☕ Microsoft announces powerful new chip for AI inference & Nvidia AI models can predict storms weeks ahead
Apple’s new AirTag & Google pays $68M to settle claims its voice assistant spied on users.
Breaking News
Microsoft has unveiled Maia 200, a powerful new in-house AI chip designed specifically for inference, as running models—not training them—emerges as the biggest cost bottleneck in AI. The chip delivers over 10 petaflops at 4-bit precision, significantly outperforming its predecessor, and is already powering Copilot and internal systems, underscoring Microsoft’s push to reduce dependence on Nvidia while competing directly with Google’s TPUs and Amazon’s Trainium.
Google has agreed to pay $68 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging its voice assistant recorded private conversations without proper consent. The case centered on “false accepts,” where Google Assistant allegedly activated unintentionally and shared data for ad targeting, adding to mounting scrutiny of voice assistants following similar settlements by Apple and a separate $1.4 billion privacy deal Google reached with Texas last year.
FROM OUR PARTNER - INTERCOM
📈 Intercom’s AI agent replaces your first support hire (free)
Intercom is the AI customer service company.
Startups receive a 100% discount on Intercom’s AI-first customer service suite, including Fin—the #1 AI agent in customer service—free for a full year with 300 monthly resolutions. That’s equivalent to having a full-time human support agent at no cost.
Apply here and select Venture Digest as the referring partner →
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
2026 SaaS crash. (Link)
The complete startup prompt. (Link)
When AI can write almost all the code what software engineer does. (Link)
Consumer AI predictions. (Link)
Trends to watch in 2026. (Link)
What’s working in GTM in AI? (Link)
A startup founder to scaleup CEO’s journey from $0 to $25billion. (Link)
STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup Funding Updates
PRE-SEED
Overworld, a Providence, Rhode Island-based developer of local-first diffusion world models, raised $4.5m in pre-seed funding. The round was led by Kindred Ventures, with participation from Amplify.LA, Garage Capital, Northside Ventures, Vital Stage, East Sunshine, and angel investors including Logan Kilpatrick and leaders from Snowflake and Roblox.
A47, a Dubai, UAE-based developer of an AI-native news platform, raised $2m in pre-seed funding. Backers included institutional and angel investors. In conjunction with the funding, Shehab Gargash joined the board as Chairman.
SEED
Lucend, a NYC-based technology company that provides a data center optimization platform, raised $3.3M in Seed funding. The round was led by Remarkable Ventures Climate with participation from Mitsubishi Electric Innovation Fund, New Climate Ventures, Avesta, Stepchange and 4impact capital.
Jabuti AGI, a São Paulo, Brazil-based developer of an agentic AI platform for customer service operations, raised R$2.1m in seed funding. The round was led by DOMO.VC, with partner Marcello Gonçalves joining the startup’s advisory board alongside Fernando Teles, Tiago Saura, and João Bezerra Leite.
Barnwell Bio, a NYC-based provider of precision animal health intelligence and metagenomic biosurveillance systems, raised $6m in seed funding. The round was led by Twelve Below, with participation from Max Ventures, Dorm Room Fund, Banter Capital, Planeteer Capital, AgVentures Alliance, Daybreak Ventures, Alumni Ventures, and AgLaunch Farmers.
skrooge.ai, a Dubai, UAE-based AI-enabled accounting and tax service provider, raised $1.85M in Seed funding. Backers were not disclosed.
Maia Farms, a Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based developer of mushroom and mycelium-based food ingredients, closed a $3.75m seed funding round. The round was led by Active Impact Investments, with follow-on participation from Nya Planet, Ag-West Bio, PIC Investment Group, and Deep Checks.
Grove, a Riyadh, Saudi Arabia-based technology company which specializes in the fresh-produce sector, raised $5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Outliers VC with participation from a group of angel investors.
Cashmere, a Salt Lake City, Utah-based developer of a data infrastructure platform for premium publishing, raised $5m in seed funding. The round was led by Reach Capital, with participation from Founders Future, Fortitude Ventures, and LightShed Ventures, as well as strategic investors Ingram Content Group, Naver Corp, and Pearson.
Inferact, a San Francisco, CA-based developer of a high-performance AI inference engine, raised $150m in seed funding. The round was co-led by Andreessen Horowitz and Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Sequoia Capital, Altimeter Capital, Redpoint Ventures, and ZhenFund.
