Today's Venture Capital Pulse
YourNest VC launches $48M continuation fund for deep‑tech follow‑ons
YourNest Venture Capital closed a ₹400 cr ($48 million) continuation vehicle, the YourNest Continuum Fund I, after oversubscribing with family offices, individual investors and existing LPs. The fund is anchored by HDFC AMC Select Fund of Funds I and will provide follow‑on capital to deep‑tech portfolio companies such as Miko, Dozee, Opkey and Exponent Energy.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Mach Industries raises $300M Series C
Proparco Commits $5m to Novastar Fund
Proparco has pledged $5 million to Novastar Ventures’ Africa People and Planet Fund III, which closed at $147 million. The fund targets tech‑enabled companies that expand access to essential goods and services while delivering measurable environmental benefits such as lower greenhouse‑gas emissions and improved soil health. The investment is part of the EU‑backed Choose Africa VC programme, with additional support from the European Union and the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus. Oliver Game, Proparco’s East Africa VC lead, highlighted the firm’s confidence in scaling climate‑resilient solutions across the continent.
UK Robotic Construction Company All3 Raises $25M in Seed Round Funding
All3, a UK‑based construction robotics startup, closed a $25 million seed round led by RTP Global to accelerate its AI‑driven building platform. The company combines site‑specific AI design, off‑site robotic factories, and autonomous on‑site robots—chiefly the four‑legged Mantis—to fabricate and assemble...
Seed Funding Is Bigger Than Ever — And Harder To Get
Seed funding in the United States is expanding in dollar terms, but the landscape is polarizing. In 2025, more than half of all seed capital was allocated to deals of $10 million or larger, while the total number of seed rounds...
Nox Mobility Raises €2 Million for Night Train Network
Berlin‑based Nox Mobility announced a €2 million (≈$2.2 million) pre‑seed round led by IBB Ventures to fund its launch of private‑room night trains across Europe. The startup plans to debut routes in 2027 and eventually link more than 100 cities by 2035....
Leipzig’s Primogene Raises €4.1 Million to Scale Enzymatic Biomanufacturing of Complex Bioactive Molecules
Leipzig‑based biotech Primogene announced a €4.1 million (≈$4.5 million) seed round led by High‑Tech Gründerfonds to expand its enzymatic biomanufacturing platform. The funding will be used to scale production, grow the team, and broaden its IP portfolio and strategic partnerships. Primogene’s enzyme‑driven...
Musk Testifies Against Altman, Threatening OpenAI’s For‑Profit Shift and $2 B Microsoft Deal
Elon Musk took the stand Tuesday in Oakland, alleging that OpenAI CEO Sam Altman betrayed the nonprofit’s original charter by converting it into a for‑profit venture. Musk’s lawsuit seeks to unwind the $2 billion Microsoft investment and force Altman off the...
Avoca Closes $125M+ at $1B Valuation to Power America’s Services Economy With AI
Avoca, an AI platform for home‑service contractors, closed a Series B round that brings total funding above $125 million and lifts its valuation to $1 billion. The company’s voice‑and‑workflow automation handles inbound calls, schedules jobs, revives stale estimates and runs marketing campaigns around...
TaskRabbit Founder Leah Solivan Runs Precedent.vc, Offers Founder‑Centric VC Support
Leah Solivan, the 46‑year‑old founder of TaskRabbit, now runs the venture firm Precedent.vc. She leverages her operational background to give founders hands‑on support, reviewing roughly 100 deals a month but investing in only one. Her routine‑driven, “controlling chaos” mindset shapes...
Snabbit Secures $56M Series D, Valuation Jumps to $350M
Snabbit, the Bengaluru‑based on‑demand home‑services platform, closed a $56 million Series D round co‑led by Susquehanna Venture Capital and Mirae Asset. The financing lifts the startup’s valuation to roughly $350 million, underscoring growing investor interest in India’s service‑market startups.
Cleo Labs Secures €1.5M to Scale AI-Driven Product Compliance Globally
Cleo Labs, a Paris‑based regtech startup, closed a €1.5 million (≈$1.6 million) funding round led by Larry Berger with participation from Kima Ventures, Financière Saint‑James and an Accel scout ticket. The capital will accelerate its AI‑driven platform that automates product regulatory compliance...
