☕ SpaceX reports $5 billion loss in 2025 ahead of IPO plans & Anthropic explores building its own AI chips.
Andy Jassy defends Amazon $200B spending spree & xAI CFO Armstrong exits.
Breaking News
SpaceX reported a $5B loss in 2025 despite $18.5B in revenue, highlighting the massive costs behind building space infrastructure and scaling AI through xAI. The numbers come just as the company prepares for a potential $1.75T IPO, revealing the high-stakes gamble behind one of the most anticipated listings ever.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy defended the company’s $200 billion spending plan for 2026, saying it’s driven by real demand, not speculation. AWS is already generating $15B annual AI revenue, while Amazon’s custom chip business adds another $20B+ in value. The company may soon start selling its Trainium AI chip systems and robotics externally — turning internal infrastructure into new revenue streams.
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STARTUPS RAISING MILLIONS
💰 Startup Funding Updates
PRE-SEED
Ridge AI, a Seattle, WA-based AI dashboard and data agents platform, raised $2.6M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by Madrona, with participation from TheFounderVC and angels.
Felix, a Prague, Czech Republic-based AI workflow platform, raised $1.7M in Pre-Seed funding. The round was led by XYZ Venture Capital, with participation from angel investors.
SEED
Juno, a San Diego, CA-based tax prep automation platform, raised $12M in Seed funding. The round was led by Bonfire Ventures, with participation from Impression Ventures and X Fund.
Yellow Blue Inc., a Tokyo, Japan-based AI translation platform, raised ~$440K in Seed funding. The round was led by mint.
Rork, a San Francisco, CA-based AI app-building platform, raised $15M in Seed funding. The round was led by Left Lane Capital, with participation from Peak XV, True Ventures, Goodwater, and a16z Speedrun.
CareGlance, a Milan & Bari, Italy-based 3D sensor technology company, raised €3.5M in Seed funding. The round was led by CDP Venture Capital, with participation from Eureka Venture SGR, LIFTT, and angel investors.
Handhold, a Tallinn, Estonia-based AI-agent sales platform, raised €3M in Seed funding. The round was led by Entourage Capital, with participation from Inovia Capital, e2vc, and others.
Atlas, a Singapore-based AI operations platform, raised $6M in Seed funding. The round was led by Accel and Stellaris.
GROWTH
Chapter, a NYC-based Medicare navigation platform, raised $100M in Series E funding. The round was led by Generation Investment Management, with participation from 8VC, Stripes, Addition, Narya Capital, and others.
Ambient Clinical Analytics, a Rochester, MN-based clinical analytics software company, raised $5M in funding. Backers were not disclosed.
Haast, a NYC-based AI compliance engine, raised $12M in Series A funding. The round was led by Peak XV Partners, with participation from DST Global Partners, Airtree, Aura Ventures, and others.
AfterQuery, a San Francisco, CA-based applied data research lab, raised $30M in Series A funding. The round was led by Altos Ventures, with participation from The Raine Group, Y Combinator, and BoxGroup.
SiFive, a Santa Clara, CA-based RISC-V solutions company, raised $400M in Series G funding at a $3.65B valuation. The round was led by Atreides Management, with participation from Apollo Global Management, NVIDIA, T. Rowe Price, and others.
Luminai, a San Francisco, CA-based AI enterprise automation platform, raised $38M in Series B funding. The round was led by Peak XV Partners, with participation from General Catalyst, Define Ventures, and Y Combinator.
Kalshi, a NYC-based prediction market company, raised $4.7M in Series E funding. Backers included Factory Holdings and a16z’s Cultural Leadership Fund.
Pipe, a San Francisco, CA-based fintech company, raised $16M in funding. The round was led by Fin Capital and MaC Venture Capital.
Sigma Automate, an Atlanta, GA-based AI IT automation company, raised $2.75M in funding. The round was led by Glasswing Ventures, with participation from angel investors.
Sidewinder Therapeutics, a San Diego, CA-based biotech company, raised $137M in Series B funding. The round was led by Frazier Life Sciences and Novartis Venture Fund, with participation from OrbiMed, Goldman Sachs Alternatives, DCVC Bio, and others.
TeiaCare, a Milan, Italy-based healthcare monitoring platform, raised €7M in funding. The round was led by P101 SGR.
CertifID, an Austin, TX-based fraud protection platform, raised $47.5M in Series C funding. The round was led by Centana Growth Partners.
