☕ Meta’s AI spending soars to $27 Billion, Tim Cook says Apple is open to M&A on the AI front & First Neuralink patient could get a device upgrade.
Future Starlink satellites will become orbiting data centers & China approves TikTok transfer deal.
In 1983, Steve Jobs typed back to a fan requesting his autograph: “I’m honoured that you’d write, but I’m afraid I don’t sign autographs.”
Then he signed the letter anyway. It later sold for almost $500k.
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📬 What’s in store:
Today’s Picks: Startup legal docs pack, investor data room superpack, AI adoption slowdown, YC’s 2025 AI focus, collapsing early-stage VC returns, weak PMF lessons from Mercury.
Tim Cook says Apple is open to M&A on the AI front.
Sam Altman says ‘enough’ to questions about OpenAI’s revenue.
Meta has an AI product problem.
Canva launches its own design model, adds new AI features to the platform.
First Neuralink patient could get a device upgrade.
China approves TikTok transfer deal.
Trump says China can’t have Nvidia’s top AI chips.
Future Starlink satellites will become orbiting data centers.
Nvidia is reportedly investing up to $1B in Poolside.
VC & Startup Jobs: VC & investors backed startup hiring for remote roles.
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🗞️ What else is brewing
Startup Legal Document Pack – Essential Legal Docs for Founders.
Investor Data Room Superpack: Everything you need to build a VC-ready data room (Guide/Templates).
Paid AI adoption hits its first slowdown, but enterprise spending keeps climbing.
Y-Combinator’s 2025 Summer batch doubles down on production-ready AI.
Why early-stage VC returns are quietly collapsing.
The trap of weak product-market fit — lessons from Mercury’s founder.
The future of the web in the history of YouTube
Turn the first meeting into leads
Only 100 metrics matter
How Intercom built a $50MM ARR empire using strategic content marketing and SEO.
STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup funding updates
xMEMS Labs, Inc., a Santa Clara, CA-based developer of solid-state MEMS speakers, closed a $21m Series D funding round. The round was led by Boardman Bay Capital Management, with participation from Cloudview Capital, CDIB-TEN Capital, Harbinger Venture Capital, SIG Asia Investments, an affiliate of Susquehanna International Group (SIG), and other strategic investors.
Catalyx Space, Inc., a San Francisco, CA-based space infrastructure company providing solutions for orbital missions across industries, raised $5.4m in Seed funding. The round was led by Outlander VC with participation from Arka Venture Labs, Lex Reddy, KDX Management LLC, Together Fund, Higher Life Ventures, Nivesha Ventures, Prana Tech Ventures, Bria, HF0 Residency, and Techstars.
Loon, a Calgary, Canada-based stablecoin company, raised CAD$3m in pre-seed financing. The pre-seed round was led by Version One Ventures, with participation from Garage Capital and a syndicate of strategic Canadian angel investors.
SimSpace, a Boston, MA-based provider of realistic, intelligent cyber range for elite cybersecurity organizations, raised $39m in a combination of debt and equity funding. Backers included new investors BTG Pactual U.S. Private Credit Investments and Communitas Capital, as well as existing investor L2 Point Management.
Ornn AI Inc., a NYC-based company building the global financial infrastructure to power the age of intelligence, closed a USD5.7m seed funding round. The round was led by Crucible Ventures and Vine Ventures, with participation from Link Ventures, Box Group, and angels across finance, cloud infrastructure, and AI.
CUE Labs, the Zug, Switzerland-based company behind the CUE open-source configuration language, emerged from stealth with over $10M in early funding. The round was led by Sequoia Capital and OSS Capital, with participation from Founders Fund, Dell Technologies Capital, and leading angel investors.
KapKap, an AI-native Web3 platform pioneering attention-driven value distribution through gaming, AIGC, and reputation systems, raised a total of USD$10m in seed funding. The round was led by Animoca Brands, with participation from Shima Capital, Mechanism Capital, Klaytn Foundation, and Big Brain Holdings.
Recess, a NYC-based relaxation beverage brand, closed a $30M Series B funding round. The round was led by CAVU Consumer Partners, with participation from Rocana, Midnight Ventures, Torch Capital, Doehler Ventures, KAS Venture Partners, Vanquish, and Craig Kallman.
Rarity PBC, a Los Angeles, CA-based public benefit corporation dedicated to expanding the availability of gene therapies for rare diseases, raised a $4.6M in seed financing. The round was led by biotech investor Steve Oliveira, Head of Nemean Asset Management.
Archy, a San Jose, CA-based provider of an AI platform for dental practices, raised $20M in Series B funding. The round was led by TCV along with Bessemer Venture Partners, CRV, Entrée Capital, and 25 practicing dentists.
Legora, a NYC-based provider of a collaborative AI platform for lawyers, raised $150M in Series C funding, at a $1.8 Billion valuation. The round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from existing investors ICONIQ, General Catalyst, Redpoint Ventures, Benchmark, and Y Combinator.
Cephia, a San Francisco, CA-based startup building products using advanced AI computational imaging technologies and silicon sensors, raised $4M in Seed funding. The round was led by Radiant Opto-Electronics Corporation (ROE) and Incharge Capital, with participation from MetaVC Partners, NRM Partners and SOSV.
NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital updates
Silicon Valley VC giant Sequoia launched its latest $950M venture fund and its sixth dedicated seed fund. In details, the amount of the early-stage fund targeting Series A startups is $750m while the seed fund amount is $200m. They seek founders of any background from around the globe.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest in tech
Tim Cook says Apple is open to M&A on the AI front
Apple CEO Tim Cook told investors the company remains open to acquisitions and partnerships to accelerate its AI roadmap, including upcoming AI-powered Siri updates expected in 2026.
Cook confirmed Apple is maintaining a three-part strategy: developing in-house foundation models, partnering with external LLM providers, and exploring AI-related M&A opportunities.
He added that Apple’s Private Cloud Compute is already powering some Siri queries, with new server manufacturing underway in Houston to support the company’s growing AI infrastructure.
Sam Altman says ‘enough’ to questions about OpenAI’s revenue
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the company is making “well more” than $13 billion in annual revenue and dismissed concerns about how it will fund its trillion-dollar infrastructure commitments.
Speaking on the Bg2 podcast with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Altman rebuffed speculation about OpenAI’s finances and IPO timing, saying critics would “love to buy OpenAI shares.”
Altman hinted OpenAI could reach $100 billion in revenue by 2027, while Nadella added the company has exceeded every business plan it presented to Microsoft.
Meta has an AI product problem
Meta’s AI spending has soared, with more than $20B in capital expenses and $7B in added yearly operating costs, alarming investors as the company’s stock fell 12% and erased $200B in market value.
Despite heavy investment in AI talent and infrastructure, Meta lacks a clear revenue-generating AI product, unlike OpenAI or Nvidia — its current offerings like Meta AI and Vibes remain experimental.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg emphasized that future models from Meta’s Superintelligence Lab could bring “novel products,” but for now, investors are growing impatient as Meta’s AI roadmap remains uncertain.
Canva launches its own design model, adds new AI features to the platform
Canva has launched a proprietary foundational design model that generates editable designs with layers and objects across formats like posts, presentations, and websites — a major step beyond flat image generation.
The company introduced an upgraded Canva AI assistant (usable anywhere in the interface), new features like 3D object generation, art style copying, and integration between its spreadsheet and app tools to create data visualization widgets.
Canva also unveiled Canva Grow, an AI-powered marketing suite, and made Affinity free forever, integrating it tightly with Canva for professional-grade design, layout, and image creation.
First Neuralink patient could get a device upgrade
Elon Musk stated that first patient Noland Arbaugh might be the first to receive a “Neuralink upgrade” or a “dual Neuralink implant” to further augment his mind-controlled abilities.
He predicts it will not be long before a Neuralink recipient can outperform most, and eventually all, humans at playing “fast reaction video games” with their thoughts.
Meanwhile, Arbaugh is studying neuroscience and pre-calculus with good grades and has also teased that “big news” regarding his progress is coming for his two-year update in 2026.
China approves TikTok transfer deal
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed that China has approved the transfer agreement for TikTok, paving the way for the sale of its U.S. operations in the coming months.
Under the deal, ByteDance will hold less than 20% of TikTok U.S., with the remaining ownership split among American and global investors who will control the app’s algorithm and operations.
The agreement follows a 2024 U.S. law requiring TikTok’s Chinese owners to divest by January 2025, resolving an 18-month standoff over national security concerns.
Trump says China can’t have Nvidia’s top AI chips
U.S. President Donald Trump said Nvidia’s most advanced Blackwell AI chips will be reserved exclusively for U.S. companies, blocking access for China and other countries.
The move could mark stricter export restrictions as Trump stated, “the most advanced, we will not let anybody have them other than the United States.”
Nvidia recently agreed to supply 260,000 Blackwell chips to South Korea, but possible scaled-down chip sales to China remain uncertain, drawing political criticism in Washington.
Future Starlink satellites will become orbiting data centers
SpaceX plans to create orbiting data centers by scaling up its V3 Starlink satellites, which have high-speed laser links, allowing them to host more computing power for AI training.
The satellites will overcome connectivity challenges using a built-in laser system that creates a mesh network in space, enabling data transmission between satellites at speeds up to 200Gbps.
A startup called Starcloud is also launching a test satellite with an Nvidia H100 GPU to create its own network of orbiting data centers designed to connect to Starlink.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕ Other news
Nvidia is reportedly investing up to $1B in Poolside
Nvidia plans to invest between $500 million and $1 billion in Poolside, an AI startup building models for software development, as part of a $2 billion funding round at a $12 billion valuation.
This follows Nvidia’s previous backing of Poolside’s $500 million Series B round in 2024, underscoring its continued interest in AI infrastructure and development tools.
The move aligns with Nvidia’s broader investment strategy, which includes recent stakes in Wayve ($500M) and Intel ($5B), as it expands its influence across AI and chip innovation sectors.
HIRING ALERT: STARTUPS & VC ROLES
💼 Today’s VC & startup job opportunities
All-In-One VC Interview Preparation Guide: With a leading investors group, we have created an all-in-one VC interview preparation guide for aspiring VCs. Don’t miss this. (Access Here)
Associate - Venture Capital - Artha Venture Fund | India - Apply Here
Executive Assistant - AN Venture Partner | USA - Apply Here
Analyst - Urban Partners | London - Apply Here
Operations / Program Analyst - Entrepreneur First | India - Apply Here
Venture Fellow - Commonweal Venture | NYC - Apply Here
Investor Relations - Samved VC | India - Apply Here
Interim Senior Analyst, Investments - Pivotal Ventures | USA - Apply Here
Trade Operations Lead - Manhattan Venture Partner | USA - Apply Here
AI Builder In Residence - True Venture | USA - Apply Here
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