Today's Venture Capital Pulse
Updated 47m ago
Ramp projects $1.4 billion ARR as it gears up for IPO
Fintech startup Ramp says it will reach a $1.4 billion annual recurring revenue run rate this quarter, up from the $1 billion reported in September. The company cites a 70% year‑over‑year increase in its customer base and expects about $125 million in free cash flow for the year.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Beeline Medicines raises $300M Series A
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 systems. Midi Health, a recent unicorn delivering virtual menopause care across all 50 states, exemplifies this model. Similar women’s‑health ventures such as Mavida Health and Mahmee are following the same consumer‑first, system‑integrated playbook.
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...
OpenAI Promises Private‑equity Firms 17.5% Guaranteed Returns for AI Joint‑ventures
OpenAI is courting private‑equity firms with a guaranteed 17.5% minimum return on joint‑venture capital for enterprise AI roll‑outs, targeting investors such as TPG and Advent International. The move, valued at up to $4 billion at a $10 billion pre‑money valuation, pits the...
Own More of Winners, Not Just Find Them
a16z made a 312x return on Instagram. $250k invested. $78 million returned. In under 2 years (!) And it 𝑎𝑙𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 didn't matter. a16z had raised over $1B+ across its funds. At $250k checks, they'd need 12+ Instagrams just to break even. One of...
AI‑generated Code Makes Testing Essential, Says Momentic
In this episode of Founder Firesides, YC's @harjtaggar talks to @wuweiweiwu and @itsjeffan, co-founders of @MomenticAI, who just raised a $15M Series A. Momentic is the verification layer for software. The AI-powered testing platform impersonates end users to catch bugs before...
BKR Capital Secures Initial $20 Million for Second Black Innovation Fund
BKR Capital announced the initial close of its second Black Innovation Fund with CAD 20 million (about US$14.6 million) of commitments. The firm aims to raise a total of CAD 50 million (≈US$36.5 million) to back roughly 25 Black‑led technology companies, issuing first checks of CAD 250 k‑1.5 million....
Anduril Attracts Thrive Capital and A16z in $60 B Valuation Frenzy
Defense‑tech startup Anduril is courting Thrive Capital and Andreessen Horowitz for a new financing round at a reported $60 billion valuation. The hype has driven secondary‑market buyers to pay premiums of up to 40%, highlighting a stark supply‑demand imbalance in private‑company...
Startup Gimlet Labs Is Solving the AI Inference Bottleneck in a Surprisingly Elegant Way
Stanford adjunct professor Zain Asgar’s startup Gimlet Labs closed an $80 million Series A, led by Menlo Ventures, to commercialize a multi‑silicon inference cloud that orchestrates AI workloads across CPUs, GPUs and high‑memory hardware. The software claims to boost inference speed by...
AI Doctor Startup Doctronic Garners $40M
Doctronic, a New York‑based AI doctor startup, announced a $40 million Series B round, bringing its total capital raised to $65 million. The funding, co‑led by Abstract and Lightspeed Venture Partners, will fuel expansion into pediatrics and deepen partnerships with academic institutions, payers,...
Credo Ventures Launches Over €74M New Fund to Back CEE Startups at Pre-Seed
Credo Ventures has closed the first round of its fifth fund, Credo Stage 5, raising $88 million (approximately €75 million) to back pre‑seed startups across Central and Eastern Europe. The fund plans to invest $1‑5 million in about 30 companies, targeting seven to eight...
AI Blurs VC and PE Lines in Construction Deals
AI: Where VC converges with PE! Historically, outstanding venture capitalists invested in high-growth software. Top-quality private equity firms acquired companies. And the two strategies were distinct. Those two paths may be converging. @generalcatalyst just invested $13.8M to back KP Reddy to launch @ZeroRFI_...
AI Agents Transform Insider Risk From Alerts to Guidance
Excited to share that Ballistic Ventures led the Series A investment in Above Security, as the company emerges from stealth today with $50M in funding. Insider risk is one of the most persistent - and misunderstood - problems in cybersecurity. It’s...
