Today's Venture Capital Pulse
Updated 2h ago
Plazza eyes $15M raise to expand hyper‑local medicine delivery
Bengaluru‑based quick‑medicine delivery startup Plazza is in advanced talks to raise about $15 million, with roughly $4 million each expected from Accel, Elevation Capital and Nexus Venture Partners and $3 million from existing backers. The funding would value the company near $50 million and support the expansion of its inventory‑led, hyper‑local fulfilment network.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Beeline Medicines raises $300M Series A
With $3.5B in Fresh Capital, Kleiner Perkins Is Going All in on AI
Kleiner Perkins announced a $3.5 billion capital raise, split between a $1 billion early‑stage fund and a $2.5 billion growth vehicle. The infusion follows successful AI bets in startups such as Together AI, Harvey and OpenEvidence, and recent exits from Figma’s IPO and Windsurf’s Google acqui‑hire. With a lean five‑partner team, the firm joins other VCs like Thrive Capital and General Catalyst in a wave of mega‑raises aimed at capitalizing on artificial‑intelligence growth. The new funds position Kleiner to back both nascent AI innovators and later‑stage companies poised for IPOs or strategic sales.
Startup Success Standards Have Shifted Upward—Now Exceptional Required
The definition of a “great” startup has changed. But many founders are still building like it’s 2018. A few shifts happened: 1) A $1B exit used to be the goal. Now it’s often just the baseline. 2) $100M ARR used to mean you...
The Smarter Way To Bet On Anthropic And OpenAI
Investors are flocking to VCX, the Fundrise Growth Tech Fund, paying roughly 15 times its net asset value solely for exposure to Anthropic. The author argues that this premium is unjustified given the availability of superior, lower‑cost avenues to invest in...
Anduril Defense Startup Hits $60 Billion Valuation as VCs Scramble for Shares
Anduril Industries, the defense‑tech startup founded by Palmer Luckey and Matt Grimm, is being valued at $60 billion as marquee venture firms Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz line up to back its next round. The valuation has ignited a secondary‑market frenzy,...
Accel, Prosus Pick Six ‘Off-the-Map’ Startups for Inaugural India Cohort
Accel and Prosus have launched their first joint Indian cohort, selecting six deep‑tech startups from over 2,000 applicants. The cohort targets “off‑the‑map” ideas in health, climate, space and longevity, with investments ranging from $500,000 to $2 million per company. Prosus matches...
Rexi Raises $1.2M Pre-Seed Funding
Argentine fintech Rexi announced a $1.2 million pre‑seed round backed by multiple U.S. venture capital firms. The AI‑native platform automates bank reconciliation for fintechs, banks and payment companies by deploying intelligent agents that match transactions and resolve queries within minutes. The...
AI Autopiloted Term Sheet, Closing Deals in Seconds
Sent a founder a term sheet. $500k @ $10m post. She replied, and CC’d my assistant. “Too low. Claude, double the check size, 3x the valuation, and introduce me to Zuck and Jensen.” I laughed, as if that would work. I keep those intros...
Anduril Hits $60 B Valuation as Thrive and A16z Line up, Secondary Shares Surge 40% Premium
Anduril Industries, the defense‑tech startup, is poised for a new funding round at a reported $60 billion valuation, with marquee VCs Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz ready to invest. Secondary‑market demand has driven premiums of up to 40%, highlighting a widening...
Ninja Explores Riyadh Listing as Saudi Market Holds Steady Despite Tensions
Saudi quick‑commerce startup Ninja, founded in 2022, is weighing a Riyadh IPO after posting roughly $1 billion in 2025 revenue and targeting $1.6 billion in 2026. The company secured $250 million of funding in 2025, lifting its valuation to $1.5 billion and joining Saudi...
Phoenix Venture Partners Reaches Third Close of Debut Fund
Phoenix Venture Partners announced the third closing of its debut Phoenix Venture Partners Innovation Fund, bringing new investors from the United States, France, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the UAE. The fund, which previously closed its second round at $50 million, targets...
OpenAI Set to Raise About $10 Billion From MGX, Coatue, Thrive
OpenAI is close to securing roughly $10 billion from a new venture round, bringing its latest fundraising total to about $120 billion. The round values the company at approximately $730 billion post‑money. Abu Dhabi‑based MGX, Coatue Management and Thrive Capital are leading the...
