Today's Venture Capital Pulse
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
Taranis Capital Secures DFSA Acknowledgement for New ‘Disruptive Tech Fund’
Taranis Capital Limited has secured formal acknowledgement from the Dubai Financial Services Authority for its newly created Taranis Disruptive Tech Fund LP. The fund, filed in November 2025, targets high‑impact technologies such as artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, fintech, advanced analytics and next‑generation platforms. By positioning itself within the DIFC, Taranis aims to channel institutional and family‑office capital into fast‑growing GCC innovators. The regulatory clearance marks a pivotal step toward launching the vehicle and scaling regional digital transformation initiatives.
Chiral Raises $12M in Seed Funding
Chiral, a Zurich‑based nanotechnology spin‑off from ETH Zurich and Empa, announced a $12 million seed round led by Crane Venture Partners, with participation from Quantonation, HCVC, Founderful and public funding from Innosuisse. The financing follows a 2024 pre‑seed round and will...
VCs Accept AI Startups Only With Insane Growth
"VCs are OK in the Age of AI with tons of competition. But they aren't OK if the growth isn't just ... insane." @tbpn https://t.co/6XVHHmKshC
The 1% Mission: Why Europe’s Climate Tech Future Runs Through Industrial Giants, Not Consumer Apps
In this episode, host Tom Britton talks with Michael Langguth, founding partner of Carbon 13, about why Europe’s climate‑tech breakthroughs will come from large industrial players rather than consumer‑focused apps. Langguth explains the “green discount” – the cost advantage of deep‑tech...
Bridging the Valley of Death: How C3H Is Powering the Next Wave of Climate, Health Tech Startups
Temasek Trust’s Catalytic Capital for Climate & Health (C3H) is emerging as a key early‑stage investor for climate and health tech startups across Asia. By providing patient capital to ventures such as Notpla, Dozee and Equatic, C3H aims to bridge...
PHathom Technologies Raises $4M in Funding
pHathom Technologies, a Halifax‑based cleantech firm, announced a $4 million funding round led by Propeller Ventures, with participation from NBIF, Invest Nova Scotia and Carmeuse Ventures. The infusion brings the company’s total capital raised to $12 million since its 2024 launch. pHathom...
Lawhive Closes $60M Series B for Consumer Legal AI
Lawhive announced a $60 million Series B round led by Danaher co‑founder Mitch Rales, adding to a $40 million Series A raised less than a year earlier. The UK‑originated legal‑tech firm now reports over $35 million in annual revenue—a seven‑fold increase in 12 months—and operates...
Capalo AI Raises €11M in Series A Funding
Capalo AI, a Helsinki‑based sustainable‑tech firm, secured €11 million in a Series A round. The financing was led by Heartcore Capital with participation from Tesi, VentureFriends, PROfounders, Inventure, Innovestor and family offices. The capital will fund expansion into additional European markets in...
Daytona Raises $24M for AI Agent Computing Infrastructure
Daytona announced a $24 million Series A round led by FirstMark Capital, with participation from Pace Capital, Upfront Ventures, E2VC, Darkmode, Datadog, and Figma Ventures. The startup offers programmatic, composable sandboxes that act as "computers for every AI agent," enabling instant startup,...
Shuvi Shrivastava
Shuvi Shrivastava, a Lightspeed partner and advisor in India, leverages a decade‑long tech and consulting background to back internet‑first businesses, especially fintech. Raised across small‑town India and educated abroad, she embodies the post‑1991 liberalization generation that grew up online. Her...
Markato
Markato, founded in 2023, is a curated wholesale marketplace that links premium global brands with vetted retailers throughout Asia. The platform secured seed‑stage investments from LSVP and LSIP during its launch year. Lightspeed partners Rahul Taneja and Dat Han joined...
Vennre Secures $9.6m Pre-Series A to Open Private Markets to MENA’s ‘HENRYs’
Fintech platform Vennre announced a $9.6 million pre‑Series A round, co‑led by Vision Ventures and anb seed fund, with participation from Sanabil 500, Ace & Co, Plus VC and strategic investors. The hybrid equity‑debt financing will fund the digitisation of private‑market access for MENA’s high‑earning, not‑yet‑rich...