GROWTH
Zocks, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a privacy-first AI platform for financial advisors, raised $45M in Series B funding. The round was co-led by Lightspeed Venture Partners and QED Investors, along with participation from Illuminate Financial and all existing investors, including Motive Partners, Expanse Venture Partners, Entrée Capital, and 14Peaks Capital.
Consio AI, a Toronto, Canada-based provider of a voice platform that automates phone-based engagements for e-commerce brands, raised $3.3M in funding. The round was led by RTP Global with participation from Jason Lemkin’s SaaStr Fund, Mu Ventures, the founders of Gorgias, and industry operators from Ramp and Datadog.
Upwind Security, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of a cloud security platform, raised $250M in Series B funding. The round was led by Bessemer Venture Partners, with participation from Salesforce Ventures and Picture Capital. Existing investors included Greylock, Cyberstarts, Leaders Fund, Craft Ventures, TCV, Alta Park, Cerca Partners, Swish Ventures and Penny Jar Capital.
GlassPoint, a NYC-based company which specializes in solar industrial process heat, raised $20M in funding. The round was led by N.I.S. New Investment Solutions, with participation from returning investor MIG Capital.
alfred, a Mexico City, Mexico based-provider of cross-border payment infrastructure, raised $15m in Series A funding. The round was led by F-Prime Capital, with participation from Brevan Howard Digital and White Star Capital.
Listen Labs, a San Francisco, California based-provider of an AI-first customer research platform, raised $69m in Series B funding. The round was led by Ribbit Capital, with participation from Evantic and existing investors Sequoia Capital, Conviction, and Pear VC.
Standard Nuclear, an Oak Ridge, TN-based reactor-agnostic producer of TRISO nuclear fuel, raised $140M in Series A funding. The round was led by Decisive Point with participation from new investors Chevron Technology Ventures, StepStone Group, XTX Ventures, and existing investors Welara, Fundomo, Andreessen Horowitz, Washington Harbour Partners, Crucible Capital, and many others.
Tradespace, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an AI native IP platform, raised $15M in Series A funding. The round was led by AVP. Eniac Ventures, Amplo VC, and Scrum Ventures also participated.
Mine, a NYC-based personal finance company, raised $14M in funding. The round was led by 359 Capital with participation from Kleiner Perkins, FJ Labs, Y Combinator and U.S. News and World Report.
Visitt, a NYC-based provider of an AI-native property operations platform, raised $22M in Series B funding. The round was led by Susquehanna Growth Equity (SGE), with participation from existing investors Vertex Ventures Israel, Anfield, and Sarona Ventures.
Grid Aero, a San Leonardo, CA-based aerospace startup building autonomous aircraft for long-range operations, raised $20M in Series A funding. The round was led by Bison Ventures and Geodesic Capital, with participation from Stony Lonesome Group and Alumni Ventures, alongside returning investors Ubiquity Ventures, Calibrate Ventures, and Commonweal Ventures.
Aviwell, a Toulouse, France-based animal nutrition company, raised €11M in Series A funding. The round was led by Blue Revolution Fund (BRF), and included participation from Blast.Club and SWEN Capital Partners.
Salvo Health, a New York-based provider of a virtual care platform specializing in gastrointestinal and metabolic health, raised $8.5m in Series A funding. The round was co-led by ManchesterStory, City Light Capital, and Threshold Ventures, with participation from new investors The Artemis Fund, Contour Venture Partners, Owl Capital, and Impact X Capital Partners, and existing investors Human Ventures, Torch Capital, Felicis Ventures, and Alumni Ventures.
TODAY’S RESOURCE PICK
📬 A founder’s guide to ownership, control, and negotiation
Equity decisions are permanent and most founders get them wrong not because they’re careless, but because they’re rushed and negotiating without clarity.
This guide helps you understand how dilution actually works, how investors think about ownership and control, and how to negotiate without panic or regret.