Doss Raises $55M for AI Inventory Management that Plugs Into ERP
AI‑native ERP startup Doss announced a $55 million Series B round led by Madrona and Premji Invest to expand its AI‑driven inventory management layer. The solution plugs into existing accounting platforms, allowing mid‑market consumer brands to synchronize physical goods data with their...
Littlebird Secures $11M to Launch AI-Powered Screen-Recall Tool for Marketers
Littlebird closed an $11 million funding round to bring its AI‑assisted screen‑recall platform to market. The tool reads on‑screen activity, converts it to searchable text and integrates with email and calendar apps, promising marketers faster content creation and better attribution.
Recording Every Conversation Unlocks AI-Powered Global Knowledge
Sam Liang came to the DFJ offices in Menlo Park from China with broken English and a strong spirit. He told us he was creating a business that allowed phones to tag people as they moved around the world and would...
NanoZymeX Secures €160K to Advance Lipid Nanoparticle Enzyme Therapies for Rare Diseases
Swiss biotech NanoZymeX has secured €160,000 (about $174,000) from Venture Kick to accelerate its lipid‑nanoparticle platform for enzyme replacement therapies. The technology, spun out of the University of Basel, seeks to improve delivery of therapeutic enzymes into muscle cells and lysosomes,...
Shepherd Secures $42M to Accelerate AI‑Driven Construction Insurance
Congrats to the @withshepherd team on their $42M Series B! They're rebuilding commercial construction insurance for the AI era. When a broker submits an account, Shepherd delivers an indication in minutes—not weeks. 1,500+ policies issued, $400B in insured value, 600+ commercial...
Flexzo AI Closes $12M in Funding to Scale Agentic Workforce Platform for Healthcare Systems
Flexzo AI secured $12 million in Series A funding, led by Octopus Ventures with participation from Fuel Ventures, to expand its agentic AI workforce platform for healthcare. The UK‑based startup uses machine‑learning to match clinicians to open shifts, automate allocation, and cut...
Sarvam AI In Talks To Raise $250 Mn At $1.5 Bn Valuation: Report
Bengaluru‑based Sarvam AI is in talks to raise up to $250 million in a new round led by Nvidia, Accel and HCLTech, which could lift its valuation to roughly $1.5 billion—over seven times its 2023 level. The startup recently unveiled two home‑grown...
Spade Raises $40M Series B for Finance AI Platform
Spade announced a $40 million Series B round led by Oak HC/FT, backed by Andreessen Horowitz and other fintech investors. The New York‑based fintech reported 470% year‑over‑year growth and a peak daily transaction volume of 1.9 billion, underscoring rapid adoption. The capital will...
Novaworks.ai Secures $8M Seed to Launch AI‑Native Agentic OS for Workforce Management
Novaworks.ai announced the launch of its Agentic Operating System for Total Workforce Management and closed an $8 million seed round led by Stalwart Ventures, with participation from ServiceNow Ventures and Bell Ventures. The AI‑native HCM platform aims to replace legacy HR...
ImmuneBridge Secures $7.7M to Open Cell Therapy Manufacturing Platform to Biotech Partners
ImmuneBridge announced a $7.7 million second seed round, bringing its total seed capital to roughly $20 million, to commercialize its proprietary cell‑therapy screening and manufacturing platform for external partners. The platform combines machine‑learning‑driven donor selection with a unique small‑molecule that preserves stem‑cell...
Delve Halts Demos After Fake‑Certification Scandal, Insight Partners Pulls Funding
Compliance startup Delve has suspended all product demonstrations after a scandal involving fabricated certifications. Insight Partners, a key backer, has withdrawn its investment, underscoring governance risks in Y‑Combinator‑backed B2B SaaS companies.
Euler Motors Raises $47 Mn in Series E Round Led by Lightrock
Euler Motors secured a $47 million Series E round led by Lightrock, complemented by roughly $30 million in debt financing. The funding will boost product development, manufacturing capacity, and its dealer network across India. Revenue grew 12% to about $23 million in FY25 while...
Xscape Photonics Announces $37 Million in New Funding, Launches Eight-Wavelength Laser for AI Data Center Networks
Xscape Photonics announced an additional $37 million funding round, raising its total Series A to $81 million and doubling the company’s valuation. The new capital backs the launch of FalconX, the industry’s first fully redundant ELSFP laser module that delivers eight wavelengths and...