Quantum Tech Investor QDNL Rebrands to Ground State Ventures, Nears Final Close for New Fund
Venture capital firm QDNL Participations has rebranded to Ground State Ventures as it moves toward the final close of its inaugural quantum-focused fund. The firm has secured $88 million in commitments, positioning the fund to invest in early‑stage quantum technologies. The...
How Oxford Saïd Entrepreneurship Centre Is Driving Growth: ‘There's a Lot of Investors Tapping Into the Ecosystem’
The Oxford Saïd Entrepreneurship Centre is accelerating the city’s deep‑tech surge, with local startups raising £429 m (≈$550 m) across 34 deals in 2025, up from £417 m the year before. The centre’s Seed Fund and Catalyst Grant provide up to £100 k and...
China’s VOLANT Raises USD300 Million to Progress Its VE25-100 eVTOL Programme
Shanghai‑based VOLANT announced the close of a Series C round that raised over $300 million, the largest single financing event in China’s commercial passenger eVTOL sector. The round was led by UAE‑based Stone with participation from HSG, Fortera Capital, Future Capital...
Dex Lands $5.3M to Grow Its AI-Driven Talent Matching Platform
London‑based Dex, an AI‑driven recruitment platform for software engineers, closed a $5.3 million seed round led by Notion Capital with participation from Andreessen Horowitz’s Speedrun programme and other investors. The funding brings Dex’s total capital to $8.4 million and will be used...
Third Space Learning Raises £4.4m to Scale AI Tutoring
Third Space Learning, the Swindon‑based online education platform, has raised £4.4 million (about $5.6 million) to accelerate its AI‑driven maths tutoring service, Skye. The round was led by the British Business Bank’s South West Investment Fund with participation from Maven Capital Partners,...
SPREAD AI Raises $30M Series B for Industrial AI
Spread AI announced a $30 million Series B round to accelerate its global expansion and enhance its AI‑driven product data platform. New investors include DTCP Growth, IQT, OTB Ventures, Salesforce and Thesiger Capital, alongside existing backers HV Capital and Nauta Capital. The...
Sereact Raises $110 Million Series B to Commercialise AI ‘Robotic Brain’
Sereact, the Stuttgart‑based AI robotics software firm, closed a $110 million Series B round led by Headline. The funding will accelerate development of its Cortex 2.0 “robotic brain” and fund a new U.S. office, aiming to make robots adaptable across manufacturing...
True Anomaly Secures $650 Million Series D to Scale Jackal Space‑Superiority Platform
True Anomaly announced a $650 million Series D financing round, co‑led by Eclipse and Riot Ventures, to accelerate production of its Jackal autonomous satellite. The funding lifts the company’s valuation to $2.2 billion and brings total capital raised to $1 billion since its...
Explore USVC: Private Market Structure, Fees, Liquidity
It’s wild that we may have almost 2,000 people on a webinar for USVC tomorrow We’ll cover: - Private markets in America today - How USVC is structured and what makes it different from other funds - The trade offs: Fees, liquidity and who...
ARK CEO Cathie Wood Adds $71.5 M Amazon Stake, Trims AMD and Others
ARK Invest chief Cathie Wood bought roughly $71.5 million of Amazon stock on April 24, acquiring 280,450 shares while offloading $65.8 million of AMD and other positions. The move underscores her belief that AI growth is consolidating around a few hyperscalers and the...
Quantum Computing Chases a ChatGPT Moment as $7.2 B Funding Fuels Race
IBM and rivals such as Rigetti Computing are accelerating toward a breakthrough comparable to ChatGPT, backed by $7.2 billion raised via SPACs and deals over five years. The sector faces steep cash burn, fragile qubits and an unclear path to commercial...
AI Startups Claim 7 of Top 10 Seed Rounds, Avg Over $10 M
AI‑focused startups captured seven of the ten largest seed rounds recorded in the past few months, with average seed investments topping $10 million. The surge reflects capital‑intensive model training needs and a rush by venture firms to lock in early positions...
