Today's Venture Capital Pulse
Sarvam secures $234M Series B, becoming India’s newest AI unicorn
Sarvam announced a $234 million Series B raise that values the Bengaluru‑based startup at $1.5 billion, earning it AI unicorn status. HCLTech led the round with a $150 million strategic investment, while Bessemer Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures and Peak XV Partners also participated.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Sygaldry Technologies raises $139M in seed and Series A round
How to Be 'Fearless' In the AI Age, with Fei-Fei Li and Reid Hoffman
Fei-Fei Li, the "Godmother of AI," discusses with Reid Hoffman the necessity of fearlessness for scientists and entrepreneurs navigating an uncertain AI-driven future. She emphasizes the importance of human‑centered AI and spatial intelligence, drawing on her experience founding Stanford's Human‑Centered AI Institute and leading World Labs. Li argues that embracing bold experimentation and ethical responsibility will unlock AI’s potential while mitigating risks, urging leaders to act with both curiosity and caution.
Runlayer Raises $11M in Seed Funding
Runlayer, a U.S. startup focused on Model Context Protocol security, emerged from stealth with an $11 million seed round led by Khosla Ventures and Felicis. The funding will be used to scale its team and accelerate development of its platform that...
Top‑tier VC Managers Make 5x Returns Three Times More Likely
Great data from VenCap analyzing 1,900+ VC funds (2000-2019): ☹️22% lose money (return <1x) 👇64% never hit 2x 🚀Only 6% return 5x+ 🔥Just 2% hit 10x Translation: A randomly selected VC fund is 3.7x more likely to LOSE money than return 5x. But here's what changes...
E654 | Adrian Locher, Merantix Capital: AI Studios & the Future of Venture Building
In this episode Adrian Locher explains how Merantix Capital’s hybrid studio‑community‑consulting model builds AI‑first companies by demanding customer validation before any code is written, a discipline he says is crucial in the AI age. He contrasts deep‑tech AI with mere...
Betting on Yourself: How Anne Mahlum Built a $100M Empire
Anne Mahlum recounts her journey from a North Dakota upbringing marked by her father's gambling addiction to founding the nonprofit Back on My Feet and later bootstrapping the boutique fitness brand solidcore into a $100 M exit. She emphasizes the power...
Meta Escapes FTC, Data M&A Set to Surge
It seems $META dodged the FTC’s antitrust lawsuit… and I couldn’t be more pleased. Meta is certainly a major player in the world of social media, with both Facebook and Instagram hosting hundreds of millions of somewhat satisfied customers. But...
Cursor Hits $1B ARR in Two Years, SaaS Record
New!! Cursor Hit $1B ARR in 24 Months: The Fastest Scaling SaaS Ever? https://t.co/kV5BNeeW4m
The Scaling Wall Was A Mirage
The post argues that the supposed "scaling wall" in AI pre‑training has been disproven by recent developments: Gemini 3 achieved dramatic performance gains without increasing parameters, showing that algorithmic and compute improvements still drive scaling laws, and Nvidia's record earnings and...
Space‑grown Artificial Retinas Could Restore Sight Worldwide
Proud to welcome @LambdaVision to the @sevensevensix family, @katelin_cruse's newest addition to our spacetech portfolio. They’re designing artificial retinas in space using microgravity. If successful, they could help restore sight for millions on Earth. Incredible work from the LambdaVision team, can’t wait...
Early @Function User Now Part of Its Cap Table
I was an early @function customer in 2022 and still am. Stoked to be a small part of their cap table with @vedikaja_in. https://t.co/1gnKQa149t
Orion Raises $3.5 Million Funding
Orion, a Denver‑based provider of AI‑driven risk intelligence, secured $3.5 million in a funding round led by Dynamo Ventures, with participation from Bravo Victor Venture Capital, Techstars, Service Provider Capital and a Puerto Rico government grant. The capital will be used...
Entry Price Matters in Uncertain TAM; Winning Dominates Huge TAM
Entry price counts when TAM is unclear. Winning is the only thing that counts when TAM is huge.
Subject AI Shifts From Video Platform to Teacher‑Assistant AI
Why Subject AI pivoted from being the “Netflix of Education.” On today’s TWiST, Mike Vilardo from Subject AI joins the show to talk about his educational tech startup, Subject AI, and explains their shift in strategy. The company first launched...
Aplos Secures $5 Million in Funding
Aplos, a leading functional non‑alcoholic spirits brand, announced the closing of a $5 million financing round on November 19, 2025. The capital infusion is intended to accelerate growth in the rapidly expanding alcohol‑alternative market after the company posted triple‑digit growth across...
High Agency Means Testing Ideas, Not Just Acting Fast
High agency is often mistaken for speed. People assume it belongs to the ones who decide quickly and move without hesitation. That version looks impressive, but it is not what actually drives results. The real marker of high agency is quieter....
