☕ ElevenLabs raises $500M, YC startups can now receive investment in stablecoin & Intel will start making GPUs.
Google’s Gemini app surpasses 750M monthly active users & More.
Breaking News
Apple has acquired Q.ai, an Israeli AI startup specializing in imaging and machine learning, in a deal reportedly valued at nearly $2 billion, according to Reuters and the Financial Times. Q.ai’s expertise in interpreting whispered speech and enhancing audio in noisy environments could significantly strengthen Apple’s AI-driven hardware ambitions across products like AirPods and Vision Pro, marking Apple’s second-largest acquisition ever after Beats and a sharper escalation in the AI hardware race.
Google says its AI chatbot Gemini has surpassed 750 million monthly active users, up from 650 million last quarter, highlighting rapid consumer adoption. While Gemini still trails OpenAI’s ChatGPT at roughly 810 million MAUs, the growth underscores Google’s momentum following the launch of Gemini 3 and the global rollout of its $7.99 AI Plus plan, intensifying competition at the consumer AI layer.
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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup Funding Updates
PRE-SEED
Naoma, a San Francisco, CA-based developer of an AI video sales agent, raised $440k in pre-seed funding. The round was led by ULTRA VC, with participation from Sparkle Ventures and several angel investors.
SEED
Feltsense, a San Francisco, CA-based AI agent services company, raised $5.1M in Seed funding. The round was led by Draper Associates, with participation from Precursor Ventures, Liquid2 Ventures, Matt Schlicht (creator of Moltbook), Jager McConnell (founder of Crunchbase), and Peter Green (founder of Republic).
SENAI, a Washington, DC-based provider of an online video intelligence platform, raised $6.2M in Seed funding. The round was led by 10D Ventures, with participation from FS Ventures, 1948 Ventures, and global investors, such as Jonathan Kolber.
Fibr AI, a San Francisco, CA-based company building an agentic web experience layer service to generate revenue, raised $7.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Accel, with participation from WillowTree Ventures and MVP Ventures, alongside angel investors.
Boomband, a Charlestown, RI-based AI-native talent marketplace, raised $4.0M in Seed funding. The round was led by Boston Seed with participation from New England VC’s Slater Technology Fund, Rogue Venture Partners and Service Provider Capital.
Expert Intelligence, a Santa Clara, CA-based developer of AI systems that automate expert decision-making in regulated laboratory environments, raised $4.7m in Seed funding. The round was led by Sierra Ventures, with participation from TSVC and Acorn Pacific Ventures.
eHuman, a Miami, FL-based provider of a physician-led preventive care platform, raised $4M in Seed funding. The round was led by Santé Ventures, with participation from DHVP.io.
Qureos, a Dubai, UAE-based provider of an AI driven hiring platform, raised US$5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Prosus Ventures and Salica Oryx Fund, with participation from Oraseya Capital, Plus VC, F6 Ventures, BDev Ventures, Sunny Side Venture Partners, Daniel Tyre, COTU Ventures and Globivest.
AppFactor, a London, UK-based provider of an agentic orchestration platform that delivers autonomous maintenance for enterprise software, raised $4M in Seed funding. The round was led by Tensor Ventures, with participation from Begin Capital, Adara Ventures and Narwhal Investments.
GROWTH
ElevenLabs, a New York-based voice AI company, has raised $500 million in fresh funding led by Sequoia Capital, valuing the startup at $11 billion. Existing investors a16z and Iconiq significantly increased their stakes, with participation from Lightspeed, Bond, and others.
Vexlum, a Tampere, Finland-based manufacturer of advanced semiconductor lasers for high-impact applications, raised EUR 10M in funding. The round consisted of EUR 6M in equity investment led by Kvanted, with participation from Finnish state-owned Tesi (Finnish Industry Investment Ltd) and the EIC Fund, alongside a EUR 2.4M grant from the EIC Accelerator, and a EUR 1.6M loan from Nordea.
Chamber, a Washington, DC-based company providing a cardiology-focused data and intelligence platform, raised $60M in Series A funding. The round was led by Frist Cressey Ventures, with participation from existing investors General Catalyst, AlleyCorp, American Family Ventures, Company Ventures, Optum Ventures, Healthworx Ventures, and additional investment from Black Opal Ventures.
Bedrock Robotics, a San Francisco, CA-based autonomous construction technology company, raised $270M in Series B funding. The round was led by CapitalG and the Valor Atreides AI Fund, with participation from Xora, 8VC, Eclipse, Emergence Capital, Perry Creek Capital, NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture capital arm), Tishman Speyer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Georgian, Incharge Capital, C4 Ventures, and others.
Apeiron Labs, a Cambridge, MA-based company developing a platform to deliver real-time ocean intelligence, raised $9.5M Series A funding. The round was co-led by S2G Investments, RA Capital Management’s Planetary Health Fund, and DYNE Ventures, with participation from Assembly Ventures, TFX Capital, and Bay Bridge Ventures.
Machina Labs, a Los Angeles, CA-based advanced manufacturing and robotics company, raised $124M in Series C funding. Woven Capital, Toyota’s growth-stage venture arm, Lockheed Martin Ventures, Balerion Space Ventures, and Strategic Development Fund (SDF) invested in the round.
newcleo, a Paris, France-based developer of advanced nuclear technologies, raised USD85m in financing. Backers included continued investors Kairos, Indaco Ventures, Azimut Investments, the CERN pension fund, and Walter Tosto, and new investors Danieli & C., Cementir Holding NV, Orion Valves, and NextChem.
