☕ OpenAI to raise $100B at $850B+ valuation & Microsoft stores data in glass for 10,000 years.
Tesla launches cheaper Cybertruck & Google releases Gemini 3.1 Pro
Breaking News
OpenAI is reportedly finalizing a $100 billion funding round at a valuation exceeding $850 billion, about $20B higher than earlier estimates. Major backers in early tranches are said to include Amazon, SoftBank, Nvidia, and Microsoft, as OpenAI pushes toward profitability while continuing heavy compute spending and testing ads inside ChatGPT. The raise cements OpenAI as one of the most valuable private companies in history and intensifies the capital arms race in frontier AI.
Google has unveiled Gemini 3.1 Pro (preview), reporting record benchmark gains and top ranking on Mercor’s APEX-Agents leaderboard. Early results show significant performance improvements over Gemini 3, strengthening Google’s position in the race against OpenAI and Anthropic as models increasingly target agentic tasks, professional workflows, and multi-step reasoning.
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🗞️ What else is brewing
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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup Funding Updates
PRE-SEED
Rizon, a Delaware-based neobank, raised $2M in Pre-Seed funding. Market One Capital made the investment.
Sift Biosciences, a San Carlos, CA-based provider of a peptide-based immunotherapy platform, raised $3.7M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was co-led by Lifespan Vision Ventures and Freeflow Ventures, with participation from Valuence Ventures, Eisai Innovation, SBI US Gateway Fund, and other early investors.
SEED
Rapidata, a Zurich, Switzerland-based AI infrastructure startup which specializes in providing human feedback for AI model development, raised $8.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Canaan Partners and IA Ventures with participation from Acequia Capital and BlueYard.
Plato, a Berlin, Germany-based provider of an AI-powered operating system for wholesale distributors, raised $14.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Atomico, with participation from existing investor Cherry Ventures.
Odynn, a NYC-based provider of an AI-powered platform enabling banks and fintechs to launch personalized travel and loyalty programs, raised $9.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Bonfire Ventures and Fiat Ventures.
Qumis, a Chicago, IL-based provider of an attorney-trained AI platform for commercial insurance coverage intelligence, raised $4.3M in Seed funding. The round was led by MTech Capital, with new strategic investor American Family Ventures and participation from all prior investors.
Kana, a San Francisco, CA-based company that deploys agents for marketers and media companies, raised $15M in Seed funding. The round was led by Mayfield.
PolyGone Systems, a Kearney Point, NJ-based microplastic monitoring and removal company, raised $4M in Seed funding. The round was led by FYRFLY Venture Partners, with participation from Tech Council Ventures, Interstate Fusion Ventures, Golden Seeds, and angels.
GROWTH
Ownwell, an Austin, TX-based property tax monitoring and appeal services provider, raised $50M in Series B funding. The round included $30M in equity led by Alpha Edison and Mercato Partners, with participation from Intuit Ventures, Left Lane Capital, First Round Capital, Long Journey Ventures, PROOF Fund, Wonder Ventures, as well as $20M in debt financing from Western Alliance Bank.
Ascent, a San Diego, CA-based provider of financial products and student support services, raised $45M in Series C funding. Backers were not disclosed.
SportIQ, a Helsinki, Finland- and Charlotte, North Carolina-based startup that develops smart basketball technology and app-based coaching analytics, secured $6.2M in Series A funding. Backers included KB Partners, Koppenberg Management, and Match Ventures.
Stake, a UAE-based digital real estate investment platform provider, closed a $31M Series B funding round. The round was led by Emirates NBD, with participation from Mubadala Investment Company, Middle East Venture Partners, Property Finder, STV NICE, Wa’ed Ventures, GFH Partners, and Ellington Properties.
Jump, a Salt Lake City, UT-based provider of artificial intelligence solutions for financial advisors and other financial services providers, raised $80M in Series B funding. The round was led by Insight Partners with participation from new investors and angel investors.
Badge, a San Francisco, CA-based provider of an operating platform for Apple and Google Wallets, raised $17.1M in funding. The round consisted of a $13.8M Series A round led by TTV Capital with participation from Stripe, Synchrony Ventures, and Infinity Ventures, as well as a previously unannounced $3.3M Seed round.
Adronite, a Seattle, WA-based provider of full-system, AI-powered, codebase intelligence technology, raised $5M in Series A funding. The round was led by Gatemore Capital Management.