Deep-Tech Player Pranos Fusion Raises $6.8 Million in Round Co-Led by Pi Ventures, Ankur Capital
Pranos Fusion, an Indian deep‑tech startup focused on fusion energy, secured $6.8 million (≈$7.6 million) in an early‑stage round co‑led by pi Ventures and Ankur Capital, with participation from Industrial47 and several high‑profile angels. The capital will fund the commissioning of a tokamak...
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
A16z Critiques Ads, Seeks AI-Driven Advertising Startups
a16z > ads are terrible. Also a16z > let us find AI ads based startups 😅
STACKUP: The Stack's Weekly Tech Startups and Funding Wrap
The Stack’s weekly roundup highlights a surge of AI‑driven activity, featuring two startups that crossed the $1 billion valuation threshold to become unicorns. Two former Palantir engineers launched new companies, adding to the talent‑driven momentum. A flood of AI automation tools—from...
Luxury Mogul Bernard Arnault Secretly DM‑ing Startup Investments
Just found out Bernard Arnault is a lurker on here and he's rolling into DMs asking to invest millions in early stage startups 👀 https://t.co/t7PCwg5Mdj
Start with the Problem, Not a Buzzword Pitch
This founder lost a $500,000 deal with one sentence. Instead of asking about the problem first, he jumped into a generic AI pitch full of buzzwords. That is how deals quietly die. Do you start with the pitch or the problem? https://t.co/gNddet5n0N
Healthcare Recruiting Platform Lands $14.5M
Carefam, a conversational AI platform for healthcare staffing, emerged from stealth with a $14.5 million Series A led by Pitango HealthTech and backed by Emerge. The solution automates candidate outreach, interview scheduling, and credential verification, escalating only complex decisions to human HR...
Accelerating Opportunities Demand Bigger, Faster Funding Rounds
Thanks, @tim for our great chat in @ft about @airstreet epoch 3! “One of the reasons to go bigger now is the opportunity set has accelerated dramatically” “Companies want to raise faster and raise larger rounds, so you need to adapt the...
Cocoon Raises $15 Million to Scale Low-Carbon Building Materials
Cocoon Carbon, a London‑based startup, closed a $15 million Series A round to accelerate its low‑carbon cement alternative. The company transforms steel‑making electric arc furnace (EAF) slag into a supplementary cementitious material that can cut concrete’s embodied CO₂ by up to 40%...
The Rise of Women-Led Investment Consortiums: What’s Changing in 2026 and Why Now
Women‑led investment consortiums are reshaping venture capital in 2026, moving from passive limited partners to active, consensus‑driven investors. Their trust‑based, agile structure enables rapid capital deployment and deeper founder support. European female‑founded startups raised a record €7.5 billion in 2025, a...
EGIDE Raises €8M Seed to Build Affordable Interceptor Systems for Modern Warfare
French defence‑tech startup EGIDE announced an €8 million seed round co‑led by Expeditions, Eurazeo and Heartcore Capital. Founded in 2025 by former MBDA engineers, the company is developing electrically propelled interceptors and a hardware‑agnostic AI software suite called Mystique. The funding...
Newly Secures $2M+ in Funding to Advance Native App Creation Platform
Stockholm‑based Newly, formerly Natively, announced a funding round exceeding $2 million, led by PSV Tech and supported by several venture firms and angel investors. The capital will accelerate its AI‑powered platform that lets users build, iterate, and launch fully compliant native...
360 Capital Announces €85M Close for Poli360 2, Targeting €100M
360 Capital has closed €85 million for its second technology‑transfer vehicle, Poli360 2, with a target size of €100 million. The Article 8 SFDR‑compliant fund will back 20‑25 early‑stage deep‑tech startups, allocating at least 80 % of capital to Italy and the remainder across Europe....
European Tech Weekly Recap: More than 55 Tech Funding Deals Worth over €504M
Last week European startups secured more than 55 funding rounds totaling over €504 million. Fintech attracted the most capital at €118 million, followed by AI (€82.7 million) and software (€63.7 million). Germany and the United Kingdom together accounted for over half of the total...
