Today's Venture Capital Pulse
Invisix lands €20M seed round to pioneer soft‑x‑ray chip metrology
Invisix, an ASML spin‑out, closed an oversubscribed seed round raising €20 million (≈$22 million). Investors include Hitachi Ventures, imec.xpand, Doosan Investment and a tier‑1 semiconductor manufacturer believed to be Samsung. The funding will be used to develop a soft‑x‑ray metrology system that can non‑destructively image buried chip layers.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Seres secures $984M to launch AI‑powered auto brand
Tekst Raises $12.5M Series A Funding Led by Elephant
Tekst has closed a £9.96 million (≈$12.5 million) Series A round led by US venture firm Elephant. The funding will support product development, AI‑powered process intelligence, and international expansion. The round marks a significant step for the UK‑based startup as it scales its B2B SaaS platform.
Hardware Revolution Gains $250M Backing for Early-Stage Growth
Today we're announcing Gigascale Capital's $250M first institutional fund to back early-stage founders rebuilding the physical economy. When we started, the thesis sounded non-obvious: hardware and infrastructure could produce venture-scale companies again. 3 years later, we're seeing it work. There's a revolution...
Mercor CEO on Why Application Layer Companies Have No Defensibility & Token Spend Exceeds Salaries
In a candid interview, Mercor CEO Brandon Foody discussed the growing challenges of building defensibility in the application layer of AI services, noting that token consumption for internal agents now outpaces traditional employee payroll. He highlighted the company’s rapid growth—adding...
London AI Legal‑Tech Startup Crimson Secures $3.2M Seed Round and Opens New York Office
London‑based AI legal‑tech startup Crimson closed a £2.5 million ($3.2 million) seed round led by Y Combinator and multiple VCs, and opened a New York office headed by former Patterson Belknap litigator Rhick Bose. The funding fuels expansion into the U.S. market...
Black‑Founded Startups Secure $643 Million in Q1, Highest Since 2022
U.S. Black‑founder companies raised $643 million in the first quarter of 2026, the most since 2022, after 34 deals including a $350 million Series E for AI hardware firm SambaNova. The surge highlights both the concentration of capital in a few large rounds...
Gigascale Capital Secures $250M for AI-Driven Clean Tech
Gigascale Capital raised $250 million for early-stage clean tech startups as AI transforms the sector https://t.co/DenqaWQiWW
Gray Swan Raises $40m to Make AI Deployment Secure
Gray Swan, an AI security firm spun out of Carnegie Mellon University, closed a $40 million Series A round co‑led by Wing Venture Capital and Madrona. The funding will accelerate commercial operations, deepen ties with frontier AI labs, and expand the team...
Cars24 To Invest $20 Mn In Early Stage AI Startups
IPO‑bound used‑car platform Cars24 has earmarked $20 million (≈₹190 crore) for its new AI Labs, a venture that will build AI‑first products, partner with leading AI firms, and invest in early‑stage AI startups. The initiative, backed by partnerships with OpenAI, ElevenLabs and...
KorinMi Raises Rs 10 Crore From Lotus Herbals to Bring Korean Skin Treatment to India
KorinMi, a Gurugram‑based Korean‑beauty clinic, raised Rs 10 crore (≈$1.2 million) from Lotus Herbal’s Innovation Fund. The funding will support opening new clinics in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad and scaling its D2C product line made in Korea for Indian skin. KorinMi already serves...
Swedish Gridly Raises €1.2 Million to Automate Localization and Content Workflows at Scale
Swedish AI‑native localization platform Gridly raised €1.2 million (about $1.3 million) in two funding rounds, backed by gaming veteran Jörgen Larsson and other strategic investors. The Helsingborg‑based startup offers a cloud platform that automates multilingual content creation, translation, quality assurance and distribution for...
Invisix Closes €20M Seed Round to Transform Chip Metrology
Invisix, a semiconductor metrology startup founded by ASML alumni, closed an oversubscribed seed round of €20 million (approximately $21.8 million). The round was backed by Hitachi Ventures, Transition Ventures, imec.xpand, Doosan Investment and a tier‑one chip maker. Invisix is developing a soft‑x‑ray...
ASML Spinout Invisix Raises €20M to See Inside the Chips Optics Can’t
Invisix, an ASML spin‑out from Eindhoven, closed an oversubscribed seed round, raising €20 million (about $22 million). Investors include Hitachi Ventures, imec.xpand, Doosan Investment and a tier‑1 semiconductor manufacturer, likely Samsung. The startup will use the capital to build a soft‑x‑ray metrology...
Simple Energy Raises Rs 250 Cr in Debt and Equity Round Ahead of IPO Plans
Simple Energy, the Bengaluru‑based electric two‑wheelers maker, secured a Rs 250 crore ($30 million) debt‑equity round led by the family office of Thyrocare founder Arokiaswamy Velumani, with additional debt from HDFC Bank and other NBFCs. The capital will fund a rapid scale‑up of production...
Anthropic Secures $65B Series H, Valuation Hits $965B, Overtaking OpenAI
Anthropic closed a $65 billion Series H round, lifting its post‑money valuation to $965 billion and briefly overtaking OpenAI as the most valuable AI startup. The capital, led by Altimeter Capital, Dragoneer, Greenoaks and Sequoia, will fund safety research, compute expansion and enterprise...
Clouted Raises $7M Seed to Power AI‑Driven Viral Reels for Creators
Clouted, an LA‑based AI startup, announced a $7 million seed round led by Slow Ventures to expand its “Distribution Intelligence” platform that automates short‑form video testing and publishing. The funding backs a product that claims to turn every campaign into a...
UK Music Tech Faces Scale-Up Crunch as Growth Funding Collapses
Britain’s music‑tech sector is confronting a severe scaling crunch as growth‑stage funding collapsed by roughly 90% over the past five years, dropping from $128 million in 2020 to just $12.7 million in 2025. While total investment reached $1.03 billion and seed capital more...
Last Week Ignite: 5.31.2026
Anthropic announced a $65 billion equity raise that pushed its post‑money valuation to $965 billion, the largest single AI funding round on record. At the same time, private‑credit giants Apollo and Blackstone committed roughly $36 billion in loans to lease Google’s AI chips...