Manifest Raises $2 Million to Help Ad Agencies Eliminate Timesheets
Australian startup Manifest has closed a $2 million AUD pre‑seed round—about $1.3 million USD—led by Brand Fund and backed by Antler, Techstars and several ad‑industry veterans. The company’s AI‑powered platform automatically records agency workflows across tools, replacing traditional timesheets with real‑time visibility...
YC Just Told You What to Build. Here Are the Ideas Worth Stealing.
Y Combinator’s Summer 2026 batch released a 15‑item request‑for‑startup list that moves beyond vague trends to concrete gaps solvable with AI, robotics and biology. The ideas span low‑pesticide agriculture, AI‑native service firms, personalized medicine, enterprise "company brain" knowledge layers, counter‑swarm...
Cultivating Unicorns: Strategic Elements Incubates Australian Tech Breakthrough
Strategic Elements (ASX:SOR) leverages Australia’s pooled development fund (PDF) – a tax‑exempt vehicle – to plug a $38 billion AUD (≈$25 billion USD) funding gap for growth‑stage SMEs. The fund incubates deep‑tech ventures such as Stealth Technologies’ EdgeiQ, which landed a $225,000 AUD...
SpaceX Targets $1.8 Trillion Valuation in Summer IPO, Sparking Investor Frenzy
SpaceX is slated to go public this summer with a projected valuation between $1.75 trillion and $2 trillion, the biggest IPO on record. The filing has ignited a valuation clash between Ark Invest’s conservative models and market optimism, while investors scramble for...
Mighty Capital Closes $91 Million Fund III, Tripling Prior Fund Size
Mighty Capital secured $91 million for its third venture fund, a three‑fold increase over its second fund. The raise reflects heightened limited‑partner confidence in the emerging manager and adds significant dry‑powder to the early‑stage market.
Liquid Scoops Up $18M Seed Round
Liquid announced the closing of an $18 million Series Seed round, co‑led by Neo and Left Lane Capital. The round also included Haun Ventures, K5 Global, SV Angel, AntiFund, Sunflower Capital, and returning investors Paradigm and General Catalyst. Liquid’s platform enables...
MagicCube Adds E& to $10M Financing Round
MagicCube announced that e& Capital has joined its $10 million financing round, marking the second closing of the round. The round also includes strategic investor Verifone, along with Bold Capital Partners, Mosaik Partners and other backers. MagicCube’s software‑only security platform protects...
Private‑Equity ETFs Still Carry Excessive Fees
Seems like every day, a new ETF/CEF/interval fund focused on private equity or VC is being launched. Why doesn't someone do it for a <1% fee? Why do they all have to be 2%, 3%, 4%, or 5% in annual fees? Honestly,...
True Anomaly Raised $1 Billion to Build Weapons for a Programme the Pentagon Has Not Committed to Building
True Anomaly, a Colorado startup focused on autonomous spacecraft for orbital combat, closed a $650 million Series D round, bringing total capital raised to $1 billion and valuing the company at $2.2 billion. The funding arrived days after the U.S. Space Force named the...
Why We Invested in Dex
Notion Capital is leading a $6 million seed round in Dex, an AI‑powered recruitment platform that flips the traditional model by working on behalf of candidates. The $856 billion recruitment industry has seen time‑to‑hire climb to 44 days, highlighting deep inefficiencies. Dex’s voice‑agent...
AI Funding Surge Mirrors Cloud’s Transformative Boom
Had a great time speaking at the AI&B Conference at Cornell Tech last week alongside Neil DeSilva . Here is a question that I often get asked: Are we in a bubble? The honest answer is that, yes, fundraising amounts...
AI Redefines SaaS Valuation: Retention, Depth, Deployable Agents
AI is changing how software companies are being evaluated, and we're seeing it firsthand in conversations with buyers and investors. The questions today are very different than they were even a year ago. What used to matter most isn't enough...
Manifest OS Raises $60m Series A to Build AI-Native Law Firm Model
Manifest OS, a New York‑based legal‑tech startup, closed a $60 million Series A round at a $750 million valuation, backed by Menlo Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, First Round Capital and Quiet Capital. The funding will fuel the development of an AI‑native law firm model...