CollegeDekho Posts Rs 151 Cr Loss in FY25, Revenue Remains Flat
CollegeDekho reported a flat top line of Rs 221.6 crore for FY25, barely up from the prior year, while its net loss widened 19% to Rs 151 crore. Advertising and promotional expenses surged 31% to Rs 126 crore, becoming the largest cost driver, even as employee‑benefit...
How Markets Price AI Risk
The post highlights a stark valuation split in software stocks as vertical SaaS companies plunge 43% YTD while dev‑tools decline only 21%, reflecting market pricing of AI risk. It argues that despite strong moats, vertical firms’ slower 8% growth triggers...
Sapiom Raises $15M to Help AI Agents Buy Their Own Tech Tools
Sapiom, founded by former Shopify payments director Ilan Zerbib, announced a $15 million seed round led by Accel to build a financial layer that lets AI agents automatically purchase and authenticate external services. The platform aims to automate micro‑payments and credential...
Angitia’s Latest Megaround to Fuel Mid-Stage Milestones: Venture Report
Angitia Biopharmaceuticals raised a $130 million Series D round, marking its second nine‑digit financing in just over a year after a $120 million Series C and following multiple nine‑figure Series B raises. New investors Frazier Life Sciences and Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners joined existing backers,...
VCs Once Hailed Online Mattresses as Groundbreaking
It's kind of comical to think that 10 years ago VC's thought that selling mattresses and luggage online was innovation.
VAST Data Plans Funding Round so Early Stock Holders Can Get Cash
VAST Data is closing a $1 billion financing round that values the AI‑focused storage vendor at roughly $30 billion. The bulk of the cash will come from a secondary sale where existing shareholders dump 5‑6 shares for each new issue, generating $700‑$850 million...
Lunar Energy Banks $232 Million Series D
Lunar Energy, a Mountain View‑based provider of integrated home battery systems and Virtual Power Plant (VPP) software, closed an oversubscribed $102 million Series D financing. The round was led by B Capital and Prelude Ventures and follows an unannounced $130 million Series C led...
Xi Signals: Move From SaaS to Hard Tech
1/ 2+ years ago I advised the shift from SaaS to Hard Tech Why? Because I saw a signal. It wasn't from Buffett. It was from Xi Jinping. He signaled software was done + aerospace, defense, biotech + hardware was next.
Secondary Sales Shift From Founder Windfalls to Employee-Retention Tools
AI‑focused startups such as Clay, Linear and ElevenLabs are increasingly using secondary tender offers to let employees sell shares at soaring valuations, with Clay’s latest offering pricing stock at $5 billion, up 60% from its August valuation. These deals contrast with...
Indian Fashion Quick Commerce Startup ZILO Raises $15.3M
Indian fashion quick‑commerce startup ZILO secured $15.3 million in a Series A round led by Peak XV Partners. The capital will fund scaling of its 60‑minute delivery model that includes home trials and instant returns. ZILO, founded by former Flipkart and Myntra executives,...
Israeli Weather Satellite Startup Raises $175 Million in Investment Capital
Israeli weather‑data startup Tomorrow.io announced a $175 million financing round to launch DeepSky, an AI‑native satellite constellation. The company has already deployed 13 smallsats that deliver a 60‑minute global revisit, feeding its AI‑driven analytics platform used across critical industries. DeepSky will...
Willie’s Remedy+ Raises $15M in Series A Funding
Willie’s Remedy+, an Austin‑based maker of THC‑infused social tonics, secured $15 million in Series A financing. The round was led by Left Lane Capital with participation from Second Sight Ventures. CEO Greg Serrao plans to deploy the capital toward national retail expansion...
Goodfire Raises $150M in Series B Funding
Goodfire, a San Francisco AI interpretability startup, secured $150 million in Series B financing. The round was led by B Capital and featured both existing backers and new investors such as Salesforce Ventures and Eric Schmidt. The capital will accelerate frontier research,...