With $90M in Funding, NoTraffic Will Use AI to End Gridlock in America’s Cities
Mobility startup NoTraffic raised $90 million in a Series C round led by PSG Equity to expand its AI‑driven traffic‑management platform. The system replaces fixed‑timer lights with a real‑time digital network that uses computer‑vision and radar to detect and classify all road...
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2026 Cloud Challengers Report
Notion Capital released its fifth annual Cloud Challengers Top 100, highlighting 100 emerging European B2B software startups. Over 81 % of the companies are AI‑native, spanning data, developer tools, cybersecurity, fintech, industrial automation, robotics and SaaS. The report uses a data‑driven methodology...
Worth, the Startup From the Founders of Stax, Just Raised $30 Million to Deliver ‘Simplicity for Small Businesses’
Worth, the fintech startup founded by Stax alumni Sal Rehmetullah and Suneera Madhani, announced a $30 million Series A round. The funding, led by Amex Ventures, Fulcrum Equity Partners and TTV Capital, reflects the founders' proven track record and strategic investor relationships....
Agents for Finance Startup Zalos Raises $3.6M to Transform Finance Departments
Zalos, a London‑San Francisco fintech, raised a $3.6 million seed round led by 14Peaks Capital to develop AI agents that automate finance‑team workflows. The startup’s agents log into existing ERP, CRM, spreadsheet, and banking systems, handling tasks without requiring a stack...
The 2026 European Deeptech Report: Sector Reaches $690B as VC Share Hits Record
The 2026 European Deeptech Report shows the sector now valued at $690 billion, with venture‑capital backing representing a record 32 percent of Europe’s total tech investment. In 2025 deeptech funding reached $20.3 billion, led by the UK and with Paris emerging as the...
Early Mover AI Investor Air Street Capital Continues Rapid Fund Size Growth with $232m Fund III Close
Air Street Capital has closed its third venture fund at $232 million, almost twice the size of its second fund. The new capital will be deployed into early‑stage artificial‑intelligence startups, building on the firm’s track record of backing market‑defining technologies. The...
Team Scaleup Launches to Close Europe’s Post-Seed Funding Gap
Team Scaleup has launched a bespoke accelerator aimed at closing Europe’s post‑seed funding gap, where only one in four startups advance to Series A. The platform combines an AI‑driven analysis engine with a network of operational experts to diagnose gaps in...
Highlight AI Raises $40 Million Series A to Build the Shared Intelligence Layer for the Agentic Age of Work
Highlight AI announced a $40 million Series A round led by Khosla Ventures, bringing on former Discord VP of Product Sergei Sorokin as its new CEO. The funding aims to accelerate development of its intelligent operating system that unifies AI agents and...
Carbon Management Platform Zevero Raises £5m
Carbon‑management startup Zevero announced a $7 million seed round, bringing its total capital to $14 million. The AI‑driven platform automates emissions data collection, creating reusable datasets for ESG disclosures, product design and sourcing decisions. Funds, led by Spiral Capital with Gazelle Capital...
Spark Microsystems Secures Additional $17 Million in Series B Funding
Spark Microsystems, a Montreal‑based fabless semiconductor firm, secured an additional C$17 million (≈US$12.6 million) in Series B follow‑on financing, bringing its total capital raised to over C$70 million (≈US$52 million). The round was led by Idealist Capital and Real Ventures, with participation from existing backers,...
PointOne Secures $16 Million Series A to Automate Lawyer Timesheets with AI
PointOne announced a $16 million Series A round, led by 8VC, to expand its AI‑powered platform that silently records lawyers' computer activity and generates billable timesheets. The funding underscores growing venture interest in niche SaaS tools that streamline professional workflows in...
Copper, Not Models, Is the AI Bottleneck.
Everyone's watching model releases. The real AI race is in copper. Kandou AI raised $225M to reimagine how data moves between chips. When Anthropic and OpenAI both surge in the same week, they're not racing each other. They're revealing the shared bottleneck: infrastructure....
Pediatric Wellness Startup RN Kids Raises Pre Seed Round
RN Kids, a pediatric wellness startup founded in September 2025, secured a $760,000 pre‑seed round led by Ashish Kacholia and Lashit Sanghvi, alongside several angel investors and family offices. The company plans to launch six clean‑label, clinically backed health products...
