What's happening: Machina Labs raises $124M Series C to build AI-driven intelligent factory
Machina Labs closed a $124 million Series C round led by Woven Capital, Lockheed Martin Ventures, Balerion Space Ventures and the Strategic Development Fund. The capital will fund a 200,000‑square‑foot Intelligent Factory in the United States, featuring up to 50 RoboCraftsman cells that produce complex metal assemblies for defense, aerospace and automotive customers.
Also developing:

Epoch AI researchers discuss a data‑driven timeline for superintelligence, arguing that Anthropic could build the first gigawatt‑scale AI datacenter and that breakthroughs like solving the Riemann hypothesis may arrive within five years. They challenge the notion of "energy bottlenecks," framing higher power costs as a business issue, and predict that 10% of today’s jobs could disappear this decade while a 30% GDP growth scenario would reshape economies. Finally, they weigh whether the AI surge is a genuine race toward superintelligence or the next massive speculative bubble, grounding their views in quantitative forecasts.

In this episode, Brynn Putnam discusses how her personal frustration with screen‑driven family disconnection inspired Board, a face‑to‑face gaming console designed to reunite families, and reflects on her previous ventures like Mirror that also emerged from personal needs. She emphasizes...
Palo Alto‑based Hippocratic AI, which builds generative AI agents for the healthcare sector, announced a major expansion of its executive team, adding seasoned veterans to oversee product, engineering, and commercial functions. The hires come shortly after the company closed a...

Maor Shlomo, founder of Base44, argues that AI‑driven "vibe coding" platforms will disrupt traditional SaaS and CRM tools like Salesforce by offering faster, low‑code development with superior user experience. He challenges the notion that these platforms lack defensibility or margins,...
Aileen Lee 's in conversation with Reid Hoffman , Stacy Brown-Philpot , & Van Jones sharing prescient thoughts on how this AI revolution has lowered the bar for founder entry and career re-imagination. #MastersofScale
Everyone in AI feels the same tension right now, but this piece finally names it clearly. The tech is real. The progress is real. The spending is real. The business models aren't. Not yet. This is the best breakdown I've seen of why...

The episode opens with a deep dive into the fallout from the Epstein files, focusing on the lingering questions about the source of his wealth. It then shifts to market dynamics, highlighting Tether's rapid growth, Michael Burry's contentious bet versus...

Francisco Partners announced this week they're taking JAMF private for $2.2 billion at $13.05 per share. The headlines trumpet a "50% premium" to recent trading prices. The press releases talk about "strategic flexibility" and "accelerating growth." But here's what the...

This is the future of music right here. Live on @acquiredotcom: AI music creation SaaS that turns vocals and text into full songs with voice. > 3M+ users > $621K ARR > $559K TTM profit > 80% margins Bootstrapped and profitable. Full listing: https://t.co/Obvm9zKtc6 https://t.co/W1RRxUq9Oj

In this Hot Mic episode, three listeners pose their top questions to seasoned venture capitalists, who discuss whether starting a venture fund is advisable, the key criteria they use to evaluate pitches, and the one startup they wish they'd invested...
I know 'memory' is a big deal in AI — what I don't know is how >much< of it you really need to have a great AI experience. The more I learn about how our own AI Agents work, the more...
AI startups are burning cash faster than you think. You see Series A AI companies burning $500K/month on GPUs while showing zero profit margins. More users = more GPU usage = bigger losses. But the survivors won't have the coolest tech or...
Venture capital is being reshaped by the rapid adoption of AI and Web3, forcing firms to accelerate due‑diligence and decision‑making. New metrics such as AI model stress performance, tokenomics, code audits and on‑chain transparency now sit alongside traditional revenue and...
Here's why I say we're going to see a "major M&A moment" in the next six months. There's a business-friendly administration in the White House. (Everyone knows the President LOVES DEALS… he wrote a book about it.) $GOOG got off with...
We're reading the fine print on those $NVDA/@OpenAI "deals"… and they're not EXACTLY deals. It turns out, at least according to Nvidia chief Jensen Huang, either company can essentially walk away at any time, and it's more of an aspirational commitment...
Yaniv Bertele, a physicist‑mathematician turned investor, applies scientific methodology to venture‑capital and corporate investment decisions. His framework starts with rigorous problem identification, then validates solution viability, financial feasibility, market size, and go‑to‑market strategy before committing capital. The approach has been...

The intersection of “seems like a bad idea” and “is actually a good idea” is the sweet spot for startups. "If a good idea were obviously good, someone else would already have done it. So the most successful founders tend to...

The AI market today is bacon in a hot skillet. Everything is sizzling, moving, & changing at an incredible pace. We’re all watching it closely. Market share is fluid because no one yet knows what AI can do & the second...

Max Altman discusses the intensifying "seed war" where only giants like Sequoia and a16z can dominate early rounds, highlighting how many founders leave billions on the table by undervaluing deals such as Reddit's. He shares behind‑the‑scenes stories from backing Rippling...

What does it mean to be an unconflicted investment bank? Unconflicted means that a bank doesn't take revenue from anyone who could be a potential buyer, or who doesn't trade favors with someone who could be a potential buyer. Conflicts of...

This is my single biggest disagreement with YC. Starting a startup to get famous, or to do better than those around you, or for vanity, or yes even just to get rich, is worse for society and worse for founders. It's...
MARKLE, IN, Sortera Technologies today announced the close of $45 million in funding.