Duna Raises €30M in Series A Funding
Duna, an AI-native business identity platform operating from Amsterdam and Berlin, closed a €30 million Series A round. The financing was led by CapitalG with participation from existing backers Index Ventures, Puzzle Ventures and Snowflake chairman Frank Slootman. The new capital lifts...
Advance Raises $8.55M in Seed Funding
Advance, a New York‑based fintech, raised $8.55 million in seed funding to scale its insurance‑focused payment platform. The round was led by nvp Capital with participation from Crystal Ventures, Vesey Ventures, Mensch Capital, and strategic angels such as Assaf Wand. Funds...
SENAI Inks $6.2M Seed Round
Washington‑based SENAI, an online video intelligence platform, closed a $6.2 million seed round led by 10D Ventures, with participation from FS Ventures, 1948 Ventures and investor Jonathan Kolber. The company transforms unstructured online video into geo‑specific, real‑time intelligence to counter security...
Feltsense Raises $5.1M Seed Funding
Feltsense Holdings announced a $5.1 million seed round led by Draper Associates, with participation from Precursor Ventures, Liquid2 Ventures and several prominent founders. The capital will fund the development of AI agents designed to act as fully autonomous founders—ideating, building,...
Global VC Investment Surged In January, With U.S. Dominating Funding But A Pair Of AI Model IPOs In China
Global venture capital funding surged to $55 billion in January 2026, more than doubling the year‑ago level and rising over 50 percent from December. The United States accounted for roughly 70 percent of the capital, with AI‑focused startups receiving 57 percent of all funding....
Lawhive Raises $60M in Series B Funding
London‑based legal‑tech firm Lawhive announced a $60 million Series B round, led by Danaher co‑founder Mitch Rales and backed by investors such as GV, Balderton Capital and TQ Ventures. The capital will accelerate Lawhive’s AI‑native platform rollout across the United States, where...
AgTech Startup Brilliant Harvest Secures $4 Million USD in Seed Funding
Calgary‑based AgTech startup Brilliant Harvest announced a $4 million USD seed round, led by returning investors Builders VC and AltaML and joined by FTW Ventures, Alpaca VC, Automotive Ventures, SVG Ventures and NYA Ventures. The AI‑driven platform, which parses technical manuals...
Does Bitcoin Seem Like a Reasonable Investment in 2026?
Seventeen years after its launch, Bitcoin is increasingly viewed as a viable investment, driven by near‑full supply mining, institutional adoption, and global accessibility. However, its price volatility, regulatory uncertainty, and lack of income generation remain significant drawbacks. Investors must weigh...
How Zoom Grew 30x Almost Overnight
In this episode, Eric Yuan recounts his journey from a frustrated employee at a video‑conferencing startup to founding Zoom, detailing the company’s rapid 30‑fold expansion during the COVID‑19 pandemic. He explains how Zoom scaled its technology, culture, and operations to...
Romanian EdTech Startup Kinderpedia Raises €2.2M in Growth Funding Round
Romanian EdTech startup Kinderpedia secured €2.2 million in a growth‑stage round led by Simpact Ventures, part of a €3.5 million target. The AI‑powered platform now serves schools in over 40 countries, reaching more than 500,000 teachers, parents and administrators. Funds will accelerate...
Vexlum Raises EUR 10M in Funding
Finnish laser maker Vexlum announced a €10 million financing round to expand its semiconductor laser production. The round includes €6 million equity led by venture firm Kvanted, participation from state‑owned Tesi and the EU‑backed EIC Fund, a €2.4 million EIC Accelerator grant, and...
Cerebras Systems Raises $1 Billion in Series H Funding
AI infrastructure specialist Cerebras Systems announced a $1 billion Series H round, valuing the company at roughly $23 billion. The round was led by Tiger Global and featured investors such as Benchmark, Fidelity, AMD and Coatue. Cerebras’ flagship Wafer Scale Engine 3 claims more...