Inside:
How dilution plays out from Seed → Series A → Series B
What “normal” equity give-ups look like (and what’s a red flag)
How ESOP pools really dilute founders
What’s negotiable vs not in equity conversations
How founders quietly lose control — and how to avoid it
Plus practical tools: Equity dilution simulator, ESOP planner & Cap table & negotiation checklists
NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital Updates
2150, a Europe-based climate-focused VC firm, has raised a €210 million second fund to invest in startups solving urban sustainability challenges. Headquartered in Copenhagen, the firm targets Series A companies working on climate tech innovations like industrial heat pumps, e-waste recycling, and direct air capture. Backers include Novo Holdings, Danish sovereign fund EIFO, and others, bringing 2150’s total AUM to €500 million. The firm plans to invest in 20 startups from this fund, with check sizes around €5–6 million.
Obvious Ventures, based in San Francisco and co-founded by Twitter’s Evan Williams, raised its fifth fund at a mathematically quirky $360,360,360. The firm focuses on startups advancing planetary, human, and economic health, with a portfolio including Zanskar (geothermal), Inceptive (AI drug discovery), and Dexterity Robotics. Led by James Joaquin, the fund will invest $5–12M per company across seed and Series A rounds.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest In Tech
Google pays $68M to settle claims its voice assistant spied on users
Google agreed to pay $68 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging its voice assistant unlawfully recorded users’ private conversations and shared insights for targeted advertising, without admitting wrongdoing.
The case focused on so-called “false accepts,” where Google Assistant allegedly activated and recorded audio without users intentionally using a wake word, with plaintiffs claiming recordings were disclosed to third parties.
The settlement adds to broader scrutiny of voice assistants: Apple paid $95 million in 2021 over similar claims involving Siri, and Google separately agreed last year to pay $1.4 billion to the state of Texas over data privacy lawsuits.
Apple’s new AirTag is louder and can be found across longer distances
Apple introduced the next-generation AirTag with a longer Bluetooth range, a speaker that’s 50% louder, and improved Precision Finding powered by its second-generation Ultra Wideband chip.
Precision Finding now works up to 50% farther than before and provides haptic, visual, and audio guidance, with support expanded to newer Apple Watch models alongside iPhones that carry the same UWB chip.
Pricing remains unchanged at $29 for one AirTag and $99 for a four-pack, as Apple continues to dominate the tracker market, accounting for an estimated 70% of global tracker sales in late 2024.
Anthropic launches interactive Claude apps for workplace tools
Anthropic introduced interactive apps inside Claude, letting users directly use workplace tools like Slack, Canva, Figma, Box, and Clay inside the chatbot interface, with Salesforce support coming soon.
The apps create logged-in, permissioned sessions that allow Claude to take real actions — like sending Slack messages, generating visuals, or accessing cloud files — blending AI reasoning with dedicated visual and operational interfaces for faster work.
Available to Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise users, the feature builds on Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol and will eventually integrate with Claude Cowork, though Anthropic cautions users to tightly control permissions due to the risks of agentic AI.
SoftBank ends $50 billion Switch acquisition talks
SoftBank has stopped talks to buy US data center company Switch for around $50 billion, which would have supported founder Masayoshi Son’s Stargate AI infrastructure project with OpenAI.
Son gave up on a full acquisition earlier this month and canceled a planned January announcement, though both companies are still discussing a smaller partial investment or partnership.
Some people at SoftBank worried about the deal’s size and the difficulty of running data centers across multiple US locations, while Switch is also preparing for a possible IPO.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕ Other News
Nvidia AI models can predict storms weeks ahead
Nvidia released new AI weather models called Earth-2 that the company says can predict storms and other weather events more accurately and weeks further into the future than current systems.
The Earth-2 Medium Range model beats Google DeepMind’s GenCast on more than 70 variables, and a new Global Data Assimilation model cuts processing time from hours on supercomputers to minutes on GPUs.
Nvidia says these tools could help smaller countries and organizations access weather forecasting that previously required expensive supercomputers, with meteorologists in Israel and Taiwan already testing the technology.
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, Corporate Venturing - NRG Venture Fund | USA - Apply Here
VC Analyst Intern Wind | France - Apply Here
Investment Associate - Opmistic Venture | USA - Apply Here
Summer Fellowship 2026 - Coastanova Venture | USA - Apply Here
Portfolio Management Intern - LVL1 Accelerator | India - Apply Here
Associate, Growth Equity - Adam Street Partner | USA - Apply Here
Venture Relations Associate - Angellist | USA - Apply Here
Investment Principal - Aramco Venture | 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.