In Founder University, we help Year Zero founders build MVPs, raise money, and find their first customers. After launching our first international Founder University in Saudi, we are heading to Japan for our second. We kick off in January with an intensive...
We had our Precursor Ventures AGM this week in SF, so Mia and I were able to record in person! The first topic we covered was founder update emails, specifically how valuable they are for both founders and investors, especially given...
B2BINPAY has secured a Digital Asset Service Provider (PSAD) licence from El Salvador’s National Commission of Digital Assets (CNAD), authorising the firm to conduct regulated digital‑asset transfers, custody, and fiat‑crypto exchange operations under the country’s Digital Assets Issuance Law. This...

🔹The majority of Series A activity now clusters around $20M, but this isn’t where the power dynamics are shaping the market. 🔹At sub-$20M, dedicated A funds lead most rounds, and mega-fund involvement stays below half. 🔹Once rounds cross $20M, the megas come...

🔹Boutique, dedicated Seed funds continue to lead <60% of priced seed rounds in the sub-$10M range, which account for the gross majority of deals done. 🔹~90% of priced Seed rounds happen below $20M - where dedicated funds maintain a clear advantage. 🔹Nearly...

Shernaz Daver, the first chief marketing officer of Khosla Ventures (KV), is leaving after nearly five years, having built the firm’s brand around the mantra “bold, early, impactful” and positioning KV as the first investor in marquee AI and tech...

In Aug, I wrote “Is Venture Broken?” – a data-driven look at whether the growing spread in fund sizes at the early stage was pushing venture to a breaking point. We found that while mega-funds are moving earlier, dedicated-stage, boutique...
Whether the code is being written by a human, a computer, or a hybrid, the moment of truth is Graphite

Two revelations this week have shaken the narrative in AI : Nvidia’s earnings & this tweet about Gemini. The AI industry spent 2025 convinced that pre-training scaling laws had hit a wall. Models weren’t improving just from adding more compute during...
SEE YOU THERE! Beyond the Deal: The New Era of Venture Capital • Hunter Walk, Homebrew • Samara Mejia Hernandez, Chingona Ventures • Mario Ruiz, Infinity Ventures
We're looking for ambitious Japan-focused founders ready to go global. Apply and work with our team
"Homebrew → Forever -- why Hunter and Satya moved from an LP-backed seed fund to a self-funded evergreen model—and why they accelerated the shift in 2022." So fortunate to back founders who build companies via Homebrew and founders who build venture...
Why $30BN for Cursor Is A Good Deal: "The pro side is revenue and revenue growth rate. If something's gone from $1-$100M in a year, and then $100M to $1BN this year, with Newton's laws of motion, it is going to $3BN-$4BN...
YC is funny because for everything we get hate for, we fund those and fund of that kind by #'s than anyone else Solos Non-traditional background Anything not B2B SaaS Almost any category, we do the most # of anyone, and the ones we...
Simbie AI (@simbie_ai) gives SMB medical practices AI voice staff that answers, returns calls, and handles clinical tasks. Since launching in January, they've grown revenue 83x with $0 CAC, operate nationwide with zero churn, cut staff-to-physician ratios by one-third, and...

Azure drives a meaningful share of Microsoft’s revenue growth. The company reports the specific impact of AI on Azure’s expansion each quarter, and the contribution has grown steadily over the past year. This gives a concrete view into how AI...

Deep Dive: A Primer on Mag7 (Part 7 - Microsoft) Microsoft has spent fifty years building platforms that sit underneath the modern economy. BASIC made early computers usable. MS DOS and Windows standardized personal computing. Office became the core productivity layer for...

> “The highest order way I think about it is: ‘Is there opportunity?’ Is there opportunity for high impact, high growth, high scale businesses being born right now? And the answer to that is unequivocally yes.” - Kirsten Green, Founder...
Uncapped with @vladtenev, CEO of Robinhood. We talked about the evolution of online brokers, how today's younger generations think about finance, the rise of prediction markets, tokenization of private company stock, and how AI will impact personal finance. Timestamps: (0:00) Intro (00:27) History of...

Congrats to @QuindarSpace on their $18M Series A! Most companies still build ops software in-house, which takes years. U.S. government programs often require a new interface every time, forcing teams to rebuild ground systems again and again. Quindar manages satellites like flying...

Top 10 Most Active Investors at Series A: Out of the 90 mega-funds we looked at, @a16z, @generalcatalyst, @lightspeedvp & @sequoia all remain in the top 5 across both Seed and A - with a16z far outrunning the pack at...

Top 10 Most Active Investors at Seed: https://t.co/2pB2bbv0yP
🧵Is the venture market “healthy”? “The highest order way I think about it is: ‘Is there opportunity?’ Is there opportunity for high impact, high growth, high scale businesses being born right now? And the answer to that is unequivocally yes.” @kirstenagreen,...
Great to be on the Library of Minds with @daraladje. 13 yrs into Forerunner, experience is an edge. But open-mindedness is equally critical. This era is about the courage of imagination. Eyes wide open and genuine bravery are needed when...
Bluma (@getBluma) is building the Canva for short-form video ads. They automate your entire consumer marketing strategy with content templates, generating on-brand videos on autopilot. https://t.co/Jeoc521iea
1/ New Lux LP letter...

Supercool SaaS listing JUST dropped on @acquiredotcom. No-code app for launching secure AI-driven web apps fast. > $300K TTM revenue > $100K TTM profit > 50% YoY growth High-margin, vertical SaaS with real enterprise upside. Listing: https://t.co/BATq3sxB2V https://t.co/BMo7n13wQQ
Congrats to @automat_ai on their $15.5M Series A! They're building AI agents that operate computers like people do. Instead of fragile RPA workflows, operators show Automat what to automate, and their forward-deployed team handles the rest. Already replacing legacy RPA...