Didero Raises $30 Million Series A to Bring AI Agents to Global Supply Chains
Didero, a New York‑based software firm, closed a $30 million Series A round led by Chemistry and Headline, with participation from Microsoft’s M12 venture fund. The financing will accelerate development of its AI‑agent platform that embeds directly into ERP, email and spreadsheet...
Littlefish Raises $9.5 Million to Scale Its Merchant Operating System Across Africa
South African fintech littlefish has closed a $9.5 million Series A round led by Partech to accelerate its merchant operating system across the continent. The platform bundles point‑of‑sale, CRM, payments and API services into a white‑label SaaS solution that banks can offer...
Kids-Focused Quick Commerce Platform OZi Raises $6.2 Mn Led by RTP Global
Kids‑focused quick‑commerce startup OZi announced a $6.2 million Series A round led by RTP Global, with participation from existing backers and notable angels such as Kishore Biyani. The funding follows a $3.3 million seed round and will be used to deepen its presence...
Deals in Brief: QCraft Raises Series D Funding, Grab Acquires Foodpanda’s Taiwan Delivery Business, Seven China Investments, and More
QCraft closed a $100 million Series D round to push its Level 4 autonomous‑driving platform and world‑model AI research, targeting deployment in over 50 vehicle models by 2026. Grab agreed to buy Delivery Hero’s Foodpanda Taiwan operation for $600 million, marking its first expansion...
Foreverland Lands €6M to Tackle Cocoa Supply with Alternatives
Foreverland, a Milan‑based foodtech firm, raised €6 million (≈$6.5 million) in a new round, taking its total funding to €9.4 million (≈$10.2 million). The capital will fund European expansion, senior talent hires, and an organic cocoa‑free product line. Its flagship ingredient, Choruba, uses carob...
Kidbea Secures Rs 30 Cr in Series A Funding Led by Enrission India Capital
Kidbea, a Noida‑based bamboo kidswear brand, closed a Rs 30 crore ($3.2 million) Series A round led by Enrission India Capital, adding to its $1 million pre‑Series A raise. The startup now reports annual recurring revenue of roughly Rs 100 crore (about $12 million) and is expanding its omnichannel...
Oxford Spinout Raises From Amadeus Capital and OSE to Solve Long-Term Memory Problem in Robotics
Stateful Robotics, an embodied‑AI spinout from the University of Oxford, announced a $4.8 million pre‑seed financing round. The round was led by Amadeus Capital Partners and Oxford Science Enterprises, with angel investor Stan Boland also participating. The capital will be used...
Why Pure DTC Doesn’t Work in Healthcare, Per Muse Capital
Muse Capital partner Rachel Springate argues that pure direct‑to‑consumer (DTC) models rarely succeed in healthcare because they ignore insurance and system constraints. She highlights a hybrid approach where startups first attract consumers, prove outcomes, then integrate with payers and health...
OpenAI Boosts Private‑Equity Offer in Enterprise War with Anthropic
Exclusive: OpenAI sweetens private equity pitch amid enterprise turf war with Anthropic, sources say https://t.co/ZcUhtQFcMj
Chip Interconnect Startup Kandou AI Raises $225M in Funding
Kandou AI, a Swiss startup developing copper‑based interconnects for AI chips, closed a $225 million financing round that values the company at $400 million. The round was led by chip‑design software giants Synopsys and Cadence, with participation from SoftBank, Maverick Silicon and...
Alive Ventures Closes $55M Fund
Alive Ventures announced the closing of its second impact fund, ALEG II, at $55 million. The capital pool is backed by a coalition of development finance institutions and philanthropic foundations, including Proparco, FMO, and the MacArthur Foundation. The firm will deploy...
UC Davis Launches Food & Health Angels to Back Foodtech Startups as GLP-1 ‘Tsunami’ Approaches
UC Davis has launched Food & Health Angels (FH Angels), an angel network that pools capital from industry veterans to back early‑stage foodtech startups targeting metabolic health. The network allows investors to contribute as little as $10,000 or as much as...
UBC and InBC Launch New Fund to Support University Spinouts
The University of British Columbia and InBC Investment Corp. have launched the UBC Catalyst Ventures Fund, each contributing $10 million CAD (about $7.4 million USD). The partnership aims to raise an additional $20 million CAD from private investors, targeting a $40 million CAD (~$29.6 million...