Secondary Market Hits $95B, Still Below IPO/M&A Levels
ICYMI: @PitchBook’s latest secondary market report is out, showing record deal flow: $95B across direct secondaries & continuation funds. While a viable liquidity path for some, impt to note it’s still < IPO ($104.7B) & M&A ($107.1B) exits this year. Standout stats: ...
Profluent Announces $106M Funding Round
Profluent, a frontier AI platform for protein design based in Emeryville, California, announced a $106 million financing round co-led by Altimeter Capital and Bezos Expeditions, with participation from existing backers Spark Capital, Insight Partners and Air Street Capital. The new capital...
Secondary Market Hits $95B Yet Remains Niche
ICYMI: PitchBook ’s latest secondary market report is out, and it shows record deal flow: $95B in estimated annual value across direct secondaries and continuation funds. While a viable liquidity path for some, it’s worth noting it still accounts for...
Ember Raises $4.3M to Slash Claim Denials
Congrats to @EmberCopilotAI on their $4.3M seed! Ember wants to solve America’s healthcare denial crisis. They prevent denials before they happen—documenting visits, reviewing charts, and ensuring claims comply with payer requirements. Health systems using Ember are already seeing results: 57% fewer denials,...
Arbiter Emerges From Stealth with $52M
Arbiter, a healthcare technology startup, announced its emergence from stealth with a $52 million Series A round led by TriEdge Investments and MFO Ventures, alongside WindRose Health Investors and other operators. The funding values the company at $400 million and will be used...
Navigating Product Strategy in the AI Era
London: We're doing a Fin x Attio x Granola meet up next week! I'll be joined on stage by Nicolas Sharp (CEO, Attio) and Vas Zhovner (CTO, Granola) and we'll be discussing Product Strategy in the AI Era. Details Wednesday,...
Final Day: Apply to USC‑Techstars Accelerator for $220K
Calling all Trojan & USC Jimmy Iovine and Andre Young Academy entrepreneurs. Get your applications in for the USC + Techstars programs. Gabriel Schlumberger leads the programs. See deets 👇
European Tech Gets Political
Atomico’s 2025 State of European Tech report shows rising venture investment and marks a shift toward organized lobbying by European startups and investors. The report, authored by partner Tom Wehmeier, puts forward four policy recommendations—Fix the friction, Fund the future,...
YC Demo Day Cuts Dilution, Boosts Investor Returns
YC Demo Day median dilution for small seed is 11% (top 25% is 7%), not 18% for non-YC YC Demo Day median dilution for big seed is 13%, not 21% to 23% for non-YC You do it all faster: YC funds you...
Align Story, Trust, and Media for Founder Brand Growth
Every great founder brand lives at the intersection of three forces: 1. Storytelling creates understanding. 2. Founder branding creates trust. 3. New media creates distribution. When those three align, everything compounds. Every launch, every post, every interview reinforces the same...
How Founders Should Navigate Private Equity Inquiries
When we bring on a new client, we often find they've been receiving calls/emails from private equity firms for some time. As part of those calls, PE firms tend to ask a lot of questions and founders aren't always sure...
AI Now Dominates Tech: 2025 Macro Trends Unveiled
Twice a year, I produce a big presentation exploring macro and strategic trends in the tech industry. New in November 2025, ‘AI eats the world’. https://www.ben-evans.com/presentations
IPO Peaks Fade: Patience Beats Day‑One Hype
What happened in 2025 IPOs if you bought near the peak: Figma (FIG): -74% 📉 Circle (CRCL): -73% 📉 CoreWeave (CRWV): -58% 📉 Klarna (KLNA): -38% 📉 Omada (OMDA): -31% 📉 Chime (CHYM): -30% 📉 Hinge Health (HNGE): -27% 📉 eToro (ETOR): -21% 📉 Average decline from peak: -44% The...
Palo Alto Buys Chronosphere for $3.35B to Boost AI Observability
1/🚨Palo Alto Networks (PANW) today revealed acquisition of Lux family co @chronosphereio for $3.35 billion in cash Chronosphere’s data observability platform is built to scale for the AI era the founders worked in our Lux NYC office + we funded Chronosphere’s Series...
Round Robin Deals Are Optional, Non‑Guaranteed, So Drop Fast
Looking like a lot of these big round robin deals are… optional! Explains why so many dropped so quickly… they’re non-guaranteed, so no harm in signing them
Future Moats Rely on Individual Cognitive Micro‑systems
New tech, new moats. For the past 2 decades, the best moats were built on external forces: network effects & economies of scale. Cognition is different. It doesn't depend on one massive external system; it's about millions of microsystems—one per user. https://t.co/Qlr7qxQxbX
VCs: From Actuarial Skeptics to Post‑IPO Mystics
At Seed, pessimistic VCs are actuaries calculating your startup's probability of death. At IPO, they are mystics claiming they always saw the vision.
