈 See what drives your competitors’ growth — before they do
Every winning strategy starts with the right data. With Semrush’s Traffic & Market Toolkit, you can uncover exactly where your competitors’ traffic comes from — search, social, or even AI referrals.
Track their top pages, monitor emerging trends, and find the untapped channels fueling their growth. Whether you’re a marketer, agency, or enterprise, you’ll get daily and weekly insights to outpace rivals and lead your market with confidence. Trusted by 10M+ marketers worldwide.
Try the Traffic & Market Toolkit free →
NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital Updates.
Quantonation Ventures, a NYC and Paris, France-based venture capital firm focused on quantum and physics-based technologies, closed its second flagship fund, at €220m. LPs included Vertex Holdings; Fonds National d’Amorçage 2, managed by Bpifrance on behalf of the French State; and Bradley M. Bloom, co-founder and former Managing Director of Berkshire Partners, as well as new backers European Investment Fund, Grupo ACS, Novo Holdings, Planet First Partners, and Toshiba.
Peak XV, the India- and APAC-focused venture firm that split from Sequoia Capital in 2023, has raised $1.3 billion across new funds, with most of the capital earmarked for India. Based in India and managing over $10B in AUM, the firm plans to deploy the fund over the next 2–3 years, focusing heavily on AI, fintech, and consumer startups. Led by managing director Shailendra Singh, Peak XV says it will prioritize returns over scale as competition from global VCs like General Catalyst intensifies in the Indian market.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest In Tech
Stripe valuation jumps 74% to $159 billion in new tender offer
Stripe announced a new secondary share sale valuing the company at $159B, up from $91.5B in February 2025, with investors including Thrive Capital, Coatue, Andreessen Horowitz, and Stripe itself buying employee shares.
Stripe said global stablecoin payment volume reached about $400B in 2025, doubling year over year, with roughly 60% coming from B2B payments, driving deeper crypto investments.
The company has expanded its crypto stack through acquisitions like Privy and Bridge, and launched its own blockchain for payments, Tempo, as stablecoin activity accelerates.
CIA warned Tim Cook about China threat to Taiwan by 2027
The CIA briefed Apple CEO Tim Cook and other tech leaders in July 2023 that China could move on Taiwan by 2027, and Cook reportedly said he slept “with one eye open” afterward.
Despite the warning, none of the briefed companies — including Apple, Nvidia, AMD, and Qualcomm — moved production away from Taiwan in significant numbers, partly because US-made processors would cost around 25% more.
Apple is especially vulnerable because its Just In Time process means it holds at most 30 days of component stock, and TSMC’s Arizona plants still cannot make processors as complex as those built in Taiwan.
US says no Nvidia H200 chips have reached China yet
A U.S. Commerce Department official said none of Nvidia’s H200 AI chips have been sold to Chinese customers so far, despite the administration formally allowing conditional sales last month.
Shipments remain stalled due to guardrails in the approval process, as lawmakers debate whether exporting advanced chips could boost China’s AI and military capabilities.
The hearing also acknowledged ongoing chip smuggling concerns, referencing earlier reports that DeepSeek may have used Nvidia’s most advanced chips in potential violation of U.S. export controls.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕ Other News
Apple will start making Mac minis in the US
Apple plans to begin producing Mac minis for US customers at a 220,000 square foot plant in Houston later this year, with Foxconn already building Apple Intelligence servers at the same facility.
The move is part of Apple’s pledge to spend $500 billion in the US over four years, a commitment made after Tim Cook met with President Trump to discuss avoiding tariffs.
Apple’s COO Sabih Khan said the Mac mini’s small share of total sales and predictable long term demand made it the best product to bring stateside, since moving iPhone production would be far harder.
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)
Investor Relations - SC Founders Fund | India - Apply Here
VC Analyst - Alstin Capital | Germany - Apply Here
Analyst - Infrastructure & Real Assets - Stepstone Group | Australia - Apply Here
Social Media Freelancer - Initialised Capital | USA - Apply Here
Analyst / Associate - Saints Capital | USA - Apply Here
Investment Analyst Intern - NAV Capital | Dubai - Apply Here
PE & VC Partner Manager - Dealhub | UK - Apply Here
VC Platform & Events Manager - 1001 VC | USA - Apply Here
MBA Venture Capital Intern - Cerity Partners | USA - Apply Here
WHEN YOU’RE READY, HERE’S HOW I CAN HELP:
💁 You might need our help!
Reach 103,000+ 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.