Edmund, a Prague, Czech Republic-based AI debugging platform, raised €2.5M in funding. The round was led by FORWARD.one, with participation from University2Ventures and Tensor Ventures.
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NEW VCs IN THE MARKET
🏦 Venture Capital Updates.
Collide Capital, a U.S.-based venture firm founded by Brian Hollins and Aaron Samuels, has raised a $95M Fund II to back early-stage startups. The fund will invest $1M–$3M checks across fintech, supply chain, and future-of-work startups, with backing from LPs like Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, and UC Regents. The firm plans to invest in ~30 companies over 3.5 years, building on its existing portfolio of 75 startups.
Eclipse, a Palo Alto, CA-based venture capital firm, raised $1.311 billion for two funds. In details, according two regulatory forms filed with the SEC, Eclipse Fund VI, L.P., raised $720m from 127 investors, and Eclipse Early Growth Fund III, L.P., raised $591m from 120 investors.
KEY STORIES IN TECH
📜 Latest In Tech
Google and Intel expand AI infrastructure partnership
Google and Intel are deepening their multiyear partnership, with Google Cloud continuing to rely on Intel’s Xeon chips for AI and cloud workloads.
The two companies will also co-develop custom IPUs (infrastructure processing units) to improve data center efficiency by offloading tasks from CPUs.
The move highlights a broader shift: while GPUs dominate AI training, CPUs and supporting chips are becoming critical bottlenecks as demand for AI infrastructure surges.
xAI CFO Anthony Armstrong exits amid leadership churn
xAI CFO Anthony Armstrong has left the company just months after being appointed, as part of a broader wave of senior departures.
Armstrong previously played a key role in financial operations across xAI and X, and had advised Elon Musk during major deals.
The exit comes at a critical time, as xAI remains closely tied to SpaceX’s upcoming IPO and broader restructuring efforts.
OpenAI launches $100/month ChatGPT plan for power users
OpenAI introduced a new $100/month Pro plan, positioned between its $20 Plus tier and $200 high-end plan.
The plan is focused on developers, offering 5× more usage of Codex (its coding tool), directly competing with Anthropic’s $100 Claude tier.
While all plans still have limits, the new tier targets heavy, daily users who need higher capacity for coding and complex workflows.
Andy Jassy defends Amazon $200B spending spree
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy wrote a shareholder letter defending the company’s planned $200 billion in capital spending for 2026, arguing the investments are backed by real customer demand, not guesses.
Jassy disclosed that AWS’ AI revenue has reached a $15 billion annual run rate, and Amazon’s internal custom chips business is generating over $20 billion a year in value.
Amazon may sell its Trainium AI chip racks and robotics solutions to outside customers, following the company’s pattern of building tools internally and then offering them as external services.
Tesla is developing a new smaller, cheaper EV
Tesla is working on a new smaller, cheaper electric SUV that would be a distinct model from the existing Model 3 and Model Y, according to four people familiar with the matter.
The compact SUV would be about 14 feet long, weigh roughly 1.5 metric tons, use a smaller battery with shorter range, and cost substantially less than the $34,000 entry-level Model 3 in China.
The project is in early development with production planned for Tesla’s Shanghai factory, though timing is unclear, and the company has a history of starting vehicles that end up delayed or canceled.
OpenAI pauses Stargate UK over energy costs
OpenAI has paused its Stargate data center project in the UK, pointing to high energy costs and regulatory burdens as the main reasons it cannot commit to long-term infrastructure investment.
The project, announced last September with Nvidia and Nscale, was tied to the UK’s AI Growth Zone plan, which aimed to create 5,000 jobs and attract £30bn in private investment.
Stargate’s $500bn US effort is already training AI systems at its Texas facility, with additional projects underway in the UAE and Norway, funded by OpenAI, Oracle, MGX, and SoftBank.
LAST COFFEE SIP
☕ Other News
Anthropic explores building its own AI chips amid supply crunch
Anthropic is considering designing its own AI chips as demand for compute surges, though plans are still early and not yet finalized.
The move reflects a broader industry shift, with companies like Meta and OpenAI also exploring custom chip development to reduce reliance on external suppliers.
Chip design is expensive (around $500M per project), but growing demand for Anthropic’s Claude models — now reportedly at $30B+ run-rate revenue — is pushing the company to secure long-term compute independence.
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