Altesa BioSciences, an Atlanta, GA-based clinical-stage pharmaceutical company, raised $75M in Series B funding. The round was led by Forbion, with participation from Sanofi and existing investors.
xAI, a San Francisco, CA-based developer of frontier artificial intelligence, raised $3B in Series E funding. The investment was provided by HUMAIN, owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
NuCube Energy, an Idaho Falls, Idaho-based provider of a high-temperature modular microreactor, raised $13M in funding. The round was led by Arizona Nuclear Ventures with participation from Emission Reduction Corporation, Rob Walton and Jordan Rose Walton.
Stacks, a London, UK-based provider of an agentic platform for enterprise finance, raised $23M in Series A funding. The round was led by Lightspeed, with participation from EQT Ventures, General Catalyst, and S16VC.
Onshore (formerly SPRX), a NYC-based provider of an AI-powered tax platform, raised $31M in Series B funding. The round was led by FPV Ventures, with participation from Vertex Ventures, ADP Ventures, Y Combinator, and Restive Ventures.
Monark, a NYC-based fintech company connecting brokerage firms and wealth platforms, raised $8.1M in strategic funding. The round was led by F-Prime with participation from The Treasury, Commerce Ventures, Grit Capital Partners, and BBAE Holdings.
Efficient Computer, a Pittsburgh, PA-based provider of energy-efficient general-purpose processors, raised $60M in Series A funding. The round was led by Triatomic Capital with participation from Eclipse, Union Square Ventures, Overlap Holdings, Box Group, RTX Ventures, Toyota Ventures, Overmatch Ventures, and others.
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NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital Updates.
Dragonfly Capital, an Oakland, CA-based venture capital firm focused on backing blockchain and fintech startups, raised $650m for its fourth fund. The fund will continue to back researchers and builders who push the entire crypto ecosystem forward. It will back blockchain startups advancing solutions for finance, payments, asset issuance, and markets including in agentic payments, on-chain privacy, and “tokenization of everything” areas.
Battery Ventures, a global, technology-focused investment firm, closed a $3.25 billion fund. The new vehicle, Battery Ventures XV, follows 15 announced exit events for the firm in 2025. Over the last five years, the firm’s funds have realized more than $10 billion in liquidity. The fund will back technology companies globally with a focus on the U.S., Europe and Israel.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest In Tech
Meta plans to release a smartwatch this year
Meta has reportedly brought back its canceled smartwatch project and plans to release the Facebook Watch in 2026, years after the original effort was shelved around 2021.
The original project stalled during a rough period for Meta, which faced the Cambridge Analytica fallout, a $725 million privacy settlement, and a $10 billion hit from Apple’s App Tracking Transparency.
Details remain scarce, but the watch is expected to track health data, compete on price by undercutting Apple Watch, and likely help Meta collect and monetize personal information from users.
Microsoft stores data in glass for 10,000 years
Microsoft’s Project Silica can store data inside a thin piece of borosilicate glass using laser technology, and the material could theoretically last 10,000 years without degrading.
The system encodes information in phase voxels — three-dimensional equivalents of pixels — using femtosecond lasers, and a single glass chip can hold 4.8 terabytes of data.
Project Silica was built for organizations like the National Archives and museums that need storage immune to malware, decay, and ongoing maintenance costs over long periods.
Tesla launches cheaper Cybertruck, cuts Cyberbeast price
Tesla unveiled a new dual-motor all-wheel-drive Cybertruck in the U.S. priced at $59,990, making it the most affordable AWD Cybertruck so far.
The company also reduced the price of the high-end Cyberbeast variant to $99,990 from $114,990 and appears to be discontinuing the Luxe Package that bundled Supervised Full Self-Driving and free Supercharger access.
The move aligns with Tesla’s broader 2026 strategy of price cuts to attract cost-conscious buyers, following similar pricing adjustments for its Model Y lineup.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕ Other News
Nvidia moves earlier into India’s AI startup pipeline
Nvidia is deepening its India strategy by partnering with early-stage VC Activate, which will back 25–30 AI startups from its $75M debut fund while giving them preferential access to Nvidia’s technical expertise — targeting founders even before formal company formation.
The push coincides with India’s AI Impact Summit and expands Nvidia’s local ecosystem ties, including collaborations with Accel, Peak XV, Z47, Elevation Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, and AI Grants India to support 10,000+ early-stage founders.
With 4,000+ Indian startups already in its Inception program, Nvidia is positioning itself to lock in long-term compute demand by building early relationships with AI-native companies in one of the world’s fastest-growing developer markets.
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