Revenue Fuels Growth; VC Praise Is Just Hype
VC praise is opium. Customer revenue is oxygen. Asking a VC if your idea is working is like asking a spectator if the punch hurts. Get in the ring pal.
VCs Remember Missed Momentum, Forget High Valuations
If you make the VCs pay a crazy high price, but you crush the numbers the next 90 days, no one remembers If you make the VCs pay a crazy high price, and you miss the next few months, no one...
New AI Platform Scales Lending to Small Businesses
So excited to share that @KindredVentures is leading the @kaaj_ai seed round! Small business is the coral reef of the US economy. They are the employer of choice, the craftsman, the niche producer. Lending to SMBs has never been an...
Meta Wins FTC Fight; SUNO and Kraken Secure Massive Deals
META beats the FTC, SUNO and Kraken raise monster deals. https://t.co/M2JY0mIwRf
Intelligent Cloud File Browser Redefines Navigation for Generative Age
Excited to finally share more about one of our portfolio companies: @polydotapp (https://t.co/vEmFKklF6u) — an intelligent cloud file browser redefining how we navigate computing in the generative age.
100th PocketQube Launch Highlights Low‑Cost Space Access
Big milestone for tiny satellites. @albaorbital is about to launch the 100th PocketQube satellite into orbit on SpaceX. These satellites allow regular low-cost iterations, giving startups, universities, and government a regular path to space. https://t.co/4eTRL84mmt https://t.co/2GGUfHtjKv
Solve a Real Pain Point, Not Chase Disruption
Forget being disruptive and reinventing the wheel. Find a painful problem that slows businesses down. Then solve it better than anyone else.
2025 Day‑One IPOs: A Pure Crapshoot
Day 1 IPO “pops” in 2025: TL;DR: it’s a crapshoot https://t.co/rz9g4aNIjw
Feroot Secures $14M to Power AI Privacy Detection
Congrats to @FerootSecurity on their $14M Series A! Feroot's AI agents scan sites in seconds to catch privacy violations before audits do. Their research has exposed data leaks across healthcare, banking, e-commerce, and government sites, and even influenced federal legislation. https://t.co/IFScs4Zvib
Trava Prevents Importers From Overpaying Duties
Trava (@travaHQ) helps importers stop overpaying on duties. Tariffs shift constantly, and costly errors slip through the cracks. Trava finds them before they erode margin. Congrats on the launch, @pushkarlanka! https://t.co/YRu5F6wA2l https://t.co/D9eS7dKEHK
AI Elevates Accounting, Not Replaces It
"AI is not going to kill your job in accounting just like calculator didn't. You will do higher level work!" Agree or disagree with @henrysward CEO of @cartainc?? Do you use Carta. Building an AI first company? Don't miss this episode of...
Twitter Turns DMs Into $5M LP Deals
Last 24 hours became friends with $10BN+ founder through sending a DM. 24 hours later: He is co-investing in 20VC with 2 companies. Asked to write a $5M LP check. The power of Twitter.
Successful Exits Begin Long Before the Sale
A life changing exit doesn’t start at the finish line. It starts long before you’re ready to sell. Seun Oshinaike (@SeunOshinaike) knew that. He sold Street Tag on @acquiredotcom to a strategic buyer, taking the company even farther. Full interview: https://t.co/TLnv3EpAHp https://t.co/jAzRoJCjoJ
Spatial AI Releases Massive Egocentric Dataset for Robot Learning
Spatial AI (https://t.co/qQyv8FngL6) is building large real-world datasets to teach robots how to navigate the world and complete tasks. Their first open source dataset, SEA (Spatial Everyday Activities), is the largest curated egocentric dataset of people carrying out real tasks, with...
New Opportunities Unlocked: Gates Now Open
THE GATES HAVE BEEN OPENED https://lnkd.in/gQVHdHtu
Big AI Firms Threaten Startups, Driving Shift to Chinese Open-Source
Are the largest AI model-makers a threat to smaller startups? On TWiST, I note that the competition for AI startups doesn’t just come from rivals in their space, but the companies that designed the LLMs upon which they’re building their...
AI Threatens White‑collar Jobs; Self‑reliance Is Essential
Even if we believe AI job displacement is real… what can we actually DO? Alex Wilhelm and I discuss the very real possibility — as Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei suggests — that AI-related advances in productivity are leading us straight...
Federal AI Law Needed to Stop State Patchwork Killing Startups
The President is right. A 50-state patchwork is a startup killer. Federal AI legislation is essential. There’s no bigger issue for Little Tech — the builders who create the future, for America.