Balderton-Backed Startup Dash0 Bags $110 Million to Expand in US
Dash0, a monitoring platform for software systems, secured $110 million in a Balderton Capital‑led round, valuing the startup at $1 billion. The capital will fund a U.S. market push and accelerate development of AI‑driven agents. CEO Mirko Novakovic confirmed the raise and...
Cape Town BNPL Start-Up Happy Pay Raises R86-Million in Seed Funding
Cape Town‑based BNPL startup Happy Pay closed a US$5 million (R86 million) seed round led by Partech, with participation from several local investors. The company, which counts more than 600,000 registered users, operates a merchant‑funded, ad‑subsidised payments network that places instalment options...
Mind Robotics Raises $500 Million to Build AI-Powered Industrial Robots for Real-World Deployment
Mind Robotics announced a $500 million Series A round, co‑led by Accel and Andreessen Horowitz, to accelerate its AI‑powered industrial robot platform. The financing follows a $115 million seed round and adds Accel partner Sameer Gandhi to the board. Leveraging Rivian’s manufacturing data...
Exclusive: Interloom, a Startup Capturing ‘Tacit Knowledge’ to Power AI Agents, Raises $16.5 Million in Venture Funding
Interloom, a Munich‑based startup, closed a $16.5 million Series A led by DN Capital to commercialise its "context graph" technology that extracts tacit operational knowledge from emails, tickets and call transcripts. The platform maps how experts resolve issues, turning undocumented expertise into...
Dealflow.es #505: Bluetile Gaming Studio Acquired for $100M+. Freepik's Journey.
Indian gaming leader Nazara Technologies announced the acquisition of a 50% stake in Barcelona‑based Bluetile Bestplay for roughly $100 million. Bluetile, founded in 2019, boasts over 350 million lifetime installs and generates more than $150 million in annual revenue from its social casino...
Workroom Automation Raises Seed Funding Led by Equirus InnovateX Fund
Workroom Automation, a Hyderabad‑based connected‑factory platform, secured ₹6.2 crore in seed funding led by the Equirus InnovateX Fund, with participation from Astir Ventures, Venture Catalysts Group, and several angels. The capital will accelerate product development, especially its AI‑powered planning engine, and...
Digital Lending Marketplace Finfinity Raises $2.4 Mn in Seed Round
Finfinity, a Mumbai‑based digital lending marketplace, closed a $2.4 million seed round led by Mankind Pharma promoter’s family office, with participation from several angel investors and family offices. The capital will fund technology upgrades, new lender partnerships, distribution scaling, and brand‑building...
Texas Weekly Deal Highlights
Texas’ startup ecosystem continued its post‑SXSW momentum, with Austin companies securing more than $60 million across sectors ranging from 3D printing to carbon removal and tokenized securities. Notably, drone‑swarm platform Swarmer completed a $15 million IPO on NASDAQ, while fintech Ironlight raised...
QCraft Closes $100 Million New Series D Financing to Advance Physical AI for Autonomous Driving and Mobility
QCraft announced the close of a $100 million Series D round aimed at scaling its physical‑AI hardware platform for autonomous driving and broader mobility applications. The financing, led by XYZ Capital with participation from existing backers and strategic automotive partners, will fund...
Vast Raises $500M as Starlab Unveils Giant Space‑Station Plan, Sparking VC Race
Vast announced a $500 million financing round and Starlab released details of an 8‑meter, 400‑cubic‑meter habitat on March 5, marking a fresh wave of venture capital into commercial low‑Earth‑orbit infrastructure. Both firms are positioning themselves for NASA’s upcoming contracts to replace the...
OpenAI Valued Higher Than Ford, GM, Boeing as $1 Trillion IPO Looms
OpenAI’s latest revenue run has lifted its market value above the combined worth of Ford, General Motors and Boeing, prompting analysts to speculate about a $1 trillion initial public offering. The AI firm now reports $25 billion in annualized revenue and a...