Stash Secured One of the Top US WealthTech Deals as Funding in the Country Fell by 56% in 2025
US WealthTech investment contracted sharply in 2025, with total capital falling 56% YoY to $3.6 billion and deal volume dropping 39% to 259 transactions. Despite the slowdown, New York solidified its leadership, accounting for 40% of the top ten deals, while...
Beyond the Battlefield Deep Dive with Navy CTO Justin Fanelli
In this episode, Morgan Hitzig interviews Navy Chief Technology Officer Justin Fanelli to unpack the findings of the first annual Beyond the Battlefield survey, which examines how to accelerate the transfer of private‑sector technology to the warfighter. Fanelli explains the...
Fintower Completes €1.5M Oversubscribed Seed Round
Swedish fintech Fintower announced the close of an oversubscribed €1.5 million seed round, drawing participation from new backers such as Chalmers Ventures, Akka and the Stena family, alongside existing investors like Almi and Inet. The company offers an AI‑driven SaaS platform...
HR Tech Company Talentguide Raises €1.3M to Expand Data-Driven Skills Management in Europe
Ghent‑based HR‑tech firm talentguide raised €1.3 million to accelerate its European rollout. The round was led by NXT II, Travvant, Miles Ahead Capital, imec.istart and several founders. talentguide’s AI‑driven SaaS platform converts unstructured HR data into a skills intelligence layer for both...
Robotics Startup Octobotics Raises Rs 10 Cr in Seed Round
Octobotics, an AI‑enabled non‑destructive testing robotics startup, raised roughly Rs 10 crore in a seed round led by Navam Capital with BYT Capital joining. The capital will fund accelerated product development, certification, and expansion into Singapore and the Middle East. Founded in...
Beverage Startup CHINI KUM Raises Pre-Seed Funding
CHINI KUM, a zero‑sugar beverage startup, secured ₹1 crore in pre‑seed funding from a group of angel investors and founder participation. The capital will fund product innovation, flavor expansion, and nationwide distribution, with a focus on quick‑commerce channels. The brand launched its...
Qontext Closes $2.7M Pre-Seed Round to Develop a Context Layer for AI
Berlin‑based Qontext announced a $2.7 million pre‑seed round led by HV Capital, backed by AI‑infrastructure veterans. The startup builds an independent context layer that supplies AI systems with up‑to‑date, enterprise‑wide data. Its platform targets fragmented customer, product, and policy information that...
CommerceX Raises ¥17.3B Series A for Retail Tec
CommerceX Holdings, a Japanese retail‑tech firm, raised ¥17.3 billion in a Series A round that combines equity and debt financing. The capital will fund an aggressive M&A strategy and upgrades to RECORE, its cloud‑based POS system for the reuse industry. Management targets...
Google's 52x AI Growth
Google’s Q4 2025 earnings call highlighted a dramatic AI surge, with Gemini processing over 10 billion tokens per minute—a 52‑fold year‑over‑year rise to an annualized 430 trillion tokens. Serving costs fell 78%, delivering a 4.5× efficiency gain per GPU hour. Cloud revenue...
Stripe Alumni Raise €30M Series A for Duna, Backed by Stripe and Adyen Execs
Duna, a business identity verification startup founded by Stripe alumni, closed a €30 million Series A round led by Alphabet’s CapitalG with participation from current and former Stripe and Adyen executives. The company’s platform aims to create a reusable digital passport for...
Multicoin Capital Co-Founder Kyle Samani Steps Down After Nearly a Decade to Pursue Other Areas of Tech
Kyle Samani, co‑founder and managing director of Multicoin Capital, announced his departure after nearly a decade at the firm. He will take time off to explore other technology areas while maintaining personal crypto investments. Samani highlighted the upcoming U.S. Clarity...
Classic SaaS Scaling Model Is Dead, AI Reigns
SaaS isn’t dead, even with the massive sell off this year (and really since July 2025). But … what is dead is the classic pattern and way to scale: - 1, maybe 2 players, take over a space by $10m-$20m...
Seeking Founders Using AI Sales Agents for Collaboration
Any founders using AI sales agents creatively? Would love to connect you with a founder we backed to trade notes. DMs open. https://t.co/oPpD4IzGfC