Manifest OS Raises $60m Series A to Build AI-Native Law Firm Model
New York‑based startup Manifest OS closed a $60 million Series A round, valuing the company at $750 million. Backed by Menlo Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, First Round Capital and Quiet Capital, the funding will fuel its AI‑native law‑firm model that offers fixed‑fee and outcomes‑based...
Spin-Outs Enjoy an Edge in GP Financing
A Corpay study reveals that private‑equity spin‑outs enjoy a distinct financing advantage over truly emerging managers. Spin‑outs can tap legacy firm relationships, shortening fundraising cycles and securing more favorable loan terms. In contrast, emerging managers without such pedigree confront higher...
ARK Venture Fund Lets Retail Investors Buy Into SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic
Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest has launched the ARK Venture Fund (ticker ARKVX), an interval fund that gives retail investors exposure to private‑company leaders SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic for as little as $500. The fund holds 68 private and public firms,...
MEE6 Founders Keep Discord Moderation Platform Fully Founder‑owned and Profitable
MEE6’s co‑founders Brendan Rius and Anis Belkacem say the Discord moderation platform is entirely founder‑owned and generates profit without any outside capital. The profile underscores a high‑growth SaaS model that has avoided the typical venture‑backed path.
Axon Leads $10.4 M Funding for Ukrainian Drone Firm Buntar, Boosting U.S. Counter‑UAS Push
Axon has led a $10.4 million financing round for Ukraine’s Buntar Aerospace and backed drone‑autonomy firm The Fourth Law, signaling a rapid expansion of its counter‑UAS capabilities. The moves position Axon to import battlefield‑tested drone and anti‑drone technology into the United...
E& Pumps Cash Into Sovereign Security Start-Up
UAE telecom operator e& invested $10 million through its e& capital arm in MagicCube, a software start‑up focused on sovereign‑grade post‑quantum security for AI, digital identity and payments. The round also includes payments‑technology firm Verifone and investors Bold Capital Partners and Mosaik...
Segura Raises $8M Seed Round
Brazilian insurtech startup Segura announced an $8 million seed round co‑led by Andreessen Horowitz and Kaszek. The platform consolidates quotes, policies, renewals and billing for brokers, powered by its AI assistant Helena that interprets policy data and guides renewals. Segura already...
YC Reveals Blueprint for Next $10B AI Giants
YC just told you exactly what the next wave of $10B+ AI companies will look like.
Raise More VC Funding to Solve the Dilemma
Good point. One solution when faced with this dilemma: raise more VC dollars into these companies :-)
QuoIntelligence Raises €7.3m Series A for Threat Intelligence
QuoIntelligence, a Frankfurt‑based threat‑intelligence‑as‑a‑service firm, closed a €7.3 million (≈$8 million) Series A round led by Elevator Ventures and BMH Beteiligungs‑Management Hessen. The capital will fund an expansion of its European analyst team, accelerate product development, and broaden channel partnerships across the continent....
VCs Claim Sidelines Support, Then Dive in After Investing
VCs when they don’t invest: “we’ll be cheering from the sidelines” VCs when they invest and get in the game: https://t.co/XIs9vSgUQw
Tenstorrent Secures Over $1B to Scale AI Infrastructure
Tenstorrent, started by Jim Keller, has raised more than $1 billion and it has over 1,000 employees to come up with scalable AI infrastructure. https://t.co/XdoiRmKl9Z
QuoIntelligence Raises €7.3m Series A for Threat Intelligence
QuoIntelligence, a Frankfurt‑based threat‑intelligence‑as‑a‑service provider, closed a €7.3 million (≈$8 million) Series A round led by Elevator Ventures with participation from BMH, eCAPITAL and Mercurius. The capital will fund an expansion of its European analyst team, further development of its Mercury platform and...
Ubiquitous Space Calls for a New Defense Paradigm
Space ubiquity demands a new defense paradigm. Excited to have @alanapalmedo and Paradigm backing the team at True Anomaly.
Gaming FinTech PvX Partners Closes $10.5m Series A
PvX Partners, a fintech platform that finances user‑acquisition (UA) campaigns for gaming and consumer apps, closed a $10.5 million Series A round. The round was led by T‑Accelerate Capital and included investors such as Z Venture Capital, DraftKings’ Drive, Play Ventures, General...