Resolve AI, a San Francisco, CA-based SRE & Engineering startup, raised $125M in Series A funding at $1B valuation. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with existing investors Greylock Partners, Unusual Ventures, Artisanal Ventures, and A*.
Positron AI, a Reno, NV-based energy-efficient AI inference hardware company, raised $230M in Series B funding, at $1 Billion valuation. The round was led by ARENA Private Wealth, Jump Trading, and Unless, and included new and strategic investment from Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), Arm, and Helena.
Third Arc Bio, a Spring House, PA-based clinical stage biotechnology company, raised $52M in Series A funding. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), with participation from existing investors.
SynthBee, a Fort Lauderdale, FL-based collaborative intelligence (CI) platform, raised $100M in funding. The round was led by Crosspoint Capital Partners.
Stratus Medical, a Magnolia, TX-based company focused on advancing radiofrequency (RF) ablation treatment for chronic pain, raised $10M in Series B funding. The round was led by Wasatch Health Partners.
Osmo, a NYC-based digital scent design company, raised $70M in Series B funding. The round was led by Two Sigma Ventures, with participation from new investors including Valor, Atreides, Amplo, Alumni Ventures, Collab Fund, Lumina Partners, and Patrick Collison (CEO and Co-Founder of Stripe), alongside existing investors.
TRM Labs, a San Francisco, CA-based company that develops artificial intelligence solutions to counter criminal networks and national security threats, raised $70M in Series C funding. The round was led by Blockchain Capital, with participation from CMT Digital, Goldman Sachs, Bessemer Venture Partners, DRW Venture Capital (DRW VC), Y Combinator, Thoma Bravo, Alumni Ventures, Citi Ventures, Brevan Howard Digital, and new strategic investor Galaxy Ventures.
Overland AI, a Seattle, WA-based company which specializes in autonomous ground systems for defense and national security, raised $100M in funding. The round was led by 8VC, with continued participation from Point72 Ventures, Ascend Venture Capital, Shasta Ventures, Overmatch Ventures, Valor Equity Partners and StepStone Group, alongside other institutional investors.
GoCab, a London, UK based-provider of a mobility and financial services platform, raised $45M in a financing round consisting of $15M in equity and $30M in debt. The equity portion was led by E3 Capital and JANNGO Capital, with participation from KawiSafi Ventures and Cur8 Capital. The debt was secured from Cur8 Capital and others.
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NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital Updates
Kembara, a Madrid-based deep tech and climate-focused fund under Mundi Ventures, has raised €750M in its first close led by the European Investment Fund. With backing from GPs like Yann de Vries and Javier Santiso, the fund plans to support Series B and C stage European startups with €15M–€40M initial checks. Its broader goal: turn underfunded EU spinouts into global industrial champions, with support for non-dilutive financing and defense tech to bolster European sovereignty.
SNAK Venture Partners, a Chicago, IL–based early stage venture capital firm, closed its $50m debut fund. The fund is anchored by Pritzker Group. Additional limited partners include the State of Illinois Growth and Innovation Fund, and founders and senior executives from marketplaces such as RetailMeNot, G2, Backlot Cars, SMS Assist, Faire, and Favor Delivery.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest In Tech
Sam Altman got exceptionally testy over Claude Super Bowl ads
Anthropic aired Super Bowl ads that poked fun at ad-supported chatbots, clearly taking aim at OpenAI after it announced ads for ChatGPT’s free tier.
Sam Altman said he laughed at the ads but followed up with a long public rant, calling them misleading and insisting ChatGPT ads will be clearly labeled, separated from answers, and never manipulate conversations.
The exchange highlights growing tension between the rivals, with disagreements over ads, pricing, and AI governance spilling into public messaging, and turning a cheeky marketing jab into a very public founder feud.
Microsoft Copilot is running into big problems
Microsoft’s Copilot chatbot, a key part of CEO Satya Nadella’s plan to make the company AI-first, is struggling with confusing brand positioning, interoperability problems, and falling user preference compared to ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini.
Survey data from Recon Analytics shows that the share of Copilot subscribers who use it as their primary option dropped from 18.8% to 11.5% between July and late January, while Google’s Gemini rose from 12.8% to 15.7%.
Microsoft has sold only 15 million corporate Copilot seats out of 450 million paid 365 seats, and some companies use just 10% of the Copilot subscriptions they pay for, according to Citi Research analysts.
Intel will start making GPUs
Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan announced at the Cisco AI Summit that the company will start producing graphics processing units (GPUs), chips used for gaming and training artificial intelligence models.
The project will be led by Kevork Kechichian, executive vice president and general manager of Intel’s data center group, with Eric Demers, a former Qualcomm senior vice president, also hired for the effort.
The initiative appears to be in early stages, with Tan saying Intel plans to develop its strategy around customer demands, marking a notable expansion from the company’s traditional focus on CPUs.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕ Other News
YC startups can now receive investment in stablecoin
Y Combinator will let startups receive its standard $500,000 seed investment in stablecoins, starting with the upcoming spring batch, instead of only traditional bank transfers.
The funds can be sent over Base, Solana, or Ethereum, a move YC partner Nemil Dalal says is especially useful for founders in emerging markets where cross-border transfers are slow or expensive.
The shift also reflects YC’s growing push into crypto, following its recent partnership with Base and Coinbase Ventures, as U.S. regulation becomes more crypto-friendly and blockchain interest picks up again.
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